The Don't Die 8
Longevity habits, ranked.
Post summary
Last Wednesday, we covered a controversial drug some people are using off-label in the hopes of living longer.
The drug is part of a growing obsession with longevity and somewhat fringe, often finicky methods people are using to try to live longer.
The good news: There are far more powerful and less soul-sucking paths to achieving more years. In fact, the finicky stuff could actually backfire.
Scientists analyzed the habits most closely associated with living longer and discovered the eight highest-impact ones. I call them the Don’t Die Eight.
We’ll cover each practice and the surprising number of extra years they can give you.
Housekeeping
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Audio/podcast version
The post
I’m interested in living longer.
But if the stuff I have to do to reach 100 years makes my other 99 years finicky, stressed, rigid, and obsessed over protocols, please count me out and hand me a Marlboro.
When I look at today’s longevity craze, I see many practices that put our hearts in safety deposit boxes—life by spreadsheet and biomarker and bio-hack and protocol.
This is no way to live—research even suggests that an obsession with health can backfire. A JAMA Psychiatry1 study found that those who fretted about their health the most had a 69 percent higher risk of all-cause mortality. That’s likely because excess stress increases your risk of many of the diseases that kill us2.
The good news: A major study reveals what actually works to extend lifespan. And it was none of the fussy new longevity practices.
No spreadsheets. No obsessively tracking biomarkers. No sketchy overseas pharmacies or extensive morning protocols. Just, as Guy Clark put it, stuff that works.
The study
Researchers from institutions like Harvard University and the University of Illinois teamed up with scientists at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)3.
The VA was sitting on health records and behavioral surveys of nearly a million male and female vets ranging in age from 40 to 994.
They analyzed the data and identified eight factors that significantly increase life expectancy.
Adopting all eight practices gave people a 20.5+ year boost in life expectancy.
The vets who followed none of the behaviors lived an average of 67 years. Meanwhile, vets who followed all eight behaviors lived to about 87.5. Adopting even one behavior gave people more years.
The results revealed what I call the Don’t Die Eight—eight behaviors that work.
The Don’t Die Eight
The most powerful habits for longevity were as follows: