Essential Tools For Longevity

“Reliance on the reactive "break-and-fix" model of Medicine 2.0—where we wait for pathology to manifest before treating it—is a losing strategy for true longevity. We are in the midst of a revolution - a shift to Medicine 3.0. This revolution demands that we move the battlefield from doctor’s offices to our own homes. No longer should we be mere patients (passive recipients of healthcare). We must be active participants, masters of our own physiology. No longer wanting to merely live longer, dragging out decades defined by frailty and decline, we relentlessly pursue cognitive and physical vitality right up until the very end.”

This ideal has become my mantra. In my opinion, it should be the core value for all who seek to increase their healthspan - those whom I consider to be the true biohackers. But how do we do this?

If you still consider healthcare as something provided for you by doctors and nurses in a clinic or hospital, then you may be doomed to a life of chronic illness and frailty. True healthcare is how we treat ourselves in our own homes every day. For better or worse, you are the single most influential person in your own health, particularly your healthspan. And like any skillful healthcare provider, we need the proper tools to assist us in this endeavor.

The following list details what I consider to be essential tools you need if you are serious about living longer and better.

1.      Body Composition Scale

Scales that only record your weight are so Medicine 2.0. Your total weight tells you very little about your metabolic health. A 200-pound person could be an obese couch potato or a lean bodybuilder. For longevity purposes, we need to delve much deeper into that weight number. We need to know what our body fat is versus our muscle mass. Furthermore, we need to know how much of that total body fat is visceral fat (the worst kind of fat). We need to know our bone density and our hydration levels. We need to know if our exercise and dieting habits are providing the results we want in our overall body composition.

There are several body composition scales available that will provide this information. I personally use the Hume Health Pod. Yes, there are more accurate commercial devices such as DEXA scans. However, these are much more expensive and do not provide the convenience of daily tracking. In my opinion, trends are more important than individual data points. The ability to track muscle mass and visceral fat mass over time is one of the most powerful longevity tools available.

2.      Fitness Tracker

Technology is constantly evolving, and wearable trackers are an example. They can now do much more than just counting steps. They will track your sleep quality, your training zones, and heart rate variability to name a few. All of these metrics are essential for increasing healthspan. You may already own a smart watch. The newer generations will track all of these things. Trackers also come in the form of rings and straps. I have used the Oura ring, and the Hume Band, but there are several others and new products seem to be emerging all of the time. I don’t like sleeping with my watch on but can tolerate a ring or strap to track my sleep. Don’t underestimate the value of tracking your sleep. Restorative sleep is one of the pillars of health and longevity.

3.      Blood Pressure Monitor

I went ahead and included a blood pressure monitor in the essentials list, because in medicine 2.0, high blood pressure (aka hypertension) is known as the “silent killer”. The problem is our blood pressure often goes up naturally when we go to the doctor’s office. It is poor practice to make medical decisions based on one or two readings per year in the doctor’s office. Furthermore, many of you utilize telemedicine for healthcare and coaching. It is essential for all your providers (especially telehealth providers) to know what your real blood pressure trends are when providing healthspan advice. I have not found any wearable fitness tracker yet that can reliably measure blood pressure. I recommend purchasing a reliable automated upper arm blood pressure cuff such as the Omron Platinum.

4.      Weights

Maintaining if not increasing muscle mass is one of the most effective ways to increase healthspan. Lifting weights not only makes your muscles stronger, it also makes your bones stronger. I personally love functional movements with heavy kettlebells to increase both strength and flexibility. I also prefer working out in the comfort of home rather than going to a gym. You can engage in a very effective and safe weightlifting program with a couple of kettlebells or a few dumbbells. There are many apps and digital trainers that will assist with specific routines. And more information on weightlifting is detailed in other blog posts. The important message here is to incorporate some form of regular heavy lifting into your longevity routine whether at home or your local gym.

5.      Calorie Tracking

Calorie tracking the medicine 2.0 way oversimplifies the equation calories in minus calories out. However, there is no way to get away from some form of calorie tracking. Food can be our medicine, or it can be our poison. You can sleep well and train well, but if your diet is not right, then it could all be for naught. If you consistently overeat carbs and unhealthy fats, you will not meet your wellness goals. Even if you do stay under a given number of calories, but the food you eat is highly processed you will sabotage your hard work and eventually your healthspan.

Eating whole nutrient-dense foods and staying within your calorie budget is key. There are many tools available to assist with tracking macros and calories. I prefer to keep this part as simple as possible. I focus on trying to meet my daily protein requirement by eating a protein with every meal and taking one low-calorie protein supplement a day. I try to get four servings of fresh vegetables per day, and two servings of healthy carbs or fats. All with trying to keep my calories under 1800 per day. Of course, I want to enjoy my food as well. My wife and I are partial empty nesters. We are often only cooking for the two of us. For these meals, I like healthy pre-made meals from services such as Factor or Tovala. They are extremely convenient and I know ahead of time how many calories and macros are in each meal.

Calorie tracking should be customized to what works for the individual. It is one of the most complex and controversial topics in longevity medicine, because there is no one-size-fits-all plan. The most important starting place is to clean up your diet. Eliminate processed foods. Choose fresh single-ingredient whole foods and try to stay under a total calorie threshold that helps you meet your wellness goals. For further assistance with your diet, feel free to contact me.

6.      Vagus Nerve Stimulator

If you “Google” vagus nerve stimulator, you will find all kinds of devices; from medical devices that control seizures to devices you wear around your neck for mood enhancement. I chose “vagus nerve stimulator” for the title of this tool not because I want you to purchase another expensive device, (although some of them are very useful) but because I want you to be aware of the vagus nerve in general. The vagus nerve is thought to be the main switch for the parasympathetic nervous system. The parasympathetic nervous system is the “rest and repair” component of your autonomic nervous system (the opposite of the “fight or flight” sympathetic system). Stimulating the vagus nerves help increase parasympathetic tone meaning your body generally relaxes and enters a rest and digest mode. This mode is essential for health and longevity. In contrast, overactive sympathetic tone is associated with chronic stress and inflammation leading to many disease states.

You don’t need a device to stimulate the vagus nerves. You can stimulate it naturally via deep breathing exercises, meditation, cold exposure therapy, and even through socializing. All these activities help manage stress and mitigate the effects of stress on our bodies. Similar to a poor diet, constant stress sabotages other wellness activities. It is like a gardener trying to plant seeds in rocky soil. If you want your training, diet, and sleep to bear fruit, you must manage stress via parasympathetic exercises.

There are many other tools; supplements, sauna, red light, peptides, soundwave, stem cells etc. Many of these are useful, and I will discuss them in future blog posts. However, the above tools are the foundation for any longevity program. The biohacker who utilizes them vigorously will slow aging and increase healthspan even without more expensive exotic tools.