Martha Stewart’s 5 secrets to good health and longevity at 83
Martha Stewart is getting lots of new attention with “Martha,” the new Netflix documentary about her life, though the lifestyle doyenne doesn’t ever seem to be out of the spotlight.
Now 83, she became the oldest cover model for the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue in 2023. Fans are fascinated by the sultry selfies she posts online and her seemingly ageless looks, including her signature blond bob hairstyle.
The savvy businesswoman and first self-made female billionaire in the U.S. has been a fixture on TV and book covers for decades, dispensing culinary, entertaining and decorating advice.
Stewart also seems to be the picture of healthy longevity.
“I haven’t had health problems. I don’t take any medicine. I have very good blood pressure,” she told AARP last year.
“Aging isn’t something I think about. How old I am, slowing down, retiring — I just don’t dwell on that.”
Her health idol is her late mother, Martha Kostyra, who lived to be 93, she added. “She was never sick. She was fantastic, she was swimming every day. She was an amazing woman. Very, very good role model,” Stewart said last year.
What are Stewart’s longevity secrets? Here are some of the healthy habits she’s talked about over the years:
Daily green juice
Stewart says she eats a very healthy diet, including drinking green juice every day, which she praises for giving her glowing skin and increased energy.
“Green juice drenches your body in a variety of plant nutrients,” she previously told TODAY.com.
Her favorite green juice recipe calls for a pear or apple, celery, cucumber, parsley, spinach, ginger and lemon.
Fruits and vegetables provide antioxidants, vitamins, minerals and phytochemicals — beneficial compounds plants produce for their own protection.
Apples and spinach are among heart-healthy fruits and vegetables cardiologists list as their favorites.
Pilates
Stewart does Pilates three times a week at 6:15 a.m., she told AARP.
This famous core workout tones and shapes the body with small, precise movements involving the arms and legs, certified Pilates instructor Stephanie Mansour explains.
The low-impact exercises can be done on a mat or on a reformer machine, which helps lengthen muscles and builds strength, she adds.
When TODAY’s Craig Melvin tried a reformer Pilates class, he called it “perhaps the most intense exercise” he’d ever done, noting he used muscles he didn’t know he had.
Stewart’s other favorite exercise is horseback riding, which also works the core, can be a good cardiovascular workout and helps people relax, the American Heart Association notes.
Positive body image
Stewart has had “absolutely no plastic surgery whatsoever” and hates Botox, but does get occasional facial fillers for lines, she said in an interview with Variety in 2023. She wears sunblock every day to protect her skin from the sun.
“I have nice legs, I have a good body, I have good skin,” Stewart told TODAY.com when her Sports Illustrated cover was revealed.
“I might be a little fat here and there, but who cares? It looks good altogether, the package is good.”
It’s important to accept and appreciate your body since body dissatisfaction can damage self-esteem, psychologists say.
Early wake-up time
Stewart likes to wake up early, often at 4 a.m., she told AARP. She catches up on the news, then does her exercise routine.
Many experts say exercising in the morning is the best time of day to work out. People get it over with right away, so there’s less chance of something derailing the session, and they feel good about accomplishing it first thing.
Morning people are also happier than those who wake up later in the day and they have other health advantages, including a lower risk of depression and dying prematurely, studies have found.
Few regrets
Fixating on regret can be a huge source of stress, psychologists say, but Stewart appears to focus on resilience and positivity.
She lists her “sad divorce and my well-documented legal issues” as the two real setbacks in her life — “that’s pretty good, having only two,” she told AARP.
Other than that, she has a couple of regrets — like not collecting more art and not paying more attention to a potential love interest — but “nothing major,” Stewart said.
