‘Too good to be true’: Norman Swan calls out ageing BS
When it comes to living a long and healthy life, Dr Norman Swan says there is a lot of ‘BS’ you can stop doing right now.
VWeekend
Don't miss out on the headlines from VWeekend. Followed categories will be added to My News.
It turns out it really is what’s on the inside that counts.
When it comes to ageing well, health guru Dr Norman Swan says you can throw out the creams, ditch the Botox and cancel the surgery.
“Most people have common sense, if it sounds too good to be true, it is too good to be true,” says the Scottish-born doctor and broadcaster.
“Wouldn’t it be a tragedy if you ate goji berries all your life and exercised all day and had your frugal days and yet you died of high blood pressure? So you have to do the basic stuff.”
Sydney-based Swan, 69, who trained as a paediatrician, has crafted a decades-long career as a doctor and broadcaster and has become a prevalent voice throughout the pandemic with his popular podcast, Coronacast.
Now he’s turned his attention to busting the myths of what does and doesn’t keep us young and aid longevity in his latest book, So You Want To Live Younger Longer?
It’s common now, he says, for babies born in Australia today to have a lifespan into their 90s and beyond. This compares to the early 1900s, when life expectancy at birth was about 50.
While medical advancements and technology have contributed to the population living longer, Swan says the less obvious factors are where you live and education.
“If you look at the reason why (we are living longer) it’s education, so more people are going onto high school and university and what this does, first of all, your brain doesn’t age as much or as quickly because you have more brain reserve,” he says.
“The second reason is that when you’re better educated, you have more money in your pocket and you are more likely to live a healthy lifestyle and you’re less likely to smoke. You don’t think of school or university education as lifesaving but in fact, that is what it is.”
But how well you age, Swan says, has a lot to do with physical health, stress levels, attitudes and how you feel.
“A lot of the stuff you can do is based on early on in life, what I’m talking about is your 30s, 40s, 50s, it’s not that you can’t do anything when you’re older, you can, but it’s better to start younger,” he says.
“I talk about all these things you can do which are very basic which could extend your life for 20, 30 years (things like) just knowing what your blood pressure or cholesterol is.”
Swan breaks it down and shares his biggest tips on how to live younger, longer.
THE MIND MATTERS
Psychological wellbeing buys you years, Swan says, and how you respond to stress plays a huge part in the ageing process.
“We tend to jump to supplements, diet and we jump to exercise but brain health is a key element,” he says.
“The brain drives everything in your body and it takes in what’s coming from your environment and translates that into hormones, hormones run blood vessels and the cardiovascular system and immune system so everything comes in via your brain, even your body clock and how you sleep.”
How socially engaged you are and the relationships you have also have an impact.
It also pays to be positive, Swan says, with research in his book suggesting the more optimistic you are, the longer you live.
“There are quite a few studies which suggest that people who are warm, conscientious, like being with people, look for stimulation in the world around them, and are more positive than others, tend to live longer lives,” he writes.
These types of people “don’t fester” and have the ability to “roll with the punches” but if this doesn’t come naturally, says Swan, there’s no point faking it.
“There is a whole thing about optimism
and pessimism and people who have hope tend to live longer than those who are pessimistic,”
he says. “But people who are pessimistic tend to be a bit depressed and maybe their depression isn’t well treated. There is no point being falsely optimistic when the reality is things are pretty crap but if you can fix up the things that are pretty crap and start to feel optimistic, it is going to be pretty good for you.”
GET BACK TO BASICS
Be across your family’s health history.
It’s better to be in the know while you’re young, Swan says. “I say to people in your 20s and 30s that’s when you find out because that’s when the older people in your family are still alive.”
“You have to do the basic stuff, know what your cholesterol is, know what your blood pressure is, get your cancer screenings, if you’re a woman – cervical and breast cancer, get your bowel cancer screening and intervene if there’s a problem.
“Know what people die of in your family, is there a history in your family of people dying young? In which case there might be a genetic problem in your family and if you find out that genetic problem, that can save your life because you can intervene and do surveillance.”
Don’t smoke, do exercise, keep an eye on blood pressure, “you don’t want it to be higher than 120/80”, keep out of the sun, and limit alcohol. It’s never too late to begin healthy habits, Swan says, but your 20s is a prime time to start.
THERE’S NO MAGIC PILL
There’s no quick fix to longevity. Despite a market saturated with miracle methods and supplements, Swan says most of them are a waste of time.
“What I look at in the book is all the supplements that are being flogged and almost none of them work, unfortunately,” he says. “If you start taking supplements in high doses you are no longer taking them in any sort of natural way, you are taking them as drugs and all drugs have side effects.
“These supplements are not a con … there is really good evidence in a laboratory that they work, so when you test them in test tubes and look at molecules and test them in mice or other animals, they work, they extend life, yet the paradox is when they are tried in humans, they don’t work.
“There may be something that extends life, they are not there yet.”
Simply, he suggests: “Have your BS-meter on high and everything in moderation.” Swan also busts the myth on Botox being used in your 20s as a way to prevent the signs of ageing. In fact, he says, it’s doing the opposite.
“It just paralyses the skin, none of this is preventive or permanent and a good plastic surgeon will tell you that this is just temporary.
“My opinion is don’t start the treatments too young because they are not affecting the ageing process. Your skin will sag, you will develop more wrinkles and it seems most procedures are not very good at wrinkles, they are good at sags.”
Swan isn’t against the concept entirely but strongly encourages those considering any enhancements to do their research.
“I actually don’t criticise it at all, I’m not judgmental about it if people want it and they can afford it, they should have it. They just need to go to good people to get it done properly.
“If you have a lift, or you have a breast job or something like that too young, you’re going to have to have it redone 10 years later, whereas if you have it done when you’re a bit older, the number of redos you’re going to have are probably going to be fewer.”
EAT WELL AND EXERCISE
Ideally, we should be doing 45 minutes to an hour of moderate exercise “most days of the week” with a focus on aerobic exercise and muscle strengthening.
“If you have strong muscles, you live younger longer because as you get older, your muscles waste away and you don’t want that to happen,” he says.
There are simple ways to achieve these exercises at home.
“You can do muscle dips on chairs, you can do step-ups, you can lift bags of flour at home, you can buy cheap weights to have at home and then progress up.” Swan notes “moderate” means “you’re sufficiently pushed that you’re a bit out of breath and find conversation hard.”
A good measure of health, says Swan, is waist circumference. “It (an increase in waist) can actually happen without overall weight gain, so the tightness of your clothes might be a better indicator than the scales,” he writes.
Unsurprisingly, diet is critical, and just as he discusses in his previous book, So You Think You Know What’s Good For You? Swan suggests incorporating more of a plant-based diet.
“I recommend intermittent frugality and this comes from Greek Australians who, if you follow the Greek Orthodox religion, there is a fasting every three or four days,” he says.
“They are the days where you don’t eat meat, fish or dairy, you just eat plant foods with olive oil so they’re frugal every so often. I also call it vegan fasting and that seems to have an effect too.”
The recommended foods are chopped red vegetables (to release their bioactives) – including tomatoes, carrots, red capsicum, beetroot – cooked slowly in extra virgin olive oil.
“A Mediterranean dish, which is where you’ve cooked onions, garlic, olive oil and tomatoes as the basis, has more anti-ageing compounds that are more powerful than anything you can buy in a chemist shop,” he says.
The secret to living younger longer is layered, Swan says, but hopes his book cuts through some of the noise.
“That’s the package of stuff until one day someone finds something that will shift the balance without you having to go to a lot of effort, but I suspect forevermore we will have to have a 360-degree approach to life which allows your body to stay younger longer.”
More Coverage
Originally published as ‘Too good to be true’: Norman Swan calls out ageing BS
‘She was raped, I was conceived’: Layne Beachley’s secret torment
For surf legend Layne Beachley, becoming the best in the world became an unhealthy obsession as she wrestled with dark secrets from her past.
Why Martin Pakula loves life after politics
Former state attorney-general and sports minister Martin Pakula has opened up on the challenges of his role during the Covid pandemic, why he doesn’t miss politics and how he’s revved up about steering next year’s Australian F1 Grand Prix.