Do you want to live to be 100? The path to becoming a healthy centenarian, rather than just to centenary, is strikingly different for those born as women and men, says social researcher and author Maddy Dychtwald. And it's never too early to embark on the journey, even when you're young and lively. (We're talking about you, zoomers.)
As co-founder of Age Wave, a nonprofit think tank focusing on longevity and aging, Dychtwald has been researching these topics for nearly 40 years. In her new book, “Ageless Aging: A Woman's Guide to Increasing Healthspan, Brainspan, and Lifespan,” Dychtwald addresses the latest landscape of women's aging and identifies a holistic plan for longevity. She combines science and medicine, psychology and spirituality, as well as financial advice in a research-based guide that's packed with practical steps.
“There's a domino effect,” Dychtwald says of the lifestyle he recommends to maximize life expectancy—that is, how long you live in good health versus how long you just live. “If you can impact one part (sleep, nutrition, fitness, having a sense of purpose and connection), it starts to impact the others.” This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Shelf Help is a new wellness column where we interview researchers, thinkers and writers about their latest books, all with the goal of learning how to live a fuller life.
As is Is longevity different for women than for men?
In fact, women have won the longevity lottery. In the United States, we live, on average, six years longer than men. That's incredibly positive. But this has a dark side. And it is that: we women, on average, spend the last 12 to 14 years in deteriorating health. Therefore, we are not doing a great job of matching our life expectancy to our life expectancy. There is a gender gap when it comes to life expectancy. Because? I don't know if the answer is clear, not even in the minds of scientists. What we do know is that estrogen has protective properties for women. But once their estrogen levels decline, they have more health problems than men as they age. But it's something scientists still don't fully understand.
If women make up 51% of the population, doesn't it stand to reason that scientists already understand this better?
You would think! I think the health system, in general, has good intentions. But it has been created by men and, as a result, the focus has been more on men than women. A great example of how women, as a community, can really motivate doctors, researchers and scientists to change is the issue of breast cancer. Women really spoke up about this and I think as a result we have seen great advances in research, survival rates and treatment methodologies.
Author Maddy Dychtwald.
(Photograph by Lisa Keating)
You endured a health problem, which is one of the things that led you to write this book. Can you tell us about that?
I'm a big athlete, that's how I handle stress. I started to feel pain in my hips, to the point of limping. I did PT, I had cortisone treatments, I did a variety of things to manage the pain. But that wasn't solving the problem. Turns out he needed double hip surgery. She was 68 years old, which is young for the condition she had. But they couldn't see me for months and I was in unbearable pain. I started researching and learned from experts in my network that I needed to reduce my inflammation levels. I followed an anti-inflammatory diet (eliminated gluten, sugar, and dairy) and found that within six weeks all my pain was gone. I thought, “Wow, there are all these things we can all do, and they don't necessarily cost money, to live better and longer.” I started looking for other things I could do. I worked with a psychiatrist at Harvard who taught me about meditation and affirmations. Basically, he was doing prerecovery: preparing me for my surgery in advance. And it made a difference. This book is the distillation of all that, along with the work I've been doing at Age Wave for 40 years.
New research on genetics versus lifestyle choices also informs the book and its decision to target it at women. What does the latest research tell us about how to influence our destiny?
We used to assume that genetics were our destiny. That whatever our genetic package is, that's the hand we were dealt. But in fact, according to the latest science from Alphabet's Calico Life Sciences and other research, up to 90% of our health and longevity are literally under our control. And I find it incredibly enriching information. It gives us almost total agency. I didn't want to keep that information to myself, I wanted to share it with the world. There are many books out there about longevity, but there aren't many that really focus on women and longevity. And obviously, women and men are really different.
We used to assume that genetics was our destiny. That whatever our genetic package is, that's the hand we were dealt. But in fact, according to the latest science… up to 90% of our health and longevity are literally under our control.
—Maddy Dychtwald
During COVID, I was home more than before. There were so many health issues that I saw around me and I had the opportunity to really lean into my own sense of purpose. And to be able to lean into that in a way that made me feel good, I wanted to [educate] women aged 40, 50, 60 and over. There are tens of millions of women in the United States alone in that age group who are beginning to feel the aches and pains of aging, or who are dealing with a chronic degenerative disease, or who are simply dealing with the reality of menopause, and who are checking for solutions. I wanted to provide women with a comprehensive resource to clear up confusion, give them simple answers based on science, as well as action steps to live better and longer.
You talk about a “holistic recipe” for healthy aging as a woman. What are the ingredients for it? What daily activities, for example, do you incorporate to promote longevity?
There are plenty of books about sleep, exercise, nutrition, hormones, or how to have a positive attitude (and, by the way, our attitudes toward our own aging can actually add seven and a half years to our life expectancy), but no. It's just about one thing, it's all these things working together. They do not exist in silos.
Take finance for example: there is a gender pay gap. I encourage all women to take charge of their finances. If you don't have your financial house in order, it is likely to affect your stress levels, your health and your well-being. And you may not even have the financial well-being to pay for your health, and that's a scary place to be.
If you exercise effectively, it will affect your mood and stress. That helps with sleep, which helps with cognition and many other things, including managing finances. It is cyclical.
Sleep is a key ingredient. What do you do to manage that?
Sleeping is not my superpower. But I learned there were things I could do. One was to be really aware of my circadian rhythms; Controlling our sleep-wake cycles is very important. I learned that what I did during the day was just as important, if not more so, than what I did at night to go to sleep. It's simple, anyone can do it and it doesn't cost a cent. Which is: When you wake up first thing in the morning, watch the sun rise for 10 minutes. If it has already risen, put the sun on your skin for 10 minutes. I do what I call “stacking my habits.” At the same time, I do some breathing exercises that help me stay calm and energetic at the same time – what a great way to start the day.
Some surprising new research you cite is that exercise has a greater impact on health, and prevents future brain decline, in women than in men.
Yes. We already know that exercising in the morning is the best time of day to exercise, it provides optimal results and is better on an empty stomach. But new research, in a February 2024 study from the Smidt Heart Institute at Cedars-Sinai, says women don't have to exercise as hard or as long as men to get optimal results. They can get the same health benefits as men by exercising in less time.
For example, women can reduce their risk of death by 18% by doing 140 minutes of moderate aerobic exercise per week, while men need 300 minutes to achieve the same benefit. Women can also achieve the same survival benefit with moderate to vigorous aerobic exercise, such as bicycling or brisk walking, after 2 and a half hours per week, while men need about five hours. And when it comes to building muscle mass, strengthening exercises like weight lifting or core exercises, women can achieve the same positive benefits after one weekly session, while men need three sessions.
CONCLUSIONS
From “Ageless Aging”
It speaks to two issues that demand much closer attention from the medical community. What are they?
Brain health (no one wants to talk about anything beyond the neck) and hormones. Hormones affect our cognition, sleep, joints and bones, mood. If you can't sleep at night, this affects your brain health, brain power, and longevity. If your bone density is affected, you are more likely to fall and that could lead to health problems.
And Alzheimer's disease is twice as likely to affect women as men; people don't want to talk about it. It's very scary. But there are things we can do. Dr. Andrea Pfeifer, a neurosurgeon and CEO of AC Immune, a company working on a vaccine for Alzheimer's, says what she takes is probiotics—the gut-brain connection is very real. Many doctors recommend the Mediterranean diet. I do the anti-inflammatory diet.
Another thing is to limit or stop alcohol consumption. And exercise: every brain expert I spoke to said it's number one to protect brain health and power. The fear of cognitive decline and Alzheimer's among women is real, but only 4% of women have a genetic connection. And we can take steps to prevent or delay it.
Are there positive aspects of aging for women?
We gain a certain amount of wisdom and experience as we age. According recent studies that we have carried out at Age Wave, it turns out that women, from the age of 50, seem to be winning more confidence in themselves and their lives, while men seem to stabilize around age 50. This is all in general, of course. But for women, empowerment.
Shelf Help is a new wellness column where we interview researchers, thinkers and writers about their latest books, all with the goal of learning how to live a fuller life. Do you want to introduce us? Email [email protected].
