Would you rather live longer, or live better?

Some tips for aging well and adding life to your years

It’s inevitable: We all have to die sometime. You may wonder if eating a nutritious diet and cultivating other healthy habits will add years to your life. It might, but is that necessarily what you’re looking for?

Research suggests that if given the chance to live to be 120, most Americans would decline the offer. Considering that half the people in this country have at least one chronic disease — half of those people have two or more —It’s no wonder that tacking on some extra years to the end of life might not sound appealing. But adding more life to your years? That’s a different story.

What factors move the needle on health?

While our lifespans have been increasing due to advances in medicine, the number of years we spend in good health has been decreasing. But disease and disability are not the natural results of aging.

It’s a common assumption that our personal risk of disease is predetermined by our genes, but that’s only part of the story. Chronic diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, stroke, dementia and cancer can often be prevented — or at least delayed — with nutrition and other health-supporting habits.

For example, to best boost the odds of preventing chronic disease, science says we should eat a nutritious diet, get regular physical activity, avoid tobacco use and keep alcohol to moderate levels.

A large study of middle-aged men and women in Britain found that those who practiced all four of these healthy behaviors were three times as likely to avoid chronic disease, disability or mental health problems. That’s compared to people who practiced none of those behaviors. Each healthy behavior by itself increased the odds of healthy aging by 30 to 50 percent, but the benefits of engaging in more than one were greater then the sum of their parts.

6 tips for healthier aging

Disease risk aside, our nutrition and health habits affect us every single day. In the long term, they affect our disease risk and how healthfully we age. In the short term, our habits also shape how we feel, how much energy we have and our ability to take on our daily activities. Here are six ways you can make a difference:

• Nutrition. There is no one perfect diet for promoting health and longevity. While certain foods, such as broccoli and green tea, contain compounds that have been linked to improved health and a longer life, you don’t need to try to build a diet out of “superfoods.” Doing so would be limiting and restrictive. Aim to base your meals and snacks around a variety of nutritious foods—vegetables, fruit, whole grains, protein (lean meat, poultry, fish, soy foods, beans and lentils), nuts and seeds, and healthy fats (olive oil, avocados). If you feel like you have a lot of room for improvement, maybe pick one meal to focus on at first.
• Exercise. While 30 minutes a day, five days a week of brisk walking or other moderate-intensity activity is recommended, you can work up to that goal with shorter bouts of activity. Even 10-15 minutes a day has benefits for health, especially if you currently aren’t exercising at all. If you’re already meeting that recommendation, adding strength or resistance exercises that work all the muscles of the body two or three days per week is recommended for muscle and bone health.
• Stress. People with high stress see greater declines in cellular function with age. People who do better at preventing or managing stress are also more likely to engage in other healthy behaviors such as eating well, exercising and getting adequate sleep.
• Sleep. Poor sleep habits can raise stress levels and weaken the immune system. For most people, sleeping seven to eight hours a night brings the best health benefits.
• Social connection. While we’re all a bit different in how much social interaction we crave, everyone (even introverts) benefits from meaningful social connection. Nurture the good friendships you have, and if you need to find new friends (admittedly harder as an adult), maybe find an activity you’re passionate (or at least curious) about so you can meet like-minded people. It’s a place to start.
• Keep up with preventive health. Preventive health screenings can catch problems when they’re smaller and easier to treat or manage. No one likes getting blood work, mammograms or coloscopies, but they do save lives.