Practical Longevity Plan v1.0
10 Data-Backed Rules to Live (Longer) By: A one-pager behavioral, dietary, & actuarial framework for longevity.
What is longevity?
Longevity is extension of both life (lifespan) and wellness (healthspan). To achieve longevity we must maintain some baseline of physical and mental capability for longer than we otherwise might, and also avoid premature death from disease and accidents.
Though I have a keen personal interest in longevity, I’ve struggled to maintain consistent long-viewed health protocols—and not to mention mostly failing to support my loved ones in doing so. The volume and complexity of data makes it challenging for me to identify and adhere to a plan. So, I thought it would be helpful to make (and continually update) a framework of the top ten do-able practices to apply to real, daily life.
What criteria underwrite these practices?
These “rules” are distilled and cherry-picked mostly from doctors, anthropologists, gerontologists, and longevity citizen-scientists: Huberman Lab (Dr. Andrew Huberman), NutritionFacts.org (Dr. Michael Gregor), Blue Zones (Dan Buettner), Stanford Medical School (Dr. Chris Gardner), Dr. Peter Attia, Blueprint Protocol (Bryan Johnson), Laura Deming, and the Methusala Foundation.
The principles belong to three categories: behavioral, dietary, and actuarial.
Behavioral - Our social and personal lifestyle habits play a huge role in our longevity. Behavioral principles cover exercise, socializing cultural practices, hobbies, habits, and routines.
Dietary - This covers what we eat and drink—and what we don’t. I emphasize what we should consume partly for positive phycology, but mostly because allocating a larger “share of stomach” to these items means less hunger drive, time, and space for unhealthy items.
Actuarial - To me, longevity doesn’t just mean “aging slowing”; it also implies avoiding premature death to the extent possible. To extend our “expected" lifespan, we should probabilistically consider the leading causes of mortality and take reasonable steps to mitigate them. In the US, the top causes of adult mortality are heart disease, cancer, stoke, accidents, Alzheimers, and diabetes (CDC). Extraordinary events like pandemics, wars, famines, and natural disasters are also top sources of mortality, when they do occur. This category is the most analytically complex and will be highly personalized depending on family histories and life circumstances. However, it yields some of the most novel principles.
Some activities cut across multiple categories. For example; taking up a gardening hobby might yield you light cardio, healthy food, and perhaps prevent you from taking up a harmful or dangerous hobby. So, gardening could be considered a behavioral, dietary, and actuarial intervention.
Also note, this framework doesn’t cover medical interventions or prescription drugs.
There is, naturally, little consensus as to what rules—or even categories of principles—are most important for longevity. I whittled down and vetted the rules based on three criteria: adherence, social proof, and biochemical data.
Adherence - It doesn’t matter what diet or exercise plan we “are on”; it matters what we actually do. So, for a longevity protocol to be effective, it must be something people can actually stick with. It must also be accessible, financially and culturally. Most people have neither the resources or energy to take 100 supplements and get quarterly blood tests, nor will they go vegan, become a monk, or adopt extreme sleep and eating schedules. This concept is inspired by Dr. Gardner’s practical approach to nutrition trials. Simplicity is key!
Social Proof - “Blue Zones” are small cities sprinkled across the globe with abnormally large populations of centenarians (people living to 100+), a concept developed by Dan Buettner. This provides a longitudinal natural experiment about lifestyle factors that are correlated with longevity. There is also a large body of population-level research on built on surveys and controlled experiments to test the impact of interventions on key longevity metrics like all-cause mortality per year.
Biochemical Data - This covers interventions backed by a mechanistic understanding of biology as well as measurable physiologic data and biomarkers. These studies might not always be experimentally tested on human populations (and especially not over a course of many years) but can still provide a strong basis to justify certain practices.
10 Rules to Live (Longer) By
Based on these factors—and my current understanding of the data—I present my current “top 10” practices I encourage myself, friends, and family to follow. They are roughly in order of importance but admittedly there is not much qualitative rigor in the order. My goal is to continually update these rules with new data and perspectives— so please reach out!
1. Fill up on superfoods
The foods most associated with longevity are those with a low glycemic index and that are high in polyphenols (antioxidants) and monounsaturated fats. This diet lowers the risk of (very prevalent) metabolic syndrome associated with cancer, heart disease, and diabetes - the cause of over half of all deaths in America.
Almost all the researchers recommend specific foods — not diets— primarily: legumes (beans), leafy greens, berries, olive oil, sweet potato, tofu, avocado, sourdough bread, nuts, fermented foods like sauerkraut and tempeh, and some fish.
These foods do not contain the insulin-spiking, microbiome-disrupting, artery-hardening, and inflammation-causing elements common in processed foods and animal products like simple sugars, emulsifiers, saturated fats, and preservatives.
Because these “superfoods” are not calorie dense (look into this, it is shocking), you can happily eat your fill of them and leave the less-healthy foods as condiments or treats. Caloric restriction is strongly associated with longevity (Attia), but there is considerable debate whether we should use fasting to achieve that (as opposed to diet only).
This approach is inspired by Dr. Gregor’s “Daily Dozen,” a list of 12 foods we should eat every day.
2. Sleep hygiene regimen
Suboptimal sleep is associated with reduced longevity, cognitive capability, and physical recovery (Walker). Nearly all the experts place this in their top 2-3 recommendations.
To improve sleep, experts typically recommend the following:
No alcohol or caffeine after lunchtime.
Avoid eating within 2-3 hours before bedtime (even more time is better).
Keep your body (bed/bedroom) cooler at night and warmer in the morning.
Maintain circadian rhythm by getting full-spectrum (sun)light in your eyes/face the mornings and avoid blue light in the afternoons. Limit TV or phone screens in your bedroom at night, and if you must, use “night mode”.
3. “Zone 2” cardio for 3 hours/week
Zone 2 refers to low heart rate cardiovascular exercise (60-80% of your maximum heart rate). At this effort level, our cells operate aerobically and burn fat instead of glucose. It strongly supports metabolic health, mitochondrial function, and mobility.
How do you know if you are in Zone 2? It occurs when we apply “some” effort, but not so much that we must breathe through our mouths or become unable to chat. (Aside: nasal breath is much superior to mouth breathing—James Nestor’s Breath is an excellent book on this.) Examples include jogging, rowing, walking briskly, bicycling, hiking, dancing, and yard work.
The optimal amount of Zone 2 cardio is 200 minutes per week (Huberman). There are practical and fun ways to get this light cardio, like taking up a sport such as pickleball or swapping some car rides for bicycle rides. Dan Buettner notes that in the “Blue Zones”, many centenarians get their light cardio by living in walkable (often hilly) communities and by avoiding the use of power-tools in favor of “naturally” powered versions of gardening, cooking, or crafting rather than use of power-tools.
4. Compound Strength Training (3x Weekly)
Muscle loss (sarcopenia) is an unavoidable part of aging. Therefore, it is critical to build a surplus of skeletal muscle in our younger years- a “reserve” of strength that improves our “starting” position when sarcopenia occurs, and slows its progress (Attia). Compound (multi-muscle) resistance exercises like squats, deadlifts, and lunges build both strength and mobility—especially in the critical hip and spine areas. High-weight, low-rep (sets of 3-8) weighted lifts are the most effective for building strength. (Huberman). He recommends 3-4 days per week of strength training.
Loss of mobility is one of the leading indicators of near-term all-cause mortality. For those over 65, those who break a hip or femur have a 15-30% chance of dying within a year due to many co-morbidities that lose of movement/freedom is associated with (Attia).
Anecdotally, I find that power yoga has had the greatest impact on my strength and mobility, especially in the hips and spine. This seems to have some research backing it up as well.
5. Know your life-mission and team - don’t build around early retirement
Early retirement is associated with early death, likely because people lose their sense of purpose, peer group, and may slide into unhealthy habits. It doesn’t have to be this way!
Beuttner’s Power 9 principles associated with natural longevity in Blue Zones includes identifying a sense of purpose in life. In Okinawa, Japan this is called “ikigai” and in the Nicoya, Costa Rica it is a “plan de vida”.
For many, this purpose comes from a religious community (nearly all Blue Zones are heavily religious), caretaking for family in multi-generational living arrangements, and/or participating in small, life-long social support groups the Okinawans call “moais”.
At least for many secular Americans, this is a drastically different social arrangement than we are used to. I believe that we can engineer a sense of purpose and community by thoughtfully identifying a social cause or affinity group to collaborate with towards shared purposes.
I like to think about purpose as the hearth in our inner home that motivates us to care for our body, minds, and community. See my Inner Home Wellness Framework.
6. Track (bio)markers
The “four horsemen” of chronic disease described by Attia (cardiovascular, cancer, neurodegenerative, and metabolic) are all interlinked and highly responsive to diet, sleep, exercise, and other aspects of lifestyle (for good and ill). How our bodies respond to lifestyle factors is also highly personalized, which is why most of the longevity experts recommend tracking (bio)markers like heart rate, heart rate variability, VO2 max, sleep score, blood glucose levels, and routine blood lipid panels. That way, you can use your own physiologic data, trial-and-error, and trend analysis to set and tweak your actions.
There are many great consumer hardware devices available that make collecting and tracking biomarkers and training data easy like the Apple watch, Oura ring, Whoop bracelet, or Fitbit. I’m going to try out a continuous glucose monitor (CGM) next, to see how my insulin responds to various foods and eating schedules to limit my risk of metabolic disease (which is much more insidious and broad than simple obesity).
Vascular health diagnostics tests also seem like a good idea for anyone but there aren’t at-home versions I’m aware of yet. I’m also not aware of good at-home blood panels.
7. Foundational Supplementation
We all want an easy fix—a pill that will extend our lifespan. However, I cannot find consensus in the longevity community about such miracle molecules like NMN/NAD+, metformin, or rapamycin due to the difficulty in conducting clinical trials on people. This is the realm of doctors, not me, anyways.
There is apparent consensus on the benefits of dietary support with foundational nutritional supplementation to support sleep, exercise routines, cognitive function, and a complete diet. There is near-universal support of greens powder (e.g., AG1 or Amazing Grass), hydrolyzed protein powder (e.g., pea, hemp, whey), omega-3 fatty acids (e.g., fish oil), vitamin B12, zinc, magnesium, and creatine. Non-dutched cocoa powder is also popular as a source of antioxidants as are berries. Examine is a comprehensive database on supplement safety/efficacy data.
If we do seek out rx-longevity support, it’s probably a better bet to start with well-established drugs like statins, blood-glucose modulators, and maybe even appetite suppressants like Ozymepic. These drugs can safely reduce the risk of the “four horsemen” of disease that prematurely kill most people, rather than treating cellular aging itself.
8. “Spa time” (hot/cold exposure, light therapy, meditation)
Spa time refers to a suite of therapies aimed at improving our hormonal health and circadian rythm. Regulation of cortisol (the maligned “stress hormone”) is a critical component of wellness and some argue is the most important hormone to target for longevity. We don’t want excessive or constant cortisol in our blood, but having too little weakens immune function.
Regular hot sauna use (3-7 times weekly) reduces the risk of cardiovascular mortality and promotes healthy hormone levels (Laukkenen, Huberman). 11 minutes of cold exposure (shower, bath, cryo) is shown to boost metabolism, sleep, and energy levels (Huberman). Near infrared light has been shown (at least in animals) to be protect against disease (including atherosclerosis). Getting morning sunlight (or similar) powerfully improves our sleep and focus (Huberman). Certain types of meditation—yoga nidra aka non-sleep deep rest (NSDR)—have numerous physiological benefits associated with longevity.
I’m describing these practices together, although most of the (rather impressive) body of research on them usually looks at the practices in isolation. They fit together, because all these practices are something you might do at the spa, or on a mediation retreat, or at the yoga studio. We try to do them all in the morning first thing. All can be deeply relaxing, enjoyable, and fill our well with determination to adhere to the other rules.
9. Avoid death traps
This one is mostly actuarial. It is worth being aware of the leading non-disease causes of death as well as those activities that are highly correlated with all-cause mortality through co-morbidity. Everyone knows that smoking tobacco is the number one risk factor for hearth disease and certain cancers, but did you know that moving into a nursing home is associated with a reduced life expectancy of over three years (even factoring in pre-existing conditions) compared to those who do not enter nursing homes. So, it’s probable that saving extra money for in-home care (if needed) would extend our lifespans.
Hospitals are valuable institutions, but are probably worth trying to stay out of. Up to 10% of US deaths may be due to medical error, and health-care acquired infections kill 100,000 Americans yearly. We do know that having access to health insurance increases life expectancy, though I can’t find data whether private health insurance increases life expectancy compared to Medicare/Medicaid. I wonder whether insureds are more or less likely to be hospitalized than uninsured people.
Perhaps not surprisingly, the number one cause of non-illness-related death in the US (by a lot) is automobile accidents. I need to figure out how best to reduce this risk, other than drive less and cautiously, and with a safe vehicle. Looking at hobbies: base jumping, mountain climbing, mountain biking, motorcycling, and racing cars all carry a very high risk of death per hour of participation. Further, certain tourist destinations can be riskier than we expect due to criminal activity or unsafe driving conditions. Eating red meat and processed meat is associated with increased all-cause mortality. Here is an interesting chart on causes of death. Maybe worth limiting some of these things and thinking about other interventions from an actuarial perspective.
10. Limit alcohol consumption
The healthiest amount of alcohol is no alcohol. It is a well-understood neurotoxin that interferes with hormonal function and sleep, as well as containing non-nutritious calories that harm our metabolic health. Dr. Huberman has an excellent 2 hour lecture on the topic. I’m not aware of any longevity experts who dispute this.
If you do drink, the negative impact of alcohol is minimal if you consume less than 2 drinks per week. Over 6 drinks per week is associated with worst effects of alcohol consumption. There is widespread belief that drinking 1-2 glasses of red wine daily supports longevity, but there doesn’t appear to be good data supporting this. Beuttner does point out that in many Blue Zones, the centenarians consume natural wines daily.
Areas to further investigate
Does moving to a country with high life expectancy like Japan, Switzerland, Singapore, or Italy increase your own life expectancy? Can breathwork improve longevity? Do pets increase our longevity? How can we increase the longevity of our pets? Should I be donating to health-research non-profits like the American Heart Association because that money will go to breakthrough research in addressing my main causes of mortality? Do endurance sports like ultramarathons reduce or enhance lifespan? Do the caloric restriction benefits of intermittent fasting outweigh the potentially slower rates of muscle growth? What are the main environmental toxins and how do they impact longevity?
Thanks for reading—and best of luck with your long-term health and wellness goals! I’ll release v2.0 when/if I get enough new information, so feedback is appreciated.
This is Fifth Industrial, a blog by Nate Crosser scouting emerging environmental biotechnologies and strategies for a regenerative economy and lifestyle. See the posts on the most impactful bioproducts, plant cell culture, cellular agriculture, mycelium materials, synthetic silk, microbiomics, deep space food, alt cheese, alt protein CPG, biophilia, and agricultural innovation engines.
Please support by subscribing (it’s free) and sharing.