Live better for longer

10 ways to live better for longer

by Punteha van Terheyden

Advances in medicine and healthcare have led to the average life expectancy soaring. But how can we make sure we’re not just living longer, but living well for those extra years? Take a Break spoke to Dr Dawn Harper of Channel 4’s award-winning Embarrassing Bodies, and author of Living Well to 101.

For generations, life expectancy in the developed world has increased, but not at the same rate as maintaining good health. Many of us will be living longer, but spend our later years in ill health, be it physically or mentally.

It’s awful for the individuals themselves, loved ones and a financial burden on public services already groaning at the seams.

A doctor colleague once casually told me that people are not living longer, but taking longer to die. I was horrified by the notion, because it doesn’t have to be this way.

Yes, we are prone to some health issues such as high cholesterol because of our genetics, but sitting back and saying ‘I have bad genes,’ is signing your own death warrant.

With that in mind, here are my top 10 tips for living better for longer…

Walk briskly

People often tell me they haven’t got time to go to exercises classes or can’t afford a gym membership. I understand we all live increasingly busy and often sedentary lifestyles, but there is a simple fix. For 10 minutes every day, walk briskly. Doing that reduces your risk of premature death by 15 per cent, whilst also lowering the risk of heart disease and type 2 diabetes by a whopping 40 per cent! It’s a small investment for a huge return.

Do things that make you smile

A study from the American Association of Psychologists concluded having a positive mental attitude has the same effect on healthy longevity as being a healthy weight or not smoking. When I interviewed centenarians for my book, they all had very different stories and upbringings. Some were rich, poor, grew up in rural or urban areas. But they were all positive thinkers.

Every day, do something to make yourself smile, be it watching the birds in your garden, going for a massage or having a cuddle with your dog. Do whatever it is that can shut off the world and its stresses for a few minutes and smile.

Balance on one leg

One of the things GPs like me see time and time again is an elderly person taking a nasty fall, losing confidence and spiralling into bad health. They become frightened to go out and is the reason a fall is a major cause of morbidity in the elderly. 

If you fracture your hip over the age of 80, you have a 50 per cent chance of dying within a year and it’s often a mental decline rather than a physical.

But there is a simple way of countering this from any age. Close your eyes and balance on one leg. Can you do it for 10 seconds? The first time you try, be sure to have something nearby to hold on to.

It’s a quick test of your core strength which will be vital in preventing falls in later life.

The Medical Research Council says if you do this task daily, you are much more likely to live healthier and longer.

If you can only manage two seconds, you are three times more likely to die in the next 13 years than the person who can manage 10 seconds. With practice on each leg, it will improve.

You can do this task whilst brushing your teeth, but doing it might save your life one day.

Learn a new skill  

Brains behave like any muscle in the human body. If you don’t use it, you’ll lose it. Plasticity of the brain means we develop connections by pushing ourselves a little bit. This is easily achieved by learning something new.

I’ve started relearning French recently, but it doesn’t matter what you do.

My parents buy two copies of the same sudoku and codeword puzzles and at 3pm every day, race each other to finish the same puzzle. Dad thought I’d laugh at him when he told me but I think it’s brilliant. Give it a go!

Exercise for 30 mins

The ideal scenario is taking moderate exercise for 30 minutes, five times a week. It’s not always possible, so if you can’t for whatever reason, aim for 10,000 steps a day. Even that can be difficult to achieve if you have a sedentary job

But you can be inventive about the way you do it. I try to practice what I preach, so I work in the consultation room furthest away from our waiting room, and instead of using the computer system to call my next patient, I walk to the waiting room and call each one in myself. It’s only 40 paces each way, but it adds up.

You could even walk briskly for 30 mins five times a week. If you can’t do 10k steps a day, aim for 70,000 steps across the week, allowing yourself some flexibility on days life (or mood) gets in the way.

Stay in touch

It was striking to me that every single one of the centenarians interviewed who felt they had a good quality of life, made an effort to speak to somebody every day. Whether it was using Skype or Facetime or making the effort to go down to their local village and play a game of cards with a friend or catching up over a coffee.

We let friendships pass by the way side, and it’s easy if you’re busy, but not only will you benefit from speaking to somebody every day, they will too.

It’s better to speak rather than text or email. I tell my kids communication is 10 per cent words, 20 per cent tone and 70 per cent non verbal, so when you text/email, you are potentially losing 90 per cent of the meaning of that conversation. However, emojis are really useful for this if messages are all you can muster of a day.

Eat a rainbow

We have long since accepted that the brain talks the gut. Besides the research proving it, we’ve all had that queasy stomach feeling when we’re stressed. However, it’s a two way conversation. What we eat feeds the good bacteria in our gut, which then impacts the brain. Research is ongoing but links have been made between bad gut health and depression. Aim to eat a rainbow of fruit and veg to give your gut a range of good bacteria to work with.

It’ll help with heart health and weight control – two of the biggest health problems worldwide.

Go pro

So much research is being done on the benefits of probiotics, but in my view there is good enough incentive to have one every day. I personally looked at research from Kings College and take Symprove. It’s a liquid that you take first thing on an empty stomach, prescribing to the Live, Survive, Thrive advice – take Live bacteria that will Survive your stomach acid and Thrive in your gut. Symprove is pricey but was ranked the best. However, as long as you’re taking something within your budget, it’s better than not having any at all!

Take up tests offered

Whether it’s an NHS health check, smear, mammogram or vaccination, take it if it’s offered. The NHS is not awash with money so it will not offer these tests for the fun of it! A lot of work and research goes into health economics. Make full use of NHS screenings and vaccination schedules.

Jabs in particular are so important. There’s a lot of scaremongering nowadays about letting our children have these immunisations, but it’s very easy to forget how dangerous the diseases the vaccines protect against are. You only have to meet one person who is blind, deaf or severely disabled because of measles to know how serious it is. All three of my children had their vaccines – which are completely safe –  and when they have kids,  I will encourage them to do the same.

Beware social media

When I joined my GP practice 25 years ago, I saw a few mental health issues but today it’s very common. I put a significant part of that down to what I call ‘anti-social media’ and young people trying to portray perfect lives online 24/7.

I tell my kids if you’re posting something on social media, before you press send, take a step back, and ask yourself if you would say this face to face with another person? If in doubt, press delete not send.

Not only might you wake up the next day regretting what you said, but you could be facing a volcanic online reaction.

Try not to have your phone in the bedroom to avoid the temptation to check social media in the middle of the night.

The fact trolls can hide behind a keyboard whilst launching hugely damaging words across the internet entirely anonymously is also horribly impactful. Stay clear of it as much as you can.

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*Dr Dawn’s book Live Well to 101, is available to order on Amazon or in all good book shops.

ENDS