The big longevity roundup
In case you didn't get the memo: no, the dire wolf has not been brought back from extinction, not even close, not even the right genus, showing once again that marketing, PR, and cute images triumph over science almost every time.
I've been working on growing my longevity-coaching business. I've learned that most people aren't interested in prevention. They prefer to take their chances now and deal with consequences later, which is why so many communities are caught off-guard when a predictable fire destroys all the homes.
The same is true of longevity. I really can help most people live 10 years longer, simply by not doing stupid things that lead to an early death, like drinking alcohol, becoming insulin resistant, and being lazy. There's another 10 years after that from doing smart things, like building bone and muscle and exercising hard to keep your heart strong. The clients I have are educated people who understand that the length of their lives is directly related to their behavior today.
Here's an evidence-based update on what we know and what you can do now to stay healthier longer (You can find the supplements I recommend below on my stack page, and go to the store page to get the books and other goodies you need). Forget all the small stuff. This is the big stuff that matters.
NOTE: An updated version of this is now the home page of this website, better to read that than stay here.
Calcium
Calcium is a critical mineral for bone building. The brand I like is called AlgaeCal Plus. It's similar to getting your calcium from food. It includes magnesium, vitamin D and vitamin K. I think everyone over 40 should be taking it. Possibly everyone under 40 as well. And no, taking calcium has nothing to do with calcium build-up in your arteries, it is not bad for your cardiovascular system, so start taking AlgaeCal Plus today (I’m not affiliated with the company).
Vitamin D
Evidence is now stacking up that too much vitamin D is a bad thing, and most people who get outside don't need to take a supplement. People over 50 should NOT be taking extra vitamin D above the 800 units they get in AlgaeCal Plus. People over 70 who live in temperate zones may need a bit more if they aren't outside often. Stop taking your 2,000-unit vitamin D pills!
Collagen
If you have any joint pain at all, you should be taking collagen daily. See my stack page for details.
Get enough protein
The older we get, the more protein we need. You should be trying to get 1 gram of protein for every pound of lean-mass bodyweight daily. It's not easy. I don't have time to go into all of it, but you'll find a lot on my website, especially the videos.
Kidney stones
If you've ever seen a scanning electron microphotograph of a kidney stone, you understand why you don't want one. First, drink plenty of water. Second, know your foods that have oxalic acid (spinach, almonds, almond milk, beets, beet greens, rhubarb, Swiss chard, sweet potatoes, chocolate, cocoa powder, black tea, navy beans, soybeans, raspberries) and eat them WITH calcium, so the calcium binds to the oxalate in the gut and gets taken out that way. What causes stones is when oxalates go to your kidneys and then bind with calcium there.
Creatine
Creatine is a compound made from three amino acids that people think of as a bodybuilder supplement, but more and more research shows that creative a) is very safe, and b) has many other benefits, including brain health and even MS. It helps improve recovery time after exercise. The new recommended dose is ten grams per day.
This video is a good overview, and the brand I recommend is on the stack page.
Know your A1c number
If you're even a little overweight, you should read Why We Get Sick, by Ben Bikman. You should know your A1c number, which is a quick measure of insulin resistance. A1c measures how many glucose molecules are stuck to hemoglobin, which gives a running three-month average of your insulin resistance. If that number is 5.7 or higher, you should work on your diet to lower it. Cut sugar, cut alcohol, cut carbs. 5.5 and below you are insulin sensitive, which is the safe zone - stay in it. Insulin resistance is more likely to kill you than heart disease is.
Here's how I think of it now: Cut sugar and alcohol out of your diet. If your A1c is 5.6 or less, you have room to eat pizza, pasta, Mediterranean diet, etc. But if the number goes up over 5.6, you need to reduce carb intake. Two very similar looking people, or husband and wife, will have completely different metabolic reactions to the same diet, so one diet does not work for everyone. But just because you're an athlete doesn't mean you should be on a high-carb diet - your A1c number will tell you that. Measure your A1c every 6 months if you aren't 5.5 or below. If you're in the safe zone, sweets should be seen as a once-or-twice-a-month treat.
Fat
When you gain weight, you create new fat cells. When you lose weight, you do NOT lose fat cells. Any fat cells you make will be with you forever, and if you lose fat those cells will want the fat back. Fat cells are like balloons that prefer to stay filled up. Help your kids by not letting them get fat in the first place. If you are ten pounds overweight, that should be a red flag that things are going in the wrong direction.
Losing fat isn't that hard, just reduce your calories. Keeping fat off is hard, and most people don't do it. If you built up 30 extra pounds over 30 years, it's not going to magically melt away in 6 months and never come back. Losing weight is about 30 percent of the job; keeping it off is 70 percent. Diet and exercise are tools - use them intelligently.
Fasting
Fasting is a bad way to lose weight, because you lose muscle as well, and muscle is hard to build back, while the fat comes back readily. Don't fast more than 24 hours.
Fructose
No fructose. Fructose bad for humans.
Hormone replacement therapy
HRT is so beneficial to so many women, you'd need a good reason not to go on it. Here's a video conversation with my client Kathleen on this topic. For men, it's more complicated.
Building bone
If you're not building bone, you're losing it. You can't build bone by walking and doing yoga. Runners and cyclists, even mountain bikers, don't have strong hips and spines. You build bone through resistance training and impact training. Resistance is pushing or carrying heavy weight, and impact is jumping and landing fairly hard. I'll make a better one, but for now you can watch my very blurry video that goes into some of this.
Alcohol
The healthiest amount of alcohol is zero. If you really enjoy alcohol, drop all your junk drinking. That should be 50-70 percent of drinking you can simply give up and the quality of your life hardly changes. It’s easy to do and — assuming you don’t get hit by a bus later — will help you live longer. If you are planning to get hit by a bus, by all means enjoy your wine now!
What's up with LDL cholesterol?
The evidence connecting LDL cholesterol and heart attacks and stroke is very mixed. I hope to have a thorough update on this topic at some point. But what to do about it is quite straightforward. We know that soft plaque is far more dangerous than hard plaque. You can undo it by reducing insulin resistance and hard exercise.
What? Me do hard exercise?
Yes. I can't emphasize the value of zone-3 and zone-4 exercise enough, even if you're in your 80s. This means going as hard as you can for 2-4 minutes in the pool, on the track, rowing machine, or even jumping up and down in your living room (YouTube videos are great for this). Hard. Like you can't do any more, and the last 30 seconds are very very challenging, and it takes several minutes to recover.
Use a stopwatch. If you ride a bike, pick a hill and always start at the same place and measure your time to the top, then keep trying to beat that time. In the pool or on a machine, it's easy. Always keep trying to beat your previous best time. I also like 2-4km of rowing - how fast can I row 4km at the hardest setting?
Try ten flights of stairs (17 steps per flight is normal in a modern building) in under 90 seconds — without touching the handrails at all. Never touch handrails when doing stairs. Stairs are great, because you know exactly how far you're going, you can do them in any weather, all you need is a building with 10 floors. I'm 65. My record for ten flights is 69:45 seconds, but that's because I carry 50 pounds on my back up 13 flights three times a week. Can you beat me? If you're older or not as strong, adjust but still push.
Just for the sake of interest, my 16-year-old son can run up the same 10 flights in under 49 seconds, and he never exercises!
Zone 4 is maximum output, like sprinting 100 meters as fast as you can. I'm sprinting 100m in 21 seconds; my goal is under 20. What's yours?
Whatever you do, establish your best time and keep trying to beat it. Do this for the rest of your life. A breath trainer will help.
Don’t forget lifting heavy in the gym and rucking. If you’re not rucking, you should consider adding it to your routine. People who do a lot of walking, Pilates, and yoga don’t live longer than the rest of us. It’s the weightlifters and serious pushers who outlast everyone else. The average 70-year-old farmer will probably outlive the average 70-year-old citydweller by ten years or so.
Should you take statins?
I think most people will benefit from taking statins. Few people have side effects (if you do, stop taking them or switch the kind of statin). And the lowest dose is generally best. If you're on 20 mg, ask your doctor about going to 10. If you're on 40, ask about going to 20. If you don't like the idea, try red rice yeast, it's pretty much the same.
What about GLP-1 agonists?
Everyone is getting injections, and many doctors are now on Ozempic/Wegovy to lose weight and keep it off. This is not going to turn out well. Stay away from fads and medicines and exercise harder.
Sleep is the elephant in the room
Do whatever it takes to get 7+ hours of sleep a night. Black out your windows. Drop the temperature. Create a routine that works. Measure your cycles using an app or a ring. Find patterns that give you good sleep. One suggestion: make your room as cold as you can possibly get it, like you're winter camping. When you're cold, you snuggle in and don't move around. When it's hot, you move and wake up more often. Drugs as a last resort, but you could look into patches.
This is the dashboard I use for my clients:
Have I left anything out?
Yes, I've left a lot out. I could write much more about getting the big stuff right and forgetting about all the cute little supplements and vitamins and herbs and drips and procedures and fake experts and YouTube influencers. You'll find that on my website. This is just an overview.
Summary
Do all these things. If you can't do them on your own, get a coach. All the pros have coaches for a good reason – they give you better results than you can get on your own.
Do you know any clients for me?
Word of mouth is the best marketing. Please forward this to any of your friends over 50 who could use the advice. And, maybe, a longevity coach. Feel free to drop this into your newsletter. There's much more on my website:
www.infinitegameoflife.com
I hope you are stronger a year from now than you are today,
David Siegel