#175 Better Choices for Better Healthspan with Sally Duplantier
Sally Duplantier is a gerontologist, health educator and researcher. She founded her current company, Zing, with a mission to help older adults live their best lives longer through better lifestyle choices and health equity. She is passionate about increasing Healthspan—the number of years we are free of chronic disease and disability.
Sally returned to school in her 60s. She received an MS in gerontology from the University of Southern California and a graduate certificate in Qualitative Research from Indiana University. She was recently accepted into a doctoral program at the Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public Health.
Sally is a regular guest speaker for organizations like Stanford University and the American College of Lifestyle Medicine. Her research has been published in peer-reviewed journals such as Nutrients and The International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health.
We discussed:
- What is healthspan and why is it important. Not just living long, but living well.
- Four key choices for a better healthspan: 1) get 150 minutes of movement a week 2) get regular 7-8 hours of sleep 3) handle stress 4) social engagement
- Avoid sugar, alcohol, saturated fats, processed food, fried foods, red meat, boxed foods
- Two types of intelligence 1) crystalized (knowledge) and 2) fluid (problem solving/decision making)
- 80% is lifestyle factors
- Experts used to say one drink of alcohol a day is okay for women but that has been revised. CDC and WHO now link it to causing some diseases (certain cancers, brain health and heart disease.) “Rethink that Drink”
- Nutrition for brain health is called the MIND diet. It lists 10 things to eat and what to avoid.
- Too much chronic stress leads to higher levels of cortisol which increases blood sugar, insulin resistance and messes up the sleep cycle
- She recommends using breath work, one minute of relaxing, going for a short walk, mindful eating and taking “Joy Breaks”
- Having a purpose in life has a very positive correlation to good health
- Community is extremely important, we are social creatures. Pets help with social interaction
- Work on building cognitive reserve with education, reading, experiences. Building neural networks and plasticity.
- Doing something over 14 weeks actually changes your brain.
- Improvement by eating real food, getting good sleep, moving more than 30 minutes a day and incorporating something challenging.
Links:
Wellness Wednesday, 11 am pacific time – recorded. Free.
Zing website: MyZingLife.com
My Zing Life Linktree
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