Moving is essential for health, especially as we age or face illness. Oncologist Dr. Amit Garg reveals the activity that, for him, surpasses others when it comes to longevity.
We all dream of living a long, healthy life. To achieve this, having a healthy lifestyle is essential: a balanced diet, sufficient sleep and regular physical activity are the pillars. However, it is often the sport that remains the most difficult to integrate into daily life. It’s not always easy to know which one to choose and to motivate yourself, especially when you get older and tire more quickly. An oncologist shared the activity that, for him, is the most effective for gaining years of life.
Dr. Amit Garg, oncologist, affirms in a video that this practice allows you to live “7 to 10 years older than their sedentary peers”. The doctor relies on a Danish study whose objective was to evaluate the gains in life expectancy linked to different leisure sports. Researchers followed more than 8,000 people there for 25 years. Thanks to detailed questionnaires on their sporting practices and monitoring of mortality from all causes, the scientific team was able to precisely compare the impact of each discipline.
The results clearly point to racquet sports as the big longevity winners. Compared to sedentary people, playing tennis is associated with a gain of 9.7 years in life expectancy, and playing badminton with a bonus of 6.2 years. Several physiological and psychological factors explain this impact. On the one hand, racket sports require a split effort, alternating short sprints and recovery phases, which is excellent for the heart. On the other hand, “leisure sports promoting social interactions are associated with better longevity”explain the researchers. Playing with two or four people stimulates social bonds and breaks isolation, a major asset against stress and premature aging.
Racquet sports include disciplines accessible to all ages such as tennis, badminton, squash and even table tennis. To obtain measurable protective effects on health, the study data suggest a frequency of two to three sessions per week, at a rate of 45 to 60 minutes per session. Be careful, however: as these sports put a lot of strain on the cardiovascular system and joints during changes of direction, it is essential to start each session with a 10-minute warm-up.
Beyond tennis lessons, Dr. Garg reminds us that longevity is based on a few other simple daily rules. To live a long life, the doctor advises adopting a Mediterranean diet (rich in plants and good fats) and ensuring good hydration, essential for the proper functioning of the body, especially when we know that a minimum of glasses of water per day reduces the risk of heart attack by 50%. Finally, maintaining an active social life and sleeping between 6.5 and 8 hours per night are excellent reflexes for slowing down biological aging.
