Longevity expert Dr. Peter Attia says most people experience rapid decline. 70s — but it doesn’t have to be that way.
“At 75, men and women fall off a cliff,” the Stanford-trained doctor, who runs a medical practice in Austin, Texas, said in a recent interview.60 minutes. ”
During the interview, Atia shared some of the key strategies for not only living longer, but also staying strong, healthy, active, and keeping this decade as enjoyable and independent as possible.
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This is what experts call a “healthspan” and is the period of time without “age-related diseases,” said Douglas E. Vaughan, M.D., director of the Potokusnack Institute on Longevity at Northwestern University in Chicago.
“It is true that humans can quit. Extend healthy lifespan” he told Fox News Digital. Examples include quitting smoking, drinking less alcohol, maintaining a healthy weight, exercising regularly, avoiding processed foods, and having good sleep habits.
Here are the five strategies Attia shared on “60 Minutes.”
Attia recommends approaching life the same way athletes approach sports, especially in old age.
As people age, their level of fitness, strength and mobility It’s more important than many traditional markers, he noted.
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of longevity expert He said he logs about 10 hours of exercise a week. This combines fat-burning cardio, high-intensity intervals (to increase VO₂ max), and strength training to maintain muscle.
Attia said he alternates between “Zone 2” exercises, which involve steady aerobic activity that allows him to maintain a conversation, and “Zone 4” workouts, which are more intense.
Attia recommends closely tracking your VO₂ max, which measures the maximum amount of oxygen your body uses during exercise. strenuous exercise.
VO₂ max is usually measured in milliliters of oxygen per kilogram of body weight per minute (ml/kg/min).
“VO2 max correlates more strongly with longevity than any other metric I can measure,” Attia said. “It predicts the risk of death from all causes, even more so than things like blood pressure and cholesterol levels. Smoking status. ”
“I think this is an overlooked part of the medical test: How healthy is your health, how strong is your strength, how mobile are you?” he said. “And in many ways, these tests can predict your life expectancy better than what you can get from a blood test.”
Attia also uses scans such as DEXA (short for dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry), which measures bone density, muscle mass, and body fat.
“When you see things like: cardio fitness“When you look at muscle mass, when you look at strength, there’s a much higher correlation than things like cholesterol or blood pressure,” he added.
Attia is also a proponent of whole-body MRI scans. detect cancer Other conditions need to be in place early to get better results, but he cautions that there is a possibility of false positives.
He also recommends getting tested for APOE, a gene that shows an increased risk of Alzheimer’s disease. Data shows that having one copy of the gene roughly doubles to triple the chance of developing common dementias, while having two copies increases the risk tenfold and lowers the average age of onset by five to 10 years.
increase protein Research shows that intake is associated with increased muscle mass and strength, enhanced immune function, and reduced disease burden.
Atia recommends consuming at least twice the protein recommended by current nutritional guidelines.
The Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) for protein is 0.8 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight per day, which is 55 grams for a person weighing 150 pounds and 73 grams for a person weighing 200 pounds.
According to Attia, emotional and mental health is just as important as physical health.
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“This is a practice as much as I focus on exercise, blood tests, and cancer screenings,” he said.
“By being diligent about your physical health, you can reduce the rate of decline,” Attia continued. “But if we are conscious and proactive about our mental health, we can actually make improvements.”
The expert credits his wife of over 20 years with helping him progress.
“Like the athletic data, I don’t think this is just a correlation,” Attia said in an interview. “I really think there’s also some kind of causality that comes from having it.” great relationship To live longer. ”
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Vaughan reiterated that the commonalities of “super old people” include supportive communities, healthy social environments, and regular contact with people who care for each other.
Although decline is inevitable, Attia said his goal is to make what he calls the “decade of limits” as enjoyable as possible.
“The breaking decade isn’t going anywhere. We’re all going to be in the last decade of our lives,” he said.
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“What I explain to my patients is that it lasts 10 to 15 years. If you don’t do anything, you’ll drop to a level of about 50% of your total cognitive ability.” [and] Physically. ”
Fox News Digital has reached out to Attia for comment.
