'Living younger longer': Dr Norman Swan returns to Tasmania as part of Tamar Valley Writers Festival

"Wellness is a myth promoted by people who want to make money out of it," the physician, journalist and broadcaster said.

For Dr Swan, living longer and feeling better has been overcomplicated by savvy marketing and a lack of clear information, but the science is in on how to achieve it.

The well-known science and health communicator came to Inveresk's Tramsheds on Tuesday to tackle the topic of youth and longevity as part of the Tamar Valley Writers Festival.

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Dr Swan sat down with Launceston's Dr Polly McGee to discuss his new book So You Want To Live Younger Longer?, a deep dive into the ways we can extend our youth.

"For thousands of years people have searched for the elixir to stay young," Dr Swan said.

"People are working so hard to do that, and although a lot of us are doing what we think we should, some of it won't work because there's a huge industry now to get through".

Despite the many fads, diets, rules and social media crazes that have directed our recent attempts to live the healthiest life possible, Dr Swan said people were already living much longer lives than ever before.

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But although an 80 year-old today may have the same chance of dying as a 60-year-old half a century ago, he said, there were some myths that needed to be busted.

And with life expectancy increasing with every generation, it was no longer about simply living longer, but living better as we age.

Part-memoir, part-science manual, Dr Swan said the book was written with the intention of giving people a choice.

"I don't tell anybody what to do. What I've done is I lay it out and give the evidence," he said.

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"I want to give people the option to make choices, and hopefully with the information we've got we can make sensible choices".

The secret, he said, was in the ways we eat, exercise, and most surprisingly, socialise.

Among the jargon of health and science, Dr Swan said there was a simplicity in good living.

"It's within our power to change the way our bodies work, and it's not that hard," Dr Swan said.

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