Episode Details

For this last week of 2020, each day we will re-release one of the most popular episodes of the past year. We will resume our regular schedule with a new episode on 1/4/2021. Have a Happy Holiday and Happy New Year!

Best of 2020 #2: David Sinclair - Modifying Our Lifestyle to Reverse Aging (Originally released 6/9/2020)

Dr. David Sinclair: Modifying Our Lifestyle to Reverse Aging 

Today I’m incredibly honored to host Dr. David Sinclair. 

David is a professor in the Department of Genetics at Harvard Medical School. He’s the author of New York’s Times best-seller Lifespan, a book with insights on why we age, and how we can slow and even reverse aging. A top innovator, David was in 2014, named on Time Magazine’s list of the 100 Most Influential People in the World, and listed as Time's Top 50 in healthcare in 2018.

David’s inspiration growing up

David grew up with his grandmother, who was a constant believer in his abilities and always motivated him to set and shoot for his life-goals and he will always achieve them. 

In an unfair world filled with cruel and mischievous people, David’s grandmother always reminded him to be grateful and generous where he could. To always do whatever he can to make the world a better place than it is.

David owes a lot of current success and grit to this background and claims that every no one needs a positive environment of someone who believes in them, and they too can set to achieve greatness.

Hormesis: Using exercise and healthy eating to fight aging.

Being a trained geneticist, you’d think that David would vouch for DNA as the major contributing factor for your health and wellness destiny. But oh no, the key to this, David says is the epigenome 

The epigenome is the real powerhouse and determinant of our lifestyle i.e how much we sleep, mental stress, physical fitness etc. 

A study on identical twins held in Denmark supports this claim, with the findings suggesting that we only inherit from our parents 20% in terms of the predictability of our long-term health.

The key to better physical and mental health and ultimately slow aging, David states, is through exercise and healthy eating. 

1. As for exercise - do anything that gets your breathing level up for at least 15 minutes

Exercising triggers the longevity genes which regulate the epigenome - which is in control of how we age.

1. Healthy eating also triggers the epigenome, resulting in similar effects. 

Healthy eating and numerous benefits of fasting. 

It’s no surprise that what we eat is a big contributor of how our health turns out to be. However, what always seems to be left out, is how to eat.

Having 3 meals a day and zero exercise has a reverse effect on your mind.Your brain loves being relaxed - just sitting down and having snacks is all you need - 

By giving in to this kind of lifestyle, you’re sacrificing your body’s ability to fight diseases and aging. Because your body gets the message from the brain that it’s very safe and there’s plenty of security and food to eat. So you relax, and the defense modes switch off. It’s for this reason that obese people who don’t exercise, not only look older, but are actually older. 

Fasting triggers the longevity genes as well. Through fasting, the body is tricked into thinking there isn’t enough resources to live on. Amino acids are also restricted and the epigenome is activated too.

Types of foods David suggests you should take when fasting.

• You don’t want foods with a lot of sugar - as they make you get hungry faster
• Don’t be too rough on yourself - one milkshake isn’t bad (as long as you’re consistent)
• Best meal for him is a salad with a bit of olive oil on it or vinegar
• Protein is good in small amount