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Ask HN: Longevity for your parents, what to do?

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Re: Ask HN: Longevity for your parents, what to do?

#71

Post by minhmeoke »

rsync wrote: post #35

Encourage them to walk as much as possible - hopefully daily. Encourage them to shorten their feeding window. Perhaps as small as 4-6 hours but even 8 hours would be a big step up from a (typical) 12 hour feeding window. If you wanted to be more ambitious, any kind of resistance training would be fantastic but not at the expense of the walking. ... I notice you employing a familiar heuristic: "things doctors don't wa…

Another thing people have been consuming for millennia are fermented foods (eg: yoghurt/kefir, kombucha, sauerkraut, kimchi without preservatives). Perhaps a healthy gut biome is the secret to avoiding obesity by increasing gut microbiome diversity and reducing inflammation: https://med.stanford.edu/news/all-news/2021/07/fermented-foo...

Re: Ask HN: Longevity for your parents, what to do?

#72

Post by samus »

braingenious wrote: post #70
blep_ wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's one sort of life philosophy. There are others. If I had to point out exactly where I disagree with this, I'd say I don't view "doing a meaningful thing" as a thing you do once and then you're done with life. If I can do meaningful things for a few extra decades, that's a good thing.

It’s not that you do a meaningful thing and then you’re done with life, it’s that since you have limited time, it’s a good reason to at least attempt finding something meaningful to pursue or accomplish. When I’ve talked to longevity enthusiasts in the past I’ve never really gotten a good answer to “Why?” in a philosophical or even practical sense. It’s never “Outlive my enemies” or “Finish reading Gravity’s Rainbow”…

Not all of us need a purpose in life. Only when life gets hard do we start to wonder why we keep going on. These people are probably just happy doing whatever else they have been doing so far in their life. Maybe some of these people actually have a passion for pushing the envelope. Sort of like people that pursue fitness as a lifestyle, where one can raise the same doubts about what they are actually training and living for.

Re: Ask HN: Longevity for your parents, what to do?

#73

Post by minhmeoke »

The easiest approach is probably to avoid or reduce obviously harmful habits and behaviors that result in chronic diseases (eg: cardiovascular disease, diabetes)

- Avoid smoking and hard drugs

- Avoid excessive alcohol consumption

- Avoid fast food, excessive salt and sugar, deep fried dishes

- Avoid excessive stress and worrying

Besides that, focus on the basics:

- Consistent and restful sleep

- Healthy, balanced diet

- Regular exercise

- Novel and mentally-stimulating activities, continuous learning

- Strong social connections (not just online social networks, but actual friends and family they can hang out with in-person)

If you want even more, there have been studies about 5 blue zones where inhabitants regularly reach ages of 100 or more, and 9 habits they follow: https://www.bluezones.com/2016/11/power-9/

1. Move naturally: build exercise into your daily life

2. Purpose: a reason to wake up in the morning

3. Downshift: Routines that shed stress

4. Only eat until you are 80% full. Consider occasionally fasting.

5. Plant and bean-based diet

6. Moderate (1-2 cups/day) consumption of alcohol

7. Faith

8. Close family connections

9. Social circles that support healthy behaviors

Re: Ask HN: Longevity for your parents, what to do?

#74

Post by askafriend »

braingenious wrote: post #63

I have a sincere question for people that are into longevity: Why? Staving off mental decline makes perfect sense, that’s not what I’m referring to. There are some people that seem excited to simply push the envelope as to how long they can live for through diet and pharmaceuticals, and I personally don’t really understand that. What is the particular appeal of e.g. living to be 130 years old?

I believe the thinking is that the same processes are responsible for both aspects of longevity that you point out. The same things that have the potential to increase lifespan also have the potential to increase quality of life as you age.

You're making it seem like it's one or the other.

Re: Ask HN: Longevity for your parents, what to do?

#75

Post by braingenious »

samus wrote: post #72
braingenious wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s not that you do a meaningful thing and then you’re done with life, it’s that since you have limited time, it’s a good reason to at least attempt finding something meaningful to pursue or accomplish. When I’ve talked to longevity enthusiasts in the past I’ve never really gotten a good answer to “Why?” in a philosophical or even practical sense. It’s never “Outlive my enemies” or “Finish reading Gravity’s Rainbow”…

Not all of us need a purpose in life. Only when life gets hard do we start to wonder why we keep going on. These people are probably just happy doing whatever else they have been doing so far in their life. Maybe some of these people actually have a passion for pushing the envelope. Sort of like people that pursue fitness as a lifestyle, where one can raise the same doubts about what they are actually training and li…

That’s an interesting perspective.

I would still love to hear from somebody that is an actual longevity enthusiast rather than speculate as to their motives. As I’ve said, my previous actual conversations with longevity enthusiasts have been quite unsatisfying because I don’t buy “better telomeres for a higher number of years” as an actual pure human motivation. I would buy “a crippling fear of death” or “I want to spend every single dime I’ve ever accumulated” or “Finishing Dwarf Fortress” but the diehards always handwave and say they want to live forever… just ‘cuz.

edit: I’ll rephrase the crux of my original question.

Assuming you are able to find the magic potion that makes you live until 130 today, that means that you will outlive a whole lot of the planet. You’ll see people you care about die if they’re unable or unwilling to get said potion. If you reframe the question of “Who do you want to outlive and why?” then “idk lol” becomes a less understandable response.

Re: Ask HN: Longevity for your parents, what to do?

#76

Post by copperx »

That's exactly what my dad takes, but half that dosage for NMN and Resveratrol because of cost. He already takes metformin for diabetes in a higher dosage, and prescription fish oil (Vascepa).

But what's more important, I believe, is social connections. He claims the concoction has given him more energy, and this month alone he has traveled three times. He's got a girlfriend now. I see him in a better mood, but I'm sure it's because of his increased social connectedness.

For all we know, David Sinclair might be running the long con on us, and NMN might be worthless or even deleterious. I'm personally skeptical, and I do not take it because it is hypothesized that it may speed up the growth of existing cancers in the young, if I recall correctly.

Don't forget daily moderate exercise. It works better than any supplement for many issues of aging.

Re: Ask HN: Longevity for your parents, what to do?

#77

Post by copperx »

bilsbie wrote: post #59
Gatsky wrote: post #19

I think David Sinclair's track record of actually producing meaningful improvements in human longevity is zero. The whole sirtuin thing got big funding from pharma and then totally failed. I would remain very sceptical of what he says, as he definitely talks up his own work as high as it can go and beyond. Personally, I doubt these supplements make any difference. I also doubt that metformin makes a big difference (a…

> I think David Sinclair's track record of actually producing meaningful improvements in human longevity is zero. I know it’s not a great counterpoint but how does he look so young for being in his 50s? He must be doing something that works.

He said it himself on Twitter: by using old photos as profile pics.

Re: Ask HN: Longevity for your parents, what to do?

#78

Post by copperx »

voldacar wrote: post #34

Rapamycin will probably be more effective than any of those. Also, resveratrol has very low bioavailability ( Also, get them to a healthy body fat % (as measured by dexa) which is like 15% or less imo, and have them doing regular cardio.

Rapamycin sounds exciting and really dangerous. I don't think it's a net win.

Re: Ask HN: Longevity for your parents, what to do?

#80

Post by dombesz »

My granddad was a teacher through his life, going ~20km every day by bike for 40 years, in rain and even in the winter. When he became retired, he started physical work of farming crops, making hay for his cows for the winter. He lived for 92 years, while he was still able to walk around and take care of himself on the basic level. He got also a type 2 diabetes around his 80's, but wasn't prescribed metformin. I strongly believe the physical work in his retirement gave him the strength to be in a good shape in his late years.
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