Closing the Gap
- Sarah Bayliss
- Jul 23
- 3 min read
I came across this Guardian piece this week that perfectly captures what I was getting at in my last newsletter about wellness versus longevity.
Here's the uncomfortable reality:
We're living longer, but we're also living sicker.
The gap between lifespan and healthspan is actually widening, not closing.
The Numbers
About 80% of how we age is driven by our behaviours and environment. Not genetics.
Not luck. Our daily choices.
Yet we're caught in this strange place where headlines are dominated by billionaire biohackers and expensive protocols, whilst the basics - eating well, sleeping properly, moving your body, managing stress - get pushed to the background.
The science is getting fancier, but the fundamentals haven't changed. There's still no substitute for the foundations.
What's particularly striking is this line:
"When it comes to ageing-related illnesses, such as cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes or dementia, currently there are a few recipes for keeping us alive but not necessarily healthier for longer."
We're getting very good at extending life.
We're not so good at extending healthy life.
This Changes Everything
This is exactly why I think we need to flip our approach.
Instead of chasing the latest longevity hack, we need to master the basics first.
Build your wellness foundation, then layer in the clever stuff strategically (as even technological advances in wearables can hamper our health).
But there's something bigger happening here.
If most of us are going to hit 100, we can't keep thinking about life in the old three-stage way - education, work, retirement. That's not going to work anymore.
We're going to need to reinvent ourselves multiple times.
Learn new skills in our 50s, 60s, 70s. Take breaks to look after our health or our families.
Work differently - sometimes full-on, sometimes part-time, sometimes not at all.
The upside, If we nail our foundations, we get decades more to chase the things that matter to us.
To try different careers, explore new passions, make a different kind of impact.
We need to start thinking like future centenarians right now.
Not when we're already old.
We need to stop assuming that getting older means becoming less capable, less relevant, less interesting.
Because if you're going to live longer, you want those extra years to actually be worth living.
A Quick Life Update
I'm really excited to share a few brilliant things that have happened over the last two weeks.
I'm hugely grateful to the people who've supported me in making this happen - you know who you are.
Thank you DO Publishing...
The Liz Earle Podcast
I was on Liz Earle's podcast talking about light, energy and daily routines.
Have a listen here if you're interested.
Happy Place Festival
I gave a talk at Fearne Cotton's Happy Place Festiva in London.
I talked about how in today's environment it's really hard to live optimally, and why building resilience has never been more crucial.
I also explored how to feed our bodies the nutrients they need and cannot make - based on my book Do Nourish, How to eat for resilience.
The quality, not the longevity, of one's life is what is important. - Martin Luther King, Jr
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The information provided by Sarah Bayliss, A Registered Nutritional Therapist, is for educational purposes only. It is not a substitute for professional medical advice. Always consult your healthcare provider before making any dietary or lifestyle changes.
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