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Jimmy Carr Diary of a CEO interview take-aways

Jimmy Carr on Healthy Aging

Cutting one-liners, that unhinged laugh, and…. and… timeless advice on healthy aging? Listen to this excellent podcast conversation between Jimmy Carr and Steven Bartlett (A Diary of a CEO) and you’ll find it impossible to disagree. I’ll admit to being a fan of Jimmy Carr’s thinking. His shows, book and long-form interviews are sharp, deep and show a genuine humility. The latest podcast is not…

Inversion and Healthy Aging

Instead of asking how to live a long, healthy, and active life – let’s invert the question and ask how to ensure that your life is short, painful, and miserable. As you’ll see below, the mental model of inversion works wonderfully for highlighting the best healthy aging habits. Inversion was made famous by Charlie Munger, the partner of investing legend Warren Buffet. You simply flip…

CBT-I and Longevity Habits

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Insomnia: Quick-Wins for a Longer, Healthier Life You don’t need to be an insomniac to get the longevity benefits of CBT-I. Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Insomnia is a powerful first line treatment for sleeping disorders. Doctors in the USA prescribe it before sleeping pills – and it is gaining popularity worldwide. After studying the science, I’m convinced that everyone can benefit.…

Longevity on a Budget

Boosting Your Healthy Lifespan without Breaking the Bank Read the legacy press and you’d believe that a longer, healthier life was exclusively for the super-rich. They all miss a vital point. Almost everything you need to do to boost your health span starts for free. Switching to healthy food will not increase your grocery budget. Better sleep, simple exercises and avoiding toxins need not cost…

Cardio benefits from middle aged exercise

Bryan Johnson – The SAD Challenge

Bryan Johnson’s ‘SAD Challenge’ is simple – even if you’ve never built healthy aging habits before. While you might think of healthy aging in terms of treatments, supplements, or nutrition – SAD brings ‘Self Aided Destruction’ into the picture. The challenge is to avoid four different forms of destruction. They are eating too much food, eating junk food, missing your regular bedtime, and skipping exercise.…

Healthy Aging Micro-Habit 2 – Pause, Think, Portions

Healthy Aging Micro-Habits: Get into the Habit of Thinking About Your Food Portions Toast is not a healthy snack, though it does compare well to cakes, sweets, and puddings. Putting two slices into the toaster is a great example of an automated habit. You’ve always put two slices in, right? That was what your parents did, and likely theirs too. I love questioning this type…

Healthy Aging Micro-Habit 1 – Morning Sunlight Exposure

Welcome to the first of 52 weekly healthy aging micro-habits. With an estimated 43% of our behaviour fully automatic [1], deliberate habit shaping is the easy way to boost your wellbeing – both physically and mentally. My weekly micro-habits are quick wins. They work together. There is no need to wait for results, you’ll feel better from day one (and fantastic after a month). Morning…

Detailed Review of Outlive the Science and Art of Longevity by Peter Attia

Book Review: Outlive the Science and Art of Longevity by Peter Attia and Bill Gifford

Reading Outlive changed my view of Peter Attia – even before hitting the bombshell plot twist in the final chapter. As a fan of his podcast, I was fully expecting this book to be a factual, practical, and detailed dive into healthy aging strategies. No nonsense about biological immortality, just solid advice for reaching 100 in robust health. It did not disappoint. Yet, alongside this,…

Creatine and Healthy Aging

For bodybuilders, creatine is as close to a no-brainer supplement as you’ll find. Among healthy aging researchers – things quickly become nuanced. Creatine is proven to boost muscle mass. This effect alone has healthy aging benefits, both at the molecular level and by protecting against falls. Add neuroprotective qualities, plus a reduction in cellular waste – and the use case becomes compelling. All that said,…

Biological Age Test Results: 8 Years Younger

All that worry waiting for my biological age test results must have put years on me. It turns out that my nerves were misplaced. My current healthy aging habits had a grizzly history to overcome. A hedonistic youth, decades of undiagnosed celiac disease, past smoking habit, constant battles against sugar cravings and a stressed / boozy 30’s. Here is the result: I’m biologically 44.4 based…

Cheating Death: Book Review

Detailed Review of Cheating Death: The New Science of Living Longer and Better, by Dr Rand McClain It did not take long for Cheating Death to answer my key question for each longevity / healthy aging book I review. This is: ‘Who is it for?’ Compared to most longevity books, Cheating Death by Dr Rand McClain is a detailed practical / functional guide. After the…

Coenzyme Q10 and Longevity

My latest CoQ10 and longevity supplements deep-dive was triggered by a trip to a nearby pharmacy. My amazing wife was shopping, and like generations of experienced husbands, I did my bit by keeping well out of the way. After wandering into the supplement section, perusing the usual vitamins and admiring the marketing of ‘max’, ‘slow release’ and novel combinations, I spotted CoQ10. This was already…

The Day I Ghosted a Personal Trainer (and why I can’t relate to ripped fitness advice)

I was laying on a massage table feeling baffled, confused and embarrassed. This was 10 years ago. I was an expat in Budapest at the time, living an unhealthy lifestyle, and had decided to get my skinny body to a personal trainer. Initially, it all went smoothly. We discussed diet change plans, fitness goals, preferred exercises, and even my numerous bad habits. The next session…

Life Force Book Review with 5 take-aways

Life Force Review

Detailed Review of Life Force: Tony Robbins, Robert Hariri and Peter Diamandis’ Book Covering Longevity and Exponential Health Breakthroughs As hard as I tried, it was impossible to read Life Force for this review without hearing every word in Tony Robbin’s voice. That said, this book blew away my expectations. Longevity science is a bubble which often only reaches the public in a negative way.…

Cold Showers and Longevity

Cellular Health and Reduced Inflammation: Longevity Benefits of Cold Showers My newest longevity habit is a cold shower – I do it immediately after my run, three times a week. I’m able to do 30 seconds so far, with plans to hit 1 minute by the end of the month. While I don’t expect that cold showers will directly affect my longevity, there are multiple…

Quercetin and Longevity

Quercetin is a Powerful Antioxidant – But it Won’t Extend Your Life I’ll admit coming into this research with an assumption – that antioxidants, including Quercetin, were close to a ‘no brainer’ as supplements. As with everything in longevity, the truth is far more nuanced. It is true that having too many free radicals (oxidative stress) is a major health risk. What is less clear…

Dietary Supplement Surveys

Five Surprising Take-Aways from Surveys into Dietary Supplement Use I found two large surveys about over the counter dietary supplement use in the UK after researching my hypothesis on ‘middle class supplementation’. While looking into Quercetin, I wondered whether people most likely to supplement with it were the least likely to have lifestyles contributing to oxidative stress? Two surveys (linked at the end) went one…

Vitamin D and Healthy Ageing

The Sunshine Vitamin is Vital for Health, But Should You Supplement it? I asked people at random in my office what Vitamin D was for. Everyone had heard of it. Everyone knew it was connected with sunshine. A few had also heard it was useful in fighting viruses. One person said it was ‘something to do with bones.’ Nobody was currently supplementing. This was a…

Omega 6 Seed Oils and Longevity

The Oils that Everyone Loves to Hate May Not be So Bad After All… Omega 6 seed oils get a ton of bad press. Fitness influencers shoot them with guns, making a dramatic point and ensuring those all-important social media views. Graphs showing increased seed oil consumption alongside obesity rates – heavily implying a causal link – contribute to the narrative. I went deep down…

Minimum Viable Exercise for Longevity

Where is the Sweet Spot of Exercise for Longevity and Healthy Ageing? I’ve always been unsure of the type of people that offer exercise advice online. You’ve seen them, chiselled, toned and lean. Wearing gear to emphasise their body, not covering it with loose fitting tops like the rest of us. Suggesting workout routines that take hours to complete, even if they are physically possible…

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