According to the World Health Organization (WHO), global life expectancy increased by more than six years between 2000 and 2019, from 66.8 years to 73.4 years. At the same time, the WHO found that healthy life expectancy – that is, the number of years a person lives in full health – increased by only 5.4 years.
This tells us that while people are living longer, more people are doing so in poor health. Indeed, WHO data also tells us that diseases like heart disease, diabetes, cancer and dementia are now the leading causes of death and disability worldwide.
It comes as little surprise, then, that consumers are becoming more proactive in their approach to aging and ensuring their longer lives are healthy. The wearable healthcare market is projected to reach $114.8bn by 2033 (up from $39.9bn in 2023)1, while the global functional food market is expected to grow to US $305.6 billion by 2028 (up from $207.7bn in 2022)2 as consumers demand nutrition that supports long-term health.
It’s this proactivity that brings us to the subject of longevity; a growing sub-culture amongst consumers that’s becoming a category in its own right within the food and nutrition industry.
At its core, longevity is about maximising life, both now and in the future. It is the latest iteration of the shift in sentiment we’ve seen from consumers when it comes to aging.
From anti-aging, which mainly concerned beauty and saw consumers take steps to reverse the signs of aging once they appeared; to healthy-aging, where the focus became more preventative, e.g. omega-3 and vitamin D supplements to ensure healthy bones and joints; longevity is about taking a proactive, holistic approach to aging that starts much earlier in life.
Advances in science and technology mean that many of the products available today are offering consumers ways to target the biological hallmarks of age by improving their cellular health.
But what is cellular health? Quite simply, it’s the optimal function and resilience of our body’s cells to ensure our bodies can repair themselves, generate energy, and fight off damage efficiently. Cellular health is the microscopic reflection of our overall health, and the true foundation of longevity.
Factors that can damage cellular health include poor diet, poor sleep, stress, obesity, pollution, alcohol, smoking and UV radiation. With many of these hard to control – for example, the quality of air where you live, the amount of sleep you get, how much stress is in your life –, products that support cellular health have huge appeal to consumers interested in longevity.
Longevity can take many forms, with products for brain health, mobility, beauty, and more, all aiming to enhance our futures selves. What’s interesting is how brands are leaning into this reframing of aging to meet consumers as they aspire to improve not their lifespan, but their healthspan.
Ultimately, longevity, not being defined by age, and cellular health are interconnected. Longevity may be the category but the concept of age being more than a number is driving the emotional connection, while cellular health is forming the scientific foundation. Together, all three are redefining how we think about the aging process.
1 Spherical Insights & Consulting
2 ResearchAndInsights