What does David Sinclair do to stay healthy for a long time?

When in September 2019 the book 'Lifespan - Why we age and why we don't have to' was published, David A. Sinclair, PhD was well-known but not yet the shooting star of the longevity scene that he is today. The book, which was published in German under the title 'The End of Aging - Tomorrow's Revolutionary Medicine.' catapulted the Australian biologist and professor of genetics at Harvard Medical School to the top of bestseller lists in dozens of countries. And not only that.

The well-founded and sometimes cheerful narration of the knowledge of ageing processes and their causes, made him one of the most renowned researchers on ageing worldwide with a reach far beyond the borders of the scientific community.

David Sinclair and his co-author Matthew D. LaPlante have succeeded in doing something that few have managed before. They have struck a nerve and got everyday people excited about the science of ageing. They have managed to get people looking at what they can personally do for their health and longevity.

For Sinclair, ageing is a disease that can be cured. At this point, his remarks move away from mere information and take on the character of a recommendation. The Australian scientist does not just pay lip service to the idea, but lives his research himself. Not just since Lifespan, but for several decades longer. In his book and in numerous interviews, he willingly reveals the steps he himself takes to stay healthy for a long time. This is also the case in the new Lifespan podcast, which he records together with Matthew D. LaPlante.

Nutritional routine and exercise

The researcher, who lives in the USA, skips lunch. Sinclair eats his only meal of the day in the evening. He is thus a representative of the OMAD diet (One-Meal-A-Day). He hopes that fasting in the meantime will activate autophagy - a self-cleansing process in our cells. According to him, taking the molecules in the morning does not interrupt fasting.

A recently published study shows numerous benefits of Sinclair's fasting method. Two groups with identical daily calorie intake were compared. One group consisted of people who ate only one meal a day (OMAD) and the other group of people who ate a "normal" diet (three meals a day). The OMAD group burned more body fat by the end of the study and had lower blood glucose levels while maintaining the same muscle mass and athletic performance.

David Sinclair then supplements the special diet routine with physical exercise. His basic recommendation is 10 minutes out of breath three times a week. In addition, he routinely uses dumbbells and weights - even in his office. There is also a small stepper hidden under his desk so that his legs don't get bored while he is sitting.

Sinclair is convinced that this approach will slow down his own ageing. What is this conviction based on? On numerous scientific findings that he and thousands of other researchers around the world have to thank for.

Meditation, cold therapy and hiking - David Sinclair's ways to reduce stress.

With such popularity comes a full schedule. Accordingly, things can get stressful at times. David Sinclair takes a variety of approaches to achieve a healthy balance between stress and relief.

One of the most effective methods is daily meditation. Here he can switch off and find strength for his daily tasks. In addition, Sinclair is a great nature lover. Especially on weekends he tries to go for a walk in the forest with his wife and children, or he goes on a kayak tour.

Relatively new are his cold baths. Made famous by Wim Hof or Andrew Hubermanthere are more and more studies that support the positive effect of cold baths.

Athletes have been using cold therapy for a long time to recover faster from strenuous sessions. In addition to improving recovery, there are a variety of fields that cold can have a positive effect on. In her book "Winter Swimming: Why Cold Water Makes Us Healthier and Happier," Dr. Susanne Søeberg brings together all the latest scientific findings on the subject. David Sinclair prefers a cold bath directly after his sport, while Andrew Huberman spends an entire training session exposing his body to cold and heat alternately.

ApoB, blood glucose, CRP - the internal values also matter

Similar to Peter Attia, David Sinclair focuses on knowing as much as possible about his own body. This includes regularly determining his biological age using epigenetic tests. He also keeps track of his blood sugar, blood lipid levels and inflammation levels. To do this, he has his blood drawn several times a year.

If you want to delve deeper into the various lab parameters, then take a look at our lab series in the magazine. Here we explain, among other things, which blood lipid values you should keep an eye on or why it can make sense for everyone to wear a continuous glucose meter for a while.

Once a year, David Sinclair also has a full-body MRI done on himself. In this way, he hopes to detect signs of cancer growth as early as possible. However, the role of whole-body MRIs in cancer screening is not without controversy.

David Sinclair's Morning Routine

David Sinclair is an early riser. He usually starts working right after getting up, usually by answering e-mails. By his own account, he works around 12 hours a day in his lab and the various companies in which he is involved.

He has developed a fixed morning routine that he has refined again and again for more than 15 years. David Sinclair does not eat a real breakfast. Instead, he drinks lots of water, or even better: hot water with lemon. He also eats a few spoonfuls of yogurt and takes his supplements in the process. The reason for this is that resveratrol, among other things, is only absorbed by the body with a little fat.

As a source of caffeine, David Sinclair prefers green matcha tea. This is full of polyphenols, which have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects. In this study, the various ingredients of green matcha tea were examined. One of the main substances responsible for the anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties are called Epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG).. EGCG, just like Quercetinwhich is also found in green tea, is currently being further investigated for possible longevity effects.