imagine if managing your kid’s school fun fair could add years to your life? or what if taking the oath of ‘til death do us part’ not only meant a vow of love and commitment, but could also boost your longevity? according to marta zaraska, author of growing young: how friendship, optimism and kindness can help you live to 100 , these seemingly everyday things can, in fact, change the course of your life expectancy.
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marta zaraska : it’s definitely not good from a health perspective. it’s not good to be isolated. there are many studies showing that people who are socially isolated are more susceptible to your classic cold viruses — we are more susceptible especially when we feel lonely and isolated. while i am absolutely not saying we shouldn’t be keeping our distance because of the virus, it’s very important to socially distance — but we need to be aware of the side effects of isolation. we should try to counteract these negative effects by reaching out to others any way we can. for example, there are studies that show that hugging other people boosts your immune system. if you live with someone, hug them, hold hands, look into their eyes. animals also feel the same consequences of isolation. if mice are isolated, for example, they will get fat. parrots that are left alone live shorter lives, than those that live with other parrots.
mz: the “growing” part is important. it’s rewarding for me to realize that a lot of the things that are important to staying healthy and living longer like, being kind, socially connected, friendly, and optimistic, helps you to live longer and stay healthy, but also grow as a person. it makes you younger.
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mz: often when i talk about this, people say they don’t want to live to be 100 and be frail and old. but we know that people who live long lives, on average, also stay healthy much longer. for example, the average person will live to about 80 years old and will spend about 18 per cent of their time on earth ridden by disease. whereas only five per cent of supercentenarians — people who live to 110 or longer — spend their later years plagued by health issues. in fact, one out of 10 supercentenarians will escape disease until the last three months of their lives. so when you hear stories about people over 100 doing marathons, we really shouldn’t be that surprised because if they made it to 100, they were probably in very good health to begin with. now, someone who is 82 doing a marathon could more surprising. the healthier you are, the longer you live; the longer you live, the healthier you are.
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mz: the first is to focus on romantic relationships — as long as you are committed and making a decision to stay together until death do you part. studies show that people who live together, but who do not have the kind of certainty of knowing that they are going to stay together, don’t get the health benefits of staying in their relationship. a committed relationship is the biggest health boost you can get, especially if you are a man — mostly because women tend to remind men to eat healthy and exercise and take their medications, for example. it’s also important to recognize the biological art of connection. there’s touch and eye contact, but also, just being side by side, our bodies get in tune and the rhythm of our hearts synchronize.
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mz: i think about health differently now. instead of obsessing about diet, we try to focus on whether we are paying attention to our neighbours enough and whether we are being kind. i teach my daughter that it’s important to eat her carrots, just like she should clean her room.