Move More. Live Longer.
Longevity, water, increasing cancer survival rates, your recommendations.
The Rundown
Move More. Live Longer. Biostatisticians at the University of Colorado, Johns Hopkins University, and several other institutions used data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) to compare the predictive power of 15 potential longevity markers. The winner, which was a better predictor than having diabetes or heart disease, receiving a cancer diagnosis or even age was—the amount of physical activity you do in a typical day, as measured by a wrist tracker.
The study looked at NHANES data from participants recruited between 2011 and 2014, the first wave of the survey that used wrist accelerometers that stay on all day and night. Specifically, 3,600 subjects between the ages of 50 and 80 were tracked to find out who died in the years following their baseline measurements. They were assessed for 14 traditional risk factors for mortality including basic demographic information, lifestyle habits, preexisting medical conditions and self-reported overall health.
The best predictors for how to live longer were physical activity, followed by age, mobility problems, self-assessed health, diabetes and smoking.
Movement is more important than your age as a predictor of the years you have left.
How much movement exactly? And what type? Well, that’s the challenge. The authors of the study tracked the raw acceleration data in increments of a hundredth of a second so how to translate that into clear advice on how many minutes of daily exercise you need, how hard that exercise should be and and how much you should move around when you’re not exercising is unclear.
But is an exact formula for movement really that necessary? Summarizing the study, Alex Hutchinson notes that the most exciting part about the research is that it shifts the focus from “all the little things our wearable tech now tracks to the one big thing that really works—and which is also a worthwhile goal for its own sake.” He sums it up this way:
Metrics do matter, and keeping tabs on biomarkers backed by actual science, like blood pressure, makes sense. But it’s worth remembering that the measurement is not the object; the map is not the road…Want to live longer? Open the door, step outside, and get moving.
Water Work. Does drinking more water mean better health? A recent study led by researchers at the University of California San Francisco examined evidence from previous papers to find out if increasing the amount of water you drink actually provides health benefits.
In a systematic review of the data from randomized clinical trials, the team found that drinking more water was associated with statistically significant results for dropping weight and avoiding kidney stones.
While other single studies the researchers analyzed suggested that drinking more water offered benefits related to headache prevention, UTIs, and diabetes control, they didn’t reach statistical significance.
Depending on the source you consult, the recommended amount of water you should drink varies, but the US National Academy of Medicine suggests a daily fluid intake of about 13 eight-fluid-ounce cups (3 L) for men aged 19-30 and nine (2.1 L) for women of the same age. (‘Fluid’ includes drinking water and other beverages).
The researchers note that there isn’t “a one-size-fits-all approach for water consumption,” and the extremely low likelihood that water will cause adverse effects should encourage more well-designed studies to assess its health benefits.
Fitness & Cancer Survival Rates. Muscle strength and cardiorespiratory fitness are two of the most studied components of health because of their strong association with cardiovascular disease and cancer mortality. A new study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine examined whether fit and strong people were more likely to survive cancer and if having more muscle reduced cancer death risk.
To see if there was a conclusive link between fitness and strength and cancer deaths, the team performed a systematic review of medical literature published up to August 2023. They looked at 42 studies, with almost 47,000 adult participants with cancer. In most studies, muscle strength was determined by handgrip strength. Cardio fitness was determined with VO2max readings or walking tests.
The researchers found that cancer patients with high muscle strength and fitness levels had a 31-46% reduced chance of dying from cancer compared with those with low fitness levels. Patients with advanced cancers benefited as much as those with earlier-stage disease.
Extra Point
Watch
Tiger. This two-part documentary covers the rise, fall and comeback of Tiger Woods. It includes interviews with Woods’ former caddy, six-time major champion Nick Faldo and Rachel Uchitel, who agreed to participate in her first ever sit-down interview about their former relationship. Tiger is streaming on Max.
Six Nations: Full Contact. The second installment of this eight-episode docuseries covering the annual rugby tournament will again focus on the training camps of all the participating countries, while also diving into the personal lives of the sport’s biggest stars. Six Nations, season two, premieres on Netflix January 29.
Listen
Mindful in Minutes Meditation. In this podcast, Kelly Smith, founder of Yoga For You, leads simple guided meditations that are 20 minutes or less. She covers a variety of topics meant to help with real life struggles like anxiety, insomnia and creating a morning ritual.
Read
This Is Not Your High School Gym Teacher’s Stretching Routine. Alyssa Ages argues that the key to stretching properly is knowing when to do dynamic versus static stretching in this article for Outside magazine.
The Decade That Changed Fitness Forever. Danielle Friedman explores how five workouts from the 1970s brought American exercise into the modern era. (New York Times gift link).