What is the key to a long life?

There is a whole industry dedicated to anti-ageing lotions and potions. They’re a waste of money. Best thing for longevity is simply to eat less (as well as to avoid lethal infectious diseases and being in the path of a speeding doubledecker bus).

This esoteric-seeming paper explains the mechanism at the cellular level and it basically boils down to not overworking your body’s protein factories and allowing them time to carry out molecular maintenance

Mechanisms of In Vivo Ribosome Maintenance Change in Response to Nutrient Signals

Dietary signals impact the rates of both new ribosome assembly and component exchange. Signal-specific modulation of ribosomal repair and degradation could provide a mechanistic link in the frequently observed associations among diminished rates of protein synthesis, increased autophagy, and greater longevity