Have you ever wondered about the simplest way to improve your health? I embarked on a personal journey to biohack my life for longevity.
During the early days of the pandemic lockdown, I made a significant commitment to myself: I would never step into a gym again. At the time, this promise felt like a reflection of the bewildering mix of despair and acceptance that many were experiencing. Surprisingly, it has become one of the few resolutions I have truly honored.
Since then, I've become increasingly interested in evidence indicating that even minor adjustments to our daily routines can lead to substantial health improvements. Recently, a study from the University of Sydney provided further support for this notion. It revealed that small modifications in three crucial areas—sleep, diet, and exercise—can yield remarkable benefits. For individuals with the least healthy habits, adding just 5 minutes of sleep, 2 extra minutes of physical activity, and minimal dietary changes could potentially extend their lives by an additional year.
Nicholas Koemel, the study’s author, emphasized this point: "All those tiny behaviors we change can actually have a very meaningful impact, and they add up over time to make a big difference in our longevity."
While I wholeheartedly support the idea of making barely noticeable lifestyle tweaks, I can't help but question how easily these changes can be integrated into a typical sluggish day.
Sleep
The study identified that the least healthy participants averaged only 5.5 hours of sleep each night, with notable health benefits observed when they increased their sleep duration by as much as 3 extra hours.
In my case, I usually get between 6.5 to 7 hours of sleep, which means there’s room for improvement. However, I’m hesitant to shift my bedtime. I recall a week spent going to bed at 9 PM for an article, and the disruption it caused to my sleep patterns lingered for weeks. Instead, I've decided to add those extra minutes to my morning routine. Yet, true to form, I often wake up at my usual time, attempt to fall back asleep, and end up oversleeping.
"Enjoying a duvet day?" my wife asks, pulling back the curtains. She’s already dressed and may have even gone out already.
"I’m just extending my lifespan," I respond, trying to justify my choice.
While I could get accustomed to waking up at 9:30 every morning, it does present a significant change to my usual schedule. For example, I miss out on my second cup of coffee.
Diet
The research utilized a "diet quality score" derived from responses to a 29-item questionnaire. The group with the lowest average score—36.9 out of 100—only needed a 5-point increase (alongside the additional sleep and exercise) to gain that extra year of life. Interestingly, a 5-point boost translates to just an additional half-serving of vegetables each day.
I’m hoping that this means simply eating an apple, which I typically wouldn’t consider, especially since there’s a bowl of apples conveniently placed on my kitchen counter. This scenario represents literally low-hanging fruit, emphasizing that the aim is to make minimal effort.
But when should I incorporate this apple into my day? 11 AM feels too soon—I’ve just had breakfast and am already thinking ahead to lunch. Thus, I decide to wait until the afternoon.
By the time I get to it, my family has beaten me to the apples: what started as five apples in the bowl now dwindled down to just two. Both options are less than ideal; one is soft and bruised while the other seems like an unlikely survivor from last month. I choose the least unappealing apple and collect my dietary quality points, but it's clear that we are venturing into challenging territory.
Exercise
Now, how can one fit an extra 2 minutes of exercise into a day that lacks any real physical activity?
I own a fancy skipping rope from a past fitness attempt, packaged in a bag that boldly states: "Beast Your Goals." Skipping appears to be an easy way to squeeze in those 2 minutes of effort, at least until you've completed 1 minute and realize that another minute would require considerable recovery time.
Instead, I conclude that the simplest solution would be to wrap up my begrudging afternoon dog walk with a quick two-minute sprint. Unfortunately, my dog has never witnessed me running before and is unsure how to react: should she chase after me or assume the role of the prey? Lacking explicit instructions, she opts to try to bring me down as if I were the target.
Fortunately, it’s cold and raining, so there are no onlookers to witness this spectacle. I can't quite believe that I need to maintain these efforts for an entire extra year.
