inflammation is key for thinking and performing at your
best, doing so may also guard you against the march of
time.^11
When it comes to longevity, the important thing to focus
on is your health span. Unlike your life span, which
describes the number of years in your life, your health span
represents the amount of life in your years. Having a longer
health span means less disability, better cognitive function,
better mood, and being free of chronic disease for as long as
possible. Ideally, we’d like long life spans and health spans
to match. Unfortunately, today, our life spans are increasing
(thanks in part to the wonders of modern medicine), but our
health spans are not. We’re simply living sick, longer.^12
But there are some exceptions to this: people who seem
to stay vibrant and healthy up until the very end of their
lives. In one study that followed more than 1,600 adults for
an entire decade, those who ate the most fiber were 80
percent more likely to be free of hypertension, diabetes,
dementia, depression, and disability than low-fiber
consumers.^13 In fact, fiber consumption determined healthy
aging more than any other variable studied, including sugar
intake. Not bad for a nutrient most famous for helping our
grandparents more easily go to the bathroom—and that’s
not the end of it.
FECAL MICROBIOTA TRANSPLANTATION (FMT)
Although the transplantation of fecal material from one