Achieving a long and healthy life? Learn from a prominent physician's practices grounded in scientific evidence.
Dr. Eric Topol, a renowned cardiologist and expert on longevity, shares his personal strategies for healthy aging, echoing the evidence-based approaches he advocates in his research.
In an episode of the podcast "Chasing Life with Dr. Sanjay Gupta," Topol revealed the lifestyle changes he's made to increase his chances of joining the ranks of Super Agers – people who live beyond 80 years without developing common age-related diseases like cancer, heart disease, or neurodegenerative diseases.
Emphasis on Exercise
Topol previously primarily focused on aerobic exercise but now incorporates balance and strength training to enhance his fitness level and mobility. He encourages others to prioritize this type of exercise, noting its free accessibility and potential to improve overall health.
Nutrition: Mediterranean Diet
He follows a Mediterranean-style diet, rich in whole foods, colorful produce, lean proteins (particularly fish), whole grains, olive oil, and minimal dairy. This dietary pattern is associated with reduced risks of chronic diseases and supports heart, brain, and bone health.
Prioritizing Sleep
Sufficient, high-quality sleep is another essential component in Topol's strategy, linked closely to cognitive health and disease prevention.
Lifestyle+: Holistic Well-being
Beyond traditional factors, Topol's approach includes environmental factors like spending time in nature and avoiding pollution, addressing social determinants of health such as loneliness, and ensuring the specificity of physical activity and diet.
Topol believes these evidence-based strategies can help individuals extend their health spans and live disease-free into their ninth decade. As a practicing doctor and researcher, he aims to embody the principles he promotes.
Topol, in his quest to join the Super Agers, not only prioritizes fitness-and-exercise with a focus on balance and strength training, but also advocates for a Mediterranean-style diet rich in whole foods, colorful produce, lean proteins, whole grains, olive oil, and minimal dairy to enhance his nutrition. Recognizing the importance of mental-health, Topol also emphasizes the need for sufficient, high-quality sleep, which is closely linked to cognitive health and disease prevention. Furthermore, he incorporates a holistic well-being approach, acknowledging environmental factors like spending time in nature and avoiding pollution, addressing social determinants of health such as loneliness, and ensuring the specificity of physical activity and diet to extend his health span and potentially live disease-free into his ninth decade.
