Three Not-So-Bad Things on Aging and Longevity
A Weekly Newsletter
There’s no denying it: we are constantly bombarded with bad news. A pandemic, climate change, inflation, war, political discord—the list goes on. Here at the Longevity Project, we understand that bad news can be enough to take years off your life, so we want to do our part (however small) to balance the scales.
At the end of the day, though, we’re realists. Good news is hard to come by, no matter how hard you look. So we’ll aim a little lower and without further ado, we are pleased to share our first weekly newsletter: Three Not-So-Bad Things on Longevity and Aging. Feel free to share with others and send us items you want to see included. With some luck, you will see this newsletter (and some more not so bad news) every Wednesday.
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MAY 28, 2025
1. This Video Game Stinks (And That's a Good Thing).
It’s well known, at least in some circles, that there is a strong relationship between hearing, vision and cognitive health. Less well known, but equally true, is the causative relationship between smell and cognitive health. Studies have shown that declining olfaction and olfactory impairment can serve as a bellwether for the development of cognitive impairment and neurodegenerative diseases, and that olfactory training can help improve cognitive function and reduce the risk of dementia and Alzheimer’s.
But how to deliver smell training to older adults? A joint research team from the Institute of Science Tokyo (Science Tokyo), University of the Arts London, Bunkyo Gakuin University, and Hosei University, Japan, has the answer to that question - a new virtual reality platform targeted for older adults that combines olfactory stimulation with virtual reality (VR). In the game, players start by touching a stone statue, which emits an odor, starting a treasure hunt to follow a smell trail across a virtual landscape. Olfactory clues lead the players to new statues where they are presented with a challenge to match a variety of scents.
The game may not have the thrills of War Thunder, but it works nonetheless. According to the researchers, the game led to noticeable improvements in cognitive functioning and visuospatial processing after just 20 minutes of play. It’s more proof that VR as a class holds significant (though still largely unrealized) potential for helping seniors with social connection, engagement, and cognitive success.
2. We Drink in the Pursuit of Knowledge.
Who says that scientific research is no fun? Certainly not researchers at the University of Navarra in Spain. They’re launching a four-year study on the impact of moderate drinking on health and are looking for volunteers. To qualify, you have to be a man between 50 and 70 or a woman between 55 and 75, live in Spain, already drink at least three drinks a week, and be in good enough health to safely consume alcohol.
Sadly, TNSB World Headquarters is located about 4,000 miles too far west for us to qualify, but we’re eager to see the results of the study. The scientific debate over the health impact of moderate drinking on cancer, heart disease, and mental health has raged for quite a while. It can be traced at least as far back as the “French Paradox,” the fact that heart disease is low in France despite a high fat diet, and the belief among some that regular consumption of red wine is the explanation for the paradox. More recent research has largely debunked that theory, but debate over the pros and cons of moderate drinking has continued. We are always available to continue that debate over a glass of beer at our local pub, but are also prepared to wait four years for a more definitive answer.
3. Our Liver May Be Weak, But Our Telomeres Are Strong.
A new study, reported in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, has found that Vitamin D may slow rates of biological aging. Vitamin D has been long touted by some as having significant positive health attributes, though research has not tended to find widespread benefits, but the new research, led by Haidong Zhu, a molecular geneticist at the Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University, concluded that Vitamin D supplementation is able to slow the rate of telomeres shortening, at least over the course of the four year study period. The length of telomeres (the caps at the end of chromosomes), are often thought of as biomarkers for aging, though the direct relationship between telomeres' length and healthy aging is far less clear at this point.
Even the researchers working on the study have reacted with some caution, but if you are hell bound to up your Vitamin D, there are a number options available to you: Get some sun, as skin often produces Vitamin D when exposed to sunlight; take Vitamin D supplements; or up your intake of Vitamin D rich foods such as fatty fish (salmon, tuna, mackerel and sardines), egg yolks, and some liver, cheeses, and mushrooms.
And a Bonus...
Last week, we welcomed Michael Greger, New York Times bestselling author of How Not to Age to the Longevity Book Club and asked him for his top nutritional advice for healthy aging. His answer: “the number one dietary risk factor for death is neither animal nor vegetable, but mineral - excess sodium intake”. And if you want his advice on how to reduce salt intake, you can watch his answer here.
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