Training your brain to be more positive is an effective and easier option. Emerging research suggests optimism can extend your life span — and you can cultivate it yourself with daily writing exercises or talk therapy, said Laura Kubzansky, a professor of social and behavioral sciences at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, who coauthored the research.
If journaling or therapy isn’t for you, surrounding yourself with friends and family can also promote longevity by boosting your mood and lowering stress, which in turn can reduce your risk of chronic diseases, said Judith Carroll, an associate professor of psychiatry and biobehavioral sciences at the University of California, Los Angeles. But not all socializing is beneficial, especially when it’s with people who make you feel judged or anxious. Social connection “needs to be nurturing and supporting,” she said.
To check if it’s working, see how you feel.
Some longevity influencers tout “biological age” tests, which, for around a hundred dollars or more, can estimate the health of your cells and how they’re aging over time from a blood or saliva sample. There are numerous tests on the market today, but experts say they’re imprecise measures that typically only reflect chemical modifications to your DNA, and that each test calculates biological age slightly differently.
At the moment, these tests aren’t sophisticated enough to conclusively tell you your biological age, said William Mair, a professor of molecular metabolism at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. It’s just as helpful to ask yourself whether the lifestyle changes you’re making are leaving you feeling younger, healthier and sharper — especially since your goal should be to live better, not simply longer, he said.
Like the other experts, Dr. Mair urged patience and prudence in the quest to live longer. “If it’s available online right now, people don’t wait. But my argument would be, they should,” he said, adding: “Would I be spending lots of money” on unproven, under-researched products to delay aging instead of adopting healthier habits? “Probably not.”
