Not all of us hit the genetic lottery that allows us to live to 100 in perfect health.
But there’s still a lot we can do to make our health span match our lifespan, says Linda Ercoli, PhD, a geriatric psychologist and interim director of the UCLA Longevity Center at the Jane and Terry Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior.
Our lifespan is how many years we live. Our health span is how many of those years are free of chronic disease. Globally, there’s about a nine-year difference between the two, according to a study published in JAMA Network Open. Life expectancy around the world is 73 years; health span is 64.
Genes affect our risk for hypertension, diabetes and other health conditions, but lifestyle changes can help prevent or stave off diseases, Dr. Ercoli said during a recent webinar presented by UCLA Recreation.
Lifestyle medicine is the study of how we can manipulate our lifestyles for better health, she said. There are six main pillars: stress reduction; physical exercise; avoiding risky substances such as drugs, alcohol and tobacco; good nutrition; sufficient sleep; and social connection.
“As a psychologist and aging specialist, I would throw in cognitive stimulation, too,” Dr. Ercoli said.
Here’s a look at each of the pillars and how to maximize them for a longer health span:
Stress reduction
“Stress reduction should be on everybody’s list,” Dr. Ercoli said.
Stress is normal: You face a challenge, you react, and then come back to baseline. Chronic stress, however, where there’s no return to baseline, throws hormones and physiological processes out of whack.
“Chronic stress is detrimental to health,” she said, citing a study that found that women with stressful jobs had a 40% higher rate of heart disease than those who didn’t have stressful jobs.
Regardless of the cause – societal injustice, financial woes, war, trauma – chronic stress harms organs. The solution is stress management, practiced regularly, Dr. Ercoli said. This can look like deep breathing, reading a book, watching TV, doing yoga, or practicing gratitude.
“Everybody needs to relax,” she said. “If you’re under chronic stress, you should be practicing this every day, sometimes twice a day.”
Social connection
The U.S. Surgeon General declared loneliness an epidemic in the United States in 2023, with about half of Americans reporting feeling lonely. Loneliness causes stress and increases the risk of dementia, autoimmune conditions, heart disease and depression, Dr. Ercoli said, and is associated with cognitive slowing and memory problems.
She distinguished between social isolation – being cut off from other people, whether or not you feel lonely – and loneliness, which she defined as needing more support from, and connection with, people around you.
She recommended increasing social connection by reaching out to friends and inviting them to meet for lunch or coffee, volunteering, taking a class to meet new people, and even connecting with others through social media.
Sleep
We need seven to nine hours of sleep each night. Sleep is important for mood and memory processing, Dr. Ercoli said. Insufficient sleep increases the risk of chronic conditions such as cardiovascular disease, depression and cognitive problems.
While sleep disorders – such as sleep apnea or acting out dreams – require medical attention, most of us can improve our nightly sleep by practicing sleep hygiene, she said.
These behaviors include using your bed only for sleep and intimacy (“You shouldn’t be on your laptop in bed,” she said); avoiding caffeine and alcohol close to bedtime; shutting down blue light-emitting devices, such as tablets and phones, a couple hours before bed; engaging in a bedtime ritual, such as a hot bath or deep breathing; keeping a “worry journal” by the bed to jot down any troubling thoughts that might keep you awake; and sleeping in a cool, quiet room.
It’s also important to get natural sunlight in the morning, which helps regulate circadian rhythms, she said.
Nutrition
The simplest nutrition advice is to avoid processed foods: packaged foods containing additives, food coloring, salt and refined oils, Dr. Ercoli said.
She also advised avoiding “white carbs” such as white rice and white bread, which can spike blood sugar.
Evidence suggests that the Mediterranean diet and the MIND diet tend to reduce the risk of chronic health problems, she said. These diets emphasize fruits, vegetables, fish, poultry and whole grains, with minimal red meat and sweets.
Physical activity
Exercise is essential, Dr. Ercoli said, because it’s protective against all kinds of chronic diseases.
“It’s great for people’s cognition of all ages, and really good for people with impaired cognitive abilities,” she said. “There’s evidence to suggest that aerobic exercise may protect the brain and delay the onset of dementia.”
People 60 and older should aim to get around 8,000 steps a day, she said, along with strength training twice a week.
Avoiding risky substances
Drugs, alcohol and tobacco cause countless health problems, so they are best avoided.
But don’t worry about making a bunch of lifestyle changes at once, Dr. Ercoli said. Consider the pillars and note where you could improve, then focus on them one at a time.