Cease smoking using any available method, as it is the fastest way to accelerate your epigenetic clock, severely damaging your health and significantly increasing the risk of diseases like lung cancer.
Take responsibility for your health and longevity, not just for yourself, but for your children and family, to avoid being a burden and to be present in their lives for longer.
Implement fundamental practices such as not smoking, moderating alcohol, eating healthy and less often, getting good sleep, managing stress, and exercising regularly to add at least 15 healthy years to your life.
Engage in simple habits like skipping meals, eating more plants, certain types of exercise, and hot-cold therapies to create adversity that switches on the body’s longevity genes.
Reduce the frequency of eating by skipping meals and snacks to activate longevity genes (sirtuins, mTOR, AMPK) and promote the body’s protective and repair mechanisms.
Focus on when you eat, rather than what you eat, by consuming food within a restricted time window to significantly extend lifespan, as observed in animal studies.
Begin intermittent fasting by skipping just one meal (dinner or breakfast) and gradually increase the fasting duration as your body adapts, rather than attempting extreme protocols from the start.
Consider fasting for approximately 22 hours daily, consuming only water, tea, or coffee, and then having one reasonable meal at dinner, avoiding overeating to ensure better sleep and sustained energy.
Commit to a fasting routine for three to four weeks, using willpower and hot beverages to manage hunger, allowing your body to adapt and make the new eating pattern feel natural.
Structure your diet to be predominantly plant-based, resembling a ‘rabbit’s dinner,’ and if consuming meat, opt for small portions of fish, shellfish, or chicken, with very rare and limited red meat.
Opt for organic, locally grown, or home-grown plants that have been exposed to environmental stressors (e.g., thirst, sunlight, pests), as these ‘stressed out’ plants produce more defense molecules (polyphenols) and color, benefiting your health through xeno-hormesis.
Minimize excess sugar and unprocessed carbohydrates, found even in sauces and dressings, to prevent blood sugar spikes that shut down the body’s defenses; consider using a continuous glucose monitor to understand your body’s response to food.
Engage in high-intensity exercise that makes you lose your breath for at least 10 minutes a few times a week to achieve significant long-term health and longevity benefits.
Incorporate weightlifting and standing more throughout the day to build and maintain muscle mass, which is crucial for preventing age-related muscle loss, surviving falls, and supporting healthy hormone levels like testosterone.
Obtain sufficient protein primarily from plant-based sources to support muscle building without excessive intake of branched-chain amino acids (leucine, isoleucine, valine) that activate mTOR, which can suppress longevity pathways.
Ensure you get adequate, high-quality sleep, as insufficient sleep elevates cortisol levels and accelerates aging, directly impacting the body’s repair mechanisms and circadian rhythm.
Establish an evening wind-down routine by avoiding emails and stress past 10 PM, relaxing, and using blue light blocking glasses or turning down blue light on screens to improve sleep quality.
Consciously and actively implement strategies to reduce stress levels, recognizing that chronic stress can negatively impact health and accelerate aging.
Actively seek and focus on positive aspects of life, find a purpose, and cultivate excitement for each day, as this conscious effort can combat pessimism and improve mental well-being.
Proactively counter isolation by connecting with people (in person or online), considering pets, finding new relationships after loss, and pursuing new careers or passions to maintain social engagement and purpose, as loneliness accelerates aging.
Engage in sauna bathing multiple times a week, as studies suggest it significantly reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease and heart attacks, likely by inducing hormesis and heat shock proteins.
Incorporate cold exposure (e.g., cold baths) to shock your body, induce hormesis, activate brown fat, and boost sirtuin 3, contributing to metabolic health and longevity.
Regularly monitor your blood biomarkers and calculated biological age using services like InsideTracker to track your progress, stay motivated, and make informed lifestyle adjustments to reduce your biological age.
Consider using accessible biological age tests (like the one from drsinclair.com) that use mouth swabs and AI to provide personalized recommendations for slowing down or reversing aging.
Discuss with your doctor the possibility of taking metformin, a prescription drug that boosts AMPK, which is associated with lower risk of various diseases and longer lives, even for those without type 2 diabetes.
Consider taking a gram of NMN (Nicotinamide Mononucleotide) every morning, as it is a precursor to NAD, which boosts sirtuin longevity genes and has been shown to improve health and endurance in mice.
Mix resveratrol and other plant polyphenols (like quercetin, physitin) with a fat source like olive oil or yogurt to ensure proper absorption, as they are otherwise highly insoluble.
Incorporate olive oil into your diet, as its components, particularly oleic acid, are known to directly activate sirtuin enzymes, which are crucial for longevity.
Explore supplements like L-theanine or a small amount of melatonin to aid sleep, especially if you struggle with falling asleep or maintaining deep sleep.
Always consult and work closely with your doctor when starting any new supplements, even if they are over-the-counter, to ensure safety and suitability.
Consume alcohol in moderation, with red wine being a potentially better option due to resveratrol, but avoid overdoing it to protect your health and longevity.
Be mindful of overfeeding children with three meals a day plus snacks, as this can lead to calorie overload and obesity, which may have long-term epigenetic effects on their health.
Consciously reflect on your mortality daily to become more cognizant of life’s brevity, prompting you to live each day with purpose, love, and without regrets.
Live each day as if it could be your last, making the most of every moment and expressing love to family, while maintaining an optimistic outlook on a potentially long and healthy future.
Aim to increase sirtuin and AMPK activity while reducing mTOR activity through lifestyle choices to control the processes of aging and promote long-term health.
Engage in regular exercise and fasting to positively alter the epigenome, the chemicals and proteins that control gene expression, in a semi-permanent way, influencing how your body ages.