My Secret to Feeling 18 at 68: A Few Favorite Longevity Tips

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Everyone’s talking about longevity.

In fact, the longevity industry is projected to reach up to $27 billion by 2030.

Researchers, doctors, and influencers everywhere are sharing ways to slow aging, prevent disease, and preserve function for as long as possible. We’re sold endless supplements, potions, and protocols promising to keep our cells young. Some are useful, many are not.

Longevity is health span, not life span. It refers to the ability to maintain physical, metabolic, and cognitive function as we age. It’s about maintaining the biological capacity to function well as we age—stable energy, resilient metabolism, clear thinking, and the ability to stay engaged with life.

Longevity medicine often includes comprehensive lab testing, advanced imaging, continuous glucose monitoring, wearable devices, genetic testing, biological age algorithms, and frequent biomarker tracking. Some of these protocols and treatments include:

• Tests to measure your biological age 

• Genetic testing

• Intermittent fasting 

• Peptides 

• Longevity elixirs with resveratrol 

• Wearables to micromanage health

• Constant biomarker tracking 

• Stem cell therapies

• Off-label drugs like rapamycin and metformin 

• Adaptogenic herbs

Many of these approaches can be expensive, highly involved, and require constant monitoring and adjustment. And even thought they promise optimization, precision, and control over the aging process, some can actually be harmful if not implemented properly.

Without understanding what the body is actually trying to preserve, optimization can easily become intervention for intervention’s sake.

So what does slowing aging really mean?

It’s important to first understand youthful physiology. Youthful physiology is characterized by a high metabolic rate, flexible stress responses, strong repair capacity, and curiosity-driven behavior. Aging, in many ways, reflects the gradual loss of these conditions.

Children have higher metabolic rates because their bodies are actively supporting growth and continuous repair.Growth is an energy-intensive process. Building new cells, synthesizing proteins, expanding organs, and maintaining rapid cell turnover all require high ATP availability. In fact, some research suggests that children have up to a 50 percent higher metabolic rate than adults (Smith, 2021).

This higher metabolic rate supports more than growth alone. It allows faster repair of damaged tissue, quicker resolution of inflammation, and greater flexibility in stress responses. When energy production is sufficient, the body can respond to challenges and then return to baseline rather than remaining stuck in a prolonged stress state.

As we age, metabolic rate gradually declines because the body shifts from a state of growth to one of maintenance and conservation. Over time, repeated exposure to stressors—psychological stress, poor sleep, inflammation, toxin exposure, infections, poor nutrition, and metabolic strain—places sustained demands on energy systems. Mitochondria become less efficient, oxidative metabolism is gradually suppressed, and the body relies more heavily on stress hormones to meet energy needs. This favors short-term survival over long-term repair.

The body adapts to these stressors by lowering its baseline metabolic rate. Growth and regeneration are deprioritized because they are energetically expensive. What we interpret as “aging” is largely this adaptive downshifting in response to cumulative energetic and environmental load.

In other words, metabolism doesn’t slow simply because time passes. It slows because the body is repeatedly forced to conserve energy in response to chronic stress and insufficient recovery. Preserving metabolic rate, therefore, depends less on fighting aging directly and more on restoring the conditions that allow energy production to remain high.

Certain interventions (targeted supplements, lab testing, or short-term protocols) can be extremely helpful depending on the individual. When used with context, they can identify constraints, correct deficiencies, or support recovery.

But it’s important to remember, preserving function isn’t only about improving numbers on a lab report. It’s about maintaining the internal conditions that support youthful physiology in the first place. Those conditions are shaped less by isolated interventions and more by the cumulative effects of daily wear and tear. Metabolic stress, sleep disruption, inconsistent nutrition, psychological strain, and environmental exposure compound over time. Longevity is ultimately determined by whether daily habits reduce that load or add to it.

The foundations that support long-term function are often far simpler:

• Healthy cortisol levels 

• Stable blood sugar

• Purpose and meaningful work

• Connection to nature 

• Connection with others

• Consistent, enjoyable movement 

• Healthy thyroid function 

• A nutrient dense diet 

• Healthy sunlight exposure

• Deep sleep 

• Strong relationships 

• Frequent laughter 

• Peace of mind 

A few of my favorite longevity “hacks.”

When people think about longevity, they often look for something new—advanced protocols, cutting-edge therapies, or complex optimization strategies. But many of the traits that support long-term health are things we naturally had early in life. Children live in a way that supports high metabolic rate, flexible stress responses, efficient repair, and nervous system resilience, often without trying.

So instead of asking how to hack aging, it can be more useful to ask: what did we stop doing as we grew up? A few of my favorite longevity “hacks” are really just ways of returning to the biological patterns we were built with in the first place.

1. Eat like a child: Children eat when they’re hungry, stop when they’re full, and tend to eat smaller, more frequent meals. This keeps blood sugar stable, supports a higher metabolic rate, and prevents chronic cortisol and adrenaline release. Again, children have metabolic rates up to ~50% higher than adults. With age, we often override hunger cues and disconnect from appetite signals—but those instincts are still accessible.

2. Choose food that genuinely tastes good to you (when it’s real food, not processed chemicals). Appetite and taste are regulatory signals. When food is unprocessed and nutrient-dense, preference often reflects need. There is no perfect diet for everyone—children intuitively adjust intake, and adults can relearn this skill.

3. Treat problems as challenges to overcome, not threats. Reframing stressors—whether a diagnosis, setback, or uncertainty—as obstacles to navigate rather than dangers to fear changes nervous system output. As we age, we face more challenges, but is it possible to interpret them as a game we can overcome?

4. Breathe properly. Nothing is as important to our health as proper breathing. How we breathe affects oxygenation, carbon dioxide balance, and nervous system regulation. Slow, nasal, diaphragmatic breathing supports circulation, metabolism, and a calmer stress response, while chronic shallow or rapid breathing keeps the body in a state of stress and accelerates aging.

5. Never stop playing. For kids, play is everything. It’s how they explore the world and how they problem solve. And this instinct doesn’t stop in childhood, we often just forget. The way we play changes. Tiger Woods plays golf, I play a doctor, and my son plays an economics wiz.

6. Move without a goal. Exercise is so important for blood flow, metabolism, and weight management, but movement doesn’t always need to be optimized or measured. Kids are always moving and don’t need to stick to strict workout routines. We are supposed to enjoy movement!

7. Let curiosity be greater than fear. Kids are naturally curious—they move through the world like sponges, absorbing, questioning, and exploring without needing certainty. As we age, we tend to close ourselves off, draw conclusions more quickly. Staying curious keeps the mind flexible and the body adaptable. Curiosity activates learning, creativity, and resilience, while fear pushes the nervous system into a defensive, energy-conserving state that accelerates aging.

8. Laugh often. Laughter measurably lowers cortisol, improves immune signaling, increases vagal tone, and enhances cardiovascular function. It’s one of the fastest ways to shift physiology out of stress. Laughter is the best medicine!

9. Sleep when your body tells you to. Our bodies naturally tell us what we need. As adults, we often ignore those same signals, even though sleep remains the most powerful tool for repair. Growth, hormone balance, memory consolidation, and immune renewal all depend on honoring the body’s natural sleep cues, not overriding them with schedules, screens, or expectations.

10. Embrace others and stay open all that life has to offer. There is always something good around the corner! Maintaining a positive outlook is one of the ultimate health hacks. In fact, optimism is consistently linked to longer lifespans (PMID: 35674052) (PMID: 35255123)

“Play with your work. Play with your kids. Play with your wife. Play with your surroundings. Play with your happiness. Play with your sorrows. Play with all of those things that you consider to be your miseries and misfortunes.” — Kapil Gupta

Play is a way to stay healthy. It keeps us curious, engaged, and adaptable. No matter the age, staying playful is an underrated medicine. 🤸‍♀️❤️

If you’re looking for more precise and personalized support around longevity, nutrition, and metabolic health, this is the work we do every day at the Center. Our focus is on using testing, nutrition, and advanced modalities thoughtfully—matching interventions to the individual rather than applying generic protocols.

We also work with patients interested in proactive cancer prevention and long-term health optimization, with care designed to support repair, resilience, and sustained function.

To learn more or schedule a consultation, please contact us at 949-680-1880. For a full list of services and modalities, see below.

For more information specifically on cancer: The Cancer Revolution ❤️

I created a resource that walks through my full integrative approach to treatment and prevention.

In the second edition of The Cancer Revolution, I updated every chapter, reviewed new research, added the latest diagnostics and early-detection tools, and included two new chapters on voltage/frequency medicine and the expanding field of immunotherapy. You’ll also find updated nutrition guidance, food plans, and practical lifestyle recommendations.

This edition is a comprehensive guide for anyone who wants to learn more about how I approach cancer care from an integrative perspective—and how these strategies can support healing.

My hope is that this book empowers patients. That it helps you understand your options. And that it reminds you: you’re not powerless. There’s so much you can do to support healing and live a full, cancer-free life. 💪

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Talk soon ❤️,

Dr. C