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4. A Good Night’s Sleep
Sleep is a more potent tonic than all the supplements in the world combined. First and foremost, sleep keeps your reflexes sharp. Your life depends on those reflexes every time you drive a car, hop aboard a watercraft, or operate machinery. Just ask the former residents of Chernobyl and Three Mile Island. Investigators have linked those disasters to employee sleep loss.

Sleep does more than save your life, however. Time spent in dreamland can keep your memory fine-tuned, lift your mood, boost your levels of human growth hormone (which helps build bone and muscle mass), and keep your immune system in tiptop shape. Not to mention that you’ll increase your efficiency in your daily tasks.

If you aren’t getting optimal sleep, take whatever steps are necessary to put more z’s in your life. You may simply need to schedule more time for sleep, just as you would schedule time to exercise or go to doctors’ appointments. If you suffer from insomnia, be assured that help is available.

5. Engagement with Life
If you want to stay alive, live. That means engaging fully with life. Start by growing a good marriage or partnership and building a strong social network of friends who can extend a hand up when you’re down and who will encourage you to take care of yourself. (You can return the favor in their direction, of course.) Stay curious and challenged with work—whether paid or unpaid—that is a source of self-esteem, invigorating mental activity, and purpose. Travel, volunteer, take classes, and look for opportunities to develop new physical and intellectual skills, no matter what your age. By plunging into life’s offerings, you’ll feel brighter and more optimistic—which is a good thing for your health, since people with a positive attitude tend to live longer and have fewer health problems. If you maintain your social ties and stay active, you’ll also be more likely to ward off Alzheimer’s disease and remain independent well into old age. On the other hand, depression—which often comes with isolation and withdrawal—can increase your chances of stroke, heart problems, immune disorders, gastrointestinal problems, and even osteoporosis. Of course, you’ll want to balance all this activity with calmer pursuits, so be sure to learn relaxation, meditation, or other mind-quieting techniques. They’ll help you truly relish life’s pleasures.

6. Folic Acid
Folic acid is one of the powerhouses of alternative medicine. It can prevent heart disease, reduce the risk of colon cancer, and ease depression. You need 800 micrograms of folic acid daily through diet and supplements. Good dietary sources of folic acid include fortified grain products, black-eyed peas, lentils, and cooked spinach.