“Biohacking” and “longevity” are everywhere. Experts (and, in some cases, I would use this word very loosely) charge €€€€€ for access to their retreats or lectures to learn the secrets to longevity. The bottom line is that you can buy a week away. You can buy the expensive (and useless) IV infusions and hyperbaric oxygen treatments. You can buy completely unnecessary blood tests. ( And you’ll probably feel better after a week. One – it’s a week away. Two – there is a serious placebo effect of how good you will feel after dropping €15,000.)
But will it really buy you a longer and better life?
The “secrets of longevity” won’t be revealed in an infrared sauna. You don’t need expensive consultations with self-appointed gurus or biohackers or functional medicine experts (many of whom aren’t even medically trained).
The stuff that really works is the stuff we do every day, not for a week- and most of the stuff that actually works is not stff not sold in bottles or spas.
Our aging is every day: We need to eat well. We need to sleep well. We need to reduce our smoking/vaping/alcohol/illicit drugs. We need to manage and reduce our stress. We need to have good relationship and connections in our lives. We need purpose and good mental health. Taking extra steps to look after yourself, even for one week, will make anyone feel better.
And in real life – it’s boring. Everyone groans when they are referred for preventative health or healthy aging. They sometimes expect me to prescribe more tredy treatments, like extended water fasts or ice baths or IV vitamins.
But as I told my patient today:
I’m not here just to add years to your life, but life to your years.
Would my dull recommendations be more exciting if I started doing my consultations in a resort, called it biohacking, and charged €1000? 
For some patients, it’s not too boring — they just think It’s too soon. The problem is that putting off looking after your health until later is often “too late”, it’s far easier to prevent problems than treat or reverse them! “The body keeps the score.”
We are all aging, every day.
How we age and what our later years will look like – even how many of them we will have – is influenced by now.
i usually joke ot my patients that the “warranty wears out” around age 40. This is a common for patients to start to notice around that age that they don’t bounce back from sports injuries – or that night out – as quickly as they used to. It’s the age to start check blood pressure and cholesterol, especially in men and those with family history of heart disease.
Your aging has already started. As depressing as that sounds. For some, genetics will play a determining factor in their aging, no matter what action they take. But for most, how we take care of ourselves now is taking care of our future selves.
It’s the small things that add up.
Wear the sunscreen and Skip the Sunbed.
Make movement a habit: Walk Swim, Dance, Yoga.
Look after your mental healht – especially the stress.
Get that cholesterol and blood sugar and blood pressure checked. (if you don’t have a GP, get a GP*)
Make time for your friends and stick with those social groups.
Add veggies to your lunch. Limit the pork and red meat.
Set a quit date for that vape or cigarette.
Skip that last drink on a night out.
Dial-a-docs, at home testing kits, executive health checks, and on-demand private tests recommended by Dr. ChatGPT cannot replace an actual primary care doctor when it comes to health outcomes. You need whole-person care.
0 Comments