Want to live longer? Go for Medicine 3.0

It’s everywhere. Advice on how to live better, longer, healthier, happier is so voluminous (and hard to prove) it can leave the average person overwhelmed. Countless supplements, diets, exercise routines and even some religious practices claim the secret of longevity.

In a way, this, too, is just the latest. Yet it’s made more credible by its humility and breadth of approach. No fountain of youth in a pill or special fitness routine. Just a smart approach to daily living, well researched and laid out by a Stanford/NIH trained Canadian doctor whose book, “Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity,” has been a bestseller since it was published this spring, alongside his popular podcasts.

Peter Attia’s path to longevity envisions a shift from modern medicine’s reactive approach focusing on treating acute illness and injuries, to “Medicine 3.0,” a model prioritizing preventive care. Step 1: Stop the unhealthy habits which slowly kill us. The average American’s sedentary habits and typical diet speed the onset or progression of the big four: cardiovascular disease, cancer, Type 2 diabetes and neurodegenerative disease.

Medicine 3.0 involves no magic mega-supplement, no new secret, but tracks the results of a broad-spectrum approach outlined by an M.D. who learned some of it the hard way. The book recommends forging a different relationship with physicians willing to help monitor its progress with prevention in mind.

1) Never mind particular diets: Cut down on calories, sugar and bad fats (glucose and lipids), and track them with labs. Hidden sugar is in just about every processed food, even “healthy” ones such as yogurt, juice, whole grain bread and so on. Check labels for unnecessary sugars, high sodium, and high fat. Eat well, and remember the chronic price of junk and processed food indulgences is paid later and gets higher with every package we open, accumulating over time, making healthy harder to achieve.

2) Be fit, especially before 75 (that’s when it gets a lot harder). Fitness is the No. 1 thing according to Attia, and it isn’t just about weight and strength. Exercise has big effects on the mind, improving mood, concentration and sleep. Habitual hiking (1.5 hilly miles) at every age is a great start, and Attia recommends maintaining a capacity for 30 jump-rope skips, but don’t neglect strength training. Attia says we age fastest with the atrophy of Type 2 muscle fiber, which is where resistance training is most effective. There are ways to do that outside the gym (squats, planks and jumps; Pilates against a wall; carry a weighted backpack on hikes or walks).

3) Eight hours sleep (better health makes sleep easier)

4) Don’t drink alcohol.

5) Floss. Dental health aids general health.

6) Dry sauna followed by a cold shower four times a week. Attia links this to lower Alzheimer's risk.

7) Sit less. Walk and stand more; sitting is the enemy. Choose minimalist shoes; simpler shoes without bulk or much padding allow the feet to feel surfaces beneath and increase physical awareness of body position and movement. This “proprioception” improves balance. Balance is a key component of health and safety as we age.

Genes will do their thing. Catastrophes happen, but prior health status mitigates both. We aren’t helpless.

“It’s all about controlling what I can control, which improves the odds that I will get the desired outcome,” Attia told the New York Times in an interview. “Look, there could be a cancer brewing inside me today that I’m unaware of that ends my life next year. I understand that. And if that’s the case and I’m on my death bed in a year, I won’t regret how hard I’ve worked to try to live a longer, better life. I’ll have given it my all.”

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Sholeh Patrick is a columnist for the Hagadone News Network. Email sholeh@cdapress.com.