How to Lengthen Your Healthspan, According to Experts

Healthspan — the latest buzzword in the anti-aging and longevity space — is about living healthier longer by remaining in good health and free from chronic diseases and significant disabilities that may impact quality of life.

Genetics can play a role in living healthier longer, but so can lifestyle factors such as diet and physical activity levels.

However, with so much information — and sometimes misinformation — about how to increase longevity, it can be challenging to figure out which healthspan-boosting hack to focus on.

To help narrow it down, WellnessPulse spoke with experts about what they believe are the most important steps a person can take to increase the chances of living a longer and healthier life.

Healthspan vs. lifespan

Understanding the difference between healthspan and lifespan is the first step towards making the changes needed to increase the chances of living a long, healthy life.

Holiday Durham, PhD, a registered dietitian at Amway, tells WellnessPulse that lifespan is the number of years a person lives from the time they are born to the time they pass away, and healthspan is the number of healthy years a person lives, free of disability and disease.

In the U.S., the gap between life expectancy and healthspan is currently about 11 years, with the average American lifespan being 77.5 years, while the average healthspan is 66.1 years, according to the World Health Organization's (WHO) latest calculations. This means that the average person is typically spending the last 11 years of their life in poor health.

Holiday Durham, PhD

Helen Messier, MD, PhD, chief medical and science officer at Fountain Life, says that while most people want to optimize both lifespan and healthspan, it's healthspan that measures quality of life.

"It doesn't matter if you live longer if you're not living well," Messier explains.

What can help increase healthspan?

Overall, building blocks for a long healthspan are similar to strategies for increasing lifespan.

Durham says that building a strong foundation and taking a preventive approach to health early on can help avoid illness and improve healthspan. A person can achieve this by establishing healthy habits and maintaining them over time.

"When we think of healthy lifestyle behaviors, a great example of this can be found in Blue Zones or the places in the world with the healthiest and longest-living populations," Durham says. "These communities are living longer but also enjoy a higher quality of life even in their advanced age."

When looking into these regions, researchers identified several Blue Zone lifestyle habits that likely contribute to the population’s longevity, including consuming a plant-based diet, getting regular physical activity, reducing stress, and establishing strong social connections.

"This understanding shifts the focus from reactive healthcare to a proactive approach, where individuals prioritize building and maintaining their health before they get sick," Durham explains.

Matt Gallant, a kinesiologist, health author, and CEO of BIOptimizers, agrees that the Blue Zone mentality may be the key to extending healthspan.

He suggests focusing on these Blue Zone strategies:

• Consuming nutrient-dense foods
• Eating a fiber-rich diet to ensure beneficial gut bacteria get what they need to thrive
• Cooking at home whenever possible, ideally with whole foods
• Eating fewer calories while still maintaining a nutrient-rich diet
• Exercising every day

Messier tells WellnessPulse that the four pillars of healthspan are an early diagnosis of health conditions, optimizing cardiovascular and metabolic health, controlling inflammation, and preserving cognitive and physical resilience.

But the most important habits are daily movement, quality sleep, a whole food diet, stress control, and social bonding. Consistency in all these categories has a compounding effect in the long term.

Helen Messier, MD, PhD

Key strategies to help lengthen healthspan

A recent review article published in the European Journal of Internal Medicine highlighted approaches to increasing lifespan and healthspan based on data from Blue Zone research.

According to the study’s authors, people should consider:

1. Following a nutrient-dense diet plan

This includes eating more vegetables, fruits, whole grains, nuts, and legumes and focusing on healthy fats such as omega-3 fatty acids. Limiting processed foods and foods high in added sugars or sodium is also critical to optimizing the daily diet.

According to a 2023 study, foods that may promote both lifespan and healthspan include:

• Berries
• Green and black tea
• Cocoa
• Oranges
• Apples
• Pomegranate
• Cherries
• Broccoli
• Grape skins

2. Staying physically active

Strength training, walking, cycling, and swimming can help prevent age-related muscle loss and improve heart and lung health. Moreover, exercises that help with flexibility and balance, such as yoga, can preserve mobility.

3. Managing stress

Implementing techniques like mindfulness and meditation or finding enjoyable hobbies can help preserve mental well-being and increase resilience and optimism, which may promote a longer healthspan. Keeping an active social schedule and exercising in green spaces can also help build resistance to stress.

4. Creating social connections

According to the study’s authors, being connected to a social circle that fosters belonging and support is vital for mental health and resilience. Moreover, people who enjoy a robust social life are more likely to make healthy lifestyle choices. Increasing connections with people by joining social groups, volunteering, and maintaining healthy relationships with friends and family can also help prevent loneliness and provide a sense of purpose.

5. Exercising the brain

Since cognitive decline can lower quality of life, boosting brain function during the aging process is a critical aspect of healthspan. While many factors impact the risk of cognitive impairment, individuals can increase their chances of living dementia-free by learning new skills, reading, doing puzzles, and engaging in intelligent discussions about complex topics.

6. Seeking preventive healthcare

Preventive healthcare, including regular physical exams and health screenings, can catch emerging health conditions early when treatments are more effective. In addition to health screenings and preventative care, people should consider visiting a doctor sooner rather than later when health concerns pop up.

Expert tips on making healthspan-boosting changes easier

A recent Amway survey found that 57% of people who started a healthy lifestyle behavior in the past 12 months said they did it because of medical reasons.

Although it's essential to address health concerns by changing specific lifestyle factors, like exercising more, losing weight, or quitting tobacco, adopting these strategies before health conditions appear is critical.

Still, changing lifestyle behaviors to increase the chances of living a long, healthy life can be challenging, especially when it comes to radical adjustments in diet or physical activity.

Messier suggests that people can make the transition easier by starting with small, manageable changes and stacking habits, such as calling a friend while walking, going to bed 30 minutes earlier each night, or replacing ultra-processed foods with whole, protein-rich foods.

Leverage wearables to drive awareness — what gets measured gets managed. And perhaps most critically, translate healthspan ambitions into investments in independence, not deprivation. When people understand they're building vigor and autonomy — not merely avoiding disease — it adds up.

Helen Messier, MD, PhD

Gallant says people can increase physical activity by simply going for a daily walk or taking the stairs instead of an elevator.

"Incorporate nuts, whole grains, fruits, and vegetables into your diet and fermented foods like yogurt, kimchi, sauerkraut, and tempeh," Gallant adds. "Prep your meals and cook in bulk to make sure you always have healthy options available [and] buy locally when possible and focus on eating what's in season."

The bottom line

While aging is inevitable, and most people hope to experience a long lifespan, having a long healthspan is more important as it can help ensure a high quality of life in the golden years.

While making healthspan-related lifestyle changes can be challenging, starting small and focusing on factors like nutrition, physical activity, stress management, and social connections can significantly increase the likelihood of enjoying a long and healthy life.