Want to live longer, healthier, and happier? 🤯 Dr. Mark Hutsell reveals 12 science-backed lifestyle habits to boost your healthspan. From exercise and diet to sleep and stress management, discover how to optimize your well-being.
While most people want to live longer, they also want to live longer in good health so they can be physically and cognitively present well into their 80s, 90s, and even 100s.
Transform Your Healthspan with These Lifestyle Changes
The following 12 time tested recommendations may in fact slow down the biological process of aging improving your healthspan.
1: Exercise
Exercise has a significant impact on healthspan. I would like to use the word exercise and movement interchangeably, because some of our activities of daily living can be used as exercise when done a bit more intentionally and faster. Exercise is more about your mind/brain than your body. Exercise is a gift to your body. The body will reward you for your efforts. 90% of your brain energy comes from the movement of the spine. For this reason, many therapies for post traumatic stress disorders and other brain and emotional traumas use body work as effective treatment. (Check out these books… The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk and Trauma by Peter Levine.) Many times an emotional release or energy shift happens during an adjustment. Many will comment on feeling better physically and emotionally when adjusted. Hippocrates said to move to help depression. Movement has been said to be like prozac and ritalin, all the good stuff without the bad. Brain Derived Neuro Factors promote growth – Not exercising would be like taking a depressant. In the blue zones, places where people had longer lifespans and health spans they often had daily normal activities of walking, including hills. Research shows that frequent physical activity can reduce and/or prevent some aging-related functional declines.
Sometimes it’s as simple as a walk, sometimes some resistance weights or bands, sometimes personal training can help with proper form to prevent injuries. Often, exercise in a group setting is wonderful for relationships and fellowship, which are 2 other factors of longevity!
Aerobic/cardio exercise is associated with reduced oxidative stress and inflammation while resistance exercise preserves skeletal muscle mass, helping to prevent or reduce frailty and sarcopenia (muscle loss in aging).
At least 30 minutes or more of moderate to intense exercise is recommended at least five days a week.
Sometimes a person does not have enough fuel because of mitochondrial dysfunction (cellular health), to sustain exercise. Sometimes the detox channels are not working efficiently and effectively. Then, exercise is an additional stress rather than a benefit. These are the things we check and correct so you get optimum results for your exercise efforts. Let us help you get rolling!
2: Diet
Hippocrates said “let food be medicine and medicine be your food”. Think about food being fuel and building materials for your body. If you have a high performance automobile, it requires premium fuel. Your body is a high performance and can only do as well as the fuel you give it.
Here are some statements you’ve probably heard that are good to think about;
“You are what you eat.” And some thought provoking variations as follows.
“You are what you ate has eaten.” So much of our food supply is fed GMO grains, antibiotics and hormones.
You are how you eat. How you approach food, rushed and hurried, grateful and thankful, peaceful rather than frustration, etc all effect foods benefits.
“You are what you eat, breakdown, absorb and don’t eliminate.”
Think of the purpose of eating, do we eat to live or live to eat. Refined and processed carbohydrates are full of chemicals that light up parts of our brain like drugs and give us strong appetites for unhealthy and un-nourishing food. Our bodies tell us when something is not good for us, but now we have drugs, antacids and proton pump inhibitors, to cover up that signal. The problem is these cover ups affect our absorption and utilization of food.
The great paradox of diet is that we are all the same and all very different. If your digestion is not well it will affect all of your body, including leaky gut syndrome and inflammation. This further affects more food and environmental sensitivities. We often test for food sensitivities and allergies in our office, which can improve as the digestive system improves. An elimination diet is a way to test your own system-you eliminate some foods for a time and then reintroduce them into the body and feel how you respond. Ralph Waldo Emerson said “you are an experiment of one.” Pay attention to the feedback your body gives. You may need to journal and learn to listen to your body. Listening and learning from your body is our goal for you in empowering and making you independent.
Use nutrition as your primary tool to heal your body and lower inflammation, which requires mindset to be empowered. Some common things we see are insulin resistance, pre-diabetes and diabetes, metabolic syndrome, fat dysregulation, channels of detoxification not working and mitochondrial dysfunction(low energy and fatigue).
Although each person’s diet can be individualized the common denominators are getting the bad toxic non-food out (processed, full of sugar and bad fats) and getting the good whole and organic food in.
If you are not sure where to start, we recommend eating meat, poultry, fish, vegetables, fruit and using only healthy fats (butter, olive oil, coconut oil, ghee, avocados, etc). If you need accountability, guidance and direction, consider our SHAPE Cleanse for a tailored protocol and to get a better relationship with food.
3: Environment
Pollution, smoking, and socio-environmental factors can influence healthspan. Long-term exposure to pollution may shrink telomere length, which is associated with aging. And pollutants contribute to inflammatory pathways involved in metabolism and brain and heart function. If you think about a goldfish tank that hasn’t been cleaned, dark and murky water and its affect on the health of the fish, you could drug the fish or clean up the environment. The environment is the trigger for many genetic occurrences. Epigenetics is the trigger and genetics is the gun.
4: Drink Water
Our bodies are primarily composed of water, about 50-70% bodyweight. Water aids in ridding waste products, regulates temperatures, lubricates joints and tissues.
We need a significant amount of water regularly to maintain healthy functioning – eight glasses a day is a commonly used marker. While on a detox or dealing with a health crisis about ½ your body in ounces may be necessary.
Simple ways of gauging your hydration include your thirst levels and the color of your urine. If you are rarely thirsty and your urine is colorless or light yellow, you are probably doing a good job. If your urine is thick, a dark color you probably need more water.
Water quality is an issue these days. Filtration devices are often necessary to get rid of toxins. Distilled water is necessary to rid water of radiation. Water and air are often tested for toxins in our living areas.
5: Get The Right Amount of Quality Sleep
Sleep is an essential time for our bodies and brains to recuperate: breathing, heart rate, and metabolism decrease.
Getting enough quality sleep, around 7–9 hours per night, is important for health and well-being. Sleep deprivation can increase stress, mood swings, and impact cognitive thinking.
6: Reduce the Time You Sit
Too much time spent sitting is a health risk distinct from getting too little exercise. Yes, even if you are reaching the recommended 150 weekly minutes of moderate-intensity activity, the amount of time you spend sitting down can decrease your quality of life and overall health span. Set yourself hourly (or more frequent) reminders to stand up and move your body. Even just the act of standing for a minute or two can do wonders for your health.
7: Maintain a healthy supportive relationships- Build a Community of Friends
Perhaps one aspect that no one will overlook is the value of a solid community. Building and maintaining social connections improves mental health and overall well-being.
8: Maintain a healthy body weight.
A healthy weight can vary for different people, but having too much belly fat can increase your health issues.
9: Drink alcohol in moderation
Try to drink just one glass a day or for women and two for men. Keeping your drinking to three glasses of alcohol or less a week is best for optimal health. Of course, zero is the best choice. Alcohol spikes blood sugar and can make it hard to lose weight.
10: Stress management:
Stress is essential to survival, but too much stress over a long period of time keeps your cortisol levels high — which can reduce your insulin sensitivity and increase your risk of heart disease, weight gain, cognitive impairment and decrease your healthspan.
Try meditation, prayer or other relaxation techniques to manage stress. Breathwork, spending time in nature, and exercise are key ways to manage your stress levels.
11: Prioritize your happiness
Feeling happy can significantly increase your longevity. In “Anatomy of an Illness” Author Norman Cousins tells of how it’s possible to overcome a debilitating disease through laughter and humor and the healing biochemistry they created.
A review of 35 studies showed that happy people may live up to 18% longer than their less happy counterparts. Dr Amen, “Change your Brain, Change Your Life” tells us to get rid of ANTs – Automatic Negative Thinking.
If God inhabits the praises of his people, who inhabits complaining, condemning and criticizing? Give thanks with a grateful heart.
12: Have a Purpose in Your Life
Waking up each morning with a real purpose. Having something to live for has the potential to increase your health span.
Key Healthspan Takeaways
For many of us, longevity has always been measured in terms of quantity, leading us to believe that the goal of aging is to live as long as possible. And while there is, of course, value in striving for a lengthy lifespan, many experts now believe that the real focus should be on optimizing healthspan. By adopting and practicing healthy habits we can boost our chances of actively participating in our favorite activities throughout the decades.
That said, everyone is different. While you can incorporate some of the lifestyle factors above, not all of these recommendations will work for everyone. At the end of the day, improving your healthspan is a personal process that hinges heavily on your unique biology and experimentation.
As the saying goes, “small changes lead to big results.” Incorporating minor adjustments into your daily routine can make a significant difference in your overall health and well-being.
It’s not just about living longer, it’s about enjoying every moment to the fullest.
Remember “What you can measure, you can manage and improve.”