Professionally, I focus on creating social benefit startups. In my Saturday morning emails I share what I’m learning and thinking. Topics range from better living and parenting to business and philosophy.
Outlive: A new book about how to live healthier longer? I couldn’t resist reading Dr. Attila’s Outlive. It was not what I expected. More personal about the author. Less proscriptive, supplement or drug focus or checklist-oriented than a book like Transcend. The book is not dogmatic about diet asserting that so little is known and there is no one right diet for all. Rather, he recommends monitoring blood glucose and other markers of metabolic health including visceral fat. For most people that means eating less. You’ve heard much of that before. What stood out for me was the concept of training for old age. Make a list of activity goals for when you’re older like lifting a young child, walking up the stairs or taking a hike. Then calculate back to today with a 7 to 15% decline in function per decade and set that as your training goal. Specific goals give my training program new meaning.
Prescribing Exercise: In the book he says: “No other intervention does nearly as much to prolong our lifespan and preserve our cognitive and physical function. But most people don’t do nearly enough.” How do we know exercise is good for us? It meets the Bradford Hill criteria for causation with flying colors. As he notes in the book, doctors don’t have an easy way to prescribe exercise. With virtual personal training, they can. What if it were covered by health insurance? For example, I invested in Copilot which uses a mix of machine learning to recommend the right reps/sets and a real person to help motivate you.
Continuous Biomarkets: Many people measure key biomarkers like glucose, cholesterol and blood pressure at most once a year. In other domains, frequent feedback leads to better performance. Inside Tracker, Everlywell or Rupa Health increase access to these tests. Does more frequent measurement change behavior and promote healthy choices? If so, how do we make it cheaper and more accessible? Continuous glucose monitors are growing in popularity. Are continuous blood pressure monitors next?
Until next week,
Miles