What I Learned About Longevity At The Smart Ageing Summit

Oxford has long been associated with ground-breaking health research, from advances in medicine and genetics to our understanding of nutrition, ageing and disease prevention. The Smart Ageing Summit, hosted by the Oxford Longevity Project, brought together leading doctors, scientists and researchers to explore one of the biggest questions in health today: how can we live longer, healthier lives?

Our contributing health editor, nutritionist Kim Pearson, attended to hear the latest thinking on healthy ageing.

Review: The Smart Ageing Summit

On 9 May 2026, I attended Oxford Longevity Project’s fifth annual Smart Ageing Summit. I was excited to hear about advances in health technology and the latest research in the field – and there was certainly no shortage of innovation. Discussions ranged from wearables and personalised health data to what science is uncovering about the risk factors for cognitive decline and obesity. Another key theme was the wider changes needed at a societal level to help reverse declining health and rising rates of chronic disease.

Despite all the advances in science and technology, the core messages repeated throughout the summit were familiar. Eat whole food. Prioritise sleep. Move your body. Manage stress. Nurture meaningful social connections. We are living in a time when health optimisation can feel increasingly complicated; clients who come to my clinic will often express to me that they feel confused about conflicting health advice online. Social media is full of extensive morning routines, expensive supplements, and wellness trends promising to turn back the clock. Yet expert after expert returned to the same fundamentals that have long been associated with better health and longevity.

Ultra Processed Foods

After an inspiring introduction to the event from Sir Christopher Ball, the 91 year old co-founder of Oxford Longevity Project, Dr Chris van Tulleken took the stage. He discussed the role of ultra processed foods and their detrimental impact on our health. He highlighted growing concern around the impact of heavily processed foods on obesity and metabolic health, and the way our food environment shapes our eating habits far more than many people realise. This is a topic I explore in detail in my new book, The Nozempic Diet, which is out next month. 

Ultra processed foods are very relevant to my work as a nutritionist. I speak with many people who blame themselves for struggling with their weight, assuming they simply lack willpower. Yet modern food environments are highly engineered to encourage overconsumption. Ultra processed foods are often designed to be hyper palatable, convenient and difficult to stop eating. Add in stress, poor sleep, long working hours and constant food marketing, and maintaining good health becomes far more complex than simply ‘eating less’.

The summit also explored the reality that body weight is influenced by a much broader range of factors than many people appreciate. Dr Ellen Fallows discussed the numerous influences on weight and metabolic health, from sleep quality and stress to medications, environment, hormones, life stage and social context. Health and weight management are complex, and comprehensive, compassionate approaches that take this into account are far more likely to support positive long term outcomes.

(c) Annie Spratt, Unsplash

Sleep

Sleep was discussed repeatedly as one of the most powerful tools we have to support healthy ageing. Dr Jane Rhodes spoke about the importance of sleep quality, particularly deep sleep, for brain health and cognitive function. Poor sleep has been linked with an increased risk of cognitive decline and dementia, making sleep one of the most important areas to prioritise if we want to support long term health.

Many of us are not getting enough and it has very real impacts on our health and recovery. It’s easy to prioritise squeezing in some extra work or lose track of time scrolling at night. Yet sleep is when much of the body’s repair and restoration takes place. It influences appetite, blood sugar regulation, mood, immune function and memory, all of which become increasingly important as we age.

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Breathing

Another fascinating area of discussion centred around breathing. I had the pleasure of meeting Jane Tarrant, founder of Link Breathing, and hearing more about how the way we breathe can influence health and recovery. Something as simple and automatic as how we breathe can have a powerful effect on how we feel physically and mentally. Athletes, CEOs and industry leaders seek Jane’s help for improving their performance through breath.

Movement

Movement was another major theme, although the message was not that everyone needs to spend hours in the gym. Lavina Mehta MBE shared the concept of ‘exercise snacks’, short bursts of movement woven into daily life to help counteract the very real issue of modern sedentary living. Many of us spend large portions of the day sitting at desks, in cars or on the sofa, and this prolonged inactivity comes with consequences for metabolic health, muscle strength and mobility.

The beauty of exercise snacks is their simplicity. Balancing on one leg while brushing your teeth, squats while the kettle boils, taking the stairs or fitting in a brisk walk between meetings may sound small, but these moments of movement can quickly add up. It’s a realistic approach that feels achievable, even for those with particularly busy lives. 

The Future Of Longevity

The future facing side of the summit was equally fascinating. Professor Mark Kendall discussed advances in wearable technology and the increasing ability to monitor health in more personalised ways. While today’s devices can already track metrics such as sleep, activity and glucose, future technologies will offer more sophisticated insights into health and physiology in real time.

The idea that we may one day better understand our unique biology, identifying health risks earlier and tailoring interventions more precisely, is undoubtedly exciting. But the biggest takeaway from Oxford was this: data can support better health decisions, but it can’t replace the basics. No wearable can compensate for a diet dominated by ultra processed foods. You can’t counteract poor sleep with more coffee. Movement, nourishment, recovery, stress management and human connection still form the foundations of healthy ageing. 

The future of health may be increasingly sophisticated, but healthy ageing still starts with mastering the basics.

Kim Pearson is Country & Town House’s contributing health editor. A qualified nutritionist with almost two decades of clinical experience, Kim specialises in weight loss, metabolic health and longevity. To find out more about Kim’s work, visit her website kim-pearson.com or follow her on Instagram. Kim’s new book, The Nozempic Diet, is available to pre-order now.