Editor’s Note: This article is a reprint. Originally published on July 21, 2024.
I spoke with Sim Land, the author of the new bookLong life jumpDiscuss key issues to improve health and longevity. Maintaining “biological youth” is the single most important factor in maintaining longevity, but the question is how to achieve this as we age.
With 500 pages and 8,000 references, The Land Book is a great resource to delve into strategies to keep you biologically young. He is a leader in the field of longevity and walks the walk – he practices the programs he talks about and is a great example of taking good care of your biology. Chronologically, the land that lives in Estonia is 29, but the biological age of the organs is very low – 17 years in total, with 9 years of liver.
These estimates are based on relatively new epigenetic and biological age tests, which are interesting, but we don’t yet know if the results translate into longer lifespans. I personally don’t have much faith in them and believe they are flawed. Land describes it like this.1
“What does it mean if you have the liver of a 9-year-old? Does that mean you’re going to live longer than someone else? We don’t have that data yet… I wouldn’t put too much emphasis on the tests, but rather look at traditional biomarkers like glucose, inflammation… and those other things.”
Historically, many mistakes have been made in longevity research, particularly those focused on excessive calorie, carbohydrate, and protein restriction.2
“The practical effect is that they are eating very little food and becoming very weak and skinny. But in the real world, we are now beginning to see that frailty is a major risk factor for early death and mortality. Mortality and malnutrition itself increase the risk of many different diseases, All-cause mortality and neurodegenerative and cardiovascular events.
Nowadays, I think the field is starting to appreciate other biologists who are moving more from the theoretical side of biological aging than these concrete, practical, functional outcomes like muscle strength and body composition.
Optimal protein and carbohydrate intake for longevity
Land and I agree that most adults should aim for an ideal body weight (the weight you should be, not necessarily your current weight) or roughly 1.76 grams of protein per kilogram for Europeans, as appropriate. Muscle maintenance and growth.
“If you eat too much, this can cause problems in terms of kidney health and homocysteine levels. If you eat too little, it’s a risk of sarcopenia and frailty,” notes Land. Regarding carbohydrates, we agree that low-carb diets are typically not optimal for longevity.
Land cites studies that show moderate carbohydrate intake is associated with a lower risk of death. “As with carbs, eating too many carbs is thought to be bad for your health. At least in observational studies, the opposite is true—carbohydrates are associated with the lowest risk, so 40% to 55% of calories. Typically,” he says.3
Land says that while a low-carb diet may be beneficial in the short term for certain individuals, long-term carbohydrate restriction can affect metabolic rate.4
“In the short term, a person can have pre-diabetes or insulin resistance, and then in the short term, it makes sense to control the amount of carbohydrates slightly to restore some insulin sensitivity. But chronic ketosis, chronic hypoglycemia. – Carbohydrate affects long-term insulin sensitivity.
In fact, adequate carbohydrate intake is critical for optimal mitochondrial function and overall health. It’s the best fuel for your mitochondria, but most people don’t consume enough healthy carbs. If you are metabolically healthy, most adults need at least 200 to 250 grams of carbohydrates per day, while active individuals need closer to 400 grams. Constantly restricting carbohydrates can cause the production of stress hormones and muscle breakdown.
Many people experience initial health improvements on a low-carb diet, but these benefits are typically not long-lasting. The short-term benefits come from the fact that you are no longer feeding harmful bacteria in your gut, which reduces the production of endotoxins that can harm your overall health. But in the long run, if you don’t consume enough healthy carbohydrates, your mitochondrial health will suffer.
While low-carb diets may temporarily relieve symptoms by starving harmful bacteria, they do not address the underlying mitochondrial and gut health issues. A more sustainable approach involves addressing the root causes: improving mitochondrial function, reducing exposure to environmental toxins, including Seed oilsEndocrine-disrupting chemicals in plastics and electromagnetic fields (EMFs) support a healthy gut microbiome balance.
The most powerful intervention to preserve biological youth
When asked how to maintain biological youth, Land explained that exercise can be a very powerful intervention.5
“Perhaps the single most powerful thing for biological aging is moderate exercise. By maintaining physical activity, it targets all the signs of aging in a positive way. It improves the function of all the organs and improves the risk of all these chronic diseases. It’s what you should do when you slow down biological aging.” It targets everything.
As noted in Dr. James O’Keefe’s groundbreaking study,6 A lot of vigorous exercise It can be harmful, so finding the right balance is key. Land suggests that for vigorous exercise, such as resistance training, the sweet spot seems to be around 140 to 200 minutes per week.
Land adjusted its operations based on this information. “I’m doing about 180, maybe 150 to 180 minutes of resistance training, and I’m training three times a week … upper body, lower body, or push pull leg split cycling,” he says.7
I’ve reduced my resistance training to three days a week based on the potential risks of overtraining, but most people should be exercising more, not less. Moderate-intensity exercise walking It’s a great exercise because it’s hard to overdo it.
The importance of protein quality and collagen
It’s not just the amount of protein that’s important, but also the quality and amino acid balance. Often overlooked, glycine and collagen are among the most important. Land describes it like this.8
“Glycine is conditionally important, not essential, but because your body makes 3 grams of glycine a day. But 3 grams are used for things like creatine synthesis. But for collagen conversion, you have 12 grams of glycine, like the best. Collagen conversion.”
Most people consume only 0 to 1 gram of collagen protein per day and are deficient. One-third of total body protein is collagen, so it’s important to consume enough collagen, whether from bone broth or grass-fed beef, which contains connective tissue, or glycine to support connective tissue health.
Insulin resistance and the prevalence of metabolic disorders
The homeostasis model of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) is a test discovered in 1985, which is the gold standard for measuring insulin resistance. Using HOMA-IR data, up to 99% of the US population may have some degree of insulin resistance. Using this test is an easy way to assess your metabolic health.
You can find out your HOMA-IR using two simple tests: your fasting blood glucose, which you can do at home, and your fasting insulin level, which is an inexpensive test. Multiply those two numbers and divide by 405 if you’re in the US, and if you’re in Europe, you have different units from the US and you need to divide by 22. If the result is less than one, you are. Can’t resist insulin. Less than 1% of the lucky ones have insulin resistance.
The ground agrees that this is an important sign, and also emphasizes the importance of looking at multiple biomarkers to assess metabolic health.
The importance of vitamin D and sunlight
We also discussed the importance of sunlight exposure and maintaining optimal vitamin D levels. In the high latitude land of Estonia, vitamin D levels are maintained through a combination of sun exposure when possible, diet and supplementation when necessary.
The sun is one of the most important factors in maintaining longevity, perhaps comparable to exercise. I think it is biologically impossible to be healthy without adequate sun exposure. One way to compensate, if you live in an area where year-round sun exposure isn’t practical, is to use seasonal lanolin.
Applying lanolin to your skin before going out in the sun can improve the production of vitamin D from sunlight and help reduce skin dryness, cracks, wrinkles and fine lines.
However, if your diet is rich in vegetable oils, you should be very careful about sun exposure. These oils contain high levels of linoleic acid (LA), an omega-6 fatty acid that oxidizes easily when exposed to ultraviolet (UV) light. When sunlight interacts with skin loaded with these oils, it triggers their breakdown, resulting in inflammation and DNA damage.
So if you use these oils it’s best to limit sun exposure in the AM or later in the afternoon, ideally hold off on seed oils for four to six months.
Practical tips for longevity
By focusing on fundamental aspects of health—from mitochondrial function and gut health to exercise and nutrient balance—you can significantly improve long-term health outcomes. Several key strategies to improve your health and longevity covered in the interview include:
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Exercise regularly, including moderate-intensity activities such as walking and 150 to 180 minutes of resistance training per week. |
Eat enough carbohydrates (200 to 400 g daily for most adults) from whole food sources to support metabolic health. |
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Prioritize protein quality by aiming for about 0.8 grams per pound of lean body mass, about a third of which comes from collagen sources. |
Get regular sun exposure and maintain optimal vitamin D levels |
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Focus on diet, lifestyle and possible interventions for gut health |
Reduce exposure to environmental toxins, including seed oils, endocrine disruptors, and EMFs |
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Use simple tests like HOMA-IR to regularly assess metabolic health |
Prioritize sleep, stress management and overall lifestyle balance |
More details can be found in the Land Book.Long life jump” provides an overview of these topics and more, supported by extensive scientific references. As he explained:9
“I’ve covered a lot of specific chronic diseases. I have kidney disease, metabolic syndrome, heart disease, three chapters on heart disease, and, of course, a whole chapter on neurodegeneration and inflammation. Some of those conditions.”
As longevity science research continues to evolve, it’s clear that a proactive, holistic approach to health is critical. Rather than looking for a magic bullet, it seems the way to live a long life lies in consistently implementing evidence-based health habits, regular self-monitoring, and adapting as new information emerges.
