What factors influence how old we get? How can we use them to live a significantly longer life? As part of the DLD digital conference, longevity expert Nina Ruge explains how far research has already come – and what she is doing herself.
FOCUS online: A sentence that you hear more often – especially when people talk about their parents or in-laws – is: “Getting old is just not nice.” And people speak a little quietly and look sadly resigned. What do you think about this sentence, Ms. Ruge?
Nina Ruge: Aging is challenging – absolutely! But mentally it can be an incredible enrichment. I see many older people with a balance. “The storm is over”: They no longer have to fight, they can devote themselves to the things that really interest them, and they can continue to grow. That can be great. But physically, aging is of course a very big challenge.
How do you deal with it yourself?
Ruge: For me it is very important to face it with humor. And with a lot of knowledge. That makes it more bearable. And also that I talk about it, that I don't make it taboo. At my 60th birthday, a lot of people just talked about the “round birthday” and they didn’t even want to mention the number 60, as if it were an illness. This taboo is because we all have a deep fear of decay. We think we can't do anything about it. But that's not true, and that's the good thing.
How did you react to that?
Ruge: I said: I'm 60, you can say that. And then there was often something like “You still look good for that”. As if you were already half rotten at 60. That's why I've decided to deal with aging aggressively. I also prefer to talk about agile aging.
Today the term longevity is often used. What's behind it?
Ruge: It's not just about getting as old as possible – it's about staying well for as long as possible. Live healthily for a long time and then die quickly, that is the wish.
100 years is something of a magic number. Where do you think we're headed in terms of age?
Ruge: Life expectancy in Germany is currently declining. The same applies to the USA. For genetic reasons, there is a certain limit for each species. The oldest woman was 122 years old.
So the probability, which many have already dreamed of, that our children and grandchildren will all live to 100 years old, is 0. Because for this to happen, therapies would have to be found that prevent all diseases of old age. If only cancer were prevented, the entire life expectancy of humanity would be extended by one or two years – not more, because there are so many others: dementia, stroke, heart attack, osteoarthritis and so on.
So what would have to happen to live a significantly longer life?
Ruge: The likelihood that we will be able to live significantly longer will increase exponentially once the therapies that are now being developed are ready for the market. There is still a lot that is in the pipeline. And everything has to go through the testing authorities first. On the one hand, this is incredibly expensive. But on the other hand, there is a lot of money in it, it's a trillion to trillion dollar business. However, I will no longer see such therapies coming onto the market.
For me, lifestyle factors such as exercise, diet, mental fitness, healthy sleep as well as nutritional supplements and medications that are thought to extend healthspan remain. I will also take a closer look at the weight loss injection for its longevity effects.
How do you weigh up a case like the weight loss injection for yourself? Because for you it would not be about the actual purpose for which it was approved, namely losing weight, but about other, even less researched effects.
Ruge: I look at the studies closely and they are really exciting. There's a lot of testing going on here right now. If this is confirmed as it looks at the moment, then I see it not only as a weight loss but also as a longevity injection. Then I would take her. But further studies are needed first.
Another approach is psychedelic active ingredients, i.e. hallucinogens such as mushrooms. Do you also try something like this?
Ruge: In my opinion it is still too early for that. It looks as if the “mushroom drug” psilocybin, for example, could be helpful in treating the new pandemic “depression”. But could it also have a preventive effect – in addition to individual mental exercise – to prevent mental illnesses? But there is currently no evidence for this.
What was the trigger for you personally to delve so deeply into this topic?
Ruge: The trigger came at a time when I was working a lot as a TV presenter and sleeping little. I was, so to speak, exploiting myself out of passion for the job. I did a health check once a year. In 2006, my blood values were unfavorable during this check, and my doctor said to me: “If you want to stay fit and healthy for a long time, then you have to change your life now.”
And this doctor had already worked intensively on what was then called anti-aging. In other words: He recommended to me what we still preach today: no sugar, no meat if possible, no highly processed foods, exercise every day, at least a little, sleep more or – if that's not possible – at least meditate. There were also certain dietary supplements, vegetable oils, plant-based nutrition.
But I didn't just want to eat more vegetables, I also wanted to understand everything. There is so much in it: cell biology, biotechnology, genetics. What many people don't know: I completed my biology degree with honors, so I also have a scientific approach. As a journalist, I can get something like this across in an understandable way, so together with my doctor, Dr. Erich Knobloch wrote my first book on this topic: “Young and healthy for longer with Nina Ruge”.
Ten years later, the important scientific findings about the cell biology of aging came – and that's how “Aging can be cured” and my three other longevity books, all bestsellers, by the way, were born. My next book will be published in March: “Younger from Tomorrow”. This is about future therapies and the new generation of nutritional supplements.
There are also dubious approaches in this field. What can you give people who don't have the time and background like you as a biologist to delve so deeply into recognizing something like this?
Ruge: Yes, unfortunately a lot of money is made from this fear. Unfortunately, it is often difficult to define this seriously at this stage of new research and development. Because there are no certified longevity doctors and no certified nutritional supplements yet. That’s why I like to call myself a “bullshit filter.” I want to provide independent and serious information with my STAYOUNG podcast and my weekly longevity briefing.
Then we use this opportunity: Where should you start if you want to change something?
Ruge: With the very simple things: In my longevity pyramid, the base is the lifestyle: The factors are: vegetable-based food, daily exercise, breathing exercises, ice baths, sauna, mental resilience. On the second floor there are nutritional supplements, hormone replacement therapy for menopausal women, and regular vaccinations that boost the immune system. At the forefront of therapies are future therapies. There are some medications that many people who are familiar with the scene are already taking today.
And when should we start doing this?
Ruge: It is never too late and never too early. It would be ideal to start as early as possible, but it is never too late. For example, from the age of 50 onwards, more strength training is needed because muscle loss begins.
Fortunately, it is much easier today to buy healthy food – i.e. organic vegetables etc. And if you can't cook it yourself, then organic frozen food without flavor enhancers and the like. To anyone who claims that longevity is only for rich people, I say: You can buy your health food at discount stores, where they also have organic vegetables!
