8 ms·

Diet, exercise, enough sleep, and a good social support structure are pretty much the keys to good health in general. The fact that we have so many health issu

Diet, exercise, enough sleep, and a good social support structure are pretty much the keys to good health in general. The fact that we have so many health issues in western society are because its so easy to neglect these things.

markus_zhang 3y ago
These are luxuries, not mandatories. That's why many people don't get them. They can't. I absolutely can't.
- dingusdew 3y ago
  They are only that way because our society treats them as luxuries instead of baseline "these are needed to properly take care of yourself." Apparently only the rich deserve things like this, according to US society. You know, rich folks like Steve Jobs who definitely listen to their doctors and their support networks and definitely don't fall for quacky bullshit that means they die from a totally manageable type of cancer.
- t-writescode 3y ago
  I have to disagree. That Western Society has systemically chosen to redefine them as luxuries and has forced its residents to treat them as luxuries, rather than the obligation for a healthy human experience that they are is a major source of the harm we experience every day. We need to return to considering and treating them as the mandatories that they are or else we will continue to experience the cost of neglecting them, just like neglecting Vitamin C results in scurvy.
- ianlevesque 3y ago
  No, no, everything is a personal failing. Pull yourself up by those bootstraps. What externalities?
- jimbob45 3y ago
  Couldn't agree more. Seems like a lot of people on here think that low-income earners eat off of the McD's dollar menu by choice.
  - t-writescode 3y ago
    I absolutely don't think that. I think that company owners, share holders, "The Economy" have decided that low earners don't deserve healthy lives; and that many of those low earners have been tricked into agreeing that it's best to live "under foot" and that those things are luxuries. It would be like cheering a factory on for all the missing arms its employees have, and then having all the factory employees mock the newcommers with two arms trying to protest losing an arm only to have the tenured ones laugh at them and think that's privilege. We've brainwashed generations of self and systemic harm
  - Vt71fcAqt7 3y ago
    Beans, rice, eggs and oats are cheaper, healthier and quicker than Mcdonalds. (Rice is not quicker). If McDonals were the only choice they wouldn't be spending millions on advertising.
    - t-writescode 3y ago
      They're also more emotionally taxing to create, and come with several externalities that aren't baked in to the price of the dollar menu: * dish washing (do they even have dishes?) * power usage of stove * time to clean up * a singular, large lump of time to go out and buy all those food * the necessary mental spoons to plan those numerous meals each week * a refridgerator that works (mine is currently broken, for example) * a willingness to accept the cost of losing a lot of food when the fridge inevitably breaks And so on
      - Jtsummers 3y ago
        * a refridgerator that works (mine is currently broken, for example) Other than eggs, and this is in the US not all countries, you don't need a refrigerator for the listed items. Beans, rice, and oats do not require refrigeration. Many fruits and vegetables also don't need refrigeration [0]. * a willingness to accept the cost of losing a lot of food when the fridge inevitably breaks This is mitigated by learning what does and does not need to be refrigerated and storing things properly. [0] https://extension.purdue.edu/foodlink/includes/pubs/Storing%20Fruits%20and%20Veggies.pdf https://extension.purdue.edu/foodlink/includes/pubs/Storing%...
- acabal 3y ago
  I think it's important to note that they're luxuries in the modern society we've built for ourselves in the West. Long, long ago, small communities without access to high-speed travel provided social support; no cars and little white-collar work means exercise was baked into life with much walking and manual labor; diet was mostly unprocessed food farmed nearby; and no screens or even electricity meant sleep well before midnight till dawn. Of course, there were plenty of problems back then, too - I'm not saying it was an idyllic utopia. But in our modern life, it seems like we've just traded one set of problems for another.
- teaearlgraycold 3y ago
  I understand this is probably an uncomfortable topic, but I’d love to hear more from you on this.
- algoatecorn 3y ago
  If you put diet, exercise, sleep, and social support on a sliding scale, can you honestly say that you're doing everything in your power to maximize each one? I don't know your personal details, but most people who think this way are not actually trying their hardest in each category. Sure, some small percentage is going to face monumental challenges. But look at the data in the US for example. 70% of our deaths are caused by NCDs. Most of that 70% has enough control of these factors to reap their benefits
  - t-writescode 3y ago
    > Most of that 70% has enough control of these factors to reap their benefits And yet they don't, so it suggests to me that "it's not that simple". It's better to imagine that people _are_ doing what they can and it's still not enough, so rather than victim blaming, we can discover what's actually going on in these people's lives that's stopping their ability to reach it. Are they so downtrodden that it's not worth the effort anymore? Are they actually working 2-3 jobs and 100 hours of unexpected time a week so they literally don't have time? Do they live so far away from work because they can't afford to live close such that all their time is spent commuting and they have no extra time anymore?
    - algoatecorn 3y ago
      Let's be intellectually honest here. It's not victim blaming to point out that "can't" isn't reasonable language. Life is hard. Doesn't mean we "can't" have some control over these variables. As I said, there are edge cases that deserve sympathy but they don't represent the bulk of scenarios.
      - t-writescode 3y ago
        > there are edge cases that deserve sympathy but they don't represent the bulk of scenarios. You say this, but you also say, "Most of that 70% has enough control of these factors to reap their benefits" 70% and "most of 70%" are still either a majority or at the very least a plurality; so, I have to strongly disagree that they don't represent the bulk of the scenarios. Is your argument that most people are lazy and should suck it up and get over it and fix themselves?
- landryraccoon 3y ago
  Good food I can see as a luxury. How is exercise a luxury though? It seems like going for a walk or a run is available to almost everyone. If anything it seems like those on the lower income level would be forced to be outside doing physical activity more than the wealthy.
  - t-writescode 3y ago
    > would be forced to be outside doing physical activity more I have no citation, but I believe most low-income jobs in the US involve: * standing for long, long hours and not moving (cashiers) * sitting for long, long hours and not moving (call centers)
- xenospn 3y ago
  Is someone holding a gun to your head and preventing you from eating fruits and vegetables?
- wyldberry 3y ago
  They are not luxuries. Modern society has just made it easy to neglect these things for various reasons. The lies we tell ourselves about it not mandatory until you burn out or need medical intervention. Modern medicine will provide various interventions to help out such as trying to balance your brain chemistry, lowering obesity, blood pressure, etc. Many of the things prescribed to us today are due to lifestyle choices. There's a growing corpus of evidence that diet has incredible potential for treating serious brain disorders (when done with a psychiatrist, especially if you're already medicated)[0]. At the end of the day, you are the only person who sets the priorities in your life. If you don't make maintenance of your body and mind a priority, the bill will come later. [0]: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/61129785-brain-energy https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/61129785-brain-energy
- rocket_surgeron 3y ago
  For the most profoundly addicted, the acutely dying, and those who are mentally ill to the point of being unable to participate in society these are luxuries. For everyone else, they are mandatory. Exercise is the easiest. Exercise isn't running and weightlifting, exercise is pushing your body to the limits so that its limits slowly increase over time. For 600lbs people exercise may be standing up and sitting down. For the elderly, like my 92 year old grandmother with COPD, exercise is curling and doing overhead presses with a heavy book while seated. People with cystic fibrosis exercise, and are usually exercise machines because if they stop they die. Patients in iron lungs exercise. The only people who can't exercise are those in hospice care. If you can stand, standing until you cannot stand anymore is exercise. If you can walk, 5 seconds more walking than you did yesterday is exercise. Wheelchair-bound patients with Osteogenesis Imperfecta can (and are highly encouraged to) exercise. Exercise costs $0.00. If you are so ill that you cannot pick up a 1 lbs dumbbell, putting a rubber band around your fingers and opening and closing your hand is exercise and will have benefits. If you are not acutely dying, you can exercise. All forms of exercise at all levels for all people has a benefit-- however small, it is a benefit. Eating right is harder, but is accessible to any able-bodied, homed, person. Able-bodied doesn't mean healthy. Able-bodied means "able to turn on a hotplate and lift a bag of beans." Social support is the hardest, but is doable for all but the most mentally ill. There are roughly 35,000 social support groups full of people looking for a social support network dotted across the country. Many of them meet online so anyone who can read HN can participate as a first step. I do not believe they are adequate. I do believe that online support groups are an outstanding and effective first step. Lacking a social support network is often fatal to human beings, and those who lack support need to work extremely hard to obtain one, but it isn't impossible. There are human being for who exercise, diet, and friends are luxuries. Someone active on hacker news is PROBABLY not one of them.
10xDev 3y ago
You forgot to add good genetics.
- ericmay 3y ago
  Those help but are completely out of your control.
  - eikenberry 3y ago
    Hopefully not for long.
    - lockhouse 3y ago
      Yeah, I can’t wait to live in a real life version of Rapture from the BioShock series. ;-) I’m looking forward to Incinerate and Telekinesis myself.
- pengaru 3y ago
  > You forgot to add good genetics. Too many people lean on "bad genetics" as a scapegoat for their laziness/poor choices/lack of self-discipline...
- mtalantikite 3y ago
  "good genetics" (if we can even say that) might help give an edge for elite athletes, but really, for most able bodied people, it's not a factor you should be thinking about when it comes to exercise. Just get out there and use your body, it's amazing.
ActorNightly 3y ago
Its even simpler. Exercise (specifically, aerobic type) is the main thing you need. A good exercise regime gives you a lot of leeway in the diet aspect especially if you don't overeat (since your caloric burn will be high enough on the regular to not have to deal with issues like too much carbs). It also helps you sleep as you get tired and can fall asleep easier, and reduces stress levels, which is very important in regards to longevity. There also have been studies that link brain function deterioration with lack of oxygen, and people with higher VO2max values are at a lower risk of cognitive decline. Something as simple as cycling to the office instead of taking the car can have extremely positive effects.
- Swizec 3y ago
  Don’t forget all the evidence suggesting adult neurogenesis specifically from running. As for VO2max, Levitt had a longevity researcher on his podcast who found that a high VO2max (used as a proxy measure) is causally related with higher impacts on 5 year all cause mortality than smoking. In the good direction. As in: being in shape reduces your risk of death more than smoking increases it. Sauce: https://freakonomics.com/podcast/adding-ten-healthy-years-to-your-life/ https://freakonomics.com/podcast/adding-ten-healthy-years-to...
  - swalling 3y ago
    It's not just a longterm effect of VO2max improvements, which is a physiological metric that is quite slow to improve and realistically has upper limits based on your age and sex. It's also that aerobic exercise acutely improves brain function. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9256523/#:~:text=There%20is%20evidence%20that%20acute,89%5D%E2%80%93%5B92%5D https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9256523/#:~:tex...
  - o_____________o 3y ago
    Figured that would be Peter Attia. https://peterattiamd.com/podcast/ https://peterattiamd.com/podcast/ His podcast is amazing but can be dense and technical at times. He's evidence based and would probably fit in with the HN crowd.
pengaru 3y ago
"Social support structure" is often at odds with diet, exercise, and enough sleep.
- lockhouse 3y ago
  It is absolutely critical to good mental health and having healthy coping mechanisms for stress. Social support structure doesn’t necessarily mean staying out all night drinking and partying with your friends like a college student. It can also mean spending quality time with your family, neighbors, and acquaintances that you share hobbies and activities with.
- elijaht 3y ago
  Not sure about that. A few social activities are negative (nightlife, eating out maybe), but most seem to be neutral to me (hanging out, gaming, religion), and it's pretty easy to find positive activities (walking/hiking, sports, climbing).
- sysadmindotfail 3y ago
  Life is a series of endless choices. I recently ran a 24hr relay. There were absolutely those who drank/partied while they participated. They posted slower times and probably slept less. I didn't sleep as much as usual (because I was waking up to run every 6hrs), but I slept more, didn't party, ran faster than them. Neither of us was right/wrong in our choices. I would have felt like crap if I had their habits, but maybe it doesn't affect them.
borbulon 3y ago
I was walking 10+ miles every day when I was diagnosed with Stage 4 Lung Cancer, which means it was growing pretty much the entire time I was exercising. It’s not just Diet, exercise and sleep (and proper eating). Some of it is just plain luck.
- robinsord 3y ago
  [dead]
- pazimzadeh 3y ago
  I'm sorry to hear that. Theoretically, it could have progressed faster if you hadn't exercised?
- ericmcer 3y ago
  Sorry that sucks and is doubly frustrating when you are doing everything right. Sort of the inverse of Richard Overton who would chain smoke cigars and drink Irish coffee well into his 100s.
- Wonnk13 3y ago
  34 year old triathlete here: colon cancer spread from my colon to my lung. That said, I do think continuing to do some amount of exercise during chemo definitely helped me recover, if not just stay sane mentally. I'm about to have surgery to remove part of the lung and tumor and my surgeon/oncology team is making me wear a fitbit for three months to study my recovery.
  - borbulon 3y ago
    What did you do for exercise? Do you mind me asking what your chemo was? Was it mutation-specific? Good luck with the surgery!
    - Wonnk13 3y ago
      I was on Folfirinnox + Avastin. 2 week cycle with three actual days of chemo, five shitty days and then a recovery week. Exercise was really dictated by my port surgically put into my right peck. After about four weeks I could deadlift, squat, all the compound lifts + run,bike,swim if I had the energy. The surgery was supposed to be VATs, but the tumor was so large it turned into a general thoracotomy. It's fucking brutal. Easily the hardest thing i've had to do in life so far. But I'll get through it because there's no other choice. Forward. :)
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
Waterluvian 3y ago
And you don't need a gym membership or expensive equipment or any training for exercise. Even a tiny amount can make a huge difference. If you're currently doing no exercise, try to walk five minutes at lunch time each day. Just five minutes. And when that's trivial to do, make it 10 minutes. Try to keep increasing this over the year. No rush. Take your time. But try to make it a habit. Even if some days it's back down to just 5 minutes. If you're walking even just 15 minutes a day when you weren't before, you will be so much better off in ways that will be apparent. You might find that you feel happier, more alert, in a better mood overall. You might sleep a bit better. etc. I'm not saying that a 15 min walk is a panacea that will cure all ills, but it's a multivitamin that works.
- Xeoncross 3y ago
  A lot of people don't realize that muscle use helps pump blood. Movement is important for helping circulation.
  - Silverback_VII 3y ago
    Yeah but a 15min walk will get you nowhere.
    - inglor_cz 3y ago
      For someone who used to drive everywhere, it may be a "gateway drug" to more walking.
    - martyvis 3y ago
      It will get you more than 15 minutes on the couch watching TV. How disingenuous can you be.
- cowmoo728 3y ago
  Or, if you're working in a multi story office or apartment, take the stairs instead of the elevator. It seems silly but it actually makes a big difference to go from mostly sedentary to walking up stairs.
agumonkey 3y ago
It's because western culture jumped the shark long ago. Half of every longevity tips is basically "no modern life". Eat fresh, few, move a lot, sleep a lot, talk a lot.
- selimthegrim 3y ago
  Few what?
  - agumonkey 3y ago
    Eat few, in general. Don't force your body to store fat you won't need. Even proteins, I just learned that unused proteins will be converted to fat. Also, if you agree that gut microbiome is important, try to eat foods that will be benefitial to them, like https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microbiota-accessible_carbohydrates https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microbiota-accessible_carbohyd... (another thing I discovered recently). Then there's fasting and autophagy but it's a bit harder (I'm just starting IF and it requires a bit of dedication tbh)

markus_zhang 3y ago

These are luxuries, not mandatories. That's why many people don't get them. They can't. I absolutely can't.

dingusdew 3y ago
They are only that way because our society treats them as luxuries instead of baseline "these are needed to properly take care of yourself." Apparently only the rich deserve things like this, according to US society. You know, rich folks like Steve Jobs who definitely listen to their doctors and their support networks and definitely don't fall for quacky bullshit that means they die from a totally manageable type of cancer.
t-writescode 3y ago
I have to disagree. That Western Society has systemically chosen to redefine them as luxuries and has forced its residents to treat them as luxuries, rather than the obligation for a healthy human experience that they are is a major source of the harm we experience every day. We need to return to considering and treating them as the mandatories that they are or else we will continue to experience the cost of neglecting them, just like neglecting Vitamin C results in scurvy.
ianlevesque 3y ago
No, no, everything is a personal failing. Pull yourself up by those bootstraps. What externalities?
jimbob45 3y ago
Couldn't agree more. Seems like a lot of people on here think that low-income earners eat off of the McD's dollar menu by choice.
- t-writescode 3y ago
  I absolutely don't think that. I think that company owners, share holders, "The Economy" have decided that low earners don't deserve healthy lives; and that many of those low earners have been tricked into agreeing that it's best to live "under foot" and that those things are luxuries. It would be like cheering a factory on for all the missing arms its employees have, and then having all the factory employees mock the newcommers with two arms trying to protest losing an arm only to have the tenured ones laugh at them and think that's privilege. We've brainwashed generations of self and systemic harm
- Vt71fcAqt7 3y ago
  Beans, rice, eggs and oats are cheaper, healthier and quicker than Mcdonalds. (Rice is not quicker). If McDonals were the only choice they wouldn't be spending millions on advertising.
  - t-writescode 3y ago
    They're also more emotionally taxing to create, and come with several externalities that aren't baked in to the price of the dollar menu: * dish washing (do they even have dishes?) * power usage of stove * time to clean up * a singular, large lump of time to go out and buy all those food * the necessary mental spoons to plan those numerous meals each week * a refridgerator that works (mine is currently broken, for example) * a willingness to accept the cost of losing a lot of food when the fridge inevitably breaks And so on
    - Jtsummers 3y ago
      * a refridgerator that works (mine is currently broken, for example) Other than eggs, and this is in the US not all countries, you don't need a refrigerator for the listed items. Beans, rice, and oats do not require refrigeration. Many fruits and vegetables also don't need refrigeration [0]. * a willingness to accept the cost of losing a lot of food when the fridge inevitably breaks This is mitigated by learning what does and does not need to be refrigerated and storing things properly. [0] https://extension.purdue.edu/foodlink/includes/pubs/Storing%20Fruits%20and%20Veggies.pdf https://extension.purdue.edu/foodlink/includes/pubs/Storing%...
acabal 3y ago
I think it's important to note that they're luxuries in the modern society we've built for ourselves in the West. Long, long ago, small communities without access to high-speed travel provided social support; no cars and little white-collar work means exercise was baked into life with much walking and manual labor; diet was mostly unprocessed food farmed nearby; and no screens or even electricity meant sleep well before midnight till dawn. Of course, there were plenty of problems back then, too - I'm not saying it was an idyllic utopia. But in our modern life, it seems like we've just traded one set of problems for another.
teaearlgraycold 3y ago
I understand this is probably an uncomfortable topic, but I’d love to hear more from you on this.
algoatecorn 3y ago
If you put diet, exercise, sleep, and social support on a sliding scale, can you honestly say that you're doing everything in your power to maximize each one? I don't know your personal details, but most people who think this way are not actually trying their hardest in each category. Sure, some small percentage is going to face monumental challenges. But look at the data in the US for example. 70% of our deaths are caused by NCDs. Most of that 70% has enough control of these factors to reap their benefits
- t-writescode 3y ago
  > Most of that 70% has enough control of these factors to reap their benefits And yet they don't, so it suggests to me that "it's not that simple". It's better to imagine that people _are_ doing what they can and it's still not enough, so rather than victim blaming, we can discover what's actually going on in these people's lives that's stopping their ability to reach it. Are they so downtrodden that it's not worth the effort anymore? Are they actually working 2-3 jobs and 100 hours of unexpected time a week so they literally don't have time? Do they live so far away from work because they can't afford to live close such that all their time is spent commuting and they have no extra time anymore?
  - algoatecorn 3y ago
    Let's be intellectually honest here. It's not victim blaming to point out that "can't" isn't reasonable language. Life is hard. Doesn't mean we "can't" have some control over these variables. As I said, there are edge cases that deserve sympathy but they don't represent the bulk of scenarios.
    - t-writescode 3y ago
      > there are edge cases that deserve sympathy but they don't represent the bulk of scenarios. You say this, but you also say, "Most of that 70% has enough control of these factors to reap their benefits" 70% and "most of 70%" are still either a majority or at the very least a plurality; so, I have to strongly disagree that they don't represent the bulk of the scenarios. Is your argument that most people are lazy and should suck it up and get over it and fix themselves?
landryraccoon 3y ago
Good food I can see as a luxury. How is exercise a luxury though? It seems like going for a walk or a run is available to almost everyone. If anything it seems like those on the lower income level would be forced to be outside doing physical activity more than the wealthy.
- t-writescode 3y ago
  > would be forced to be outside doing physical activity more I have no citation, but I believe most low-income jobs in the US involve: * standing for long, long hours and not moving (cashiers) * sitting for long, long hours and not moving (call centers)
xenospn 3y ago
Is someone holding a gun to your head and preventing you from eating fruits and vegetables?
wyldberry 3y ago
They are not luxuries. Modern society has just made it easy to neglect these things for various reasons. The lies we tell ourselves about it not mandatory until you burn out or need medical intervention. Modern medicine will provide various interventions to help out such as trying to balance your brain chemistry, lowering obesity, blood pressure, etc. Many of the things prescribed to us today are due to lifestyle choices. There's a growing corpus of evidence that diet has incredible potential for treating serious brain disorders (when done with a psychiatrist, especially if you're already medicated)[0]. At the end of the day, you are the only person who sets the priorities in your life. If you don't make maintenance of your body and mind a priority, the bill will come later. [0]: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/61129785-brain-energy https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/61129785-brain-energy
rocket_surgeron 3y ago
For the most profoundly addicted, the acutely dying, and those who are mentally ill to the point of being unable to participate in society these are luxuries. For everyone else, they are mandatory. Exercise is the easiest. Exercise isn't running and weightlifting, exercise is pushing your body to the limits so that its limits slowly increase over time. For 600lbs people exercise may be standing up and sitting down. For the elderly, like my 92 year old grandmother with COPD, exercise is curling and doing overhead presses with a heavy book while seated. People with cystic fibrosis exercise, and are usually exercise machines because if they stop they die. Patients in iron lungs exercise. The only people who can't exercise are those in hospice care. If you can stand, standing until you cannot stand anymore is exercise. If you can walk, 5 seconds more walking than you did yesterday is exercise. Wheelchair-bound patients with Osteogenesis Imperfecta can (and are highly encouraged to) exercise. Exercise costs $0.00. If you are so ill that you cannot pick up a 1 lbs dumbbell, putting a rubber band around your fingers and opening and closing your hand is exercise and will have benefits. If you are not acutely dying, you can exercise. All forms of exercise at all levels for all people has a benefit-- however small, it is a benefit. Eating right is harder, but is accessible to any able-bodied, homed, person. Able-bodied doesn't mean healthy. Able-bodied means "able to turn on a hotplate and lift a bag of beans." Social support is the hardest, but is doable for all but the most mentally ill. There are roughly 35,000 social support groups full of people looking for a social support network dotted across the country. Many of them meet online so anyone who can read HN can participate as a first step. I do not believe they are adequate. I do believe that online support groups are an outstanding and effective first step. Lacking a social support network is often fatal to human beings, and those who lack support need to work extremely hard to obtain one, but it isn't impossible. There are human being for who exercise, diet, and friends are luxuries. Someone active on hacker news is PROBABLY not one of them.

10xDev 3y ago

You forgot to add good genetics.

ericmay 3y ago
Those help but are completely out of your control.
- eikenberry 3y ago
  Hopefully not for long.
  - lockhouse 3y ago
    Yeah, I can’t wait to live in a real life version of Rapture from the BioShock series. ;-) I’m looking forward to Incinerate and Telekinesis myself.
pengaru 3y ago
> You forgot to add good genetics. Too many people lean on "bad genetics" as a scapegoat for their laziness/poor choices/lack of self-discipline...
mtalantikite 3y ago
"good genetics" (if we can even say that) might help give an edge for elite athletes, but really, for most able bodied people, it's not a factor you should be thinking about when it comes to exercise. Just get out there and use your body, it's amazing.

ActorNightly 3y ago

Its even simpler. Exercise (specifically, aerobic type) is the main thing you need. A good exercise regime gives you a lot of leeway in the diet aspect especially if you don't overeat (since your caloric burn will be high enough on the regular to not have to deal with issues like too much carbs). It also helps you sleep as you get tired and can fall asleep easier, and reduces stress levels, which is very important in regards to longevity. There also have been studies that link brain function deterioration with lack of oxygen, and people with higher VO2max values are at a lower risk of cognitive decline. Something as simple as cycling to the office instead of taking the car can have extremely positive effects.

Swizec 3y ago
Don’t forget all the evidence suggesting adult neurogenesis specifically from running. As for VO2max, Levitt had a longevity researcher on his podcast who found that a high VO2max (used as a proxy measure) is causally related with higher impacts on 5 year all cause mortality than smoking. In the good direction. As in: being in shape reduces your risk of death more than smoking increases it. Sauce: https://freakonomics.com/podcast/adding-ten-healthy-years-to-your-life/ https://freakonomics.com/podcast/adding-ten-healthy-years-to...
- swalling 3y ago
  It's not just a longterm effect of VO2max improvements, which is a physiological metric that is quite slow to improve and realistically has upper limits based on your age and sex. It's also that aerobic exercise acutely improves brain function. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9256523/#:~:text=There%20is%20evidence%20that%20acute,89%5D%E2%80%93%5B92%5D https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9256523/#:~:tex...
- o_____________o 3y ago
  Figured that would be Peter Attia. https://peterattiamd.com/podcast/ https://peterattiamd.com/podcast/ His podcast is amazing but can be dense and technical at times. He's evidence based and would probably fit in with the HN crowd.

pengaru 3y ago

"Social support structure" is often at odds with diet, exercise, and enough sleep.

lockhouse 3y ago
It is absolutely critical to good mental health and having healthy coping mechanisms for stress. Social support structure doesn’t necessarily mean staying out all night drinking and partying with your friends like a college student. It can also mean spending quality time with your family, neighbors, and acquaintances that you share hobbies and activities with.
elijaht 3y ago
Not sure about that. A few social activities are negative (nightlife, eating out maybe), but most seem to be neutral to me (hanging out, gaming, religion), and it's pretty easy to find positive activities (walking/hiking, sports, climbing).
sysadmindotfail 3y ago
Life is a series of endless choices. I recently ran a 24hr relay. There were absolutely those who drank/partied while they participated. They posted slower times and probably slept less. I didn't sleep as much as usual (because I was waking up to run every 6hrs), but I slept more, didn't party, ran faster than them. Neither of us was right/wrong in our choices. I would have felt like crap if I had their habits, but maybe it doesn't affect them.

borbulon 3y ago

I was walking 10+ miles every day when I was diagnosed with Stage 4 Lung Cancer, which means it was growing pretty much the entire time I was exercising. It’s not just Diet, exercise and sleep (and proper eating). Some of it is just plain luck.

robinsord 3y ago
[dead]
pazimzadeh 3y ago
I'm sorry to hear that. Theoretically, it could have progressed faster if you hadn't exercised?
ericmcer 3y ago
Sorry that sucks and is doubly frustrating when you are doing everything right. Sort of the inverse of Richard Overton who would chain smoke cigars and drink Irish coffee well into his 100s.
Wonnk13 3y ago
34 year old triathlete here: colon cancer spread from my colon to my lung. That said, I do think continuing to do some amount of exercise during chemo definitely helped me recover, if not just stay sane mentally. I'm about to have surgery to remove part of the lung and tumor and my surgeon/oncology team is making me wear a fitbit for three months to study my recovery.
- borbulon 3y ago
  What did you do for exercise? Do you mind me asking what your chemo was? Was it mutation-specific? Good luck with the surgery!
  - Wonnk13 3y ago
    I was on Folfirinnox + Avastin. 2 week cycle with three actual days of chemo, five shitty days and then a recovery week. Exercise was really dictated by my port surgically put into my right peck. After about four weeks I could deadlift, squat, all the compound lifts + run,bike,swim if I had the energy. The surgery was supposed to be VATs, but the tumor was so large it turned into a general thoracotomy. It's fucking brutal. Easily the hardest thing i've had to do in life so far. But I'll get through it because there's no other choice. Forward. :)

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Waterluvian 3y ago

And you don't need a gym membership or expensive equipment or any training for exercise. Even a tiny amount can make a huge difference. If you're currently doing no exercise, try to walk five minutes at lunch time each day. Just five minutes. And when that's trivial to do, make it 10 minutes. Try to keep increasing this over the year. No rush. Take your time. But try to make it a habit. Even if some days it's back down to just 5 minutes. If you're walking even just 15 minutes a day when you weren't before, you will be so much better off in ways that will be apparent. You might find that you feel happier, more alert, in a better mood overall. You might sleep a bit better. etc. I'm not saying that a 15 min walk is a panacea that will cure all ills, but it's a multivitamin that works.

Xeoncross 3y ago
A lot of people don't realize that muscle use helps pump blood. Movement is important for helping circulation.
- Silverback_VII 3y ago
  Yeah but a 15min walk will get you nowhere.
  - inglor_cz 3y ago
    For someone who used to drive everywhere, it may be a "gateway drug" to more walking.
  - martyvis 3y ago
    It will get you more than 15 minutes on the couch watching TV. How disingenuous can you be.
cowmoo728 3y ago
Or, if you're working in a multi story office or apartment, take the stairs instead of the elevator. It seems silly but it actually makes a big difference to go from mostly sedentary to walking up stairs.

agumonkey 3y ago

It's because western culture jumped the shark long ago. Half of every longevity tips is basically "no modern life". Eat fresh, few, move a lot, sleep a lot, talk a lot.

selimthegrim 3y ago
Few what?
- agumonkey 3y ago
  Eat few, in general. Don't force your body to store fat you won't need. Even proteins, I just learned that unused proteins will be converted to fat. Also, if you agree that gut microbiome is important, try to eat foods that will be benefitial to them, like https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microbiota-accessible_carbohydrates https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microbiota-accessible_carbohyd... (another thing I discovered recently). Then there's fasting and autophagy but it's a bit harder (I'm just starting IF and it requires a bit of dedication tbh)