My 99-Cent Store Longevity Protocol
Living a long, healthy, and happy life isn't just for those who can afford it.
Longevity has been having a long moment in popular culture the last several years. From Methuselah to Cortez’s search for El Dorado, interest in longevity has many historical antecedents, though the latest round of enthusiasm can probably be traced to the early aughts when Dan Buettner popularized the term Blue Zones; these are regions where people live exceptionally long lives, often past 100 years old. In 2008, Buettner published a Blue Zone book that attempted to distill the habits of these long livers. Today’s interest in longevity can also be blamed on Ray Kurzweil, Aubrey de Grey, and other “transhumanists,” who have asserted that death is a condition to be eradicated with technology, not the tax-like inevitability we’ve been conditioned to believe it is. Most recently, Bryan Johnson and Peter Attia have extended the life of longevity’s popularity in the mainstream consciousness. Johnson is the wan-looking self-experimenter who has developed a complex diet and lifestyle protocol for extending life. Attia is a Stanford and Johns Hopkins University trained MD who shares the latest science about longevity in bestselling books and top podcasts.
As I careen towards my 50th birthday, the topic of longevity is of particular interest to me. I am fond of living and prefer to live a long life, i.e. I want a long lifespan. I also want my many years to be lived happily and healthily, i.e. I want a long healthspan. Like Buettner, I see healthy habits as critical for determining lifespan and healthspan. Genetics also play a big role, but it’s easier to incorporate good habits than it is change genetics, so habits are where I put my focus.
While I share the zeal for longevity of the aforementioned experts, I bristle when they frame it as something more complicated, expensive, and exclusive than it needs to be.
First, I am reflexively distrustful of anyone claiming there’s an exclusive path to anything: the one way to salvation, the secret for manifestation, the one way to eat for a long life, etc. I’m doubly distrustful when the person making the claim is collecting tolls for that exclusive path , like Buettner and Johnson shilling proprietary supplements and frozen foods promising prolonged life to their consumers. Several Blue Zones are in relatively poor regions, and I can guarantee the people in these regions aren’t eating Blue Zones Kitchen Frozen Gluten Free Sesame Ginger Bowls for dinner or taking Johnson’s $49 essential longevity capsules every month. Making longevity about buying products rather than employing proven principles diminishes the credibility of so many so-called longevity experts.
Then there’s the anti-death transhumanists, who missed the memo about the universal constancy of entropy. From zooplankton to galaxies, everything in the physical world that is born, dies. The notion that humans can or would want to bypass the cycle of birth, life, and death is absurd, and it removes the constraint that gives life urgency. It’s tough to understand the gift of life without the specter of death, just as the value of daytime can’t be understood without the impending night.
Attia has been hard at work diminishing his credibility in recent months, including his prominence in the Epstein Files and his peddling of nutritionally-dubious products like AG1 and David protein bars. But I’ve gravitated towards Attia because he shares research confirming what I’ve anecdotally determined is a key driver of long, healthy living: strength and cardiovascular health. I am currently watching a relative with advanced dementia whither away in her final years. I can confidently say her late life cognitive issues and weakness are a direct result of her early and mid-life inactivity. Attia rightfully encourages people to maximize their cognitive, strength, and cardiovascular capabilities when they’re young and able in order to avoid late-life decrepitude and its myriad downstream negative health impacts.
I won’t claim to be a longevity expert, but most people are incredulous when I tell them my age. My skin is still taut. My hair is full and the same color it’s been for the last 45 years. My body is strong and fairly lean. My resting heart rate is around 40 and frequently dips into the 30s. My mind is still sharp (at least according to me). I suspect I’m doing some things right in terms of longevity, but these things are unrelated to supplements, pre-made meals, and/or any elaborate lifestyle protocols like daily saunas, cryotherapy, and infrared lights (note: I do spend more on running shoes than most). In fact, most of the stuff that contributes to my youthfulness is low or no cost. I’d even argue the stuff I do right directly relates to my refusal to buy stuff I don’t need, even when others, longevity experts included, are urging me to get that stuff. Sure, getting weekly massages might relieve stress, but not nearly enough to ameliorate the stress of having to come up with $100+ every week to pay for those massages.
I can’t subscribe to the idea that health, happiness, and long life are only available to those who can afford it. With this long preamble out of the way, I want to share my 99-cent store protocol for living a longer, healthier life. Guaranteed to extend life by 10 percent or your money back. Here goes:
Avoid chronic stress. Many of us assume our jobs, relationships, and other primary activities have to suck and make us anxious. They assume they have to take on mountains of debt for education, housing, and transportation. Choosing to follow the stressed-out herd rather than forge our own peaceful paths results in lives characterized by reduced lifespans, healthspans, and increased the odds of contracting diseases like cancer.
Embrace short-term stress. Ironically, the reason many of us end up in chronically stressful situations is our avoidance of short-term stressful situations. We remain in unfulfilling jobs and relationships because we avoid the short-term stress of expressing our grievances. We remain unhealthy because we avoid the short-term stress of working out. Developing the habit of addressing temporary stressful situations in a direct, timely manner goes a long way towards avoiding getting stuck in chronically stressful situations.
Never settle down. Few things are as lethal to the body, mind, and spirit than complacency. Complacency is basically a national pastime in America. We are led to believe that existential fulfillment is on the other side of getting stuff —usually a degree, job, spouse, dog, home, family, retirement fund. We accept that the attainment of this stuff is the answer to the question, “what is the meaning of life?” But we get the stuff and still feel unfulfilled. Instead of course correcting, we double down on our miserable path. We elevate external validators like money, approval, and praise over inner peace. As a society, we cosign each other’s misery and poor choices by following similar paths. Life need not be so shitty. I’m not suggesting we avoid committing to people, professions, projects, and places —stuff that can be the source of great joy and fulfillment. I’m saying that if we’re interested in keeping our minds, bodies, and spirits alive and thriving, we should maintain a position of growth towards these things such that we don’t become complacent and check out of life.
Stay strong. I had the great fortune of inheriting my father’s love of (and compulsion to) exercise. It’s rare that I exercise less than an hour a day. While my exercise habit was forged far before people like Attia linked it with longevity, knowing that strength and cardiovascular fitness play a huge part in living a long, healthy life has made me that much more committed to these things.
Stay social. There’s ample research to suggest those with strong social bonds live longer and healthier than those who don’t. Despite the myriad benefits social engagement and connections present, people are increasingly isolating themselves, using technology to mediate all of their interpersonal interactions. In light of this, it’s never been more important to maintain strong IRL relationships and community connections.