In 1900, the average life expectancy of human beings was only 31 years old, no wonder Shiyun "life is rare for seventy years". Nowadays, with the progress of economic development and science and technology, the average life expectancy of human beings has reached 73 years old, so can it break through the 100-year-old mark in the future? Let this science and technology book "Beyond 100 Years Old" answer the question.
Beyond 100 Years Old: The Science and Art of Longevity", a book co-authored by American longevity experts Dr. Peter Attiyah and Bill Gifford, published by Chinese Translation Press, has sold more than 1 million copies worldwide in just six months.
In the book, Attia's experience of actively intervening in science after his own health was abnormal and the situation improved, prompted Attia to rethink his approach to health care when mainstream medicine had made little progress in preventing age-related diseases and the timing of intervention was too late to provide timely help, and found that longevity and health were far more malleable than we thought.
Through a large number of case arguments, the book tells us that fate is not immutable, and that the right roadmap is delineated, and that different life plans will make you live longer than your genes, and that each decade is better than the previous one. The book clearly sets out strategies and tactics for extending an individual's healthy lifespan, as well as cutting-edge knowledge that can be put into practice.
Beyond 100 years old is not a dream, refine into life, as long as you repeat the following three things every day, sleep well, eat well, and fitness.
Sleep well starts with loving sleep.
Although we sleep as soon as we are born and spend one-third of our time as adults, we still know very little about sleep, and even Dr. Attiyah, a graduate of Stanford University School of Medicine, has some misconceptions about sleep. More than ten years ago, Attiyah thought that sleeping was a pure waste of time and life, why do we sleep, and what kind of changes can it bring to our body when we sleep? How does sleep affect our role in the present and long-term health?
Studies have shown that an average of less than 7 hours of sleep a day not only makes it easy to catch a cold, but also increases the risk of heart attack death. Lack of sleep can increase metabolic dysfunction. A good night's sleep is important for maintaining cognitive performance and preventing Alzheimer's disease.
In 2019, the National Health Commission issued the "Health Action (2019-2030)", proposing the "National Standard for Sleep", aiming at the prevalence of sleep problems and sleep disorders is expected to show an upward trend, advocating an average of 7-8 hours of sleep per day, and the average sleep time of primary school students, junior high and high school students is not less than 8 hours per day.
Lack of sleep can also affect cardiovascular and cerebrovascular health and increase the risk of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. Studies have shown that during deep sleep, the brain accelerates the removal of metabolic waste products from it, preventing waste accumulation from increasing the risk of dementia and other neurodegenerative diseases. Deep sleep helps slow brain aging and may be a modifiable factor in preventing dementia.
How to ensure high-quality sleep, mainly to improve the speed of falling asleep and maintain deep sleep, evaluate your current sleep habits, and improve sleep methods, such as the sleeping environment, light and pillow height, etc., the book gives detailed suggestions.
Eat well, starting with a low-calorie diet.
Eating well here does not refer to eating and drinking as you like, but to scientifically ingest the nutrients needed by individuals.
First of all, we have to make an assessment of the body, whether it is overnutrition or malnutrition, that is, whether the intake is too many calories or too little; whether it is muscle deficiency or muscle adequacy; Whether the metabolism is healthy or not. There are generally three approaches to restriction, calorie restriction, dietary restriction, and time restriction, to maintain muscle while losing weight, energy intake, and calorie intake.
Calorie restriction is important because excess calories lead to many chronic diseases, which can lead to metabolic disorders, as well as heart disease, cancer, and Alzheimer's disease. A study published in the journal Science found that rhesus macaques that were fed low-calorie food for more than 20 years lived significantly longer than those who were allowed to eat freely, and the data showed that restricting caloric intake slowed the aging of primate species.
There are many strategies we can adopt to limit calorie intake and adjust our food consumption to suit our metabolism and lifestyle.
Fitness starts with science and technology.
Fitness exercise, undoubtedly a powerful longevity drug, does not require a prescription from a doctor, and in all human biology, the data proving the effectiveness of exercise on longevity are almost irrefutable. Dr. Attiyah believes that exercise is more effective in maintaining a healthy lifespan than in extending life.
One of the signs of aging is that physical fitness begins to decline, and with it, strength and muscle mass gradually decrease, bones become weak, joints become stiff, and balance falters.
Strength training is so important that no matter how old you are, it's never too late to start, and Dr. Attiyah's mother didn't start lifting weights until she was 67 years old, which changed her life, and strength training can significantly improve physical recovery after obesity or cancer**, even for those who are already old and frail, and greatly improve mobility and physical function.
In the book, Dr. Attia also prescribes a list of "centenarian decathlon" exercises, which are mainly physical tasks, including hiking on mountain trails25 km, 25 kilograms of groceries walk five blocks, balance on one leg for 30 seconds, climb 4 floors in 3 minutes, open jars, jump rope 30 times in a row, etc.
Healthy and long life is people's most simple wish, but also the best blessing, and it is not easy to achieve health and longevity at the same time. "The upper medicine treats the disease, the Chinese medicine treats the disease, and the lower medicine treats the disease. It is from this perspective that Attiyah pointed out that our attitude towards medicine and health needs to keep pace with the times, and put forward the initiatives of "prevention is better than cure" and "active health".
We consciously start with the cultivation of habits such as high-quality sleep, low-calorie diet, and scientific and active methods, and do a good job in emotional management, supplemented by relevant drugs.