Somewhere along the way, longevity stopped being about living well and started being about living perfectly. What began as a movement grounded in prevention has ballooned into biohacking theater fueled by wearables, AI input, and pricey gadgets that promise to help you cheat death and decline. But by outsourcing our wellness regimens and relying on cold, hard data with our literal lives, have we lost the plot on what longevity really looks like?
Fortunately, a quiet shift is underway. It’s scaling things back to tried-and-true basics and brings wellness back into some long overdue perspective. Keep reading to see what a scaled down yet evidence-based route to longevity really looks like.
The Problem With the Longevity Movement
Longevity has become performative—not to mention expensive. Biohackers and influencers flash fancy protocols, wearables, and suspect science and supplements. It seems like the more novel, high-tech, and outlandish everything is, the more engagement it gets. These flexes ultimately trickle down to the everyday consumer, pressuring us to buy and do more in the quest for life everlasting. “[They] ultimately cost people a lot of money, time, and emotional energy without much proven benefit,” says Simran Malhotra MD, DipABLM, CHWC, a physician, wellness coach, and the founder of Wellness By LifestyleMD in Bethesda, Maryland. But all too often, we’re seeking a quick fix without getting the foundations of well-being down pat first.
“Gadgets and wearables are useful, but only if people use the data to improve basic lifestyle habits like sleep, stress, step count, and exercise,” says Dr. Malhotra. “Otherwise, they may cause more distraction and add on another monthly subscription if the data isn’t optimizing habits.”
The longevity industry also tends to be exclusionary, and what’s trending doesn’t fit into every budget. “These conversations exclude many people who may feel that health isn’t an option for them because they can’t ‘biohack’ as promoted,” Dr. Malhotra adds.
What Real Longevity Looks Like
Once we move away from longevity as content, control, and aesthetics, we open the path for true well-being—no fluff or BS required.
Lifestyle
“There is a definite shift toward the basics: the food we eat, how we move our bodies, how we rest and manage stress, and our focus on relationships and what truly gives our lives meaning and purpose,” says Dr. Malhotra. There’s also a return back to proven science instead of leaning on buzzy, yet largely still experimental, biohacks. Eating a balanced diet, moving your body regularly, and nurturing your relationships won’t reinvent the wheel—but the truth is that this is what actually moves the needle most.
Above all, Dr. Malhotra suggests nailing down a handful of overlooked and underrated basics in your quest to boost longevity:
- Getting at least 7,000 steps per day
- Aiming for 7 to 9 hours of quality rest each night
- Finding healthy ways to manage stress
- Limiting or avoiding substances like alcohol and tobacco
“These science-backed habits are exactly what make the biggest impact in reducing chronic diseases, improving quality of life, and extending lifespan,” says Dr. Malhotra.
Diet
Use food as medicine, namely via a diverse, plant-rich diet. “Since we all eat multiple times a day, every meal is another chance to provide our bodies with the fuel needed for healing and health,” says Dr. Malhotra. Bypassing ultraprocessed foods and packing your plate with fruits, veggies, whole grains, legumes, nuts, and seeds “decreases inflammation and the risk of multiple conditions like high cholesterol, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and cancer,” she continues, all of which compromise longevity outcomes.
Supplements
Then there’s supplements. So much of the space is a Wild West of sorts, but we’re now seeing more people limiting their stacks to supplements with the most evidence behind them.
Per a recent survey of 129 clinicians (mostly physicians, but also nurse practitioners, physician assistants, and researchers), these health professionals continually relied on research-backed supplements including:
P.S. You’ll find each of these at HUM.
Relationships
Longevity isn’t limited to how you treat your body alone. Relationships matter a great deal, too. ICYMI, the Harvard Study of Adult Development (one of the longest-running studies investigating how to live longer, happier lives) found that social connection and the quality of our relationships—rather than improvements on your biomarkers or your sleep score on your Oura ring—are the most important elements to happiness and longevity.
Dr. Malhotra adds that social connection is also a vital part of the lifestyles of the Blue Zones (aka longevity hotspots around the world). “If there’s anything to learn here, it is that social connection and reducing loneliness is the perfect high-impact and low-cost longevity prescription,” she says.
Purpose
Lastly, Dr. Malhotra cites purpose as another key pillar of the Blue Zones. Impressively enough, having a reason to wake up every morning could boost life expectancy by up to 7 years. “This sense of purpose and meaning helps people to actively engage in their community and connect with others, which ultimately leads to happiness, an improved quality of life, and a reduced risk of dying,” she shares.
The Takeaway
Biohacking isn’t inherently “bad,” but it was never meant to replace the basics of living well from one day to the next. If anything, the real longevity flex isn’t a sci-fi gadget or experimental protocol. It’s consistency, community, and showing up for yourself in ways that aren’t made for the ‘gram but are pretty much guaranteed to work to your benefit for decades to come.
In short, longevity doesn’t need to be a spectacle. It needs to be smart, sustainable, and dare I say simple.
