Your secrets to a long and healthy life

We asked. You answered.

View this email online February 11, 2024 by Andrea Muraskin When I was a kid, my father would sometimes quote to me from “The 2,000 Year-Old Man,” a comedy routine performed by Carl Reiner and Mel Brooks in the 1960s and 70s. Brooks played a 2,000 year-old man – apparently in terrific health –  and Reiner, a modern man, would ask him questions, including if he’d share the secrets to his longevity.  “The major thing is that I never ever touch fried food,” was Brooks’ response in one early recording. Also, “Never run for a bus; there will always be another,” and eat lots of nectarines.  Not bad. Recently NPR Health asked our listeners and readers to share their tips for living a long and healthy life, as part of our new series, How to Thrive as You Age: the Science and Secrets of Longevity. To date we’ve received over 1,000 responses from readers and listeners ages 16 to 103. Here are some of our favorites, edited for clarity and brevity. Peathegee Inc/Getty Images/Tetra images RF Make friends across generations  “I surround myself with friends who are older than me; living youthful, full lives,” writes Emma Aulenback, 26, who lives in Massachusetts. “During my Americorps year, I lived with a 75-year-old woman who continues to inspire me to get out and adventure … whether it be running a marathon, joining a dating app, or skydiving.”  Aulenback says she also has friends a decade or so older than her who live outside of the prescribed boundaries of marriage, kids and career. “They help me realize that there is no such thing as ‘falling behind,’ ” Aulenback writes. “The only ‘milestones’ in life are the ones you, yourself, decide are worthwhile.” Deborah Davis, 73, of Santa Fe, N.M. says she benefits from intergenerational relationships too. “Like my Uncle Donald always used to tell me, surround yourself with young people – their energy will keep you youthful. Boy, he wasn't kidding!” she writes.  Here are five tips for making friends as an adult. subscriberid%%--> Newsletter continues after sponsor message It’s never too late to set new goals During COVID lockdown, Connie Morris, 71, of Somerset, Mass. set a goal to walk a 5K for the first time. She began walking daily and soon could walk 3 miles at a time. “Then I started trying to run,” Morris writes. “I made steady progress and did a St. Patrick's Day 5k with my son.”  Morris is already working towards her next goal: paddleboarding. “I now realize that some of the limitations of aging are just from not moving,” she writes. “You can still get in shape and build muscle. About six months ago I decided I didn't like my sagging rear. I've been doing squats and I'm happy to report: I have a bum again.”   Try these VR fitness apps and games to get in shape this year.  Stand behind independent journalism, cultural discovery, and intelligent discourse by supporting the NPR Network. Your donation fuels unbiased reporting, diverse perspectives, and insightful conversations that shape our community, our nation, our world. Join us in fostering a more informed public by contributing today and ensuring a future where trustworthy information thrives. Donate Now To stay active, keep adapting While some of our listeners and readers are running marathons and climbing mountains into their 70s and 80s, a more common trend emerged: modifying exercise to fit our changing bodies, while keeping active.  Jackie Buehring, age 78, of Naperville, Ill., says when it comes to fitness, listen to your body. “If you go to a class or shovel snow or anything else unusual and end up with muscle pain, you have found a muscle that needs to be worked regularly. Figure out how to do that,” Beuhring writes. If you’ve got snow to contend with, here are some tips on how to remove it safely.  Swimming has long been the go-to exercise for Cody Brady, 73, of Austin, Texas, but after a heart attack 10 years ago, she cut out freestyle swimming and and switched to gentler strokes. “I am very comfortable with making accommodations as I age. I do not expect to go faster, improve my time or push myself to my limit. I am very happy just to be able to move and enjoy what I do,” Brady says. When it comes to staying active, Dennis Junt, 68, of Seattle, has this simple advice: “Try to do everything in moderation, except sex. Do more.”  Check out our tips for enjoying sex as you age.  Put your mental health first Many who wrote in said that prioritizing mental health and managing stress are key – especially folks in their 30s and 40s.   “The biggest and most dramatic changes I have experienced in attaining a healthier life came the moment I started focusing on my mental health first and foremost,” writes Margarita Tavarez, 46, of Puerto Rico. “Once I started taking care of myself emotionally, I started seeing exercise, weight training, movement, and nutrition, as opportunities to ease anxiety, depression, and trauma, all of which are factors in accelerated aging.” Tedecia Wint of Brooklyn, N.Y., a 42 year-old mother of small children, sees attending to her own mental health as an investment in her kids’ future. “I want to be an active part of my children’s life for as long as I can,” writes Wint. “I have spent the last year in therapy dealing with what I now know is chronic PTSD, from various traumas starting in childhood, and I have begun my journey into practicing Buddhism -- chanting has been a revelation,” she says.  Learn more: How to prevent stress from escalating into distress. Find more long life advice from audience members here, including what to eat and how to stay cognitively fit. And stay tuned from week to week for more reporting from NPR's Allison Aubrey on the science of longevity. You'll find it on air, on NPR podcasts including Life Kit, and right here in the health newsletter.  Before you go:  Raven Villar/Boise State Public Radio Gardeners can now grow a genetically modified purple tomato made with snapdragon DNA Coronavirus FAQ: I'm immunocompromised. Will pills, gargles and sprays fend off COVID? How to improve indoor air quality at home Scott Simon: This Valentine's Day, I'm giving the gift of hearing We hope you enjoyed these stories. Find more of NPR's health journalism online. All the best, Andrea Muraskin and your NPR Health editors Listen to your local NPR station. Visit NPR.org to hear live radio from WUFT 89.1 (edit station). What do you think of today's email? 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