“Longevity in this business is about being able to reinvent yourself or invent the future” – Satya Nadella.
This quote talks about business longevity or sustainability. In general longevity as a term often implies to one’s life, either quantitatively in terms of the years of living, or qualitatively referring to the quality of the years lived, be it contentment, happiness, health or prosperity. As one ages, the confidence in the term “longevity” begins to diminish, with decreasing metabolism and increasing ailments. So, the key to sustenance is adequate consistency and maintenance, which has got a lot to do with lifestyle, nutrition and exercise.
“I am more interested in health, quality of life, longevity and how training and nutrition affects that as you get older” – Dorian Yates.
Dr. Peter Attia, a renowned American Physician and Author of a runaway bestseller “Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity” gives us insights and his thoughts on improving longevity during his interview to Lewis Howes in May, 2023 for a talk entitled “Daily Hacks to Live Longer and Reverse Your Age”. During this interview, Dr. Peter Attia, who bounced back to great health and fitness after about a year in excruciating pain and bed-ridden time due to a back surgery, shares tips on improving longevity, optimizing and deriving peak health levels and also potentially reversing age-related decline, covering areas of exercise, nutrition, mindfulness and awareness, disease management, and emotional health habits. Dr. Peter Attia has stuck to a disciplined approach to his life in terms of managing his back injury, building a healthy body, exercising consistently and adopting a healthy lifestyle with side activities like rucking to get the cardio effect going uphill and resistance effect whilst downhill, experiencing and being in-sync with nature without any interruption, enjoying hobbies of archery, hunting and swimming.
For the rest of this article, let’s try and decode the hacks and tips that Dr. Pater Attia had shared during this interview.
When asked to share about 3 to 5 main things required to live a longer life, Dr. Pater Attia responded by saying that it varies and depends on the area or requirement that one is most deficient at that particular point in time.
The first area where most could be deficient is Exercise. It is imperative to incorporate regular physical exercise, that includes both aerobic cardio and resistance strength training to support muscle strength, flexibility, balance, metabolic health, physique and overall fitness with vitality. The key is to have a mix of cardio and strength routines in one’s exercise protocol and raising the bar consistently to accrue and reap its peak benefits to name a few like reversing the harm caused by type 2 diabetes, smoking and kidney failure. As one ages, their muscles too age by loss and shrinkage of type 2 muscle fibers, that are responsible for the burst of energy during the younger years. By strength exercising, it is possible to delay the shrinkage and loss of these type 2 muscle fibers. Additionally, muscles enable one to have good stability in whatever they do. Stability is much beyond wearing footwear with cushions or support systems; it depends a lot on the ability of one’s core muscles to withstand the pressure of weight, speed and time.
The next area to focus on would be Nutrition. Protein-intake is considered important for muscle development, building and growth and they serve as the building blocks for muscles. Since muscles are the most important repository for glucose, it helps in the control and regulation of glucose, thereby reducing risks of morbidity. Thus, in addition to the pancreas and liver, muscles play a vital role in glucose management and fat metabolism. The amount of protein intake can vary in individuals based on their respective dietary tolerances, exercise regimens and protein sources, from the minimum RDA of 0.8 gram per kg bodyweight to about 2 grams per kg bodyweight. Another factor in protein intake is to spread out its consumption over a few meals rather than taking them all together in a meal or at one go, to derive its benefits and effects to the maximum, to ensure ideal muscle quality and strength. Some of the common and useful sources of protein could be plant proteins like pea or soy protein, animal proteins like lean meat, milk, yoghurt, cheese and eggs.
Another area to ponder on would be Attentiveness when we are on the road, especially while driving or riding. Attentiveness not just of oneself, but also of one’s surroundings like the traffic flow around, traffic lights, pedestrians, objects on the road and also road signs or signals. Accidents are responsible for a lot of injuries and deaths worldwide. Accident-related injuries and deaths can have a huge detriment to one’s quality of life. Imagine having an injury that can cause physical or mental disability or impairment; or the death of a loved one that can take a huge toll on mental health leading to hampered physical health. Stay away from handling the phone while driving or riding. Be careful on road intersections. Be within the regulated speed limits. Follow traffic rules. A person losing focus or attention for a second can harms the lives of many more for a lifetime. Being mindful and having situational awareness can reduce risk of accident by about 20 percent.
The next area of concern is being free from any disease and the most relevant of them is Cardiovascular disease. It is the number one cause of death worldwide. Every year about 19 million deaths is attributed to heart attack globally. Isn’t that scarry? To get imaginative, that number is more that half our Malaysian population. Cancer stands at number two at about 12 million deaths per year globally. The root cause of cardiovascular disease is cholesterol, something that we all know and talk about as good and bad cholesterol, total cholesterol and the like. Cholesterol is produced by our body and is transported throughout the blood stream using carriers called lipoproteins, known generally as LDL (low density lipoprotein) or bad cholesterol and HDL (high density lipoprotein) or good cholesterol. It is when these LDL gets stuck in the arteries along the walls, especially the narrow coronary artery system, that triggers a cardiovascular disease due to the plaque formed leading to atherosclerosis. Another cause associated with cardiovascular disease is blood pressure. It is crucial to keep one’s blood pressure in check and control by weight loss, exercise and dietary sodium intake reduction. The next cause of cardiovascular disease is smoking. It is the tobacco and the chemicals inhaled during smoking that trigger cardiovascular complications. Let’s not forget the role smoking plays in leading to Lung Cancer too. Other neuro-degenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s too have a prevalence as one ages and due to lifestyle. Some of the ways to prevent disease are exercising, not having type-2 diabetes, managing blood pressure, avoiding smoking, getting adequate sleep, controlled LDL and homocysteine levels and being sensitive to the body’s needs, signs and signals.
Developing Good Habits, Practicing Moderation and Emotional Health come next in line for maintaining the quality of life and leading to longevity. The key here is consistency and making it regular to become a habit. Everything that is done should be done keeping in mind it’s effects, side-effects and in moderation. This can go a long way in supporting not just the length of life, but also the quality of life. God controls the tab for length of life. God has also given us the ability to think and control the tab for quality of life. Quality of life can have different individualistic perceptions, but all lead to being able to be functional, healthy, fit and pursue one’s hobbies and passion. This can enhance one’s cognitive, emotional and physical health enabling one to age gracefully and intelligently. The cognitive and physical capabilities tend to decrease with age. Emotional capability and capacity only grows and matures with age. Emotional maturity improves with awareness, acceptance and adherence. As one matures emotionally, they have a better co-ordination and integration between the body and mind, able to foster a positive mindset and able to enhance the resilience to aging and its associated risks.
In the closing words of Dr. Peter Attia, “I will not let anyone to hurt me. I will show how good I can be. Whatever it is that I am going to do, I will be the best person who has ever done it. My life is mostly in Harmony. Greatness is being comfortable with who you are and being content”.
Reflecting on the learnings from Dr. Peter Attia, the essence of our living should be to be able to be active, healthy, independent, disease-free and happy as long as we live. To a large extent, our health determines our happiness. Many of us may be blessed with genetic factors and can go on to capitalize on them to ensure healthy longevity. Some may have to live with what is genetic. But there are definitely quite a few modifiable factors that are well within our control and although there is no guarantee of our next moment, we can opt for the better and The Time to Make the Change is Now!
“All things are difficult before they are easy” – Thomas Fuller.
“Only I can change my life. No one can do it for me” – Carol Burnett.
