Longevity and making it affordable

Today I talk about how expensive the longevity business is and that 80-90% or even more than that is either free to do or very affordable for everyone. You are the biggest problem holding you back from living longer and living healthier! I look forward to hearing from you after you listen to the  latest podcast. Thank you for listening today and I look forward to hearing from you in the future. If you haven’t subscribed yet I encourage you to do so. Thank you again! 
-Dr. J

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Welcome back to Prime 40 Plus Fot Podcast. I'm Dr. Jay, and if you're over 40 and trying to build a stronger body, sharper mind, and a longer live a longer, healthier life, you're in the right place. And it has been a while since I've been here, so I'm happy to be back and hoping to get back to some consistent podcasts. Today we're going to talk about something that has uh absolutely exploded in popularity over the last few years. Something that I am very interested in myself with my uh background, also with my health issues I've had in the past with MS and with long COVID, and that is longevity. So, you know, you're seeing all of these biohackers, biohacking clinics. I am part of one of those where research is chasing longevity and trying to have us not only live longer but also live healthier. So chasing lifespan and health span. Um, and everywhere you look, there's another someone selling a $500 supplement stack that promises to make you live longer. Um I don't really know any $500 stack that is going to make me help help me live longer as far as supplements go. Um my thoughts on supplements uh later in this uh podcast. And if you have questions on supplements or anything like that, please send me an email, which is located in the podcast uh description. But supplements are called supplements for a reason. Supplements are to supplement healthy nutrition. If you're not eating healthy and you're not being healthy, then um supplement you can take $500,000, you can take a thousand dollars worth of supplements in a month, and you are not going to be healthy. So uh someone's recommending, you know, a full $30,000 full body scan, someone's talking about the newest peptide, the newest infusion, the newest wearable, and the newest test. And again, do not get me wrong, some of these tools can be useful. But here's the question: what if you're an average person? What if you're a teacher, a truck driver, nurse, a factory worker, a parent trying to pay a mortgage and put your kids through school? Do you really need to spend thousands of dollars every month to improve your lifespan and your health span? My very firm answer is no. I don't think you need a $10,000 plan at a clinic to help you live longer and healthier. Uh, in fact, I think some of the most powerful longevity interventions in human history cost almost nothing. The problem is the easier things get for us as humans, especially in the United States, is we absolutely are getting lazier and lazier. And we are creating a major issue in longevity and health span where if it's in a bottle, we'll do it. If it means going to the gym or cooking a healthy meal or going out for a walk, even, um, or doing some meditation, and basically something that can't be a quick fix for us, then we don't want to do it. Uh, I'm here to tell you that there are some simple, some very scientifically backed proven facts and uh habits that can get you 80 to 90, probably 90 to 95 percent of all of your lifespan and health span uh benefits without having to spend that kind of money. Are there benefits to doing some of those tests and taking some of those supplements and doing some of those things or doing coaching? Of course there is, but doing all of them is absolutely crazy. And so let's talk about that a little bit more today. So, again, I think some of the most powerful longevity and health span interventions in human history again cost almost nothing. Um, 85-90% of the real uh value of that living longer is not in the high dollar. Again, you can get it absolutely free or very affordably, no question. But you have to be willing to put in a little effort, and that's where we are hitting our crossroads is well, if I could drop 10 grand on this and it's gonna get me to live longer and live healthier, then I'd rather do that than this. Well, not everybody can drop 10 grand on longevity and health span. So today's episode is about separating the signal from the noise, basically. What's worth it and what's not? It's about understanding what actually moves the needle when it comes to living longer, feeling better, and staying independent as you age. And over future episodes, we're gonna build an entire blueprint for longevity on a budget, and I will have that on my website as well when that is all up to date and the website has changed. Um, but let's dive in on the episode. So, let's talk about first what is longevity. So, before we go any further, let's define longevity. Um, most people think longevity means living longer, and that's only partially true. The real goal isn't just lifespan, again. Remember, the real goal is health span. Uh, personally speaking, I don't want to live to 110, I don't want to live to a hundred if I'm in a wheelchair with drool coming down the side of my mouth and I can't feed myself. So health span and lifespan are combined, and that is what we describe longevity as. Lifespan is how long you live, health span is how long you live well. So nobody wants to live to 100 again. I said this personally, but nobody wants to live to 100 if the last 20 years are spent sick, weak, dependent, and absolutely miserable. The goal is to be 80 years old and still hiking, still playing with the grandkids, still traveling, still lifting weights, still doing the things you love. And when I think about longevity, I don't think about adding years to your life. I think about adding life to your years. And let me say that again. I don't think about longevity as far as far as adding years to my life. I think about adding life to your years that you have left. That is the way I want you to start thinking about it. If you don't have health, then why would you want extra longevity and extra years? And that's where most people get confused. They think longevity starts with expensive testing. It doesn't have to. Longevity starts with behavior. That again is where we get into the laziness of the population. As obesity becomes more and more apparent, is computers doing things for us that are more apparent, and we become lazier and lazier as a population, we don't want to do the behavior changes that basically help longevity. So the problem with the modern longevity industry is the longevity industry has become so incredibly sophisticated. I mean, there are clinics out there charging $20,000, $50,000, even $100,000 a year to help you live longer and healthier. And really doing the same thing that you can do. There are some things they're doing that uh warrant some cost, but I would have a very strong argument to say that $100,000 a year is not worth what you're getting for that. Some people are spending more on supplements every month than they spend on groceries. And while there may be value in some advanced testing and therapies, there's a major problem. Many people are trying to optimize things that account for maybe one to five percent of the results for longevity while they're completely ignoring the 85 to 90% of the things that they can get that are affordable or absolutely free. So imagine trying to prove your golf game. Let's use this as an example. You spend $10,000 on clubs, you buy the newest golf shoes, you get custom gloves, but then you never practice. Would any of those things matter? With the $10,000 you spent on golf clubs, with the newest shoes, with the custom gloves, would any of those matter if you didn't practice? Of course not. Of course they wouldn't. And yet that is exactly what many people are doing with their health. They're searching for the perfect supplement while sleeping five hours a night. They're spending thousands on blood work while eating fast food every single day. They're chasing exotic compounds while sitting eight hours a day and never exercising. It's backwards. The foundation always has to come first. And I go back to any of my sports, and when you start playing that sport, say it's in junior high, if you're in the public school system, first things you start on is dribbling the basketball. Let's use basketball, for example. Then you you know how to pass properly, how the shooting mechanics. If none of those things are good, you will never succeed at basketball. You have to have the foundation before you build the special sk specialized skills. And so what's happening now is nobody wants to change the behaviors, everybody just wants the end result, and we're ignoring, like you know, like I said earlier, in my opinion, ninety at least ninety percent of the things that cost nothing or are absolutely affordable for everyone, people are ignoring trying to chase that one to five percent that they want to pay for. And I see it daily in my coaching. I'll send a food list out to clients and tell them the first thirty days, you eat everything you can on this list. Nothing can be off of here eaten that is not on this list. And two days later, I'm seeing meals come through on the on my app that are not even remotely on that list. And I hear, well, it's just too hard. Well, do you want to get the effort, do you want to get what you can out of it, or do you want to not? And we are seeing that more and more. It's much easier to grab a burger, much easier to grab a Taco Bell or Pizza Hut or whatever, and you're not gonna get the benefit out of any kind of nutrition, which is one of the top things you can do for longevity and health span. Um so again, behavior has to change, and it has to change with the person that wants those things. So the 80-20 rule of longevity, let's talk about that a little bit. If you want to improve longevity on a budget, focus on the biggest rocks first. The reality is that a handful of behaviors drive the majority of health outcomes. So let's walk through some of them today, and that'll kind of be what we do the rest of this episode, and then we'll continue that on some future episodes. So, number one is movement. Movement is probably the closest thing we have to a miracle drug. It improves cardiovascular health, brain health, blood sugar control, mood, energy, muscle mass, bone density, immune function, almost every system in the body improves when you move. And here's the good news walking is free. You don't need a fancy gym, you don't need expensive gym equipment, you don't need the perfect workout plan. A daily walking habit can literally change your future. Researchers consistently and have for years keep finding that people who move more tend to live longer and not just live longer, but live healthier longer. Not because movement is magic, not because movement keeps the body functioning, but so again, let me rephrase that. Not because movement's magic, but because movement keeps the body functioning the way it's designed to function. We were not designed to sit behind a computer for eight hours a day. We were not designed to sit in front of a TV for eight hours a day. We were designed to move. When we were hunters and gatherers, we were moving all the time. You had periods of rest, but you moved all the time. So movement, in my opinion, and this is based on scientific research, is the number one prescription that I can give a person to live longer and live healthier. Period. It just helps the body and it helps the mind as well. Number two on that list would be strength. One of the strongest predictors of longevity isn't cholesterol, it isn't supplements, a supplement stack, it isn't your latest lab test, it's muscle. As we age, we naturally lose muscle mass. The loss affects balance, metabolism, independence, resilience. The stronger you are, the more reserve you have. Think of muscle as your retirement account for health. You build it while you're younger so you can draw on it later. You don't need a $5,000 home gym. You can use body weight, resistance bands, dumbbells, even gallon jugs filled with water. The goal isn't perfection, the goal is consistency. And I talk about this all the time with people. Is it great to have all the equipment? Is it great to have yes, it absolutely is. I absolutely love the gym. It is probably my um is where I go to clear my head, it's where I go to think through ideas. Um, it is where I go to feel better. And um, so I absolutely love the gym. But I will tell you that I can get just as good of a feeling doing burpees in the backyard in a garage, or push-ups, or uh crunches, or any of those movements, jumping jacks combined with different things. You don't need all of the extra equipment to gain strength. You really don't. And um remember when we lose muscle, we also lose part of our metabolism. Metabolism decreases as we lose muscle because muscle burns more calories. It also affects hormones. So as we naturally lose muscles as we get older, we're affecting our hormones, which are already affected anyway, as we get older, and we're affecting our metabolism just by losing the muscle by doing nothing else. So building muscle, we think it's more important as we're when we're younger, but it's actually way more important when we're older. Once you hit 35, 40, you can still build muscle. A lot of people think you can't, but you absolutely can. And it's even more important to do at that age. Number three is nutrition. Most longevity nutrition advice is overly complicated. You know, and there's so much advice out there on nutrition, but just remember this: the basics still work. Eat more whole foods, eat foods that are not processed over and over and over again before you get them. Eat more protein, eat more fruits and vegetables, reduce the ultra-processed foods that are basically the staple now of a lot of Americans' diets, you know, and it's called the sad diet for reasons. SAD stands for standard American diet, if you don't know. But it's sad because the majority of America is on that diet right now. Ultra-processed foods and junk. Uh, the other thing with part nutrition is stay hydrated, and that's it. So, again, the basics eat more whole foods, eat more protein, eat more fruits and vegetables, reduce your ultra-processed foods, and stay hydrated. Those things alone will make the massive difference on how you feel and how long you live and how healthy you are when you live. You don't need a $300 supplement stack, a $500 supplement stack, a $1,000 supplement stack to overcome a poor diet. You can't actually overcome a poor diet with the supplement stack. You eat all the ultraposs foods you want, and you eat take a bunch of supplements, it will not negate the crappy food you're eating. Food remains the foundation of your nutrition. Good, clean, whole food. And here's something many people don't realize. The healthy, the healthiest dietary patterns around the world are often surprisingly simple. They're built around, they aren't built around expensive powders and pills, they're built around real food. The Mediterranean diet is probably the best example of this. That's where that's the diet that has been proven over and over again that people live the longest with. And it is based 110% on whole real foods. Period. Number four is sleep. Sleep may be the most underrated longevity tool available. And here's the best part it's free. During sleep, your body repairs itself, your brain clears waste products, hormones reset, recovery occurs, and immune function improves. Yet millions of people sacrifice sleep every single night to watch TV, to play video games. And a lot of people want to sleep, but they can't because their diet's so poor and their movement's so poor. So again, go back to number one and number two. Imagine if there was a supplement that improved recovery, cognition, immune function, hormone balance, mood, and performance. People would pay thousands for it. But guess what? That supplement already exists and it's called sleep. If you aren't sleeping right, it doesn't matter what else you're doing. You cannot overcome a sleep deficit, period. Number five, relationships. This one surprises a lot of people, but strong social connections are repeatedly associated with longer living and healthier living. Humans were designed for community. Friendship matters, family matters, purpose matters, and connection matters. Loneliness isn't just emotionally painful, it can become physically harmful over time. You don't need a prescription for this, you just need people. And if you think about the what these senior living homes are pushing the most as people get older and move out of their houses, they are pushing community because they know that community makes a difference in how long and how healthy a person lives. And it makes a massive difference on how your brain functions as you get older. So again, let me review those. Number one is movement, basically exercise. Number two is strength. But remember, movement doesn't have to just be doesn't have to be something perfect. Get out and walk. Go for a walk. Number two is strength. One of the biggest predictors they are using now for how long people live is grip strength because it's easy to test and easy to measure. And you will start to see that more and more in your annual physical as grip strength will start to be used as they gain more uh more knowledge on where it should be for your age based based on what it should be for how healthy you are. So number two is strength. Number three is nutrition. Again, remember the basics eat more whole foods, eat more protein, eat more fruits and vegetables, reduce the ultra-processed foods and stay hydrated. Number four is sleep. And then uh again, you can't overcome sleep. Again, imagine if there were a supplement that improved recovery, cognition, immune function, hormone balance, mood, and performance. Well, there is. That supplements sleep. Get your sleep and do the things that help you sleep better. Stop the eating late at night, stop the ultra-processed foods, decrease your caffeine, all of those things. And number five is relationships. You have to have social connection. Friendship matters, family matters, purpose matters, and again, connection matters. So the longevity industry doesn't make money on the basics. Now, those five basics, those are probably the biggest things I coach on because I'm not a huge fan of jamming again, hundreds and hundreds of dollars of supplements down people's throats. A lot of times I will start some money on supplements, but then eventually pull them off as their nutrition changes and as their lifestyle changes. And if we keep somebody on something, it's very minimal. You don't need all those supplements. But again, when you're doing a $10,000 clinic, I will guarantee you that you're gonna be taking a lot of pills a day and a lot of powders. And the biohacker Brian Johnson, I think is his name, spends two million dollars a year on longevity research and on himself. He takes 70 to 80 pills a day. So you know, and he just got diagnosed with an autoimmune disease. So again, it's not all about money, it's about doing the basics. So here's something, again, the longevity industry doesn't make money on the basics. Here's something worth thinking about. Nobody gets rich telling you to walk more. Nobody becomes a millionaire telling you to go to bed earlier. Nobody builds a billion-dollar company telling you to eat vegetables. The basics aren't exciting, but they work. And that's why they often get overlooked. The truth is that boring habits create extraordinary results when practiced consistently, which is the key, consistency. What about supplements? Now, again, let's address the elephant in the room with supplements. Do supplements have a role? Absolutely. Do I have my own supplement line? Absolutely. Do I take myself? Do I take a bunch of pills a day? I take less than five a day. And on the week I do that Monday through Friday, and on the weekends I take two a day. So do supplements have a role? Again, absolutely, but they should supplement a healthy lifestyle, not replace one. You because you can't replace foods with supplements. Think of supplements as icing on the cake. The problem is that many people are buying icing when they haven't built the cake. So in future episodes, we'll discuss affordable supplements that may Offer value and that have proven been proven with research to actually work on health span and lifespan. We'll talk about what might be worth considering. We'll talk about what probably isn't worth your money, and we'll focus heavily on cost-effective strategies for supplements and what to do about that. Because longevity shouldn't be reserved for the wealthy. Everyone should be able to get that. And you know, 85%, 90%, 95% even is affordable or free. So what about testing? Let's talk about testing. Again, can it be useful? Absolutely. Blood work can identify deficiencies. Testing can help guide decisions. Testing can provide valuable information. But information without action doesn't create results. The best testing in the world won't help if nothing changes afterward. For most people, improving sleep, movement, nutrition, strength, and stress management will create more benefit than chasing advanced testing every few months. Again, foundation first, optimization second. So I love testing. I think testing is awesome. I love scientific data. I love having things that we can check on down the road and see how we've improved. Markers, in other words, key indicators of performance, kips. But depending on the person that I have is a client, sometimes I don't even order testing initially. And the reason for that is because they're too focused on that. And they haven't changed any habits in their life at all. So why would I change why would I order all of the testing when I can't get them to consistently change any habits? So it's on a client-by-client basis, but I I don't like to order testing if we don't have to. And once we order testing initially, then the only testing you should be really ordering after that or getting after that is the tests that were off or not within normal limits. So if you order 50 tests, 10 of those come back with abnormal results. Those are the only tests you should order on your follow-up. You don't need to order those 50 tests again. And unfortunately, a lot of clinics order those 50 tests plus some again. So just be cautious in what your testing does and make sure when the testing does come back, you make the changes that you need to make to make those tests turn into more positive results for you the next time you test. The longevity mindset. So here's the biggest shift I want you to make. Stop asking what is the newest thing and start asking what is the most effective thing. Those are not always the same. The newest thing gets attention, the effective thing gets results. Longevity is not built through occasional heroic efforts, it's built through repeatedly repeated daily behaviors with consistency. The walk, the workout, the healthy meal, the bedtime, the conversation with a friend, the decision to keep showing up over and over again, year after year. That's where the magic happens. A challenge for this week. This is what I want to kind of end with. So before we finish today's episode, I want to give you a challenge. Pick one longevity habit, just one, not 10, not 20, one, and you'll think, okay, I can do more than one. I want you to do it consistently, so choose one. Make it easy so you do it consistently every single day. So choose one. Maybe it's a daily walk, maybe it's getting to bed 30 minutes earlier, maybe it's eating protein at breakfast, maybe it's lifting weights twice this week. Choose one and do it every single day of this week. And then notice how you feel. Because longevity isn't built in a laboratory, it's built in your daily life and the habits that you do. So that's what I want you to remember. Remember the five things that we talked about at the beginning. And remember that when we chase longevity, it's not just how long we live, it's how healthy we live those years. I want you to start thinking about that. I want you to choose a habit that you're going to do every single day this week. And again, my email is involved is in the description of the show. Please email me how those habits go and what you chose to do this week. If you've enjoyed today's episode, make sure you subscribe so you don't miss future episodes. Over the next several weeks, we'll we're going to dive deep into longevity on a budget. We'll discuss affordable supplements, low-cost testing, exercise strategies, nutrition principles, muscle building after 40, VO2 Max, mobility, recovery, sleep, and stress management, and the simple habits that provide the biggest return on your investment. And remember this: you do not need to spend thousands and thousands of dollars per month to improve your health. What you do need to do, you do not need, you don't need to spend thousands of dollars. You need to do consistent habits over time. You do not need a celebrity budget to increase your lifespan and health span. You just need the willingness to master the fundamentals and the basics. Remember, small habits, big life. I'm Dr. J, Director of Human Performance for Infinite Health and Nutrition. Thanks for listening to the Prime 40 Plus Podcast. I will see you next time.