Healthspan vs. Lifespan: What’s the Difference?

Most of us don’t want to think we will experience health issues as we get older. We want to believe that we will be the lucky ones — the people who experience healthy aging and live a long life free from chronic disease. 

In reality, luck doesn’t have much to do with how long we will live and how healthy we will be. Instead, a combination of lifestyle choices, genetics, and underlying medical issues serve as the determinants of how long we live healthfully and the number of years we live total. 

As such, we can make adjustments to this combination and biohack the system, improving our quality of life, supporting our healthspan, and lengthening our lifespan. Let’s dissect what these terms mean and how we can optimize them.

Healthspan and Lifespan: What Is the Difference?

The words healthspan and lifespan are sometimes used interchangeably to refer to life expectancy. The two words, however, have completely different meanings. 

Lifespan

Lifespan refers to how long a person will live from birth. Lifespan and life expectancy can mean the same thing. However, life expectancy may change as a person ages due to genetic, environmental, and lifestyle factors. 

Lifespan is governed by age, and life expectancy is typically quantified by years of a person’s life. For instance, the average life expectancy of an average healthy adult living in the USA is 79.25.

Aging happens another way, too: biologically. Biological aging refers to the age of our cells (the foundational parts that make up every part of our bodies). Biological age can be younger or older than your current birthday age. 

It’s the biological component of aging that we can adjust through lifestyle and improvements to our health. That means that we can actually extend our lifespan past our life expectancy.

Healthspan

Unlike lifespan, healthspan measures how long you can live a healthy life free from chronic conditions that make you ill. Age-related illnesses like type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol can keep us sick, place us at a higher risk of negative health outcomes, and make our golden years less golden. 

Healthspan is directly tied to biological aging. Chronic diseases that plague American adults begin in the cells. If we can intervene in our own aging process, we can give ourselves a shot at leading a healthier life and improving our healthspan.

Which Is More Important?

Both lifespan and healthspan are important, but healthspan is vital. If you live to be 100 but are in poor health, you may not be able to do the activities you currently enjoy doing. In addition, you may require invasive and/or extensive life-saving medical interventions that can sideline you and require long periods of time for recovery. 

Bottom line: In order to lengthen lifespan, we need to address healthspan. 

How Do I Support My Healthspan and Lifespan?

You can support your healthspan during the aging process and lengthen your lifespan at any age. It is never too late to make changes. Even older adults who make significant lifestyle changes can see results that help them lead healthier lives. 

Exercise

Keep moving. In Blue Zones across the world, where residents are more likely to live to be 100+, movement is foundational to their daily lives. Instead of pounding out reps at the gym, these citizens incorporate natural movement into their days. 

Walking, gardening, swimming, hiking, or playing pickleball with friends are all ways they support their wellness without even realizing it. Continuing to move in old age can keep joints healthy and muscles toned and even improve mental health.

Diet

A balanced diet is key to improving healthspan. Good health starts with eating foods that are nutrient-dense and supply the body with the essential vitamins and minerals needed to carry out functions. 

A diet that is balanced will include a variety of fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains, lean protein sources, and healthy fats. Limiting processed foods and fried foods is also a great way to improve your diet and your health. 

Lifestyle Choices

The choices we make play a significant role in our healthspan. Avoid unhealthy lifestyle choices like:

• Smoking
• Drinking in excess
• Avoiding physical activity
• Not managing stress

Small choices we make and habits we retain can have a huge impact on our longevity and on our healthspan. 

Target Cellular Health

Biological aging begins in the cells. As of this writing, scientists have identified 12 processes within cells that cause us to age. These processes are collectively known as the 12 hallmarks of aging. 

These processes include:

• Genomic instability 
• Telomere attrition
• Epigenetic alterations
• Loss of proteostasis
• Disabled macroautophagy
• Deregulated nutrient-sensing
• Mitochondrial dysfunction
• Cellular senescence
• Stem cell exhaustion
• Altered intercellular communication 
• Chronic inflammation
• Dysbiosis 

These functions probably sound deeply scientific. You can read about them (in layman’s terms) here. These cellular instabilities lead to fragile cells that often lose function or die. The result is a trickle-up effect that causes us to experience higher risk factors for age-related illness. 

One way to support our cells and target many of these functions is by strengthening our cells, which are the core of the aging process. To do this, it is important to first understand what is weakening our cells. Let’s discuss a newly discovered nutrient deficiency known as Cellular Fragility Syndrome.

What Is Cellular Fragility Syndrome?

Cellular Fragility Syndrome is the name of the nutrient deficiency associated with low levels of C15:0 (also known as pentadecanoic acid). As published in the scientific journal Metabolites, low body levels of C15:0 can result in fragile cells that accelerate biological aging and increase the risk of developing chronic diseases. This nutritional deficiency may be impacting as many as one in three people worldwide.

“The discovery of a nutritional C15:0 deficiency syndrome is the culmination of over a decade of rigorous studies,” shared Dr. Stephanie Venn-Watson, the lead author and co-founder of Seraphina Therapeutics. “As a hopeful inspiration to fellow and future scientists, this shows that there are still simple and impactful discoveries to be made that can meaningfully improve global health.”

Big discovery, yes. But what is C15:0?

Understanding C15:0

C15:0 is an odd-chain, saturated fatty acid that is found in trace amounts in whole-fat dairy products like whole milk and full-fat butter. Countless studies have shown that people with low C15:0 levels have a higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (also called NAFLD). 

Globally, levels of C15:0 are on a rapid decline due in part to decreased whole milk and whole-fat dairy products. The United States Department of Agriculture describes this decline as “difficult to reverse.” In addition, the switch to plant-based milk has further driven C15:0 levels lower because plant milk contains no C15:0. 

C15:0 is an essential nutrient, which means the body needs it to thrive but cannot readily make it on its own. C15:0 has been shown to: 

• Strengthen cell membranes by 80%.
• Improve cellular energy and mitochondrial function by up to 350%.
• Lower “bad” LDL cholesterol levels
• Improve liver enzymes.
• Improve the gut microbiome.

In addition, C15:0 targets six out of the 12 hallmarks of aging and has more cellular benefits than the leading longevity candidates, such as rapamycin and metformin. Not only does C15:0 help cells thrive, but it reverses cellular aging and supports an increased healthspan and lifespan. 

Am I Deficient?

As many as 1 in 3 people globally are deficient in C15:0. After all, who drinks whole milk anymore? 

Optimal levels of C15:0 should be 0.2% or greater of the total fatty acids in a person's cell membranes to prevent nutritional deficiencies. It’s worth noting that a study that followed 4,000 people with higher C15:0 levels (between 0.40% and 0.55%) had a lower risk of heart disease. 

Further, people living in Blue Zones, like Sardinia, Italy, have C15:0 levels that are much higher at 0.64% compared to people living in other parts of the world. This is likely because their diet consists of high C15:0-content cheeses made from local, mountainous grazing goats and sheep.

Most of us don’t have access to local, grazing, mountainous sheep, and we aren’t necessarily consuming whole milk. To find out if that means you might be deficient, you can see your physician to test your C15:0 levels, or order an at-home test. This test requires a finger-prick blood sample, which can be returned in the mail for processing. 

If you are deficient, you can treat the Cellular Fragility Syndrome with dietary changes and supplementation. Fatty15 is a pure, vegan-friendly, sustainably-produced, and award-winning C15:0 supplement that can help you prevent deficiencies and promote healthy aging and longevity. 

Why a Supplement Is Better

You might be wondering why you can’t simply increase your intake of whole milk or butter to elevate your C15:0 levels. First, C15:0 is only found in small amounts in these foods. You’d have to consume a lot of full-fat dairy or sticks of butter to get enough C15:0 in your diet. 

Second, in supplement form, C15:0 is made ready to absorb. When consumed in full-fat dairy products, your body has to break down the C15:0 from triglycerides. This extra step can make the absorption of C15:0 less efficient.

Third, fatty15 contains only C15:0 and no other ingredients. In food, C15:0 is accompanied by unhealthy, even-chained saturated fats. These fats are consistently associated with negative health outcomes. Lastly, fatty15 allows you to skip the cows and the calories. There’s no denying it. Whole-fat dairy is slam-packed with calories and sugar (from lactose). 

Consuming excessive amounts of full-fat dairy products will likely result in weight gain and potentially negative health impacts. Not to mention, it involves, well, cows. To bypass the cows and pass on the calories, a supplement is the best choice. 

Live Long and Healthy

To live a healthier life, you’ll want to find ways to increase your healthspan. You can increase your healthspan by making lifestyle and dietary changes, and supplementing your diet with healthy fats, which have all been shown to increase your health and promote your overall well-being. 

Fatty15 targets the leading causes of aging at the core, through our cells. Recommended by 4 out of 4 future you’s, fatty15 supports your long-term health and wellness.

Sources:

Healthy life expectancy at birth (years)|World Health Organization.org

U.S. Life Expectancy 1950-2024 | MacroTrends

Hallmarks of aging: An expanding universe - PubMed

The Cellular Stability Hypothesis: Evidence of Ferroptosis and Accelerated Aging-Associated Diseases as Newly Identified Nutritional Pentadecanoic Acid (C15:0) Deficiency Syndrome

Application - Discoverc15

Changes in plasma phospholipid fatty acid profiles over 13 years and correlates of change: European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition-Norfolk Study - ScienceDirect

USDA.gov - Fluid Milk Consumption Continues Downward Trend, Proving Difficult to Reverse

Efficacy of dietary odd-chain saturated fatty acid pentadecanoic acid parallels broad associated health benefits in humans: could it be essential? | Scientific Reports

A review of odd-chain fatty acid metabolism and the role of pentadecanoic Acid (c15:0) and heptadecanoic Acid (c17:0) in health and disease - PubMed

Effect of an Asian-adapted Mediterranean diet and pentadecanoic acid on fatty liver disease: the TANGO randomized controlled trial - ScienceDirect

Pentadecanoic Acid (C15:0), an Essential Fatty Acid, Shares Clinically Relevant Cell-Based Activities with Leading Longevity-Enhancing Compounds

Biomarkers of dairy fat intake, incident cardiovascular disease, and all-cause mortality: A cohort study, systematic review, and meta-analysis | PLOS Medicine

Circulating fatty acids and endocannabinoidome-related mediator profiles associated to human longevity | GeroScience

Sardinian dietary analysis for longevity: a review of the literature | Journal of Ethnic Foods

Seasonal Variation of Chemical Composition, Fatty Acid Profile, and Sensory Properties of a Mountain Pecorino Cheese