Some years ago, Diana came to the office complaining of fatigue. “My last doctor just said, ‘Well, Diana, you’re not getting any younger. You’re just going to have to live with it.'” Fortunately, Diana wasn’t satisfied. There had to be something she could do. Turns out there was a lot she could do, and she did.
In medical school, we are taught to diagnose and treat disease. Because fatigue isn’t a disease, we are just not given the tools to help, unless a person’s fatigue is caused by a disease. But Diana has learned that she doesn’t have to settle for getting older. Drs. Peter Attia, David Sinclair, James LaValle, Rafael Gonzalez, Kim Bruno, Ron Rothenberg, Kien Vuu, Gordan Lauc, Leonard Pastrana, Kristi Morlan-Hughes, Jin-Xiong She, Jeffrey Gladden, Ron Klatz, Vincent Giampapa, Gail Humble, and Carlos Jorge; biohackers like Dave Asprey and Ben Greenfield; and many others are increasingly demonstrating that we don’t have to settle for the once-inevitable decline in function as we age. In fact, at the annual world antiaging medicine conference last month, Dr. Jeffrey Gladden went so far as to say, “I still wake up 27 every day.” As the author of the 2023 best seller 100 is the new 30, Dr. Gladden should know.
Scientists are increasingly discovering how we can live both longer and healthier. Whereas most of Diana’s peers can expect to live to age 79—which is nearly 6 years longer than their husbands can expect—they will spend an average of 9 of those years in poor health. In other words, their health span—the time in which they enjoy good health and function—is only 70 years. Diana has already beat the average, and of course, so can you.
Ditching the fatigue is a good sign that you are on the right track. But how do you really know what’s going on under the hood, so to speak? Advancements in laboratory science are providing increasing numbers of tests—biomarkers—that measure your “biological age.” We’ve all seen people in their 70s who look as if they are in their late 50s, and people in their 50s who look and act as if they were in their 80s. In both cases, there is a mismatch between chronological age—the number of birthdays a person has had—and biological age—how young the person’s cells are functioning.
But it turns out that one of the most useful and accurate tests of biological age isn’t new at all. It’s called metabolic testing, and it has been in use by athletes, researchers, NASA, and performance and longevity experts for decades. Metabolic testing provides a wealth of information beyond simply telling whether you are physiologically younger or older than your actual number of birthdays. For example, it tells you how well the diet you are following is meeting your needs. It tells how many calories you are burning at rest and during exercise. No more guessing. It tells if you are likely to gain weight back after stopping one of the weight loss peptides. Metabolic testing tells how quickly your cells switch from burning fat to burning glucose when you exercise. If you want to be healthy, and especially if you want to lose weight, you want your cells to postpone that switch as long as possible.
But when it comes to longevity, the most important single piece of information metabolic testing gives you is your VO2 max. This is a measure of how much oxygen all the cells in your body can utilize to make the energy that keeps you going. VO2 max is the single best predictor of how long you can expect to live—healthfully. Quite bluntly, the lower your VO2 max, the sooner you die. At a VO2 max of 55 ml/kg/minute, you can jog 10 miles per hour on flat ground. Once your VO2 max drops below 18, chances are good you will no longer be able to live independently.
The good news is that, no matter what your VO2 max is today, you can make it better. In other words, like Diana, you can extend both your lifespan and improve your quality of life and health span. At Prestige Wellness Institute, you have access to a number of tools that can help you increase your VO2 max. Your plan is customized to your needs, current circumstances, and personal preferences. It doesn’t matter whether you are a couch potato with arthritis or an elite athlete. You can always make one or more changes to boost your health and fitness. Then you can repeat your metabolic testing in 3 to 6 months to see if you are getting measurably younger and healthier. As sophisticated as this test is, it won’t break your bank, either: You may very well be spending far more on your morning brew than you will on this life-saving test.
Do you lack energy? Let’s find out why and fix it. Does your body seem to fight your best efforts to lose weight? Don’t be surprised: Working out more and eating less is usually not the answer, no matter how many doctors have innocently but misguidedly repeated it. Do you have chronic pain? You deserve relief. Can’t seem to find the motivation to do more than the bare minimum to survive? There are reasons for this.
The next time someone tells you that you’re not getting any younger, you can find out why and what to do about it. Then start getting younger!
While you are thinking about those dreaded New Year’s resolutions, ask yourself the following question: Are you going to get older this year, or younger? Which one do you deserve? At Prestige Wellness Institute, we believe everyone deserves to get younger, to live longer, and to enjoy life to the fullest until the day they die, in their sleep. If you agree, call 435-259-4466 (Moab) or 435-441-4677 (Springville) to schedule your first test right away.