How long can you last in the marathon of life? Genes only determine 20% of our destiny! Do these things to keep you healthy and aging

Exercise and diet control: Everyone wants it, but they need external help to practice

Could it be that the aging we fear is actually “not normal”? Could it be that the chronic diseases accumulated by modern people and the lingering old age that follows are actually caused by Western lifestyle habits, which distort the true appearance of physiological aging?

We generally believe that how a person ages is a function of luck and genetics. But for most of us, genes only determine 20% of our destiny. The remaining 80% is related to environmental factors: diet, stress in life, whether you live in a polluted environment, and whether you have an exercise habit (and how often you exercise).

In other words, we already hold multiple keys to healthy aging. Decades of research have told us that at 50 we don’t need to succumb to physical degeneration, such as the gradual hardening of arteries and joints, nor should we greet the arrival of chronic diseases breathlessly. If you work hard, you can stay relatively young at 90 and even reduce your risk of dementia - the key is to eat well, move more, and really move. In fact, many studies around the world have pointed out that the most critical factor in preventing people from looking old is exercise.

A report by the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges, titled "Miracle Cure", found that the four "direct" causes of preventable disease were smoking, poor nutrition, lack of exercise and excessive drinking. The report states: "Of these, the importance of regular physical activity is the least recognized. Yet relatively speaking, even small increases in activity levels can make a significant difference." The report concludes that 30 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise five times a week can reduce the risk of heart-related disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, certain types of cancer, and even dementia. We must make more people understand the benefits of exercise.

If life is a marathon, we must sprint

"If exercise were a capsule, everyone would take it," said Norman, 82. Norman Lazarus said. We were walking in a heavy rain outside his office on London Bridge. I was holding an umbrella, but my feet were still wet; he only had a bright red baseball cap on his head and was shaking off the rain as he went along. Lazarus is a short and stocky man with a white stubble. He is a long-distance cyclist who often rides 60 miles at a time. He had just gone on a 180-mile bike ride in Oxfordshire with his daughter at the weekend. "Exercise is good," Lazarus said in his thick South African accent. "It's good for the body, mind, soul, and muscles. You name it."

Lazarus is not only a cycling enthusiast, but also an honorary professor at King's College London, where he co-authored a study with other scholars on amateur long-distance cyclists like himself. The older cyclists in the study, aged 55 to 79, had immune systems, strength, muscle mass and cholesterol levels similar to those in their 20s. In several of the above dimensions, older cyclists show almost no signs of aging. Researchers would not be able to tell their age based solely on the physiological data on paper.

Researchers at King's College believe that endurance exercise such as cycling, swimming and running may increase T cells in the blood, thereby protecting our immune system. These protective white blood cells begin to decrease in number at a rate of 2% per year in our 20s, making us increasingly susceptible to diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis. But the T cell counts of older long-distance cyclists are not far behind those of 20-year-olds—and no man-made drug can yet achieve the same protective effect.

To qualify as a subject for the study, men had to be able to cycle 62 miles in 6.5 hours, while women had to cycle 37 miles in 5.5 hours. This is quite remarkable, especially considering that these are amateur cyclists, not professionals. Many of them are like Norman. Like Lazarus, he started riding a bicycle in his 50s. They all fell in love with cycling. When interviewed, these people said that not only could they handle long-distance rides, but they also wanted to keep riding because they felt so refreshed at the end of the ride.

Lazarus has a group of fellow amateur cyclists. He also goes to the gym three times a week to lift weights, which he calls "anti-gravity exercises." Many of his friends also ride bikes, including his 85-year-old wife. "Yes, one day we will all die," he said leisurely, "but none of us are sick right now. One day we will all reach a stage where we can no longer resist infection, but hopefully at least by then it can be over quickly." He hopes that after he and his friends become "middle-aged and elderly", the time they spend sick can be shortened as much as possible, because a short pain is worse than a long one.

Do these cyclists stick with it for a long time because they are inherently fit, or do they become fit because of cycling? Lazarus thought it was the latter. He firmly believes that what we are seeing in these cyclists is "true physiological aging." If you want to see what real physiological aging looks like, rent a boat. Ikaria is a beautiful Greek island off the west coast of Türkiye. One-third of the residents live into their 90s and dementia is rare. Ikarian men don't often get cancer or heart disease, and those who do develop these diseases develop them eight to ten years later than Americans. Cases of depression among Ikarians are also very rare. They live mostly outdoors. As long as you live in Ikaria, you have to climb at least 20 hills a day. Their health may have something to do with it.

Ikaria Island is a global blue slow-living zone, and the residents in this slow-living zone are particularly healthy and long-lived. They don't have any special genes; the secret lies in their lifestyle. When talking about the blue slow-living zone, people usually think of a vegetarian diet, and rarely mention exercise. But whether in Sardinia, Okinawa or other slow-life areas, these strong, long-lived people have very rich outdoor lives.

Instead of going to the gym to "work out," doing weight training while watching music videos, they engage in activities that are "built into" their daily lives, things that others have cars, robot vacuums, and other equipment do for them. We no longer have to fetch water, cut wood, or grow vegetables, saving hours of time. But is this lifestyle sacrificing our activity levels? Activity can maintain muscle mass, awaken the hunting and gathering function of the primitive human brain, thereby reducing stress, and can also trigger various chemical signals in the body to improve the immune system. Those of us who choose the elevator over the stairs, and drive over walking, may actually be suffering a great loss.

I used to think endurance athletes were weirdos, that they either had special genes or they had obsessive compulsive disorder. But I've changed my mind a little now. There is a group of Americans in their 70s who started running when jogging became popular in the 1970s and have been exercising ever since. We have seen amazing results from them. During these 50 years, some of them continued to run, while others started cycling or swimming, or even doing fitness. They continue to play these sports just for the fun of it, not for the sake of winning or losing.

What surprised the researchers was that the muscle strength of these 70-year-olds was almost at the level of 25-year-olds, and the number of muscle capillaries and muscle oxygen uptake enzymes was also comparable. Their aerobic capability was also 40 percent higher than that of inactive peers. Scholars at Ball State University in Indiana, USA, concluded that exercise made the biological age of these men and women 30 years younger than their actual age. This great discovery is so important: it tells us that there is still hope for everyone.

This article is excerpted from Sancai Culture’s “The Centenarian Era: When Longevity Becomes the Norm, How Can We Live Better? 》 By Camilla Cavendish