Unconventional ways to live longer

I RECENTLY came across a news article that stated, "Calorie restriction doesn't slow ageing". Naturally, anything implying that eating more could be better for me would catch my attention, but it turned out the article wasn't giving a conscience-free pass to all-you-can-eat buffets. Rather, it featured a study on rhesus monkeys, recently published by the US National Institute of Ageing (NIA) which found that the monkeys, when given 30 per cent fewer calories than control animals over a 23-year period, saw no overall benefit, nor did they see an increase in lifespan.

The search for the fountain of youth is nothing new, and as of this moment, still nowhere to be found, leaving us looking for alternatives to prolong life. But why are we still looking? We know the deal: exercise regularly; eat superfoods like berries, broccoli and spinach; don't smoke; cut out junk food; do yoga etc.

How dull. Dull, unimaginative and conformist. I think we're still looking because no one really wants to do any of those things. We're still hoping that an easier solution is out there. We're holding out for that proverbial fountain of youth. If it really is out there, I certainly don't have access to it. But I can share a few unorthodox ways to live life a little longer.

1. Move up

I mean this literally. Move up to higher altitudes. According to US Census Department estimates, Andorra, a tiny nation in the Pyrenees mountains between France and Spain, is known to have the highest life expectancy, with its citizens living up to an average age of 85. Scientists from Harvard University and the University of Athens in a study on Greek mountain dwellers found that adaptation to reduced oxygen levels at moderate to high altitudes are responsible for longer lives. It is also believed that breathing in the fresh and clean mountain air does wonders for health (though if this is in comparison to the health benefits of breathing in polluted fumes in the city, I can't say I'm surprised). But let's not discount the frequent exercise Andorrans' get from walking up and down the hillside as well as the fact that being so high up in the mountains means junk food is out of reach. Looks like healthy eating and regular exercise can't be ignored just yet.

2. Be friendly

The Beatles had the right idea when they wrote about getting by with a little help from their friends. As it turns out, having friends can actually help you live longer. Academics at Brigham Young University and the University of North Carolina in the US studied the effects of social isolation on mortality by assessing the lives of almost 309,000 people over an average period of 7.5 years and found that those with stronger social relationships had a 50 per cent higher chance of survival that those who were more solitary. Adding to that, research carried out by the Campaign to End Loneliness a coalition of organisations in the UK found that the risk factor of death from loneliness is similar to smoking and worse than obesity. Loneliness can manifest in various ways, from chronic or situational loneliness to social or emotional loneliness, but what's certain is that no man is an island. Not for very long anyway.

3. Invite stress

This may strike you as going against everything we believe about stress and how damaging it can be, but studies have revealed it to be true: a little bit of stress goes a long way. According to Dr Marios Kyriazis who specialises in geriatric medicine, short-term stress can boost immunity, slow down the ageing process and even ward off diseases like Alzheimer's, arthritis and some cancers. If you're relatively healthy, experiencing brief moments of stress from a bout of public speaking, or preparing a dinner soiree at the last minute for example, may help you live longer. The key is to keeping the stress at minimum levels, meaning the body must have time to recover itself. And what more convenient way is there to subject the body to frequent bursts of controlled stress than through our good old friend, exercise.

So it looks like there really is no way around exercise if your goal is to live a long life. Gotcha! There is no shortcut! Even if you were to pack up for the mountains tomorrow to set up a commune with your best friends, you still have to be fit and healthy to begin with.

Everything else can only help increase your chances.

The Brunei Times