© Magnific
September 2, 2026
PMC Redaktion
Exercise, nutrition, and sleep are widely regarded as the foundation of healthy aging. But mental health, social relationships, and certain micronutrients and phytonutrients are drawing increasing attention in longevity research. Here is what science currently knows about the most important factors for a long and healthy life
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Anyone exploring longevity quickly encounters biological age tests, supplements, cold baths, and novel active ingredients. Yet the fundamentals of a long and, above all, healthy life are far less spectacular. Physical fitness, nutrition and sleep all play a role, as do psychological stability and social relationships. Add to this a rapidly evolving field of research: micronutrients and phytonutrients that may influence certain biological processes of aging.
Just how much each individual factor contributes cannot simply be translated into added years of life. Nevertheless, it is becoming increasingly clear which areas are most closely linked to health and longevity.
Few factors have been studied as thoroughly as physical activity. Regular exercise reduces the risk of numerous diseases that can rob us of healthy years of life — including cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes and certain cancers. At the same time, it helps preserve mobility and physical function in old age.
An important role is played by cardiorespiratory fitness — the ability of the heart, lungs, and circulatory system to supply the body with oxygen during physical exertion. A large 2024 review published in the British Journal of Sports Medicinepublished review pooled data from 199 cohort studies with a total of more than 20.9 million observations. People with high fitness levels had a significantly lower risk of death than those with low fitness. Each one-MET increase in cardiorespiratory fitness was associated with an 11 to 17 percent lower overall mortality risk.
This makes physical fitness a key factor for healthy aging. There is no need to become a competitive athlete — what matters is maintaining fitness across as many years of life as possible.
Physical health is not just about endurance. As we age, muscle mass and, crucially, muscle strength decline. This can impair mobility and independence and increase the risk of falls.
Strength training is therefore one of the most important tools for countering this functional decline. A network meta-analysis published in 2025 of 151 randomized studies involving more than 6,300 participants found that resistance training in older adults can improve physical function, muscle mass, muscle size, and strength. Notably, even a comparatively low training volume produced marked effects on physical function and muscle mass.
For healthy aging, the goal is not to build the largest muscles possible. What matters is being able to climb stairs, carry groceries, get up from a chair, and move around independently for as long as possible.
When it comes to nutrition, searching for a single longevity food is unlikely to pay off. What appears to matter more is how we eat over years and decades.
This was demonstrated by a 2025 study published in Nature Medicinepublished study involving more than 100,000 women and men. The researchers compared eight different dietary patterns over a period of up to 30 years. They defined healthy aging not solely as living a long life, but as reaching older age free of serious chronic diseases and with good physical, cognitive, and mental health.
Greater adherence to healthy dietary patterns was associated with a higher likelihood of healthy aging. What these dietary approaches had in common was primarily a high proportion of plant-based foods — such as vegetables, fruit, whole grains, nuts, and legumes — as well as unsaturated fats. Higher consumption of trans fats, sugary drinks, and red and processed meat was, by contrast, unfavorably associated with healthy aging.
With advancing age, adequate protein intake also becomes increasingly important. Together with physical activity, it helps preserve muscle mass and muscle function for as long as possible.
Sleep is far more than a nightly rest. While we sleep, numerous regenerative and regulatory processes take place that affect metabolism, the immune system, the brain, and the cardiovascular system, among other things.
Beyond sleep duration, research is increasingly turning its attention to another factor: regularity.
A prospective study of nearly 61,000 participants from the UK Biobank analyzed more than ten million hours of objectively measured sleep data. People with more regular sleep-wake patterns had a lower risk of dying during the follow-up period. In this study, sleep regularity was even more strongly associated with mortality risk than sleep duration alone.
For healthy aging, then, it may not only be important to get enough sleep. A stable sleep-wake rhythm could also play a meaningful role.
Healthy aging does not stop at muscles, nutrition, and sleep. Mental well-being also shapes how healthily people age. It has a direct impact on quality of life and is closely linked to physical health, behavior, and social relationships.
This can be seen particularly clearly in what is known as
A meta-analysis published in 2026 combined 25 samples from the United States, Europe, and Asia, totaling nearly 489,000 people, with follow-up periods of up to 32 years. A stronger sense of purpose in life was associated with a lower risk of premature death. Even after accounting for health-related and behavioral factors, the association remained.
A sense of purpose in life cannot be prescribed like a medication. The findings nonetheless underscore that healthy aging depends not only on physical condition but also on mental well-being.
Few topics come up as often in the longevity debate as stress. Chronic stress can affect various bodily systems and is associated with both mental and physical illness.
Stress itself is initially a normal response of the body. It becomes problematic when demands persist over time and adequate periods of recovery are lacking.
This is why resilience also matters. This does not mean enduring stress as stoically as possible, but rather being able to adapt to challenges and recover after difficult periods. Several pillars of healthy aging work together here: exercise and sleep can support psychological stability, as can strong social relationships.
Friendships, partnerships, family, and a sense of belonging to a community may seem less medical than physical fitness at first glance. Research shows, however, that social health is closely linked to both health and life expectancy.
Loneliness and social isolation have been particularly well studied. A meta-analysis published in 2025 analyzed 86 longitudinal studies of older adults. Loneliness was associated with a 14 percent higher overall mortality risk. Social isolation was linked to a 35 percent difference, and living alone to a 21 percent difference.
An important distinction: being alone is not the same as loneliness. A person can live alone and still have close friendships and a solid social network. Conversely, someone can be surrounded by many people and still feel deeply lonely.
For healthy aging, the goal is therefore not to accumulate as many social contacts as possible. What matters are meaningful relationships, social participation, and a genuine sense of connection to others.
The Longevity research is currently focusing intensively on substances involved in key processes of aging — including energy metabolism, inflammatory responses, DNA repair, and epigenetic processes. The focus has long since shifted beyond simply correcting classic nutrient deficiencies.
Vitamin D3, nicotinamide, and betaine are being studied in this context, as are phytonutrients from moringa and the lesser-known bee balm. But what does research tell us so far about their possible role in healthy aging?
Bee balm (Monarda didyma) is a relatively new subject of research in the field of healthy aging. It contains a range of bioactive plant compounds, including the flavonoid glycoside didymin.
In 2025, a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study published in GeroScience was published. A standardized bee balm extract was investigated, among other things, with respect to leukocyte telomere length and DNA methylation age — two biomarkers used in aging research.
During supplementation, favorable changes were observed in these biomarkers: telomere length increased, while DNA methylation age remained more stable compared to the placebo group. Participants also reported improvements in quality of life, particularly in the physical domain. Accompanying laboratory analyses provided indications of effects on oxidative stress, DNA damage, cellular senescence, and endothelial function.
Moringa oleifera has long been recognized as a nutrient-rich plant. In addition to vitamins and minerals, it provides polyphenols and numerous other bioactive plant compounds. What makes moringa particularly exciting for healthy aging research is that it may act on several fronts at once: glucose metabolism, inflammatory processes, and cardiovascular health.
There is now promising human data to support this. A systematic review and meta-analysis published in 2026 covering 20 clinical trials found more favorable values for fasting blood glucose, long-term blood glucose (HbA1c), and both systolic and diastolic blood pressure in people with metabolic disorders who took moringa.
The results for blood pressure are particularly striking. A further meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials from 2026 also yielded positive findings: on average, systolic blood pressure decreased by 6 mmHg and diastolic blood pressure by 7.3 mmHg. Moringa could therefore influence several factors relevant to healthy aging simultaneously.
Betaine, also known as trimethylglycine, is found in foods such as beets, spinach, and whole grains. In the body, betaine helps transfer so-called methyl groups — small chemical building blocks required for numerous metabolic processes, including the breakdown of homocysteine. Elevated levels of this amino acid are associated with a higher risk of cardiovascular disease.
A 2025 network meta-analysis published in Nutrition Reviewspublished network meta-analysis analyzed 16 randomized trials with a total of 1,369 participants examining various dietary supplements. Betaine was found to significantly reduce homocysteine levels compared to placebo or no treatment.
A second function is relevant for aging research: methyl groups are also involved in epigenetic processes. In simple terms, these influence which genes in our cells are more or less active. Such changes in gene regulation also play a role in aging.
Nicotinamide, also known as niacinamide, is a form of vitamin B3. The body needs it to produce NAD+, a molecule that is essential for cellular energy production. NAD+ is also required for DNA repair and is involved in the regulation of cellular stress — functions that are especially relevant for healthy aging.
As we age, NAD+ metabolism can change. For this reason, researchers have spent several years investigating whether targeting this system can support cell function and metabolism.
A 2026 systematic review published in Ageing Research Reviewspublished systematic review summarized 113 preclinical and clinical studies. In human studies, various NAD+ precursors were able to increase NAD+ availability or related biomarkers. Possible effects on energy metabolism, vascular health, muscle function, and physical performance were also examined.
Nicotinamide is itself an NAD+ precursor and therefore part of this central cellular metabolism. Its benefit for healthy aging lies primarily in supporting processes that depend on NAD+, from energy supply to DNA repair.
Vitamin D3 is one of the most intensively researched micronutrients. Its importance for bone health and muscle function is well established, and vitamin D also performs important physiological functions in the immune system.
Vitamin D is attracting fresh attention in healthy aging research through new data on telomeres. In 2025, results from a sub-study of the large randomized VITAL trial were published. Telomere length in white blood cells was measured in 1,054 participants at baseline and after two and four years. Participants had received either 2,000 IU of vitamin D3 daily or a placebo.
After four years, the shortening of telomeres in the vitamin D group was significantly less pronounced. The researchers view this as an indication that vitamin D3 may influence a biological aging process.
Exercise not only keeps muscles and the cardiovascular system in shape, but can also improve sleep and psychological well-being. Social relationships can buffer stress, and a healthy diet lays the foundation for countless metabolic processes. The individual pillars are therefore difficult to separate from one another. At the same time, research into micronutrients and phytonutrients is broadening the traditional picture of healthy aging.
The foundation for healthy aging remains remarkably straightforward: exercise, nutrition, sleep, and mental and social health. Supplements can complement this foundation and may play an even more targeted role in healthy aging in the future.
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