Part One – Doubling down on or doing differently
In November this year I turn 50… It’s hard to believe it really. Half a century!
Reaching mid age can be confronting, as well as liberating! When I say confronting, it is forcing me to think about older age. Particularly as, during the last year, I’ve observed how my parents are experiencing/experienced older age. Our parents offer us a mirror to consider how our lifestyle today, can influence our health in the future. And these days, we have so much more knowledge and research available to learn from.
Reaching ‘100’ is one of my longer term goals – but only if I am healthy – in mind and body. Longevity and vitality (together) is my goal and the research certainly indicates that with the right lifestyle, a ‘healthy hundred’ is possible. Dr Peter Attia and Dr Rhonda Patrick are two of the leading voices in this area.
All that said, as I’ve implied, there is an important factor for me to take into account – genetics. The first being that my Mum was recently diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and her father also had a dementia diagnosis. I have deliberated over whether or not I should find out if I have the APOE e4 gene variant – the strongest known genetic risk factor for the disease – and so far have decided against it.
Why? Because my research shows me that a healthy lifestyle is the greatest protective tool that I have against the disease. There are no shortcuts or quick fixes… the onus is on me to choose the lifestyle I want, to optimise the quality of life in the longer term that I want.
The other risk factor for me (that I am aware of) is that my father had a stroke – early last year – and we discovered that he had other related health concerns that we hadn’t been aware of before that. So, without judgement, I have been considering what contributed to Dad having a stroke, and whether this is something that I’m more predisposed to from a genetics point of view.
In both the case of vascular and cognitive disease (and, it’s widely thought, up to as much as 75% of all diseases), a healthy lifestyle is the greatest preventative tool we have at our disposal.
So, as I approach 50, I have several compelling reasons to double down on a healthy lifestyle. ‘Healthy’ has been a focus for me for many years now – but I have learned and continue to (re)learn what’s good for me (as a female) at this stage of life and what’s not… through experimentation but mostly through listening and learning from the experts.
When it comes to the experts and research, there’s so much noise out there, not to mention nuance, and it can get confusing! Added to which my confirmation bias has led me to acknowledge some ‘truths’ and ignore others. So, I’ve decided to capture some of my learnings (and re-learnings) in this two part blog series – categorised by what I’m doubling down on and what I’m doing differently, and if this helps others in mid age to consider what they choose to experiment with and who they listen to, then that’s a bonus!
So, let’s start by looking at where I’m gaining my insight and inspiration, as this is an area that has changed over the last 12 months, as follows.
LISTENING & LEARNING FROM THE Experts – ‘Doing Differently’:
Firstly, I haven’t been listening to as many podcasts as I used to (but am getting back into them in 2026) and secondly, those that I do listen to have changed. I used to be a dedicated follower of Dr Andrew Huberman and Dr Peter Attia but have come to realise that their content, whilst rigorous and science-backed, is mostly relevant for (and thus beneficial to) men.
And as Dr Stacy Sims tells us, “women are not small men” as the research and science world used to assume we were. We have very different physiology which means that we have different health needs (depending on our stage of life) and responses to interventions or ‘protocols’.
So, I’m now trying to listen to more female-biased content and my go-to’s on the topic of female health and longevity are Dr Stacey Sims, Dr Lisa Mosconi and Dr Rhona Patrick.
It was this Mel Robbins episode with Dr Sims that made me rethink so much about my approach to exercise, fasting and when and what I eat. She’s a regular host on many other podcasts. I found this conversation with Huberman fascinating too.
Dr Mosconi is a leading neuroscientist who has written several books on Alzheimer’s prevention, including The XX Brain.
Dr Patrick hosts her own podcast and regularly speaks on others, sharing research and protocols focused on brain-health and Alzheimer’s prevention – giving evidence-based lifestyle, nutrition, and dementia risk reduction advice.
More on all this next week, but as a teaser, here’s an overview of what I’m ‘doubling down on’ and what I’m ‘doing differently’ when it comes to managing my longevity and vitality:
Doubling down on: movement, sleep, nutrition, offline and outdoors, family and friends, among other things, including HRT.
Doing differently: exercise, fasting, drinking, supplements, cold water therapy…
Tune in next week for part two where I will share more on my thoughts and approach to each…
Happy Friday!
Not The Mayo Clinic 