Why We Age―and Why We Don't Have To

David Sinclair on The Science and Technology of Living Longer

Episode #492

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The goal of any investment and the goal of any business is this: eliminate risk.

People get this wrong all the time. They think, “No risk, no reward.”

That might be true. But encouraging risk is bad.

That’s why when I asked David Sinclair about anti-aging, he kept answering me with disclaimers.

But I want to take the risk.

I want to live longer, have better brain health. I don’t want to get old. Or feel old. Or walk old.

I want to be 22 all over again.

So I had David Sinclair on my podcast. He’s a biologist and a genetics professor at Harvard Medical School. And he just wrote the book, “Lifespan: Why We Age—and Why We Don’t Have To.”

If you know my podcast, you know I always save the dumb questions for last.

I had four:

1. “Do all the billionaires call you for anti-aging injections?” (He said no… because most people don’t realize this technology is here.)

2. Can we use fecal transplants to live longer lives?

3. What’s the role of psychological stress on aging? (“Inflammation is one of the biggest causes of the aging process,” David said.)

4. Is there anything I can do in the fringe to take risks and experiment with longevity? The answer is yes. But it comes with a disclaimer…)

“Alight,” David said. “Since I’m a professor, I’m not recommending, I’m not condoning, I’m not qualified to make recommendations. OK, you got that?”

I did.

So he gave me the answers.

Including his personal regimen.

It’s the same regimen his 80-year-old dad is on. Who hikes rainforests in Uganda with his grandchildren.

“It’s not a clinical trial,” David said. “I’m a Harvard Medical School professor, right? I’m not going to say this is proof of anything. But it is heartwarming. He’s super sharp. He doesn’t walk like an old person. He doesn’t talk like an old person. He doesn’t have the pessimism of an old person. He is, for all intents and purposes, a 30-year-old, running around the world, having a great time.”

David’s goal is to live long enough to see the next century. He wants to be 132 years old.

I’m 51.

I don’t have an age goal.

Yet.

But I’m willing to take the risk. And start today.

And… I should say that David does a great job of explaining which things are harmless. And which things are risky. So you can decide for yourself.

Here’s a list of what we talked about. Including names of supplements, technology and other resources from my interview with Dr. David Sinclair.

 

  • Hear how you can get my new book for free, “Side Hustle Bible.” And learn how to make extra income [0:00]
  • Episode preview [1:06]
  • I welcome David Sinclair to the show.  He recently published the bible for longevity and anti-aging. The book is called, “Lifespan: Why We Age—And Why We Don’t Have To.” [3:30]
  • Why aging should be considered “a very common disease” [5:24]
  • The definition of a disease vs. aging [7:40]
  • How to increase the average lifespan to 100 years old [9:44]
  • Aging is the main cause of cancer, heart disease, etc. [10:29]
  • How to increase your “healthspan,” which is the number of years you live a healthy, high-quality life [10:47]
  • David’s prediction of what the lifespan could be five, 10, 20 years from now. [11:35]
  • Technology’s role anti-aging [13:50]
  • The impact of calorie restriction and NAD cells [16:15]
  • How to speed up your metabolism and have more energy [17:48]
  • The impact of stress on your overall health [19:19]
  • How to activate your longevity genes, give yourself a better immune system and tell your body to fight off cancer, heart disease, etc. [20:29]
  • Lifespan doesn’t have to be capped at 80 or 90. David shares the common mistakes to avoid if you want to increase your chances of living to 110 years old [21:53]
  • How your body measures health… David explains the role of sirtuins [23:56]
  • Where your body gets energy [25:00]
  • How diet and exercise activate sirtuins and help protect your cells better [26:52]
  • The experiment David did with mice that helped him understand calorie restriction [28:13]
  • David talks about his use of resveratrol to boost NADs and sirtuins in the body. He puts a teaspoon in his yogurt every morning [29:02]
  • “Resveratrol is the accelerator pedal that makes the enzyme work faster…  and NAD is the gas. And you need both to have optimal performance.”–David Sinclair [32:05]
  • How your blood sugar levels can indicate your lifespan [32:49]
  • The unbelievable results David has seen with NMNs [36:10]
  • Why we test on mice (one reason is because we share 95% of the same genes) [37:14]
  • Why it might be easier to solve aging than cancer [38:29]
  • Is there a sweet spot for anti-aging? Why young people shouldn’t try to extend their life yet [41:31]
  • A third of David’s colleagues take metformin… How metformin helped mice live longer [43:50]
  • I recap David’s personally anti-aging regimen. This is the same routine David’s dad does to stay fit and sharp at 80..[46:05]
  • David takes his supplements with food because it helps the body digest and absorb the vitamins. [49:21]
  • Why David recommends taking baby aspirin [50:54]
  • I ask David about his chapter on the Yamanaka factors and the success he’s had reversing the aging process with those [52:19]
  • How epigenetics work [53:40]
  • How to tell your biological age [55:46]
  • App recommendation: “Inside Tracker” [56:56]
  • How to reverse the biological clock: Yamanaka factors, artificial stem cell production, partial cellular reprogramming and how to take the age of a cell back to make it young [58:38]
  • I ask David how he can help people heal from serious injuries [1:03:50]
  • “When we damage the body, we see an acceleration of aging. But then, when we turn on those Yamanaka genes, they strip off those lethal chemicals that have accumulated with the aging of the eye and then we can reset the clock going backwards. The eye is actually younger when we read it. And then all the genes that should’ve been on in that old eye come back on.”–David Sinclair [1:04:40]
  • Why the Yamanaka genes switch off as we get older [1:05:13]
  • Dr. Jonas Salk injected himself with the polio vaccine so I ask David if he’s injecting himself with anything to test these theories and findings [1:06:03]
  • Why drugs for aging can’t be prescribed… David says it’s because aging isn’t considered a disease yet [1:07:12]
  • I ask David how many years until we’re regularly dialing back the clock [1:07:47]
  • I ask David if it’s possible to buy these anti-aging drugs now. And where to find them [1:08:49]
  • I ask David about gene editing with CRISPR [1:11:20]
  • The good news… you can’t be too old to get the anti-aging benefits David talks about. You just have to stay alive while the technology develops  [1:12:02]
  • Tests that show women might be able to reverse menopause [1:12:53]
  • How medical research reaches the public [1:13:59]
  • I ask David if he’s ever considered starting a hedge fund to raise money for these technologies [1:16:19]
  • The most depressing part of David’s career [1:17:33]
  • How David bounced back after losing his career. He said “I went back to work.” Then he got his career back [1:20:05]
  • David said, “We are now able to do things that were impossible just two years ago. Or instead of doing them for $1 billion, we can do it for a couple hundred.”  [1:21:30]
  • The challenge of storing information about the genome [1:23:51]
  • How China, the U.K. and the U.S. differ on their genetic experiments [1:24:48]
  • Why we don’t currently have a great understanding of how our genes control our lives [1:26:43]
  • David shares “the important thing he can do in the next few years”  [1:27:44]
  • I ask David if billionaires call him all the time to inject them and reverse their aging. He says no… because most people don’t realize this technology is here [1:28:48]
  • Can fecal transplants be part of anti-aging? [1:30:31]
  • I tell David why he should start a syndicate on AngelList [1:32:58]
  • I list all the things I’m going to start implementing now that I’ve read David’s book, “Lifespan.” [1:32:28]
  • “We’re living in the future.”–David Sinclair [1:33:33]
  • The importance of lowering your inflammation and destressing psychologically. “Inflammation is one of the biggest causes of the aging process.”–David Sinclair [1:34:40]
  • How David has overcome psychological stress over the past 30 years [1:35:29]
  • My final question… is there anything I can do in the fringe to take risks and experiment with longevity? [1:36:15]
  • I thank David for coming on the show and recommend his book, “Lifespan: Why We Age―and Why We Don’t Have To” [1:39:28]

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