10,000 Unagers Have Measured Their Lifespan!

14 years gained, 3.6 to go.

Aug 04, 2026

A fit 72-year-old woman doing a standing dumbbell shoulder press in a bright modern gym

Ms. Unager as imagined by AI. Any similarities to the real Unagers coincidental!

Over 10,000 people have completed the True Age Calculator! This gives us an opportunity to look at the statistics for everyone who has completed the calculator:

Table of headline calculator results: 10,000 people, 15,000 runs, 83 year baseline lifespan, 97 years on current habits, 3.6 years untapped, 101 years fully optimized, biggest opportunity daily walking

Introducing the Unager

But who are these people who fill out an Internet age calculator? Here are the demographics:

Unager gender split: 62% female, 38% male

Unager age distribution histogram; median age 57, with a spike at 20 from an old form default

Why yes, “Unager Age Distribution” is an oxymoron. The spike at 20 is an old form default, not real 20-year-olds.

Aside from the peak at 20 from the old calculator default age, the largest age group of Unagers is the 60-75 years old, with more Unagers doing the calculator as they get closer to 60 years old. I think it reflects the age of people who would read a health blog as well as a time when people become more concerned about longevity.

But a distribution isn’t a person. Let’s take a look at the archetypical Unager:

And yet, I don’t feel that I know Ms. Archetype Unager well. Let’s see how she answered the questions:

Table comparing the typical Unager exercise habits with the longevity optimum for walking, aerobic exercise, strength training, sauna, flossing and smoking

Sauna only helps if you are not already doing aerobic exercise.

Now I’m getting a better picture of Ms. Unager. She does most of the recommended exercise, although her steps aren’t quite the optimal 12,000, and she does the lowest amount of Strength Training at under 30 minutes weekly (along with 42% of Unagers). She flosses and has never smoked.

Table comparing the typical Unager diet with the longevity optimum for coffee and tea, whole grains, nuts or olive oil, fish, legumes, red meat, processed meat, sugary drinks and eggs

For diet, she already avoids red and processed meat! Daily nuts or olive oil would be the biggest boost, but at least she’s avoiding sugary drinks. Her coffee/tea habits are also fine, but she could do with more whole grains.

I’m afraid she might not be getting enough protein, given she eats fish, legumes, and red or processed meat less than once a week. That 1-2 eggs weekly is not enough. Maybe she lives on poultry?

Reaching Your Full Potential

Compared to the average lifespan for age and gender, Unagers have a longer expected lifespan thanks to their habits, although still more possible lifespan remains with further improvement. Let’s look at how the opportunities for increasing expected lifespan vary by age:

Total years above baseline by Unager age group: years achieved plus years remaining stacked

Two things add up to the total years above baseline: what good habits have already achieved, and what remains. The years achieved peak in mid-life near 15, then fall as there is less runway left. The remaining slice barely moves, holding around three years from the 40s onward. So the total shrinks with age, but almost all of that drop is in years already earned, not in what is left to gain.

Why do the under 40 Unagers have 5 years of remaining potential longevity, versus about 3 years for over 40 Unagers, with a little under 2 years for the over 90s?

The answer comes down to how habits change as you age. The under 40s, flush with the assumed immortality of youth, have poor diet and exercise less. Around 40 years old, as life settles down, perhaps with family and career, Unagers establish an exercise routine and start improving their diet, with less red and processed meats or sugary beverages, and more healthy foods. Diet continues to improve throughout life for the Unagers, but after 80, it becomes increasingly rare to continue exercise habits. After 90, with heavy frailty onset, significant decline in activity, with daily steps dropping from 8,000 to 2,000 steps, as the final boss of lifespan, motor unit loss, sets in in earnest.

Where do they get their protein from?

Is this real? Are Unagers really living without major protein intake? I looked through the records, and found yes, about 2% of calculator runs report having less-than-weekly consumption of fish, legumes, eggs, and red or processed meats. The calculator no longer asks about dairy or poultry, because they have less impact than the other items, but it did before. About 11% of those runs without other protein intake do eat poultry and dairy regularly, but I’m still worried about the remaining 270!

The Search for Ms. Unager

Remember Ms. Archetype Unager above? The 72-year-old woman with low protein intake, but good exercise habits? I searched through the calculator entries, and the closest match was a 72-year-old woman who matched every question exactly, except strength training — she does a solid 30 minutes weekly, one step above the typical Unager’s less than 30 minutes. She lives in New Castle, USA, and I assume is living a beautiful, healthy life. Although she should eat more fish or legumes!

Unaging.com

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