most people assume that most of the aging process is in fact due to genes but no the huge chunk 70 to 80 percent is actually due to environmental factors in other words things that are within our control I think we all pretty much know that diet and physical activity make a difference to healthy longer lifespan but some unexpected factors might surprise you for example friendship is important for healthy lifespan the quality of friendship and the frequency of engaging with friends is very important and it's been shown to reduce inflammation and therefore influence biological aging another
factor is laughter having a good laugh children are something like 400 times a day but as we get older we don't laugh as much having a good laugh can actually reduce stress levels both autonomic system related that's nervous system related stress levels and hormones circulating stress hormones and actually can decrease in people who have had a heart attack the recurrence of subsequent heart attacks so make an effort to have a good laugh however you do it laughter is the best medicine sleep matters it's important to try and get a good night's sleep usually between seven
and nine hours too little or too much is not good for brain function and for heart function now sleep is more disrupted with aging but there are ways that we can manage sleep and help to ensure we get a better night's sleep and it really is important during sleep our immune system through a sticky agent called integrine is released and that helps killer T cells to fight viruses which might be attacking us at that time so sleep helps at a biological level cold water a cold water shower Cold Water Swimming actually wakens up our biological
system through a process called hermiasis which is very beneficial for slowing down negative or toxic aging processes in the cell and stimulating positive biological Pathways in the cells so if you can cold water shower every morning will make a difference and helps with immune responses to infection as well as reducing the consequences of depression and helping you have a lighter better mood [Music] really this isn't about extending lifespan it's about extending healthy lifespan and therefore compressing or reducing the period of time we spend with illness or disability at the end of life so that we
can have a longer happier better quality of life and Independence for much longer for whatever years we live oh
