Dr Federica Amati, a food scientist and nutrition expert, has outlined six simple lifestyle changes that she says could add up to 14 years to a person's life. Speaking about lifestyle medicine, she described it as "the clinical practice of using everyday behaviour to prevent, treat and sometimes reverse chronic disease. It sits alongside medication and surgery rather than replacing them. Your GP prescribing a statin and your body needing sleep are both real, and both matter."
The six pillars of lifestyle change
Dr Amati, who is Nutrition Topic Lead at Imperial College London and Head Nutritionist at ZOE, identified six pillars: nutrition, physical activity, restorative sleep, stress management, avoiding risky substances, and social connection. She said these could have a dramatic impact on health.
Citing research, she said: "Harvard researchers followed 123,000 people for up to 34 years. At age 50, those with five low-risk lifestyle factors could expect to live 14.0 years longer if they were women, and 12.2 years longer if they were men, compared with those who had none." She added that in a study of 20,244 British adults, four simple behaviours predicted a four-fold difference in death rates.
How lifestyle affects chronic disease
Dr Amati explained that these pillars "act on the systems underneath every chronic disease we treat: blood vessels, blood sugar, inflammation, hormones and the microbes in your gut. Change the inputs and you change the terrain those diseases grow in."
She highlighted the role of diet, noting that "almost 60% of the calories eaten in the United States come from ultra-processed food. In the UK the figure is around 57%. In Italy it is roughly 10%. The problem lies with the systems in place, not with individuals' choices."
Diet changes at different ages
Dr Amati has previously discussed how improving diet can add years to life, based on a study by Professor John Mathers. She said that following standard dietary guidelines could add about six years, while adopting a Mediterranean-style longevity pattern could add 10 to 11 years at age 40. She noted that at age 70, the same changes could add up to six years.
She explained that older adults become less efficient at absorbing and using nutrients, and typically become more insulin resistant. She recommended increasing protein intake slightly, from 0.83 g per kilogram of body weight to maybe 1 g per kilogram for older people. She emphasised the importance of nutrient-dense foods, such as plant proteins, eggs, oily fish, beans, lentils, and whole grains, which are naturally hydrating and can improve quality of life.
