The wellness industry has spent decades and billions of dollars trying to crack the code to longevity. Cold dives. Continuous glucose monitors. Dietary supplements, nutritional supplements, nutritional supplements. And after all that, the internet has come up with its latest answer: just live like an Italian grandma.
“Nonnamaxxing” is the idea that adopting the daily habits of an Italian nonna could add years to your life and make those years feel like something. Go more. Eat real food. Stay connected to your community. Drink your coffee without also answering emails. According to SELFit’s been circulating on social media, and for once the wellness trend du jour has actual science behind it.
Italy consistently ranks among the longest living countries in the world; its oldest citizens continue to age, and Sardinia has earned a place on the short list of places on earth where people routinely live past 100, known as Blue Zones. Something works there, and it predates every wellness app by about three generations.
Licia Fertz, a 96-year-old nonna based in Viterbo, Italy, said SELF her philosophy is simple. “Never think of yourself as old,” she said. “You were born young.” She also gets dressed every morning, puts on makeup, and wears cheerful colors whether or not she leaves the house because “presenting yourself well is an act of self-love.” No app required.
There is real research behind that line of thinking. A recent study found a measurable correlation between how women perceive aging and the actual rate at which they age. Sonja Lyubomirsky, a professor of psychology at UC Riverside, said the framework is important. “Is it a gift? Is it about wisdom, maturity and the richness of life, or is it about deterioration and loss?” she said. “Both can be true. But you can choose.”
‘Nonnamaxxing’ is the Comfort-Core Trend Gen Z can’t stop
The physical things are less mysterious. Italian nuns walk constantly, not because they’ve optimized their step count, but because that’s how Italian cities work. Daniel Lieberman, professor of human evolutionary biology at Harvard, said walking remains “the most basic form of human physical activity,” with hundreds of studies confirming it helps people age better. A 2025 study in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine found that even 15 minutes of brisk walking daily can reduce the risk of premature death. That’s it. Fifteen minutes.
Community is as important as movement. Italian grandmothers remain embedded in their families and neighborhoods well into old age, provide childcare, remain socially active and quietly refuse to disappear. Research in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine found that people who volunteered more than 100 hours a year had lower mortality risk, more optimism and a stronger sense of purpose. Fertz put it more simply. Boredom, she said SELFis “the one thing that really makes you old.”
Psychotherapist Jonathan Alpert explained that nonnamaxxing resonates because people are really exhausted by hustle culture. “Many younger people are burned out from the pressure to constantly optimize themselves, be productive and turn their lives into content,” he said. The appeal, he added, is “the fantasy of a life that feels grounded, warm and relaxed.”
Which is, when you strip away the trendy packaging, just a description of a good life. Italian grandmothers have lived in it for centuries. The rest of us are just now looking up from our phones to notice.
