Author Elizabeth Somer, in her book Age-Proof Your Body, reports that having the following things in your life are equivalent to adding an extra year onto your life expectancy:

• Being in a long-term, satisfying relationship
• Having close friends

Author Malcolm Gladwell supports this with a story he tells in his new book, Outliers. He discusses the story of Rosetta, an Itailan community in Mississippi that had much lower levels of death due to heart disease, cancer, and lived well into their 100s.

Doctors who studied Rosetta's statistics were baffled, since they were not necessarily doing more of the “healthy things” that they were expected to do: they ate plenty of red meat, starches, and many still smoked. Finally, doctors settled on the assumption that these people were healthier because they had a happier and stronger community.

Neighbours knew each other, people would look care for the less fortunate, and overall, the sense of community was quite strong.

So the next time you skip a workout day, make up for it by going out with friends or family. It's loads healthier than allowing yourself to feel stressed and guilty over the workout.

We have heard from dietitians that severe methods of calorie restriction, such as skipping meals, can trigger our body's ‘survival’ instincts, which are counterproductive to a healthy diet, causing unwanted fat storage.

While these undesirable effects are true, there is tremendous scientific evidence revealing that a reasonable level of calorie restriction is one of the surest ways to reverse the aging process.

• In a study dating back to the 1930s, Dr. McKay of Cornell University found that the life span of rats doubled when their calorie intake was cut in half. In addition to living longer, they were more healthy and youthful compared to control subjects. The rats who were allowed to eat to their heart's delight were much weaker and led less vigorous lives.
• In the 1990s, Dr. Weindruch and Dr. Prolla at the University of Wisconsin measured gene expression in mice, rats, monkeys, and humans. It was found that caloric restriction positively altered gene expression by slowing the aging process.
• Dr. Spindler at the University of California found that calorie restriction produces a genetic anti-aging profile, and resulted in a reversal of the majority of age related degenerative changes.

The good news is that it's never too late to start. These studies went further to prove that anti-aging effects can be seen quickly even with the oldest test subjects.

A fantastic, living example of lighter diets providing a longer, higher quality of life can be seen in the tribes of the Vilcabamba region in Ecuador, the Hunza region in Pakistan, and the Abkhasians region in Georgia. These tribes have some of the highest longevity rates, with an incredibly high incidence of adults living to over 100 years old. Further, these tribes see a higher quality of life in their middle aged and elderly members. By eating just 50% to 60% of the calories that we eat in North America, they are able to live much more adept and healthy lives.

If you’d like to try it, start by reducing your daily intake by just 25 calories. The further you take it, the more results you’ll be able to see.