10 habits that can help you live healthier for longer

As a journalist on a mission to understand how to age well, there are some stand-out habits picked up from the experts I talk to and from scientific studies that seem to really make a difference. 

Here I round up 10 that I personally prioritize, including some less-discussed but hugely important ones!

1. Eat more fibre 

Ths first is one of the most important of all – and it’s quite simply to eat more fibre.  

How much we need and can easily digest will vary from person to person. The best evidence lies with trying to eat as big a variety of plants in their most natural form that is comfortable for us.

That includes fruit and vegetables, wholegrains, beans, lentils and so on, letting your gut guide you as to what does and doesn’t agree with you.  

Fibre feeds some of the ‘good’ gut microbes that help us extract nutrients efficiently and much more. And higher fibre diets also help reduce inflammation and lowers the risk of conditions like inflammatory bowel disease, heart disease, stroke, hypertension, obesity, Type 2 diabetes, and some cancers. 

Fibre intake recommendations from the Institute of Medicine range from 19 grams to 38 grams per day, depending on gender and age. But the vast majority of people in countries like the US and UK falling well short of that target. 

2. Lift heavy things 

Second on my list and a huge priority as we age is to lift heavy things.

If you haven’t already I really recommend you watch my interview with physical therapist and strength trainer Chris Reis.

He made the case for doing whole body workouts with weights, and barbells in particular, to maintain and increase our strength. 

We talked about one of his clients, Merce Hershey, who came to the gym at 95 years of age in a frail condition after a fall. She has since actually managed to increase the bone density in her spine through strength training.  

And for any of us who want to stay mobile and independent into our later years this has to be a big focus. 

It is never too late to start lifting weights and workouts can be adapted to factor in injuries or problematic areas, but you can build muscle and even bone at any age. 

And there is growing school of thought that muscle is the organ of longevity, with loss of muscle mass as we age one of the greatest contributors to age-related disease, physical and mental decline. 

How muscle strength is linked to later life quality

Increasing muscle mass improves bone health and prevents breaks which are such a huge cause of decline in old age. 

Muscle mass is important for metabolic health because it helps regulate blood sugar levels and stores glucose helping prevent type 2 diabetes and other health issues. 

A study involving more than 900 older people found that for every one point increase in muscle strength, the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease dropped by 43 percent!

3. Move more and especially after a meal!

The third healthy habit is to move more – and particularly after eating a meal.  

We know keeping active is important as we age because it has long been linked with better heart and wider health and mobility.  

But there are particular benefits to being active after eating rather than making straight for the couch.  

Research increasingly points to being active after a meal improving our digestion as well as lowering sugar spikes as we age. Left unchecked those spikes can lead to type 2 diabetes.

A 2016 study in people with type 2 diabetes found that walking for 10 minutes after each meal was more effective for controlling blood sugar than walking just once a day at any time for 30 minutes. 

So this is a simple change that could make a big difference. 

4. Eat plenty of protein 

Fourth on the list of healthy habits to adopt as we get older is eating plenty of protein. It’s vital for building and maintaining that all important muscle mass. 

I try to source protein as naturally as possible, through eating more nuts, fish and unprocessed meats, dairy, beans and pulses. I also use a very simple protein powder (linked in the carousel below) a few times a week in smoothies that’s unsweetened and unflavored so provides a useful boost without the unnecessary additives.

A common recommendation from health officials is that we eat at least .75grams of protein a day per kilo of body weight. But a lot of nutritionists and scientists are now saying we should consider increasing that to at least a gram per kilo or even higher depending on how physically active you are. 

Older adults may have a less efficient ability to synthesize protein from the food they eat, requiring a higher intake to achieve the same muscle-building effects.

5. Let go of the wheel

Fifth on my list of healthy habits to adopt is something that is a challenge for many of us, including me, and that’s managing stress. 

We know stress is a killer. It contributes to inflammation which in turn affects every aspect of our health, harming cell and tissue function. It can even damage our DNA and reduce its ability to repair itself. 

One of the biggest causes of stress in modern life is overwhelm in an always-on culture and trying to control the uncontrollable. Our heads are full of information and we’re often looking towards the future and what problems may arise in it rather than just being in the here and now. 

There are two changes that have helped me. Firstly, creating a to do list so rather than allowing tasks to build up in my mind and become overwhelming, I note them down on a page that’s open on my laptop and allocate a day to do them. That in itself massively helps reduce anxiety for me. 

And the second thing has been a change in mindset to start believing that life is happening for me and not to me or against me. That belief means I don’t tend to catastrophize in the way I used to.

I try to see problems as something to learn from and while I may not immediately see their purpose I choose to believe that it’s meant to be because that is the best belief for my mental health at the end of the day. 

6. Deep breathing

Adding to that sentiment is my sixth habit and that is being aware of your breathing and using breath as a scientifically proven way of calming yourself down. 

Slow, deep breathing can lower blood pressure and heart rate, while rapid breathing can increase both.  

Controlled breathing has been shown to reduce stress hormones in the blood, improve mood and alertness and even improve muscle and immune system function by improving blood flow and the delivery of nutrients and oxygen to our cells and muscles. 

So whether you call it meditation or you just take time to consciously slow down your breathing at different points in the day, and particularly if you’re feeling stressed, you will feel it calm you and you will benefit from doing it. 

7. Prioritize sleep 

Our bodies need to spend time in repair mode overnight to support our brain health, immunity and other critical functions. 

Although the ideal amount can vary from person to person, for most of us it’s generally recommended that we try to get at least seven hours a night.  

I’m not going to run through the list of health problems that have been linked with a lack of sleep because that just creates stress for people who find it hard to get enough of it. 

We all know what it feels like to lie awake at night worrying about not sleeping. Personally, in periods of my life where I’ve found it harder to get to sleep or where I wake in the night and can’t get back to sleep, slowing my breathing right down is very helpful – often that alone sends me back to sleep if I stick with it – and if that’s not enough I listen to white noise or a podcast.

There are supplements that people swear by for sleep including magnesium which I personally feel has helped my sleep and stops me getting headaches as well which were becoming really frequent at one point.

But sleep, and how to get enough of it, is a huge subject in itself and one I will return to on the channel and on this website.

8. Daylight & Vitamin D 

Healthy habit number 8 is making sure you get out in daylight within the first few hours of waking. 

That’s because getting into daylight as soon as you can has been found to be important for helping regulate your circadian clock so you can sleep better, which in turn supports your immune system and overall health. But there are other proven benefits too including being a powerful mood booster and improving daytime alertness.  

On a sunny morning, getting outside for just 5-10 minutes is beneficial and on overcast days experts say we’re looking at around 15-20 minutes in daylight. 

Consciously taking in daylight early in the day is going to help a lot in winter if you live somewhere like me where there is significantly fewer hours of daylight.

It’s also a time of year when it’s a particularly good idea to take a vitamin D supplement if you’re not already. I

I take a higher dose one every other day all year round which also contains K2 and magnesium, and you can very cheaply test your vitamin D levels these days with home kits to make sure your levels are optimal but not too high or too low.

9. Heat therapy

Over the last year I’ve become a real fan of heat therapy. Specifically, I use the sauna at my gym twice a week and I top-up with a HigherDose infrared therapy blanket at home as well, shown above.

Heat raises our core temperature activating what are called our thermoregulating pathways through the hypothalamus in the brain which controls our hormone system. That leads to an increase in our heart rate, causes our blood vessels to dilate and sends our sweat glands into action.

This has multiple physical effects similar to exercise including improving cardiovascular fitness and function, lowering blood pressure and also helping us regulate blood sugar levels by increasing insulin sensitivity. 

But sauna therapy also causes us to release heat shock proteins. 

Now we know that damaged proteins speed up the aging process and so we want to do as much as we can to repair them and help make replacements.  

And heat shock proteins can help the body do exactly that and prevent a build-up of damaged proteins that accelerate aging symptoms and instead activate repair to slow down the aging process.  

Heat also increases the production of endorphins which improve our mood and support better sleep. 

And these are just some of the benefits. 

And don’t forget you’re releasing heat shock proteins in the skin too which have been shown to support collagen production and I am convinced it helps the  condition of my skin.

I top up on those heat shock proteins in my skin by using the Nira device every other day which feels like just the right frequency for me to get the wrinkle reducing benefits without drying out my skin.

10. Healthier swaps 

Finally, if like me you have a sweet tooth and find yourself regularly tempted, then try some healthy swaps. 

Fruit is an obvious one because although sweet, it has that all important fibre and is  a source of important nutrients too. So if I’m craving ice cream on a week night I eat something like frozen cherries instead which give me that burst of cold sweetness but are nutritious too. 

If you’re a chocolate addict, try eating higher percentage dark chocolate which will likely have less sugar in it than milk chocolate and also contains useful minerals and flavonols.

Go high enough in percentage on the dark chocolate and the taste is enough to dampen anyone’s appetite 😁

I eat frozen peas as a snack sometimes and it’s a way of upping my protein while taking the edge off cravings for unhealthy snacks. 

So getting creative by choosing a natural snack that has a nutritional value is the way to go when it comes to getting over bad food habits.

Ideally we want to stay away from the processed stuff as much as possible, reserving it for more of a treat. And of course a big win is swapping sweetened drinks for water wherever you can – and cutting back on the booze too.

So those are my own personal healthy habits that I think have served me best.

I still enjoy a dessert at the weekends, and I still eat more sugary treats than I should but I also don’t believe we have to be all-out biohackers with very regimented routines and super strict diets to live well for longer.

It’s important to enjoy life and these changes are big steps in the right direction for better health.