Exercise and Longevity: Lessons from Eric Topol’s Super Agers

Eric Topol is a cardiologist, scientist and author. This American cardiologist is the founder of Scripps Research Translational Institute and teaches Molecular Medicine at Scripps Research Institute. He’s a very well respected scientist, with a 244 h-index. In 2024, Eric Topol was featured in the TIME100 Health list of most influential people in health in the world.

And you know the best part? In his book Super Agers: An Evidence-Based Approach to Longevity, Eric Topol advocated for the same philosophy we advocate in Papayya: the importance of physical activity in longevity. And this is one of the most important topics of this book.

But let’s start from the beginning: Topol analyses why a subset of older adults, most in their 80s, manage to stay healthy and mentally sharp.

You might think genetics would play the largest role, the researchers started with that hypothesis too, but no, that was not the conclusion. This group called “Super Agers” (people in their 80s and 90s with an average age of 87) did not have the expected gene variants. In fact, only a small component was genetic. 

Lifestyle factors are the main drivers of “Super Agers”. It’s obvious that genetics play a role in longevity, but how much do we inherit from our family in terms of lifestyle? In fact, in most cases, lifestyle is copied from generation to the next generation!

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So this is good news: if your grandparents, or even your parents didn’t pass the 70 years old mark, or passed with very poor quality of life, you can do something about it! And the sooner you start, the greater impact you will have.

Super Agers: An Evidence-Based Approach to Longevity

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Topol’s book Super Agers: An Evidence-Based Approach to Longevity also makes a very important distinction between lifespan (how long we live) and healthspan (how long we live free of serious illness).

And Topol’s philosophy highlights the importance of physical exercise, as the first pillar for “Super Agers”, just like we do in Papayya Online Personal Training. 

He advocates that a strong immune system is the center of healthy aging by defending us from chronic diseases: a robust immunity can fend off diabetes, cancer, heart disease and many other conditions that usually come with age.

And to bolster the immune system, the first thing we need to do is physical exercise, but it’s not the only one: diet, sleep and social connections play an important role too. However, the mantra is: if you could do just one thing to age well, exercise is the closest thing to a longevity elixir.

For diet, he elects the Mediterranean-style diet: rich in fruits, vegetables, legumes, whole grains, nuts and seafood, with minimal ultra-processed foods and red meat. This is consistently linked to better healthspan outcomes, for instance, in one 30-year study of over 100,000 people, those who reached age 70 in good health almost all had diets high in plant-based, whole foods.

Exercise is the longevity secret

What kind of physical exercise? 

Totally aligned with our vision at Papayya, what is really important is that you find a routine, a solution that you can stick to. Combining cardio, strength training and balance & posture in a complete routine is the best solution to regular physical exercise.

And this has benefits not only for longevity but also for mental health, preventing brain aging, avoiding losing muscle and keeping your immune system strong. Large population studies show that physically active people have a lower risk of dementia and better memory performance in old age compared to inactive peers. Topol concludes that staying active can keep one’s brain decades younger, just as it does for the body.

Conclusion: Exercise and Lifestyle Over “Miracle” Cures

Eric Topol’s Super Agers can be summarized in the following paragraph.

Aging is more flexible than we usually think. We are not simply prisoners of our genetics: by embracing evidence-based lifestyles, with physical exercise at the forefront, we can influence our health trajectory and add healthy years to our lives. In addition to regular exercise, a balanced diet (like the Mediterranean diet), sufficient and high-quality sleep and meaningful social engagement can delay or prevent the onset of many of the most common diseases that limit our healthspan. Be careful with the hype of trendy anti-aging fads and the unproven pills and supplements that promise to reverse aging. Your best bet is to focus on the “low-hanging fruit” of longevity: physical activity, what you eat, how you sleep. These are scientifically proven strategies you can take seriously and that are already at your disposal!

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