Oxytocin is now thought to be one of the most powerful longevity chemicals and you get that from being among friends, being in a loving relationship and spending time with your pets,” she says. “When dogs and their humans gaze into each other’s eyes the oxytocin levels in both parties can rise significantly. Oxytocin has a calming effect and can reduce feelings of fear, loneliness and anxiety and the underlying chronic release of harmful stress chemicals.”

This is to preserve and improve the quality of sleep, a key to longevity. “If you have any kind of sleep monitoring device you can see that when you drink at night you tend to go into a deep sleep, but it’s not natural sleep,” she says. “You’re increasing the levels of the brain chemical GABA — essentially putting the brain to sleep. That fake sleep isn’t healthy and it disrupts the quality.” Jones says she doesn’t tend to drink during the week and no longer drinks to unwind late in the evening. Persevere with kombucha and kimchi Embedding the smart wellness plan in my own daily routine had extended my healthy life expectancy by 23 years in just 23 months. I knew these smart wellness habits worked, not just for me, but also for other clients who successfully embraced them. Julia has been studying the effects of music and sound on behaviour and wellness for 30 years. The first book helped in boosting a surge of interest in this area and became a unique music-based wellness programme run at offices of some of the largest companies in the world.As an academic her PhD, MSc, MBA, PG Cert and BA (Hons) studies and research all examined various aspects of neuroscience and psychology. She began her professional career as a Sport & Exercise Psychologist and Physiologist in the early 1990s, working with Olympic squads. That’s a pretty incredible result achieved by just making small changes to my daily habits. I detailed this approach in my Neuron book. We’ve been doing the wrong thing for too long. The smart wellness programme in my Neuron book was turned into a virtual, on-demand programme being offered to workforces by leading corporate employers.

Julia has been studying the effects of music and sound on behaviour and wellness for 30 years. The first book helped in boosting a surge of interest in this area and became a unique music-based wellness programme run at offices of some of the largest companies in the world. As an academic her PhD, MSc, MBA, PG Cert and BA (Hons) studies and research all examined various aspects of neuroscience and psychology. She began her professional career as a Sport & Exercise Psychologist and Physiologist in the early 1990s, working with Olympic squads.

Jones is an exceptionally good advert for everything she preaches. She weighs the same as she did in her twenties, having dropped a stone as a by-product of changing her habits, and hopes that next time she tries the longevity calculator (at apps.bluezones.com) she’ll get to 100. Listening to loud music stimulates the nervous system when it produces “the chills”, and when experienced with others you get the added longevity benefit from social interaction. Listening to music before bed can slow down breathing and improve sleep quality. “Our brainwaves synchronise to musical rhythms, which makes music a great metronome, enabling us to influence the release of brain chemicals and the activation of brain networks,” Jones says. “And of course, learning a musical instrument is proven to be one of the best ways of slowing cognitive decline and building new brain connections. Music really is a super-tool.” Eat 30 different plants each week Incidentally, pets are very good for the gut microbiome too, because you’re exposed to extra bacteria.” Jones, who began her career as a sports and exercise physiologist and psychologist working with Olympic squads, and later studied applied neuroscience at King’s College London, has been researching optimum wellness for 30 years. The trouble is, she says, we’re mostly doing the wrong things at the moment: prioritising physical fitness over wellness at a cellular level. What’s now considered vital for longevity is controlling inflammation in your cells. “Biological ageing is an inflammation- related process, and continuous low-grade inflammation is now known to be at the core of pretty much all our health problems. It happens over decades and is completely invisible until it erupts in physical symptoms that then result in a diagnosis, such as cardio-metabolic conditions, neurodegenerative diseases or cancer.” As I dug deep into the research over the past few years, I began noticing that F-words were popping up freakishly often. So, I began collecting them. They will narrate our 6 million+ year health journey, and our quest for longevity, throughout the following chapters.