The biggest healthy aging blind spots and doctors favorite biohacking tools for longevity

A new health report out today is, well, eye-opening.In their second annual Healthy Aging Survey, U.S.News spoke to 63 experts — including medical doctors, clinical scientists, registered dietitians, fitness professionals, and aging and longevity experts — and pinpointed the biggest “blind spots” most people have about healthy aging.They also picked which longevity tools they think are really worth it — and biohackers may not be too pleased with their verdict.First and most importantly, the pros ranked the most effective habits for anti-aging, with consistent exercise, a good diet and high-quality sleep coming out on top.Most people know they’re supposed to keep moving and eat healthy food — but there are some other factors in healthy aging that the experts said were “underappreciated.”When asked to pick the biggest blind spots, 59% named social isolation.“Isolation will undoubtedly lead to medical problems,” said Valter Longo, a professor at USC, Director of the USC Longevity Institute and member of the U.S.

News Medical Review Board.Loneliness has been determined by researchers to be a public health threat, with the risks well-documented for older adults especially.“Social isolation erodes a sense of purpose and fulfillment, disturbs mental health, compounds stress, sabotages sleep and so on,” added Dr.David Katz, a board-certified specialist in internal medicine and preventive medicine/public health, who participated in the survey.Prior research has found that socialization and strong connections play key roles in predicting a long and healthy life thanks to their stress-relieving benefits.However, certain relationships — namely, people in life who regularly make things difficult or “create problems” — can add stress and speed up aging.The second most underappreciated factor in aging was circadian disruption, getting 19% of the vote.Poor sleep has also been linked to aging, with a sweet spot of 6.4 to 7.8 hours of rest per night...