POSITIVE AFFIRMATION
"Today I will enhance myself and others around me, using natural techniques and maybe some weird science."
START WITH A SMILE…
The latest buzzword that I’m hearing a lot is longevity.
It was referenced in NatGeo’s Limitless with Chris Hemsworth (highly recommend!), and is the topic de jour in books, where I recently finished Mark Hyatt’s Forever Young (recommend skip), currently readying Becca Levy’s Breaking the Age Code (so far, so good), and on the waitlist for Peter Attia’s Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity (excited).
In our adventure for increased productivity and positivity, the idea of longevity sure sounds awesome. If you’re old, wouldn’t you love to find a way to live more vibrantly, if you’re young, I applaud you for investing in your mind and body. And if you’re like me, this might be the mid-life crisis that I want to turn into a quarter-life crisis.
This brings me to the topic of supplements, aka magic pills, aka unregulated drugs, aka borderline medicine. Half of adult Americans take a supplement. [1
But that’s just ‘Merica, what about the rest of the world? In the study of longevity, researchers typically focus on “blue zone,” where people live the longest and are healthiest. Think Japan, Italy, Greece, etc.
In my assessment, the Amercian lifestyle can’t easily duplicate the cultures in those blue zones, which have a magic combo of diet, physical activity, relationships, and a purpose to life. So, we turn to supplements to, well, supplement our lifestyle to get us closer to a blue life.
Although I’m Asian, I’m no doctor. The below points are what I gather after reading several studies and articles. And after reading the user comments on those articles, people go deep and hard, and that’s great for them. My approach is to look at the macro-trends. I’m not dicey enough to try some experimental supplement to hack my body, but I am adventurous enough to adjust my lifestyle with enough data. Here’s what I’m seeing:
Calcium: People who reported taking more than 1,000 milligrams of calcium per day were more likely to die of cancer. [2]
Folic acid during pregnancy: Folic acid supplementation during pregnancy is well-established to help prevent birth defects. [3]
Vitamin D: In people who don’t have a deficiency, very high doses of vitamin D may increase risk of all-cause and cancer mortality. [4]
Omega-3 fatty acids: Eating foods rich in omega-3 fatty acids, like fish, has been shown to protect against heart disease—but whether they offer the same protection when consumed in supplement form is still unclear. [4]
In 2018, at the American Heart Association’s Scientific Sessions, results of two major fish oil studies, following more than 34,000 subjects, were presented. Harvard’s JoAnn Manson delivered the results of the first study: another null finding. Fish oil supplements, her study found, do little to prevent heart disease. Fifteen minutes later, standing at the same podium, another Harvard scientist, Deepak Bhatt, claimed the opposite. In his study, a purified fish oil intervention reduced the risk of coronary events by an astonishing 25 percent. [5]
What about the premise that the nutrients we need should be consumed via food, therefore supplements only make for expensive pee? I totally agree.
In Young Forever, Hyatt’s logic is as new cells are formed, they use the raw materials that come from the food we eat. So, if we’re eating junk, then the new cells will be made from poor material and will not perform very well. It’s building a new home with rotting wood. Whereas, if we supply our body with premium raw materials, the new cells will be of optimum quality and therefore do their job optimally, like a new house built from well-cured concrete.
“Or it could be something even simpler: When people eat fish, they have less room in their diet for Big Macs, fried chicken, and candy bars.” - Vox
TAKEAWAYS
Eat food whenever possible, to get the nutrients you need.
Pregnant women are exempt, follow the doctor’s advice.
Take supplements that are targeted and specific.
Multivitamins don’t work.
The results of large-scale randomized trials show that, for the majority of the population, there is no overall benefit from taking MVM supplements. Indeed, some studies have shown an increased risk of cancers in relation to using certain vitamins. [6]
(how to look like you’re living longer)
➩ Update your wardrobe. An old sense of fashion will date you very quickly. I recommend
and reading some fashion magazines. My fav remains Esquire magazine.➩ Get a skin care regimen. Moisturizer with sunscreen in the morning, something after the shower, and then something before going to bed. I’ve been using Kiehls but apparently, Korean products are the gold standard.
➩ Exercise, exercise, exercise. If you think once a day is good enough, aim for twice. If you think 5 days a week is good enough, add another day in there. My fav workouts right now are glute activations and upper body yoga, which you can find free in the Nike Training App.
My Supplements Plan
Before I dive into my new supplements plan, it’s important to understand my personal goals for taking supplements. Depending on my goals, it’ll affect why I choose to do what I do.
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