Expert Tips for Living Longer: It’s Not All About Eating Vegetables and Exercising长寿之道：吃蔬菜和勤锻炼并非全部

贝姬·厄珀姆 译/陈丽

Quality relationships and a sense of purpose can go a long way1 in helping you add years （and happiness） to your life.良好的人際关系和清晰的目标感很重要，有助于延年益寿（并增加幸福感）。

The beginning of a new year is a time when many of us reassess our health habits. We try to build on what’s working and make an effort to drop a few things that seem to get in the way of our quest to become our “best self.”

But do you ever wonder if you’re focusing on the right things？ In an ideal world， we’d have unlimited amounts of time and energy to devote to every healthy food and activity that we read or hear about， but most of us have to be selective in choosing what to pursue.

As you might expect， choices like exercise， alcohol consumption， and smoking can all impact how long you live， but research also suggests that efforts we make in other ways—some of which may not seem “health”-related—can make a big difference， no matter what your age.

At any age， asking life’s big questions

Whether people are in their twenties and thirties， at midlife， or in their sixties and seventies， they should take time to reflect on life’s “big” questions， says Philip Pizzo， MD2， former dean of the Stanford School of Medicine in California， and the founding director of the Stanford Distinguished Careers Institute （DCI）.

Dr. Pizzo wrote an article published in January 2020 in the Journal of the American Medical Association （JAMA） offering a “prescription for longevity in the 21st century” that focused on the importance of life purpose， social engagement， and positive lifestyle choices. “What is my sense of purpose that defines me？ What gives me satisfaction？ How do I overcome boundaries of loneliness by reaching out and creating community？” are questions that we should consider and even discuss with our doctors， says Pizzo.

“Along with lifestyle choices like exercising， good nutrition， and not smoking， these factors make a huge difference in terms of well-being and really impact health outcomes，” he adds.

Cultivating connection with friends and family and strengthening your life purpose may require you to step out of your comfort zone even more than a Zumba class， but they offer the reward of a long and satisfying life， no sweat or spandex3 required.

Social connection： the ties that bind may help hold your health together， too

If you were going to invest now in your future best self， where would you put your time and your energy？ This is a key question Robert Waldinger， MD， asked in his TED talk entitled， “What Makes a Good Life？ Lessons from the Longest Study on Happiness，” which has amassed over 15 million views. Dr. Waldinger is a psychiatrist at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston as well as the director of the Harvard Study of Adult Development， one of the world’s longest studies of adult life.

Researchers found that people who were the most satisfied with their relationships at age 50 were the healthiest at age 80. This is likely due to several factors， says Waldinger. “One is that we’re more connected to people， we’re more likely to take better care of ourselves. Our mood is better， we feel better， and that might lead us to engage in something good for us， like exercise or eating better or drinking less，” he says.

Sometimes it’s these connections and the feelings they engender that can help us make better decisions， says Waldinger. The positive impact of relationships is not necessarily about the “big” choices， but rather the small microscopic decisions that are moment to moment， he adds.

Having a supportive partner can help you take better care of yourself as well， says Waldinger. “They can remind you to take your medicine or to get that problem you’ve been concerned about checked out at the doctor，” he says. Your partner wants you to stay healthy and they might nudge you in that direction， says Waldinger.

Relationships need not be perfect to be valuable

It’s important to note that in relationships or life， things aren’t smooth and happy all the time; that’s not the goal and it’s not how you measure “success，” says Waldinger. “People have difficulties in relationships， but when it’s possible， try to hang in there and work out differences，” he says.

“It’s an investment worth making，” he adds. Obviously， we don’t want to encourage people to stay in abusive relationships， but the idea is to hang in there when times get difficult and not just to give up， he adds.

Life purpose： finding meaning can help you live longer

Why are we here？ Do you feel like what you do makes a difference？ Those might seem like “deep questions” that you may not often consider， but research shows they can really affect your health. A study published in May 2019 in JAMA Network Open set out to see if there’s a connection between a strong life purpose and living longer.

To assess the strength of life purpose， 6，985 participants between ages 51 and 61 were asked to respond on a scale from 1 （strongly disagree） to 6 （strongly agree） for seven different items. Questions included statements such as， “Some people wander aimlessly through life， but I am not one of them，” or “I feel as though I have more to do in life.”

“We found that people with the lowest scoring group had about a two-and-a-half-fold increased risk of death compared with people with the highest scores，” says Celeste Leigh Pearce， PhD4， MPH5， associate professor of epidemiology at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and coauthor of the study.

Unlike many health behaviors， life purpose can look different for everyone， says Pearce. “That’s what I like about it. Each person can identify what matters to them and then seek out opportunities to pursue their own personal goals and values，” says Pearce.

Healthy lifestyle choices： good habits can reduce your risk of many diseases

Lifestyle habits can also make a substantial difference in increasing the years and quality of your life， according to a study published in January 2020 in BMJ6. Investigators from Harvard looked at more than 110，000 women and men who were enrolled in the Nurses’ Health Study and the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study. Five key health habits were evaluated in the following ways：

A healthy diet was measured by a high score on the Alternative Healthy Eating Index. This measure was developed by experts at Harvard University’s department of nutrition， and a high score indicates a diet rich in vegetables， fruits， whole grains， nuts， and legumes with limited amounts of red or processed meat， trans fats， and sodium.

Regular exercise was defined as at least 3.5 hours a week， or 30 minutes a day， of moderate to vigorous activity.

Healthy weight range was a body mass index （BMI）7 of 18.5 to 24.9.

Smoking was self-reported， and never having smoked or having stopped smoking were preferred behaviors compared with currently smoking.

Moderate alcohol consumption was consistent with guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention （CDC） and defined as one or fewer drinks8 per day for women and two or fewer drinks per day for men.              ■

每個新年伊始，许多人都会重新评估自己的健康习惯。我们试图继续保持那些行之有效的习惯，并努力改掉一些似乎妨碍我们成就“最佳自我”的习惯。

但你可曾想过，你所专注的习惯是否正确？理想状态下，我们可以有无限的时间和精力来尝试我们读到或听说过的每种健康食物和运动，但大多数人在决定尝试什么时都不得不有所挑选。

正如你所预料的，诸如锻炼、饮酒、抽烟这样的习惯均会影响寿命，但是研究也表明，我们在其他方面的努力——这些努力有些看起来或许与“健康”无关——同样会对寿命产生重大影响，而且这种影响与年龄大小没有关系。

不分老少，都要思考人生的重大问题

人们不论正值青壮、人到中年，还是已迈入老年，都应该花些时间来思考人生的“重大”问题，菲利普·皮佐博士如是说。皮佐曾经担任位于美国加利福尼亚州的斯坦福大学医学院的院长，是斯坦福大学杰出事业研究院的创始院长。

皮佐博士在2020年1月出版的《美国医学会杂志》上发表了一篇文章，提供了一份“21世纪的长寿处方”，重点讨论了人生目标、社会交往和积极生活方式的重要性。“什么是我借以自我定位的人生目标？什么给我以满足感？我如何通过与外界交往并创建关系群来克服孤独感？”——皮佐博士说，这些是我们应该考虑甚至向医生咨询的问题。

他进一步认为：“这些因素，就和积极锻炼、保证营养、不吸烟等生活方式的选择一样，对健康极为重要，并会真正影响健康状况。……