Add life to years instead of years to life

Sports medicine doctor Jordan D. Metzl on “The Longevity Scam”:

The irony is that modern medicine has already succeeded at what the modern-day longevity movement claims to offer. Over the past 150 years, human life expectancy around the world has more than doubled, to numbers that Ponce de León could hardly have dreamed of. Clean water, sanitation, antibiotics, and vaccines have done more to extend human life than any supplement stack ever could. Cold plunges and red lights may feel empowering, but there is little evidence that today’s biohacking tools meaningfully extend the maximum human lifespan.

A better—and more achievable—goal would be to extend healthy longevity, adding life to years instead of years to life. Scientists and doctors, for the most part, already know how to do this. Daily exercise and maintaining skeletal muscle volume as you age are among the most potent forms of preventive health care.

After decades of prescribing exercise as medicine to my patients, I tell them this: Move your body every day, and build muscles with weights or bodyweight exercises three times a week. Eat foods that you can recognize in nature. Prioritize sleep. Stay socially connected with community activities. Such a regimen may not enable you to cheat death. But it’s free. It’s evidence-backed. And it will help you live well right now.