Health Longevity Secrets

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EXPLAINER: Glucosamine and Alzheimer's: Protection or Poison? Jun 23, 2026

Show notes

The same glucosamine pill millions take for joint pain may protect a healthy brain — and accelerate Alzheimer's in a brain already in decline. Here's the science.

In this episode of Health Longevity Secrets, Robert Lufkin MD breaks down the 2026 plot twist on glucosamine and dementia: why a supplement once hailed as a longevity hack now carries an Alzheimer's warning, and why the answer comes down to one thing — the state of your metabolism. The same molecule helped the metabolically healthy and may have harmed the metabolically broken. The supplement didn't change; the soil it landed on did.

Chapters:

00:00 — Introduction
00:39 — The Supplement Everyone Trusted
01:06 — UK Biobank: Glucosamine and 15% Lower Death Risk
01:38 — Why Glucosamine Looked Like a Longevity Hack
02:48 — The 2026 Plot Twist: Nature Metabolism Study
03:53 — Alzheimer's Mice and the Glucosamine Pathway
04:13 — How Sugar Tagging (Glycosylation) Explains Both
04:57 — Hyperglycosylation in the Alzheimer's Brain
05:34 — The Honest Caveat: Association vs Causation
06:55 — The Takeaway: Metabolic Health Decides Everything

Key takeaways:

In healthy, cognitively normal adults, regular glucosamine use has been tied to lower all-cause mortality and lower risk of dementia — especially vascular dementia.
A June 2026 University of Florida study in Nature Metabolism found the opposite signal in sick brains: in people with mild cognitive impairment, glucosamine use was associated with a 25% higher likelihood of progressing to Alzheimer's, and a 25% higher death risk in those already diagnosed.
In Alzheimer's mice, glucosamine made memory worse; blocking the same sugar-tagging pathway made it better.
The mechanism is metabolic: glucosamine feeds glycosylation (sugar-tagging of proteins). A healthy brain handles it fine; an Alzheimer's brain is already hyperglycosylated, so adding more is "pouring gasoline on the fire."
This is association, not proof of cause — and the literature is genuinely mixed. If you're healthy, it's not a fire alarm. If you or a loved one has MCI or dementia, talk to your physician before the next refill.

Studies & sources:

Read Dr. Lufkin's book "Lies I Taught in Medical School".

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What If The Pain Is Actually The Fuel? — Ben Barbic Jun 16, 2026

Show notes

What if the pain you've been trying to escape is actually the fuel you've been looking for? Recording artist Ben Barbic walked away from alcohol, nicotine, and blood pressure medications at 28 — and built a 15-year operating system for resilience.

In this episode of Health Longevity Secrets, Robert Lufkin MD sits down with Ben Barbic — chart-climbing reggae and hip-hop recording artist, San Jose-based studio owner of Where Dreams Sail Studios, and author of the new memoir Rise and Climb: Finding Purpose Through Pain (Skyhorse Publishing / Simon & Schuster, October 15). They talk about the night his childhood home burned down, the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake that destroyed his family's second house, the teddy bear from his young son that triggered his sobriety pivot, the redwood-tree metaphor on the book cover, kirtan and chakra meditation as his entry point to a calmer mind, and how very small daily choices — a single five-minute habit — compound into a completely different life.

CHAPTERS:

00:00 — Introduction
01:08 — Meet Ben Barbic: Recording Artist, Author, and Self-Builder
02:00 — Childhood Trauma: When the House Burned Down
03:00 — The 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake and the Power of Rebuilding
04:01 — Why Music Became His First Anchor as a Child
05:02 — The 28th Birthday Pivot: Walking Away from Alcohol and Nicotine
06:02 — The Subtraction-Then-Addition Method for Habit Change
07:03 — Quitting Blood Pressure Medications and Treating the Root Cause
09:04 — The Teddy Bear Moment: How His Son Triggered the Pivot
12:04 — Why Tiny Five-Minute Habits Beat Big Resolutions
14:05 — The First Three Habits He Added After Sobriety
17:07 — Kirtan and Chakra Meditation: A Beginner's Path
19:08 — Music, Memory, and the Brain's Storytelling Pathways
24:09 — Writing a Memoir: The Hardest Part Is Vulnerability
27:10 — Three Lessons for Self-Builders and High Performers
30:11 — The Redwood Tree Metaphor on the Book Cover
31:11 — Victim Mindset vs Agency: How to Reframe Adversity
32:11 — Redefining Success: From Catching Up to Contributing
36:12 — The Empty-Nest Pivot and the Next 5 Years
38:13 — Final Thoughts: Pursue What Gives You Purpose

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

Subtract before you add — remove the drainers first, then layer in new habits.
Hypertension is rarely solved by stacking more meds — change the upstream inputs and the numbers follow.
The pivot moment usually has a single concrete trigger.
Five minutes is enough — compounding does the rest.
Kirtan plus chakra meditation is a friendly entry point for musicians.
Redwood trees regrow tall around old burn scars.
Define success by what you can contribute, not by who you can catch up to.

LINKS & SOURCES:

📖 Dr. Lufkin's book Lies I Taught in Medical School: https://robertlufkinmd.com/lies/
📰 Substack: robertlufkinmd.substack.com
🌐 Website: robertlufkinmd.com

New episodes every other Tuesday. Subscribe so you don't miss one.

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EXPLAINER: Does Creatine Cause Cancer? What the Science Actually Says Jun 11, 2026

Show notes

Creatine causes cancer to spread — that headline is built on a real mouse study. But what does the human data actually say? In this solo explainer, Dr. Robert Lufkin breaks down both halves of the science behind the most studied supplement on the planet.

He walks through the 2021 mouse metastasis study behind the viral claim, the surprising evidence that creatine actually powers the immune cells that HUNT cancer (CD8 T cells and, per new UCLA research, dendritic cells), and what the human data — HCAs, NHANES, and the 2025 safety review — really shows. The verdict is more nuanced, and more reassuring, than the headline suggests.

Chapters:

00:00 — Introduction
00:46 — Why This Question Exists
01:32 — The Scary Half (2021 Study)
02:17 — How Creatine Fuels Tumor Spread
03:03 — Creatine Fights Cancer Too
03:48 — UCLA June 2026 Dendritic Cells
04:35 — Tumor Suppressor or Fuel?
05:21 — What Human Data Shows (HCAs)
06:08 — NHANES & 2025 Safety Review
06:55 — The Honest Caveat
07:42 — The Takeaway

Key takeaways:

The scary headline comes from a 2021 mouse study where dietary creatine promoted metastasis via the MPS1 → SMAD2/3 → TGF-beta pathway — in mice with established, aggressive tumors.
The same metabolism fuels your immune system: creatine is essential for CD8 "killer" T cells and the dendritic cells that direct them.
In a controlled human trial, creatine did NOT drive carcinogen (HCA) formation.
NHANES population data links higher dietary creatine to LOWER cancer risk, and the 2025 safety review calls the human cancer-risk claim "not substantiated."
Healthy adults: the human evidence does not support avoiding creatine. Active or metastatic cancer: pause and talk to your oncologist. Always choose third-party tested creatine monohydrate.

Studies & sources:

Zhang et al., Cell Metabolism 2021 — Creatine promotes cancer metastasis via Smad2/3
Geng et al., Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2024 — The multifaceted role of creatine metabolism
Di Biase et al., J. Exp. Med. 2019 — Creatine and CD8 T cell antitumor immunity
Kang et al., iScience 2026 (UCLA) — Creatine and dendritic cell activation
Pereira et al., Amino Acids 2015 — Creatine and heterocyclic amines
NHANES 2017–2020 — Dietary creatine and cancer risk
Antonio et al., Frontiers in Nutrition 2025 — Common safety concerns regarding creatine

📖 Dr. Lufkin's book "Lies I Taught in Medical School": https://robertlufkinmd.com/lies/

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The Smart Toilet That Could Detect Cancer Before You Know You Have It | Scott Hickle (Throne) Jun 09, 2026

Show notes

Colorectal cancer is now the #1 cancer killer in Americans under 50 — and roughly 60% of cases are diagnosed at stage III or IV. What if your toilet could spot the earliest sign years before symptoms?

Robert Lufkin MD sits down with Scott Hickle, co-founder and CEO of Throne Science, to talk about the first AI-powered smart toilet — a hands-free, daily monitor that detects fecal occult blood, tracks gut microbiome shifts, measures hydration and prostate health via sonouroflowmetry, and uses AI to coach behavior change. We unpack why your waste is the richest health signal you currently ignore, the Warren Buffett car-sensor analogy for continuous health monitoring, the 46% hemorrhoid risk from phone use on the toilet, and Throne's 10-year vision to be the first alarm system for cancer.

CHAPTERS

00:00 — Introduction
01:14 — Meet Scott Hickle: From Mechanical Engineer to Smart Toilet CEO
03:00 — How a Call With His Mom Sparked the Throne Idea
05:02 — Why Your Waste Is the Richest Health Signal You Ignore
07:02 — How Modern Plumbing Made Stool Analysis Taboo
10:02 — Fecal Occult Blood: The Earliest Sign of Colorectal Cancer
13:02 — Why Colorectal Cancer Is Now the #1 Cancer Killer Under 50
14:30 — The Warren Buffett Car Sensor Analogy for Continuous Health Monitoring
16:03 — Throne vs Gut Microbiome Tests: A CGM for Your Gut
18:03 — Stress Is the #1 Driver of Gut Health (And Other Self-Experiments)
22:04 — The 46% Hemorrhoid Risk From Phone Use on the Toilet
24:04 — How the Throne Hardware and AI Software Actually Work
27:00 — Sonouroflowmetry: Measuring Prostate Health From the Sound of Your Pee
29:05 — Privacy, Data Security, and Camera Placement
31:05 — Medical Advisors, Clinical Studies, and FDA Pathway
34:06 — The AI Gut Health Coach and Behavior Change
37:06 — The 10-Year Vision: A First Alarm System for Cancer
40:07 — Where to Pre-Order Throne (thronescience.com)

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Colorectal cancer is the only top-five cancer whose mortality has risen every year since 2005 — and it's now the #1 cancer killer in Americans under 50.
Polyps take 7–10 years to become tumors. Colorectal cancer is one of the few cancers we know how to cure before it becomes cancer — but only 3–6% of people return the at-home FIT test.
Visible blood in stool requires 40,000–50,000 µg of hemoglobin per gram. The FIT test detects 10–20 µg/g — about 8,000× more sensitive than what your eye can see.
A single bleed could be a hemorrhoid or food poisoning. A monotonic four-to-six-month rising trend is the pattern that signals colorectal cancer — and you can only see patterns with continuous monitoring.
Stress is the #1 driver of gut health in Scott's own n=1 self-experiments — bigger than any food, supplement, or fiber intervention he's tried.
Sitting on the toilet with a phone for more than 5 minutes is associated with a 46% increased risk of hemorrhoids (Inan et al., PLOS One 2025).

STUDIES & SOURCES MENTIONED

American Cancer Society / JAMA, January 2026 — Cancer mortality decline under 50 — https://pressroom.cancer.org/under-50-mortality-declines
Inan et al., PLOS One 2025 — Smartphone use on the toilet and hemorrhoid risk — https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40901789/
Scott Hickle, TEDxBoston — "The History and Power of Poop" — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v42gznW6cuA
Dr. David Rubin, MD, University of Chicago (Throne medical advisor) —

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EXPLAINER: Sleep Isn't For Muscle Repair — Here's What It's Actually For Jun 04, 2026

Show notes

Forget muscle repair. The reason sleep actually transforms your health is happening inside your skull every night — and it's not what Matthew Walker's TED Talk made famous. In this episode of Health Longevity Secrets, Robert Lufkin MD breaks down the real science of sleep: the glymphatic system that flushes beta-amyloid from your brain, the hippocampal "sharp wave ripples" that lock in memories, the slow-wave growth hormone pulse you can't make up, and the testosterone and insulin damage that happens in a single week of short sleep. He closes with the single most evidence-based intervention you can do tonight — and it's not melatonin. CHAPTERS: 00:00 — Why The "Sleep For Muscle Repair" Story Is Wrong 01:00 — Part 1: The Muscle Repair Myth (mTOR, Protein Synthesis, 24–48hr Window) 02:00 — Part 2: The Molecular Truth — The Glymphatic System 02:35 — The 60% Brain Cleaning Cycle (Xie 2013, Beta-Amyloid Clearance) 03:30 — Sharp Wave Ripples and Memory Consolidation in Deep Sleep 03:55 — How Sleep Onset Drives 70% of Your Nightly Growth Hormone 04:30 — Sleep Restriction Drops Testosterone 10–15% in One Week 05:00 — Part 3: The Hormonal Layer — Insulin, Cortisol, Ghrelin 05:15 — 4 Nights, 4 Hours: Prediabetes In Healthy Young Men (Spiegel 1999) 06:30 — Ghrelin, Leptin, and Why You Wake Up Hungrier 07:00 — Part 4: The Practical Tactic — Thermal Regulation 07:30 — The 2–3°F Core Temperature Drop That Triggers Sleep 08:00 — Why a Hot Shower 90 Minutes Before Bed Beats Melatonin 08:45 — The 65–68°F Bedroom Rule 09:15 — Part 5: The Reframe — Sleep Is Neurological, Not Muscular KEY TAKEAWAYS: • Muscle protein synthesis runs 24–48 hours post-workout and does not require sleep architecture — it requires amino acids, energy, and time. • During sleep, your brain's interstitial space expands ~60% to flush metabolic waste, including the beta-amyloid and tau proteins implicated in Alzheimer's. • ~70% of your daily growth hormone is released in the first slow-wave cycle — disrupt the first 90 minutes and you blunt the whole night. • Four nights of 4-hour sleep produced prediabetes-level insulin resistance in healthy young men (Spiegel et al., Lancet 1999). • A hot bath or shower 60–90 minutes before bed shortens sleep latency more reliably than melatonin (Haghayegh et al., Sleep Medicine Reviews 2019). Pair with a 65–68°F bedroom. STUDIES & SOURCES MENTIONED: • Xie L, et al., Science 2013 — Sleep drives beta-amyloid clearance via the glymphatic system — https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24136970/ • Spiegel K, Leproult R, Van Cauter E, Lancet 1999 — Sleep debt and metabolic/endocrine function (4-night 4-hour sleep restriction trial) — https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10543671/ • Leproult R, Van Cauter E, JAMA 2011 — 1 week of sleep restriction drops testosterone 10–15% in healthy young men — https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21632481/ • Haghayegh S, et al., Sleep Medicine Reviews 2019 — Warm shower/bath 1–2h before bed shortens sleep onset latency (meta-analysis of 13 trials) — https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31102877/ • Pontzer H, et al., Current Biology 2016 — Constrained total energy expenditure model — https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26832439/ • Walker M, "Why We Sleep" (book) — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Why_We_Sleep ───────────────────────────────── 🔔 Subscribe for more evidence-based health insights 📖 Dr. Lufkin's book "Lies I Taught in Medical School": https://robertlufkinmd.com/lies/ 📰 Substack newsletter: https://robertlufkinmd.substack.com 🌐 Website: https://robertlufkinmd.com — Enjoyed this episode? Reviews on Apple Podcasts are the #1 way to help the show grow. Tap here to leave one in 30 seconds: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/health-longevity-secrets/id1585563694 #sleepscience #glymphatic #healthlongevity #robertlufkinmd

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Are We In A Longevity Revolution? — David Donnelly (Director, Forever Young) Jun 02, 2026

Show notes

What if the longevity revolution isn't really a science problem, but a human one we're completely unprepared for?
In this episode of Health Longevity Secrets, Robert Lufkin MD sits down with David Donnelly — the award-winning filmmaker behind "Forever Young" (winner of the Mill Valley Film Festival Audience Award). David spent three years across three continents embedded with the world's leading longevity scientists — the Buck Institute, Dr. Eric Verdin, Dr. Steve Horvath, and more — and came back with the uncomfortable question no one wants to ask: do we actually want to live forever in the world we've built?
CHAPTERS:
00:00 — Introduction
02:32 — From Pre-Med to Filmmaker: Donnelly's Origin Story
04:58 — Dr. Eric Verdin on Multifactorial Aging
09:34 — The 30-Minute Walk That Cuts Disease 40%
10:33 — Why 93% of How You Age Is Lifestyle
13:50 — The Horvath Epigenetic Clock Explained
14:14 — Healthspan vs Lifespan: The 122-Year Cap
14:54 — Age Looping and Epigenetic Reprogramming
15:57 — Bryan Johnson and the Wild Side
16:29 — Do We Actually Want to Live Forever?
19:03 — The Loneliness Epidemic Is a Pack a Day
21:42 — Death Doula Katie Rose and the Death Positive Movement
24:29 — Reframing Retirement for 40 More Years
28:08 — Science vs Commercial Hype in Longevity
30:49 — Why Normal Bloodwork Isn't Good Bloodwork
31:33 — What a True Longevity Clinic Does
33:58 — Meet the Producers: Dr. Johnson and Dr. Lewis
42:06 — Final Takeaway: Start the Journey
KEY TAKEAWAYS:
• Only ~7-10% of longevity is genetic — 93% is lifestyle and epigenetics
• A 30-minute walk a day reduces chronic disease risk by 30-40%
• The Horvath epigenetic clock makes biological age measurable in real time
• Current lifespan is biologically capped near 122 — the real opportunity is healthspan
• Chronic loneliness harms your body at the same rate as smoking a pack a day
• "Normal" bloodwork often means sick — optimal is a different number
• The existential questions — meaning, purpose, death — are missing from the longevity conversation
STUDIES & SOURCES MENTIONED:
• "Forever Young" — the documentary
• Dr. Eric Verdin — Buck Institute for Research on Aging
• Dr. Steve Horvath — epigenetic clock (Nature Aging)
• US Surgeon General Advisory on loneliness (2023)
• OSK partial reprogramming and lifespan extension (Nature, 2020)
• Ray Kurzweil — "The Singularity Is Nearer" (2024)

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EXPLAINER: ANKTIVA- The Next Great Longevity Drug? May 28, 2026

Show notes

There's a single number on your routine blood test that predicts your risk of dying from cancer, heart disease, and infection better than cholesterol — and an FDA-approved drug may now move it.

In this Health Longevity Secrets explainer, Robert Lufkin MD breaks down lymphopenia, the IL-15 cytokine, and ANKTIVA (nogapendekin alfa inbakicept) — the first FDA-approved IL-15 super-agonist and possibly one of the most important longevity drugs of the decade.

CHAPTERS:
00:00 — Introduction: The Blood Test Number Better Than Cholesterol
00:35 — What Is Lymphopenia and Why It Matters
01:50 — Immunosenescence: Why Your T Cells Decline After Age 20
02:30 — The Mortality Data: Three Studies on Lymphopenia
03:20 — Copenhagen Study: 63% Higher All-Cause Mortality
03:50 — Coronary Angiography Study: Hazard Ratio 1.97
04:25 — Enter IL-15: The Cytokine That Builds Killer Immune Cells
05:15 — IL-15 as a Myokine: Why Resistance Training Protects Against Cancer
06:00 — Four Hallmarks of Aging Hit By One Molecule
06:30 — ANKTIVA Explained: The IL-15 Super-Agonist
07:00 — FDA Approval, Bladder Cancer, and the Soon-Shiong Reframe
08:15 — Is ANKTIVA a Longevity Drug? The Bullish Case
09:00 — The Skeptical Case: Why We Don't Know Yet
10:15 — What You Can Do Today: Track Your Number, Raise IL-15 Naturally
11:30 — Final Take and Closing

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

Lymphopenia (absolute lymphocyte count below 1,500/μL) predicts all-cause mortality better than cholesterol in multiple large cohort studies
IL-15 expands NK cells and CD8+ T cells — the same cells that clear senescent "zombie" cells and patrol for cancer
Resistance training is the single strongest known endogenous IL-15 stimulus; your muscle signals your immune system to stay young
ANKTIVA is the first FDA-approved IL-15 super-agonist (April 2024) — currently for bladder cancer but being reframed as a lymphopenia treatment
IL-15 hits four hallmarks of aging at once: immunosenescence, senescent cell accumulation, chronic inflammation, and sarcopenia
Honest take: exciting hypothesis with FDA approval, but zero human longevity trials yet — watch this space

STUDIES & SOURCES MENTIONED:

Zidar et al., JAMA Network Open 2019 — Lymphopenia and mortality in 31,178 US adults (NHANES)
Warny et al., CMAJ 2020 — Copenhagen General Population Study, lymphopenia in 108,135 adults
Bawamia et al., Cardiology Journal 2022 — Lymphopenia and 8-year mortality in 15,179 coronary angiography patients
FDA approval, April 22, 2024 — Nogapendekin alfa inbakicept-pmln (ANKTIVA) for BCG-unresponsive non-muscle invasive bladder cancer

Watch the full video on YouTube: https://youtu.be/220KHIdFCwg

📖 Dr. Lufkin's book "Lies I Taught in Medical School": https://robertlufkinmd.com/lies/
📰 Substack newsletter: https://robertlufkinmd.substack.com
🌐 Website: https://robertlufkinmd.com

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The Army Ranger Who Found Magic Mushrooms Save Lives — Neil Markey (Beckley Retreats) May 26, 2026

Show notes

What if the same symptoms we see in combat veterans — the broken sleep, the irritability, the brain fog — were already quietly spreading through the healthiest, highest-performing people you know?
In this episode of Health Longevity Secrets, Robert Lufkin MD sits down with Neil Markey — a former US Army Special Operations captain from the 75th Ranger Regiment turned McKinsey consultant, now the co-founder and CEO of Beckley Retreats and a Harvard Chan School student researching psychedelic-assisted integrated health. Neil walks us through his own journey out of post-combat trauma, the neuroscience of why psilocybin opens a rare window of neuroplasticity in the adult brain, and why he believes this work belongs upstream as preventative medicine for the well.
CHAPTERS:
00:00 — Introduction
02:34 — From Mathlete to 75th Ranger Regiment
02:50 — Iraq, WMDs, and the Pretense of War
03:16 — Two Afghanistan Tours as a Ranger Captain
07:14 — How Meditation Reached Him First
11:49 — The Peer Group Where Everyone Was Secretly Breaking
12:25 — Why the Environment Always Wins
15:15 — The Neuroplasticity Window Psychedelics Open
17:18 — Amanda Feilding and the Beckley Foundation
18:20 — Why Set and Setting Decide the Outcome
20:58 — The Fresh Snowfall Metaphor for the Brain
24:09 — Preventative Medicine for the Well, Not Just the Broken
32:18 — The Real Safety Profile of Psilocybin
33:27 — Beckley as a Public Benefit Corporation
39:38 — Bringing Rigor at Harvard Chan
40:12 — Jamaica, the Netherlands, and the US Legal Path
45:04 — A Green Beret's Son Finally Came to Him
46:34 — Why Awe Beats Burnout
KEY TAKEAWAYS:
• Psilocybin opens a measurable window of neuroplasticity in the adult brain
• Set, setting, and integration determine outcomes far more than the compound itself
• Psilocybin is non-toxic with low incident rates when used in controlled environments
• The "betterment of the well" use case may be as transformative as clinical treatment
• Oregon and Colorado have legalized supervised use; New Mexico and Massachusetts are next
• Chronic stress in high-performers replicates many PTSD-like symptoms
• Awe, empathy, and connection are measurable outcomes — and they beat burnout
STUDIES & SOURCES MENTIONED:
• Neil Markey — Beckley Retreats (use code LUFKIN for 10% off)
• Beckley Foundation — Amanda Feilding's psychedelic research institute
• Dr. Robin Carhart-Harris — UCSF Psychedelics Division
• Johns Hopkins Center for Psychedelic & Consciousness Research
• Oregon Psilocybin Services — first US regulated program
• JAMA Psychiatry meta-analysis on psilocybin for depression (2023)
• Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health

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EXPLAINER: 5 Longevity Myths the Latest Science Has Debunked May 21, 2026

Show notes

Five longevity beliefs that millions have followed for decades have just been overturned by the latest research. Some of these will surprise you.
In this explainer, Robert Lufkin MD walks through five of the most widely believed longevity myths — and what the most recent science actually says about each one. From genetics and middle age to antioxidants, alcohol, and caloric restriction, the evidence has shifted dramatically.
CHAPTERS:
00:00 — Introduction
00:32 — Myth 1: Your Genes Determine How Long You Live
01:51 — Myth 2: It's Too Late to Change After Middle Age
03:24 — Myth 3: Antioxidant Supplements Prevent Disease
05:22 — Myth 4: Moderate Alcohol Is Good for You
07:04 — Myth 5: Caloric Restriction Is King
08:50 — The Real Framework: Quality Beats Quantity
09:18 — Final Takeaway
KEY TAKEAWAYS:
• Genetics accounts for at most 25–50% of how long you live
• Quitting smoking before 40 eliminates ~90% of excess mortality risk
• Antioxidant supplements have no benefit and may increase mortality
• The protective J-curve for moderate alcohol disappears once you correct for the "sick quitter" effect
• Caloric restriction's primate magic was rescuing animals from a high-sugar control diet
• Diet quality matters more than diet quantity
STUDIES & SOURCES MENTIONED:
• Herskind et al., Human Genetics 1996 — 2,872 Danish twin pairs heritability of longevity
• Jha et al., NEJM 2013 — 21st-century smoking cessation and life expectancy
• Saint-Maurice et al., JAMA Network Open 2019 — Adult life-course physical activity and mortality
• Bjelakovic et al., Cochrane 2012 — Antioxidant supplements for prevention of mortality
• Zhao et al., JAMA Network Open 2023 — Daily alcohol intake and all-cause mortality meta-analysis
• Mattison et al., Nature Communications 2017 — Caloric restriction in rhesus monkeys (NIA / Wisconsin reconciliation)

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Perimenopause Is the Inflection Point Breaking Women's Health — Dr. Mayoni Gooneratne May 19, 2026

Show notes

What if the most dangerous metabolic inflection point in a woman's entire life is the one we've been taught to simply endure?
In this episode of Health Longevity Secrets, Robert Lufkin MD sits down with Dr. Mayoni Gooneratne — a London-trained former NHS colorectal and pelvic floor surgeon, now the founder of Human Health and vice-chair of the British College of Functional Medicine. Dr. Mayoni walks us through why she walked away from the operating theater and how perimenopause — not menopause — is the real window where metabolic disease, cognitive decline, and cardiovascular risk are either quietly programmed in or actively reversed.
CHAPTERS:
00:00 — Introduction
01:47 — From NHS Surgeon to Functional Medicine Founder
06:53 — Dr. Mayoni's Own Perimenopause Story
07:12 — Her Mother's Menopause-to-Diabetes Cascade
08:43 — The Cortisol Trap: Three Kids Under Three
10:39 — The Surgical Mentor Who Changed Everything
12:27 — What Functional Medicine Actually Is
12:52 — Root Cause vs "Treat and Street" Medicine
18:08 — The Timeline Aha Moment Patients Never Forget
21:09 — The Human Health Roadmap: Gut, Hormones, Mitochondria
24:19 — The Thrive Program for Perimenopause
25:42 — Body Fit: 16-Week Ketogenic Metabolic Reset
29:14 — Why You Shouldn't Stay in Ketosis Long-Term
33:20 — Why Normal Vitamin D Isn't Optimal Vitamin D
35:02 — Where AI Fits in Functional Medicine
36:03 — The Ovarian Age Clock Every Woman Should Know About
37:56 — The NHS-Private Divide in Chronic Disease
40:09 — Eat Better, Move Better, Sleep Better
42:18 — Where to Find Dr. Mayoni
KEY TAKEAWAYS:
• Perimenopause — not menopause — is the real metabolic inflection point for women
• Loss of estrogen can trigger type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease within months
• Chronic high-cortisol lives prime the perimenopause crash
• "Normal" vitamin D isn't optimal vitamin D — aim for ~100
• Nutritional ketosis works as a 16-week reset, not a permanent lifestyle
• New ovarian age clocks let women plan for reproductive aging precisely
• Pregnancy glucose tolerance results preview perimenopausal metabolic risk
STUDIES & SOURCES MENTIONED:
• Dr. Mayoni Gooneratne — Human Health clinic
• British College of Functional Medicine
• Institute for Functional Medicine
• Future Patient digital magazine and congress
• Ovarian age clocks / reproductive aging research (Nature)
• North American Menopause Society — hormone therapy position statement

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