Advice From the #1 Longevity Doctor: Add 10 Years to Your Life With 3 Simple Habits

KEYPOINTS

• 01

  Aim for healthspan, not just lifespan

  Dr. Eric Topol is a cardiologist who practiced for nearly four decades, founded the Scripps Research Translational Institute, and wrote Super Agers. He says the goal is more years of healthy living. Across study after study, following the full set of lifestyle factors is associated with an extra 7 to 10 years of healthy aging. He says no magic pill is needed.

• 02

  The big three diseases take more than 20 years to develop

  Cancer, cardiovascular disease and neurodegenerative disease (mainly Alzheimer's and Parkinson's) develop over two decades or more. That leaves a long window to prevent or delay them. Mel cites the book's figure that 95% of Americans aged 60 and older have a chronic disease. Topol says that if those people had started at 50, many would have avoided disease or developed it at 75 or 80 instead of 60. He's clear he isn't talking about cancers and diseases that strike the young.

• 03

  It's never too late, or too early

  Starting in your 20s gives you more healthy years, but Topol says people who begin at 70 or 80 still benefit. He describes a 98-year-old woman in the book, Mrs. L.R., who is mentally sharp, does jigsaw puzzles and oil paintings, and stays socially active, even though her parents died in their 50s. He says lifestyle can override, or work independently of, bad genes. Aging is inevitable, but becoming frail and weak isn't.

• 04

  'Lifestyle plus' goes beyond diet, exercise and sleep

  The three big gaps Topol sees are poor diet heavy in ultra-processed food, too little aerobic and resistance exercise, and too little sleep, especially deep sleep, which he ties to brain health. The 'plus' covers social isolation, environmental exposures like air pollution, microplastics and 'forever chemicals,' and time outdoors in nature.

• 05

  Screening should match your risk, not just your age

  Topol calls age-based screening outdated. He says most cancers aren't found by screening, and about 88–89% of women will never get breast cancer. He favors polygenic risk scores for breast, colon, prostate and lung cancer, which cost about $50, are offered by around 10 companies, and can be done with saliva. Combined with family history and blood work, they can tell someone whether they need a mammogram every 10 years, never, or often.

• 06

  Skip full-body MRIs and blood cancer tests unless you're at high risk

  Multi-cancer blood tests like Grail's (Mel's husband had ordered one for about $700) flag maybe 4–5 people per thousand, and about half of those already have advanced cancer. Full-body MRIs aren't validated and often produce false positives. Topol says he wouldn't take one even for free. They can make sense for people at significant risk, such as a strong family history of pancreatic cancer.

• 07

  No anti-aging product has been proven in humans

  Topol quotes his own description of a 'longevity circus': 800-plus US longevity clinics, some charging up to $50,000 a week. Rapamycin suppresses the immune system. NAD+ supplements have no human data. Senolytic drugs aren't selective. Young-plasma infusions and IV vitamin drips have nothing behind them. Yamanaka-factor reprogramming made old mice look young down to the organ level, but caused tumors, because the hallmarks of aging overlap heavily with those of cancer.

• 08

  Exercise is the only thing known to lower biological age

  Epigenetic clocks, based on methyl groups on DNA, estimate biological age. Topol says exercise is the only intervention shown to widen the gap between your real age and your biological age. He used to focus on cardio. Now he says the data on resistance training is just as solid, and that it also improves balance. He says nothing beats exercise for slowing whole-body aging.

• 09

  Chronic stress and loneliness speed up aging through inflammation

  Many physicians don't accept it, Topol says, but the data linking stress to cancer, heart disease and neurodegeneration is strong. Chronic stress ages the immune system and fuels inflammation. Adaptive stress, the kind that pushes you to exercise, is fine. Social isolation is critical: time spent alone rises sharply with age. Nature and music help mental health, and he says AI will never replace the human bond.