Want to live to 100 or older? Experts in Miami suggest taking these five steps now

The expected lifespan in the U.S. is falling.

And while the thought of living forever (and eternally paying Uncle Sam) isn’t necessarily everyone’s dream, anti-aging products and procedures are big — especially in Miami.

No one wants to look old. And everyone wants to live a long and healthy life. While genetics do play a role in how long you’ll live, your genes are just part of the equation, according to a group of experts who spoke in this year’s “The New Face of Aging” conference, hosted by Alliance for Aging Thursday at the Loews hotel, 2950 Coconut Grove Dr., in Coral Gables.

“The older you get, the healthier [more resilient] you’ve been,” said Dr. Thomas T. Perls, a geriatrician and world renown researcher in the study of aging at Boston University School of Medicine and the conference’s keynote speaker.

Perls is director of the National Institute on Aging-funded New England Centenarian Study, which is the largest study of people living to 100 and beyond in the world. He’s also studying how and why centenarians and their children live the majority of their life disability free, with supercentenarians (people who live to 110 and beyond) not experiencing age-related diseases until near the end of life.

READ NEXT: Medicare enrollment is now open. What coverage questions do you have?

In Florida, for example, which has about six million people 65 and older, Perls estimates that there could be about 10,000 centenarians (people living to age 100).

So, what can you do to increase your chances of living a longer and healthier life?

Here are some tips given during the conference by Perls and Dr. Gordon Chen, a University of Miami Miller School of Medicine graduate who is the principal and board member of ChenMed.

How to live a healthier, longer life

▪ Give yourself a purpose in life. This cannot be your job. Figure out what relationships and activities you want to prioritize in life that will help you live out your purpose and then create a plan to do so.

▪ Build yourself a community or “tribe” of people who will help empower, support and encourage you. “We need to create a culture that empowers especially seniors, to continue to strive to grow, get stronger where they can get stronger, develop skills, even though they may be losing other skills,” Chen said.

▪ Get enough sleep and exercise, both for your body and mind. Also, don’t smoke.

“Your phones are amazing right? Your phones, they can do so much but if they’re not charged, they are useless. You run out of battery, your phones are useless. It’s the same thing with your bodies. If you’re not sleeping, if you’re not investing in charging your battery, you’re not going to live as long, you’re not going to be productive,” Chen said. “And so you need sleep to refresh, renew and rejuvenate.”

And most importantly, make sure to get your steps in. The most predictive way to determine how long you’ll live is how far and fast you can walk, Chen said. Perls recommends exercising at least three or four times a week, and make sure it’s not just aerobic exercises — strength training is vital too. Perls said it’s important for older people to exercise their brain, too, such as by learning a new instrument or a new language, to help keep your brain active and reduce or delay the onset of Alzheimer’s.

▪ Eat a healthy diet and stop eating before you get full. Chen recommends incorporating more plant-based foods such as fruits, vegetables, beans and whole grains into your diet. Perls said people should also listen to their body: At what weight do you feel healthy?

▪ Take time to meditate and practice mindfulness or your religion to help reduce stress, improve focus and stay motivated to live the life you want. Find time to spend with your family, too.

READ MORE: There’s a reason Miami-Dade ranks No. 1 in the country in Alzheimer’s disease for seniors

How old will you live?

U.S. life expectancy has declined to 76.4 years, the shortest its been in nearly two decades, and is likely stemming from how the U.S. healthcare system is structured, Michelle Williams and Asaf Bitton from Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health told WP Live, a Washington Post podcast, in April. The experts noted that much of the problem stems from inequities relating to whether people have health insurance and other social detriments, such as housing and food insecurity.

How long might you live?

If your curious, Perls has created an online life expectancy calculator people can use to estimate how old they’ll live to be. The calculator asks 40 questions related to your health and family history to give you an age estimate, and will also provide a personalized “To-Do” list of things you can do to help increase your life expectancy. Most people score in their late 80s.

To try the calculator, visit www.livingto100.com/

READ NEXT: Why do some people get Alzheimer’s and others don’t? How a new UM tool checks your risk

What else to know about successful aging

▪ The conference brought together healthcare experts, health insurance companies, nonprofits, assisted-living facility centers, start-ups and hospitals to discuss how to age healthy, help keep loved ones out of nursing homes and reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s and other dementia. Panelists included Perls, Chen, neuroscience company Cognivue President and CEO Thomas O’Neill, and Jean Bell, the Global Commercial Banking Healthcare, Education, and Not-for-Profit executive for Bank of America.

“The goal of our conference is to help educate professionals and the community at large about the elements of successful aging. We’re all getting up there. We all need to understand as much as possible what we can do to enhance our own life, and be able to live as long as possible, healthy, and active,” Max Rothman, the president and CEO of Alliance for Aging, told the Miami Herald.

▪ Organizations that attended include Baptist Health South Florida, Mount Sinai Medical Center, Easter Seals, AARP and Sunshine Health. Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava sent a video message to the conference. Michelle Branham, secretary for the Florida Department of Elder Affairs, who also spoke at the conference, told the Herald she was looking forward to seeing the “innovative and creative” ideas that would be presented to help seniors in Florida live safely and independently at home.

▪ New tech: Israeli tech startup Intuition Robotics at the conference showcased ElliQ, a voice-activated AI-powered robot meant to help seniors combat loneliness and help them live independently at home as long as possible. The robot initiates conversations and remembers details, such as what your favorite flower is and if you woke up with back pain. It asks questions, can make phone calls, plays music and offers yoga and other exercise classes. ElliQ is currently being offered for free to people 60 and older in Broward County through the county’s Area Agency on Aging, with a pilot program underway in Miami-Dade County. Broward residents who want to request a robot can do so at www.adrcbroward.org/elliq. It is not a fall detection or emergency device.