Practical Tips for Healthy Aging

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But comparing car insurance prices with mustard.co.uk? Easy. See what you could save in just a few minutes. Click mustard.co.uk . Authorized and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. See website for details. Arreyo Original Podcast . Hi, I'm Catherine Ryan and welcome to Dr. Nicholas Second Opinion, the bonus podcast, where science gets a front seat and aging gets a reality check. We're taking a deeper dive into the science we talked about on this week's show and giving you more details from our resident scientists' insight into our celebrity results. Plus, we're breaking down what it all means for your biological age. Stick around for your questions and of course Dr. Nick's quick fix to help you age smarter starting today. This week we're jetting off to discover blue zones and what we can learn from these magic kingdoms of eternal life. Dr. Nicola's Second Opinion. So, welcome back to Second Opinion. I'm Dr. Nicola Cunlon and yes, today we are talking about blue zones, those places in the world that are often held up as the gold standard for longevity. And you'll have probably heard of them, places like Sardinia in Italy, Okinawa, in Japan, these are places where people are said to live longer, healthier lives, often well into their 90s and beyond. And when we look at them from the outside, they can feel like quite romantic ways of life, sort of long lunches in the sun and fresh food, a slower pace of life. But the real question is what is actually driving their longevity? Is it the diet? Is it the lifestyle? Or are there some sort of deeper biological factors at play. Because if we can understand what's working, maybe we can start to apply that to our own lives back home. So first of all let's get into the science. So the first thing to say is that blue zones are not built on just one single factor. So there isn't one magic food or one specific habit. What we see is actually a combination of small consistent behaviors that over time support healthy aging. So, first of all, let's start with diet because that is super important in the blue zones. Because when you look at these blue zone regions, diets are predominantly whole food-based. And they're mostly plant-based as well, with people only having fish and meat more on occasion as like a special treat. Their diets seem to contain lots of vegetables, lots of whole grains, beans, olive oil, and also very low levels of ultra-processed foods. And this is important because this type of diet is known to support metabolic health. We know that these types of food reduce inflammation. They nourish the gut microbiome, all of which are strongly linked to lower biological aging. But diet is definitely only one part of the picture because one of the other most consistent findings across blue zones is that they all do some form of natural daily movement . So what stands out are that these people aren't necessarily going to the gym or doing structured workouts, but they're walking, they're gardening, they're climbing, they're moving regularly thro ughout the day. And this kind of low level constant movement is very important for supporting cardiovascular health, for maintaining muscles and flexibility in these people without placing excess ive stress on the body through some sort of crazy intense workouts . Another aspect of life that's considered to contribute to the good health of these people in blue zones is the high level of social connection. So these people tend to live in close-knit communities. They've got strong family ties. They have regular social interaction. They sit and have shared meals together and kind of have this sense of belonging. And it turns out that these things are not just nice to haves. They actually fundamentally affect our biology because loneliness on the other hand and social isolation have been shown to increase inflammation and cause things like cardiovascular disease and negatively impact health, whereas strong social connection is associated with all-round better health outcomes. The other thing that I think is spoken about less in blue zones, but seems to be very important for them, is having a sense of purpose. So many people in these regions will continue working, contributing, or just engaging in some sort of meaningful activity well into their older age. So in other words, they have a reason to get up in the morning. And in Okinawa in Japan, they actually have a special word for this, and it's called ikigai. And it loosely translates to a reason for being. So something that gives your life meaning, whether that's your work, your family, community, being creative or, just simply feeling needed. And biologically, this feeling matters because having a sense of purpose has been linked to lower stress levels and improved concurrent function and even reducedality mort risk. So it's not about doing something grand. It's just about feeling that your life has some sort of direction and meaning and that you've basically still got a role to play. And that seems to be a really common thread in people in blue zones who age well. Dr. Nicola's second opinion. So actor Michelle Deswort was keen to get advice on her lifestyle when she was a guest on What's My Age Again, and I leaned heavily into the lessons from Blue Zones when it came to my response. If there was three things that you would be like, hey, this is what you can do now, obviously stop smoking, stop messing with nicotine in general. I mean, they're kind of boring because the are the things that we'd say all the time are good. So diet, I know that you said you don't eat that much processed food, is that would that be No, I don't eat that much, but like certain weeks out of five guys literally. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, and it this is like some you know, some people eat ready meals and you know, constantly and don't eat a vegetable. So you obviously are not doing that. So I think that the top things that we we see that really do have an impact are the the diet. Following something like a Mediterranean diet, so you actually have a lot of oils, healthy fats. Um, you know, a lot of olive oil, a lot of fish, omega-3 type rich foods. If we could focus on olive oil though. Yeah. Be Icause I did, have seen some videos uh specifically from this nutritionist who said olive eating is about especially olive Mediterranean eating is about getting more olive oil into you. So they'll pour it on things on salad, they'll dip bread in it. It's all about getting more olive oil. And you shouldn't count that as a fat source or a calorie. You just want, should we be just like mainlining olive oil, drinking a pint of olive oil? Some people will just take a, you know to literally take it like a medicine, you know, take a you could have taken a couple of yeah, three tablespoons. Yeah, so as I've already mentioned, diet is such an important factor in the blue zones. Though that Mediterranean style diet consistently comes back time and time again in studies to be the best diet for longevity. Dr. Nicola's second opinion. So now let's move on to this week's questions and Catherine is gonna read the first one. Debbie says, I'm 59 and I've been trying to simplify my lifestyle after learning about blue zones. I love traveling to Italy and Greece and I try to incorporate their diets into mine. I'd love to understand which behaviors beyond food actually influence longevity versus what's just romanticized. Okay, Debbie, this is such a good question because in a world where we are constantly told to do this and try that. Often just simplifying your lifestyle, as you said, is exactly the right direction to take because the blue zone behaviors with the strongest evidence are actually the simplest. So that regular low-level movement, the strong social connections, the sense of pip, is the good sleep. Whereas the more romanticized elements, as you put it, things like the specific location or the climates, they're less transferable. So it's not about going to live in Greece. It's about how you live wherever you are and taking elements from those lifestyles and bringing them back home into your own. This episode of What's My Age Again is sponsored by MedExpress, the UK online pharmacy. 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Visit Medexpress.co.uk to check your eligibility and get 40 pounds off with code WMAA at Tue we give you more more outfit choices with 20 kilograms of luggage allowance as standard more hotels built around what you love like that swim up sweet. More. Brace you to the bottom. Water parts on site. More. Ooh, that looks good. Food options. From poolside snacks to a la carte dining. Book on app, in store or online. You book it, Twee sort It. At all and Abta Protected, Ts and C's apply, selected hotels only. See website for details. What's on TV? The answer is a lot. There's never been more choice over what to put on the box with an abundance of great new shows, but you can miss them all if you don't know where to look