There has been some chatter on AQI and longevity thanks to the recent episode of WTF podcast. It is good to see these topics being discussed and the awareness created for a broad audience. Thanks to
@nikhilkamathcio and team.
As a builder in the longevity space, I had to write about a few points that I felt were incorrect. This post is a summary of what I felt was well covered, and what was incorrect.
The good parts
1. One shouldn’t supplement without any testing. AGREE. But one should also question why a certain vitamin or mineral is low and work on the root cause of that deficiency. If you have low B12 deficiency and are a regular meat eater, the root cause of deficiency could be an infection, absorption issues, or a genetic disorder of TCN2.
2. Current healthcare is sick-care in disguise and the new age medicine will be precise, preventive, personalized, and data-driven. However one question always arises how much data is enough. I think diagnostics that help us to monitor the 4 horsemen as mentioned by Peter Attia is a good starting point.
3. Wearables like smartwatch, rings, trackers have become a fashion statement and people who wear them are unaware of most of the metrics and don’t know how to improve/change them. This is where a big opportunity is.
4. Health data in India is scattered and the future founders need these data sets to build healthcare AI. We do see this challenge at
@FOXOclub and are working towards it.
What I disagree with
I think CGM is a great tool not only for a diabetic, but for anyone who wants to manage their health. Blood glucose spikes beyond your baseline because of a certain meal, makes your insulin overwork and leads to inflammation. This is one of the hallmarks of ageing. Hence it creates an opportunity for every person to optimize their meals and health.
Indiscrepancies
1. Alcohol doesn't have formaldehyde. It can happen due to unsound manufacturing processes. Ethanol (drinking alcohol) is broken down into acetaldehyde by the enzyme alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) in the liver.
2. DEXA scans don’t measure magnesium levels directly. To measure magnesium levels, recommended methods are - Serum Magnesium, RBC Magnesium, Urinary Magnesium, Magnesium Load, Hair or Tissue Magnesium Analysis.
3. Essential Amino Acids are not produced by the body but have to be consumed from food. That’s the reason they are called essential.
4. The text overlay which mentioned prebiotics as the living organisms is incorrect. Prebiotics are fibre which we get from food, and probiotics are actually the living microorganisms.
Over the conversations I've had with many people over the last few months, I realised that many don't have a good idea of what longevity is.
@prashanthp mentioned correctly that it is beyond just eating, exercising, and sleeping right.
In a subsequent post, I will give my perspective of what longevity is, or rather it should be.
CC
@gehani @sanmaya @arpiit @jatinmadhra