I've been working on a simple longevity protocol for myself. Easy, evidence based steps to follow to live longer and healthier. Would love to hear feedback from Fitcasters who have done a lot of thinking/research/practice in the space https://varunsrin.notion.site/Living-Better-1ace9c57716342e897845579959e83b8?pvs=4
Pretty good list. Thx for sharing. The sections I don't really follow are from Metabolic downward.
could include sections on fasting, supplementation, and recovery: what’s known/unknown, what works/doesn’t work. also curious about rep x set schemes for the exercise section, eg 1.5x bw dl for 1x1 or 4x4 or? same for cardio: zone 2 running is very different from z2 rowing or cycling. would like more exercise srcs
Great write up. You might consider adding sections on Mental Health & Neurology, one on Gut Health, and one on Social Determinants of Health. Happy to share more details if interested.
Have you had a bad experience with One Medical? How did you find your current GP?
I'd try magnesium, 50mg apigenin, and maaaaaybe 50mg l-theanine (all 3 for desperate situations) before melatonin.
as a person who lived in Australia, put an SPF every time you’re out
Varun this is great thanks for sharing! Two things that I’ve consistently heard in my light research: 1. Community and sense of purpose. Likely the top thing cited by everyone 2. Not big on supplements, but curcumin and B12 kept coming up. Thoughts?
I'd add: 1) Apps like Flux to change the color of your screen with time and/or anti blue light glasses, 2) Supplements such as NMN, 3) Entire section on mental health since it determines the quality of your life.
I see the neuro section in progress - I'm assuming that's where you'll include meditation/yoga etc. Could explore Nonsleeprest(nsdr). I think every protocol should have a philosophy. I also feel we could append(longer & healthier) with fullfilling. My philosophy - Care for mind, body and soul.
On the lifting section I’d change a few things: -Add a basic rep scheme: Something like Stronglifts 5x5 or Wendler 5/3/1 -Add squats (or if you’ll only keep one replace deadlift with squat due to lower movement complexity) -Add a weight belt rec -Add a protein shake rec -Foam Roll rec
You’re missing one of the most critical ways of extending both life and quality of life: BHOT. Please take a look at the latest BHOT research and see Viva Scientific for their efforts to bring this to the masses.
Thanks @v I found this super approachable and useful. Absolutely love the two tier approach. The sources also help me have confidence and learn more 🟢
This is great. I’ve been in the space for years. I’d add: Coffee or green tea daily Little to no alcohol Sauna multiple times per week Blood or plasma donation 2x per year 24 fast once per month
Interesting! I also have same goals but not really have a plan to go for them. I just run daily and try to eat healthy and sleep a lot. How did you figure out the supplements? > Minimize carbs and sugar, consume at the end of meals to lower metabolic load. What's the source on eat at end of meals?
Great start. Missing a couple behavioral activities which are well documented including friends/family: https://www.health.harvard.edu/healthbeat/strengthen-relationships-for-longer-healthier-life#:~:text=Dozens%20of%20studies%20have%20shown,well%20as%20with%20increased%20mortality ...
I see you read Peter Attia, have you read his recent book Outlive? I thought it was good
This is great, inspired to now publish my notes on this hopefully sooner than later
Needs a section on social. Single best indicator of longevity is perceived status
this is great thanks for sharing, hand grip strength source seems to be broken fyi
Tempted to order the Color test you recommend just to see if it detects the gene mutation I am already confirmed to have, given the somewhat spotty track record of DTC genomics providers. Could be a fun experiment. This protocol looks good!
this is honestly incredible 🔥, really appreciate the level of nerd required to collect/organize this data (i also lean this way 😆 & just had my blood drawn by Inside Tracker this morning) might add (particularly for women & in endurance sports) iron/ferretin is a big consideration.
some feedback: 1. melatonin doesn't actually help (only prolongs sleep my ~8m) 2. you live in la so that's not an issue, but SAD lamp is cool for people in cloudier cities 3. effects of alcohol on sleep last way longer than 3 hours, generally avoid alcohol after noon (or avoid it altogether) 4. here's my book's chapter
more: - see correlation between gum health and overall health (keep your gums healthy) - check out my magicpill.link for studies on giving up animal foods - don't fear carbs (e.g., fiber), keto is a huge hoax - here's the chapter of my book on nutrition and supplements:
more: - if you go vegan, add b12, iron to blood work - check your thyroid - check testosterone/estrogen levels
Love this! I would add in yoga and meditation as well, meditate at least 10 minutes 2 times a day and incorporate some sort of yogic practices for mindfulness
would add that statins are probably 'Basic' for anyone with genetic history of heart disease and markers (esp Apo B and L(p)a) that put them at risk
Notable absences: time-restricted eating in nutrition (see Satchin Panda’s work) and fall prevention when it comes to movement/training (falling is a big deal as people age and linked to mortality). Both translate to easy prescriptions.
Btw what's everyone's preferred go-to source to keep tabs on new developments in healthy aging?
Love how simple this is. Agree gut & brain health are main ommissions. Best thing I did was get a gene assessment not just for high risk alleles, but for general body function - eg. my body is missing a marker which means my methylation is slightly sub optimal.
Regularly check your cortisol & oxylates (Organic acids test). If not dealing with the latter will mean a gut issue. Keep in mind it takes 12 - 17 years for latest findings to get to a doctors desk. There is no one size fits all. Exercise - flexibility is as important as strength later in life. Sugar is the enemy.
Oh & on sleep...that falls apart when have kids. But also, people can do all these things (I did) but if underlying body chemistry is a mess due to other things (mine was our of whack adrenals) then sleep will still be shit. Which is even more frustrating as think doing all the right things but feel awful.
This is awesome Varun! my grandmother had colon cancer so I think it's time I went for a colonoscopy.. thank you for inspiring that
this is great! on sleeping better, i've personally been taking Magnesium Glycinate for the past year or so. I take them every night for deeper sleep and to keep DOMS at bay. so far so good.
Another thought I had was to understand any deficiencies in soil etc where you buy your fruit/veg from. Maybe not so relevant in USA as it is here in NZ. eg. Our soil lacks Se (cows/sheep supplemented as a standard but we forget about people). My daughters thyroid markers returned to normal just by supplementing it.
oh and studies are finding that Creatine, besides improving athletic performance, may also improve cognitive function: https://academic.oup.com/nutritionreviews/article/81/4/416/6671817 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6093191/ https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/14/5/921
This is pretty great! My 2 cents: - As long as sleep, hydration, and diet are there you can start to squeeze the gains out of the all the others - if you have limited time to do exercises then order your lifts by amount of muscle fiber recruited: bicep curl > deadlift > clean and jerk
Can you expand the part about advanced VO2 max? Do you mean top 5 percent of someone ten years younger than you?
Have you found any helpful apps or techniques for implementing and tracking changes to your diet or exercise?
-For staying cool while sleeping use a cooling product like a ChiliPad or Eight Sleep Pod -In general focus more on nasal breathing. In particular while doing cardio, and at night while sleeping use 3M micropore tape or something similar to reduce mouth breathing
If you are benching 1x while deadlifting 2x your body weight you’re going to look like a turtle v
Here is what my morning drink looks like, I’ll sub in coffee with this 1-2 days a week and rotate out the mushroom nootropic blend on those days, 1-2 of those days will also have psilocybin - creatine + hmb - butter - salt - mct oil - collagen 20grams - cocoa