Episode 80
Longevity That Actually Works
Longevity Without the Grift: What Actually Helps You Age Better
Everyone wants to live longer. That’s why people are plunging into ice baths, sweating in infrared saunas, and rubbing beef tallow on their faces like it’s a miracle cream. Meanwhile, supplement companies make billions selling capsules that promise eternal youth.
But here’s the thing: we don’t need to chase immortality. We need to focus on healthspan—the number of years we stay active, sharp, and independent. Living longer doesn’t mean much if you can’t enjoy it.
Let’s break it down.
The Problem With the Modern Longevity Industry
For centuries, people have searched for the secret to living forever. From ancient pharaohs to modern influencers, the idea hasn’t changed much. Today’s gurus don’t wear robes. They wear lab coats on YouTube. They sell methylated vitamins, resveratrol, and supplements with science-sounding names like NMN.
Some of these people—chiropractors, Instagram influencers, even some doctors like Mark Hyman—promise more than science can deliver. What they’re selling often looks more like modern snake oil than real medicine.
Here’s a good rule of thumb: if a product claims to reverse aging and comes with a monthly subscription, it probably doesn’t work.
What Actually Works: Boring, Science-Backed Habits
Thankfully, there are simple steps you can take that do help.
- Sleep: Get 7–9 hours a night. This is when your brain clears out waste and resets.
- Exercise: Move your body. Walk, lift weights, and do balance work. It all adds up.
- Vaccinate: Shingles and COVID vaccines reduce your risk of dementia. Shingrix alone cuts it by 20%.
- Statins: The last 40 studies show that statins reduce dementia risk by up to 20%. PMID 34871380
Eat Like You Mean It: The Mediterranean Diet
One of the best-studied diets in the world is the Mediterranean diet. It’s not trendy, but it’s powerful. One large study showed that it can increase longevity by up to 9% if you stick with it. Source
Here’s how it works:
- Red Meat: Limit to 4 ounces a day. More than that raises your risk for cancer, heart disease, and type 2 diabetes. After 3 ounces, your body stops absorbing more iron anyway.
- Olive Oil: Use it instead of butter. It’s packed with healthy fats and polyphenols like oleocanthal.
- Whole Grains & Legumes: Beans and grains reduce obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and cancer. They’re even higher in fiber than most fruits and veggies.
- Fruits & Vegetables: Eat a variety. Colorful foods mean more antioxidants and polyphenols.
- Wine: One glass. That’s 5 ounces. And yes, you still get a full Mediterranean Diet point if you don’t drink at all.
What Doesn’t Work (Even If It’s Trending)
Let’s be honest. Some things are popular, but pointless—or even harmful.
- Drinking alcohol "for your health"
- Avoiding vaccines
- Ignoring blood pressure and cholesterol
- Trusting wellness influencers with no scientific background
Remember: no supplement undoes bad habits. And no guru can out-hack the Hayflick Limit. That’s the scientific cap on how many times your cells can divide.
The Real Way to Support Your Cells
Gurus love talking about NAD and mitochondria. And yes, NAD can help your cells work better—in a lab dish. But real-life results? Meh.
Instead, support your cells with:
- Movement
- Sleep
- A mostly plant-based diet
- Not eating around the clock
If NAD really worked, I’d give it all to my 15-year-old dog.
Final Thoughts
We can’t live forever. But we can live better.
Skip the miracle pills. Stick to the basics: move, eat like a Mediterranean, treat your blood pressure, and get vaccinated. And while you're at it, maybe adopt a senior dog. They won't live forever, but they'll give you everything they have.
Dr. Terry Simpson
Board-Certified Surgeon & Longevity Myth Buster
Host of the FORK U Podcast
Transcript
>> Dr. Terry Simpson: We all want to age well. And if you've scrolled
Speaker:through TikTok, crapped open a Blue Zone book,
Speaker:or watched Silicon Valley tech bro inject himself with
Speaker:goat placenta, you know that the longevity
Speaker:grift is booming. They are the
Speaker:best sellers on the New York Times best selling list. But here's
Speaker:the twist. Science already gave us a working
Speaker:formula. No grift required.
Speaker:Welcome to 4Q, where we slice through nutrition
Speaker:nonsense and serve the facts extra
Speaker:virgin. We are selling more ice baths, more
Speaker:infrared saunas, and yes, even beef tallow to
Speaker:smear on your feast like a paleo moisturizer.
Speaker:Longevity culture has become a bizarre marketplace of
Speaker:cold plunges and cow fat. Today, what
Speaker:actually works for healthy aging and what definitely
Speaker:doesn't? Before we dive into how to age well,
Speaker:let us clear something up. While we may
Speaker:not be able to dramatically extend our
Speaker:lifespan, we absolutely can
Speaker:improve our health span the number of years we
Speaker:stay active, independent, and mentally
Speaker:sharp. Living better matters
Speaker:more than living longer. Today on
Speaker:UM Forku, we're going to make sense of the madness of
Speaker:longevity.
Speaker:I am your Chief Medical Explanationist, Dr. Terry
Speaker:Simpson, and this is Forq Fork
Speaker:University, where we bust a few myths, make sense of
Speaker:the madness, and teach you a little bit about food and
Speaker:medicine,
Speaker:the boring habits that actually work.
Speaker:The eternal life fantasy from Pharaoh's two fancy
Speaker:bottles. For centuries, people have
Speaker:searched for the secret to eternal life, whether
Speaker:it was locked in the tomb of a mummified pharaoh,
Speaker:whispered in the smoke of a witch doctor's hut,
Speaker:or hidden behind the eternally youthful facade
Speaker:of Dorian Gray. Today, we have our modern
Speaker:mystics. They don't wear robes or wave incense.
Speaker:Well, some of them wave incense, but they wear
Speaker:scrubs on Instagram. They run wellness
Speaker:clinics, they give TED talks.
Speaker:Many of them are selling methylated vitamins,
Speaker:resveratrol, nmn, and other
Speaker:compounds with sciency sounding names. People
Speaker:like Mark Hyman or chiropractors supplement
Speaker:influencers. People without a PhD between them,
Speaker:but a warehouse full of pills and potions to
Speaker:sell. What they're selling isn't much different than
Speaker:the elixirs and tonics peddled in the
Speaker:1800s. It's the same promise in
Speaker:fancier packaging with buzzwords like
Speaker:sirtuitins, epigenic optimization,
Speaker:and cellular regeneration. Let's be
Speaker:clear. There is no magic capsule
Speaker:to reverse aging. If there were, these
Speaker:folks wouldn't need a subscription model. They'd get a
Speaker:Nobel prize. So before you hand over
Speaker:$89.99 a month for your longevity stack,
Speaker:ask yourself, is this Medicine
Speaker:or modern snake oil. Let's start with the
Speaker:basic unsexy yes.
Speaker:Supported by every legitimate aging study.
Speaker:Also yes. Sleep
Speaker:seven, nine hours. That's when your brain
Speaker:clears. Metabolic gunk like beta
Speaker:amyloid, exercise, cardio
Speaker:resistance training and balance work
Speaker:all reduce inflammation, preserve brain
Speaker:function and extend healthspan.
Speaker:If exercise could be put into a pill,
Speaker:it would be amazing. Vaccinations?
Speaker:Yes, really. Syngrix, the anti
Speaker:shingles, anti herpes zoster vaccine
Speaker:reduces dementia by 20%.
Speaker:Covid vaccines reduce
Speaker:cognitive decline risk and the last
Speaker:40 studies on statins show they
Speaker:decrease the risk of dementia by up to
Speaker:20%. Let's stop pretending that aging
Speaker:well is a secret. It's mostly lifestyle
Speaker:and mostly free. The Mediterranean
Speaker:diet is a science backed
Speaker:blueprint. If there's one diet with
Speaker:decades of actual peer reviewed research
Speaker:behind it, it's the Mediterranean diet.
Speaker:One large study years ago even showed that the more
Speaker:a person adhered to the Mediterranean diet by their
Speaker:score, the greater the benefit and increasing
Speaker:longevity they had by as much as 9%.
Speaker:That included their health span.
Speaker:Let's talk about red meat. A little bit goes a
Speaker:long way. So before the shirtless Paul
Speaker:Saladino tries to convince you to grill yet
Speaker:your fourth hamburger for breakfast, think about this.
Speaker:Studies that are actually scientifically based
Speaker:show that if you limit red meat to 4 ounces a day or
Speaker:less, it's fine. The lower saturated fat
Speaker:intake you have, the less chronic inflammation you will
Speaker:get. Increasing amounts of red meat lead to
Speaker:increasing risk of cancer, heart disease and
Speaker:type 2 diabetes. And after about 3
Speaker:ounces, your body won't absorb any more iron or
Speaker:many of the other macronutrients. The giant
Speaker:steak. Mostly you're just feeding your colon,
Speaker:not yourselves. In traditional Mediterranean
Speaker:regions, meat is a condiment. It is not a
Speaker:centerpiece. How about olive oil over
Speaker:butter? Extra virgin olive oil is rich in
Speaker:monounsaturated fatty acids like
Speaker:polyphenols. All of them act as a natural anti
Speaker:inflammatory. And bonus, your arteries and your
Speaker:neurons will benefit. Whole grains and
Speaker:legumes. Things like beans, lentils, farro, barley.
Speaker:They're packed with fiber, plant protein and nutrients. They feed
Speaker:your gut microbiome, which plays a key role in your brain
Speaker:health. And unlike refined grains,
Speaker:whole grains have been associated with less obesity,
Speaker:less type 2 diabetes, longer life,
Speaker:less heart disease and reduced cancer
Speaker:risk. They're also packed with more fiber per
Speaker:gram than most fruits and vegetables. How
Speaker:about polyphenol power berries? Dark
Speaker:leafy greens, Tomatoes, eggplants. These contain
Speaker:polyphenols that protect your neurons that is the cells in your
Speaker:brain and those long cells that you don't want to have
Speaker:neuropathy with. They enhance vascular blood vessel
Speaker:function, they reduce whole body inflammation, they.
Speaker:And they stimulate neurogenesis. They
Speaker:stimulate your brain nerves.
Speaker:How about a word about wine? Yep, it's on the
Speaker:Mediterranean diet, but it's one glass
Speaker:with food occasionally. And let's be
Speaker:clear, that's 5 ounces, not the
Speaker:usual 8 ounce pour you get at most restaurants.
Speaker:And it's meant to be once per day,
Speaker:max. In fact, if you
Speaker:don't drink alcohol during the day or
Speaker:night, you get a Mediterranean diet point.
Speaker:So a little wine doesn't seem to be a problem.
Speaker:A lot of wine leads to neuroinflammation.
Speaker:That headache in the morning leads to
Speaker:cardiotoxicity, leads to
Speaker:kidney toxicity, leads to your joints
Speaker:feeling horrible the next day. One glass is
Speaker:enough. None is better. Now. Fruits like
Speaker:berries, grapes, oranges and apples are a daily staple of the
Speaker:Mediterranean diet. They're rich in vitamins, fiber, polyphenols,
Speaker:and reduce the oxidative stress that support
Speaker:cardiovascular and brain health. Unlike juice,
Speaker:whole fruit provides satiety and a
Speaker:lower glycemic impact.
Speaker:Vegetables are a foundation. Think leafy greens, tomatoes,
Speaker:zucchini, eggplant, peppers, onions, cucumbers. Eaten in
Speaker:abundance and variety, they offer fiber, antioxidants,
Speaker:and the anti inflammatory compounds that reduce the
Speaker:risk of chronic disease. Aim for multiple
Speaker:servings a day. And yes, potatoes don't count.
Speaker:Interesting. You can still score a full point on
Speaker:the Mediterranean diet. Score one of nine components. If
Speaker:you just have three and a half servings
Speaker:of, uh, vegetables, that amounts to about nine ounces
Speaker:of vegetables. Maybe like the equivalent of several
Speaker:carrots. Here's what doesn't work, but
Speaker:sells like crazy. People who think
Speaker:alcohol is a health food. People who avoid vaccines
Speaker:and think that that's going to be better for you. People who ignore high
Speaker:blood pressure and high cholesterol. Let's talk
Speaker:about that Instagram longevity crowd. What they have
Speaker:is Botox, hair transplant ring lights,
Speaker:and still all of them are aging
Speaker:like everybody else. Why? Because the
Speaker:Hayflick limit still applies.
Speaker:Cells only divide so many times. No amount
Speaker:of powdered elk antler will change that.
Speaker:How about your mitochondria? Yep, your
Speaker:mitochondria age. And yes, gurus are selling NAD
Speaker:NADH supplements like they're the elixirs of
Speaker:youth. Truth, NAD perks up
Speaker:mitochondria, but does it extend life? Not
Speaker:really. If it did, I'd be giving it to my
Speaker:15 year old dog. And probably be taking it myself.
Speaker:But if you want to really support your mitochondria, here's
Speaker:some simple things you can do. Move more,
Speaker:sleep more, Eat more Mediterranean Style
Speaker:Diet when you talk about aging
Speaker:with science and sanity, we don't need a
Speaker:magic pill. We need movement, Mediterranean style
Speaker:meals, managed health conditions, and
Speaker:modern medicine. The science is in.
Speaker:The question is, will you follow it?
Speaker:Thanks for tuning in to 4Q.
Speaker:Subscribe Share Next time someone tells you they have discovered
Speaker:their secret to immortality, ask if it's peer
Speaker:reviewed and ask how old the peers are
Speaker:who reviewed it. Until next time,
Speaker:do check out our blog associated with this on
Speaker:4Q and yourdoctorsorders.com eat smart,
Speaker:age wisely, stay unfiltered. And hey,
Speaker:if you like this episode, make sure to subscribe to 4Q.
Speaker:Wherever you get your podcast, leave a review, share it with your
Speaker:friends, and if you got questions or gripe about food and longevity,
Speaker:send them my way. I might just feature you in a
Speaker:future episode. This episode was researched
Speaker:and written by me, Dr. Terry Simpson. And while I am a board
Speaker:certified doctor, I am not your doctor.
Speaker:So if you're planning to make health changes, please talk to a
Speaker:Western trained board certified physician. Not a
Speaker:chiropractor, not your supplement dealer, not the gym
Speaker:bro, and definitely not the Eastern trained shaman.
Speaker:Our audio production and distribution were handled by our friends at
Speaker:Simpler Media and the pod God himself, Mr.
Speaker:Evo Terra. Have a good week everybody.
Speaker:Hey Ivo, it just bugs me that
Speaker:wine doesn't count as a serving of fruit.
Speaker:>> Speaker B: What? Next you'll tell me that
Speaker:beer doesn't count as a whole grain
Speaker:heretic. Oh, and that background rumble
Speaker:that you hear? Uh, that's the ocean. I'm on
Speaker:vacation in Belize. Cheers.
