Very informative and I would agree with your best guesses about the cohort, perhaps add that their air and water was much cleaner prior to the recent rapid industrialisation.
The 3 things you must do if you want to live to 100
First of all I’m not sure I want to live to 100. Then there’s the 3 things, the first one, never being a smoker is off the table; I only quit 50 years ago. The second one, exercise is something I do daily, but is it enough? Lastly having a diverse diet although achievable, is not really definable. I just try to avoid processed foods. Dr Peter Attia says that VO2 Max is the single greatest predictor of longevity, which essentially throws all the diet and nutrition stuff out the window. I walk along the shoulder of a country road where cars and trucks are whizzing by at 50mph. An encounter with one of those would ruin any aspirations of living to 100 regardless of VO2Max.
Most people who say they don't want to live to be 100 envisage old age as a time of debility. I certainly wouldn't want to live to 100 if I was in a nursing home, dribbling at the mouth. But to live to 100 or beyond in vibrant health is quite another matter. Fortunately, the factors that promote longevity also promote vibrant health (funny, that).
The longer the time that's elapsed since you quit smoking, the more your life expectancy and disease risk approximate that of a never-smoker. I reckon 50 years is long enough for your body to have repaired the damage done by smoking!
Recent research has suggested that the amount of exercise required to promote healthspan is less than previously believed. In the Chinese study, participants were asked if they did any form of exercise, like walking or tai chi - that is, they weren't all pumping iron at the gym.
Attia's focus on VO2 max is most likely a case of reverse causation, as explained very well here: https://criticalmas.org/2024/01/is-peter-attia-overhyping-vo2-max/. That is, people who are metabolically unhealthy because of their crappy diet, can't exercise with sufficient intensity to achieve an optimal VO2 max.
And yes, getting hit by a proverbial (or literal) truck will wipe out all your healthy behaviours in one go, but when you look at causes of death in the older age group, accident is well down the list.
On the dietary diversity front, the American Gut Project found the healthiest and most diverse gut microbiomes in people who ate 30 or more different plant foods per week. I reckon that's a pretty decent way to assess dietary diversity, given the centrality of the gut microbiome to pretty much every chronic disease that shortens healthspan and lifespan (and many acute ones, too).
Robyn, this is not directed at you personally. You do a great job. I've read 95% of your stuff.
But, this type of weird research by UnExperts coming to the crazed conclusions of what a person MUST do to live to be 100 yrs old (or whatever they are 'researching') - are a dime a dozen. Useless, damn near. I could tear this whole 'study' apart but it would take me oodles of pages. Scares me that people buy into this constant crap so easily.
For example. Here is my list of MUST do's to stay healthy and reach a certain age. Notice, none of these researchers ever touched my top 4 of the 7? Weird. Why? (rhetorical)
"The 7 things you MUST do to survive this wicked jungle and live to be 101 3/4 years young."
• Few meds. Only when absolutely necessary (which opens up a whole nother can of worms)
• No vaccines
• No chemo/radiation
• Avoid Doctors/Dentists whenever possible. For the most part, chuck them over the left field fence. Most of the Health "Experts" know squat about health. Other than - how to sicken, maim, deform, destroy & even kill humans. Starting in the womb. Avoid these Health UnExperts as you would avoid the plague.
• No cokes/soft drinks of any kind, ever.
• No ‘chips’ of any kind.
• No fast food.
But, I have 3-4 more suggestions to add to the above that'll kick you/me/everyone up to a 'guaranteed' living to be 107 3/4 years.
But #2. Sorry, gotta $$ paywall $$ it. It's a secret.
It's a near-certainty that the elderly Chinese adhered to most or even all of your longevity principles for most of their lives, through sheer necessity.
I understand your cynicism about research like this, but I think you're wrong to dismiss it as 'crazed'. There is a value in using large datasets to answer broad-brush questions. Sadly, some of those datasets are not being made available to researchers. For example here in Australia, every person's Medicare records are linked to their vaccination history. It would be very easy to use Big Data analysis techniques to determine the impact of vaccines on all manner of health outcomes. Oddly, the government refuses to conduct this research themselves, and won't make the database available to any other researcher. I can't imagine why not.
Does it mean people who have been married or are still married when they each "old age" ?
For example, my dad was 20 yo than mum, and he died when mum was about 56 I think. Mum lived to 89.
And I often hear stories about how when one person in a marriage dies, their other half dies soon after. .
I also listened to a recent Jordan P podcast with a Max Lugavere who wrote the Genius trilogy and has a film coming out about dementia. His Alzheimers prevention/predisposition factors were on the lines of obesity, exercise, high bp, and unfortunately ladies are more prone.
Good question. It refers to STILL being married. Both being widowed and being unmarried have been associated with reduced longevity. There is a high mortality rate for surviving spouses in the year or so after they're widowed; a broken heart can literally kill you. My mother has outlived two husbands and is still kicking on, at 92 (though not in robust health). Personality has a lot to do with it; my mother has always been very self-motivated and independent.
I heard that Lugavere podcast with JP. Those factors are very important in Western countries; less so in the Chinese cohort because they had never had the luxury of getting fat. There is an estrogen connection with dementia risk in females, but it may also be because historically women have had fewer cognitive challenges than men due to being home-makers rather than in the workforce. Cognitive reserve is highly protective against dementia. As the Boomer and Gen X cohorts age up, we'll have greater clarity about whether the higher dementia risk seen in women is purely biological, or partially socioeconomic.
No, you're in luck! Read my summaries of 4 studies conducted in Western cohorts which indicate that eating plant sources of protein instead of meat and other animal-sourced proteins is associated with greater longevity. You might hit the ton after all :).
Very informative and I would agree with your best guesses about the cohort, perhaps add that their air and water was much cleaner prior to the recent rapid industrialisation.
That's a really good point, and I'm going to add it to the article. Thank you.
Thanks Robyn. Very interesting
The 3 things you must do if you want to live to 100
First of all I’m not sure I want to live to 100. Then there’s the 3 things, the first one, never being a smoker is off the table; I only quit 50 years ago. The second one, exercise is something I do daily, but is it enough? Lastly having a diverse diet although achievable, is not really definable. I just try to avoid processed foods. Dr Peter Attia says that VO2 Max is the single greatest predictor of longevity, which essentially throws all the diet and nutrition stuff out the window. I walk along the shoulder of a country road where cars and trucks are whizzing by at 50mph. An encounter with one of those would ruin any aspirations of living to 100 regardless of VO2Max.
Most people who say they don't want to live to be 100 envisage old age as a time of debility. I certainly wouldn't want to live to 100 if I was in a nursing home, dribbling at the mouth. But to live to 100 or beyond in vibrant health is quite another matter. Fortunately, the factors that promote longevity also promote vibrant health (funny, that).
The longer the time that's elapsed since you quit smoking, the more your life expectancy and disease risk approximate that of a never-smoker. I reckon 50 years is long enough for your body to have repaired the damage done by smoking!
Recent research has suggested that the amount of exercise required to promote healthspan is less than previously believed. In the Chinese study, participants were asked if they did any form of exercise, like walking or tai chi - that is, they weren't all pumping iron at the gym.
Attia's focus on VO2 max is most likely a case of reverse causation, as explained very well here: https://criticalmas.org/2024/01/is-peter-attia-overhyping-vo2-max/. That is, people who are metabolically unhealthy because of their crappy diet, can't exercise with sufficient intensity to achieve an optimal VO2 max.
And yes, getting hit by a proverbial (or literal) truck will wipe out all your healthy behaviours in one go, but when you look at causes of death in the older age group, accident is well down the list.
On the dietary diversity front, the American Gut Project found the healthiest and most diverse gut microbiomes in people who ate 30 or more different plant foods per week. I reckon that's a pretty decent way to assess dietary diversity, given the centrality of the gut microbiome to pretty much every chronic disease that shortens healthspan and lifespan (and many acute ones, too).
Robyn, this is not directed at you personally. You do a great job. I've read 95% of your stuff.
But, this type of weird research by UnExperts coming to the crazed conclusions of what a person MUST do to live to be 100 yrs old (or whatever they are 'researching') - are a dime a dozen. Useless, damn near. I could tear this whole 'study' apart but it would take me oodles of pages. Scares me that people buy into this constant crap so easily.
For example. Here is my list of MUST do's to stay healthy and reach a certain age. Notice, none of these researchers ever touched my top 4 of the 7? Weird. Why? (rhetorical)
"The 7 things you MUST do to survive this wicked jungle and live to be 101 3/4 years young."
• Few meds. Only when absolutely necessary (which opens up a whole nother can of worms)
• No vaccines
• No chemo/radiation
• Avoid Doctors/Dentists whenever possible. For the most part, chuck them over the left field fence. Most of the Health "Experts" know squat about health. Other than - how to sicken, maim, deform, destroy & even kill humans. Starting in the womb. Avoid these Health UnExperts as you would avoid the plague.
• No cokes/soft drinks of any kind, ever.
• No ‘chips’ of any kind.
• No fast food.
But, I have 3-4 more suggestions to add to the above that'll kick you/me/everyone up to a 'guaranteed' living to be 107 3/4 years.
But #2. Sorry, gotta $$ paywall $$ it. It's a secret.
It's a near-certainty that the elderly Chinese adhered to most or even all of your longevity principles for most of their lives, through sheer necessity.
I understand your cynicism about research like this, but I think you're wrong to dismiss it as 'crazed'. There is a value in using large datasets to answer broad-brush questions. Sadly, some of those datasets are not being made available to researchers. For example here in Australia, every person's Medicare records are linked to their vaccination history. It would be very easy to use Big Data analysis techniques to determine the impact of vaccines on all manner of health outcomes. Oddly, the government refuses to conduct this research themselves, and won't make the database available to any other researcher. I can't imagine why not.
"married people live longer".
Does it mean people who have been married or are still married when they each "old age" ?
For example, my dad was 20 yo than mum, and he died when mum was about 56 I think. Mum lived to 89.
And I often hear stories about how when one person in a marriage dies, their other half dies soon after. .
I also listened to a recent Jordan P podcast with a Max Lugavere who wrote the Genius trilogy and has a film coming out about dementia. His Alzheimers prevention/predisposition factors were on the lines of obesity, exercise, high bp, and unfortunately ladies are more prone.
Good question. It refers to STILL being married. Both being widowed and being unmarried have been associated with reduced longevity. There is a high mortality rate for surviving spouses in the year or so after they're widowed; a broken heart can literally kill you. My mother has outlived two husbands and is still kicking on, at 92 (though not in robust health). Personality has a lot to do with it; my mother has always been very self-motivated and independent.
I heard that Lugavere podcast with JP. Those factors are very important in Western countries; less so in the Chinese cohort because they had never had the luxury of getting fat. There is an estrogen connection with dementia risk in females, but it may also be because historically women have had fewer cognitive challenges than men due to being home-makers rather than in the workforce. Cognitive reserve is highly protective against dementia. As the Boomer and Gen X cohorts age up, we'll have greater clarity about whether the higher dementia risk seen in women is purely biological, or partially socioeconomic.
good for 1 and 2, but recently my digestive system rejects meat. Bummers. Might only live to be 99 now.
No, you're in luck! Read my summaries of 4 studies conducted in Western cohorts which indicate that eating plant sources of protein instead of meat and other animal-sourced proteins is associated with greater longevity. You might hit the ton after all :).