Dr. Stephanie Gray 0:04

Welcome to the longevity blueprint podcast. I'm your host, Dr. Stephanie gray. My number one goal with the show is to help you discover your personalized plan to build your dream health and live a longer, happier, truly healthier life. Happy Thanksgiving all I'm so grateful to have been able to launch this your longevity blueprint podcast this year. We've had some incredible guests and as you likely have taken note, I end each episode asking my guests for their top longevity tip. This year, I thought it would be fun to compile all those tips into one episode. So here comes some top longevity tips from my experts thus far in 2020. What would your top longevity to be? And it's okay, if you repeat something you've already said, What's your absolute top longevity tip,

Cynthia Thurlow 0:49

I think the most important thing of all is sleep. It's foundational to our health. I like to remind people that our brains are more active at night than they are during the day. I know people are surprised to hear that. But there's another really cool thing that goes on in our brains called the glymphatic system. And so it requires so much energy. And it's usually activated it within the first four hours of sleeping along with a spike in growth hormone that we were talking about earlier.

That I felt like if you can dial in on sleep, if you can get your sleep just right, you can lose weight, you can thrive, you're able to build muscle, you're able to better balance your hormones, I just think sleep is absolutely positively non negotiable. For anyone that's listening thinks it's okay to say goodbye to four to six hours of sleep. Trust me when I tell you I see a lot of people crash and burn. Because they just don't prioritize it or they go to bed with their iPad every night. They're not wearing blue blockers, you want to be able to thrive, irrespective of what age range you're in. And I think sleep is a great first up.

One of the things that I feel really passionately about, especially with what you and I are seeing just in our patients movement, our bodies were meant to move. We weren't meant to sit at a desk all day and sit at computers. We were meant to move. And I think that movement from a longevity standpoint, I mean it circulates the blood, it cleanses the blood, sweat detoxes the body. So it doesn't have to be a crazy cardio workout every single day, but getting strong maintaining strong. So I'm a big firm believer if we're not moving, if we're not working out and sweating, at least 20 to 30 minutes or two, five days a week are doing harm. And it doesn't cost anything, we can all do it with YouTube. And I mean, there is so much free information out there literally at our fingertips, thanks to technology that we have no excuse not to move. But even just like the mindful emotions of yoga, you know, there's tychy and Qi Gong and even just something as simple as like bouncing on like those little trampolines just to get the body moving.

And from an energy standpoint. So I'm a big believer in that. And thankfully, it was hard when I think as working moms Stephanie and you probably agree that the workouts, especially if you have a kid and you're up in a nursing home and then pump or if you're not pumping, then you're changing diapers or doing laundry, and then you want to shower yourself that like the whole time to work out. You have to either be really, really diligent, but I did I fell off the wagon, you know, working out with the, from the time that I got pregnant with my daughter, tell my son was having a second birthday workouts were not consistent in that part of it. And now, it's not about being fit for me working out, it's about the mental clarity and intermittently stress yourselves with calories, with exercise with temperature, so that they go through a period of mild stress, followed by rest and recovery. You know, there's the typical ones of focusing on nutrition getting good sleep.

I think one that's undervalued is getting enough sunshine. But you know, with longevity, I think it's really one of the things that comes into consideration there is really being proactive instead of reactive about your health. So you don't have to be sick, to take dramatic action to be a healthier person. You don't have to be experiencing acid reflux to give up dairy and gluten. You don't have to be constantly bloated to decide that you're going to eat more vegetables. You don't have to be in a disease state to be interested in services like vitamin C IV, or Infrared Sauna therapy or grounding outside. So yeah, I just think you know, be proactive about it. And the thing is don't don't ignore if you're really looking for longevity.

You don't you want to be proactive. You don't want to be reactive. You don't want to be dealing with a disease state and recovery if you don't have to, you want to be preventing that. And that is really I think what's going to help people live long lives if they're not totally stressed if they're not getting these major diseases and they take an active role in their health. And you know, we see in all the Blue Zones, one of the major scenes is stress relief. So you'll see you'll see these hundred year old people be like I have a shot of whiskey every night before But or you know, something that's not technically good for your health, but it makes them really, really happy. Like, that's an important component of longevity, I think is like being happy and having purpose in your life. And you know, fortunately, with everything that's going on right now, another component is having community and being around people.

So yeah, I think those are all key components. But really, it boils down to being proactive instead of reactive, just be willing to make whatever changes that you need to make whether or not you feel bad or not. It's not about that this cancer didn't start in my body yesterday, it started like 10 years ago, if I had known 10 years ago, when I was bingeing on half gallons of ice cream, that it was going to turn into cancer when I was 32 years old, maybe I would have put that down.

Tom Houle 5:39

I am a geek when it comes to mitochondrial support. So I do actually take more than I probably should, from the mitochondrial complex, but I do oftentimes, and I'm not right now where blue light glasses when it's supposed to be dark out, again, a lot of theory, but I think about the evolution of our of our bodies, you know, we used to not have light, let the sun wake you up. If I'm waking up, when it's dark out, as soon as the sun comes up, you know, I like to look out the window and get some of that natural blue light to get the natural awakening response or trying to follow the sleep wake cycle. I do a rotational diet.

Anyway, think about the summer, summer is when fruit is plentiful, and vegetables and things growing on trees and ground. And then in the winter, when those things aren't generally available, I try to stick with more of a keto side of a diet, or paleo and in some instances, depending on you know what side of the tracks you fall on there. But I try to keep as close to I can as a seasonal diet, and get good sleep, and good exercise. But there is a yin to the Yang. So enjoy yourself every now and give yourself a break. Don't put too much stress on yourself. If you have a pulse, you have stress. So you have to do a good job with with trying to balance things and with family and kids and friends. Number one without question is sleep.

Tracy Gapin 6:50

So good quality sleep affects everything. Sleep Affects testosterone levels, it affects it directly. It also affects it through cortisol and chronically elevated cortisol is the result you get from crappy sleep. So when you sleep well it affects your hormone levels, it affects neurotransmitters, it affects adrenal function. It affects your appetite, and your ability to avoid temptation and resist poor nutrition choices. It affects detox, it affects everything. And so what I would really emphasize for patients, men, women, anyone, one of the best things you can do is focus on good quality sleep, and track it. A lot of guys will come in initially and they're like, yeah, I see fine. Well, yeah, you sleep seven hours. But when I look at your data, you're only getting an hour and a half of REM plus deep sleep combined. So that crappy sleep and then we can focus on how to improve that.

Rachel Varga 7:46

The funny thing is people are like, okay, Rachel, what's your number one beauty tip. I don't have a number one Pvt. My best tip for you guys listening is to just realize that yes, you are worth it. And it's like putting your oxygen mask on before you know your child's oxygen mask, you're going to be better able to look after them. If you do take the time to look after yourself. Don't feel guilty about it, do things that feel right for you. We innately know what feels good for us. And just really tune into that. And this comes down to you know what type of foods you're eating, what type of movies you're watching what type of music you're listening to what type of conversations you have with your family and friends. It's all of that that really does impact your your longevity blueprint, everything we can possibly do to reduce inflammation in our bodies will actually allow our genetic blueprint to function the way that it wants to. And you know

Aimee Carlson 8:45

what my top longevity tip that I would say is sleep. Oh my word. If you are not getting good sleep, we can't we just you know, we can't even function when we're not getting good sleep. I used to not have focus. I didn't have energy. And I didn't know Is it because of this or is it because I'm not getting sleep it you know, so my top longevity is sleep. And my top tip for all the listeners lastly is get all of the electronics out of the bedroom, all of them. You shouldn't have a TV in there. You should not have your cell phone in there not a computer or laptop anything because it all disrupts your sleep and

Unknown Speaker 9:27

chronic disease begins in childhood and shows upin adulthood and we need to pay attention to our children. Now. Don't forget about the kids. A lot of adults are like taking care of their bodies and autoimmune conditions and their kids are eating chicken nuggets and garbage food.

Unknown Speaker 9:42

Don't forget to childrenbecause by helping them be healthy now they will avoid the problems that you're dealing with right now.

Dr. Stephanie Gray 9:50

So you do live a ketogenic lifestyle, no sugar, what's your top longevity tip. absolute top longevity tip fasting.

Todd White 9:57

I think fasting is the single most potent treatment that we have for an hour long. I'm not alone in this, you know, Peter teal was just doing a podcast on fasting with a with a metabolic expert recently and he's like, you know, this is the most with little to no research on fasting, he thinks is the most potent therapeutic treatment or drug that we have the problem is we don't know how to dose it. Right. So tonight I'll wrap up afford a water fast. And I have experimented with all types of fasting regimens, I'll eat once per day anyway. So I'm on a 22 hour intermittent fast and have done for three and a half years.

And then I supplement that with monthly and quarterly, usually three day fast monthly, I do a five day fast quarterly. But the reason I do three and four days now is because I feel for me that most of the benefit comes in day one and two, they tell us the most uncomfortable for me. And by day three, I could just go on for days without eating. Right. And so for me, it feels like that, that that the stress that, that the struggle really happens day to day to too early day three. And so I can fast longer, but I'm not trying to lose weight. And I have this love affair with food and wine because I don't drink wine when I'm fasting. So I don't feel that I'm getting that much more additional benefit beyond day three or four. And I think that's pretty common. It also interrupts my sleep as sleep much lighter and much shorter for reasons that we talked about earlier before the podcast for ancestral reasons that think that people just sleep last when they're fasting.

If we weren't without food, you know, 10,000 years ago, or 15,000 20,000 or 50,000 years ago, without food, you know, we would need to because we didn't have food source, we would need to get up earlier, be very acute, very energetic, and go find some food. And you know that so that fits into the ancestral logic. We know our ancestors did not eat on a regular basis, if not eating in fact made us lethargic, and tired and sleepy, as many people think it does, because they're addicted to sugar and glucose. But when you're ketogenic, that's not true. And when you go into a longer term fast, you become ketogenic just by default, from not eating from starvation. So you know, if in fact, we became lethargic and tired and sleepy for not eating, we wouldn't have survived as a species. Right.

In fact, just the opposite happens. So we're energetic, we sleep less, we get up earlier. And it's one of the things that don't really enjoy about extended fasting is that just don't sleep as well. I just have energy and just just simply don't sleep as well. But I would say in the order of priority, meditation is number one. And fasting is number two, because until we can dial down the cortisol until we can dial down the monkey mind and the stress and the anxiety that day to day living creates which anxiety helped with meditation cures that and helps with that. And the longer your practice, the more silent your mind becomes most people walking around with, you know, with extreme trauma of thinking. Right?

So trauma is Andry injury to the injury to the mind from thinking and what they're thinking about are either regrets of the past, or more frequently, anxieties of the future. And for all the suffering we have faced for evils that never found us, right, if we can slow that down. And no matter how good you become at silencing the mind and controlling your breath and controlling your response to stresses, none of us are enlightened. So we're still going to be challenged, but but a practice of meditation will allow us to at least help with that trauma. And that injury to the mind, which then in fact, runs throughout the body.

You know, so I think meditation is the single most important practice and adult can have, and then fasting, just following that, but both require practice. Both are somewhat or at least perceived to be difficult. You know, with meditation, the primary complaint is I don't have time to meditate. And what I say to that is the people who don't have time to meditate me meditation that Yep. Right. And then for fasting people just like, I don't know how you do it. You know, fasting is mental. There's nothing too challenging about is just, it's emotional. Because we we love to eat, and we love to eat our feelings. Were hedonist. You know, we like the pleasure of food.

Sandra Sheinbaum 14:50

It's focusing on what's right with you, and not what's wrong with you, as well as focusing on that for others that you enjoy. Enter. Don't forget to breathe, and breathing that warmth to your heart where you're appreciative of all that you have and all that surrounds you.

Dr. Ben Pospisil 15:07

And generally, I just tell people to try to eat a native diet as close to a native diet as you can. We're given everything we need on this on this earth. It's just we need to know how to use it, and how not to abuse it. So, in my mind, the most important thing isn't brushing five times a day isn't flossing, nine times a week, beat after every single meal, it is living the way we were designed to live. And the closer we can live to that, to that standard, the less likely we are to suffer from diseases that are easily avoidable.

Dr. Veronique Desaulniers 15:44

For me, I would have to say, being outdoors in the sunshine and moving your body. I think that is you know, so important. I mean, that's why I live in Florida. Yeah, I grew up in Canada, I get making my way down south, I know vitamin D down there. That's fine. Sunshine, fresh air, moving your body, I think that is so important in keeping your body thriving and alive.

Dr. Carrie Jones 16:11

Oh my gosh, my top longevity tip is by far taking advantage of the light and dark. So your circadian rhythm, which has a lot to do with cancer prevention as well. So in our brain, we have what we call the master clock gene that sets our rhythm for the day. And this master clock is set by light, natural light, and darkness. And so notice I didn't say ashwagandha.

And I didn't say DIM, and I didn't say yoga, it was light and dark. So I tell people in the morning, when you wake up, I want you to get natural full spectrum light, not your phone that's not full spectrum, I want you to open your curtains open, your blinds go outside, or if it's dark, when you wake up for me right now in the fall by full spectrum light box, they're like 20 or 30 bucks, make sure it's full spectrum and have it on, you know, for 1520 minutes while you're in the kitchen, getting ready in the morning at your desk. And at night do the opposite at night you want to wind down so sorry to dim the lights were blue light blocking glasses, be careful of the light on your computer or your phone, maybe switch the background to a red or orange tint. And then sleep in complete darkness. And that is what helps to set and reset our master circadian rhythm, which sets all the rhythms for all the glands in our body. So that's myfavorite tip.

Dr. Keirra Barr 17:28

First thing that comes to mind, there's a couple bits is good loving right hand in hand with good sleep because we get some good love and then you get a good night's sleep.And they think that you know, especially now where we've been so isolated, it's that connection connectivity.

Dr. Beth O'Hara 17:44

Absolutely hands down. Top one would be working on the parasympathetic nervous system, relaxation, breathing, there's lots of great tools for that. So things like the goop dip program, or dnrs. There's a great headset called brain tap. So these are some of the things that I recommend in my practice, but to dedicate at least 20 minutes a day to something like that. It's huge. This actually there's so many solid studies that show that things like breathing practices, meditation, centering, shift genetic expression, and I don't think that just generally as a culture we we recognize the power of that.

Dr. Carol Lourie 18:26

As we get older, it gets more difficult to hold on to what we had. And I know this sounds strange, but I'm like, past my 50s already. I know that sounds strange and you don't think about it when you're in your 40s but you want to begin to think about how you're going to hold on and maintain what you have as you get older and nobody is talking about this. So in your 40s out of shape worry exercise has such negative connotations to people so I'm going to reframe it positive fun movement for here you go ever that is walking Pallavi swimming, doing dancing at home in front of the television. There's now this thing I've seen on Facebook. It's like a mirror that you put up on the move. Yeah, yeah. And it's connected to some I don't know what and the you know, there's exercise stuff going on there. There's the peloton bike I mean, which is a lot of my friends are getting so whatever you need to do, which is going to be fun, positive movement. Let's delete the word exercise because we all had traumatic gym experiences, and start having fun with movement. And we want to build muscle mass. And we want to build bone and tendon strength in your 40s because you don't want to end up in your 90s you're in your 80s with a walker or in a wheelchair and the way to keep that from happening is 40 years in advance. I know you can't relate to this conversation, but it happens before you know it.

Veronica Worley 19:58

I certainly believe In the power of food, Hipocrates said it right Let food be thy medicine. So that's the first place we stress is eat healthy, avoid the processed foods and avoid the junk foods and eat lots of vegetables.

Dr. Stephanie Gray 20:13

Hey, Stephanie gray here back to finish off this episode, I wanted to jump in with two longevity tips of my own. I'm going to share a few things none of my guests have yet to mention. First is to reduce your exposure to electromagnetic frequencies. And this goes beyond just blue light. The radiation coming off your phone can damage your cells and cause excitation symptoms like add anxiety and insomnia. And we all now know how crucial sleep is to longevity. limit your exposure to EMF, especially at night.

Don't plug anything in by your head at night, especially your cell phone. Harvard has reviewed studies from the Journal of the American Medical Association showing that brain cells get activated when they're near cell phones. So do more than put your phone in airplane mode at night, keep it away from your body, put it across the room or charge it in an entirely separate room. Secondly, hasn't had been said that laughter is the best medicine. When I'm feeling down. I look for something funny to watch as it innately lifts my spirit. Laughing relieves physical tension and stress it can actually boost the immune system by increasing immune cells and infection fighting antibodies. It can also reduce the stress hormone cortisol.

A Stanford study show that children laugh more than 400 times per day, while adults laugh only a dozen times. So try to increase your laughs by at least a few per day. Laughter promotes longevity. There you have it. That was lots of fun to listen to. And as you heard many of my guests believe in the importance of self care, mindset and sleep. One of my biggest takeaways was that people who don't have time to meditate needed the most I needed to hear that my guests recommend that you take advantage of the light and dark cycles get full spectrum light in the amp and sleep in total darkness. actually go outside during the day and get sunshine and fresh air. Get your mind right focus on what's right with you and not what's wrong with you and with others.

Move Move Move incorporate movement daily, intermittently stressed yourself as with intermittent fasting followed by periods of rest and recovery. I heard recommendations for ketogenic eating intermittent fasting and eating real food you and your children. Rotate your food seasonally This will help your kids be healthy and avoid the problems you're dealing with now and work on your sleep. Optimize your sleep get electronics out of the bedroom where a blue light blockers towards evening hours when it's dark outside and lights are on in the home. crappy sleep affects your hormones, weight, mood and appetite. Sleep supports your mitochondria which helps you with energy. Remember, you don't have to be sick to take action to be a healthier person. Be proactive with your health find community purpose and value in your life. As a culture we forget how important that self care is.

But it truly can shift our genetic expression and impact our longevity for the better. Don't feel guilty about taking care of yourself. Thanksgiving is typically a time where we were flecked on what we're thankful for. And I'm here to tell you don't forget to be thankful for you. Be thankful for your incredible body. Be thankful for your incredible mind and be thankful for your incredible spirit. Then use that gratitude use that thankfulness as fuel to inspire or motivate you to adopt at least one of these tips shared by our experts today. Think about which one of these tips you can start incorporating into your life. Now. I chose to release this recap of our expert tips now versus at the end of the year when most people release their yearly recap because I want you to take a small step before the New Year, implement just one or two of these steps now into your daily or weekly regimen.

And then when the New Year drops, you'll be ready to hit the ground running and have the best year of your life. Why wait? Start making small changes now. They will truly help you live longer, happier and healthier. And remember that tip on good Levin Be sure to check out my book your longevity blueprint. And if you aren't much of a reader, you're in luck, you can now take my course online where I walk you through each chapter in the book. Plus for a limited time Not only is the course 50% off, but you also get your first consult with me for free.

Check this offer out at your longevity blueprint comm and click the course tab. One of the biggest things you can do to support the show and help us reach more listeners is to subscribe to the show. And leave us a rating and review on Apple podcasts or wherever you listen. I read all the reviews and would truly love to hear your suggestions for show topics, guests or how you're applying what you've learned on the show to create your own longevity blueprint. A podcast is produced by the team at counterweight creative. As always, thanks so much for listening and remember, wellness is waiting.

The information provided in this podcast is educational. No information provided should be considered to be or used as a substitute for medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Always consult with your personal medical authority.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai