People could head into their golden era with many more healthy years ahead of them thanks to 3 daily habits
A longevity expert has revealed three simple daily changes that could significantly extend your lifespan. As UK life expectancy rises, many worry about their health in later years, but Leslie Kenny suggests that a few minutes and basic ingredients each day can lead to more robust golden years.
Starting with a challenging tip, Kenny advocates for cold showers every morning, stating: “Cold showers are an easy health hack as they stimulate the immune system. Which is why a study shows those who take them are less likely to get sick.”
Citing research from the Netherlands, Kenny notes that individuals who take cold showers report 29% fewer sick days than those who prefer hot showers. Cold hydrotherapy, the practice of immersing oneself in cold water, is not only a recovery tool for athletes but also offers mental health benefits.
For the best results, Kenny advises: “The trick is to enjoy a hot shower (as hot as you can bear) first. Then switch to the coldest setting available while thinking of the challenges of the day and week ahead and ensuring that you feel positive about them.”
Rather than endless hours at the gym or muscle-aching exercises, Leslie has just one suggestion to keep your physical fitness in check and add strength to your extra years. She suggested: “Practise getting up from the floor.”
Leslie shed light on how those who live in the world’s longest-living regions, dubbed ‘blue zones’, have woven lifestyle habits into their daily lives. Notably, she mentioned Okinawa in Japan, famed for its “floor culture” where locals often rest and dine while squatting instead of sitting on chairs.
Leslie underlined the importance of this practice: “Getting up and down off the floor several times a day actually builds lower body strength and refines balance, both of which help protect against falls and later life frailty.”
She advocates for ‘lifestyle stacking’ which ties together essential activities such as exercise with daily modern-life tasks, like the “floor culture”. For example, blue zone residents typically live in areas that are easy to navigate by foot, allowing them to soak up some sun and exercise while running errands, or they may engage in pastimes like gardening which naturally include many essential lifestyle factors.
Lastly, she stresses that a balanced diet is indispensable for a long and healthy life. While various nutrients might be missing from some diets, Leslie recommends an uncommon addition: “Try to get at least one serving of mushrooms, greens, fermented foods or a hard, mature cheese into your daily diet to increase your intake of spermidine.”
This compound, which is naturally produced in body tissues and the gut biome while a person is young, becomes scarcer as age takes its toll. To maintain healthy levels of spermidine, which is crucial for immunity, cell renewal, and autophagy—the process of breaking down and recycling redundant or damaged cellular components—supplementing through diet becomes increasingly important. Leslie remarked: “Spermidine has even been linked to lowering our mortality!”
