Living Longer (continued) – Same Old Boring Advice

For the last two weeks, we have been looking at commonly mistaken solutions in the search for a longer life. There is no shortage of unverified exercises, tricks, potions and diets claiming to help us live longer. Many years ago a TV commercial featured some very wrinkled people living in the remote Russian steppes whose secret to a longer life was eating yogurt. These days everyone eats yogurt, and the more exotic the better, with little to show for it.

Sadly the trick to living longer is not yogurt or supplements or more vacations. It’s not being lazy to save your energy as this piece argues. Instead about every few months, like clockwork, the health-news segments present a new study or often the same old studies with the same old boring advice.

One that resurfaces every few years is a Harvard study revealing the five things anyone could do to raise the chances of living longer. (More details about the study came out in MarketWatch just last July.)

It was also published by the Harvard Gazette back in April with the headline: “Five healthy habits to live by,” and told of the five habits, if adopted in adulthood, that could add approximately 14 years to women’s life expectancy and 12 years to men’s. 

The five so-called secrets uncovered by this study were (drumroll, please) “eating a healthy diet, exercising regularly, keeping a healthy body weight, not drinking too much alcohol, and not smoking.” I hope no one paid a lot of money for a study basically telling us what everyone already knew (but most didn’t want to hear). 

But in May 2016 a source called the Thrillist reviewed a different Harvard study on the same subject. “For 75 years (and counting), researchers have been following the same 600+ people to determine what makes a long, healthy, and happy life.” This longitudinal study, following the same subjects over an extended period, came up with seven secrets. Of course there is considerable overlap: keep learning, don’t smoke, don’t abuse alcohol, exercise, maintain a healthy weight, adapt well to setbacks, and have positive relationships.

Actually, the study reported in 2016 was a combination of two simultaneous studies, one with 263 participants and the other with over 300. The first of these was reported on in the Huffington Post in August 2013 with the headline: "The 75-Year Study That Found The Secrets To A Fulfilling Life.” This one was based on an interview with the author of a 2004 book on the subject. The main differences between the studies, the focus on relationships and coping, are explained by the fact that this study was as concerned with happiness as with longevity.

So the secret to a longer life is not a secret at all. It has been publicized for well over a decade with the common-sense equivalent going back many years before. As I explained two Fridays ago, it just takes some combination of critical thinking and common sense, perspective, economic understanding - not throwing away good money on junk science - and discipline to stick to a sensible routine.

Of course, if none of that common sense advice appeals to you because it lacks tricks and secrets and requires discipline, follow the latest advice for living longer from this New York Times article, based on yet another study – play more tennis!