Hi Richard, very interesting post; I wish you luck and I look forward to your updates. I came to terms with my own inevitable death about 5 years ago, and I also decided that I want to live longer. But I took a different route, I changed my perception of time and I have caused time to slow down. There is a lot of research on the topic, but basically, it involves practicing mindfulness, stop multi-tasking, delete your social media, etc. There may be a 20% chance that these supplements increase your lifespan, but I'm willing to bet that there's a similar chance that there are unintended side effects (what about cancer at 75?). What if you spent a month off Twitter, left your phone at home, and genuinely engaged/be present with your family instead? You may find that the month feels more like 3 months (in a good way)
It could be real. But I tried to listen to David's podcast, and he explained his routine saying he never eats anything before noon except a cup of coffee and a shot of olive oil. Then 5 minutes later an ad came on and he insisted with all the same sincerity that he drinks these meal replacement shakes every single morning. So my money is on total charlatan.
So all this stuff is great, provided you already have sleep, diet, and exercise in check. Until you get that nailed down, the anti aging stuff isn't going help you as much.
Spend that money on a power rack and some plates. Put on 20lbs of muscle. Do sprints and push a sled. This has a 100% chance of working. Then you can get back to this stuff.
re: vitamin D - most people (on the internet?) who recommend D say to take far more than the "daily amount" officially listed. There's a whole debate about the recommended levels being from 60 years ago or something, but certainly I'd go with 3-4000 IU at least. Overdose levels are vastly higher than that.
After reading the same book, I take 2 of the Elysium supplements a day ("Signal" and "Basis") for about a year now (41yo). I haven't noticed anything, and my labs aren't radically different. If they have affected my numbers, the effect has been swamped by my high fat diet, intermittent and 4day water fasts and weightlifting, which (combined, so not entirely sure which is to blame) has had a big positive effect on my metabolic lab scores (from Quest, yearly).
As you might imagine, there is a huge amount of snake oil in the industry, but metformin at the very least is pretty well-studied and has positive metabolic effects that likely make you healthier. Notice I make no claims about longevity, but I can perform the old two step of "it improves health indicators that are themselves associated with longevity."
I turned 86 last week. Here's my anti-aging practice
Walk 4.5 miles every day
75 minutes stretch-weights
Eat lots of meat & fish, minimize carbs
Take no medications or supplements
Keep working; I may retire some day when I'm tired, but not yet.
Spend time with family and friends.
If I read a book by an author who claims his 76 year old father "runs around like a teenager", close the book and write a note to myself to pick it up again on my 150th birthday.
Although I find this quite interesting, it all sounds like pure fantasy to me. While it is true that human lifespan has been gradually increasing over time, the idea of immortality seems to be the latest fad. The fact of the matter is that we are mortal beings, and whether we like to think about it or not, we cannot escape our own mortality. As portrayed in the The Fault in Our Stars, we need to come to terms with the reality that they will eventually pass away. It is important that we recognize this truth head-on and face the music.
I'm going to second all the posts that stress diet and health and cast a lot of skepticism on miracle supplements. I take creatine and a greens powder, but mainly I think lifting hard 4-5 times a week, dialing in diet, and finding a form of conditioning that allows you to compete with other men (I play basketball and softball) are all good choices. As I enter my late 30s I've found diet and sleep are huge - I used to hate the idea being one of those dorks who goes to bed early, drinks less alcohol and tracks macros every meal, but now that I do it I really feel a lot better and more energetic. Again, I firmly believe that if you haven't fully dialed in training, diet and sleep, those 3 will do more for your health and wellness than any supplement or bio-hack, with the exception of steroids, which come with their own set of risks and downsides. When I get into my 40s or 50s I'll consider TRT, but for now that's in the "cross that bridge when I get to it" territory. You've written posts in the past about how boring middle class advice like "no substitute for discipline and hard work" has a lot of wisdom, and I think that's extremely true in regards to fitness and health.
I mean, for Jeff Bezos it’s incredibly obvious he’s on more than just TRT. The amount of men who can get that jacked 100% naturally even in their 20s is tiny. Which is fine, really! I’m sure he has a whole team around him and is following a safe protocol with guidance from professionals. I’m sure he also feels great. I just hate how even when it’s incredibly obvious and everyone knows it, there’s still this weird taboo around talking about steroids. It gives people unrealistic expectations for the level of progress they can expect, and without the knowledge from someone like Jeff Bezos who’s likely being safe with it, other guys go all in and end up suffering from long term side effects from their steroid misuse.
Practically guaranteed Mr. Bezos is doing TRT. That's not a terrible thing; many men do. But this is common and normal in the modern era.
Now, you do not automatically lose BF by getting the patch/pill/shots. It takes work to restore muscle mass, reduce BF and in general do a recomp at 45+. He has definitely put oi the effort.
But don't think for a minute that he's not getting hormone therapy.
I’d recommend taking a look at two books that take very different approaches to longevity. Peter Attila’s book Outlive, which tries to offer a broad strategy for approaching the topic, and Michael Greger’s How Not to Die, which tries to survey the vast nutritional literature and draw broad conclusions from it. Both are very good.
When someone recommends supplementing Vitamin D, it’s a sure sign they aren’t capable reading science. There’s plenty of correlation with any favorable health outcome you can think of, but when a large trial is done, it always fails (e.g. here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NzOR1hAg2OA) . The causality seems to go the other way, Vitamin D is marker of good health.
I hear the other book on aging by Andrew Steele (who seems to understand methodology) is supposed to be far more accurate and still somewhat optimistic about slowing down aging.
Sinclair is definitely a borderline charlatan. Human immortality isn't achievable. It's like pretending thermodynamics doesn't exist. There are some tiny margins for supplements and pharmaceuticals to improve healthspan. Genetics, diet (basically total caloric intake) and exercise are more important on the aging front. Even then we're not headed toward a society with a sizable centenarian population lol
Hi Richard, very interesting post; I wish you luck and I look forward to your updates. I came to terms with my own inevitable death about 5 years ago, and I also decided that I want to live longer. But I took a different route, I changed my perception of time and I have caused time to slow down. There is a lot of research on the topic, but basically, it involves practicing mindfulness, stop multi-tasking, delete your social media, etc. There may be a 20% chance that these supplements increase your lifespan, but I'm willing to bet that there's a similar chance that there are unintended side effects (what about cancer at 75?). What if you spent a month off Twitter, left your phone at home, and genuinely engaged/be present with your family instead? You may find that the month feels more like 3 months (in a good way)
It could be real. But I tried to listen to David's podcast, and he explained his routine saying he never eats anything before noon except a cup of coffee and a shot of olive oil. Then 5 minutes later an ad came on and he insisted with all the same sincerity that he drinks these meal replacement shakes every single morning. So my money is on total charlatan.
So all this stuff is great, provided you already have sleep, diet, and exercise in check. Until you get that nailed down, the anti aging stuff isn't going help you as much.
Spend that money on a power rack and some plates. Put on 20lbs of muscle. Do sprints and push a sled. This has a 100% chance of working. Then you can get back to this stuff.
Go read Peter Attila’s take on it too--less sensational and a lot harder. But he’s in the LA area (I think)
re: vitamin D - most people (on the internet?) who recommend D say to take far more than the "daily amount" officially listed. There's a whole debate about the recommended levels being from 60 years ago or something, but certainly I'd go with 3-4000 IU at least. Overdose levels are vastly higher than that.
After reading the same book, I take 2 of the Elysium supplements a day ("Signal" and "Basis") for about a year now (41yo). I haven't noticed anything, and my labs aren't radically different. If they have affected my numbers, the effect has been swamped by my high fat diet, intermittent and 4day water fasts and weightlifting, which (combined, so not entirely sure which is to blame) has had a big positive effect on my metabolic lab scores (from Quest, yearly).
As you might imagine, there is a huge amount of snake oil in the industry, but metformin at the very least is pretty well-studied and has positive metabolic effects that likely make you healthier. Notice I make no claims about longevity, but I can perform the old two step of "it improves health indicators that are themselves associated with longevity."
I turned 86 last week. Here's my anti-aging practice
Walk 4.5 miles every day
75 minutes stretch-weights
Eat lots of meat & fish, minimize carbs
Take no medications or supplements
Keep working; I may retire some day when I'm tired, but not yet.
Spend time with family and friends.
If I read a book by an author who claims his 76 year old father "runs around like a teenager", close the book and write a note to myself to pick it up again on my 150th birthday.
Although I find this quite interesting, it all sounds like pure fantasy to me. While it is true that human lifespan has been gradually increasing over time, the idea of immortality seems to be the latest fad. The fact of the matter is that we are mortal beings, and whether we like to think about it or not, we cannot escape our own mortality. As portrayed in the The Fault in Our Stars, we need to come to terms with the reality that they will eventually pass away. It is important that we recognize this truth head-on and face the music.
I've heard shitposting on Twitter works too! Might want to check it out.
I'm going to second all the posts that stress diet and health and cast a lot of skepticism on miracle supplements. I take creatine and a greens powder, but mainly I think lifting hard 4-5 times a week, dialing in diet, and finding a form of conditioning that allows you to compete with other men (I play basketball and softball) are all good choices. As I enter my late 30s I've found diet and sleep are huge - I used to hate the idea being one of those dorks who goes to bed early, drinks less alcohol and tracks macros every meal, but now that I do it I really feel a lot better and more energetic. Again, I firmly believe that if you haven't fully dialed in training, diet and sleep, those 3 will do more for your health and wellness than any supplement or bio-hack, with the exception of steroids, which come with their own set of risks and downsides. When I get into my 40s or 50s I'll consider TRT, but for now that's in the "cross that bridge when I get to it" territory. You've written posts in the past about how boring middle class advice like "no substitute for discipline and hard work" has a lot of wisdom, and I think that's extremely true in regards to fitness and health.
I mean, for Jeff Bezos it’s incredibly obvious he’s on more than just TRT. The amount of men who can get that jacked 100% naturally even in their 20s is tiny. Which is fine, really! I’m sure he has a whole team around him and is following a safe protocol with guidance from professionals. I’m sure he also feels great. I just hate how even when it’s incredibly obvious and everyone knows it, there’s still this weird taboo around talking about steroids. It gives people unrealistic expectations for the level of progress they can expect, and without the knowledge from someone like Jeff Bezos who’s likely being safe with it, other guys go all in and end up suffering from long term side effects from their steroid misuse.
Somewhat more sober take https://www.emilkirkegaard.com/p/book-review-david-sinclair-lifespan
Practically guaranteed Mr. Bezos is doing TRT. That's not a terrible thing; many men do. But this is common and normal in the modern era.
Now, you do not automatically lose BF by getting the patch/pill/shots. It takes work to restore muscle mass, reduce BF and in general do a recomp at 45+. He has definitely put oi the effort.
But don't think for a minute that he's not getting hormone therapy.
I’d recommend taking a look at two books that take very different approaches to longevity. Peter Attila’s book Outlive, which tries to offer a broad strategy for approaching the topic, and Michael Greger’s How Not to Die, which tries to survey the vast nutritional literature and draw broad conclusions from it. Both are very good.
Sinclair's main line of work looks to be mostly fake. Other scientists hold him in disdain: https://twitter.com/CharlesMBrenner/status/1492903671041904641?t=rwpZzxE60vibfjtm0OaLLQ&s=19
When someone recommends supplementing Vitamin D, it’s a sure sign they aren’t capable reading science. There’s plenty of correlation with any favorable health outcome you can think of, but when a large trial is done, it always fails (e.g. here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NzOR1hAg2OA) . The causality seems to go the other way, Vitamin D is marker of good health.
I hear the other book on aging by Andrew Steele (who seems to understand methodology) is supposed to be far more accurate and still somewhat optimistic about slowing down aging.
Sinclair is definitely a borderline charlatan. Human immortality isn't achievable. It's like pretending thermodynamics doesn't exist. There are some tiny margins for supplements and pharmaceuticals to improve healthspan. Genetics, diet (basically total caloric intake) and exercise are more important on the aging front. Even then we're not headed toward a society with a sizable centenarian population lol