Michael is 42 years old and a tennis fan. He is on the pitch once a week, without exception. He drinks his coffee without milk or sugar, he doesn’t drink alcohol, but he takes a sauna and ice bath every month. “Many people find me exaggerated, a colleague once called me obsessed,” says the Tyrolean, who therefore wishes to remain anonymous. The trigger for the often heated debates: Michael has tried a lot of things, from vitamin infusions to red light therapy.
“There is so much on offer, why shouldn’t I take advantage of it?” is Michael’s motto. He changed his diet (more vegetables, fiber, protein, fewer snacks), found a smart ring (that tracks his vital signs) and had his blood tested (to find out that his biological age is above his chronological age). To change the latter, he has been taking six nutritional supplements per day for three months and has added strength training to his endurance training. “As bad as Bryan Johnson and Peter Thiel “I’m not,” he says, “I know I’ll die one day, but before that I want to be a healthy, fit father.”
“Every body gets sick at some point,” says Hubert Trübel. “This cannot be prevented, but the time period can be compressed,” says the doctor and pharmaceutical researcher. With the help of relatively simple measures, which then bring about changes down to the genetic level and our telomeres – caps at the end of the chromosomes. “Every time a cell renews itself, a piece of it is cut off; if the telomeres are gone, we die.” The aim must therefore be to slow down the breakdown of telomeres.
Reducing stress and inflammation, for example through sufficient exercise or regular sleep and a largely plant-based diet, can help. “It is important that unprocessed foods, fresh fruit, berries, green vegetables and nuts are eaten, as their ingredients optimally supply the cells,” says Trübel. They are also intended to protect the cell from free radicals that arise during metabolic processes in the body as well as UV radiation, nicotine, alcohol, stress, environmental toxins or trans fats. However, this hardly applies to pills or powders that promise the same thing: “Large studies that compared taking multivitamin preparations with placebo showed no differences in diseases or biomarkers.” These preparations therefore did not bring any added value to healthy people without nutritional deficiencies. “The crux of the matter is that anyone who takes it believes that they have done something for self-optimization.”
Regular exercise plus regeneration is more advisable: “This is one of the most effective, scientifically proven and at the same time most underestimated levers for healthy aging,” says Trübel. “It doesn’t have to be bodybuilding, but rather frequent walking, getting up, running, carrying things.” The reason: Continuous training increases the maximum oxygen uptake capacity, the VO₂max. It decreases with age, and with it endurance and cardiac fitness decrease: “Those who do sports push this value back up and become functionally younger than others of the same age.”
However, blood washing could not provide any evidence: “At a conference, a treatment was presented in which blood is heated outside the body and treated with oxygen,” recalls Trübel. “The data was inadequate, but the method was still offered in Vienna.” A circumstance that was to take revenge: “A short time later, a person fell into a coma after the treatment.”
To help laypeople distinguish effective offers from sometimes risky marketing gimmicks, the doctor has just published the book “Longevity – The Anti-Bullshit Formula”. In it he explores the questions: What works? What could harm? What just costs money? Depending on the study situation, a “bullshit score” is assigned.
It provides good evidence of genetic analyzes that can provide risk profiles for diseases; If a metabolic disorder or unclear symptoms are suspected, whole blood analyzes could also be useful. After all: “30 to 50 percent of our health is in our genes, the rest depends on our lifestyle.” Which is why the doctor strongly advocates preventive examinations: “They are the basis for every form of longevity; unfortunately, these – often free – offers are not used by many. Western society is wasting an average of ten years of healthy life.”
Vitamin and nutrient shots perform much worse. “If you have a proven, symptomatic deficiency, you can take countermeasures, but if you don’t have one, it puts a long-term strain on the kidneys, which have to filter and break down the excess substances.” Trübel is also skeptical about red light therapies that are supposed to improve the function of the mitochondria, which in turn should benefit sleep, skin, intestines and mental performance.
The benefits of ice baths and ice chambers arise “mainly in the mind,” says Trübel. If you manage to breathe calmly in the cold despite the impulse to flee, you signal safety to your body and thus train your mental resilience. “However, there is a lack of sufficient evidence to support a long-lasting longevity effect.”
Book reference
Longevity – The anti-bullshit formula
Hubert Trübel
Kneipp Publishing House Vienna
248 pages
