Bad news - our healthy life expectancy has just fallen
New government figures have been released on our ‘healthspan’ in England and Wales – and it’s not good news. The average healthy life expectance has fallen by nearly two years for women, meaning we are now expected to spend an average of 61.9 years in “good” general health in England; and 59.6 years in Wales (men can expect to live 61.5 years in good health – a fall of 1.7% - and 60.3 years in Wales).
So what’s going on? Well, It’s a grim secret that many medics refer to the decades between 50 and 70 as ‘sniper’s alley’, because that’s when you have to start ducking and diving to avoid the bullets of heart disease, cancer, high blood pressure, strokes, dementia and diabetes, which can strike at any time. In fact, a new study has shown that although we might be living longer, we’re less healthy than previous generations.
The global study by researchers at the University of Oxford and University College London found people in their 50s and 60s today are more likely to have serious health problems and chronic illness than their parents’ generation did at the same age. The authors expressed concern for worsening health (and even severe disability) for baby boomers as they enter their later years.
But it’s not all bad news. Researchers have also been studying the measures we can take in
midlife to safeguard our future health – and it seems that getting our acts together now really can propel us towards stronger, healthier and sharper decades to come. Eating well, losing weight and getting physically active, for example, are all associated with healthier ageing, regardless of past activity levels or existing conditions.
‘There’s a plethora of pills, procedures, salves, supplements and specific foods that can help reduce wrinkles, grow hair, shrink prostates and enhance vision, erection, cognition and so on,’ says Dr Michael Greger, author of How Not To Age: The Scientific Approach To Getting Healthier As You Get Older. ‘But the foundation is diet and lifestyle, which is good news, because you hold the power. It’s never too late to turn back the clock.’
Take new research that was released in the summer as part of a British study that tracked more than 3,000 adults from birth to provide data for scientists over more than
75 years. The latest findings show how, by switching to healthy eating patterns in your 40s, you could bump yourself out of the ‘at risk’ category of getting dementia in your 70s. ‘Our findings also provide new evidence suggesting that improvements to dietary patterns in midlife may influence cognitive performance and help mitigate, or lessen, cognitive decline in later years,’ say the study authors. Here are the steps to take now for better health later.
Reduce your waistline
Your waist measurement indicates where fat is located – and that matters, says longevity and ageing specialist Professor Luigi Fontana, author of The Path To Longevity: How To Reach 100 With The Health And Stamina Of A 40-Year-Old (Quadrille). ‘Many studies have shown that fat distribution is a much stronger predictor of metabolic health than body weight and BMI,’ he explains. ‘Belly fat is the real enemy – the one that is associated with numerous detrimental metabolic conditions, including low-grade chronic inflammation.’
Sadly, as we age, we’re more likely to gain inches around our waist than lose them; from our mid-40s, we tend to sit more, exercise less and come up against issues such as increased stress, declining muscle mass – and, of course, the fluctuating and declining hormone levels that menopause brings. The result is a poorer health prognosis; according to the NHS, a waist measurement of 31in or more for women, or 37in or more for men, puts you at greater risk of developing chronic illnesses, including cancer, circulatory problems, heart disease and diabetes. And a 2024 study published in the journal Neurology found middle-aged people with high levels of belly fat were 13% more likely to develop neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.
That’s why losing inches from your waist is one of the most effective ways to grow healthier as you age. It may not be too long, in fact, before your GP measures your BRI – Body Roundness Index – rather than your BMI; a recent report showed that a BRI calculator is an accurate way to estimate the type of body fatness that puts you at risk of disease.
So, what’s the safest way to lose weight from your waist? Slowly, says Professor Fontana. ‘Several studies have shown that rapid weight loss is almost invariably followed by regaining weight and a higher risk of serious complications, including gallstones.’ He recommends substituting refined and processed foods with those rich in fibre, such as vegetables, wholegrains and pulses; stopping eating when you’re 80% full; consuming most food within a restricted time frame (eight to 10 hours); eating slowly; and incorporating ‘healthy’ fasting by eating only non-starchy vegetables dressed with olive oil once or twice a week.
Maximise nutrition
While staying a healthy weight is vital for future health, what you eat is one of the chief determinants of how long you’ll live and how many healthy years you’ll have. Researchers who study the ‘blue zones’ – locations around the world with a high proportion of healthy centenarians, free from chronic diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, cancer and obesity – say the linking factor in all these populations is that they eat a mostly plant-based diet, with daily portions of pulses, and meat as an occasional treat. They also prepare real food from scratch and rarely touch processed junk foods. New research by the University of Michigan shows that switching to an optimal Mediterranean-style diet at the age of 60 (even if you’ve eaten unhealthily your entire life) could increase your life expectancy by eight years.
Eating a wide range of plants – particularly ‘stressed’ ones – is key, says Dr Federica Amati, nutritional scientist and author of Every Body Should Know This. Cruciferous vegetables, such as broccoli, cauliflower and kale, produce plant-stress chemicals called polyphenols to protect from damage; when we eat them, these phytonutrients are used
by our bodies to stimulate cellular protective mechanisms, helping us become stronger, healthier and improve longevity.
Dr Amati also emphasises the importance of adding ferments to your diet. ‘The fibre and probiotic microbes in fermented foods can work to support the population of microbes in
your gut. This helps the immune system work effectively and dampens the harmful inflammatory response, which is a strong precursor for heart disease.’ She recommends eating two or three portions of different fermented foods every day (kefir or live yogurt for breakfast; sauerkraut or kimchi in a sandwich; drinking kombucha; or nibbling a chunk of Cheddar cheese).
Stay intimate
One of the most powerfully beneficial forms of activity is sexual activity – so keep going for as long as you can! In a long-term study, Dr David Weeks, a clinical neuropsychologist at the Royal Edinburgh Hospital, found that the stress reduction, heightened levels of contentment and better sleep that comes with regular sex could be enough to knock four to seven years off your age. Dr Week’s study also suggested that orgasms had powerful cognitive benefits, stimulating brain-cell regeneration and contributing to enhanced performance in memory tests. Sex also led to lower levels of cortisol in the body, a hormone associated with with higher levels of inflammation, which is linked to ageing. Sexual intimacy can even lengthen your ‘telomeres’, the protective end caps on our DNA, leading to healthier ageing.
Move it...
...or lose it. That’s the result of countless studies into the power of exercise to hold back the years. Professor Norman Lazarus (aged 88) is the author of The Lazarus Strategy: How To Age Well And Wisely and still works as a longevity researcher with King’s College London. His research suggests that exercise, when prioritised from your 50s, offers protection from the ravages of age.
Professor Lazarus’s investigations into how exercise can help to keep your body young were prompted by observing members of his cycling group. ‘I was 70, and I realised that the people in my group weren’t suffering from the normal diseases of ageing,’ he says. He set out to find out why and the results are clear: ‘Call it movement, call it exercise, call it physical training,’ he says, ‘but pick any physical activity you enjoy enough to want to do it for the rest of your life.’
‘Exercise really is powerful medicine,’ agrees Professor Luigi Fontana. ‘Humans and their molecular pathways have evolved over thousands of years with a lot of exercise – walking everywhere, carrying wood, getting water from the well – so the modern sedentary lifestyle is not natural.’ He recommends an hour of aerobic exercise every day (walking counts), but shorter bouts spread throughout the day can also provide benefits,
But it’s not just aerobic activity that we should be focusing on. ‘We need muscle to maintain balance and good posture,’ explains physiologist Professor Leslie Kenny, co-founder of the Oxford Longevity Project. ‘Muscle also emits proteins called myokines, which are anti-inflammatory, and the more muscle we have, the more energy we burn, which means less chance of the dreaded postmenopausal muffin top.’ She recommends learning to love squats (with feet hip-distance apart, bend your knees as if to sit in a chair, then straighten up again) and building them into your daily routine. ‘Try doing 10 while brushing your teeth, doing the dishes or while you’re making your morning brew,’ she suggests.
Step up your sleep
Too many of us skimp on sleep, but a really good night’s kip can have a profound impact, says Professor Kenny. ‘Getting too little sleep increases levels of cortisol, the stress hormone, and also increases circulating insulin in the blood,’ she says. The key, she adds, is aiming for maximum deep sleep, the phase we enter between 10pm and 2am – so eat your evening meal earlier and make sure you’re tucked up in bed by 10pm, she advises.
‘Deep sleep is when the brain’s glymphatic system kicks into action, helping to remove potentially harmful waste,’ she explains. ‘This is especially important for women, who have twice the risk of developing Alzheimer’s and dementia compared to men.’
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