Young Forever – The New Science of Aging Well

In Young Forever, Dr. Mark Hyman reveals how lifestyle, nutrition, and cutting-edge science can help you feel younger for longer. This episode unpacks his personalised, practical approach to longevity.

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Welcome to the Deep Dive. Today we're plunging head first
into an idea so revolutionary itcould fundamentally redefine
your future. What if the inevitable decline
of aging, you know, the chronic diseases, the slow fate of
vitality, that creeping feeling of getting old isn't actually
inevitable at all? What if we can not only add

(00:22):
years to our lives, but dramatically more life to those
years? That's the key, isn't it?
Not just existing longer. Exactly.
We're talking about genuinely thriving, bursting with energy
and staying as sharp as a tack well into what we currently
label old age. It's more than a shift in
perspective, it's a radical re evaluation.
Instead of just accepting the sort of downhill slide into

(00:44):
sickness and frailty, we're exploring the very real
possibility of maintaining peak performance and vibrant health
far, far longer than most of us have ever dared to imagine.
And that, right there, is why we're taking a deep dive into
Doctor Mark Hyman's groundbreaking book, Young
Forever the Secrets to living your longest, healthiest life.
A really fascinating read. Totally.
This isn't just another health book.

(01:05):
It's like a complete blueprint for transforming how we
understand an experience aging itself, right?
So our mission for you, our fantastic listener in this deep
dive, is to unpack Dr. Hyman, score arguments, peel back the
layers of scientific discovery, and present you with a shortcut

(01:25):
to understanding the cutting edge science of longevity.
And crucially, how to apply. It yes.
More importantly, we're going toshow you how to actually apply
these insights in your own life with some surprising facts and,
we hope, just enough humor to keep you hooked.
Get ready for some genuine aha moments that could really change
the trajectory of your health. It's remarkable how the author

(01:45):
challenges conventional medical wisdom right from the start.
He suggests that traditional medicine you know, with its
focus on treating individual diseases as they arrive.
Right, the symptom based approach.
Exactly. It might be missing the vast
interconnected forest for the trees.
When it comes to aging, it's notjust about managing symptoms,
it's about understanding and then potentially reversing the

(02:07):
underlying processes that Dr. Aging itself.
Precisely, we're going to explore exactly why that
traditional approach might be, shall we say, a little behind
the times. We'll then dive deep into what
biological age actually means for you, the individual, and why
it's so much more important thanyour chronological birthday.
That's a big one. Huge.

(02:28):
We'll even travel virtually to some real world longevity
hotspots where people are already, without even
consciously trying, cracking thecode.
New zones, fascinating stuff. And then for the actionable
part, we'll layout practical steps and even some mind blowing
cutting edge therapies from the book that are available right
now. So let's begin this journey.
Let's do it. OK, Let's start by radically

(02:50):
redefining aging. The book opens with a pretty
sobering picture of what gettingold typically looks like in our
modern society. Yeah, it's not exactly Rosie.
Not at all those so-called golden years.
We all idealize those retirementdreams.
Well, Doctor Hyman paints a picture where they often
coincide with struggle and sickness.
It's a bit of a myth, isn't it? It really seems that way for

(03:11):
many, he said. Some stark numbers.
He does. An astonishing One in six
Americans already battles a chronic disease, and for older
adults, it's truly alarming. 80%have at least one and a whopping
68% are managing 2 or more. Wow.
Two or more? Yeah.
When you put it that way, it's no wonder so few people actually

(03:33):
want to live to be 100. The current reality often sounds
less like a golden age and more like, well, a period of managing
decline. This really forces us to
question our fundamental assumptions.
We've been conditioned, sort of,to believe that dysfunction,
disease and eventually death arejust inevitable companions to
growing older. Right.
Like it's just part of the deal.But the author with a profound

(03:56):
quote from Albert Einstein. You know the one about wanting
to know God's thoughts, not justthe phenomena.
Arrest your details. Love that.
Exactly. It sets the stage for a much
deeper inquiry. He's urging us to look beyond
the surface level symptoms of aging and truly understand the
why behind it. What are the core mechanisms
that drive this decline? And here's where the perspective
truly shifts in a surprising, almost counter intuitive way.

(04:20):
If I asked you what the single biggest risk factor for death
was in our society, you'd probably immediately think of
heart disease or cancer, right? Absolutely.
They get all the attention. They dominate headlines,
research and our fears. But the book reveals something
astonishing. Even if we completely eradicated
both heart disease and cancer from the planet tomorrow, the

(04:41):
average human lifespan would only increase by a mere five to
seven years. Only five to seven.
That statistic is incredibly telling, isn't it?
It blew my mind. It means that while those
diseases are devastating, they aren't the primary drivers of
our limited lifespans. The true biggest risk factor, as
the author meticulously demonstrates, isn't a specific

(05:01):
disease, but aging itself. Aging itself the process, yes.
To put it in stark terms, smoking increases your risk of
cancer fivefold. OK, bad.
But aging? Aging increases your risk of
cancer fiftyfold. Fiftyfold.
This isn't just a process. It's the underlying condition
that amplifies virtually all other risks.

(05:22):
It compels us to fundamentally reframe the problem.
Aging itself is potentially A treatable condition, not merely
an unavoidable fate we must passively accept.
Fiftyfold. That's a number that really
stops you in your tracks. It throws out so many of our
ingrained assumptions about health and mortality.
Definitely. And this revolutionary idea

(05:43):
brings us directly to a crucial concept, biological age versus
chronological age. Your birthday, your
chronological age, is just a number on a calendar.
Isn't it pretty? Much fixed, yeah.
I mean, I certainly can't changethe year I was born, unless, as
the author playfully notes, I somehow figure out Einstein's
laws of relativity and take a super fast trip far out into
space only to return younger than everyone I left behind.

(06:06):
Wouldn't that be something? But my biological age, that's a
totally different story. Indeed, your chronological age
is a fixed point in time, a meretally of years since your birth.
But your biological age is profoundly dynamic.
It's a true measure of how well your body systems were actually
functioning at a cellular and molecular.
Level right how old your cells really are.

(06:29):
Precisely, and here's the empowering part.
It can accelerate rapidly due topoor choices, or it can
significantly reverse based on the positive inputs you provide
to your biology. OK, so we have some control.
A lot of control, potentially. The book uses a fantastic
analogy to explain one of the key biological markers that
determines this telomeres. The classic shoelace analogy.

(06:52):
I find this one incredibly helpful for visualization.
Me too, just clicks. Doctor Hyman describes telomeres
as protective little caps, like the plastic tip at the end of
your shoelaces that prevents them from unraveling.
Exactly. So imagine your DNA as a whole
bunch of shoelaces. As we chronologically age, or as
we expose ourselves to things that accelerate aging, these

(07:13):
telomere caps naturally shorten with each cell division.
They get worn down. And eventually, just like a
shoelace that loses its tip, your DNA shoelaces begin to fray
and unravel, and that's when cellular function really starts
to decline, leading to all sortsof age-related issues.
And this is where the science takes a truly exciting turn.
Elizabeth Blackburn, who won a Nobel Prize for her work.

(07:33):
Right on telomerase. Yes, she discovered telomerase,
an enzyme that literally helps to lengthen telomeres.
But the real breakthrough, the part that gives us agency, is
your subsequent finding. Healthy diet and lifestyle
choices can actively increase telomerase activity.
Wow, so you can actually rebuildthem?
That's the implication. This means you can, through your

(07:56):
daily habits, encourage your body to rebuild and lengthen
those protective caps, leading to longer telomeres and
potentially a longer, healthier life.
That's amazing. Doctor Hyman himself shared a
personal example that at 58, hisown telomeres tested at a
biological age of 39. Yet out 39. 39 This powerfully
illustrates that your daily choices, from the food you eat

(08:19):
to the sleep you get, are constantly impacting your
cellular shoelace health. You're either fraying them
faster or helping them stay robust.
So it's not just about what genes you inherited, it's about
how you play the hand you were dealt.
It's like every choice you make throughout the day is a tiny
little whisper to your cells. Yeah, telling them which way to
go. Telling them to either unravel

(08:39):
faster or stay tightly bound. But telomeres are just one part
of the story. The book then introduces another
brilliant analogy to explain epigenetics, which is like the
software of your DNA. Exactly.
Think of your DNA as the computer hardware.
It's the fundamental code, largely fixed and short of
emerging gene editing technologies.

(09:00):
You can't change that underlyingstructure.
OK, the hardware is set. But the Epigenome?
That's the dynamic, mutable software that runs your entire
life program, telling your hardware precisely what to do
and when to do do it. It's where environmental and
lifestyle inputs exert their profound influence.
The keyboard of life analogy. I love how accessible that makes

(09:20):
it. It's great, right?
Imagine your epigenome as the keys on a piano or a computer
keyboard. You have all these potential
keys, the genes in your DNA. If you make poor choices, you
might be typing gibberish leading to cellular chaos and
disease. Random noise.
But with optimal choices, you can write a Nobel Prize winning

(09:41):
novel or the greatest love poem in history.
Those keystrokes are biochemicalsignals, things like DNA
methylation, adding or removing tiny chemical tags to your DNA
that effectively turn genes on or off.
This brings up an incredibly empowering point, the sheer
level of control we have over this software.

(10:01):
The book emphasizes that your Epigenome is profoundly
influenced by almost everything you do, eat, and experience.
Everything. Like, really everything.
Pretty much a single healthy meal, a simple 20 minute run,
even the act of cuddling all canchange your epigenetics.
The author even references fascinating studies showing that
babies who don't receive enough love and nurturing can

(10:21):
experience developmental delays and lower IQ's due to these very
epigenetic changes. That's profound.
It really highlights the holistic impact of everything
from the food you choose to the toxins you encounter to the
quality of your relationship. Absolutely.
It's all interconnected. So it really is a game changer.
It's not just about what genes you inherited, it's about how

(10:42):
you program them. Exactly.
You're the programmer. The ultimate goal then is to
optimize this DNA methylation, essentially turning off genes
that promote inflammation and disease and turning on
protective genes like tumor suppressors.
It's like rewriting your personal book of life for
abundant energy, vibrant health and a long, active, disease free

(11:04):
existence. That's an incredibly empowering
thought when you realize you hold the pen.
OK, now you might be asking yourself, if aging isn't
necessarily inevitable, and our biological age is so wonderful
fluid, what exactly is going wrong for most of us?
What's causing this widespread decline?
Good question. Where does the book point?
This brings us to the core of Doctor Hyman's approach,

(11:24):
functional medicine. He shares his own incredibly
challenging personal journey over 30 years battling chronic
fatigue Syndrome, mercury toxicity, mold exposure, Lyme
disease, autoimmune disease, andeven complications from back
surgery. Wow, he really went through it.
He did. He explains how he eventually
learned to heal himself by obsessively addressing the root

(11:46):
causes of his illness, which he describes as nothing less than a
new medical paradigm. What's truly revolutionary about
this approach is how the book argues that conventional
medicine, despite its undeniablestrengths and acute care, is
often based on outdated notions of disease.
How so? It primarily describes symptoms
and then treats those symptoms with medication.

(12:06):
Functional medicine, by contrast, turns medicine upside
down. Instead of just chasing
symptoms, it meticulously diagnosis and treats the
fundamental root causes of illness and accelerated aging.
Things like our diet, our lifestyle, our environment, and
our thoughts. It focuses on the whole system
in the interconnectedness of our7 core biological systems.
It's a fundamental paradigm shift.

(12:28):
Conventional medicine often feels like a highly skilled
mechanic treating individual warning lights on your car's
dashboard. Engine light is on?
Here's a pill for that. Right, just mask the light.
Functional medicine asks why is the engine light on in the 1st
place? What's going on under the hood?
Deeper investigation. And the author perfectly
captures the difficulty of this shift by quoting Max Planck, the

(12:50):
famous physicist who said a new scientific truth does not
triumph by convincing its opponents, but rather because
its opponents eventually die. A bit grim, but probably true
sometimes. Doctor Hyman expresses a wish
for faster change, emphasizing just how hard it is to shift
deeply entrenched paradigms, like convincing people the Earth

(13:11):
wasn't flat or that natural selection was real.
But he believes this revolution in medicine is absolutely
imperative to halt what he callsthe juggernaut of chronic
disease that's overwhelming our society.
To extend on that, the information theory of aging
suggests that disease and accelerated aging come from
corrupted information in our biological networks, much like
like a computer with damaged software code.

(13:33):
OK, like bad code running the system.
Exactly, Functional medicine's profound goal is to identify and
repair this software code and reactivate our bodies innate
incredible healing capabilities.I like that idea of innate
healing. Think of your body like a house
undergoing a major remodel. First you have to demo the old

(13:53):
damage for dysfunctional parts. Then, and only then, can you
begin to rebuild and renew. Demo first, then rebuild.
Makes sense? Our bodies possess built in, do
more cycling and renew a construction systems.
The tragedy is that our modern lifestyle systematically impedes
both processes. Functional medicine then
provides the sophisticated blueprint to optimize both

(14:14):
breakdown and renewal, allowing for robust health even into
centenarian age. That house remodel analogy is
incredibly insightful. It gives you a really clear,
relatable picture of what's happening at a cellular level.
Yeah, it makes it tangible. So given all these
interconnected systems, what's the single biggest culprit?
The master conductor of this Symphony of decline, according

(14:34):
to Doctor Hyman. Where does he point the finger
most strongly? He points it squarely at insulin
resist distance and our modern diet.
This, he says, is the big one. It's a powerful connection he
makes. What do seemingly disparate
conditions like Alzheimer's, heart disease, cancer, diabetes,
obesity, infertility and even depression have in common?

(14:56):
I. Don't know what?
The book makes an incredibly compelling case that they can
all, at their core, stem from blood sugar imbalance and it's
insidious cousin, insulin resistance.
All of those. Really.
That's the argument. What's even more sobering, and
frankly a bit infuriating, is that this problem effects over 9
out of 10 Americans. 9 out of 10.
And it's nearly 100% reversible through dietary changes alone.

(15:19):
Imagine that impact. 9 out of 10.
That's practically everyone listening right now, and it's
largely driven by what the author vividly describes as the
sugar cascade. Explain that cascade.
When you eat starches and sugars, and we're talking about
everything from bread, pasta andcrackers to desserts, sodas,
white rice and potatoes, your pancreas springs into action,
releasing insulin. OK, Insulin's job is to act like

(15:42):
a key, unlocking your cells to move that sugar from your
bloodstream into your cells for energy.
The more you eat, the more insulin.
Right supply and demand. And over time, your cells get
tired of listening. They become resistant to insulin
signal, needing more and more ofit just to do the same job.
It's like trying to get a teenager to clean their room.
Eventually you have to yell louder and louder.

(16:04):
Great analogy. The cells just tune it out.
Exactly. And here's where the cascade
truly becomes harmful. These perpetually high insulin
levels lead to a domino effect of negative health consequences.
It's not just about blood sugar anymore.
OK, what else happens? You start storing dangerous
belly fat. You lose crucial muscle mass.
You experience increased hunger and insatiable cravings.

(16:25):
Systemic inflammation goes wild.Blood pressure rises.
Your cholesterol profiles worsen.
You can develop fatty liver disease, altered sex hormones,
bouts of depression, memory loss, increased blood clotting,
and ultimately, it's a direct pathway to type 2 diabetes,
heart attacks, strokes, dementiaand various cancers.

(16:45):
It. Truly is a full body assault.
The book highlights that when wetreat each of these conditions
separately with medication, we're often missing the entire
point. Right, treating the symptoms
again. Such treatments often become
unnecessary if we simply reversethe underlying insulin
resistance. Doctor Hyman sees these
conditions not as isolated problems, but as branches on a

(17:07):
tree with the same roots and trunk.
Love that image. Functional medicine, then, is
about treating the soil and roots of that tree, rather than
just pruning the diseased branches.
Getting to the source. So if Doctor Hyman could
prescribe just one single intervention to everyone, he
emphatically states it would be to dramatically reduce or
eliminate sugar and refine starch from your diet.

(17:28):
That truly emphasizes the power of food, which the book calls
the Master controller, the conductor of these longevity
pathways. The conductor.
Interesting. It goes beyond simply thinking
of food as protein, carbs and fats.
It's about the astonishing 25,000 phytochemicals, these
incredible plant signaling molecules that beneficially act
on our longevity switches. 25,000.

(17:50):
Yeah, literally turning on genesthat promote health and turning
off those that promote disease. The lack of these essential
compounds in our modern diet is,according to the book, a primary
cause of what the author calls long latency deficiency diseases
like heart disease, cancer, diabetes, dementia and,
crucially, accelerated aging. Long latency deficiency, meaning

(18:12):
it takes a while for the damage to show up.
Exactly. It builds over time.
This really underscores the profound impact of every single
thing we choose to put into our bodies.
It truly does. It transforms eating from a
simple act of consumption into an act of profound self-care
where every every bite is eitherfueling health or fueling
disease. And all these systems, as the
book outlines, work together in a delicate balance.

(18:35):
To be healthy and avoid what he calls the hallmarks of aging, we
need to optimize our 7 core biological networks.
Let's start with the first one which I find particularly
fascinating, gut health and the microbiome.
Ah yes, the inner garden medicine.
For a long time, view the gut asjust a simple tube for
digestion, A somewhat passive organ.

(18:56):
Just a pipe basically, right? But what's truly astonishing
here is that the author now identifies it as potentially the
most important organ in your body.
It's an intricate ecosystem, a magical Kingdom of microbes
orchestrating nearly every biological function, from our
immune system to our mood, our metabolism, and even our
longevity. A magical Kingdom where you're
only 1% human? That's a wild thought.

(19:18):
Isn't it mind bending? The book states your gut has as
many bacterial cells as your body has human cells, with over
1000 different species and 100 times your DNA 100 times.
And here's a real picker 1/3 to 1/2 of all your blood
metabolites, those compounds that determine your metabolic
health, actually come directly from your gut bacteria.

(19:40):
So our microbes are literally feeding us information.
Totally. So Simply put, good bugs bring
health and bad bugs bring disease.
It's like having billions of tiny internal chefs and what
they cook up directly impacts your well-being.
This brings to mind a fascinating historical insight
shared in the book predating modern science by decades.

(20:01):
Ellie Meschnikoff, a Nobel Prizewinner in 19 O.
Eight way back. Then, way back, he was perhaps
the first to truly notice the profound link between gut
microbes, health and longevity. He did this by studying
centenarians in the Balkans who regularly consumed fermented
yogurt. By observation.
Exactly. He even posited, incredibly
prationally, that gut bacteria leaking across the intestinal

(20:23):
lining, what we now call leaky gut, led to inflammation and
chronic disease. He figured that out in 19 O 8.
Apparently so. While his ideas were dismissed
for a time, his work truly lead the intellectual foundation for
today's exploding microbiome revolution.
It's incredible how that ancientwisdom, observed simply through
lifestyle, is being validated byour most cutting edge modern

(20:44):
science, isn't it? It really is.
The convergence is remarkable. The book points out that the
wrong foods create havoc in thismagical Kingdom, directly
feeding the bad bugs and gluten,especially our modern hybridized
dwarf wheat, is identified as a big offender.
Even for non Celia. He argues it can disrupt gut
function and contribute to leakygut, where the intestinal lining

(21:06):
becomes permeable even in peoplewho don't have a diagnosed
celiac sensitivity. Interesting.
So how do you nourish this vitalinner garden then?
Good question. The key, as the book explains,
is to feed the good bugs with prebiotics.
That's a diverse array of fiber rich foods like colorful
vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds,whole grains, and beans.
They're good stuff. Think of powerhouses like

(21:28):
avocados, artichokes, asparagus,all sorts of berries, peas, chia
seeds and pistachios. And then equally important are
probiotic rich foods, which are traditional fermented foods like
sauerkraut, authentic Pickles, tempeh, miso, natto and kimchi.
Reseeding in the garden. Exactly, these literally reseed
your gut with beneficial bacteria.
And here's where it gets really exciting.

(21:50):
Diving even deeper into the microbiome, the book talks about
polyphenol powerhouses. Polyphenols.
Those are in colorful plants, right?
Yes, these vibrant, colorful phytonutrients found in plants
aren't just good for you. They specifically feed the good
critters in your gut. For example, there's a
particular beneficial bacterium called Acermansia muciniphila.

(22:12):
Acermansia sounds fancy. It is, and it absolutely thrives
on polyphenols found in cranberries, pomegranates, and
green tea. When you have an abundance of
this good bug, it creates A protective mucus layer in your
gut, acting like a shield. Like a gut bodyguard.
Pretty much. This could prevent leaky gut,
autoimmune disease, heart disease, diabetes and even,
astonishingly, aid in cancer immunotherapy.

(22:35):
Wait help with cancer treatment?That's what the research
suggests. The book provocatively suggests
part of the cure for cancer might be feeding acromancia.
Think about that for a second. A specific gut bug nourished by
specific plant compounds playinga role in battling cancer.
It's mind bending. That truly highlights the
intricate connection between diet and disease at a micro

(22:56):
level. It's just incredible.
It really is. This also brings up an important
point about food sensitivities, which are often subtle triggers
of inflammation in the body, distinct from full blown
allergies. Right, not like anaphylaxis, but
low grade reactions. Exactly.
The author highlights that an elimination diet like his blood
sugar Solution 10 Day Detox Dietcan yield profound, almost

(23:18):
immediate health benefits. In trials with thousands of
participants, they saw an average symptom reduction of
nearly 70% in just ten days by simply removing common
inflammatory foods. 70% in 10 days.
That's not just significant, that's life changing for many
people. It's a powerful testament to the
body's ability to heal once the inflammatory burden is lifted.

(23:39):
OK, moving from our inner gardento what can sometimes feel like
an inner wildfire, let's talk about the immune system and
inflammation or with the book terms inflammaging.
Inflammaging. Good term.
It's a bit of a biological paradox, isn't it?
We have this incredibly robust and agile immune system when
we're young, but it seems to weaken and become more chaotic

(24:00):
as we age. It's a biological trade off,
what the book refers to as antagonistic pleiotropy, where
something beneficial in youth can become detrimental later in
life. OK, so it backfires later.
On In a way, yes, our powerful immune system, when perpetually
activated by modern stressors, starts to turn on itself.

(24:21):
Inflammation, as the author states, accelerates in what is
called a feed forward cycle. It is like a wildfire that
spread throughout the body, wreaking havoc on every cell and
organ. A.
Wildfire. That's a scary image.
And compounding this, zombie cells, senescent cells that
accumulate with age and stubbornly refuse to die, also
contribute significantly to thisincreased chronic inflammation,

(24:42):
constantly fanning the flames. Zombie cells.
Great name. So Doctor Hyman sees himself as
an inflammologist, which I thinkis a brilliant, highly
descriptive term. It is.
He's focused on the fire. He's not just interested in
shutting down the fire, he's obsessed with rooting out its
source and the primary driver ofthis internal wildfire,
Unsurprisingly. Let me guess, are modern pro

(25:05):
inflammatory diet, high in sugarand refined starch, severely
lacking in fiber, swimming in refined industrial seed oils,
and profoundly pouring critical nutrients and phytonutrients?
The usual suspects. But it's not just food.
He points to the cocktail of environmental chemicals, an
astonishing 84,000 introduced since the industrial revolution,

(25:26):
with less than 1% ever tested for long term safety. 84,000
that's insane. Add to that heavy metals like
mercury from fish, lead from oldpaint and gasoline, arsenic in
our water, they all create a perfect storm of inflammatory
triggers. So.
It's coming at us from all angles.
Pretty much. And let's not forget the silent
drivers, chronic psychological stress and pervasive lack of

(25:47):
sleep endemic in our overworked,under loved culture, which also
pour fuel on that internal fire.It's clear that managing
inflammation isn't about poppingan anti-inflammatory pill.
It's about a multi pronged, holistic approach that addresses
your diet, cleans up your environment and crucially, calms
your mental and emotional landscape.
Yeah, you have to tackle it all.This really compels us to

(26:10):
consider how our entire daily existence, from our commute to
our screen time, might be contributing to this chronic
internal fire. It's a sobering thought that our
bodies are literally Catching Fire internally.
And Speaking of internal systems, let's move on to
hormones, the body's Symphony Orchestra.

(26:30):
The messengers. When these crucial chemical
messengers are out of tune, everything feels off.
You feel bad, you get sick, and you inevitably age faster.
They're the conductors of our bodily functions.
The book identifies what Doctor Hyman provocatively calls the
Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse of Aging when it comes to
hormonal imbalance. Oh boy, who are they?
Chronically high insulin, which we've already discussed.

(26:51):
Low thyroid function. Perpetually elevated cortisol,
the stress hormone, and declining sex hormones like
testosterone, estrogen and progesterone.
The BIG4. He states quite accurately that
modern life is mostly a disasterfor our hormones.
From chemical exposures to chronic stress and poor diet,
we're constantly disrupting their delicate balance.

(27:12):
I mean, that sounds about right,doesn't it?
A hormonal disaster. The book points out that tuning
up your thyroid is absolutely key to a long, healthy life, as
it controls metabolism in every cell.
Super important. It requires specific nutrients
like the amino acid tyrosine, selenium, vitamin D and iodine.
But here's a surprising practical tip.

(27:33):
Be careful with too many raw kale smoothies.
Really, Kale? Because raw cruciferous
vegetables can actually block thyroid function in excess.
It's a classic example of how even healthy foods need to be
consumed in balance and context.Who knew that your superfood
smoothie could actually be working against you?
That's a great example of nuanceand nutrition.
It's not always simple. Not at all.

(27:54):
And while shifts in sex hormoneslike estrogen and testosterone
are a normal part of the aging process, the book highlights
that these changes are often dramatically exacerbated by our
modern diet, sedentary lifestyle, and the relentless
onslaught of hormone disrupting toxins in our environment.
So modern life makes it worse. Seems so.

(28:15):
Optimizing these hormones through natural means as much as
possible is essential to feelingand being strong, active, and
even sexually active throughout your whole life.
It's about more than just libido.
It's about energy, vitality, muscle mass and cognitive
function. Which brings us neatly to
circulation and transportation, the body's intricate Rd.
network. The highways and byways.

(28:36):
The book makes it abundantly clear if your blood vessels,
your body's highways and byways are sick and damaged, then so
too are your heart, your brain, and virtually every other organ
and system in your body. Makes sense.
Delivery system breakdown. Many of the hallmarks of aging,
from chronic inflammation to damaged proteins and insulin
resistance, directly injure these vessels, leading to heart

(28:58):
disease, heart attacks, high blood pressure, strokes,
amputations and even the cognitive decline that precedes
dementia. And this challenge is a long
held medical belief. We've been so singularly focused
on cholesterol as the primary culprit for heart disease.
Right, the cholesterol obsession.
But, the book states emphatically, cholesterol is not

(29:18):
the problem. Heart disease is largely caused
by insulin resistance. Back to insulin resistance
again. It keeps coming back.
This re emphasizes the foundational role of diet and
metabolism. It also critiques the
traditional medical approach that often focuses on
interventions like bypass operations, angioplasty or
statin medications, none of which fundamentally addressed

(29:39):
the root causes of arterial damage.
So it's like patching potholes instead of fixing the broken
foundation of the entire Rd. system.
Exactly that, a temporary fix, not a root cause solution.
That's a huge, crucial shift in perspective.
And then there's the lymphatic system, which the book calls our
other transport system. The unsung hero.
Kind of. This vital network is often

(29:59):
neglected in conventional discussions about circulation,
but it's absolutely crucial for clearing metabolic waste,
absorbing dietary fats, and playing a key role in fighting
infection and even cancer. It's like the waste removal crew
of our internal plumbing. Super important, but often
overlooked. To connect this to the bigger
picture, the lymphatic system, much like the rest of our body,

(30:22):
is impaired by the usual suspects.
Processed foods, excessive dairy, sugar, artificial
sweeteners and excess salt. So the same stuff that messes
everything else up. Pretty much Conversely, it
thrives and is greatly improved by consuming green leafy
vegetables, flax seeds, chia seeds, avocados, garlic, nuts,

(30:42):
seaweed, citrus fruits and cranberries.
Good foods help the cleanup crew.
It's yet another powerful example of how what we eat acts
as either profound medicine or insidious poison for our body's
intricate systems. So food isn't just fuel, it's
literally the maintenance crew for your body's plumbing and
waste disposal. Next up, the structural system,
or as I like to think of it, your body's meat suit.

(31:03):
Your meat suit. I like it.
Your structure isn't just about standing upright and looking
presentable. It's intrinsically about
function, strength and resilience.
Poor quality parts, weak bones, dwindling muscles LED directly
to a poorly functioning, fragilebody.
What's? Particularly striking here is
the emphasis on muscle muscle loss, a condition known as

(31:26):
sarcopenia and bone loss. Osteopenia leading to
osteoporosis are absolutely massive factors in accelerated
aging and loss of independence. Huge factors.
The book powerfully states muscle is metabolism.
Low muscle mass directly translates to a slow metabolism,
dramatically increasing your risk for diabetes, heart
disease, cancer, dementia, inflammation, and overall

(31:49):
accelerated aging. It's a core pillar of longevity.
So building muscle isn't just for looking good at the beach or
for athletic performance. It's directly linked to how fast
you're aging and how healthy andfunctional you'll remain
throughout your life. Absolutely fundamental.
The science is incredibly clear.Combining consistent strength
training with the right quality and quantity of protein can both
preserve and actively build muscle mass at any age.

(32:12):
Any age that's encouraging. Totally, the book states this is
imperative to stay agile, strongand functional well past 100.
And of course, don't forget the fundamental building blocks for
healthy bones and muscles, crucial vitamins and minerals
like DK, calcium and magnesium. Got to have the raw materials
and to connect this to advanced approaches for injuries and the

(32:33):
inevitable wear and tear on our structural system.
The book points to the exciting field of regenerative medicine.
Regenerative medicine sounds cool.
It is. This utilizes cutting edge
therapies like stem cells, exosomes, placental matrix,
ozone and specific peptides to not just patch things up, but to
truly renew and rebuild damaged tissues.

(32:53):
It really shows how far we've come from just putting a cast on
things or doing invasive surgery.
Now we can stimulate the body's own incredible repair
mechanisms. It's pretty amazing, isn't it?
The sheer interconnectedness of all these internal systems.
When one goes off, it creates a ripple effect throughout your
entire being. Definitely a web, not separate
parts. Now let's shift gears and look

(33:14):
at real world examples of peoplewho are, as the book puts it,
already cracking the code of longevity without necessarily
knowing the specific science. We're talking about the famous
Blue Zones. Truly fascinating, Dr. Hyman,
much like explorer Dan Buettner,who's National Geographic
research he references, was on apersonal quest to discover these

(33:34):
rare places where people had achieved unusual longevity and
robust health, often into their 90s and one hundreds, without
the benefit of modern medicine. Right, living long and well.
These Blue Zones are communitiesfound across the globe, boasting
up to 20 times more centenariansthan the US population.
It's like finding hidden treasures of human longevity. 20

(33:54):
times stat alone screams that something profoundly different
is happening there. Absolutely, something's working.
And here's the absolutely crucial point the core insight
from the book When Blue Zone inhabitants move away from their
traditional environments to a more modern, westernized world,
their disease and death rates pretty much mirror everyone
else's. Wow, so it's not the genes?

(34:16):
Exactly. This conclusively proves it's
not primarily about superior genetics.
It's something else, their deeply embedded environment and
lifestyle, that makes them so unique.
It's an incredibly empowering discovery because it means we
can learn from them. This immediately makes you
wonder, what can we learn from their daily lives?
The author vividly describes meeting Carmine, an 84 year old

(34:38):
shepherd in Sardinia, Italy, a quintessential Blue Zone an.
Italian shepherd and sounds romantic.
Well, Carmine on his rust colored panda pulled over
effortlessly for a chat. A simple human scene that the
author knows would be unimaginable in the frenetic
pace of modern America. Too busy here.
Carmine tends his sheep, goats, chickens and pigs amidst ancient

(35:00):
olive orchards, pomegranates, almonds and a sprawling garden.
His life is deeply intertwined with nature and physical
activity. I can just picture that idyllic
scene. A simple diet, a richly textured
life. Carmine's meals include hearty
minestrone soup, likely made from his own garden.
Real food. He lives with his sister, part
of a tightly knit family unit, not isolated.
And what keeps him going? His profound sense of routine.

(35:23):
The beautiful simplicity of his existence, the feeling of being
useful and deeply integrated into his community.
Purpose and connection. And, notably, A deeply curious
mind. The author mentions he was
reading a thick tome on world religions, which led to deep
philosophical conversations about God and even climate
change. At 84.

(35:43):
Love it. And remember, this is an 84 year
old who then hiked effortlessly up and down the mountainside for
three hours. That's not just living longer,
that's living fully. It's a powerful picture of an
integrated life, and the book continues its journey, taking us
to Ekaria, Greece, another Blue Zone where younger generations
are actively preserving ancient traditions.

(36:04):
Yeah, the island where people forget to die, right?
That's the one. Phillip, for instance, makes
wine the ancient way, crushing heirloom Folkiana grapes with
his bare feet, fermenting the juice in buried clay pots.
Bare feet. Wow, old school.
Totally. It's a fragile wine.
Organic only because that is howthey grow the grapes, which
means it's packed with protective phytonutrients,

(36:24):
unlike many modern wines. That sounds absolutely amazing,
a true labor of love. And Philip doesn't stop there.
He also preserves a whole pig leg the traditional way, using
grape leaves, sea salt, a wine wash and smoking it with herbs
to feed his family throughout the entire winter.
Incredible self-sufficiency. It's about self-sufficiency and
respect for the food they sharedwith Doctor Hyman.

(36:46):
Steamed grape leaves, foraged wild mushrooms, fresh goat and
sheep cheese, and bread made from Zee flour.
Zee a flour. What's that?
This is Emerweat, an ancient grain that Alexander the Great
reportedly consumed for strength.
It's high in fiber, double the protein of modern weight, more
magnesium and vitamins abce, andsignificantly lower in gluten.

(37:08):
Sounds like a super grain. The author's take away After
that meal, he left feeling happy, nourished and loved.
It wasn't just about the food, it was the entire experience.
What's truly fascinating here are the undeniable common
threads that weave through all the Blue Zones, forming a
powerful blueprint for longevity.
OK, what are the common threads?Firstly, there's an abundance of

(37:28):
good stuff. Diets.
Rich and whole, unprocessed foods, consistent natural
movement integrated into daily life, and incredibly strong
social connections and communitybonds.
Movement, community, real food. Got it.
And, crucially, there's an almost complete absence of bad
stuff. Processed food is largely
missing, sedentary lifestyles are unheard of, chronic stress

(37:52):
is mitigated by daily rituals, and environmental toxins are far
less prevalent. So more good, less bad.
Sounds simple but hard to do in our world.
It can be. So what does this all mean for
us, living in a modern world that often feels antithetical to
these Blue Zone principles? Yeah, how do we translate this?
The book's empowering conclusionis that while our genes

(38:12):
certainly play a role in our health and lifespan, they play
far less of a role than we had imagined.
Less than we thought. Good news.
The Expo zone, that's everythingwe are exposed to throughout our
lives, our diet, our lifestyle, our environment, our
relationships, our thoughts, determines an astonishing 90% of
our disease and aging risk. 90%,that's huge.

(38:34):
And this is undeniably good news, because it means we have
tremendous power over our healthand lifespan.
As the book so powerfully individually states, your genes
load the gun, but your environment pulls the trigger.
And we have direct control over that trigger.
That's the take away. OK, so we've identified the
problem aging as a treatable disease and we've looked at
inspiring real world solutions from the Blue Zones.

(38:56):
Now let's get into the nitty gritty, the actionable part, the
Young Forever program. Bow to.
This is all about integrating powerful daily habits with
cutting edge science. First, let's tackle diet for
longevity. Food is medicine, not poison.
The book emphasizes with urgent clarity that our modern Western
processed food diet isn't just making us sick, it's a leading

(39:17):
driver of death globally, contributing to an estimated
11,000,000 deaths per year. 11,000,000 just from diet.
It's directly fueling the explosion of chronic diseases
that were rare just 150 years ago.
This calls for nothing less thanan anti-inflammatory revolution
in how we eat. And the author himself, Doctor

(39:38):
Hyman, follows what he calls a Pagan diet, which is a clever
fusion of Paleo and vegan principles.
Pagan. Interesting combo.
It's not about strict rules, buta sensible framework
prioritizing low sugar, low starch, high good fats and high
quality protein. But it goes beyond macro
nutrients. Dr. Hyman highlights specific
plant compounds, those amazing phytochemicals that are like

(40:01):
tiny longevity activators. Activating good genes.
Exactly. We're talking about polyphenols
in coffee, ol European and extravirgin olive oil, resveratrol in
red grape skin, catechins and green tea, and powerful spices
like turmeric and berberine, plus urolithin A from
Pomegranates. Wow, a whole pharmacy implants.
These compounds don't just offerbasic nutrition, they act as

(40:22):
signals activating longevity pathways in your body,
essentially mimicking beneficialstress.
It's like giving your cells a workout, not just feeding.
Them that truly illustrates the intelligence of nature, turning
food into powerful medicine. This brings up an important
question about protein, which isoften misunderstood.
Yeah, protein can be confusing. Paleo says yes.
Some vegans say no, right? The book gives clear guidelines,

(40:45):
emphasizing its critical role asthe currency of muscle.
It suggests aiming for a palm sized piece of animal protein at
every meal, targeting a robust 1.2 to 1.5g per kilogram of body
weight per day if you're active.OK, so quite a bit, especially
if you're active. It also highlights the very real
challenges of a purely plant based diet for adequate protein,

(41:07):
especially for muscle building. For example, getting 30 grams of
protein from plants often requires a massive caloric
intake. Think the six cups of brown rice
for 30 grams of protein, which comes with 12,296 calories,
versus just 4 ounces of chicken providing 271 calories.
Furthermore, plant proteins could be low in crucial amino
acids like leucine, essential for muscle synthesis.

(41:30):
Leucine is key for muscle building, right?
Very key, so combining plant andanimal proteins for those who
choose to is often suggested to optimize protein quality and
ensure complete amino acid profiles.
That's some clear practical mathright there.
It really puts the protein puzzle into perspective.
Helps clarify things. And the author goes a step

(41:51):
further, sharing his personal healthy aging shake recipe.
It sounds like a true longevity powerhouse, designed to activate
all those pathways. What's in it?
Water plant milk, collagen, berries, greens, chia seeds,
walnuts, avocado, mushroom extracts, pomegranate to
cranberry concentrate and matchapowder.
Wow, that's a loaded shake. Totally.

(42:13):
Every single ingredient is chosen for specific synergistic
longevity benefits, like the polyphenols and berries and
pomegranate feeding your microbiome or EGCG from matcha
boosting cellular health. It's a testament to the idea of
food as sophisticated, targeted medicine.
To connect this to the bigger picture, it's about
strategically combining quality protein intake with powerful

(42:34):
habits like time restricted eating Thing at daily 12 to 16
hour overnight fast. Intermittent fasting.
Yes, this isn't just about weight loss.
It helps to silence the MTO pathway, which is linked to
growth, and induce autophagy, which is your body's vital
cellular cleanup and recycling process.
Autophagy. The cellular spring cleaning.

(42:56):
Exactly. Layer on strength training and
you've got a profound muscle building and longevity plan that
addresses multiple hallmarks of aging.
Speaking of strength training, let's talk about moving for
longevity, the nonnegotiable prescription.
Oh. Exercise.
The book has this fantastic, humorous yet stark quote.
Do you want to exercise an hour a day or be dead 24 hours a day?

(43:19):
Puts it bluntly. It really cuts through the
excuses and drives home the point that exercise isn't just
good for you, it's arguably the closest thing we have to a
genuine longevity bill. What's truly comprehensive about
the book's view is the holistic benefits of exercise.
It's not just about burning calories.
Right, it does way more consistent movement, profoundly
improves blood sugar control andinsulin sensitivity, helps with

(43:40):
weight management, boosts cardiovascular health,
dramatically lifts mood and significantly enhances cognitive
function by boosting BDNF. That's brain derived
neurotrophic factor. Miracle growth for the brain.
Essentially, yes, fertilizer foryour brain cells, helping them
grow and connect. It also crucially builds muscle
and bone strength, preventing the frailty that often defines

(44:03):
aging. And yes, it even helps with
libido, which as you said could be a great motivator for some.
So it's a total body and mind reset that hitting almost every
single one of those 7 biologicalsystems.
Much covers all the bases. And the book brilliantly
explains how it works at a cellular level, not just what it
does. Exercise activates AMPK, a
master regulator that essentially tells your cells to

(44:24):
switch from growth and storage to repair and energy production.
Flipping the metabolic switch. It's like hitting a metabolic
reset button. It also inhibits mtor, further
inducing that crucial cellular cleanup process of autophagy.
Plus, it activates Sir twins, a family of proteins involved in
DNA repair and reduced inflammation.
It's like turning on all the good genetic switches.

(44:47):
So it's working on multiple levels simultaneously.
Exactly. The book outlines 3 foundational
pillars of movement. First, boost your VO2 Max.
Oxygen capacity. This is your body's maximal
capacity to use oxygen during exercise, and the book states
the higher it is, the longer youwill live High intensity
interval training, or HIIT. HII, it's very popular.

(45:09):
Where you alternate short burstsof intense activity with periods
of rest is highlighted as the most efficient way to achieve
this. Second, maximize muscle, which
the book calls the currency of healthy aging.
Back to muscle again, so important.
This doesn't require hours in the gym.
It takes as little as 30 minutesthree times a week.
The author himself started consistent weight training at
60, using resistance bands like those in Tom Brady's TV 12

(45:32):
sports program. I had 60.
That's impressive. And he proudly states he's now
more fit and muscular at 63 thanit was at 203040 or 50.
That's truly inspiring and a powerful message about bio
individuality and what's possible.
It's never too late. Never too late and the third
pillar, which is often overlooked but equally vital, is

(45:52):
to get flexible. Mobility.
Yoga in particular is highlighted as the best way to
keep muscles, tendons and ligaments pliable and
functional. This isn't just about touching
your toes, it's about maintaining mobility, agility,
balance, and living a pain free life, all of which are essential
for true longevity and independence.
It really brings home the idea that movement isn't just for the

(46:15):
young or the athletic. It's a non negotiable
prescription for everyone at every age.
Absolutely. What a turn around for Doctor
Hyman, going from chronic illness to being more muscular
in a 60s. So beyond diet and exercise, the
book talks about something called hormesis, embracing
beneficial stress for longevity.Hormesis good stress sounds
counterintuitive. It does.

(46:36):
This isn't about being chronically stressed out all the
time, which we know is detrimental, but about
introducing precise low levels of good stress that actually
make your body stronger and moreresilient.
Hormesis is a remarkable biological phenomenon, a low
level of biological adversity that actually stimulates your
body's repair mechanisms and significantly improves cell

(46:58):
health and resilience. So stressing the system just
enough to make it stronger. Exactly.
This opens up an exciting Ave. for mimicking the benefits of
profound interventions like calorie restriction, which, as
the author points out, if taken to extremes, can leave you
hungry, skinny, tired and frail.Yeah, not exactly thriving.
He tells a slightly amusing story of a Calorie Restriction

(47:19):
Society member who famously ate 5 lbs of celery for breakfast to
adhere to his diet. 5 lbs of celery.
That sounds like a recipe for a very hangry and gassy morning.
Probably. But the good news is science is
finding ingenious ways to mimic those powerful benefits of
calorie restriction without all the suffering.
OK, like what? Strategies include time

(47:41):
restricted eating like those daily 1214 hour overnight fats.
We talked about intermittent fasting, where you eat within a
smaller window a few days a week, and even fascinating
fasting, mimicking diets that trick your body into thinking
it's fasting. Meeting the body.
Clever. Plus, certain powerful
phytochemicals like resveratrol from red grapes, fizzatin from

(48:02):
strawberries, quercetin from apples and onions, EGCG from
green tea, and cumin from turmeric can directly activate
these longevity pathways, givingyou a fasting effect without
giving up your morning meal entirely.
Plants can help mimic fasting. Too cool.
What's particularly compelling about hormesis is how simple,
accessible and often enjoyable therapies can have such profound

(48:24):
effects. For instance, heat therapy,
raising your core body temperature through activities
like saunas, infrared saunas, steam rooms, hot baths or
visiting natural hive springs. Heat therapy.
I like the sound of that. The benefits extend far beyond
just feeling good. They include profound
well-being, improved mood, significant cardiovascular
health benefits. Finished studies show A clear

(48:46):
inverse association between regular sauna use and dementia
and all 'cause mortality. Less dementia?
Wow. And, crucially, enhanced
longevity. It's an easy, cheap, and deeply
rejuvenating strategy to embracebeneficial stress.
So a hot bath could literally beextending your life.
I can definitely get behind that.
Me too. And then there's the powerful

(49:06):
opposite. Cold therapy.
The book delves into a fascinating history, citing
ancient figures like the Roman philosopher Seneca and American
founding father Thomas Jefferson, both of whom extolled
the benefits of cold plunges. Cold plunges getting popular
again. This ancient practice is now
being popularized by modern figures like Wim Hof the Iceman.

(49:28):
The scientific benefits of cold therapy are quite compelling and
diverse. It provides a natural boost to
endorphins, leading to feelings of euphoria.
It significantly strengthens theimmune system, lowers systemic
inflammation, boost metabolism, and contributes to weight loss.
So it burns calories too. Yes, improve circulation and
powerfully stimulates the vagus nerve, which is key to

(49:48):
activating your parasympathetic rest and digest relaxation
response. It also enhances focus, mental
clarity, and boosts dopamine. Dopamine boosts from cold.
Interesting. And here's a cool fact.
It even activates brown fat, a special type of fat that burns
calories to produce heat and energy.
Activating fat to burn fat. Nice.

(50:09):
The author's personal experiencewith ice cold showers in
Vermont, he said he didn't need that cup of coffee afterwards
really drives home the immediatepractical application.
He suggests starting with 1-2 minute cold showers or gradually
working up to 1 to 4 minute coldplunges, potentially
incorporating Wim Hof breathing techniques.
That sounds like quite the invigorating wake up call.

(50:30):
Might have to try it. Maybe start slow.
The book also touches on light therapy, going beyond just the
common concerns about blue lightdisrupting sleep.
It explores how the quality of light we expose ourselves to
profoundly effects our health and lifespan.
Not just quantity, but quality of light.
Right. This includes using blue blocker
glasses at night to minimize sleep disruption and utilizing

(50:52):
red light therapy for boosting cellular energy, enhancing
recovery, and reducing pain and inflammation.
Even smart bulbs that automatically adjust their light
spectrum throughout the day are mentioned as a way to optimize
our light environment. And here's where we dive into
something truly fascinating and for many, a little controversial
Ozone therapy, which the author boldly calls the King of

(51:12):
Hormesis. Ozone.
Isn't that like pollution? That's a common misconception.
The book directly tackles the common fear and misconception
surrounding ozone, offering a brilliant analogy.
It compares medical ozone to water.
Water is deadly if inhaled into the lungs or over drank, but it
is absolutely essential for lifein proper context.

(51:32):
Similarly, medical ozone, when given imprecise, controlled
doses by trained professionals, is vastly different from ambient
atmospheric ozone. It has over 4000 scientific
papers backing its efficacy and safety, with a long history of
global medical use. A German survey even found an
incredibly low side effect incidence of just .000006% per
treatment. That's an astonishingly low

(51:55):
risk, especially when you consider its potential benefits.
Extremely low. Doctor Hyman shares a powerful
personal anecdote about ozone therapy.
It reversed 80% of my symptoms when he was severely I'll with
mold toxicity, autoimmunity, anddebilitating cognitive
dysfunction. 80% from ozone. That's his experience, he
states. It's now a staple of my personal

(52:17):
longevity strategy. It sounds like a truly
transformative therapy, pushing the boundaries of what many
consider conventional medicine. Wow.
OK, so a lot of physical interventions.
Now, beyond all these powerful physical interventions, the book
delves into something equally profound and frankly, often
overlooked, healing our minds, hearts, and spirit.
The inner landscape. It is, in essence, the antidote

(52:38):
to chronic stress, which we knowis a major driver of aging and
disease. Doctor Hyman reminds us that
self-care is not a luxury or optional.
It's absolutely foundational. So true, but so hard for many.
Many of us, including him for much of his life, tend to put
self-care last. But he powerfully states you
cannot live a healthy, happy, fulfilled and long life while

(53:01):
neglecting to nourish your mind and spirit.
In the Blue Zones, for example, rest, relaxation and robust
community connections are not separate activities.
They are central to the very fabric of life.
What's truly compelling here is the extensive scientific backing
for the profound power of connection.
Numerous studies consistently show that strong social

(53:23):
connections, active community engagement, and nurturing
relationships are directly associated with an increased
lifespan, significantly improvedmental health, and better
physical markers like lower blood pressure and reduced
inflammation. So being connected literally
makes you healthier? It's a biological imperative.
Humans are wired for connection.And your mindset matters big
time. The book points out that

(53:43):
consistently ruminating on negative thoughts and emotions
actually decreases lifespan. That's sobering.
While cultivating positive thoughts and gratitude
profoundly improves overall well-being, Doctor Hyman puts it
starkly. Your biology, your cells, your
microbiome. Literally hear your thoughts and
feelings driving inflammation and disease.

(54:04):
Wow, our cells are listening. It's a powerful metaphor.
Imagine your inner dialogue as aconstant broadcast that your
body picks up on, either building you up or tearing you
down. This also leads us to an
incredibly important and often difficult conversation about the
profound impact of trauma, the Adverse Childhood Experiences,
or ACE, questionnaire. The ACE score, I've heard of

(54:26):
that. A tool widely used in public
health measures early childhood trauma.
A high ACE score is powerfully correlated with significantly
increased mortality, with a score of 6 or more potentially
reducing life expectancy by up to 20 years. 20 years just from
childhood experiences. That's the correlation.
It's a staggering impact. Doctor Gabor Mate, a renowned

(54:47):
trauma expert, offers a profoundperspective often cited by
Doctor Hyman. Trauma is not what happens to
us, but the meaning we make fromwhat happens to us.
The meaning we make healing fromtrauma, whether through therapy
or other modalities, is extremely important for both
short and long term health and often requires professional
help. The book provocatively mentions
emerging psychedelic treatments like ketamine, MDMA and

(55:10):
psilocybin assisted therapy, noting their long history in
ancient cultures for healing andthe promising current research
being conducted by organizationslike MAPS. 20 years.
That number alone underscores the immense power of healing our
past to literally extend and enrich our future.
Absolutely critical. The book also circles back to
the beautiful Japanese concept of ikigai.

(55:33):
Ikigai reason for being. Which roughly translates to the
reason for being. It's the sweet spot where 4
elements converge, what you love, what you were good at,
what you can be paid for and what the world needs.
Finding that intersection. The science, again, is
incredibly clear. Those with a strong sense of
meaning and purpose in their lives live longer, healthier

(55:53):
lives, often regardless of otherlifestyle factors.
It's a profound blueprint for a fulfilling existence.
To connect this to practical action, the book suggests that
simple daily practices can help us discover and connect with our
icky guy. Things like consistent gratitude
practice, prioritizing self-care, being of service to
others, joining a vibrant community, and engaging in

(56:14):
regular meditation. Simple things, but powerful.
The book offers concrete ways todeepen your connection to
purpose. Developing a growth mindset.
Creating a personal vision statement.
Practicing altruism, The book humorously notes that the same
brain circuits that get rewardedwith cocaine or heroin are also
stimulated by altruism, which ismuch safer and healthier.

(56:37):
Love that safer and healthier part.
Get high on helping others. Exactly, and transforming your
personal struggles into a sourceof purpose, much like Doctor
Hyman's own journey through chronic illness.
It's about finding what lights you up and contributes to
something larger than yourself. Beautiful.
Last but certainly not least, let's talk about optimizing
sleep for longevity. The brain's daily cleanup.

(56:58):
Sleep, so fundamental, yet so neglected.
Doctor Hyman recounts how duringhis demanding medical training,
sleep was often considered optional, A weakness.
He learned first hand the dangers of sleep deprivation,
and he issues a clear warning. The common notion of I will
sleep when I am dead is actuallya direct recipe for early death.

(57:20):
Yeah, that attitude needs to change.
Sleep is absolutely non negotiable, is essential for
healing, cellular repair, deep cellular cleanup, and ultimately
longevity. Cellular cleanup during sleep,
How does that work? What's truly fascinating here is
the relatively newly discovered brain cleaning system called the
glymphatic system. Think of it as your brain's very

(57:41):
own lymphatic system, a sophisticated plumbing network.
Brain plumbing exactly. It's precisely necessary for
clearing out all the metabolic waste, the cellular debris, and
even potentially harmful proteins like amyloid beta that
accumulate in your brain every single day.
And this system primarily operates while you are asleep.
So if you're not sleeping enough, your brain literally

(58:01):
isn't getting clean. It's like neglecting to take out
the trash in your house for daysor weeks.
Great analogy the gunks just built up.
And the cost of chronic sleep deprivation is alarmingly high.
Studies show that if you consistently sleep a less than 7
hours a night, your risk of death increases by a shocking
24%. 24% increased risk of death.

(58:21):
Yeah, just from lack of sleep. It profoundly impacts every
system, from your metabolism andweight to your mood and critical
cognitive function. The book offers numerous
practical, actionable sleep hacks.
OK, give us some tips. Try to wake and sleep at the
same time every day. Get 20 minutes of morning
sunlight upon waking. Eliminate blue light exposure at

(58:42):
night using blue blocker glassesor red spectrum bulbs.
Engage in regular exercise, but not vigorously right before bed.
Timing matters. Prioritize daily stress
reduction. Try writing down your worries
before bed and consider specificsupplements like magnesium,
melatonin, L theanine and GABA. Even guided relaxation
techniques and binaural beats are suggested to calm the mind

(59:03):
and ease into restorative sleep.Lots of tools in the toolkit
there. Definitely.
Now let's zoom out to the broader landscape of longevity.
The future is now. What Doctor Hyman emphasizes is
that the pace of discovery in this field is not linear.
It is simply exponential. What's truly mind boggling here
is the sheer scale of investmentcurrently pouring into ageing

(59:25):
research. The book highlights massive
private backing with billionaires like Jeff Bezos
through his Altos Labs and Googled through Calico, pouring
literal billions into understanding and reversing
aging. Billions with AB.
Dwarfing traditional NIH budgets.
This isn't linear progress wherewe add one step at a time.
It's exponential. Explain that exponential

(59:46):
difference again. It's wild.
The author uses striking analogies to illustrate this
profound concept. 30 linear steps will only get you 30
meters, a mere walk across a room, but 30 exponential stats
will take you 26 times around the earth. 26 times around the
earth. Or think about money.
If you got $1.00 a day for 30 days, you'd have $30.00.
But if you started with one centand doubled it daily for 30

(01:00:07):
days, you'd have over $10 million. 10 million from a penny
doubled. Our mind struggled to comprehend
the true power of exponential change, he writes.
And that applies directly to thespeed of scientific
breakthroughs and longevity. Wow, that really puts the speed
of scientific advancement into awhole new perspective.
It's almost impossible to grasp.It really is.
And leading researchers in the field are now suggesting we

(01:00:29):
could reach what they call longevity escape velocity in as
little as 15 years. Longevity.
Escape velocity? What's that exactly?
This is the point where science can extend life faster than we
age, meaning we could theoretically keep extending our
lives indefinitely. Indefinitely.
Doctor George Church, a pioneering geneticist from

(01:00:49):
Harvard and MIT, even suggests we may already be there with
significant age-related biomarker reversal demonstrated
in human cells in animal models.This truly sounds like science
fiction becoming rapid fire science fact.
To connect this to the bigger picture for health, it implies A
fundamental shift in how medicine approaches healing.
This new class of therapies isn't merely about blocking or

(01:01:13):
inhibiting disease processes. It actively supports and
enhances the body's natural functioning, much like
probiotics enhance gut health versus antibiotics
indiscriminately killing bacteria.
Supporting instead of just blocking.
I like that. These emerging treatments
include NAD Plus and its precursors like NMN and NR,
which are absolutely essential for cellular energy production,

(01:01:34):
DNA repair, combating inflammation, supporting stress
response, brain connections, andoptimizing mitochondrial
function. NAD plus hear a lot about that
lately. Our natural production of these
critical molecules significantlydecreases with age, making these
precursors among the most exciting potential therapies for
longevity currently being explored.
So we're talking about fueling your cells at a foundational,

(01:01:57):
almost energetic level. The book also mentions
rapamycin, a medication that hasshown promise in inducing
autophagy. That cellular cleanup again.
That crucial cellular cleanup and recycling process we
discussed. Preliminary studies suggest that
very low intermittent doses of rapamycin may have significant
longevity benefits without the risks associated with higher

(01:02:17):
continuous use, and newer rapalogs are being developed
specifically to eliminate side effects.
And this brings up an incrediblyexciting area of regenerative
medicine. The book provocatively refers to
stem cells and exosomes as packets of youth.
Packets of youth, sign me up. Stem cells harvested from
sources like bone marrow or fat have the remarkable ability to

(01:02:38):
regulate the immune system, reduce inflammation and
stimulate profound healing. Exosomes, which are little
packets of growth factors, anti-inflammatory cytokines,
lipids, proteins, DNA and micro RNA produced by stem cells, are
emerging as incredibly importanttherapeutic agents.
Exosomes. So they're like messages from
stem cells? Kind of, yeah.
They are fascinatingly versatile, costing less than

(01:03:00):
stem cells, can be given intravenously, and are noted to
have no side effects. They act as tiny messengers
between cells, dramatically reducing inflammation, crossing
the blood brain barrier to impact neurological function,
improving muscle and brain function, and regulating
cellular cleanup and repair. This is truly cutting edge,
almost futuristic. Dr. Hyman shares a powerful

(01:03:23):
personal success story, having used exosomes to cure his
autoimmune disease, ulcerative colitis, and to heal his chronic
back. Pain.
That's incredible results. He also found them remarkably
effective for persistent post covad fatigue, brain fog and
depression, noting that his symptoms disappeared after only
one treatment. Wow, after one treatment.

(01:03:44):
Yeah, that's incredible. The book also discusses
plasmapheresis, essentially a procedure for cleaning the
blood. Like an oil change for your
blood. Sort of.
A powerful study found that simply cleaning out harmful
factors in old blood could profoundly reverse biological
aging and rejuvenate mice, leading to enhanced muscle
repair and reduced liver fat. This FDA approved procedure,

(01:04:06):
currently used for certain blooddisorders, could one day become
a regular part of health maintenance for longevity.
What's truly compelling here is the idea of actively removing
the bad factors that accumulate with age, rather than just
adding good. Ones yeah, taking out the trash.
Additionally, hyperbaric oxygen therapy or HBOT, the periodic
use of oxygen under pressure in a special chamber, can actually

(01:04:28):
increase telomere length and decrease immuno senescence,
which is the aging and weakeningin the immune system.
HBOT helps telomeres and immunity.
Interesting. And, as we touched on earlier,
the context of trauma, the book reiterates the promising
research into psychedelic treatments like psilocybin,
LSDMDMA in ayahuasca for profound mental, emotional and
spiritual health, noting their long history in ancient cultures

(01:04:51):
and the groundbreaking current clinical research.
It's clear we're on the cusp of something truly revolutionary in
medicine, and to guide all this incredible scientific
advancement, we need better data, right?
Absolutely, measurement is key. The book highlights the absolute
importance of advanced diagnostics and personalized
tracking. For too long, aging research has

(01:05:11):
been hindered by a lack of really good, actionable tests,
but this is rapidly changing. As the book wisely states,
better to know than to pretend all is well.
What's particularly exciting here is the increasing
availability of biological age testing test for telomere
length. Advanced DNA methylation
patterns like those offered by true diagnostic and

(01:05:32):
immunological age or eye age arebecoming more accessible.
So you can actually measure yourbiological age now.
Yes, these tests provide a robust, comprehensive picture of
your true biological health and your personal rate of aging.
And critically, they can be tracked over time, allowing you
to actually see your biological age decrease as a direct result
of the interventions you implement.

(01:05:53):
So you can literally see your biological age go down on a
report. How incredibly motivating is
that? It really provides direct
feedback. And for early disease screening,
the book points to exciting developments like the gallery
liquid biopsy for early cancer detection.
A blood test for cancer screening.
Amazing A simple blood test thatcan screen for multiple cancers
before symptoms even appear. And for heart health, the

(01:06:17):
Clearly Heart Scan is highlighted as a new type of
heart checkup. Unlike traditional stress tests
or simple cholesterol readings, this scan assesses actual damage
to your heart arteries, giving amuch more accurate picture of
risk. Seeing the actual plaque
buildup. The book offers a stark, vital
reminder. What is the first symptom for

(01:06:37):
50% of people who have a heart attack?
Sudden death. These early, precise screenings
are absolutely vital for preventative care.
This also brings up an importantquestion about how we can
monitor our metabolic health more closely on a daily basis.
The book highlights the revolutionary impact of
continuous glucose monitors or CGMS like levels.
And CGMS, yeah, seeing those more often.

(01:06:59):
Given that a staggering 93% of Americans are metabolically
unhealthy, CGMS are becoming crucial tools.
They provide real time data measuring your unique blood
sugar response to different foods and activities.
You see exactly how food effectsyou.
Precisely this helps you identify glucose spikes and
insulin surges that directly drive disease and accelerated

(01:07:21):
aging, allowing for immediate, personalized dietary
adjustments. That's a powerful metric for
everyday health, putting crucialdata directly into your hands.
Absolutely. And finally, the book points to
a comprehensive health panels like Doctor Hyman's Young
Forever Function Health Panel. This includes over 100 lab tests
at a relatively low cost, covering everything from gut

(01:07:42):
health, inflammation, energy andmitochondrial function,
detoxification pathways, hormones, the structural system,
and detailed nutritional status.A really deep dive into your
personal biology. It also includes self-assessment
quizzes to pinpoint areas of concern.
This ensures a truly personalized approach to health,
moving us light years away from generic, one-size-fits-all
medical advice. The era of personalized

(01:08:04):
longevity medicine. Well, we've journeyed through
the incredible, rapidly evolvinglandscape of longevity science
today, from the ancient wisdom practice intuitively in the Blue
Zones to the cutting edge breakthroughs and diagnostics
and therapies that are literallyavailable right now.
It's a lot to take in, but so hopeful.
Doctor Hyman's Young Forever provides a powerful, actionable

(01:08:26):
blueprint, moving us beyond merely treating symptoms to
fundamentally addressing the root causes of aging itself.
What stands out most profoundly to you from this deep dive?
For us, the most empowering message, the one we hope
resonates deepest, is crystal clear.
Biological aging is not just an inevitable passive decline.
Great. It's not fate.
It is unequivocally A treatable condition and you are a valued

(01:08:50):
listener possess immense unprecedented power over your
health span, which means truly putting more vibrant life into
your years and yes, more high quality years into your life.
More life in your years, More years in your life.
Love that Doctor Hyman's ultimate hope, as he beautifully
states, is to unburden humanity from our own baser instincts,
through our ingenuity, creativity, science, and

(01:09:10):
imagination. A lofty goal.
He believes that by healing ourselves, by reclaiming our
inherent vitality, we can fundamentally reclaim our
cooperative, compassionate nature and live in much greater
balance with ourselves and the planet.
The author notes that what was science fiction is now science
fact. What now seems like science
fiction will soon become commonplace.

(01:09:32):
That exponential curve again. Given the astonishing
exponential pace of discovery inaging research, this raises a
truly profound question We'd like to leave you with What
fundamental human limitations might be redefined next that we
can barely even conceive of today?
If aging can be treated, What other boundaries might be

(01:09:53):
pushed? And what exciting, perhaps even
daunting, responsibilities mightcome with such profound
capabilities? A truly mind bending thought to
leave you to Mull over, but for today, we hope you'll consider
just one small, actionable step from this deep dive that truly
resonates with you. Just one thing to start.
Whether it's adjusting one meal to reduce sugar, adding a few
minutes of daily movement, perhaps taking that first

(01:10:14):
invigorating cold shower, or simply carving out dedicated
time for connection and purpose in your day, start your own
young forever drink today. Thanks for diving deep with us.