Sir David Attenborough, the beloved natural historian and environmental advocate, is set to mark his 100th birthday next month on 8 May. This extraordinary milestone not only celebrates a seven-decade career that has profoundly shaped our understanding of the natural world but also prompts reflection on the secrets to a long and healthy life. The BBC will commemorate the occasion with a week of special programming, including a new documentary, Making Life on Earth: Attenborough’s Greatest Adventure, offering a behind-the-scenes look at his seminal 1979 series, Life on Earth.
While human life expectancy has steadily risen over the past two centuries, reaching a century remains a remarkable achievement, sparking widespread curiosity about the factors contributing to such longevity. Dr Mohammed Enayat, a GP and founder of London-based longevity clinic HUM2N, defines this increasingly popular health trend as “an approach that seeks to have your health working for you for as long as possible to ultimately give you the best quality of life for as long as possible.”
He explains that longevity medicine focuses on implementing interventions to prevent the decline, deterioration, dysfunction, and disease often associated with ageing. “It helps identify the processes within you that we need to work on sooner so we can put interventions in place such as supplementation, nutrition, lifestyle modifications, behavioural changes, education, and sometimes smart therapies as well,” Dr Enayat explains.
Dr Enayat highlights several crucial areas for individuals aiming to boost their own chances of living to 100.
Regular Exercise
“Movement is a very important pillar of health because we need to make sure we put our body through enough energy expenditure requirements so that it can stay metabolically healthy, but also maintain muscle mass and function of the musculoskeletal system,” Dr Enayat states. To preserve these vital functions into later life, he advises prioritising strenuous exercise. “Try and break a sweat a couple of times a week, because if you’re not breaking a sweat, you’re not using your body to its capacity or training your cardiovascular system and metabolic system to draw on energy quickly,” he adds. He also recommends focusing on posterior chain muscles. “Try and work out your glutes, your hamstrings and your core to maintain muscle activation and muscle size,” advises Dr Enayat. “You could do some planks, squats or ball sits.”
Avoid Stress
Chronic stress can have profoundly detrimental effects on our health. “Stress drives a massive inflammatory response in the body,” Dr Enayat warns. “It can dysregulate our blood sugar and make us insulin resistance, which causes downstream effects. Stress depletes our stress hormones, which then can cause thyroid and other hormone imbalances, and can also affect our digestive tract and stop us efficiently digesting and absorbing our nutrients. This is all in the short term, so you do that cumulatively, you will find that your orchestral balance will be a disaster internally.” He therefore suggests developing strategies for stress regulation. “I think it’s really important to try and develop some self-awareness about what drives you to mount a stress response and might cause you to be breathless, have racing thoughts and racing heartbeats,” says Dr Enayat. “Develop tools – such as breath work, meditation, prayer or gratitude – to bring your nervous system back to balance.”
Sleep Well
“Lots of good things happen in our sleep that help us live longer and healthier,” Dr Enayat explains. “For example, we produce T-cells that help regulate our immune system and produce stem cells that stimulate regeneration and release of growth factors during the deep sleep phase.” From a longevity perspective, he recommends implementing lifestyle changes to improve deep sleep. “Try to avoid stimulation too late at night, particularly blue light,” he advises. “Avoid eating too late because your digestion keeps you up and avoid alcohol because it keeps prevents you from getting into a deep sleep.” Adjusting the sleeping environment can also be beneficial. “Blackout blinds can be good and studies show that cooler environments can help promote deep sleep,” Dr Enayat notes.
Good Nutrition
“What we consume through our diet is really important because with bad diet comes inflammation, hormonal imbalance and metabolic dysfunction,” says Dr Enayat. “When you put all those effects together, it becomes a melting pot for chronic diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease and stroke risk.” His primary nutritional advice is to view “food as fuel or food as medicine, rather than food as comfort.” He further recommends prioritising “whole foods over processed foods and to make sure you have adequate protein in your diet, good vegetable intake, and some healthy fats.”
Community and Purpose
Beyond the core pillars of physical health, Dr Enayat highlights “indirect drivers of health and disease, which includes a sense of purpose and community.” He points to Sir David Attenborough as a prime example of someone with “a clear sense of purpose, a clear value system and really understands community.” Engaging with others, “talking to each other and sharing experiences with neighbours, family and friends can help people stay active, regulate their nervous system, find purpose and find motivation to start their day. Having people to support you through difficult moments that we all face is really important for improving quality of life,” he concludes.
