Podcast - Is Nutrition or Exercise Most Important For Longevity?
If you had to isolate one of these elements, which one should you focus on getting right the most?
BTW, I recommend listening to the audio rather than the read version because I go deeper :)
As you know, both nutrition and exercise are important for health and longevity, but I would argue that exercise is MOST important.
In the words of longevity expert, Dr. Peter Attia who recently released the book, “OUT LIVE: the art and science of longevity”, he says exercise is THE most important longevity drug that exists”- and there are lots of reasons for that.
In terms of nutrition, let’s first assume that you have the basics right:
A whole food based diet and minimal processed food consisting of fresh, seasonal produce, clean quality proteins, organic whole grains and healthy fats.
I’m sure you’d agree, that none of this is rocket science.
And whether you choose to follow a particular dietary path e.g. vegan, vegetarian, keto, paleo, raw food, nothing should detract from the basics of a whole food based diet with minimal processed food. This should be the foundation of every strong, healthy diet no matter what.
And I know this sounds simple, but the reality is there are many people who or follow or buy into a specific “tribal diet”, often eat a lot of processed crap which is not good for maintaining insulin sensitivity and avoiding inflammation. It’s important to remember that processed food of any kind is low vibration food which will eventually lead to a host of health problems if you don’t give it up.
So again, assuming you have the whole food based diet down pat, there are three main levers you can pull to manipulate your diet for certain outcomes such as weight gain, weight loss and overall energy and metabolic flexibility. These three levers are:
Calorie Restriction - How much you eat
Dietary Restriction - What you eat or don’t eat
Time Restriction - When you do and don’t eat, otherwise known as intermittent fasting
And each of these levers you can experiment with based on your physical output, your age and your health and fitness goals.
But let’s talk about exercise. Why do I believe it trumps nutrition when it comes to health and longevity?
Because all of the data shows that regular exercise not only delays actual death, but also prevents physical and cognitive decline better than any other intervention, including nutrition.
Now again, this is not to say that nutrition, sleep, drinking enough water, getting sunshine, relationships and having a passion are not important tools in your quest for health and longevity, it is more just to emphasise the key important of exercise as a non-negotiable element if you want to optimise and prolong both your lifespan and have health span. Think, protecting and preserving your strength and body composition. Think maintaining your mobility and balance. Think preventing heart disease, arthritis, osteoporosis and diabetes. Think optimising and prolonging your mental health, emotional wellbeing, your self-love and your mood.
Again, exercise is the most potent longevity drug that exists. So the question is, do you prioritise your exercise every day? Do you structure your weekly exercise routine in a way that is tapping into the vital aspects and challenging you to a certain level.
For me it comes down to 4 key aspects -
Zone 2 Cardio exercise - for most people the best form of Zone 2 is brisk walking in the form of 8,000-10,000 steps per day. You can also intertwine some light jogging, hiking, cycling or lap swimming every other day in place of walking if you choose to mix things up. But if you want to keep it simple, just focus on 60-90 minutes of brisk walking per day/split into 2 sessions if you need;
Strength Training - You need to be incorporating some form of resistance training into your weekly schedule, because it adds another dimension to your body in terms of strength and avoiding muscle loss, no matter what age you’re at or your level of fitness. We know that from the age of 30, each decade the body naturally loses 8-12% of muscle mass each decade, so if you do nothing to protect and preserve e your muscle, by the age of 70 you’ve lost 30-40% of your muscle (which is a vital organ of longevity). So, I would recommend at least 3 x 30 minute sessions of basic strength training every week - it could be Mon, Wed & Fri (like my wife and I do), though our sessions are 45-1 hour. You can use a gym and have a program done if that’s easier for you, or if you’d prefer to do your strength training at home all you need is a couple of sets of dumbbells and a yoga mat. If you want a guided workout, there are some great Apps online and free workouts on You Tube that utilise just dumbells. The two I recommend is Peloton App (Strength Training workouts) which Inga and I do for our at home training sessions. Or, for free I would highly recommend LiftwithCee …particularly if you’d just getting started. Cee’s is an amazing lady on You Tube who has developed a range of simple at-home workouts with dumbbells that start at 20 minutes, up to 60 minutes which you can follow along with for free;
Mobility and Balance - You should dedicate 10 minutes daily, or at least 3 times per week to a few simple balance and mobility exercises, which are key for optimising your agility and physical capability as you age - will help you to avoid falls and maintain your posture, form and all-round function. For me, this is usually a few 15-20 min yoga sessions per week (again I use the Peloton App for this) because it involves a variety of simple balancing and rotation exercises - single leg stances, lunges, planks, reaches and twists that improve balance and open up the body, help to prevent injury etc.
VO2Max - maximum oxygen output - or the maximum rate at which your muscles can extract oxygen from your blood, which is key for building your endurance, heart rate capability and your stamina. Now you may think that once you get into your 40’s, 50’s, 60’s and beyond this is not important. But I would disagree with that. In fact, again, Peter Attia talks about VO2max being a key barometer of longevity. And the reality is your life is just easier when you’re fitter, when you can perform activities and adventures that require physical extertion without feeling like you’re constantly out of breath. When it comes to VO2Max, this is something you only really need to do once or twice per week to get the heart, endurance and stamina building benefits. 1-2 sessions of 20-30 minutes at close to your maximum heart rate and oxygen output where you feel breathless is all you need. It could be running up a hill, High-Intensity interval or circuit training, rowing machine or a stationery bike where you push yourself in short maximum output bursts.
So in the health and wellness space so much emphasis is placed on nutrition, fasting and a wide range of different modalities and hacks…but none of that should be at the expense of a well rounded exercise program.
As Dr. Gabrielle Lyon says, “everybody eats, but not everybody exercises”…and she’s another one who is very prominent out there right now advocating why exercise should be the priority in your quest for health and longevity.
And I’m onboard with this philosophy and I hope you are too.
So, to finish up today, just consider how you approach your weekly exercise routine and what adjustments you can make to it. Combine Zone 2/Walking with Strength Training, a little mobility work and one short session per week of maximum cardio output / VO2Max and you’ll put yourself in the driver’s seat when it comes to the chances of you living a long, functional, happy, healthy and capable life.
Keep your approach to nutrition simple and whole food based. Experiment with time restricted eating, emphasising variety and scaling out of certain foods and and scaling up and down the amount you eat from time to time.
I hope you got value from today’s episode. Until next time, stay strong and live well!
ZT.
