Marta Zaraska

In our quest to live long and healthy we are often fixating on all the wrong things – miracle diets, miracle foods, miracle supplements etc. We skip gluten and invest in exercise gadgets. We swallow vitamins. We obsess about BMI. While healthy nutrition and physical activity are indeed important for health, there are things we all too often sacrifice that have an outsize impact on our centenarian potential. Friendships. Purpose in life. Empathy. Kindness. Volunteering. Science shows that these 'soft' health drivers are often more powerful than diet and exercise.

Consider the numbers: studies show that building a strong support network of family and friends lowers mortality risk by about 45 per cent. Exercise, on the other hand, can lower that risk by 23 to 33 per cent. Eating six servings of fruit and veg per day can cut the danger of dying early by 26 per cent, while following the Mediterranean diet by 21 per cent. For volunteering, it's 22 to 44 per cent.

Attendee Results:

• Understand the importance of "soft drivers" of longevity and how we've evolved them
• Learn how to boost your social hormones, such as oxytocin and serotonin, for health benefits
• Learn how to boost your immune function through social connection
• Learn how to navigate social media and technologies such as zoom and their impact on health
• Learn how kindness, volunteering and donations can benefit your health, and how to choose the right activities
• Learn the Japanese "rule of 5" and the importance of ikigai (purpose in life) for cardiovascular health