Some people want to live forever and in a world with new medical breakthroughs all the time, it may appear that we are only a short time away from unlocking an extended lifespan or even immortality. The thing is, the quest for longevity has been ongoing for centuries. Pursuit of a longer and healthier life has led to a wide array of ideas and theories about life extension, some more evidence-based than others. Today we encounter modern ideas such as nutrition supplements, biohacking, and gene therapy, often peddled by people who can appear more knowledgeable than they really are. Many modern longevity gurus do not have a background in health or medicine but rather business and technology, so their expertise on lifespan extension may be questionable.
Could it be that these gurus – who hint at extended life and healthspans by following their diets, buying their applications, or implementing various pills in our everyday routine – are nothing more than today’s snake oil salespeople?
Let’s go back a century and a half. Imagine standing in the middle of a local market and you see a man up on stage describing a new elixir that they have discovered. The man – a “doctor” – is highly charismatic and tells a wonderful story of their travels and testing on “hopeless” cases to verify that their drug works. Several people limp up on stage, have the drug applied to their bodies and give testimonials about their ailments being miraculously cured. You don’t really understand the jargon that the salesperson is using, but it sounds legitimate based on what you can hear – and they are so persuasive.
You figure “Why not?” You can try their elixir out; it only costs just under a dollar and perhaps it might help your old grandmother’s joints which aren’t what they used to be. You get home, ecstatic about having bought the cure to arthritis, only to be very disappointed when your grandmother tells you that you have been had.
This person was a snake oil salesman. The product he sold you was basically a concoction of alcohol, various oils and a few spices sprinkled in for good measure. He would pocket his earnings and travel to the next town over with his entourage, hoping to be able to snare potential future customers there.
Longevity gurus are more modern (although some did exist in the past) and they take advantage of society’s growing obsession with health, wellness and interest for life extension. They often present themselves as authorities on how to live longer and healthier lives while offering various advice and aids for living longer. These tools are often locked behind subscription or payment fees to generate revenue from their “discoveries.” Like snake oil salesmen, these gurus draw on a mix of research and pseudoscience while providing various anecdotes to convince their listeners that their advice is valid.
And there is probably something to it – at least sometimes. Living a healthy, active life and maintaining a nutritious diet have been demonstrated to increase a person’s health- and lifespan. So, no matter what else you do, make sure to do at least this. Do not rely on gene therapies or technological inventions to be your saviour. If you want to live for a long time, living well is a must no matter what. I once heard a person say that the followers of one well-known guru were among the unhealthiest-looking people that he’d ever seen. Observing and hoping for a long life is not enough; you have to live and do it too. Still, living long is not guaranteed even if you maintain the healthiest possible lifestyle. Cancer and a variety of other diseases often come down to chance and genetics.
We may fall for the appeal of easy “quick fixes” to our problems. It would be ideal to get all the benefits with zero work. But this is seldom the reality. Health is a long-term investment requiring great effort. You can, no doubt, follow longevity gurus and realize a positive outcome, but you have to be critical of what is being said and make your own decisions.
We each have about a 1 in 100,000 chance to become a supercentenarian. So, by all means, give yourself the best shot you can to live long, but be aware that it comes down to chance, and no longevity guru that I have ever heard of can give you certain odds with the dice.
Featured photo credit: “The Snake Oil Salesman” limited print edition by Morgan Weistling.
