Brain doctor names the three surprise sports that give people much longer lives if they play regularly

Playing sports as part of a healthy and active lifestyle with good nutrition will often lead to people living longer lives - and a brain doctor has now named the three surprising sports which increase longevity.

Dr Daniel Amen - a psychiatrist and brain disorder specialist - has highlighted the merits of playing sports which involve using a racquet as the trio which can lead to people living longer lives.

Many of us have played these sports recreationally both in childhood and our adult lives, while all three have professional options available for people to make a career out of it.

It might have been assumed that certain non-contact sports which involve a lot of cardiovascular activity - such as track athletics, long distance running, and road cycling - would be the sports which can increase lifespan.

But Dr Amen has explained why playing racquet sports for just 30 minutes twice a week can be so beneficial to longevity because of the stimulating impact it has on the brain, as well as the rest of the body.

Tennis is one of the most popular global sports professionally, while table tennis also has a big following and features in the Olympics.

And pickleball has grown in popularity in recent years, particularly in the United States where it was estimated to have 13.6m players in 2023 and has been the fastest growing sport in the country for three years in a row at the start of this decade.

Dr Daniel Amen. (Image: Getty)

Speaking on an unnamed podcast, Dr Amen said: "People who play racquet sports live longer than everybody else.

"This is a replicated study on like 90,000 people, because what co-ordination does it is activates your cerebellum, little brain, which is 10% of the brain's volume in the back and has half the brain's neurons.

"If you activate that, it turns on the rest of your brain. So I'm a huge fan of table tennis and pickleball and tennis.

"Just go and learn to be good and you don't have to beat people.

"If you spent half an hour twice a week, it'll have a major impact on your ability to think.

"Because you got to get your eyes, hands and feet all working together while you think about the spin on the ball. I think of it as aerobic chess."