longevity

A six-year study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found three behaviors exerted enormous impact on longevity: not currently smoking, consuming a healthier diet, and moderately exercising at least 21 minutes a day. People with all three behaviors reduced their chances of dying in that time by 82 percent.

A similar study measured how much vitamin C subjects had in their bloodstreams, as vitamin C level was considered a good biomarker of plant food intake (and hence was used as a proxy for a healthy diet). The drop in mortality risk among those with healthier habits was equivalent to being 14 years younger.

The mitochondrial theory of aging suggests that free radical damage to our cells’ power source (mitochondria) leads to a loss of cellular energy and function over time. According to the theory, the resulting cellular damage is what essentially causes aging. Aging and disease have been thought of as the oxidation of the body, but eating antioxidant-rich foods may slow down this oxidant process. On average, plant foods may contain 64 times more antioxidants than animal foods. Including a variety of fruits, vegetables, herbs, and spices each meal continuously floods our body with antioxidants to help ward off stroke and other age-related diseases, promoting longevity.

Consuming fruits and veggies, and not smoking, has also been associated with longer protective telomeres, the caps on the tips of our chromosomes that keep DNA from unraveling. Each time our cells divide, a bit of that cap is lost. Telomeres can start shortening as soon as we’re born, and when they’re gone, we’re gone. The food we eat may impact how fast we lose our telomeres: Consumption of refined grains, soda, meat, and dairy has been linked to shortened telomeres, while fruit, vegetable, and other antioxidant-rich plant food intake has been associated with longer ones.

Sign up to our free How to Live Longer email series, which will give you some of the best information for boosting your longevity.

For substantiation of any statements of fact from the peer-reviewed medical literature, please see the associated videos below.

267 videos

All Videos for Longevity

How to Get Enough Polyphenols for Life Extension

Is the link between flavonoid consumption and longevity cause-and-effect, and are all sources of flavonoids equally healthy?

Digital drawing of DNA going through repair

The Effects of Hormesis from Low-Dose Radiation on Life Extension

Our bodies are exposed to about 20,000 hits of radiation from cosmic rays every second. Is that good or bad?

Risks and Benefits of Nicotinic Acid (NA), a NAD+ Booster

Given niacin’s decades of use as a cholesterol drug, we have a good idea of its safety profile.

Can NAD+ Boosters Increase Lifespan and Healthspan?

The effects of NAD+ boosters on aged rodents have been described in the medical literature as “profound,” “dramatic,” and “remarkable,” but do they help people?

Who Is Rescuing Whom? Pets and Life Extension

Do pet parents (or pawrents) live longer?

Someone in bed in the dark on their phone

Melatonin Supplements for Sleep and Anti-Aging?

The secretion of melatonin appears to progressively decline with age, dropping as much as 70 percent between middle and older age.

Dumping a capsule into the palm of a hand

Supplements for Sarcopenia (Age-Related Muscle Loss)

HMB, magnesium, omega 3s, and vitamin D are put to the test for muscle strength and function.

digital illustration of NAD+ in blue and white

The Best Way to Boost NAD+: Supplements vs. Diet (webinar recording)

The pros and cons of all the NAD+ supplements and what are the ways to boost NAD+ naturally with diet and lifestyle?

Reversible Causes of Prematurely Graying Hair

Vitamin B12 deficiency is one of the rare, reversible causes of hair graying through some unknown mechanism.

Person holding their hair apart at their scalp

Why Does Hair Turn Gray?

As with vitiligo in the skin, buildup of hydrogen peroxide kills the pigment cells in hair follicles.

Do Vitamin E Supplements Have Benefits for Cancer, Immunity, and Longevity?

Those who buy vitamin E supplements may in effect be paying to live a shorter life.

Digital illustration of sperm cells chasing an egg cell

The Trade-Off Between Fertility and Longevity, and Causes of Precocious Puberty

A century ago, the age of first menstruation averaged as late as nearly 17. Why is sexual maturity coming so much earlier now?

hands forming a heart shape against the sunlight through the trees

How Generosity May Help You Be Happier and Live Longer

Donating time and money isn’t just good for the world, it may be good for our health.

Scientist setting up their slide for the microscope

Is Rapamycin a Universal Anti-Aging Drug?

Self-experimentation with the anti-aging drug rapamycin continues to be strongly discouraged.

Running group coming towards camera on a trail

How Much Exercise Is Too Much?

It may be prudent to limit chronic, vigorous exercise to no more than an hour a day and no more than five hours a week, taking at least one or two days off. For runners, the recommended upper limit for longevity benefits is 30 miles a week.

Group of adults of various ages walking together outdoors

Does Exercise Extend Your Lifespan or Just Your Healthspan?

I was surprised by how much controversy is in the medical literature over whether the apparent longevity benefits of exercise are even real.

People exercising on treadmills at the gym

Exercise Is Medicine

The evidence supporting the overall health benefits of physical activity is overwhelming.

There’s a Fly in My Aging Research!

How do you unlock the mysteries of aging?

Does Astragalus Have Benefits for Life Extension and Fighting Cancer?

One of the most popular herbs in traditional Chinese medicine, astragalus root is marketed as a “life-prolonging” tonic.

Doctors in a lab using testing equipment

The TAME Trial: Targeting Aging with Metformin

If you have diabetes, metformin can make things better, but if you don’t, the drug may make things worse.

Does Metformin Work as a Life-Extension Drug?

Amazingly, diabetics placed on metformin may live longer lives than those who never got diabetes in the first place.

Woman using a stationary machine at the gym

Naturally Boosting AMPK with Exercise for Life Extension

AMPK is said to serve as a “mitochondrial guardian.”

A place setting with a fuel gage in place of a plate

Naturally Boosting AMPK with Caloric Restriction for Life Extension

Amping AMP-activated protein kinase is one of the anti-aging pathways I cover in my longevity book, How Not to Age.

Benefits and Side Effects of Glucosamine for Osteoarthritis

Billions are spent on glucosamine supplements every year. Do they work? Are they safe?

Green tea in a glass mug on a table outside

Green Tea as a Mouthwash for Halitosis (Bad Breath)

Green tea can help reduce plaque as much as the gold-standard chemical mouthwash without its side effects, but what about other aspects of oral health, such as bad breath?

Does Resveratrol Make You Live Longer?

Is the red wine molecule resveratrol responsible for the “French paradox”?

APOE—The Single Most Important Gene for Longevity

APOE is the primary cholesterol carrier in the brain and plays a major role in packaging and transporting LDL cholesterol throughout the body.

Happy grandfather with his son and grandson

Is Longevity Genetic?

Based on a study of thousands of twin pairs, only about 25 percent of the difference in lifespan among people is genetically determined.

Woman experiencing hot flash on a bench outside

How to Delay the Age of Menopause with Diet and Lifestyle Factors

Approximately half of the variability of age of menopause among women is explained by genetics. What behaviors or circumstances can help explain the rest?

Why Do Milk Drinkers Live Shorter Lives on Average?

How might we reduce the risk of premature death from dairy consumption?

Can Getting Transfusions of Young Blood Slow Aging?

Ready for the mind-blowing twist in the mystery of why the injection of blood from young animals into old ones has a rejuvenative effect?

Parabiosis Experiments Prove Bloodborne Aging Factors

Macabre experiments surgically attaching old animals to young ones show there is something in the blood that causes aging.

Clock on a plate with knife and fork next to

Diet and Caloric Restriction for Longevity—The Monkey Trials

How can we make sense of the disparate results from the four primate studies on caloric restriction and lifespan?

The Side Effects of Human Growth Hormone as an Anti-Aging Therapy

Taking human growth hormone (somatotropin) may actually accelerate the aging process.

Holding a vitamin D supplement capsule with sun shining behind

Do Vitamin D Supplements Help Prevent Diabetes, Cancer Mortality, and Overall Mortality?

Randomized interventional trials are necessary to establish cause-and-effect.

Dr. Greger and the presentation title on a blue background

How Not To Age – Live Presentation

In this live lecture, Dr. Greger offers a sneak peek into his latest book, How Not to Age, a New York Times Best Seller.

Senior couple walking on the beach holding hands and barefoot at sunrise

Is It Possible to Reverse Aging and Live Forever?

Some animals, like the immortal jellyfish, can effectively live forever, so why can’t we?

Man touching face while suffering a stroke

Update on Vegetarian Stroke Risk

Those eating more plant-based diets have lower risk of having a stroke, including both bleeding and clotting strokes.

Flat lay composition with fresh wild mushrooms on black table

Dietary Sources of the “Longevity Vitamin” Ergothioneine

It may be even more important to include mushrooms (or tempeh) in our diet as we age.

Photo of Dr. Greger against blue background with words “New Book How Not to Age”

Book Trailer for How Not to Age

Learn about my newest book, How Not to Age, a New York Times Best Seller.

Popular Videos for Longevity