Is 90 Really the New 40? Dr. Michael Roizen Says It Is. Here Are His Groundbreaking Tips To Living Past 100

It was once an anomaly to live to 100. Now it’s becoming more common. And living to 110, 120, even 130? Science forecasts that this will be normal in the (near) future. So what does this mean for how we live?

Leading longevity practitioner Michael Roizen, M.D. answers this question in his new book, The Great Age Reboot: Cracking the Longevity Code for a Younger Tomorrow. The bestselling author and chief wellness officer emeritus at the Cleveland Clinic co-writes with Peter Linneman and Albert Ratner about the groundbreaking advancements in science, medicine, and longevity. Our expanding ability to live longer is unprecedented, and it calls for greater education around how we can stay as prepared, vital, and healthy as possible in our expanding lifetimes. As Dr. Roizen, Linneman, and Rater write, “we believe that longevity is not only the next disruptor, but the greatest disruptor ever.”

The Sunday Paper spoke with Dr. Roizen and Ratner this past week to learn more. Here they offer some of their inspirations for the book—plus five actionable ways to better care for ourselves as we face 90 becoming… the new 40.

Inspiration #1: Today’s medicine and research are unprecedented.

“We never had any idea that this is where we’d end up,” says Ratner—who will soon be turning 95— about the advancements in medicine and longevity. “So we must have the right attitude. You have to help yourself at every age.”

Inspiration #2: We can reboot our physiological age.

“We predicted that 60 would be the new 40, and that’s come true,” Dr. Roizen says of his forecast back in the late 1990s. Today he sees 90 being the new 40. “By doing healthy behaviors and making healthy, you choices could change which of your genes are on. We know that a lot of your lifestyle choices change 80 percent of which of your genes are on or not. The other 20 percent are now potentially changeable by other techniques.”

Inspiration #3: It matters how we respond to stress.

"You'll have friends who will die. You'll have to take a new job. You'll move. All of these major life events are hugely stressful," says Roizen. "Stress turns on the genes that make inflammatory proteins. By having a posse—friends to talk things out—and by having a purpose you turn off most inflammatory proteins and turn on genes that make anti-inflammatory proteins. So stress will happen to us, but your response to it—whether you do meditation, whether you talk to your friends about it, whether you keep working on your purpose—means whether you will age or not."

Dr. Michael Roizen’s 5 Tips for Staying Vital at Every Age

1. Change your attitude.

“You're a genetic engineer. You get to control a lot of what happens—so what you do matters and makes a huge difference in how long and well you live.”

2. Eat healthily.

“Food is like a relationship. You wouldn't marry someone who's trying to kill you every day. You shouldn't eat food that's trying to kill you every day. So only eat food that you love and that loves you back”

3. Add speed to your body and brain workouts.

“Crossword puzzles, memory games, and executive function games have a little benefit, it is really the speed of processing games that makes a difference. For your body, it is stressing the muscle rather than just using the muscle that makes a difference.”

4. Build a care team.

"No physician will do a colonoscopy on himself. You need to have a [medical care] team that you trust—and it may change and evolve. That's especially true for your primary care doctor. As you get older and older, you'll need to get a younger and younger doctor because the older ones will stop practicing.”

5. Nurture your posse and passions.

“This most important way of managing stress is to develop a posse. When you're young, it's easy to make friends and keep friends. But if you get older, you've got to nurture your posse. You also have to nurture your passions.”

Editor’s Note: This past week, Dr. Roizen announced the launch of the new app Reboot Your Age, which inspires users to build habits that make their physiological age younger than their calendar age. The app (developed by digital health company Great Age Reboot and led by Dr. Roizen and entrepreneur Corey Bridges) offers a personalized “Reboot” journey with videos, articles, brain games, activities, and more. Visit the greatagereboot.com to learn more.