Living longer, living better: the science behind how we eat and age

So I'd love to kickstart with talking a little bit about the word longevity.

I think that the word longevity is one of the sort of most misunderstood words in the health space.

Um, longevity is not just about living longer, but it's also about living well.

And there's this concept really around healthspan, which is about living well for more years, where you are mobile, mentally sharp, independent and, you know, enjoying and able to live the life that you want to live.

So Sabine, I will kickstart with you.

Uh, tell us about longevity.

What would you like everybody to understand about longevity, and what role does diet play in this?

Well, as you said, I mean, it's ...

I think longevity is, uh, is very much the wrong word.

I mean, it's, it's the hip word for the moment, but it's the wrong word, of course, because there's no point in just living longer if we can't really enjoy our lives.

And that I think we would all agree on that, of course.

So what, what does it mean, and what does it mean about trying to actually live as long as possible but as well as possible? And that is a journey that starts ideally as early as possible, but okay, never, never, ever too late.

Because it is about, really, from my perspective, and I've been in the, in this longevity space for a very, very long time, uh, before it was called longevity.

It was called-

[laughs]

... preventive healthcare in the past.

Um, and, and of course my knowledge and the science of longevity has grown tremendously over the last 20, 30 years.

However, the practicalities for me, for sure, have become simpler.

Because as I've gone through this journey about what does it actually mean, I mean, what do we strive for and how do we achieve that, my appreciation as in how do we apprec- ap- uh, uh, achieve this actually has come back to the basics.

So it is about how do we really on a continuous basis actually support the basics of good health.

And it is about what my grandmother used to say and what my mother used to say, and they didn't know why they said it.

I understand why, but the basics actually remain the same.

So when I talk about longevity, I actually talk about get the basics right and do them well consistently.

Love that.