What doesn’t kill you just might make you age better.
A geriatrician has revealed the one lifelong habit she says her older patients seem to share — and it’s not a special diet or expensive supplement.
According to Dr. Stephanie Rogers, they all sidestep a particularly cozy condition.
“The healthiest people that I see in their 80s and 90s as a geriatrician all avoided one thing over and over and over throughout their entire lifetime, and that is comfort,” Rogers said in a TikTok video. “If you really want to age well, avoid getting comfortable and always try new things.”
Her advice is rooted in a scientific concept called hormesis, the idea that exposing the body to small, manageable doses of stress can trigger beneficial adaptations, while higher doses can be harmful.
“You want to challenge your body enough to push your body to adapt, but not so strongly that it causes some harm,” Rogers explained.
That controlled, mild stress helps build resilience, making the body and brain better equipped to handle future challenges.
Hormesis, however, isn’t necessarily a shortcut to a longer life. Most experimental evidence on hormesis suggests it improves health during aging rather than extending lifespan.
Researchers say the strongest evidence still points to regular exercise, a healthy diet and maintaining a healthy weight as the best ways to support longevity.
Common examples of hormesis include strength training, as it creates tiny muscle tears that signal muscles and the cardiovascular system to rebuild stronger, and eating plant compounds such as resveratrol — found in grapes and berries — and sulforaphane, found in cruciferous vegetables. These mild toxins activate the body’s natural antioxidant and anti-inflammatory defenses.
For physical health, Rogers recommends constantly challenging your body in new ways.
“If you want to age well in your body, you always want to try new movements, new exercises, new ways of moving your body and challenging your body,” she said. That could mean longtime runners giving yoga a try or dedicated weightlifters adding balance and mobility exercises to their routine.
The strategy may pay off. A 2026 study found that people who performed a diverse variety of physical activities had a 19% lower risk of dying from any cause than those who stuck to the same workout routine.
The same principle applies to the brain.
Roger encourages people to learn a new skill, pick up a hobby or expand their social circles. “Hang around new people and have new conversations about ideas you’ve never talked about before,” she said.
Learning a new language may be especially beneficial. Research presented at the 2026 Federation of European Neuroscience Societies Forum found that even people who begin studying a second language later in life may be able to slow age-related cognitive decline.
“There’s no clear cutoff in age where learning a second language would no longer be beneficial,” Dr. Tommy Wood, a neuroscientist, performance consultant and author of “The Stimulated Mind: Future-Proof Your Brain from Dementia and Stay Sharp at Any Age,” told Fox News.
Wood pointed to several randomized controlled trials showing that older adults improved their attention, working memory and executive function after just a few months of language study. Learning something new can also help people stay socially connected while strengthening the brain’s ability to adapt and absorb new information.
“Making mistakes is one of the biggest drivers of neuroplasticity and learning,” said Wood.
“If you do choose to learn a new language, get stuck in, challenge yourself and embrace the occasional failure. You’ll actually learn faster as a result.”
