Angela Mollard: Why 2024 is the year of ageing well

Angela Mollard is a sucker for the growing movement of ageing well but — after eating her blueberries and lifting her weights — is left wondering if the extreme focus on longevity is as healthy as she first thought.

It’s 1pm as I write this and I have already eaten six plants and two protein sources (we once called them eggs and yoghurt but this is 2024 and food is now science).

I have swum for 40 minutes in the ocean and walked 4651 steps.

I have meditated for 10 minutes, applied sunscreen, done 20 squats while the kettle boiled, stood on one leg as I brushed my teeth and hugged my partner because it’s good for relieving blood pressure and leads to better immunity apparently.

I’m very lucky he hugged me back because re-reading the above I sound insufferable.

I also swapped out his preferred fried bacon for wilted spinach at breakfast.

Eating more herbs and vegetable — particularly from a home garden — is the cornerstone of the ageing wellness trend.

Welcome to the world of Ageing Well (AW) — once a niche concern for stressed GPs and now a cultural movement spearheaded by wealthy “thought leaders” and backed by an industry keen to spin monster profits from our obsession to live to 100.

Exactly 11 years after Dr Michael Moseley launched the 5:2 diet, prompting every wannabe slimmer to starve themselves for two non-consecutive days a week, the health and fitness industry has gone bananas.

Actually “bananas” is a poor choice of word since the once humble fruit is now maligned by some experts who say they cause sugar spikes.

Whether it’s vanity or longevity we’re seeking, the hunger (again, possibly not the right word) for wellness tips, fitness hacks and self-improvement habits is insatiable, particularly in January when a new year corresponds with a desire for a “new you” even though this is biologically impossible.

It’s not just conventional celebrities leading the charge to become super-agers.

For every Chris Hemsworth, who changed his lifestyle after genetic tests revealed he was 8-10 times more likely to develop Alzheimer’s than the average person, there’s an academic or a tech billionaire monitoring their sleep with an Oura ring or making their own sauerkraut.

Healthy agers are encouraged to eat a colourful variety of fruits and vegetables.

While Gwyneth Paltrow promotes “metabolic flexibility”, Amazon boss Jeff Bezos, who turns 60 next week, transformed from weedy to buff by eating octopus for breakfast and hiring Tom Cruise’s trainer.

He also funds a biotech start-up which aims to commercialise “cellular rejuvenation”.

Tim Spector, the doctor who has me eating 30 plants a week, sprinkles seeds on everything, Sam Altman, who developed ChatGPT, blasts himself with a full-spectrum LED light each morning and longevity expert Peter Attia has popularised “rucking” — basically walking up hills with weights in your backpack.

Meanwhile, Steven Bartlett, who has interviewed hundreds of health experts for his Diary of a CEO podcast, made date nights a priority after learning that people who have strong relationships live longer. His girlfriend must be charmed.

To be honest, I’m a sucker for this stuff.

In my quest to AW, I’ve watched Live to 100: Secrets of the Blue Zones and I know my UPFs (ultra-processed foods) from my CGMs (continuous glucose monitors).

Strength-training, daily step counts and diets that include berries and nuts are also much discussed.

But for a while now I’ve wondered if an extreme focus on ageing well may not be as healthy as we might think.

What if we were to miss out on some wonderful moments in our 50s, 60s and beyond if we’re so intent on becoming centenarians?

What if a commitment to flawless eating and exercising is sabotaged by the stress of meeting those goals?

And what if life-enhancing friendships were to wither because of our fanaticism for extended mortality?

As it happens, over Christmas I was given an insight into ageing well by an unexpected source.

A week with my mum proved to me more than any expert tips what might make a good late life.

Mum and my stepdad are both 78 and go to the gym six days a week. They mix strength and balance classes with aquarobics often doing the 45-minute sessions back-to-back followed by a long walk in the afternoon.

They laughingly showed me a set of balance exercises which proved how bad mine was. They cook nourishing meals from scratch, poaching and stewing rhubarb and berries they grow themselves and enjoying grapefruit and plums grown by friends.
Several evenings a week they’ll have a glass of wine or a gin and tonic but it’s only the one. They sip slowly, savouring the experience. The eat slowly too. They’re not interested in retirement living because they enjoy their younger neighbours, notably a family with a toddler who my mum loves to babysit.

His mum is Japanese and my brother has lived in Japan for 30 years so they talk about that.

Meanwhile they’ve had two of their grandchildren live with them for extended periods.

One told me their kindness and lack of judgement when he was going through a tough time changed his life.

My mum is relaxed, positive, generous and wouldn’t hesitate to skip a gym class to help someone else.

As she approaches 80, she’s healthier than ever but she doesn’t bang on about it.

Taking care of herself is important to her but what makes her happy and likely to be a super ager is something she’s done with love all her life: taking care of others.