Do you want to know how old you can live?
There are many ways to estimate this number, the simplest and most straightforward of which is to refer to the average life expectancy of human beings, which reflects how many years people who live today can expect to live.
According to the World Health Organization, as of 2019, the global average human life expectancy has reached 73.3 years [1]. More than half a century ago (1950), the number was 47 years old.
In just a few decades, human beings have "lived" for nearly 30 years!
This is thanks to the fact that you live in modern society. With the development of society and the advancement of various medical methods, human beings are living longer and longer.
Most likely, this number will continue to increase, and human life expectancy will become longer and longer [2].
The question arises again: How many years can a person live at most?
We ordinary people, what can we do to make ourselves as long as possible?
This article will give you a detailed answer.
The globally recognized record for the highest human lifespan is 122 years.[3]
[4] The living "longest-lived old man" is a Japanese woman, Ritsuko Tanaka.
Born in 1903, the woman just celebrated her 119th birthday on January 2, 2022, and is still living in a nursing home in Japan.
Image source: Stand Cool Helo
You may feel that people who live to be more than 100 years old and 110 years old are actually not unusual, and there will definitely be people who will live longer after that.
So, if external factors are not taken into account, how long can people live?
On May 25, 2021, a research team from the United States and Singapore published a research paper in the internationally renowned academic journal Nature Communications, stating that the upper limit of human lifespan is 150 years.
The researchers collected data from more than 540,000 volunteers of different ages in the United States, the United Kingdom and Russia, and found that there are two main factors associated with human longevity: biological age and human self-resilience.
When people get older, their ability to self-heal decreases, for example, 80-year-olds take three times longer to recover health than 40-year-olds [5].
When the ability to repair is low to the limit, the person will die. When humans reach the age of 120 to 150, self-resilience will be completely lost, and human beings will reach the limit of life.
In the future, human beings will be getting closer and closer to the life limit of 150 years old.
How can you live a long life as an ordinary person and get as close to this goal as possible?
There are many factors that affect longevity, and the secret of human longevity has not yet been fully revealed.
But to put it another way, the so-called longevity is to delay death as much as possible. That is to say, if the occurrence of various diseases that kill people can be avoided as much as possible, the greater the possibility of longevity.
In the past, it was various acute diseases that took human life, such as bacteria and viral infections.
Nowadays, if you want to live a long life, your opponent may be a chronic disease.
In 2019, deaths due to chronic diseases accounted for 88.5% of total deaths in China [6].
In the same year, the Lancet published a paper in the international authoritative medical journal , which analyzed the top ten causes of death of Chinese residents in the past 30 years : stroke, ischemic heart disease , respiratory system (trachea, bronchial, lung) cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease , liver cancer , road traffic injuries , stomach cancer , Alzheimer's disease and other types of dementia , neonatal disease , and hypertensive heart disease [ 7 ].
Every modern person who wants to live a long life is to avoid these chronic diseases as much as possible. If you accidentally get sick, don't feel that "the sky has fallen", do a good job of disease management, prevent the emergence of various complications, and live as long as healthy people.
So, how to do a good job in disease prevention and management?
Chronic diseases from the beginning to the worsening is a long process.
At first, it is very uncomfortable, such as long-term sleep is not good, mental state is not good, blood sugar is slightly higher;
If you are not careful, it will eventually evolve into a certain disease, such as high blood pressure, hyperlipidemia, diabetes, etc.;
If the disease management is not done well, various serious complications may occur;
Eventually, death came at some point.
Statistical reports from the World Health Organization show that 60% of chronic diseases are associated with unhealthy lifestyles [6].
So what is a "healthy lifestyle"? We have also compiled the 4 most important articles of "healthy lifestyle" for you.
While it may seem a bit clichéd, it is important to every modern person.
1, can eat, quit smoking and alcohol
The Scientific Research Report on Dietary Guidelines for Chinese Residents released by the Chinese Nutrition Society in 2021 clearly pointed out that the problems of unbalanced diet, high oil and salt, overweight and obesity of mainland residents are very prominent, and are the main risk factors for the occurrence of chronic diseases [8].
Eating a reasonable diet, too much or too little, is not good for health and longevity.
The Dietary Guidelines for Chinese Residents clearly state[9]:
(1) Food is diverse and reasonable
The daily diet should include cereals and potatoes, vegetables and fruits, livestock and poultry meat, eggs and milk, soybean nuts and other foods;
Consume more than 12 foods per day and more than 25 per week.
(2) Eat more vegetables and fruits, milk, and soybeans
There are vegetables in the meal, at least 300 to 500 grams of vegetables per day, and dark vegetables should account for 1/2;
Eat 200 to 350 grams of fresh fruit every day, and fruit juice cannot replace fresh fruit;
Eating dairy products a day is equivalent to 300 grams of liquid milk; eating soy products often; eating nuts in moderation.
(3) Eat fish, poultry, eggs and lean meat in moderation
Eat 280 to 525 grams of fish, 280 to 525 grams of livestock and poultry meat, and 280 to 350 grams of eggs per week, with an average daily intake of 120 to 200 grams;
Preferential selection of fish and poultry;
Eat eggs without discarding egg yolks;
Eat less fatty, smoked and cured meats.
(4) Less salt and less oil, sugar control and wine limit
Adults should not exceed 6 grams of salt per day, and cooking oil 25 to 30 grams per day;
The intake of added sugars does not exceed 50 grams per day, preferably controlled below 25 grams;
The daily intake of trans fatty acids does not exceed 2 grams;
Drink plenty of water, adults 7 to 8 cups (1500 to 1700 ml) per day, and advocate drinking boiled water and tea;
Do not drink or drink less sugary drinks;
Do not drink alcohol, especially children, adolescents, pregnant women and nursing mothers.
2, will sleep, but not the more sleep the better
It has long been known that good sleep and longevity are inextricably linked .[10]
A scientific study that collected sleep from 116,000 volunteers from 21 countries and followed them up for eight years found that people who slept less than 6 hours a day, or longer than 8 hours, had higher mortality and risk of cardiovascular disease than those who slept for 6 to 8 hours [11].
Another point to note is that instead of sleeping as much as possible, too much sleep and bed love may affect the heart's ability to supply blood, so that the brain is in a state of insufficient blood supply and oxygen supply for a long time, and it is easy to have uncomfortable symptoms such as dizziness [12].
The scientists also synthesized clinical data from 74 studies, including 3.34 million participants, and found that people who slept more than 9 hours a day had a 14 percent higher mortality rate compared to those who slept 7 to 8 hours a day; 30 percent more mortality rates for those who slept more than 10 hours a day; and 47 percent more mortality rates for those who slept more than 11 hours a day [13].
3. Exercise can reduce the risk of hypertension, diabetes, cancer, etc
Exercise is good for health, but very few people can actually do it and stick to it.
A nationwide, long-term survey conducted by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from 2006 to 2018 found that only 53.3 percent of Americans met the recommended aerobic exercise target, which is 75 minutes of intense exercise per week, or 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise .[14]
Studies have shown that consuming 150 kcal per day, or 1,000 kcal per week, reduces the risk of coronary heart disease by 50% and the risk of hypertension, diabetes, and cancer by 30% to 35% [15].
Danish scientists collected a total of 8,577 volunteers' amateur sports from 1991 to 1994 and conducted a follow-up survey for 25 consecutive years, releasing the results in 2018.
Scientific analysis has found that different types of exercise can significantly increase life expectancy compared with the sedentary control group without amateur sports hobbies [16]. The top 7 exercises and their life extension times are as follows:
(1) Tennis: 9.7 years
(2) Badminton: 6.2 years
(3) Soccer: 4.7 years
(4) Cycling: 3.7 years
(5) Swimming: 3.4 years
(6) Jogging: 3.2 years
(7) Aerobics: 3.1 years
4. Optimistic mindset
A 2019 study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences followed more than 70,000 volunteers for up to 30 years.[17]
In the most optimistic group, the average life expectancy of men increased by 11% and women by 15%;
The most optimistic group of volunteers, who were more likely to live to be over 85 years old, increased by 70% for men and 50% for women.
Finally, we would like to talk about health supplements.
There are many health care products around us under the banner of "prolonging life", but in fact, most of them have no scientific basis.
From a medical point of view, many health supplements are dietary supplements. Dietary supplements can be divided into: vitamins, minerals, amino acids, herbs, plant extracts, enzyme preparations, probiotics (probiotics and prebiotics) and so on.
A large 2019 study published in the American Medical Doctor Association's official journal, the Annals of Internal Medicine, showed that these nutrients, if ingested from food, were associated with a reduced risk of death, while supplementation with dietary supplements did not reduce the risk of death [18].
The study, conducted by a team of tufts and Harvard universities, collected data from more than 27,000 U.S. adults 20 years of age and older, and concluded the following:
Consuming vitamin K and magnesium from moderate food sources, the risk of death was reduced by 21% and 22%, respectively;
By consuming vitamin A, vitamin K and zinc from moderate food sources, the risk of death from cardiovascular disease was reduced by 49%, 34% and 44%, respectively;
For those with low nutrient intake from food sources, dietary supplements did not reduce their risk of death.
That is: dietary supplement products can not replace ordinary foods or as a diet.
Taking excessive, wrong or inferior dietary supplements is not good for health and increases the risk of many diseases.
Many times, longevity is not a medical question, but a lifestyle question, and the answer is hidden in your diet, sleep, exercise, mentality, etc. in your daily life.
In other words: there is no secret to longevity, it is more due to the accumulation of healthy living habits.
Finally, Brother Dian would like to say to you who sees this: Just as important as the length of life is the thickness of life. More important than the blind pursuit of "longevity" is to walk the road under your feet.
Are you still on the road to your dreams?
Contributing Author: Luo Tianming
Postdoctoral Fellow, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Peking University
Review expert: Fang Hongjuan
Deputy Chief Physician, Department of Endocrinology, Beijing Tiantan Hospital
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[5] Timothy Pyrkov, Konstantin Avchaciov, et al. Longitudinal analysis of blood markers reveals progressive loss of resilience and predicts human lifespan limit. Nat Commun. 2021 May 25;12(1):2765.doi: 10.1038/s41467-021-23014-1.
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