• Home - Popular Posts
  • About
  • Contact
  • Blog
Menu

Andrew Merle

Wellness, Habits, and High-Integrity Growth
  • Home - Popular Posts
  • About
  • Contact
  • Blog

Subscribe

Sign up with your email address to receive the latest stories and content.

We respect your privacy.

Thank you!

Photo by Lala Azizli on Unsplash

Daily Work Habits To Help You Beat Stress

July 3, 2025

No matter where you work, having a daily routine matters. A solid rhythm not only helps you get things done — it can also reduce stress, keep you ahead of deadlines, and support a healthier work/life balance.

Of course, that’s easier said than done.

Building a more effective workday starts with the right habits. Here are a few daily practices that can boost your productivity, reduce stress, and help you enjoy your time outside of work, too.

Organize Your Day

A productive day isn’t about working longer hours — it’s about making better use of the time you already have.

Start each morning by getting organized. A simple to-do list can help you prioritize tasks and clarify what’s actually achievable. You might also try time-blocking — setting aside dedicated slots for focused work, email, meetings, and even lunch. A little structure can go a long way in keeping your day on track.

Use Technology to Save Time

Tech is here to help — especially when it comes to the repetitive stuff. Thankfully, you can use technology to maximize your productivity

From AI tools to automation platforms, the right systems can handle everything from meeting notes to sending invoices. Many of us procrastinate on the small, dull tasks — but with the right tools in place, you can free up time and focus on the work that truly moves the needle.

Take a few minutes to explore what’s available. The right setup could save you hours each week.

Give Yourself a Real Break

One of the most effective ways to reduce stress? Step away from your desk.

Taking a real lunch break — ideally outside or on a short walk — can reset your brain and boost your energy. Even a 10–15 minute breather can help you refocus when you're stuck or mentally drained.

And don’t forget longer breaks, too. Time off matters. Try to always have your next break planned — it gives you something to look forward to and helps protect against burnout.

The Bottom Line

A few simple daily habits can make a big difference in how you feel at work — and beyond it. Start small. Be consistent. You might be surprised how much easier the day becomes when you approach it with a little more intention.

Tags Wellness, productivity, Success

Photo by Maksim Shutov on Unsplash

Aligned Growth: The Hardest Part of Scaling Anything Worth Building

June 27, 2025

I’ve spent the past 20 years helping wellness and lifestyle brands grow. Big campaigns, bold strategies, national launches — the kind of work that makes headlines and moves the needle.

But here’s what I’ve learned:
Growth isn’t the goal.
Alignment is.

It’s easy to get caught in the chase — more revenue, more velocity, more impressions. Growth becomes the default success metric. But fast growth can quietly erode what made a brand meaningful in the first place:

  • Teams burn out

  • Mission gets fuzzy

  • Product and purpose start pulling in different directions

When Growth Outpaces Clarity

The real challenge isn’t how fast you grow.
It’s how true you stay while doing it.

The brands I admire most aren’t just the fastest-growing. They’re the most aligned:

  • Clear purpose, lived out in every product decision

  • Energized teams that believe in the mission

  • Growth that reflects meaning, not just metrics

3 Truths That Changed How I Lead

After two decades working at the intersection of wellness, performance, and brand strategy, these principles have become my compass:

✅ Growth is only meaningful if it’s aligned
Chasing numbers without integrity might work in the short term. But real longevity comes from sticking to what matters.

✅ Clarity beats complexity
Great brands don’t win by doing more — they win by doing the right things, clearly and consistently.

✅ Sustainable growth requires sustainable systems
That includes the systems behind the scenes — how we lead, communicate, recover, and show up.

Staying True While Scaling

The hardest part of building something great is protecting what made it great in the first place. And that tension — between scale and soul — is one worth leaning into.

I believe we need a new growth model.
One that prioritizes:

  • Purpose over posturing

  • Systems over hustle

  • Energy over ego

This isn’t about slowing down. It’s about building smarter — with alignment as the driver, not the afterthought.

Why I’m Sharing This

Because I care about the kind of work we do — and how we do it.
Because I believe leadership is about clarity, not just speed.
And because I want to help build brands (and lives) that perform — without burning out in the process.

If this resonates, feel free to reach out.
I’m always up for thoughtful conversations with people trying to build something meaningful.

Tags Business, Success, Lifestyle, productivity, Wellness, Wellbeing
Comment

Photo by Diana Polekhina on Unsplash

The Benefits of Supplements: Enhancing Health and Well-Being

March 7, 2023

Taking supplements can an effective way to improve your health and overall well-being. They can benefit your overall health in a variety of ways, including bolstering your immune system, assisting with brain function, and even supporting with alcohol rehab. In this article, we'll discuss the advantages of taking supplements, as well as how doing so can help you lead a life that's both healthier and more fulfilling.

Enhanced Nutritional Status

Taking nutritional supplements is a great way to make sure that you are providing your body with all of the necessary nutrients it requires. Even if you eat a healthy, well-rounded diet, it may still be challenging to obtain all of the necessary nutrients from food alone. Supplements are a great way to help fill in the blanks and give your body the vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients it needs to perform at its absolute best.

Enhanced Immune System

In addition, taking supplements can help strengthen your immune system, which in turn can assist in the prevention of illness and disease. Taking vitamin C, vitamin D, and zinc supplements on a consistent basis can help strengthen your body's defenses against illness because these vitamins and minerals are believed to have immune-enhancing properties.

Your Energy Levels Can Be Increased 

Supplements can also help increase your energy levels, which can result in an improvement in your quality of life in general. For instance, B vitamins are well-known for their capacity to increase levels of energy, and taking a supplement that contains a B complex can supply you with the energy you need to get through the day.

Enhanced Capabilities of the Brain

The health of the brain and the cognitive processes can also be supported by supplements. For example, omega-3 fatty acids are important for maintaining brain health and have been shown to help improve memory as well as cognitive function. Other supplements, such as ginkgo biloba, have also been shown to improve brain function and lessen the likelihood of cognitive decline brought on by aging.

Decreased Levels of Inflammation

Chronic pain, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes are just some of the health issues that can be caused by inflammation, which is a common problem that can lead to a variety of other health issues. Curcumin and omega-3 fatty acids are two examples of dietary supplements that have been shown to have anti-inflammatory properties and can help reduce inflammation throughout the body.

Better Sleep 

Supplements can also improve the quality of your sleep, which is critical to maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Magnesium and melatonin are two examples of dietary supplements that can help improve the quality of your sleep, making it easier for you to fall asleep and wake up feeling more refreshed and rested.

…

In conclusion, taking supplements can confer a myriad of positive effects on one's health and general well-being. There are supplements that can assist you in improving your nutrition, boosting your immune system, or supporting your brain function, depending on what it is that you're looking for. However, before beginning a new supplement regimen of any kind, you should make sure to consult with your primary care physician to determine whether or not the supplements will be safe and if they will meet your personal requirements.

Tags Health, Wellbeing, Wellness

Photo by Jannis Brandt on Unsplash

How To Be in the Top 1% for Health

December 9, 2022

If you are looking for a no-nonsense way to get healthier, this article is for you.

The first place to start is with food.

It’s true that you can’t outrun a bad diet and what you put in your mouth arguably has the largest impact on your bodyweight and health.

According to the Top Rated Doctor in Dubai, when it comes to food, healthy eating revolves around real, whole foods. That means food with one or only a few simple ingredients that your great grandmother would recognize as food.

Whether you are a vegan, omnivore, or carnivore, that principle holds true.

If you are eating real, whole foods, there is limited damage you can do to your body.

Within the real, whole food spectrum, you want to focus on foods low on the glycemic index. Ideally the bulk of your diet will be foods with a glycemic index of 35 or lower.

The foods that meet that criteria are primarily non-starchy vegetables (leafy greens, broccoli, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, etc.), high-quality protein sources (meat, fish, poultry, eggs, beans, etc.), and healthy fats (nuts, seeds, avocado, olive oil).

Base your diet around these foods. If these foods make up 90% or more of your diet, the occasional treat will not be problematic.

That’s it on the diet front. If you eat that way, you’ll be in the top 5% of healthy eaters.

Next on the health hierarchy is exercise. Exercise won’t necessarily help you shed pounds, but it will give you energy and vitality, and will help you live longer.

There is not a ‘best’ form of exercise that universally works for everyone. The best exercise is truly the one you will do consistently.

The key with exercise is consistency. You need to be exercising for at least 30 minutes per day, ideally every single day of the week. Our bodies were meant to move and if you’re sedentary for too long, your body will start to break down.

There are a zillion different types of exercise to choose from — walking, running, swimming, cycling, dancing, yoga, tennis, basketball, etc. It doesn’t matter what you do, just do it regularly.

It is important that you add in some strength training at least 1–2 times per week, especially as you get older. Your muscle starts to break down as you age, so it’s essential to maintain your physical strength as much as possible against these forces.

Exercise for 30 minutes every day, including at least 1–2 strength training sessions per week. Do that and you’ll be in the top 5% of all people in your age group for cardiovascular fitness and strength.

Diet and exercise are the big rocks. Follow these simple principles and the health puzzle starts to fall into place.

The next place to focus is sleep. You’ve heard a lot about sleep and you know it’s good for you. It helps your body repair and cleanse itself. The simple advice is to sleep for at least 7 hours per night. Give yourself an hour to wind down before bed to make falling asleep easier. During this time, just read a real, physical book until you’re tired enough to fall asleep.

Finally, find a way to manage the emotional stress in your life. Eliminating stress is not realistic, so you just need to find ways to cope and enjoy life in spite of stress. For instance, if you have poor mental health and addiction, seeking support from a dual diagnosis treatment center can put you on the pathway to better health. Or, reducing your workload to reduce stress and overwhelm can make you feel more relaxed. Furthermore, there are lots of daily habits to achieve better health and less stress, including yoga, meditation, walks in nature, having a cup of tea with a friend, etc. Even a glass of wine for happy hour counts. Finding a way to ‘down shift’ is one of the common habits among the longest-lived people in the world.

That’s it.

Diet, exercise, sleep, stress management. Oh, and water too. Drinking healthy bottled water with the right pH level, and drinking enough of it, can make a difference.

These are the pillars of health and no-nonsense tips to be in the top 5% in each area.

If you’re in the top 5% in each individual area, you’ll be in the top 1% for overall health.

I hope this article helps you to live longer, better.

Tags Health, Wellness, Diet, Nutrition, Exercise, Food, Fitness
Comment

Signs Your Partner May Have a Sleeping Disorder

October 4, 2022

Noticing the warning signs your partner may have a sleeping disorder could help save them from long-term health concerns if you handle the problem now.

A good night’s sleep makes everyone’s life a little better. However, if you share a bed with someone, a bad sleeping night for them could turn into a restless night for you. Learning the signs that your partner may have a sleeping disorder can help you address the problem before it becomes a major concern. 

Always Tired & Requires Naps 

You might know more about your partner’s sleeping habits than they know, including the frequency at which they are sleepy and need a nap. If you both go to sleep at a reasonable hour and your partner is clamoring for a nap within a couple of hours of waking up, it could be a sign there’s a problem. Express your concern to your partner if a weekend nap seems to be an absolute necessity for them to function. They may downplay their exhaustion’s effect on them, but seeing a doctor is the only way to find the answers. 

Short-Tempered

When we lack sleep, we tend to lose our cool faster. Even the most minor inconvenience could have your partner seeing red. Being around someone who is perpetually angry is not a fun thing for anyone. Therefore, if your partner is more quick-fused than usual, it could signify a larger issue. Telling them to calm down will only add fuel to that fire. Instead, ask them to get the verdict from a sleep specialist if you suspect a sleeping disorder affects their mood.

Frequent Wake-Ups

Sleeping next to someone who wakes up multiple times throughout the night is equally as frustrating for you as it is for them. Their stumbling to the bathroom will make the floor creak, undoubtedly waking you up. It’s understandable if this happens on random occasions, but if it’s an every-night thing, then something is amiss. Constant wake-ups could signify a more serious health issue that could rear its ugly head if not taken care of sooner.

Deeper Snoring 

Snoring is the most obvious and vociferous warning sign that your partner may suffer from a sleeping disorder. Snoring may be just a disturbance with no concerning cause, but it could also be something more serious like sleep apnea. If your partner has sleep apnea and still snores, it’s important to ensure their CPAP machine is working properly. You might also consider revisiting a sleep specialist. Snoring can also be caused by arthritis, which is known as obstructive sleep apnea. This can be treated by prescription arthritis medication, but you may need to see a specialist first, to make sure this is the right course of action.

Recognizing the signs that your partner may have a sleeping disorder could be a lifesaver. The longer these symptoms go on, the worst things could become, so alert them if they exhibit any of these ominous indicators.

It is worth mentioning that these symptoms could simply reflect poor sleep hygiene as opposed to a full-blown sleep disorder. To sleep well, it is important for people to prioritize sleep in their life and prime their environment and body for sleep. Here are some tips and tricks to help your partner (and you) get a great night’s sleep.

Tags sleep, Health, Wellness, Lifestyle
Photo by Sharon Pittaway on Unsplash

Photo by Sharon Pittaway on Unsplash

Eat More Fruits and Vegetables, Slow the Aging Process

April 27, 2021

We now have evidence that eating more fruits and vegetables is directly related to having longer telomeres — which helps to slow the aging process.

Telomeres are the DNA protein caps that provide stability and shield the ends of chromosomes, often compared to the plastic tips at the end of shoelaces.

When shoelace tips break down, the laces become frayed until they can no longer do their job. The same is true for telomeres — when they erode, DNA strands become damaged and our cells can’t do their job.

Telomere length is maximum at birth and decreases progressively with age, influenced by oxidative stress, inflammation, and repeated cell replication over the course of your life. Shorter telomeres are associated with higher incidence of chronic disease and all-cause mortality.

If you want to slow the aging process, you need to keep your telomeres intact.

…

A recent large study showed that the more servings of fruits and vegetables you consume, the longer your telomeres tend to be.

The study looked at a random sample of 5448 US adults (average age of 46.5 years old) and found that telomeres were 27.8 base pairs longer for each 100g (3.5 ounces) of fruits and vegetables consumed per day. That equates to 1.9 years less biological aging, according to the researchers.

When comparing people who consumed the most fruits and vegetables per day (in this study, that was at least 264g/day, or roughly 3.5 servings per day) to those who consumed virtually none, the difference was 4.4 years of cellular aging.

These results were found even after factoring in age, gender, race, BMI, alcohol consumption, smoking, and physical activity.

The findings mentioned were for men and women combined, but there were some notable differences for men vs. women. For women, fruits and vegetables were each associated with improved biological aging. Whereas for men, vegetable intake was related to increased telomere length, but fruit consumption was not. The reason for this isn’t clear, but for both sexes vegetable intake had a more robust relationship with telomere length than fruit.

Additionally, for both genders, intake of potatoes and legumes was not related to telomere length, when analyzed separately from other vegetables.

The exact mechanism of how fruits and vegetables preserve telomeres isn’t known, but it is likely through reducing inflammation and oxidative stress and strengthening immune function.

…

This is the latest study to show that what you eat directly relates to telomere length and cellular aging. Previous studies have shown that nuts and seeds and dietary fiber are both associated with longer telomeres and decreased biological aging. Sugar-sweetened soda, on the other hand, is predictive of shorter telomeres.

This current study only looked at fruit and vegetable consumption — both including and excluding potatoes and legumes — but did not factor in other foods. It should be noted that people who eat large amounts of fruits and vegetables typically also consume other ‘healthy’ foods such as whole grains, nuts, and seeds, which could explain some of the positive results.

…

Overall these findings support increasing your fruit and vegetable consumption, with a specific emphasis on vegetables.

The World Health Organization recommends eating at least 400g (equivalent to 5 portions of 80g each) of fruit and vegetables per day, excluding potatoes and other starchy roots.

Studies have shown that all-cause mortality drops 5–6% for each daily serving of fruits and vegetables, with a threshold of about 5 servings per day.

Other research has demonstrated that the highest risk reduction is seen with 7 servings of fruits and vegetables per day.

When it comes to fruits and vegetables, more seems to be better.

In terms of which fruits and vegetables to eat, aim for a wide and colorful variety, but in general favor low-glycemic and non-starchy options. Dark leafy greens, cruciferous vegetables, and berries are some of the best.

I like to hit my daily fruit and vegetable goal by eating a bowl of mixed berries in the morning (blueberries, raspberries, blackberries) followed by a big salad for lunch. That fills my daily quota before even getting to dinner (although I usually have another serving of veggies with dinner as well).

If you want to slow the biological clock, find the fruits and vegetables you like most and incorporate them frequently into your daily diet.

Andrew Merle is a Certified Nutritionist who writes about simple, evidence-based health tips that will improve your life. Subscribe to his email list at andrewmerle.com.

Tags Health, Food, Longevity, Lifestyle, Wellness
Comment
Photo by Arisa Chattasa on Unsplash

Photo by Arisa Chattasa on Unsplash

Why You Should Reduce Your Coffee Intake and Increase Your Tea Consumption

March 23, 2021

Most people start their morning with a cup of coffee to give them the energy they need to be productive and get through the day. But aside from the caffeine fix, drinking coffee can help you live longer, reducing the risk of numerous diseases including cardiovascular disease, Parkinson’s disease, type 2 diabetes, and certain cancers. 

While there are indeed other perks to drinking coffee, there are also risks to consuming too much. Excess coffee can lead to caffeine dependency, sleep disturbances, high blood pressure, and an abnormal heartbeat.

Tea is a great alternative option - producing many of the same benefits as coffee without the negative side effects.  Tea is already one of the most popular beverages in America — consumed more than fruit juices, sports drinks, and energy drinks. This phenomenon isn’t unique to the U.S. - a survey from Gala Bingo  points out that almost a third of the UK population reports drinking at least 5 cups of tea a day — a habit that often starts as early as 5 years old.

There are many good reasons for tea’s popularity, so let’s discuss why you should reduce your coffee intake and increase your tea consumption.

Tea helps lower cholesterol levels

Coffee naturally contains compounds called cafestol and kahweol, which can increase “bad” LDL cholesterol. These are removed in filtered coffee, but unfiltered coffee like espresso and French Press retains them. Tea, on the other hand, has been shown to reduce total and bad cholesterol.  In fact, green tea has been called the No. 1 beverage to consume to improve cholesterol levels (black tea also has a beneficial effect on cholesterol). 

Tea reduces energy crashes

You can stay awake longer when you drink tea, with steady energy levels instead of the spikes and crashes that come from coffee. The caffeine content in tea varies, but popular varieties like green tea and black tea contain only a fraction of the caffeine found in a cup of coffee.  Switching from coffee to tea could cause a short-term caffeine withdrawal if you go straight from coffee to a low-caffeine type of tea (e.g. green tea).  But if you gradually move down the caffeine scale (coffee -> black tea -> green tea is recommended), you will still experience the benefits of caffeine without withdrawal symptoms. The caffeine in tea has a slightly different chemical structure, so you can stay awake in a calm state, compared to coffee's jittery alertness followed by a crash.

Better sleep at night

Coffee can impact your sleep patterns and quality, whether you are a new or habitual drinker.  For many people, drinking coffee after 1pm can have a negative effects on their sleep. Caffeinated tea is less problematic.  And herbal teas, such as chamomile and lavender, are actually natural sleep remedies that help you to relax and unwind.

More antioxidants

Coffee and tea are both loaded with antioxidants, but tea contains some different antioxidants than coffee. For instance, the catechin EGCG in green tea is a potent antioxidant that has been shown to protect against cancer.  Meanwhile, catechins in tea have antimicrobial properties and can lower the risks of cardiovascular disease and neurodegenerative diseases.

…

Coffee and tea are two of the healthiest beverages in the world.  But excess coffee consumption poses some risks as well.  If you have found yourself becoming overly reliant on coffee to get through the day, consider transitioning to tea instead. 

Go slow – maybe you can still enjoy 1-2 cups of coffee in the morning and then shift to tea for the rest of the day.  Black tea will help mitigate caffeine withdrawal symptoms, as you work your way toward green tea and herbal teas later in the day. 

Switching from coffee to tea won’t just be a change in preference — it will be a lifestyle change that can have massive health benefits as well.

Andrew Merle is a Certified Nutritionist who writes about simple, evidence-based health tips that will improve your life. Subscribe to his email list at andrewmerle.com.

Tags Health, Food, Longevity, Wellness, Performance
Comment
Photo by Terry Vlisidis on Unsplash

Photo by Terry Vlisidis on Unsplash

How to Have Your Wine and Drink it Too

January 4, 2021

I love wine.

One of my favorite things is to unwind at the end of a long day with a glass of good wine.

But I don’t love the negative effects of wine. I experience lower-quality sleep after just a glass or two. And I am concerned about the possible long-term health consequences. 

I lead a very healthy lifestyle overall, but it is hard to determine the right approach to alcohol. Certain studies show moderate drinking has health benefits, while other reports say no amount of alcohol is safe.

Ultimately, since wine is one of the great joys in my life, I want to continue enjoying it while finding the healthiest way to do so.

…

As I started researching the healthiest wines, I came upon a “Clean-Crafted” wine company called Scout & Cellar.

Scout & Cellar was founded by a woman named Sarah Shadonix, an attorney-turned-sommelier who set out to solve the same issue I’ve been facing.

While studying to become a sommelier, Sarah found that even a single glass of wine would lead to a headache the next day.  She knew something was off, so she began doing research into why wine was having this effect on her, consulting everyone from naturopathic physicians to vintners. 

Eventually, she discovered the source of the headaches: the up-to 300 chemical pesticides and 250 chemical additives loaded into nearly all mass-produced wine. 

It turns out that there are some dirty secrets about the wine industry. 

Mass-produced wine typically contains GMO ingredients, up to 350 parts per million of sulfites, as much as 16 grams of added sugar, and other additives such as ammonium phosphate and copper sulfate. 

We have a pretty good sense about what is in our food these days, but we have no idea what is in our wine. 

That’s because the wine industry has spent millions of dollars lobbying to keep ingredients and contents labeling off of wine. And the US wine industry is powerful, with just a handful of major corporations dominating the bulk of wine production.

All of the pesticides, chemicals, and sugars are added to make wine that tastes the same, bottle after bottle, year after year.  Winemaking is inherently unpredictable, but these additives help to maintain consistency and sameness over time, while covering up bacteria and other flaws in the wine.

This means chemically altered, unnatural wine has become the norm.  

…

Learning about these truths led Sarah to find a cleaner, healthier wine option. 

She spent years scouring the world to discover the best and purest wines – establishing a whole new set of requirements for what she calls “clean-crafted wine.”  She studied growing methods, walked the vineyards, and scientifically tested wines. 

Now her company, Scout & Cellar, is on a mission to bring back good, clean wine.

Scout & Cellar requires organic, sustainable, or biodynamic farming, and their wines are always tended by actual people and not mass produced by industrial agricultural methods.  Their wines are grown naturally without any synthetic pesticides or GMO ingredients, no chemical additives, and zero grams of added sugar (each wine goes through two rounds of independent lab testing to ensure this is the case).

Additionally, Scout & Cellar only sells wine that is low in sulfites (always less than 100ppm of sulfites and usually less than 50ppm), vinified by hand, and slow crafted to extract the naturally occurring antioxidants. 

This means that Scout & Cellar wine might taste different from season to season and bottle to bottle, but that’s what gives wine it’s character and distinctiveness, and it’s what nature intended.  

…

I recently started drinking Scout & Cellar wine and I’ve been blown away – there is a wide selection of different styles, the wine is delicious, and I can honestly tell the difference in terms of the way I feel. 

I have tried other natural wines in the past, but the quality was so hit-or-miss that I abandoned them quickly.  Scout & Cellar has delivered the first wines that I actually enjoy drinking, without sacrificing my healthy lifestyle.   

I have now started to exclusively drink Scout & Cellar wines.  I believe in their mission so much that I have become an Independent Consultant for the company to help spread the good word. 

If you are like me and you love wine but also care about what you put in your body, I’d suggest giving Scout & Cellar wine a try.    

Andrew Merle is a Certified Nutritionist and Independent Wine Consultant for Scout & Cellar. Contact Andrew to learn more and purchase clean-crafted wine, or visit scoutandcellar.com/andrewmerle.

Tags Wellness, Health, Lifestyle, Food
Podcast Image.jpg

Andrew Merle on the Six Minute Mile podcast

December 21, 2020

Hi everyone,

I was recently a guest on the Six Minute Mile podcast. If you have a spare hour, you can hear all of my thoughts on nutrition, longevity, and living a healthy lifestyle. Listen here:

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/andrew-merle-certified-sport-nutritionist-top-food/id1518752185?i=1000502586460

I hope you enjoy the episode and please let me know what you think. Happy holidays to all!

Andrew

Tags Health, Longevity, Nutrition, Exercise, Food, Wellness
Comment
Photo by Online Marketing on Unsplash

Photo by Online Marketing on Unsplash

How to Turn Back the Clock on Aging

September 30, 2020

For the first time ever, a randomized, controlled clinical trial has demonstrated the ability to reverse biological age

People have been searching for the fountain of youth throughout history.

Now we have scientific data that shows you can turn back the clock on aging.

For the first time, a randomized, controlled clinical trial has demonstrated the reversal of biological age. This trial also marks the first time a diet and lifestyle intervention has been proven to reduce biologic aging.

In just 8 short weeks, those in the ‘treatment’ group (18 people) of the study tested an average of 1.96 years younger, according to the Horvath DNA methylation age and epigenetic clock.

We now have scientific ‘clocks’ that measure markers of age with remarkable accuracy and the best of these is the Horvath DNAmAge clock. The Horvath clock is a multi-tissue predictor of age that estimates the DNA methylation age of most tissues and cell types.

Horvath’s DNAmAge clock has actually been shown to predict all-cause mortality better than chronological age.

Getting nearly 2 years younger after just 8 weeks is pretty impressive. But how about the control group of 20 people who didn’t undergo any diet or lifestyle changes? They got an average of 1.27 years older at the end of the study compared to the beginning.

So that means the people in the treatment group were actually 3.23 years younger than the participants in the control group after just 8 weeks.

Participants in the treatment group also had significant improvements in triglycerides, cholesterol levels, and serum methyl folate. Their mood improved as well.

It is important to keep in mind that this trial had a relatively small sample size and the published report is still in preprint (not yet peer reviewed). But the results are striking nonetheless.

…

What exactly was this magical intervention?

It focused on just 4 basic, common-sense pillars of health: Diet, Exercise, Sleep, and Stress Management.

Of the 4 components, the diet prescription was the most complex.

Specifically, the dietary intervention was heavily plant-based, calling for a whopping daily dose of 2 cups dark leafy greens, 2 cups cruciferous vegetables, 3 additional cups of colorful vegetables, 1–2 medium beets, ¼ cup each of pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds, and 2 servings of low glycemic fruits. On top of that, the plan prescribed 1+ daily servings of ‘methylation adaptogens’ — things like berries, rosemary, turmeric, garlic, and green and oolong tea (more on this later).

The eating plan also included some nutrient-dense animal products, including 6 ounces daily of grass-fed pastured animal protein and a weekly total of 3 servings of liver and 5–10 eggs. Participants were told to include ‘healthy’ fats such as coconut oil, olive oil, flaxseed oil, and pumpkin seed oil. And they supplemented daily with a probiotic and a greens powder.

The diet protocol was notably low carb and restricted all grains, legumes/beans, dairy, and added sugar. Additionally, participants in the treatment group practiced time-restricted eating, avoiding all food daily between 7pm — 7am.

The rest of the lifestyle regimen was much easier to digest!

The exercise prescription called for at least 30 minutes of exercise per day, at least 5 days per week, at an intensity of 60–80% of maximum perceived exertion.

The sleep prescription was to simply average a minimum of 7 hours of sleep per night.

And the stress management prescription was to practice the breathing exercise Steps to Elicit the Relaxation Response developed by Herbert Benson MD, done twice daily for 20 minutes per session.

There you have it — if you want to age backwards, simply follow the above plan to a T.

But I wanted to dig deeper.

…

I recently spoke with the lead author on the study, Dr. Kara Fitzgerald, who is a Functional Medicine physician and Clinic Director with a private practice based in Sandy Hook, Connecticut.

Dr. Fitzgerald focuses much of her work on methylation, a process that happens in every cell in our body. We rely on methylation for many important bodily functions, including cell division and renewal, healthy immune cells, neurotransmitter production, detoxification, metabolism, regulating how our genes get expressed, and more.

Healthy methylation is one of the ways our body makes sure the right genes are turned on, and the ones we don’t want get turned off. On the flip side, poor methylation has been linked to a range of diseases, from heart disease to Alzheimer’s to cancer. That’s why methylation status — as measured by the Horvath clock — is such a good predictor of health and a person’s true biological age.

Dr. Kara Fitzgerald

Dr. Kara Fitzgerald

Dr. Fitzgerald has successfully treated her patients for years using Methylation Diet & Lifestyle principles, long before this clinical trial was conducted.

The first question I had for Dr. Fitzgerald was whether any of the lifestyle interventions play a larger role than others or if they need to work synergistically. The clinical trial showed the efficacy of the interventions in combination but did not report on the specific role of diet vs. exercise vs. sleep vs. stress.

“We can’t really tease it out, but what I see affecting the most change — probably our most powerful leverage area — is diet,” Dr. Fitzgerald told me. “I’ve seen that in clinic practice for my entire career. Putting people on the appropriate metabolic therapeutic dietary intervention can just move mountains.”

However, she was quick to point out that the Horvath clock is strongly influenced by the glucocorticoid system and stress, indicating that stress management could be a close 2nd to diet.

“We could go through each of our interventions and make really good arguments for them,” said Dr. Fitzgerald. She told me that each of the interventions have independently been demonstrated to alter DNA methylation in a favorable way.

They are all tried and true, and while diet is likely doing the heaviest lifting, the relative importance of each intervention depends on the individual and what that person needs most.

…

If diet arguably plays the biggest role in aging and healthy methylation, I wanted to dig in more on the specific eating protocol used in the study.

In particular, with so much controversy surrounding eating animal products, I wanted to understand why liver, eggs, and other animal protein was specifically prescribed.

“We think a small amount of clean animal protein in the context of a very low carb, low sugar diet is helpful,” Dr. Fitzgerald told me. “The amount of animal protein we’re suggesting and the type of animal protein we’re suggesting is we think safe and good.”

She said liver is actually considered a methylation superfood, loaded with methyl donor nutrients like methionine, vitamin B12, and a range of minerals. You don’t need to eat a lot of it to get the benefits — the dietary plan included only 3 servings of liver per week (each serving is only 3 ounces).

A small amount of eggs (5–10 total per week) is also important for methylation. This is because eggs are rich in phosphatidylcholine which ultimately breaks down into methyl donors.

But Dr. Fitzgerald noted that the diet is centered primarily around plants. It is hard to argue with that since the daily plan calls for a dizzying array of vegetables.

Overall the diet is low in protein, an eating pattern consistent among the world’s longest-lived people. But unlike the centenarians in the Blue Zones — who eat a diet rich in carbs, beans, and whole grains — Dr. Fitzgerald’s intensive protocol restricts those very foods.

Of course there are other factors that can explain the incredible longevity in the Blue Zones — for example, they are known to be very physically active, lead low stress lives, cultivate deep family and community ties, and have a strong sense of purpose.

It could also be what they are not eating, namely a lot of sugar and saturated fat. While there are differences between the Blue Zones diet and the one Dr. Fitzgerald recommends, they both avoid added sugar, unhealthy fats, and processed food.

“A high-sugar, saturated-fat diet is the most toxic,” Dr. Fitzgerald told me. “That’s the macronutrient combination that ushers in death pretty quickly.”

It turns out there can be multiple healthy eating patterns, but the Standard American Diet is the one clear way not to do it.

…

Dr. Fitzgerald’s recommendations optimize for healthy, balanced DNA methylation. I was especially intrigued by her inclusion of ‘methylation adaptogens’ — the superfoods for methylation.

It turns out that flavonoids with long traditional use histories — for example, curcumin, green tea, and the polyphenols in blueberries — help selectively direct methylation in a beneficial way. Dr. Fitzgerald said these time-honored flavonoids seem to be major epigenetic regulators.

When asked about the most powerful methylation adaptogens we should be consuming on a daily basis, Dr. Fitzgerald rattled off a short list, “Quercetin, resveratrol, green tea, curcumin.”

She takes all of those (except for quercetin) daily, ideally as food but as supplements as well. She also cited lesser-known luteolin and genistein as hotshot methylation adaptogens.

In terms of Dr. Fitzgerald’s personal eating habits, she eats a dense green salad every day topped with rosemary (another standout methylation adaptogen). She also eats a lot of berries, especially blueberries. You can find some of her favorite recipes to support optimal gene expression and methylation health here.

…

All of this talk about methylation and adaptogens can start to feel complicated, but Dr. Fitzgerald reminds me that the 4 overarching principles of her protocol — diet, exercise, sleep, and stress management — are quite basic at their core.

“There is no reason we can’t do the methylation diet and lifestyle principles — all of them,” she says.

Eat a healthy diet centered around plants, low in sugar, saturated fat, and protein, and throw in some methylation superfoods for good measure. Don’t eat around the clock.

Exercise at a moderate pace for 30 minutes a day, at least 5 days a week.

Sleep at least 7 hours per night.

Follow a daily meditation or breathing practice.

“All of us can layer these principles on to whatever we’re doing, be us Vegan, be us Keto, be us on an extreme elimination diet,” says Dr. Fitzgerald. “Wherever we are in our lives, there’s no reason for us not to start this.”

Perhaps in the future there will be scientific and pharmaceutical breakthroughs to reverse the aging process even more. But for now, these diet and lifestyle principles remain the foundation for good health and your best bet to turn back the biological clock.

Andrew Merle is a Certified Nutritionist who writes about living well. Subscribe to his email list at andrewmerle.com.

Tags Health, Wellness, Exercise, Nutrition, Longevity
Comment
Photo by Spencer Davis on Unsplash

Photo by Spencer Davis on Unsplash

Why You Should Eat Your Carbs Last

May 20, 2020

You might be surprised to know that the order in which you consume foods can have an impact on your health and body weight goals.

Specifically, it is recommended to prioritize protein first, followed by fibrous vegetables, and save your carbs for last.

This method of eating has been proven to reduce post-meal hunger, which means you are less likely to snack shortly after your meal. Saving your carbs for last has been shown to help maintain satiety more effectively than eating carbs first or eating all meal components together.

The reason this works is because protein is the most satiating macronutrient, so you start to fill up your stomach by eating protein first. Vegetables come next because they are high in fiber — absorbing water and expanding in your stomach — further helping to achieve a sense of fullness. Carbs come at the end to take whatever remains of your hunger.

Of course certain types of carbs are healthier than others, but eating in this manner ensures you will sufficiently nourish your body without binging on refined carbs or sugary sweets.

So if you are eating a balanced meal of fish, broccoli, and rice, it would make sense to eat the meal in exactly that order. Same thing if your meal consists of chicken, Brussels sprouts, and potatoes. This approach also allows for occasionally finishing your meal with some dessert.

Whatever you do, don’t fill up on bread at the beginning of your meal. If you want to indulge in some bread, save it for last!

Tags Health, Food, Lifestyle, Wellness
Comment

Photo by Shaojie on Unsplash

Take More Steps, Live Longer

May 4, 2020

Most of us have heard we should be logging 10,000 steps a day to stay healthy and fit. 

That guidance originated decades ago with a marketing campaign in Japan designed to promote a pedometer. 

The 10,000 number has since caught on around the world and is often the default daily goal setting in smartphone apps and fitness trackers. 

But the original basis for the number was not scientifically determined.

Now more recent research has given us a better understanding of the relationship between daily steps and overall health. New findings on this topic were just published in March 2020 in the Journal of the American Medical Association. 

Researchers from the National Cancer Institute and the National Institute on Aging, as well as from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, found that the number of steps a person takes each day does indeed have a strong association with mortality.

For the study, the researchers tracked nearly 5,000 U.S. adults aged 40 and over who wore accelerometers between 2003 and 2006, and then followed their mortality status through 2015 via the National Death Index. 

The investigators were able to isolate the association between mortality and step number by adjusting for demographic and behavioral risk factors, body mass index, and health status at the beginning of the study.

The findings revealed that a greater number of daily steps was significantly associated with lower all-cause mortality. 

More specifically, taking at least 8,000 steps per day was associated with a 51% lower risk for death from all causes compared with taking 4,000 steps per day or less. 

Going up to 12,000 steps per day was associated with a 65% lower risk of dying compared with taking 4,000 steps.

Although correlation does not necessarily mean causation, based on this new data everyone should aim to tally at least 8,000 steps per day, and going beyond that is even better (presumably there is a point at which it becomes too much activity, but that isn’t a meaningful risk for most people).  

If 8,000 steps sounds daunting, note that this recent research found no association between step intensity and risk of death after accounting for the total number of steps taken per day. 

This is consistent with data from the world’s Blue Zones where people live the longest — they engage in routine natural movement throughout the day, but don’t pump iron, run marathons, or join gyms. 

…

This new research proves once again that our bodies were designed to move. 

Take more steps, live longer. 

But you can take those steps on your own terms, without suffering through dreaded workouts. 

The key is to be consistent and to stay active every day.

Tags Health, Exercise, Lifestyle, Longevity, well-being, Wellness
Comment

Photo by Sincerely Media on Unsplash

5 Excellent Health & Wellness Books to Read While at Home

April 20, 2020

Many people are turning to health and fitness as a way to cope with what’s going on in the world.

And for good reason — this is a great time to re-commit to exercise, nutrition, and stress reduction. If you are looking for some extra motivation in this area, here are 5 excellent health and wellness books to read during your added downtime at home:

The Blue Zones Solution: Eating and Living Like the World’s Healthiest People by Dan Buettner

This is the definitive guide to how the longest-lived people in the world eat and live. Buettner extensively studied the world’s 5 Blue Zones and distilled their secrets into longevity habits we can all implement in our own lives.

How Not to Die: Discover the Foods Scientifically Proven to Prevent and Reverse Disease by Michael Greger, M.D.

If you are looking for the most comprehensive and evidence-based health resource, this is the book for you. Dr. Greger details how to eat to avoid the 15 top causes of premature death in the U.S. and he provides a checklist of 12 foods we should be eating every day for optimal health.

Lifespan: Why We Age―and Why We Don’t Have To by David A. Sinclair, PhD

In this book, Dr. Sinclair — one of the world’s leading scientists — distills a quarter-century’s worth of research into some simple things we can do to live longer. The practical tips he recommends — such as fasting, cold exposure, eating a plant-rich diet, and exercise — are available to nearly everyone.

The Longevity Diet: Discover the New Science Behind Stem Cell Activation and Regeneration to Slow Aging, Fight Disease, and Optimize Weight by Valter Longo, PhD

Dr. Longo is one of the world’s leading authorities on fasting. In this book, he explores the science behind stem cell activation and regeneration to slow aging and optimize health. He details what and how we should eat on a daily basis, and he also outlines a periodic 5-day dietary intervention called the “Fasting Mimicking Diet,” which resets and rebuilds the body at the cellular level.

The Circadian Code: Lose Weight, Supercharge Your Energy, and Transform Your Health from Morning to Midnight by Satchin Panda, PhD

Dr. Satchin Panda is arguably the world’s top expert on time-restricted eating, which means consuming all your calories within a specific time frame each day. In this book, he provides powerful evidence that when you eat is even more important than what you eat.

BONUS

If you are looking for a fun and humorous read on healthy longevity, here is one more to add to your list:

Younger Next Year: Live Strong, Fit, Sexy, and Smart―Until You’re 80 and Beyond by Chris Crowley and Henry S. Lodge, M.D.

This is a fun yet informative read about how to beat back the effects of aging. The book makes a powerful case that exercise is the single-most important thing we can do for healthy aging. The authors recommend exercising 6 days per week for the rest of your life!

Andrew Merle writes about living well. Read more and subscribe to his email list at andrewmerle.com.

Tags Food, Exercise, Wellness, Health, Books

Photo by ja ma on Unsplash

30 Anti-Inflammatory Foods You Should Be Eating

October 16, 2019

Inflammation is linked with nearly every major disease, including cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and Alzheimer’s disease.

In fact, chronic inflammatory diseases are the most significant cause of death in the world.

We would therefore be smart to keep inflammation in check. But the Standard American Diet (SAD) — full of refined sugars and carbs, unhealthy oils, and processed food —promotes the excessive inflammation we’re trying to avoid.

It is hard to stay away from the toxic food that is all around us, but our health depends on it. This article is intended as a guide to the foods you should avoid — and more importantly to the great foods you can eat — to reduce inflammation in the body.

Although it can be very challenging, here are a few key principles for foods to avoid:

  • Avoid foods with high fructose corn syrup and trans fats

  • Avoid foods with added sugar and flour

  • Minimize high heat cooking (above 375 degrees F) and avoid fried foods

  • Stay away from unhealthy vegetable and seed oils, including corn oil, soybean oil, safflower oil, and sesame seed oil.

And now here is a list of 30 anti-inflammatory foods, herbs & spices, and supplements to enjoy:

Foods

  1. Fatty fish (including salmon, sardines, herring, tuna, and mackeral)

  2. Leafy greens (including spinach, kale, arugula, and collards)

  3. Berries (including blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, and blackberries)

  4. Tea (including green tea, white tea, and herbal teas)

  5. Shiitake mushrooms

  6. Garlic

  7. Cucumbers

  8. Pineapple

  9. Cherries

  10. Dark chocolate

  11. Extra-virgin olive oil

  12. Flax seeds

  13. Nuts (including walnuts and almonds)

  14. Pumpkin seeds

  15. Fermented foods (including sauerkraut, kimchi, kefir, and miso)

Herbs & Spices

  1. Ginger

  2. Turmeric

  3. Cinnamon

  4. Cloves

  5. Rosemary

  6. Oregano

  7. Allspice

  8. Thyme

  9. Sage

  10. Marjoram

Supplements

  1. Omega-3 EPA/DHA (from fish, krill, or algae oil)

  2. Vitamin D3

  3. Green Tea Extract

  4. Curcumin

  5. Garlic

If you focus your diet around these foods and still experience pain and inflammation, consider removing gluten and/or dairy to see if that helps. Additionally, nightshade vegetables (tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, white potatoes) have been reported to cause inflammation in some people, and could be eliminated if all else fails (but otherwise should be eaten for their nutrition benefits).

I hope this list help you navigate your dietary choices to keep inflammation at bay.

Andrew Merle writes about healthy living. Read more and subscribe to his email list at andrewmerle.com.

Tags Food, Diet, health, Wellness

Photo by Fitsum Admasu on Unsplash

4 Lifestyle Habits For A Longer Life

October 1, 2019

I am always looking for ways to maximize health and longevity.

There isn’t anything I can do about my genes, but research shows that only 20% of how long we live is dictated by genes, whereas the other 80% is dictated by lifestyle.

Therefore I am most interested in the lifestyle habits that lead to a long and healthy life.

Fortunately, one of the world’s leading longevity experts recently revealed his findings after 25 years of research on aging.

David Sinclair, PhD, is one of the world’s most renowned scientists, best known for discovering why we age and how to reverse it. Dr. Sinclair is a Professor of Genetics and co-Director of the Paul F. Glenn Center for the Biology of Aging at Harvard Medical School, and he has been named by Time magazine as “One of the 100 most influential people in the world” and among the “Top 50 People in Healthcare.”

In Dr. Sinclair’s new book Lifespan: Why We Age — and Why We Don’t Have To, he distills a quarter-century’s worth of research into some simple things we can do to live longer.

These tools and tactics are available to nearly everyone, regardless of age, location, or socioeconomic status.

1. Fasting

Calorie restriction is incredibly powerful for longevity.

“After 25 years of researching aging and having read thousands of scientific papers, if there is one piece of advice I can offer, one surefire way to stay healthy longer, one thing you can do to maximize your lifespan right now, it’s this: eat less,” says Dr. Sinclair.

You don’t need to constantly deprive yourself — even once-in-a-while calorie restriction yields tremendous health benefits.

Specifically, a periodic 5-day calorie-restricted diet called a Fasting Mimicking Diet has been shown to rebuild the body at the cellular level. The diet (developed by another top longevity expert, Dr. Valter Longo) calls for about 1100 calories on day one and 800 calories per day on days 2–5, consisting primarily of vegetable soups, low-sugar energy bars, and supplements.

People who completed this program once a month for a period of three months lost weight, reduced body fat, lowered blood pressure, and had lower levels of a hormone called IGF-1 (low levels of IGF-1 have been closely linked with longevity). An average person could complete this protocol 3–4 times per year and expect measurable anti-aging benefits.

There are other popular fasting methods these days, including skipping breakfast and having a late lunch (the 16:8 diet), eating 75% fewer calories for two days a week (the 5:2 diet), skipping food altogether for a couple days per week (Eat Stop Eat), or — on the more extreme end — not eating at all for an entire week each quarter, as longevity guru Dr. Peter Attia does.

“Over time, some of these ways of limiting food will prove to be more effective than others,” says Dr. Sinclair. “However, almost any periodic fasting diet that does not result in malnutrition is likely to put your longevity genes to work in ways that will result in a longer, healthier life.”

The earlier you start a fasting protocol the better, says Dr. Sinclair — perhaps after age 40, when molecular decline really starts to take effect.

Dr. Sinclair (who is 50) personally skips a meal or two each day, but that is primarily due to his busy schedule as opposed to a conscious effort. Lunch is the meal he skips most often.

2. Eat A Low-Protein, Vegetable-Rich Diet

When you do eat, you want to focus on vegetables, legumes, and whole grains, and limit meat, dairy, and sugar. That is the dietary pattern of centenarians in all of the Blue Zones, the places around the world where people live the longest.

Photo by Anna Pelzer on Unsplash

“There isn’t much debate on the downsides of consumption of animal protein,” says Dr. Sinclair. Study after study has demonstrated that heavily animal-based diets are associated with high cardiovascular mortality and cancer risk.”

He says processed meats such as hot dogs, sausage, ham, and bacon are especially problematic, with hundreds of studies showing a link between these foods and colorectal, pancreatic, and prostate cancer.

That doesn’t mean you need to stay away from red meat altogether. Our hunter-gatherer ancestors ate a plant-heavy diet, but they did consume some red meat and fish in moderation. But in general, you should opt for plant protein instead of animal protein if you want to live longer. Meat and dairy — and to a lesser degree chicken, fish, and eggs — all activate an enzyme in the body called mTOR, which is associated with shorter lifespan. Not surprisingly, it has been shown that vegetarians suffer lower rates of cardiovascular disease and cancer than meat eaters.

Dr. Sinclair recommends only eating animal protein when recovering from physical stress or injury. He personally eats mostly plants and avoids eating other mammals, but he will occasionally eat meat on days when he works out. He also minimizes consumption of sugar, bread, and pasta (he gave up desserts at age 40 but does steal tastes from time to time).

3. Exercise

Calorie restriction and eating a low-protein diet puts our bodies into a beneficial state of nutritional adversity, but Dr. Sinclair says physical adversity is also important to trigger our survival circuits and prolong longevity.

Exercise puts a productive level of stress on the body, shifting cells into survival mode and causing us to grow back stronger. People who exercise just 150 minutes per week — the equivalent of a half hour of jogging five days a week — have been shown to have aging markers that are 9 years younger than those who have a more sedentary lifestyle.

Another recent study showed that running just 4–5 miles per week — which can be achieved in less than 15 minutes per day for the average person — reduced the chance of death from a heart attack by 40% and all-cause mortality by 45%.

But not all exercise is created equal — intensity does matter. “It’s high-intensity interval training — the sort that significantly raises your heart and respiration rates — that engages the greatest number of health-promoting genes,” according to Dr. Sinclair.

He says you’ll know when you are doing this level of vigorous activity when it feels hard — your breathing will be deep and rapid at 75–80% of your maximum heart rate, you’ll be sweating, and you won’t be able to say more than a few words without pausing to catch your breath. This level of physical exertion activates the body’s defenses against aging but stops short of doing any permanent harm.

Dr. Sinclair’s personal exercise routine includes going to the gym most weekends for weight lifting and jogging. He also walks a lot throughout the day and takes the stairs whenever possible.

“Exercise turns on the genes to make us young again at a cellular level,” he says. “Would a combination of fasting and exercise lengthen your lifespan? Absolutely,” concludes Dr. Sinclair.

But there is still more we can do.

4. Cold/Heat Exposure

Exposure to uncomfortable temperatures is another proven way to activate your longevity genes.

When we are taken out of our temperature comfort zone, our survival response is engaged, causing changes in our breathing pattern, blood flow, and heart rate.

Specifically when we are uncomfortably cold, we activate protective brown fat in the body. In fact, it has become clear that calorie restriction has the effect of reducing core body temperature (it seems all our longevity mechanisms are linked).

Additional “cold therapy” can be achieved by simply going for a walk in a t-shirt on a cold winter day, leaving a window open overnight while you sleep, or taking a cold shower. In particular, exercising in the cold supercharges the production of beneficial brown fat.

But moderation is important. “Similar to fasting, the greatest benefits are likely to come for those who get close to, but not beyond, the edge,” says Dr. Sinclair. “Hypothermia is not good for our health. Neither is frostbite. But goose bumps, chattering teeth, and shivering arms aren’t dangerous conditions…and when we experience these conditions often enough, our longevity genes get the stress they need to order up some additional healthy fat.”

Heat exposure has benefits as well, but the way it works is less clear. We know that frequent sauna users have reduced rates of heart disease and premature death, but we don’t know exactly why.

“Either way, one thing is clear: it does us little good to spend our entire lives in the thermoneutral zone,” says Dr. Sinclair. “Our genes didn’t evolve for a life of pampered comfort.”

On days when he goes to the gym, Dr. Sinclair has a personal practice of hanging out in the sauna and then dunking in an ice-cold pool. He also tries to stay on the cool side during the day and when he sleeps at night.

…

These 4 lifestyle habits — Fasting, eating a low-protein diet, exercise, and cold/heat exposure — all produce a mild kind of stress on the body that activates cellular defenses without causing too much damage.

It turns out that not all stress is bad — we just need to use it to our advantage.

These simple anti-aging practices are available to all of us today, regardless of where you live, how old you are, or how much money you make.

There are plenty of technological and pharmaceutical advancements on the horizon — and Dr. Sinclair details what’s coming in in his book — but we can get started with what’s in our control right now. There is only upside.

“Ten additional healthy years is not an unreasonable expectation for people who eat well and stay active,” says Dr. Sinclair.

I hope these tips help you achieve a life of prolonged health and vitality.

Andrew Merle writes about healthy living. Read more and subscribe to his email list at andrewmerle.com.

Tags Food, health, Longevity, Exercise, Wellness
Comment

Credit: Dr. Valter Longo

Eating, Fasting, and Exercising for Maximum Longevity

August 25, 2019

Dr. Valter Longo is arguably the world’s top longevity expert.

He has spent over 25 years conducting research on aging, nutrition, and disease all around the world. Dr. Longo is the Director of the Longevity Institute at USC in Los Angeles and the Director of the Longevity and Cancer Program at the IFOM Institute of Molecular Oncology in Milan, Italy.

Last year he summarized his research in the international bestseller The Longevity Diet, which explores the science behind stem cell activation and regeneration to slow aging and optimize health.

I recently had the opportunity to interview Dr. Longo about what we can all do to maximize healthy longevity.

…

Dr. Longo says it is possible to live to a healthy 100 (and beyond) and he recommends a three-pronged approach to achieve that objective. Dr. Longo’s protocol includes a daily longevity diet, a periodic five-day “Fasting Mimicking Diet,” and exercise. He says these are the three most important components for healthy longevity. Let’s break them down.

Daily Longevity Diet

The Daily Longevity Diet includes both what and how to eat on an everyday basis.

“The daily longevity diet is essentially a vegan plus fish diet,” Dr. Longo told me. He says that while it is possible to be vegan and healthy, many purely vegan diets end up in some type of malnourishment. Therefore small amounts of fish (no more than 2–3 times per week) are included for the Omega-3, vitamin B12, and protein content — all of which are hard to get in sufficient quantities in a 100% vegan diet.

The daily longevity diet is nutrient-rich, centering around vegetables and legumes (beans, chickpeas, etc.), plus nuts, olive oil, and whole grains. Protein intake is low but sufficient — about .35 grams of protein per pound of body weight (which comes to about 45 grams of protein per day if you weigh 130 pounds, 70 grams of protein per day if you weigh 200 pounds). Protein comes primarily from legumes and small amounts of fish, since other animal products (meat, poultry, eggs, cheese) are discouraged. Not surprisingly, sugar should also be minimized.

In terms of alcohol, Dr. Longo says small amounts (less than 5 drinks per week) have been shown to be neutral or perhaps even beneficial for health and longevity (although the potential benefits are minor). So alcohol in small quantities is allowed, but he says you should avoid alcohol altogether if cancer or another condition runs in your family for which alcohol is a high risk factor.

Overall, it is a sensible daily diet that closely resembles the Mediterranean Diet. But Dr. Longo’s recommendations also specify how much to eat and when.

Dr. Valter Longo

“I say it’s important to eat more,” says Dr. Longo. If you are eating the best stuff, he encourages you to load up during meal times. That’s because if you are eating a high-fiber diet filled with vegetables and legumes, then your stomach will become full without craving more food continuously throughout the day. “Lots of fiber is very important so you don’t get hungry,” he says. “You’re not going to be hungry two hours later because the stomach is still busy processing everything and so you don’t feel like eating right away.”

Dr. Longo says this is especially true if you are eating a pound of legumes per day, which is about the amount needed for a 150-pound person to get enough protein.

He also recommends eating within a 12-hour window each day (for example from 8am — 8pm) and fasting for the other 12 hours. “Eat for about 12 hours a day — not much shorter and not much longer,” he says. “There are negatives on both sides.”

If you fast much longer than 12 hours, Dr. Longo says that can lead to problems with gallstones and shorter lifespan. So if you are fasting for 16 or more hours each day (for example following the 16/8 Intermittent Fasting method), you should reconsider your approach. “If people fast too often they seem to live shorter, says Dr. Longo. “Fast too often meaning they do 16, 18 hours every day of fasting.”

This approach is especially problematic if you are skipping breakfast, which has become a popular trend among intermittent fasters. “People that skip breakfast live shorter,” Dr. Longo told me emphatically. He says this finding is surprising to many people in the longevity field, but study after study proves it out.

But eating all day and all night is also a problem. “The people that eat for 15, 16 hours a day, they also don’t do so well because they become overweight, obese, and they develop insulin resistance,” says Dr. Longo. So 12 hours on, 12 hours off seems to be the sweet spot.

For healthy people, Dr. Longo says 3 healthy meals per day plus a low-sugar snack is perfectly acceptable. People who are overweight or obese should consider replacing one of the meals with a snack. But the snack could still have lots of volume — for example, a big salad with olive oil would be an ideal snack (or smaller third meal) if somebody has weight problems.

That covers the fundamentals of the daily longevity diet, including what to eat, how much, and when.

The next pillar of longevity is a periodic 5-day dietary intervention called the “Fasting Mimicking Diet,” which resets and rebuilds the body at the cellular level.

Fasting Mimicking Diet

Dr. Longo first discovered the Fasting Mimicking Diet about 11 or 12 years ago when he was studying the effects of fasting in combination with chemotherapy for cancer patients. That combination proved to be very beneficial, but adherence was low. The patients did not want to do a water-only fast, and the oncologists didn’t want their patients to fast.

But through this process Dr. Longo learned what the fasting was doing at a cellular level, and he set out to develop a system to fool the cells into entering a fasting-response mode while still allowing the patient to eat. That’s how the Fasting Mimicking Diet was born. It has all of the benefits of fasting, without the suffering.

From a practical standpoint, the Fasting Mimicking Diet is a periodic 5-day calorie-restricted diet. It is 100% vegan, low in protein, low in sugar, and high in good fats. You consume about 1100 calories on day 1, and then about 800 calories per day on days 2–5.

The specific foods you eat include vegetable and grain-based soups, kale crackers, olives, nut-based bars, Algal Oil (rich in Omega-3), vitamin and mineral supplements, as well as drinks and teas (Hibiscus, Spearmint, etc.) that mimic what the body produces naturally during fasting. You can order ready-made kits from Dr. Longo’s company ProLon (Dr. Longo donates 100% of his profits to charity and research).

The specific ingredients included in the Fasting Mimicking Diet have been shown to promote beneficial bacterial growth. “The microbiota — the positive, protective bacteria that we have in the gut — is greatly altered by these cycles of the Fasting Mimicking Diet,” says Dr. Longo. This is not the case with water-only fasting, so Dr. Longo suspects it is the prebiotic content of the diet that feeds the good bacteria and allows that good bacteria to clear out the bad bacteria.

The Fasting Mimicking Diet appears to cause what Dr. Longo calls multi-system generation.

“What happens if you shrink an organism and then you re-expand it?,” Dr. Longo questioned. “What seems to happen — and we’ve shown it over and over and over — is that when you shrink it, you get rid of lots of junk. Bad cells, damaged cells, damaged cellular components. And then when you re-expand, you utilize stem cells and other templates to rebuild. And when you rebuild, you rebuild younger or brand new.”

It is a powerful dietary intervention that works in combination with the healthy daily longevity diet.

In terms of how often to do the 5-day Fasting Mimicking Diet, that depends on your baseline level of health. If you are young, eat a perfect diet, and exercise regularly, you might only need to do the Fasting Mimicking Diet once a year. But that’s if you are doing everything exactly by the book. If you eat pretty well and are generally healthy, then maybe twice a year is appropriate. But for most people — especially those with slightly elevated cholesterol, blood pressure, and fasting glucose — 3 or 4 times per year is recommended.

Dr. Longo says a healthy person can do the Fasting Mimicking Diet without medical supervision, but if you have an existing disease or medical condition, it is best to consult with your doctor before beginning the protocol.

Exercise

Let’s get this out there right away — Nutrition is the most important factor for longevity. Exercise is a distant 2nd.

“I would say exercise is very far away from nutrition in terms of longevity,” says Dr. Longo. “This is very clear from animal studies that diet is really superior.”

The important thing regarding movement seems not to be exercise, but routine physical activity. Dr. Longo points out that centenarians and people with record longevity (for example, in the Blue Zones) do not consciously exercise. But they are very physically active — growing gardens, walking, dancing, going up and down stairs, and moving naturally all throughout the day. “Lots of physical activity — I think that’s essential,” says Dr. Longo.

He urges people to walk everywhere possible and always take the stairs — a simple and practical recommendation that can make a tremendous difference in your life. “If you live 30 minutes away from your work and every day you just do that, you’re already 80% of the way there,” says Dr. Longo. “And if you just go up the stairs 300 or 400 steps a day, that’s already very good.”

The data shows that dedicated exercise does provide some additional benefit as well. “If you look at the meta-analysis, the epidemiological studies, it seems that exercise can make things a little bit better and reduce mortality further, in addition to physical activity,” says Dr. Longo. “So absolutely it is good.”

Dr. Longo recommends 150 minutes of exercise per week. And he says some of that (10–15%) should be vigorous, really pushing yourself. Bursts of intense exercise seem to be very beneficial to the body, perhaps because the body gets stressed and slightly damaged, and then re-builds stronger (similar to the process that takes place during fasting).

At the end of the day — between routine physical activity and dedicated exercise — Dr. Longo says a good goal is 10,000 steps and 20 flights of stairs. Your cell phone keeps a record of these totals, so it is a good practice to check and track how you are doing.

Dr. Longo’s Personal Routine

“My personal routine is pretty much what’s in the book,” Dr. Longo told me.

He eats a small breakfast, starting his day with tea and bread with low-sugar jelly. He then doesn’t eat anything until lunch.

For lunch, he often eats two courses — for example, a big salad with anchovies, followed by roasted or steamed calamari. He eats all of that along with bread or pasta.

Dr. Longo spends close to half the year in Milan and confessed that when he’s in Italy, he tends to gain a little bit of weight. When he starts to put on unwanted weight, he adjusts his lunch accordingly. “If I’m in weight gain mode, then I remove for sure the bread or the pasta for lunch,” he told me. “But I also oftentimes remove the second course.”

For dinner, he eats just about the same thing every day. He has a big dish that is filled with legumes, vegetables, and small amounts of starches. For example, the dish might have 10 ounces of chickpeas, 4 ounces of mixed vegetables, and only 2 ounces of pasta.

And then he has multiple variations of that meal. For example, the chickpeas and mixed vegetables might be swapped out for beans and broccoli. So there is a little bit of variety, but these rotations always follow the same nutritional profile.

This high-fiber diet keeps him full between meals and he typically only has one snack during the day. “Usually I have dark chocolate — like 85% dark chocolate — as a snack,” he said.

As for exercise, he does 40 minutes every other day on his home exercise bike. He puts it on the steepest uphill setting, making it hard to pedal, and then he turns up the intensity for about 4–6 minutes of the workout. On the weekend, he might go outside for a run or bike ride, but his home exercise bike is most convenient during the busy work week.

When in Milan, he also walks 45 minutes each way to work, and he never takes an elevator anywhere.

My Personal Takeaways

Dr. Longo is undoubtedly one of the leading experts in the field of health and longevity. He lays out a very sound plan grounded in 25 years of science and data. I am confident that following his protocol would result in a longer and healthier life.

As for me, I have been a habitual exerciser for much of my life. So I already more or less follow his exercise recommendations. And I eat pretty well — although I am certainly not perfect, and there have been periods in my life when my diet was not so great. Going forward, I will do my best to follow Dr. Longo’s Vegan/Pescatarian daily diet — but I am sure I will cheat and have the occasional burger and fries. Not to mention some potato chips and dessert.

That’s why I think the Fasting Mimicking Diet intervention could really be a game-changer. Very few people eat a perfect diet every single day, and some of the joy in life is eating indulgent foods. But if you can eat a good overall diet and then essentially reset and renew your body with the Fasting Mimicking Diet, that is a very enticing proposition.

I plan to try my first Fasting Mimicking Diet next month. I will report back with my experiences.

Until then, I hope you have found Dr. Longo’s recommendations helpful and applicable to your own life.

Andrew Merle writes about healthy living. Read more and subscribe to his email list at andrewmerle.com.

Tags Food, health, Wellness, Exercise
2 Comments

Photo by Tomasz Woźniak on Unsplash

The Real Secret of Brain Health

June 13, 2019

Dr. John Ratey has studied the brain for more than 40 years.

As a psychiatrist, he has always been interested in how we can make our brains function better. And while he appreciates the magic of modern medicine, he has found that lifestyle factors have the most profound effects on the brain.

In particular, he has found that exercise is the No. 1 thing we can do for brain health.

I had the opportunity to sit down with Dr. Ratey last week at his office in Cambridge, Massachusetts, to learn more about the effects of exercise on the brain, and what we can all do in our own lives to reap the benefits.

…

Dr. Ratey grew up as a competitive junior tennis player in Pennsylvania and competed in the US Nationals, so he was exposed to the power of sports and exercise from an early age.

And he was always fascinated by the brain, earning his first job out of college at Harvard’s Massachusetts Mental Health Center (MMHC).

But it wasn’t until attending the University of Pittsburgh Medical School in the ’70s that he really began to understand the causal link between exercise and brain health.

During that time, he learned about a hospital in Norway that was offering depressed patients to take either antidepressants or participate in an exercise program three times a day. Remarkably, both groups got better at the same rate.

That really piqued Dr. Ratey’s interest and he started to more closely follow exercise in the medical literature. His focus turned to Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) when he learned about a Boston Marathon runner who developed symptoms of ADD after a knee injury forced him to stop running. The runner went to see Dr. Ratey and was put on ADD medication. However, after his knee was rehabbed and he was back training again, it was determined the medication was no longer necessary. That was back in 1982.

Dr. John Ratey

Since that time, Dr. Ratey has established himself as one of the world’s foremost authorities on the brain-fitness connection. He has written numerous bestselling books, including the groundbreaking ADD-ADHD Driven to Distraction series, Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain, and Go Wild. He is currently a clinical associate professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School.

…

Today, people have become much more aware of the effects of exercise on the brain.

Dr. Ratey said public interest in this topic really took off in the mid ’90s and it’s never stopped.

“Today we just know so much more about what exercise does,” Dr. Ratey told me. “It is simply incredible how powerful it is for the brain. Forget about its effect on blood pressure, sugar loads, weight, buffing you up, all that. That’s a given. But the effect on your brain is amazing.”

The health and wellness boom over the last decade, and related media coverage, has exploded our awareness of what exercise can do to improve mood, anxiety, stress, learning, creativity, and motivation. Dr. Ratey said exercise is also the No. 1 weapon to prevent against brain erosion (including dementia and Alzheimer’s Disease), cancer, and inflammatory disorders.

…

Most people already know about the benefits of exercise by now, so I wanted to ask Dr. Ratey to prescribe the perfect type of exercise for the brain.

“The best exercise is something that you enjoy, with someone, done outside, in nature, and something that you’ll come back to,” he told me.

He said the ideal exercise is something that will get your heart rate up and force you to use your brain. You have to pay attention when you’re outside, which is why a trail run is much better than running on the treadmill, for example (Dr. Ratey has the trail running injuries to prove the concentration required).

But I was a bit surprised when he went on to discuss the ultimate exercise for the brain.

“I always tell people, the best exercise probably that you can do is dance,” said Dr. Ratey.

He did qualify that he meant vigorous dance that gets your heart rate up, not just flailing around. The reason dance is so powerful for the brain is because you have to practice and mentally focus on the right movements. Additionally, you have to follow music, and often stay in rhythm with a partner or group. All of that puts an incredible demand on your brain.

“The more demand on the brain — it’s just like the more demand on your muscles — the more you’re going to build,” said Dr. Ratey.

In terms of cardiovascular exercise, Dr. Ratey is a huge fan of high-intensity interval training. “The more demand on your cardiovascular system, the better it’s going to be,” he said.

He also highly recommends squash. “That’s an incredible game,” he said. “High-intensity, probably the best aerobic workout I can think of.”

…

So does Dr. Ratey follow his own advice?

Best practices are fine, but I wanted to know what he actually does in his own life.

“My routine has always been to stay very active,” he said.

Dr. Ratey has always had a habit of exercising in the morning. He has found the cognitive and emotional benefits of morning exercise stick with him long after the workout has finished.

He was an avid squash player for 30 years until a shoulder injury caused him to stop most racket sports. But even when he was a serious squash player, variety was always paramount.

In those early days, he would supplement his squash by going to the gym in the morning for weight training and a treadmill or elliptical workout. He was even one of the earliest adopters of the StairMaster, keeping one in his house (“We were animals on it!” he told me).

These days he does a lot of walking and running. On the day of our conversation, Dr. Ratey had gone for a morning run around the Charles River in Cambridge, and he was signed up to run a 5K over the weekend.

He also has a personal trainer come to his house twice a week for weight training. Although Dr. Ratey still does most of the exercises on his own, the trainer helps prevent injuries.

Dr. Ratey also spends a lot of time in Los Angeles with his wife, and they routinely start their west coast days with a morning 1.5 hour hike.

He and his wife have always been serious exercisers. Even their vacations are chock full of physical activity.

“Our ideal vacation is a place we go to called Rancho La Puerta, where you get up at 6am with a group of people,” he said, telling me the full group can be as large as 150 people. “And we climb a mountain for 2 or 3 hours in the desert in Mexico. And come down. And then every hour on the hour during the day there is another exercise activity you can participate in — yoga, tai chi, dance, spinning, the gym, circuit training.”

That’s Dr. Ratey’s perfect vacation. So you get the idea about the role exercise plays in his life.

…

Putting it all together, I wanted to see what recommendations Dr. Ratey has for all of us to preserve our brains as we age.

“The secret of brain health in general is knocking down inflammation,” he said.

There are a number of ways to decrease inflammation, but he says exercise tops the list. “It’s the No. 1 recommendation for cancer treatment,” he said. “No. 1 is exercise. After obviously treating the cancer. But why? Because it boosts the immune system so greatly.”

After that, you have diet. Dr. Ratey says diet is probably as important as exercise, especially as we learn more about the microbiome and what food does to our body and our brains.

“I recommend to my patients and to everyone, limit your carb intake,” he said. “Especially processed food, which has mainly carbs in it.” He also advises to keep sugar levels in check, and to get sufficient protein and vitamins from your food (not from a pill).

One diet trend Dr. Ratey believes could have a beneficial impact is a daily fast — not eating from dinner the night before until lunch the next day. Most people say you can’t miss breakfast, but “Yes, you can,” says Dr. Ratey. “Because fasting is a way of stressing the body and stressing the brain in a very non-toxic way. And when you stress the body and the brain, you build it.”

Finally, Dr. Ratey stresses the importance of social connection for brain health. He said our addiction to electronic devices is stealing from our face-to-face human interaction with other people (not to mention, causing sleep deprivation which has negative health effects — Dr. Ratey doesn’t allow any screens in his bedroom). The addictive nature of screens is arguably the biggest problem in today’s world, according to Dr. Ratey. But exercise can be a very powerful antidote — especially exercise that fosters social bonding.

That’s why he is a huge proponent of joining a club or group exercise classes. He cited the amazing social networks (real, human social networks) that are built at fitness groups like Orangetheory and CrossFit. He said clubs like that bring together a wide mix of people who form genuine friendships around the common goal of improving their exercise. “A big part of the magic there is how the connection makes everything better,” said Dr. Ratey.

…

Exercise. Diet. Social Connection.

With the major boxes checked, I asked Dr. Ratey if he had any final tips for brain health and longevity.

That’s when he was reminded of how a spry 92-year-old once answered that question:

“Sex!”

Of course, it probably helps to have a good sense of humor in the long run as well.

Andrew Merle writes about living well, including good habits for health, happiness, productivity, and success. Subscribe to his email list at andrewmerle.com.

Tags health, well-being, Wellness, Nutrition, Exercise, Lifestyle, Food
Comment

Photo by lucas Favre on Unsplash

My Philosophy on Diet and Exercise

April 21, 2019

There is a lot of complicated and confusing information out there about diet and exercise.

But that is primarily because “experts” want to sell books or patent their own method.

In reality, the true experts agree on the fundamentals that are most important for a healthy life. And that shared understanding is what is most important to know and incorporate into our own routines.

I have read countless books and articles about diet and exercise, and experimented for many years with what works best in my own life. After all of my learning and testing, here are my key takeaways on diet and exercise:

Diet

There is no doubt that diet plays a central role in health and vitality.

The one thing that all experts agree on is the bulk of your diet should be fruits and vegetables. If you follow just that one piece of advice and make fruits and vegetables at least 50% of what you eat, you will be light years ahead of most other people.

Eat a variety of whatever fruits and vegetables you like (the only things that don’t count are white potatoes or any type of fried vegetables like French Fries). There are valuable nutrients in all fruits and vegetables, so fill your plate with them. If you do that, you will also be crowding out most of the bad stuff.

The rest of your plate can be filled with healthy protein and whole grains. If you are vegan or vegetarian, you can get protein from all kinds of beans, nuts, and seeds. If you eat meat, it is fine to add in some fish, chicken, or beef. But meat should be considered a side dish or condiment, not the main course. Avoid processed meats, such as bacon, sausage, hot dogs, and cold cuts.

Whole grains provide a great source of fiber. You can round out your plate with unprocessed whole grains such as oats, quinoa, or wild rice. Minimize processed grains such as bread and pasta, unless you are an especially savvy shopper and know how to avoid the junk (which is hidden in nearly all packaged bread these days).

Applying this philosophy, a great meal would be a large salad with lots of veggies, quinoa, and some salmon. Or a veggie stir fry over wild rice. Or oatmeal with a heavy dose of mixed berries and walnuts.

If you build your plate around fruits and vegetables, and round it out with healthy protein and whole grains, there just won’t be room for the real problem foods (such as white bread and pasta, and packaged sweet and salty foods). And even when you do indulge from time to time, it won’t be that big of a deal if you normally eat according to this philosophy.

As for beverages, drink water, tea, and coffee (without milk/cream or sweeteners ). A little bit of alcohol is okay, but limit it to a drink or two at night. Avoid sugary drinks such as fruit juice and soda.

This all probably sounds like common sense eating principles, and that is exactly the point. Stick with these basics and forget all of the other complicated stuff. You will be much healthier as a result.

Exercise

Movement should be an essential part of daily life.

The current exercise guidelines call for 150–300 minutes of exercise per week, which equates to about 30–40 minutes of exercise per day, assuming you exercise most days. I think that gets it about right.

I recommend dedicated cardio exercise for at least 30 minutes per day, with 1–2 off days per week (which would give you at least 150 minutes of exercise for the week right there). I personally go for a 30-minute run in the morning at least 5 days per week, but your form of exercise can be whatever you enjoy most (walking, swimming, cycling, etc.). And feel free to mix it up from one day to the next. I run at a moderate pace, just enough to make me breathe heavy and get a sweat going.

I also recommend some of your exercise be a bit more vigorous (in addition to, or in place of, some of your moderate exercise days). I turn up the intensity by playing squash 1-2 times per week, which taxes my body and my mind with the complex movements and strategy involved. You can dial it up a bit with a sport you enjoy (e.g. soccer, basketball) or any other type of workout that you like (Peloton, group fitness classes, etc.).

You should also build in some strength training and flexibility exercises at least two days per week. You could make this a part of your weekly routine by doing yoga and/or light weights on your cardio off-days (or lighter workout days). While the bulk of your workout routine should be cardio, incorporating some strength training will keep your muscles and bones strong, and flexibility training will keep your body loose and pliable (counteracting the cardio which tends to tighten you up).

To summarize, get at least 30 minutes of cardio exercise nearly every day. Dial up the intensity for 1–2 of the workouts. And round out your routine with strength training and yoga 1–2 days per week.

Beyond your dedicated workouts, use your body as your mode of transportation as much as possible. Walk or ride your bike to work or to the store if that is a possibility. Make it a habit of always taking the stairs. If your default mode is to use your body to get places, you will rack up even more meaningful physical (and mental) benefits.

If you do track your activity, a good goal is at least 10,000 steps per day (factoring in your dedicated workouts and all other activity throughout the day).

…

There you have it — my philosophy on diet and exercise. This approach takes into account all of my learning and personal experiences, and is built around basic and highly-effective guidelines.

I truly believe if you eat and move in this manner, you will add energy to your days and healthy years to your life.

Andrew Merle writes about living well, including good habits for health, happiness, productivity, and success. Subscribe to his email list at andrewmerle.com.

Tags health, Exercise, Diet, Food, habits, Wellness, well-being

Photo by Brooke Lark on Unsplash

What You Should Really Be Eating, In Plain and Simple Terms

September 24, 2018

There is so much conflicting information out there about what you should be eating.

Dietary guidelines and best practices have changed drastically over the years, and it has become very hard to know who to trust.

Therefore I have studied this topic at length over the last several years, poring over books, scientific studies, and learning from the true experts in the field.

This is a very worthy endeavor — according to some reports, nutritional excellence has the power to virtually eliminate your risk of heart attack and stroke, as well as significantly reduce your risk of a variety of cancers.

After extensive research into the ultimate human diet, the science has become very clear on one point:

A whole-food, plant-based diet is best. Every great diet revolves around fruits and vegetables.

The most fundamental and understandable guidelines are set forth in the Harvard Healthy Eating Plate (the official dietary advice from Harvard doctors and medical professors), specifically:

Ensure at least 1/2 of your plate is vegetables and fruit

At least 50% of your food intake should be fruits and vegetables. However, less than 14 percent of Americans eat enough fruits and vegetables every day.

Eating mostly fruits and vegetables is arguably the most important thing you can do for your health and longevity.

According to research from the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, eating 5 servings of fruits and vegetables a day has been shown to add an extra 3 years of life expectancy.

But more is even better. Eating at least 7 portions of fruit and veggies a day can lower your risk of premature death by 42%. Going up to 10 servings a day is associated with double-digit percentage decreases in the risks for heart disease, stroke, cardiovascular disease, cancer, and premature deaths.

Choose organic, seasonal, and local vegetables whenever possible (reference the Dirty Dozen & Clean 15 list when deciding to buy organic or not). Include both cooked and uncooked vegetables, and aim for a variety of colors, from dark green to bright yellow and orange.

Fill your shopping cart with these detoxifying plants: Cilantro, cauliflower, broccoli, cabbage, kale, radishes, brussels sprouts, turnips, watercress, kohlrabi, rutabaga, arugula, horseradish, maca, rapini, daikon, wasabi, bok choy, artichoke hearts, beets, dandelions, mushrooms, onions, garlic, ginger, and seaweed.

Dark leafy greens are the king of the vegetable kingdom in terms of nutrient-density. White potatoes should be minimized because of their high glycemic index.

Berries top the nutrition chart among fruits, but all kinds of fruit are great. Just make sure to choose whole fruits over fruit juices (which have been stripped of nutrition content).

Make whole grains 1/4 of your plate

Whole grains — including whole wheat, barley, wheat berries, quinoa, oats, brown rice, and whole wheat bread and pasta — are more nutrient-dense and have a milder effect on blood sugar than white bread, white rice, and other refined grains.

When selecting bread, look for 100% whole wheat, sprouted grain, whole grain rye, pumpernickel, and true sourdough bread. Look at the label and make sure the serving size ratio of carbs to fiber is equal to or less than 5-to-1 (for example, if you divided 15 grams of carbs by 3 grams of fiber, that would equal 5 and would be acceptable). I am a fan of the sprouted Ezekiel bread from the Food for Life brand.

Oatmeal is a great breakfast choice to get your day started with whole grains (top it off with ground flax seed, nuts, and mixed berries for even more nutrition).

Make protein 1/4 of your plate

Beans and nuts are great plant-based sources of protein, so it is best to start there. Small amounts of carefully-selected fish, chicken, and meat are also acceptable. Animal protein can play a role in your diet, but as a condiment (2–3 ounces, a few nights per week), not the main course.

When selecting fish, go for wild caught (not farmed) SMASH fish (salmon, mackerel, anchovies, sardines, herring) over large-mouthed, long-lived fish (shark, swordfish, tuna). And if you eat poultry or meat, make sure to get pastured chicken or grass-fed beef. Eggs should also be from chickens that are pastured, not factory raised.

Stay away from processed meats such as bacon, sausage, hot dogs, and cold cuts.

Eat healthy plant oils in moderation

Choose healthier oils such as olive, MCT, canola, soy, corn, sunflower, and peanut, and stay away from partially hydrogenated oils which contain unhealthy trans fat.

Include other good fats such as avocados, nuts, and seeds.

Drink water, coffee, green tea, and red wine

Avoid sugary drinks (soda, boxed juices) and limit milk/dairy (1–2 servings per day). Limit wine consumption to no more than 1–2 glasses (5 oz.) per day (max of one glass per day for women, two for men).

…

If you are following the above guidelines, there will be very little room for unhealthy foods such as salty snacks (chips, crackers) and packaged sweets (cookies, candy bars, cakes).

If you are looking for a cheat sheet grocery list, the best longevity foods are (according to The Blue Zones research of centenarians around the world):

  • Beans (black beans, pinto beans, garbanzo beans, black-eyed peas, lentils)

  • Greens (spinach, kale, chards, beet tops, fennel tops, collards)

  • Sweet Potatoes

  • Nuts (almonds, peanuts, walnuts, sunflower seeds, Brazil nuts, cashews)

  • Olive Oil (green, extra-virgin is best)

  • Oats (slow-cook or Irish steel-cut are best)

  • Barley

  • Fruits (all kinds)

  • Green or Herbal teas

  • Turmeric (spice or tea)

Blue Zones area centenarians eat a 95% plant-based diet rich in beans, greens, grains and nuts.

If you base your diet around these foods, you just might make it to 100 as well!

Andrew Merle writes about living well, including good habits for happiness, health, productivity, and success. Subscribe to his email list at andrewmerle.com.

Tags health, Wellness, Nutrition
Comment

Photo by Serge Esteve on Unsplash

3 Easy (And Fun) Daily Habits to Extend Your Life

July 23, 2018

What if your vices could actually help you live longer?

A recent study followed 1700 nonagenarians to determine what makes people live to age 90 and beyond.

And the results are almost too good to be true.

The study revealed these 3 daily habits that increase longevity:

Drink Beer and Wine

That’s right — drinking alcohol was shown to have a statistically-significant impact on living longer, even when controlling for other factors.

Specifically, people who drank about two glasses of beer or wine a day (a glass is about 5 oz.) were 18% less likely to experience a premature death than those who abstained from alcohol.

“I have no explanation for it, but I do firmly believe that modest drinking improves longevity,” said University of California neurologist and lead researcher Claudia Kawas.

This is consistent with studies of centenarians from the world’s Blue Zones regions — the places around the world with the highest life expectancy — where they often drink up to two glasses of wine every day as a way to downshift from the stressors of daily life.

So it’s possible that a daily happy hour extends your life by shedding stress. We know that stress leads to chronic inflammation, which is associated with every major age-related disease.

Or perhaps it is because drinking alcohol often brings us together with friends and family. Social relationships are vital for our health (not to mention the best predictor of our overall happiness).

Or maybe the benefits come from what’s in the alcohol itself. For example, red wine contains powerful antioxidants that have anti-inflammatory benefits. People in the Blue Zones region of Sardinia, Italy drink Cannonau wine (from the Grenache grape), which is renowned for its high levels of polyphenols — antioxidants linked to heart health and protection from cardiovascular disease.

Whatever the reason, you can feel good about drinking a glass or two of beer or wine every day.

The research is clear — Moderate drinkers outlive non-drinkers.

Drink Coffee

While we’re on the topic of drinking, coffee is another beverage that extends your life.

Drinking two cups of coffee per day was shown to reduce the risk of dying prematurely by 10%.

Previous studies revealed that drinking 3–4 cups of coffee every day could significantly reduce your chances of early death, and even drinking as many as 8 cups of coffee per day can help you live longer.

And the benefits hold true for all types of coffee — caffeinated, decaf, ground, instant, etc.

Daily coffee consumption is another common habit among Blue Zones populations. Centenarians in all five original Blue Zones areas drink up to two or three cups of black coffee per day.

How can the longevity benefits of coffee be explained?

  • Coffee is loaded with essential antioxidants. Similar to red wine, coffee contains polyphenols that neutralize free radicals and help prevent disease.
  • Coffee reduces age-related inflammation.
  • Coffee reduces the risk of type 2 diabetes. This is specifically true for fully caffeinated coffee.
  • Coffee lowers the risk of prostate cancer in men. This again could be because coffee contains many beneficial compounds that act as antioxidants, reduce inflammation, and regulate insulin, all of which may influence prostate cancer.

Coffee has also been linked with a lower risk of Parkinson’s disease and liver cancer.

All of this doesn’t necessarily mean you should start drinking coffee if you’re not already, but if you are a coffee drinker you should feel very good about your daily fix.

Moderate Exercise

OK, so maybe this habit isn’t as fun as the previous two, but it is still pretty easy to achieve.

The nonagenarian study showed that those who engaged in moderate exercise every day (between 15 and 45 minutes) had an 11% lower risk of dying early.

So you can’t just sit on your couch all day long, but we’re talking about a very small amount of physical activity reducing your risk of death by double-digit percentage points.

I won’t belabor this point, since by now we all know that exercise is good for us.

The health benefits of physical activity have been well-documented — including helping to control weight, strengthen the cardiovascular system, fortify bones, and reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes. Exercise is also the single most powerful tool you have to optimize your brain function.

The world’s longest-lived people don’t pump iron, run marathons, or join gyms. Instead, they live in environments that constantly nudge them into moving without thinking about it.

Even if you are only active for 15–45 minutes per day, clearly the health benefits are profound.

That is a very small time commitment to significantly increase your life span.

...

This might just be the best news you hear all day:

Drinking alcohol, drinking coffee, and doing just a small amount of exercise each day will help you live longer.

Cheers to that!

Andrew Merle writes about living well, including good habits for happiness, health, productivity, and success. Subscribe to his email list at andrewmerle.com.

Tags health, happiness, Wellbeing, Wellness
Older Posts →

SEARCH:


xJGh6cXvC69an86AdrLD98-320-80.jpg

View Andrew's work on Medium


COMMON THEMES:

  • Books
  • Business
  • Coffee
  • Diet
  • Exercise
  • Finances
  • Fitness
  • Food
  • Health
  • Lifestyle
  • Longevity
  • Nutrition
  • Performance
  • Psychology
  • Sports
  • Success
  • Technology
  • Travel
  • Wellbeing
  • Wellness
  • Work
  • excercise
  • habits
  • happiness
  • health
  • productivity
  • sleep
  • success
  • time management
  • well-being