As an author of books about the future of healthcare, ironman triathlete, and health “guru,” I am often asked for my thoughts about how people can live healthier lives. As my holiday gift to you, dear readers, I offer the following:
1) Try to exercise about an hour a day. Multiple studies have shown that exercising about this much can add nearly five extra years of healthy living to your life. You don’t necessarily need to go to the gym, although doing some resistance training is great for maintaining strength and bone density. Just going for a long walk every day while talking on the phone and listening to podcasts can go a very long way.
2) Don’t take untested supplements because you heard somebody talk about them on a podcast. Although lots of people are taking NAD+ boosters, rapamycin, metformin, and other drugs, I am not. No comprehensive trials have yet proven that these interventions are beneficial for otherwise healthy people. Instead of taking drugs, let food be your medicine. Make fruits, vegetables, healthy grains, and lower fat proteins a foundation of your diet. Eat the rainbow to maintain a healthy gut.
3) I don’t drink alcohol so I may be missing something here, but recent studies have shown pretty conclusively that even moderate amounts of alcohol are not good for you. Have the occasional drink if you feel so inspired, but try to not make drinking a daily habit. (Ony a Scrooge would write this in a holiday card!)
4) Don’t buy all the hype regarding GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic. Although the early studies of these drugs have been nothing short of miraculous, that does not mean that taking these powerful medications will ultimately prove risk-free. Lots of interventions once similarly seen as risk-free bonanzas have later proven to have downsides. If you have a serious problem that you’ve not been able to address by more traditional means like diet and exercise, GLP-1s may be right for you, but don’t take these a first step shortcut for losing weight. Try diet, exercise, and healthy habits before you take GLP-1 or any medication, for that matter. I can almost guarantee you that all the breathless stories about the benefits of GLP-1s will soon be matched by more studies and stories suggesting potential downsides.
5) Get ahead of the curve on your healthcare. Much of what we call healthcare is actually symptoms-based sick care. The future of healthcare (as I write about in my new book) will be predictive and preventive, so why not be predictive and preventive now? A first step will be to make sure you go for your annual checkup, but there’s tons more you can do. In the last few years, I have 1) gone to India for a full series of preventive health checks (this can be done in the USA but it’s about a hundred times cheaper in India and the quality is great); 2) had my whole genome sequenced; 3) sent in a blood sample for a liquid biopsy checking for biomarkers of 50 different types of cancer; and 4) “deposited” a stool sample to screen for colon cancer DNA. The basic idea here is that identifying an emergent problem is much better than waiting for that potential problem to later emerge as a symptom or a full-fledged disease.
6) Although there’s been some debate this past year about the statistical analysis underlying the Blue Zone hypothesis, following the Blue Zone formula can only do you good. The core elements include: a predominantly plant-based diet, regular physical activity often integrated into daily life, strong social connections, a sense of purpose (raison d’etre/ikigai), effective stress management techniques, prioritizing family, and a strong community engagement.
7) We should all invest in longevity, but the best investments we can make are 1) living as healthily as possible so we each can live our best lives; and 2) doing everything possible to help increase average health spans in our communities, nationally, and globally. Where I live in New York City has a much greater average life expectancy than people just a few express subway stops uptown. We in the developed world have average life expectancies up to two decades longer than people in the poorest parts of the developing world. Our goal should be helping everyone reach our same high standard. We won’t get there by parabiotic blood transfusions, but we can get there by doing everything possible to promote good governance, public health, peace, sustainable agriculture, quality healthcare, and other goods to the most disadvantaged people in our communities and world. In this holiday season and always, we should remember that our fates reside in each other in our interconnected and interdependent world.
8) Let yourself be happy. As a secret chocolate shaman, I drink a glass of molten hot chocolate every morning which gives me inordinate pleasure. The goal of life is not health. The goal of life and health is meaning. That’s the game. Live, love, do, be, share, enjoy.