I have always been interested in anti-aging regimens from a historical perspective. Over the years I’ve discussed the first Chinese emperor Qin Shi Huang’s search for immortality potions and his construction of the famous terracotta soldiers to protect him in the afterlife should the potions not work. I’ve talked about Cleopatra’s efforts to stay young by bathing in donkey milk and Hungarian Countess’ Elizabeth Batory’s probably apocryphal attempts to do the same by bathing in the blood of young women.

There with you then. Here with you now. As a critical part of the community for over 245 years,The Gazette continues to deliver trusted English-language news and coverage on issues that matter. Subscribe now to receive:

Unlimited online access to our award-winning journalism including thought-provoking columns by Allison Hanes, Josh Freed and Bill Brownstein.

Opportunity to engage with our commenting community and learn from fellow readers in a moderated forum.

Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists.

Montreal Gazette ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, where you can share and comment..

There with you then. Here with you now. As a critical part of the community for over 245 years,The Gazette continues to deliver trusted English-language news and coverage on issues that matter. Subscribe now to receive:

Unlimited online access to our award-winning journalism including thought-provoking columns by Allison Hanes, Josh Freed and Bill Brownstein.

Opportunity to engage with our commenting community and learn from fellow readers in a moderated forum.

Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists.

Montreal Gazette ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, where you can share and comment..

There with you then. Here with you now. As a critical part of the community for over 245 years,The Gazette continues to deliver trusted English-language news and coverage on issues that matter. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.

Access articles from across Canada with one account.

Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments.

Enjoy additional articles per month.

Get email updates from your favourite authors.

Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.

Access articles from across Canada with one account

Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments

Enjoy additional articles per month

Get email updates from your favourite authors

Sign In or Create an Account

I’ve recounted Renaissance alchemist Paracelsus’ belief that nature hides concentrated life forces called “arcana” in plants, minerals and animals from which these can be extracted to slow bodily decay and extend life. I’ve reviewed 19th century physiologist Charles Brown-Sequard’s experiments at rejuvenation by injecting himself with extracts of dog and guinea pig testicles and American quack John Brinkley’s transplanting of goat testicles into aging men.

I’ve covered more recent nonsensical attempts to slow aging with everything from royal jelly and megadoses of vitamins to colloidal silver, testosterone-boosting plant extracts and growth hormone injections.

These days, with a forest of candles on the birthday cake, I pay more attention to the seemingly countless research papers and longevity articles that come my way. Aging research has exploded with legitimate science being thrown into the mix.

Numerous papers are published about taking antioxidants to prevent free radical damage to cells, nicotinamide riboside (NR) supplements to counter age-related DNA damage, stem cell infusions, gene editing techniques and drugs to lengthen telomeres, those molecular caps at the end of chromosomes that prevent the DNA they contain from unravelling, a sign of aging. While there certainly is interesting science here, more evidence of benefit needs to be gathered before general recommendation can be made to the public about slowing the clock based on these interventions.

However, there are plenty of “biohackers” out there who are jumping the gun without waiting for proof of efficacy. Often those jumps amount to giant leaps, maybe off a cliff.

The Right Chemistry: McGill's David Harpp introduced students to the language of organic chemistry

The Right Chemistry: How dreams and frog hearts led to the discovery of neurotransmitters

Advertisement 1Story continues belowThis advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.document.addEventListener(`DOMContentLoaded`,function(){let template=document.getElementById(`oop-ad-template`);if(template&&!template.dataset.adInjected){let clone=template.content.cloneNode(!0);template.replaceWith(clone),template.parentElement&&(template.parentElement.dataset.adInjected=`true`)}});

A typical example is Bryan Johnson who is wealthy enough to spend about $2 million a year on his mission to beat death. If there is a smidgen of evidence about any substance having a health benefit, he jumps. Johnson will start his day with a butyric acid capsule because studies have shown that dietary fibre is metabolized by bacteria in the gut to short chain fatty acids, like butyric acid, that then play a role in immune function. There is scant evidence that oral butyric acid has any effect. But that is just one of the 100 or so supplements Johnson takes every day. There are collagen peptides, ashwagandha, a host of vitamins, minerals, prebiotics, postbiotics, omega-3 supplements, N-acetylcysteine, creatine, taurine, glutathione, lysine, theanine, broccoli seed extract, coenzyme Q, lithium orotate, melatonin and nicotinamide riboside.

Johnson has various medical experts who monitor his biomarkers and advise him on these supplements, but it is impossible to know what the effect of this cacophony of substances will have in the long run. Every morning, he exposes himself to bright artificial light to set his circadian rhythm, aggressively reduces light at night, and has even infused himself with blood from his son. While he sleeps, Johnson wears a device that measures nighttime erections which he believes to be a measure of cardiovascular health.

He is on firmer footing with his emphasis on diet and exercise to elongate his life. He follows a 100 per cent plant-based, calorie-restricted diet including plant protein shakes and consumes large amounts of extra virgin olive oil and cocoa flavanols. He exercises at least an hour every day and includes both cardiovascular and strength training. All of this is very interesting but no matter what the outcome, it is still an experiment of N=1 that cannot be extrapolated to others. I suspect the T-shirt he wears imprinted with his slogan “Don’t Die” is somewhat optimistic. You can purchase one along with all the supplements he takes from his website. I can resist.

Then there is Dr. Peter Attia who has received extensive publicity as a longevity specialist. His philosophy is different from Johnson’s with an emphasis on risk management mostly through exercise and lowering blood cholesterol. He is suspicious of supplements, advocates testing for apolipoprotein B and pushes for early pharmaceutical intervention as needed. All of this is in-line with current medical thinking, although Attia’s training was not in any relevant field. He trained as a general surgeon, dropping out of his residency program after two years.

Attia now takes on clients who can afford his fee that can exceed $100,000. It would be wrong to call him a crank because his recommendations are reasonable, although the specialized testing he makes his patients undergo are not all supported by evidence. Charging patients such an exorbitant amount leaves somewhat of a bad taste in one’s mouth because it implies that Attia has some special knowledge that others do not have. That bad taste has recently become far more bitter with the revelation that Attia was very friendly with Jeffrey Epstein, so friendly that it is hard to believe that he was not aware of Epstein’s sickening activities.

When it comes to preventive medicine and longevity, the one who stands out for me is cardiologist Eric Topol. He has extensively studied “super agers,” individuals who in their 80s have no debilitating chronic conditions. Topol has one of the most impressive curriculum vitae I have ever seen. He has published over 1,300 peer-reviewed papers with an astounding 340,000 citations. He has received an astonishing $500 million in grants from the U.S. National Institutes of Health to improve disease prevention and formulate personalized treatment by studying genomic, epidemiological and clinical data. Simply stated, when Topol speaks, one listens.

So, what does he say about longevity? Becoming a super ager is not simply a matter of having inherited the right genes, although of course that does matter. A healthy long life depends on paying attention to lifestyle: regular exercise, staying hydrated, healthy diet, seven hours of sleep and developing strong social bonds. Both Johnson and Attia would agree with this but have ideas about other interventions. I have read some of Topol’s papers about super agers and they are impressive, but what I wanted to know is how he has applied his research to himself. I now know.

Topol is no fan of supplements, avoids ultra-processed foods, follows a Mediterranean diet with no red meat at all, has non-fat Greek yogurt with berries and granola for breakfast, eats mostly nuts for lunch and has a large salad sometimes topped with salmon for dinner after which he doesn’t eat anything. Oh yes. He considers exercise to be the most powerful intervention for healthy aging.

To me Johnson is just a curiosity, Attia is too much of a mixed bag, but Topol is the real deal. Now for some berries and nuts before jumping on the treadmill.

joe.schwarcz@mcgill.ca

Joe Schwarcz is director of McGill University’s Office for Science & Society (mcgill.ca/oss). He hosts The Dr. Joe Show on CJAD Radio 800 AM every Sunday from 3 to 4 p.m.

© Montreal Gazette