How To Live Forever - The Science Of Longevity

What is discussed, and when

1. 0:00 – 3:00: Blue Zones
2. 6:00 – 9:00: Grim Age Clock

Notable quotes from "How To Live Forever - The Science Of Longevity"

• Around the world where people often lived much longer than other populations he called them blue zones even though people living in the different blue zones differed in lots of…

  about Blue Zones · at 2:48

• Process in 2021 researchers at Yale used something called the appropriately named Grim age clock a scientific tool that tracks biological aging much more precisely than older…

  about Grim Age Clock · at 7:12

Who and what is mentioned in this episode?

People

• Dan Buettner — Person · 1 mention

Concepts & topics

• Blue Zones — Concept · 1 mention · first at 2:52
• Grim Age Clock — Concept · 1 mention · first at 7:18

Full transcript with timestamps

0:00 in this video we're going to be talking about the exciting new research on longevity and how to extend your life and stay healthy into old age you've probably heard about billionaires freezing themselves taking hundreds of pills a day or injecting the blood of young people now we're not saying this can't work but I want to break down how anyone can get most of the benefits of fancy treatments and medications without the risks by covering the basics we'll be focusing on diet exercise and stress management first why do humans age it's obviously very complicated but basically aging happens because of gradual wear and tear on our bodies like a car that's been running for 20 years eventually the cells in our bodies won't work as smoothly anymore they get more and more damaged and can't repair themselves as well as When We Were Young this happens for three reasons genetics some people are simply born with genes that mean

0:56 they don't age as quickly as other people background cell damage every day our cells are exposed to things like pollution and UV ray which cause damage this adds up over time and the most important part Lifestyle the choices we make about how we eat move and manage stress have a huge impact on how we age now we can't control our genes or the pollution around us but we can control how our genes are expressed through our habits our lifespan is not written in the stars here's what we can do number one diet research shows that there are three main things we can change about our diet to increase our lifespan intermittent fasting studies consistently show that when we restrict the amount of food mice are allowed to eat in lab settings they are generally healthier and live roughly 30% longer the same has been found in other organisms intermittent fasting isn't about what you eat and it's not a fad

1:53 diet it's actually very simple it's eating so that the gap between your first meal and last fast meal is only 6 8 or 10 hours as opposed to 12 or 14 hours or more people often find it easiest to skip breakfast but you can also stop eating earlier before you go to bed the great thing about intermittent fasting is that while it can be a challenge in the beginning your body quickly adapts and you won't want to go back when we fast what we're really doing is telling the body that now is not the time to go forth and multiply it's time to conserve your resources repair things better fight free radicals and repair broken DNA which is why it's so powerful eat diets highend plants in the early 2000s a journalist named Dan Butner went on an expedition to find out where people lived the longest and how they did it he identified a handful of places from around the world where people often lived much longer than other populations

2:52 he called them blue zones even though people living in the different blue zones differed in lots of ways they all shared some things in common the main one was that they all ate diets high in Plants they ate lots of vegetables fruits beans whole grains and only a little meat and dairy with lots of healthy fats like avocado and olive oil they also didn't eat too much only eating until they were 80% full they would eat with other people and didn't drink too much alcohol all contributing to their long lives avoid ultr processed foods in 2024 a groundbreaking study was published That Shook the health and nutrition World it looked at ultr processed foods foods that are packaged and factory made with lots of unnatural ingredients added to them it tracked over 500,000 adults for nearly 23 years and uncovered a startling connection the participants who ate lots of ultr processed foods had lives 10% shorter

3:54 and it wasn't only that they died earlier the people in the study who ate more processed Meats sugar and other Ultra processed foods had unhealthier lives with more heart disease diabetes and obesity and because these foods are high in calories but don't contain many essential nutrients it's possible to be overweight but actually starving for nutrition the second thing we can do is exercise now what if I told you that for every hour of exercise you do you live 2 hours longer it sounds hard to believe but it's actually what science tells us studies also show that just 15 minutes of exercise a day could add 3 years to your life and 150 minutes of exercise a week makes you 22% less likely to die early if you go beyond 150 minutes that number jumps to 35% scientists have known about the benefits of exercise for longevity for decades but we're finding out recently that it's even better than we previously thought why is exercise so

4:54 great for us you can think of your heart and lungs as like the engines that power your life and keep you alive when we do exercise that increases our heart rate and gets our blood pumping through our veins we're strengthening our engine and the stronger it is the longer it keeps working but remember it's not all about cardio strength training plays an equally vital role sure lifting weights can help you look great but it's also one of the best defenses against the effects of Aging one of the most underrated benefits of exercise is How It prepares your body for the Long Haul it's not just about being fit today it's about future proofing yourself for the inevitable changes of Aging to come even Elite athletes can escape this reality their incredible performance at 30 simply isn't possible at 90 decline is inevitable but here's where exercise becomes your secret weapon building buffer room if you think of it like

5:47 creating extra reserves of Fitness to cushion that decline by building Your Capacity now you're essentially banking Fitness for the future a key part of this is something called V CO2 Max a measure of how efficiently your heart and lungs deliver oxygen to your muscles it's one of the best indicators of your overall Fitness and a powerful predictor of how well you'll handle aging if you're in your 30s or 40s working on a high V2 Max isn't just about running faster or lifting heavier today it's about ensuring that decades from now you'll still be able to climb stairs carry groceries or enjoy the freedom of movement exercise today is an investment in your future so where can we start if you don't exercise right now I'd say don't worry most people don't the good news is that it's never too late to start as with everything it's best to start slowly don't sign up for a marathon if you've never run a mile

6:44 before begin with something easy and manageable and work up over time you also shouldn't rely on Willpower alone to get you to the gym or Sports field take exercise seriously make an appointment and stick to it exercise is hard but remember that you'll always be grateful for how it pays off in the long run the final area of longevity research we're exploring is stress stress is not just a bad feeling it has physical consequences and can speed up the aging process in 2021 researchers at Yale used something called the appropriately named Grim age clock a scientific tool that tracks biological aging much more precisely than older tools this wasn't a normal study but a deep dive into how stress affects our bodies at a the cellular level the study found that men lose roughly 2.8 years of life if they're constantly stressed and women lose around 2.3 years the reason stress is so bad is that it keeps our fight or

7:42 flight system turned on for too long this system was designed to help us in emergencies by releasing stress hormones like cortisol and adrenaline they help us in short bursts but harm us when they stay for too long high cortisol damages our cells and even shortens the protective caps on our DNA called telr as our telr wear down our cells age faster and we're more likely to develop chronic diseases so what can we do about stress the researchers at Yale identified two powerful psychological tools to protect us from stress aging us emotion regulation instead of letting anger anxiety or any other negative feeling spiral we should cultivate the ability to pause and shift our perspective this would protect us from stress self-control this keeps us grounded and helps us not rely on unhealthy coping mechanisms when we're stressed like overeating which ultimately makes us more stressed in the long run and damages our health there

8:40 are many easy practical ways to reduce stress you can practice yoga or meditation exercise regularly learn breathing exercises or whatever helps you take a step back and reset every time you choose a strategic response to stress you're potentially adding quality years to your life there was a lot of information in this video but I hope it gives you a great starting point as you begin your longevity Journey let me know what you think down in the comments and I'll see you in the next one

Questions about this episode

What is discussed in "How To Live Forever - The Science Of Longevity"?

In order: 0:00 Blue Zones; 6:00 Grim Age Clock.

What is mentioned in this Improvement Pill episode?

3 people, works and ideas are mentioned, including Blue Zones, Grim Age Clock, Dan Buettner. Each one on this page links to its own page with every episode that mentions it.

How long is "How To Live Forever - The Science Of Longevity"?

The episode runs 9 min; the transcript is about 1,580 words in 10 timestamped sections.

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