All the life-changing tips and advice we've learnt so far on Do You Want To Live Forever?
In the four-part series Do You Want To Live Forever? co-hosts Tracy Grimshaw and Dr Nick Coatsworth are searching for secrets behind living a longer life.
Do You Want To Live Forever? airs Mondays at 7.30pm on Channel 9 and 9Now.
They will travel the globe, speak to experts and put four pairs of everyday Aussies through medically supervised trials and health interventions that may provide clues for longevity.
Through them we will understand what the future holds – but most importantly, what we can do for ourselves, our kids and even their kids to lead better, healthier, longer lives.
As the final episode aired this week, we learned a whole lot more about our health.
From the latest studies, simple switches and tests we can try at home, swipe across for everything we've learned so far from Do You Want To Live Forever?
Our environment impacts our longevity the most
In Episode 4, Tracy visited Professor Matt Kaeberlein from the University of Washington.
He is researching data from 50,000 pet dogs to see what they can teach us about ageing.
It turns out that dogs can teach us a lot about this because our pets share our spaces and their diet and exercise routines are determined by us too.
Basically, we share the same environments.
Dr Kaeberlein told Tracy that only 20 per cent of our longevity is determined by our genetics – the other 80 per cent is environmental!
Having purpose and companionship is critical to a healthy life
Victorian tennis players Len, 101, and Henry, 100, hit the court twice a week and show no signs of slowing down.
Len has played since he was a child, and 100-year-old Henry even got a bronze at his most recent over-90s tennis tournament.
Besides living active lives and practicing the other pillars of health, like a good diet and enough sleep, the pair have found added benefits through their sporting passion:
Purpose and companionship.
Henry's wife Madge died a year ago and left "a huge hole" in his life.
"It's the tennis that saved me. I've got all those young friends and as you get older, they're the ones you need. They keep you young.
"It's filled this big hole that I had when I lost my Madge."
So is having fun!
Dr Nick found similar conclusions when he watched an over-80s football team in Tokyo.
He realised that most of the players had been active their entire lives, and it was paying off well into their 90s.
He also noticed something else that is crucial:
"Of course they're able to do it because they've played for so long and they've maintained that level of fitness for so long.
"But there's another element to all this that is so obviously out there, and that is they are having fun!"
He visited the home of Japanese soccer star Mutsuhiko Nomura, 84, and his wife Junko and it's clear they're on the same page.
"What do you think the secret is n your household to living a long life?" Dr Nick asked.
"Just to enjoy things in life," Junko replied.
The food to avoid for a healthy heart
Due to his family history of heart disease, Tom provides a saliva sample for a genetic risk score test, which analyse his genes to determine his risk.
His results showed he had double the average risk of future cardiovascular disease – which is super helpful information for him to know for preventative reasons.
Cardiologist Dr. Gemma Figtree said there are things to do to keep his heart healthy, and they're easily applicable to all of our lives:
"We definitely need you to be avoiding the salt, doing exercise and keeping an eye on and being aware of your blood pressure."
Salt is a key thing to avoid, as too much disrupts the natural sodium balance in the body, causing fluid retention and an increase in blood pressure.
The best ways to prevent dementia
In Episode 3, Dr Nick Coatsworth visits Dr Claire Shepherd, the director of the Sydney Brain Bank at Neuroscience Research Australia.
Her research suggests that only one third of our risk of dementia is inherited. The rest is down to our lifestyle – so what can we do to prevent the onset of dementia?
"We know that social interaction is crucial to keep our brain's healthy, we know that maintaining a healthy blood pressure, exercising regularly, not getting Type 2 Diabetes, all those things that are bad for our heart are also bad for our brain," Dr Shepherd said.
"We keep our brain active and then if we've got hearing loss, we do something about it so we can remain socially active."
How healthy ovaries can help you live longer
Ovaries are most commonly associated with a woman's fertility – but the organ's impact on overall health is much less understood.
Professor Karla Hutt is leading research into the life-prolonging power of ovaries and explained that the hormones they produce help keep women healthy.
Hormones like oestrogen regulate cholesterol, bone density, cognitive health, blood pressure, collagen levels and blood sugar.
Professor Hutt's research is into how to prolong the ovaries production of these hormones, potentially delaying or halting menopause.
But even now, women can take steps to help keep their ovaries healthy:
Host Tracy Grimshaw explained it comes back to the basics: "sleeping and eating well, plenty of fibre and antioxidants and managing stress and alcohol consumption".
The fun way to increase your brain power
One way to keep yourself sharp is through 'brain training', which can be much more fun than it sounds.
On the show, the participants attempted tricky tasks like the one pictured, where they had to read aloud the colours of the ink rather than the word's written.
But adding 'brain training' to your every day life is essentially permission to spend time doing whatever your favourite kind of puzzle may be.
"Doing regular crosswords, sudoku and jigsaws are easy ways to use multiple cognitive abilities that improve processing speed, memory and increase brain power," Tracy explained.
Getting at least seven hours of quality sleep
Participants Eliana and Enver are not great sleepers, so Dr Nick sent them to a sleep clinic for testing.
He said we should aim for at least seven hours of sleep per night:
"If we don't get deep sleep, it affects our brain function, immunity and cardiovascular systems, increasing the risk of high blood pressure, obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease."
One way to ensure a good night's rest is to be mindful of your coffee intake. In fact, Dr Nick revealed exactly when you should cut off caffeine for the day...
What time you should stop drinking coffee before bed
One factor impacting Eliana and Enver's sleep was the sheer amount of caffeine they consumed, which could sometimes reach 10 cups per day.
As well as insomnia, drinking so much caffeine can also increase headaches, dizziness, dehydration and anxiety. To improve their health, the pair were tasked with cutting back to a maximum of two cups a day.
Dr Nick explained that coffee turned off the receptors in our brain that told us we were tired, which was obviously not conducive to a good night's sleep!
He said an easy hack to improve your shut-eye is to avoid caffeine for at least six hours before going to bed.
But this doesn't mean switching your evening latte for a beer, because alcohol also has a detrimental impact on snoozing.
Three standard alcoholic drinks can reduce the quality of sleep by up to 40 per cent, Dr Nick said.
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