Longevity: What’s Real, What’s Marketing, What’s Worth Your Attention
In the UAE, they’re building residential developments where longevity isn’t an add-on, it’s the infrastructure.
Hyperbaric chambers. Cryotherapy. Red light therapy. Cold plunges. Wellness clubhouses designed with health at the centre.
Based on Blue Zones research, the thinking makes sense. When movement is prioritised, rest is respected, and community is strong, longevity becomes the default. Get the environment right, and you can shift outcomes for generations.
That level of investment is exciting.
But here’s what concerns me. The word “longevity” is being thrown around casually. It’s used to glamorise what’s been around forever and to fuel a spate of untested products, unproven protocols, and quick fixes dressed up as science.
After 15 years in this field and working with over 4,200 clients, I’ve watched trends come and go. Right now, everyone’s latching onto this word without understanding what it actually means.
So here’s my question: How do you separate what builds the foundations for longevity — versus just the appearance of it?
Because most people approach it backwards. They buy the tools before they build the terrain those tools can actually work on.
I track longevity science closely — the research, the supplements, the peptides making headlines. I also watch what’s actually marketing dressed up as medicine.
Perhaps more importantly, I’ve had a front-row seat to something many longevity researchers would love to study: my mother, who turns 80 this week .
She’s sharp. She lifts weights. She walks everywhere. She’s strong and independent. She lives fully and laughs often.
People often ask her: “What are you taking?”
It’s not her supplement stack. It’s fundamentals — done consistently, for decades. And when testing suggests something genuinely useful, she’s happy to use it.
That’s what most longevity conversations miss. The choice isn’t between biohacking everything or doing nothing and “aging naturally.”
That framing keeps people stuck. What matters is getting the fundamentals right, and knowing when something newer is genuinely additive versus just noise.
That’s the point of this newsletter.
The Four Pillars That Matter
When we talk about living well into our 80s and 90s, we’re really talking about four core domains:
- Cognition – Can you think, learn, remember?
- Muscle + Mobility – Can you move freely and maintain independence?
- Metabolic Flexibility – Can your body handle stress, regulate blood sugar, manage inflammation?
- Purpose + Connection – Do you have reasons to get up? People who matter? trophic gastritis.
Everything else—the supplements, the gadgets, the therapies—is only useful if it supports one of these pillars.
Pillar 1: Cognition
Start here
- Sleep rhythm and stress management. A wired nervous system erodes cognition quickly.
- Blood sugar stability (Alzheimer’s is sometimes called “type 3 diabetes”)
- Your coffee habit just got validated. A very recent study that ran for 43-years found that 2–3 cups of coffee (or 1–2 cups of tea) daily lowered dementia risk by 18%. Decaf showed zero benefit.
Test this
- Iron, B12, folate, vitamin D, omega-3 status, homocysteine, inflammation markers
- Organic Acids Testing, which we use at TNC, to show patterns in the production of neurotransmitters.
- Gut microbiome testing matters because most of the body’s serotonin is made in the gut, not the brain.
Use strategically
- Omega-3 (EPA/DHA). Your brain is made of fat. You need these omega fats from diet or supplements.
- Phosphatidylserine. My personal favourite. This has solid data for improving memory and cognitive function.
- Creatine. Underrated for women’s brain energy
- B vitamins in active forms. The kind of B-vitamins you take really do matter.
- Magnesium threonate. The only form of magnesium shown to cross the blood-brain barrier. Helps with sleep and anxiety.
- Lion’s Mane. For memory and cognitive resilience. Takes 8-12 weeks to see full effects.
Worth watching
- NAD/NMN. I treat this as a capacity amplifier when fundamentals are solid. Otherwise it’s just another layer on a stressed system.
Pillar 2: Muscle + Mobility
Start here
- Strength training 2–3x/week. After 50, we lose 1-2% of muscle mass per year if we do nothing to stop it.
- Zone 2 cardio.
- Balance and power work. Fall prevention is longevity prevention.
- Consistent protein matters to support muscle building and most women don’t eat enough.
- Recovery and sleep because you don’t build muscle in the gym, you build it after.
Test this
- Vitamin D.
- Bone density assessment via your doctor.
Use strategically
- Creatine at 5g daily increases muscle mass and bone density, especially important for women over 40.
- Collagen helps with joints and skin/
- Magnesium, calcium, trace minerals for bone matrix.
Worth watching
- Urolithin A for mitochondrial support.
- Probiotics that influence calcium absorption and bone building.
Pillar 3: Metabolic Flexibility
Start here
- Protein-forward meals to help steady blood sugar.
- Fibre. Most people don’t get close to the 25g daily linked to insulin sensitivity.
- Walking after meals.
- Sleep. Studies show that even 4–5 nights of poor sleep increases insulin resistance.
- Resistance training.
Test this
- Protein-forward meals to help steady blood sugar.
- Fibre. Most people don’t get close to the 25g daily linked to insulin sensitivity.
- Walking after meals.
- Sleep. Studies show that even 4–5 nights of poor sleep increases insulin resistance.
- Resistance training.
Use strategically
- Alpha-lipoic acid and Inositol both improve insulin sensitivity.
- Berberine is powerful when insulin resistance is confirmed.
- Akkermansia is a probiotic you will hear more about over the next few years. What we know now is that it strengthens the gut lining and improves glucose metabolism. At TNC, we test for this probiotic, along with our panel that measures the gut microbiome.
Worth watching
- Citrulline as a vascular/metabolic performance lever when paired with training.
Pillar 4: Purpose + Connection
There isn’t a blood test for loneliness.
But you can see disconnection show up as sleep disruption, cortisol dysregulation, inflammation, cravings, and “tired but wired.”
Long-lived populations share strong social ties, daily movement embedded into life, and a reason to get up in the morning.
Purpose and connection regulate stress physiology, immune function, and cognitive decline.
This is where projects that get longevity thinking right could be transformative.
The Real Work
The longevity industry is going to keep selling you more — more tools, more data, more gadgets.
But the real work is simpler and harder:
Build the fundamentals.
Test strategically.
Use tools with intention.
Warmly,
Pooja
CSS media query hiding bullets on larger screens—your code has responsive rules that remove list-style or padding-left on desktop/tablet, but preview forces mobile view. Live HTML Issue Confirmed Looking at your code: text- Purpose + Connection – Do you have reasons to get up? People who matter? trophic gastritis.