[Transcript] – The 55-Year-Old Single Mom Who Makes Less Than $100K Per Year & Is Reversing Aging Faster Than Biohackers & Tech Billionaires: The Julie Gibson Clark Interview.

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Transcripts

April 13, 2024

From podcast: https://bengreenfieldlife.com/podcast/julieclark/

[00:00:00] Introduction

[00:0053] What is the Rejuvenation Olympics

[00:04:12] Julie's background

[00:09:24] Becoming a part of Rejuvenation Olympics.

[00:15:55] Was Julie surprised with the results?

[00:21:52] What does Julie's diet look like?

[00:34:09] The use of supplements, digestive enzymes, and probiotics?

[00:39:14] Sleep support

[00:41:10] The use of technology

[00:42:17] Ben’s ad for the house

[00:43:56] Julie's fitness routine

[00:50:28] Julie's spiritual life

[00:56:50] How long does Julie want to live?

[00:59:41] End of Podcast

[01:00:42] Legal Disclaimer

Ben:  My name is Ben Greenfield. And, on this episode of the Ben Greenfield Life podcast.

Julie:  And, I've just always been pretty careful about eight hours of sleep. I think I learned that from my dad and I just kind of have safeguarded it pretty much my whole life. But, I wear a sleep mask, I do the mouth tape, I make sure I'm, for the most part, in bed by 9:00. Again, having a teenager, that makes it kind of hard, but in bed by 9:00, and then I'm probably lights out by 9:15, 9:30 and my alarm is set for 5:00, 5:15 depending on the day.

Ben:  Fitness, nutrition, biohacking, longevity, life optimization, spirituality, and a whole lot more. Welcome to the Ben Greenfield Life show. Are you ready to hack your life? Let's do this.

If you're listening to my show, you probably have heard of longevity and anti-aging and age reversal before, but maybe you haven't heard of this thing called the Rejuvenation Olympics. It's this leaderboard where people can submit the results of a test. It's a very cool test. It's called DunedinPACE test. And, I won't go into all the details of it now, but basically, these researchers followed people for years and years. And, they tested their blood and their grip strength, and all these different markers of longevity. And then, via what's called a regression question analysis, they basically dialed in one single blood test that could, with pretty good accuracy, measure your biological age or more appropriately your rate of aging. 

So, I've done this test. There's this whole leaderboard at Rejuvenation Olympics and a lot of the people who you might be familiar with in the anti-aging industry have done it. Bryan Johnson is probably the most prolific guy who's designed this advanced Blueprint. I interviewed him about these crazy protocols and hundreds of supplements. But, what's really interesting to me is that he's not necessarily on the top of the list. There are other people up there. And, of course, Bryan Johnson's very impressive with what he does, but he spends 2 million bucks on reducing his biological age. I think that's his annual investment. And, there are some other people on there who are, I guess, perhaps using an approach that might be a little bit more relatable to the average person. And, one of those people is my guest today, Julie Clark.

So, Julie, in an article that I read about her, was described as a 55-year-old. Did they get that right, Julie? I don't want to say you're 55 if you're not 55.

Julie:  I'm 55, yeah. Nose dive into 60.

Ben:  You don't look 55, but she's a 55-year-old single mom, makes less than 100k per year according to the article, but her aging rate is 0.665. That's impressive. That means for every 100 days, she's only aging 66 of those days. But, unlike a lot of these tech billionaires, the article goes into how her routine is a lot more ordinary like 27 bucks a month on a gym membership and 79 bucks a month on one supplement and eating a wide variety of vegetables and produce and not necessarily following a myopic trendy diet, playing pickleball, hooray, walking, doing some strength training.

So, I was so interested in this article that I thought gosh, I should get Julie on the show to talk about, I guess, what might be considered a more reasonable approach to age extension and longevity than necessarily getting your child's blood injected into you or something like that. So, Julie, welcome to the show.

Julie:  Thank you, Ben. I am so honored and quite frankly very excited to talk with everybody today. Thanks for having me.

Ben:  Yeah, yeah. I've been looking forward to this one for a while. There's actually another guy in the leaderboard I'm going to interview too who's also got kind of a more regular approach, Dave Pascoe.

But, for you personally, I'm very interested. Have you been interested in longevity and age reversal for a while? I'm just curious what led you up to even considering submitting your blood to a leaderboard called the Rejuvenation Olympics?

Julie:  Well, we could walk around a bit of a longer block if you don't mind because longevity, I only really heard about since 2017. But, my interest in health and performance and nutrition, that was probably as early as, gosh, I was 8 or 9 years old. And then, we can get into the Rejuvenation Olympics and how I got into that a little bit later if that's okay.

Ben:  Yeah, for sure. We got time.

Julie:  Okay. I was a swimmer when I was younger. I think my older sister was a swimmer as well, so I started pretty young. She's 8 years older than me, so I think I'm maybe 6 but somewhere around age 8, 9. My dad would go to my swim meets with me and he'd be like, “Okay, you've got the 100-meter fly coming up in 30 minutes. Let's give you X amount of a Snickers bar and you need the glycogen load for your muscles.” I'm 8 or 9.

Ben:  You're reminding me of me yesterday at my son's jiu-jitsu tournament. I'm standing there with a massage gun doing his thighs and get him a little bar so he times it properly. Yeah, I know exactly what you're talking about.

Julie:  Yeah. So, that's totally my dad. But, I did feel better in those races because obviously I was practicing all week but these races where I always had the sugar in me or the “glycogen load,” I was like, “Whoa, I can kind of really go faster. This is interesting.” So, it just kind of impressed on me that there's some relationship between nutrition and performance.

And then, just kind of watching him as I grew up, I mean we're talking late '70s, early '80s. He's making smoothies and what I probably call protein lattes. We called them concoctions then. It was like, “Oh, Dad, what are you mixing up now?” He was reading newsletters on nutraceuticals and things. I mean, it was part of his career but not necessarily the focus.

So, anyway, fast forward to my 30s. And again, kind of considering myself somewhat healthy but I had gone through a really stressful period; 36 months I was married, divorced, I moved about four times, I left my career that I had gone to college for, I was an engineer, and with not really knowing what I was going to do next. I had really bad acid reflux, extremely bad. And, what happened, I was told I had two lumps in my left breast and a man tried to kidnap me at knifepoint. So, I was just excessively stressed. And, I went to my doctor for the acid reflux and she said, “Well, why don't you just take an antacid every day and you'll be fine?” And, I was already on an anti-depressant that she had prescribed and I just thought, “This doesn't seem right. I think there's a better way to fix this problem. Let me at least try.”

I was in Portland Oregon at the time, so this is around 2000, and I went to see a naturopath to just see if they had any ideas for me. And, sure enough, the first thing she said is “Get off all wheat and dairy.” Oh, okay. So, two weeks later, acid reflux completely gone. I went to see her and she said, “We could probably help you get off that anti-depressant if you were interested in trying.” And, I was kind of past all the things that preceded needing that so I thought, “Yeah, let's give it a try.” And so, that was kind of the first time I was introduced to this idea of nutraceuticals as a protocol and that they could help your brain and body. So, that was very successful. And, I went on to really kind of take my health very seriously from that point forward from age 30.

So, fast forward to my 40s, and I'm exhausted, my hair is falling out and I'm thinking I work out every day, I eat what I thought was a very healthy diet, a vegan diet. I was constantly researching nutrition and what to do. So, I was really mystified as to why I felt so horrible. And so, I went to see a friend of mine had said, “You know, you should probably go get tested for heavy metals.” So, she had a doctor who was, it wasn't called functional medicine doctor at that time but she was basically practicing functional medicine, and tested me for heavy metals. And, sure enough, there was just tons. I mean, everything from tungsten to lead to mercury to all kinds of. It was clear that that was what was causing the issue.

And, I went through chelation therapy probably about 15 rounds of chelation therapy because you do them on a weekly basis. Somewhere around week six, I remember driving home and it was this fog had lifted from me and I thought there really is something to what she's doing. I mean, obviously, I could see that the metals were kind of coming down to healthier levels.

Ben:  Yeah. And, by the way, for people might not know chelation therapy, what would an average session of chelation therapy look like?

Julie:  I would sit in a chair, was an IV therapy with, and I'm going to get this wrong, I don't know if it was EDTA. I think it was EDTA, not DMPS. There's two chelators. And so, that was day one. And then, the very next day because it chelates out all your minerals, so you have to go back and then have them replace, all your minerals the next day.

Ben:  Right. This isn't like a DIY take EDTA at home type of detox, you got to be careful with those type of things.

Julie:  I won't get into the story, but definitely please do not do this on your own. You have to do this with a doctor who's monitoring all your different levels because I kind of went sideways at one point and it really caused some hormone imbalances. And, that was just in one session with one day, how it kind of went off. So, definitely do not do this without the help of a doctor for sure.

And, she was also looking at my blood and saying, “This vegan diet is not helping you.” And so, again, nothing wrong with that diet, it just was not for my body and my genetics. So, that's when I really kind of started taking things seriously. And, once we got all the metals down to kind of “safe levels,” there was still a lot of them. And, I just kept thinking, “Isn't there a cumulative effect of having so many different ones?” So, I thought, “Well, enough chelation therapy. Let me start just kind of naturally detoxing, looking at what are natural chelators” and started researching it. And, that's kind of when the ball really started rolling.

My dad was an astronaut on Skylab 3.

Ben:  Wow.

Julie:  And, this is like you got to go back to, what, mid '60s. And, up until that point, the space program had always been military guys. And, they placed an ad, my mom found it in the newspaper that NASA was looking for scientist for their next mission, and this was the Skylab Mission. So, 2,000 guys applied. And, of those 2,000, three made it and one was my dad. And, he was just a scientist. He wasn't military. Although he was on the football team probably in high school and college, but he wasn't a military fighter pilot or anything like that. So, he was always really into his health and performance. And, I think that's where the motivation came from and that we were always told, “You could do whatever you want. Be whatever you want. You just got to work for it.”

Ben:  Okay. So, you did the metal detox and then you started doing your own stuff.

Julie:  Yeah, I started because now the internet is a thing and I'm looking up detox, I find the work of Dr. Klinghardt. He's up in Washington. I don't know if you've.

Ben:  Yeah, Dietrich Klinghardt. He's great.

Julie:  Yeah, he is great. And then, Russell Blaylock, Mercola, and then from Mercola, all his different people that he would have on, and I would go and read their books.

So again, fast forward, I learned about fasting through, well, I was following the AIP diet. AIP kind of led me to Rhonda Patrick.

Ben:  AIP, autoimmune paleo.

Julie:  Correct, yeah, because my mom's family has quite a bit of autoimmune diseases. So, I thought, let me follow that, which is so restrictive. And then, eventually was led to, was it Jason Fung‘s fasting. And then, when I heard about the fasting-mimicking diet, I thought, “Well, this sounds great,” because I can actually eat a little bit. So, Valter Longo's fasting mimicking diet. And, that's when the first time I heard about longevity and then started like, “Oh, what is this? How can I be healthier, have a completely healthy lifespan?”

So, eventually found David Sinclair and then I learned about senolytics, which again, I thought, “Oh, that sounds like detoxing zombie cells. Let's do that. That sounds interesting.” So, that led me to, I'm going to maybe mispronounce this, fisetin, that ingredient fisetin.

Ben:  Yeah, yeah, fisetin, fisetin, tomato, tomato. Yeah.

Julie:  Yeah, yeah. And, I started researching that. And, in the process of researching that, I learned about this company called NOVOS and the product. When I researched their product and all the different ingredients, I was like, “Oh, these are other things I'm reading about, glycine and rhodiola,” and I was already taking magnesium.

Ben:  And, NOVOS is, and think I mentioned before on the show, N-O-V-O-S. They actually have, what I would consider to be a pretty good longevity test, the NOVOS Age. And then, they've got, yeah, it's like a supplement that covers a lot of the bases that you would expect for antisenescence for longevity, et cetera. I actually have some on my pantry. They have a powder and then they have a capsule. Correct?

Julie:  Yeah, yeah. The capsule is NMN and the powder is a mix of different nutraceuticals. So, yeah. And again, I just want to tell everyone out there, I don't work for them, I don't influence for them. They're not paying for this podcast. I just want to be very clear because I think when something's really good, I think people should know about it.

And so, they were kind of a startup at that time. And so, when I was ordering it, they asked if I wanted to be part of a study. And so, that's kind of how I found my way to the Rejuvenation Olympics because they said, “Well, as part of the study, we're going to take your blood and take a look at.” I honestly, at the time, didn't understand what they were me measuring. And, they wouldn't give me my score at zero, so they did, I think I measured at zero and then six months and 12 months. And, at zero, they wouldn't tell me what my score was just as a study participant, I guess. I don't know. So, I had no idea and I didn't really think of anything about it. I just wanted to see if there was a difference.

So, at month six, had they gave me both scores and then that's when they asked me if I wanted to be uploaded into the Rejuvenation Olympics. And then, we continued for another six months.

Ben:  Were you surprised when you saw your results compared to, like I mentioned earlier, a lot of people who are spending a lot of money and doing some pretty crazy things?

Julie:  Right. Okay. So, I'm just going to apologize to Bryan Johnson right here. I did not know who Bryan Johnson was at that time. I think he started it. And, when it first came out, I don't know, there wasn't tons of us, and I just was like, “What is this? This is so interesting. People just like me that geek out on health.” Because for anybody who hasn't gotten on there, you get to see people's pace of aging, also their change from when they started to where they are now and the protocol they're using. And, that's the thing that I was most interested in was like, “Oh, we can now look at how different protocols are impacting different people.”

I wasn't so much interested in “I have this score versus somebody else,” it was just, “What is the total difference from beginning to six months, 12 months?”

Ben:  Yeah.

Julie:  One point. So, that was the part that was most interesting. It wasn't until, I think, the Fortune article that I was kind of like, “Oh, this is sort of a big deal” and learned about Bryan Johnson and really what he was doing, which I think is pretty cool. I just wish it wasn't just an N of one, I wish we could get a hundred people doing what he's doing, be able to study it.

Ben:  Yeah. And, even then, there's the biochemical individuality and the genetics. The fact that a lot of what he does is still going to be specific to him, as is the case with you or me like a lot of this stuff is based on genetic individuality and your response. But, I did want to ask you that. As far as genetics go, I do a lot of stuff at least relative to the general population when it comes to health and longevity, my wife does not. Not that I want to manifest this, but I joke with my wife that she's probably going to be around for 20 years after I kick the can just because she's this hard Montana rancher genetic profile and all of her grandparents live to 90-plus and she barely works out and stays super fit. And, every time she does blood work, it comes back and it's perfect even though she barely uses any supplements.

And so, I'm curious with you, do you have a genetic profile in your family in general, especially maternally of long-lived people?

Julie:  I think so. My maternal grandmother died before I was born. She had lupus. So, that's the AIP protocol and autoimmune diseases all over that side of the family. But, my maternal grandfather, I mean he smoked, drank, and was living well into his 80s. So, I'm sure there's some genetics there. My mom is 80. I think she'll be 85 this year. She does have Parkinson's, but I would not consider her somebody. She wasn't following my dad's program. That's for sure. She wasn't exercising, lifting weights, eating the concoctions, any of that stuff.

Ben:  Yeah. But, the mere fact that they're in their mid-80s, that's beyond the general population when it comes to longevity. 

Julie:  Yeah, yeah. And, only recently developing Parkinson's, so yeah. And, I have my genetic, I think it's [00:19:19] _____. I can't remember, but I had run a report on longevity. Yeah, and I do have, I think how many it was, four different SNPs that indicate longevity and then eight more that are just normal life. But, I don't have anything for a shorter lifespan.

Ben:  Now, based on that genetics testing, have you, because when I tested, for example, I have higher than normal risk for colon cancer, so I prioritize things like careful with how much red meat I take in, my fiber intake, I do a coffee enema every week. So, there are certain things I do for chronic health or for diabetes. I have a higher-than-normal risk for type 2 diabetes, so I'm cognizant of carbohydrate intake. I wear a blood glucose monitor, et cetera. For you, did you find things on your genetic test that have influenced the way that you live your life or how you eat?

Julie:   Yeah. I didn't go too deep into it. I did notice I've got that MTHFR gene, but what was interesting is that too much folic acid or what do you say methylfolate doesn't necessarily help me. If I dig a little deeper, there was something about taking a lot of choline. So, I fix it more with choline than the methylfolate. I still take methylfolate, I just don't take the high doses. Every time I take a high dose, I tend to get very, very anxious.

Ben:  Yeah. And, it's really more synthetic folic acid and fortified cereals and grains. And, a lot of common energy drinks, for example, where you see the labeling, it says folic acid, not necessarily 5 MTHF or natural form of methyl folate that you need to worry about. But yeah, I mean certain people need to prioritize choline intake, organ meat intake, et cetera. I'm, what would be called, homozygous for the MTHFR gene. So, I also have to pay attention to that slightly sluggish pathway.

Is there anything else that you pay attention to on your genes?

Julie:  I haven't dug too deep into it quite honestly. I just don't understand it as much. I would love to work with somebody and develop a diet that really kind of somebody who knows all that stuff and would help me figure out exactly what I need to be eating. Not that I would eat that way 24/7. And, we can get into my diet here, but I just —

Ben:  I was going to say I'm sure everybody's wondering how does this gal eating. And, I should also mention, by the way, I'm going to take notes and put them all at BenGreenfieldLife.com/JulieClark if you want the shownotes there, BenGreenfieldLife.com/JulieClark.

So, what's your diet look like?

Julie:  Gosh. Let's see. I kind of switching it up just recently, but what it's been for a long time is I don't usually eat until about 10:00. So, I usually get up and work out first thing in the morning and I don't usually eat until about 10:00. And, that is usually greens. I just do some kind of powdered green drink first.

Ben:  When you say powdered green drink, you mean one of those done-for-you Organifi or Athletic Greens or something like that?

Julie:  Yeah, something like that. Sometimes I add some maca to it. I was doing a lot of moringa too, but I think it was messing with my thyroid. So, I'm just taking a little break. I was also doing a whole tablespoon a day with lemon and greens, and just having some sluggish issues and I think this might be messing with my thyroid.

Ben:  Yeah. So, some of those, including moringa, they're kind of what would be called [00:22:53] _____, right? They can interfere with thyroid function in high amounts.

Julie:  Yeah, exactly. So, I thought just take a break but I'll go back to it. I think it's a good product. But, at any rate, yeah. And then, at some point, a little bit later than that after I've kind of digested that, I'll go and make either a concoction as we would call them, a green latte in the winter at least. So, that's usually bone broth, greens. And, it's a great recipe. Actually, there is a doctor out there, Kara Fitzgerald and she wrote a program called “Younger You.” Yeah. And, she has a better broths and healing stews or something I'm going to miss. We'll get it in the shownotes, the name of it because she's got a sweet latte in there, and I swear every time I make it, I'm like, “This is a cup of Christmas.” I could just drink it every day, which I do. Here, it gets hot in the summer. So, right now, we're just in that shift where it's getting warmer and the last thing I want to do is have a hot latte, so I start making smoothies. I made a smoothie yesterday. So, it's pretty much the same stuff, it's just mixed up with frozen fruit, still some greens. And, I cook my greens, again, worrying about those goiter genes. I cook all the greens ahead of time and then I just put a little bit. And, it's really easy to get, so I'll put about 4 ounces of greens in there and that's nothing.

So, that's the morning.

Ben:  And, can I ask you a quick question about the fasting? I've talked about this before and I'm just curious your take on it or if you've thought about this at all that for females, particularly premenopausal females to do long bouts of fasting seems to downregulate some of the hormones responsible for say fertility or muscle maintenance or bone density. Kisspeptin is one, for example. And then, in postmenopausal females, it's kind of the same as guys, around 12 to 16 hour daily intermittent fast versus more of a recommended 10 to 12 hours for premenopausal females. So, for you, for the fasting protocol, hopefully, I'm not getting too personal here, but are you postmenopausal or perimenopausal?

Julie:  Yeah. I've been postmenopausal for a long time. Unfortunately, I probably hit that a bit early too. So, I don't know. I mean, it felt early.

Ben:  Right. Yeah. So, that 30-year-old lean active female listening in, don't necessarily mimic Julie's exact protocol from a fasting standpoint, but especially once you reach postmenopausal status, it's a longevity strategy. And then, oddly enough, premenopausal, it can kind of backfire on you.

Julie:  Yeah, exactly. And, that's kind of the thing I'm sort of changing up a little now, and we'll get into this, but I'm trying to get whatever the 100 grams of protein a day and I just quite frankly find it very hard if I have that short window to get that much. So, I'm sort of looking at maybe I should start just having a protein shake or something right after the workout. That would just add another 20, 30 grams of protein quite easily without messing things up too much, I think.

Ben:  And 100 grams, I mean it depends on your weight. But technically, I was just talking with Gabrielle Lyon about this, that podcast comes out this week, it's 1 gram per pound of lean muscle. So, if you weigh, let's say, 200 pounds and you're 20% body fat, you're still looking at, what, 140 grams of protein, which is well above 100 depending on your size and your body weight, of course.

Julie:  Yeah. So, I'm 130 pounds, so I know I'm supposed to be shooting for 130 but it just feels impossible.

Ben:  No, not necessarily 130 because it's a gram per pound of lean mass. So, you'd be less than 130, yeah. So, probably around 100 is a decent target for you.

Julie:  Yeah, 95.9 is my lean muscle tissue.

Ben:  Yeah, yeah, so around 100. Yeah.

Julie:  Yeah, yeah. So anyway, so I'm kind of looking at trying that. I'm always experimenting and fine-tuning. I'm sure your listeners are always doing that as well. 

Anyway, so back to the diet. Noon, I go downstairs and I'll grab a bowl of vegetables, and that's anywhere from 6 to 10 ounces of veggies because, again, this goes back to the Paleo days. I don't know if you ever remember that book, “Well Fed.” I can't remember the author's name but such a great cookbook. And, she was always talking about, “You got to eat your veggies.” And, I thought, “Yeah, she's right, you got to eat your veggies.” So, I just kind of started doing that then and I became kind of addicted to celery and other things.

Ben:  Sure. Plants are going to kill you but you got to eat your veggies.

Julie:  You got to be careful, I suppose. But anyway, so that's always varying what's in there. I always try to throw a few olives in there too for the salt and the fats. And then, also just some source of protein. So, some days I'm just cooking up chicken breasts, which quite honestly get old after a while. So, maybe it's just, I hate to say it, but some cheese sometimes for the calcium. Other times, it's just something left over from the night before but kind of focusing more on the protein, not so much carbs at that point.

Ben:  And, by the way, I definitely wouldn't be embarrassed about the cheese. I mean, fermented dairy, hard artisanal cheeses, a lot of these are superstars of many longevity-based diets. So, besides lactose intolerance, which often with fermented dairy like yogurts and kefirs becomes a moot point because the lactose sugar is broken down or the lactose sugar is broken down. I definitely wouldn't have qualms about dairy being a healthy diet.

Julie:  Yeah. And, sometimes it's just a bowl of what is it, goat milk yogurt. The regular yogurt doesn't. The cow's milk, I don't know, it's just not working for me these days and it tends to get a little backed up. Yeah.

Ben:  That's pretty common. I did a podcast on goat versus cow back in the day with a goat farmer, and it's the protein thermodynamics, the size of the protein, and also the lower levels naturally of lactose in goat dairy products that often make them. Like me, I can't do cow's dairy very well. I'll get bloating. Whenever I have ice cream, it's coconut or goat milk or something like that. But yeah, that's pretty common.

Julie:  Yeah, yeah. And, I love the flavor of it, so that might be my protein. And then, I don't eat again until about 5:30, 6:00 o'clock when I make dinner. And, that is a mix bag because I've got a teenager and I want us to have a dinner that both of us will enjoy. So, some days that's pizza, some days that's pasta. We don't do a lot of pasta in this house, but I'm always finding something I love, love, love to cook. So yeah, I just kind of make it healthy. I mean, we even fry food. I mean, I just use healthy oils and I've even rendered my own beef tallow. I wouldn't recommend. It stinks really badly, but anyway.

Ben:  What about pizza with a teenager? Are you actually choosing a healthy pizza or making your own pizza or you just take one for the team and order now?

Julie:  No, no, we make, but I should back up. So, I'm really strict five days a week, very, very strict. And, I learned this from my Italian friends. I used to live in Dubai and I had this Italian friend who was older than me and looked much younger than me, believe it or not, and I just thought, “My god, what are you doing?” She was very careful. There was a lot of fasting. She was very careful during the week. And then, it was the weekends, enjoy. Have a nice dinner with your family, but have a little less on the weekdays, and then on the weekends kind of enjoy yourself. And, I don't go eating a box of donuts or anything like that by enjoying. But, a couple weekends ago, we made cinnamon rolls but I try to make it myself. We don't go I don't Krispy Kreme. My son doesn't really even like the taste of fast food. I mean, In-N-Out Burger, yes, but the rest, no.

Ben:  Yeah, yeah. I'm similar, but I probably average once a week out to a restaurant and I'm allergic to seed oils card that I bring with me and I have a cocktail. I'm still careful, right? I'm not a bunch of fried calamari and having burgers and fries, I'm typically maybe the roast chicken or the steak or the fish. But yeah, typically that meal is enjoyed with a lot of people. It's very social. There's some evidence that there's almost a protective effect of eating in a parasympathetic state with people even if the food's not 100% on the healthy scale. And so, yeah, I do think that. I'm not one of those guys who says, “You got to live a little, don't deprive your kids of McDonald's and Chuck E Cheese's,” but I am okay with going out and enjoying a nice meal at a restaurant that a lot of people would still consider to be healthy if they saw what I order off the menu. But yeah, I agree at least once a week having something where you kind of let your hair down is a decent idea.

Julie:  Yeah, yeah. I think it's important. And, I thought it was funny you were talking about eating with other people and the parasympathetic. I just remember my friends in Dubai were always shocked. Because at this point this was when I was much younger I didn't have my son at that point, and they're like, “Well, who do you eat with at night?” And, I said, “Well, I just kind of grab something and eat it over the sink.” And, they were just horrified. That's how I was taking care of myself that I didn't sit down with friends. And so, this is really important. I think, the rest of the world, that really matters, they're not eating by themselves.

Ben:  Even when I travel a lot of times or when my kids are gone and my wife's gone, I'll still set things up. Put on a nice YouTube show. I'll watch Alone or Naked and Afraid or I like cooking shows like Master Chef or just a cooking YouTube channel like Joshua Weissman or Guga Foods. And, I still set things up so that I'm not working during dinner, it's kind of a nice little party by myself even if I'm on my own because as you know and as you've alluded to, just eating hunched over emails is a bad way to feel full adequately and to digest the food properly. So yeah, it's important even if you're alone.

Julie:  Yeah. I don't do that if I do eat while I'm working for lunch. But, at night, yeah, it's definitely a sit-down kind of thing.

Ben:  Yeah, that's a good point though. I do that too, Julie, for lunch. So, I save my more reactive work for lunch like replying to some emails, but I never schedule a phone call or jump into a deep edit on a book chapter. It's basically I get to choose my pace of work during lunch.

Julie:  Yeah, yeah, yeah, for sure. For sure, yeah. And so, then I don't really eat much after that. Sometimes I have some berries. Last night I had blueberries. I was craving some. I knew we had jelly beans in the house because we're going to have Easter here soon, so I was like, “Oh, I want some of those,” but I thought no, I'm going to keep the sugar to a minimum. I'm noticing with menopause I just can't seem to have sugar at night. It really causes some hot flashes and things. In fact, I've been using your apple cider vinegar. So, if I eat kind of a little too late, I had heard about it, I think it was in your book or one of your podcasts or “Boundless,” I can't remember, but I thought, “Oh, my gosh, I'm going to try this.” And, sure enough, it was like sleep a champ because my blood sugar wasn't going so high.

Ben:  I wanted to ask you, and then this actually gives me a good idea of your diet. You're eating a diet, wide variety of vegetables, plants, herbs, spices. You're mindful of eating in a parasympathetic state. You're engaging in some element of fasting or calorie restriction, but besides the NOVOS supplement, some of these greens, powders, do you do anything else like digestive enzymes or probiotics or anything along those lines?

Julie:  Yeah. So, as part of my work when I had the heavy metals and things, so I had learned I'm pretty much chronically deficient in magnesium and I don't know maybe that's in my genetics. I have no idea or maybe that's just what everybody is. So, I have been taking magnesium for years. I mean, something, trying to think, it must be 4 to 600 milligrams a day throughout the day. Fish oil. I've always been taking ever since my 40s and vitamin D3 K2 as well. Those and a B complex. I've been taking that for over a decade, 15 years now so long before I started NOVOS. So, maybe that's where the score of 75% came from. I don't know.

Ben:  Yeah. We got a bust Fortune Magazine. Maybe it's a little bit more than 79 bucks a month on supplements, but you're not swallowing 100 capsules a morning.

Julie:  Right. I'm not doing that for longevity, I'm doing that so I literally just can function. I mean, if I don't have the magnesium, I just start crashing.

Ben:  And, those really are some of the fundamentals; creatine, vitamin D, magnesium, good greens powder, and some fish oil. I almost consider those to be base foundational parts of the diet. They are supplements but they're really just the natural stuff that works that isn't that expensive in the long run.

Julie:  Yeah, yeah. I experimented with creatine and had half my hair fall out. And, I know people say it doesn't do that, but it was not a good experience for me hair-wise.

Ben:  Yeah, you can look that up if you upload your data to SelfDecode or Genetic Genie, you can see if you have the genetics that cause hair loss. And, I think it's about 20% of people can experience that.

Julie:   Yeah, yeah. So, I just thought, ah, just went off of that, and let's see what else. I think I wrote them all down. Let me make sure I'm accurate about this.

Yeah. It's magnesium, vitamin D3, fish oil, B complex. That's what I've been taking for pretty much decades. Then, I added the NOVOS and their Core and their Boost. So, the NOVOS Core is people can look up what's in there and then the Boost is NMN. At some point before NOVOS, I was experimenting with NR and I did it for a little bit and I felt pretty good, then I quickly switched to NOVOS and started taking their NMN. But, I've kind of pulled the NM out and I'm experimenting with NR again. Because I know there's a big debate about this, but I think I feel better on NR than I do NMN.

Ben:  Yeah. I mean, it's a little bit of a silly debate. I think largely driven by commercialization, NAD, NR, NMN, oral consumption, you're still going to get some cellular delivery. NMN might make it into the hypothalamus in the brain a little bit easier. It's still a good idea to do occasional IVs or transdermal patches or even suppositories for a higher dose if you're sleep deprived, if you're inflamed, if you want to top off your levels as you age a little bit. But, in the long run, all you're doing is elevating levels of niacinamide in some way to increase NAD availability. And, I mean, if you had to, you could even go with dirt-cheap niacinamide. But, I think what you just alluded to is a pretty good idea. Try NAD, try NR, try NMN, see which one you feel best on or see which one results in the lowest levels of inflammation or the best results on an aging test. And, some of it is pretty subjective.

Julie:  Yeah. Yeah. I want people to know this. It's not like you are like, “Woo, I have a ton of energy. I just drank 10 cups of coffee” or anything like that, it's just that it almost raises the floor. So, say the first six months of that, the NOVOS test, I was in a yet again a very, very stressful period. I mean, I hate to say it but almost the parent's worst nightmare. And so, the only thing I was doing, and I think that's what people should know, is this magnesium, D3, fish oil, B complex always and the NOVOS. My workouts were haphazard. I was barely meditating. I was definitely not sleeping. I mean, I would go three days without sleep. But, that's when I noticed I wasn't so tired. Before, I would lose one night of sleep and I couldn't function the next day. Here, I'm going three days because of stress and everything, it's like that floor was raised. And, I just noticed with NR, it's like raises that floor a little bit higher than NMN. Again, that's somewhat subjective but that's how it feels.

Ben:  How's sleep now, particularly as you age because obviously as melatonin decreases, a lot of people they sleep less as they age? I'm curious what that looks like for you and if you do anything in particular to prioritize sleep? You obviously understand it's important, so I'm curious what you do.

Julie:   Yeah. And, I've been like that my whole life. I mean, again, being a swimmer, you got to be in the pool for practice at 5:00 am. So, even in high school, nobody had told me to go to bed. I was in bed and asleep by 9:00 p.m. every night. Not that I didn't go out on the weekends. And, I've just always been pretty careful about eight hours of sleep. I think I learned that from my dad and I just kind of have safeguarded it pretty much my whole life. I mean, I go out and have fun and everything, but it was like, “Got to get your eight.” So now, I wear a mask. I can't black out my room enough just given our house, but I wear a sleep mask. I do the mouth tape. I make sure I'm, for the most part, in bed by 9:00. Again, having a teenager, that makes it kind of hard, but in bed by 9:00, and then I'm probably lights out by 9:15, 9:30 and my alarm is set for 5:00, 5:15 depending on the day.

Ben:  Yeah, that's good. By the way, I do the sleep mask even though I have a blackout curtains. It's interesting. They actually did a study on this. It was pretty recent like last year. The pressure of the sleep mask against the face regardless of how much light it blocks can help with relaxation; the same way that a gravity blanket or kind of a heavy pillow on your chest. For a lot of people, that's very comforting. It's very soothing. And, a sleep mask kind of does the same thing for the face. They even have weighted sleep masks now. They're kind of gravity sleep masks. And so, it's not just about blocking the light, it's actually the pressure against the face. Isn't that interesting?

Julie:   That is interesting because it makes sense. Because last night, I was going to sleep and I realized I couldn't really just turn over and I realized, “Oh, I didn't put my mask on.” Put it on, right to sleep. So yeah, there's got to be something to that, for sure.

Ben:  You got to try this little device called Sensate. It vibrates on your chest. That thing knocks me out on a plane. It turns the vagus nerve through the collarbone in your chest. It vibrates kind of that Apollo vibrating device, but unlike the Apollo it synchs to music that's on the Sensate app. I swear by it. All my friends who I have try mine when they come to my house are like, “I got to get one of these things” because they're inexpensive and they're game changer for sleep on an airplane.

Do you use any of these other kind of, I guess, technologies, PEMF and hyperbaric and red light? Do you ever Implement any of those?

Julie:  So, I had. I don't want to say I experimented with HBOT, but my son when he was kind of going through things, we learned he had a TBI when he was a baby so we were working on that with him. So, we had giving him HBOT sessions and I thought, “Oh, let me try that.” But, I've done a few sessions. It was cool. I mean, I'd love to have one in my house and just do my daily meditation on that. So yeah, I don't do any of the light or any of that kind of stuff.

This is interesting. For anyone who wants a done-for-you complete biohacked home, I am selling my entire tricked-out house located on 8.5 acres of forested land in Spokane, Washington. It includes a guest house, pool house, barn, whole setup for garden, goats, chickens, herbs, fire pit, along with a ton of biohacking goodies. The air, the light, the water, the electricity is all completely tricked out for optimized human biology. The highest quality air filtration systems, natural lighting friendly to circadian rhythms, low EMF, dirty electricity filters, EMF blocking equipment throughout, built to be off-grid when necessary with buried propane and solar grid, toxin-free and low VOC construction materials, the most advanced water filtration systems one can find, a massive vegetable garden, greenhouse, herb garden, outdoor fire pit, goat and chicken grazing pasture and barn all in a beautiful forest that's about 25 minutes from the airport and 20 minutes from downtown. This can all be yours if you're looking for a place to get away in a safe natural area and you're looking for the best of the best biohacks done for you. Here's where you can go to check it out and to fill out a form with your interest, BiohackedSpokaneHome.com. That's BiohackedSpokaneHome.com. Check it out.

And, by the way, that's surprising. You would be an anomaly in kind of the biohacking longevity industry just based on the fact that you don't have an elaborate morning routine that involves eight different devices.

Julie:  No, no, I do not. It's called get out of bed and get your happy butt over to the gym.

Ben:  Okay. Well, I do want to talk about that. I want to talk about the gym. Do you still swim or what's the exercise routine look like?

Julie:  Some days I swim, but I don't know, I just like, “Swimming is so boring.” I mean, I'm convinced I'm good at math because of swimming because I'd sit there and go like, “I've got 20 laps. I got to do 40.” Okay, that's half. And, I just sit there and do all the math in my head as I'm swimming.

Anyway, so no, I don't do that anymore. I like going to the gym but I really don't love working out. I like going for the sauna. So, I joined the gym for the sauna and I usually wake up in the morning thinking, “Ah, I'm not going to do my workout, I'm just going to go. I'm going to have a sauna and that'll be kind of my cardiovascular for the day.” But, as soon as I walk in, I'm like, “Okay, you got to do one set of something.” So, my routine is usually, Mondays — I've kind of switched it up since the Fortune article and I'm always kind of experimenting. I kind of switch it up either between six months or 12 months.

So now, I'm doing a full-body workout. Let's see. Monday is actually VO2 Max because I figure I kind of got a lot of, back to my dad, glycogen in my muscles from eating extra stuff over the weekend. So, Monday first thing, I do the VO2 Max and I do a Norwegian 4×4.

Ben:  That's the classic. Yeah, four minutes hard, four minutes easy four times through.

Julie:   Yeah. I do three minutes easy, four minutes hard. I do that four times through and then just two minutes really easy. And, Monday is usually abs as well. So, I'll do those two, then I jump in the sauna, then I take a cold shower. And, people have asked me this, so I'll mention it. My cold shower is as cold as I can get it in Arizona, which in the winter is actually cold and it's about four to five solid minutes. And, I wash my hair. I do everything I'm supposed to do in the shower, but just in the cold. And, most days I don't want to do it, but it feels really good. It's a natural anti-depressant for sure. It's like a dopamine curve apparently that lasts pretty long. So, yeah.

So, that's Monday. Tuesday is a full-body workout.

Ben:  Okay. I was going to ask you how long you average at the gym each day with these workouts.

Julie:  Yeah. It varies. So, that Norwegian 4×4, I mean that's 35 minutes, 30 minutes for that, five minutes for abs. I stretch too. Some days I forget, but stretch and then the sauna is 30 minutes and showers, five minutes.

Ben:  So, maybe in and out all done like a little over an hour or something like that?

Julie:  Yeah, yeah, yeah, on Monday. So, Tuesday, I do a full-body weight workout and I do Tuesdays with free weights and I do it at a different gym that doesn't have a sauna. So, we've got a gym in my neighborhood and it's just a little less crowded, it's easier to kind of get everything done. They've got all the equipment. So, I do a full body. And, that probably takes me a solid hour. But, I'm doing step-ups and all kinds of other things so I don't have to do cardio on top of the weights. And, I'm just messing around with all kinds of different stuff every day. I don't really have any routine except to just get the upper body really well, get the lower body. And, I try to just kind of mix it up. So, that's Tuesday. And then, Wednesday is just abs. And, I do just a zone 2 cardio and it just depends on when my first meeting is that day. So, sometimes it's 20 minutes, sometimes it's 30, sometimes it's 45. And, I'm always working out on either a StepMill or I sometimes use an elliptical trainer.

Ben:  And, is that fasted or is this after your green?

Julie:  No, fasted. Yeah, fasted. I cannot work out on a full stomach at all or anything.

Ben:  Yeah, I did one the other afternoon because I had a house guest and he wanted to work out. And yeah, two hours after lunch and I'm burping stuff up. I have my best workouts fasted in the morning. Sometimes some ketones or some aminos if it's going to be a hard one but that's about it.

Julie:  Yeah. I haven't tried the ketones yet. It sounds really interesting. I am experimenting with pre-workout. My son kind of got me into this, so I've been using this. Of course, he wanted to get the kind of unhealthy pre-workout. I'm like, “No, no, no, we're getting the healthy stuff.” So, ordered something from a nutraceutical company. I don't know. Anyway, we didn't really talk about it but my morning routine, I do get up in the morning and drink green tea and pray. That's kind of my quiet time. But, I don't drink coffee, I just cannot have a lot of caffeine. So, when I do pre-workout, I'm like whoa.

So, the VO2 Max day, I'll take a pre-workout and then Monday and Tuesday basically pre-workout and then sometimes on Saturday. Okay. So, let's go back. So, Monday VO2 Max, Tuesday full body workout, Wednesday just kind of zone2 cardio, Thursday is zone2 cardio, somewhere between Thursday Friday or Saturday I'll do another full body workout but I'm in the gym and I'm using all the machines, just things that kind of, I don't know, I want to say limit your range of motion, different. And, that's not as intense but I definitely enjoy the leg presses and various things that they have there. So, I'm doing another full-body workout either Thursday, Friday, or Saturday. Lately, it's been Saturday because my son likes to go with me and he works out. And, I'll do pre-workout with that one as well. But, the others, so Thursday, Friday. I'll do zone2 cardio and then nothing on Sunday.

Ben:  Like, nothing, nothing? You don't go on a walk or anything like that?

Julie:  I've been getting into this rucking. And, I don't really have the rucksack or anything like that, but I just grab my backpack and I have this old cookbook from 1977, which is old gourmet. It's basically a year's worth of magazines in one book. So, I put that in there. I think it weighs 7 pounds. And then, last weekend, I put in another. So yeah, I'll just go for a walk or if the weather's beautiful here and the hiking is gorgeous, so I go out hiking. It just depends on how much time I have and what's going on.

Ben:  Kind of a change up here. You mentioned that part of your morning routine is prayer. And obviously, spirituality primarily intrinsic religiosity like having some kind of a moral code, belief in a higher power, prayer, dependency on some external source of strength, the sense of purpose, these are all things that seem to play into longevity as well, including some of Buettner's work on the blue zones. What's that look like for you as far as your spiritual life?

Julie:  Yeah. I'm pretty solid with God. That's for sure. I was raised Lutheran. And, it was to be quite honest, my uncle was the minister so we had to go to church. And, I was just always kind of like, “What is this?” And, it was kind of boring and kids would be talking about, “Well, the God is up there.” And, I'm thinking, “Well, my dad's been there. There's no God. There's no guy with a blue robe up in space. That's not happening.” So, I was kind of a skeptic my whole life.

Ben, I had started following Buddhism in high school and love meditating and things. I was deployed. I wasn't a soldier, I worked for the newspaper for the military with stars and stripes, but I was in Doha, Quatar and I just thought I'll go to a–I went to a Catholic service. It was like, “Oh, I could hear what Jesus was saying through all I had learned about Buddha.” I was like, “Oh, that's what Buddha was saying. That's what Buddha was saying.” It just was really intriguing to me. And then, of course, I was living in Europe around that time as well and going to all the cathedrals. And, that was the place that just always felt really not only inspiring but calming and peaceful for me.

And, my ex-husband and my son's dad wanted me to raise him Catholic. So, as he went through his catechism, I decided to do mine too. And, it really it was kind of came at it from a very logical reasonable like maybe it's worth people understanding. I was kind of just always searching for a set of practices because, I think like many people, I just knew that there's something bigger out there. And, every time I remember what that feeling of like, “Oh, yeah, there's something bigger than just me and this daily life out there that's kind of driving force of all of us, like that life force or the force as they talk about in Star Wars.” I just wanted a set of practices that would remind me of that on some kind of daily basis. And, I looked at what are the practices of Judaism, what are the practices of Islam, what are the practices of Buddhism, whatever. 

And, the place that I just always kept returning to was the Catholic church and it just felt so, I don't know, just felt like home to me and that the practices for me, they felt comfortable. And, I could finally hear them after having studied Buddhism. So, that just has been important to me ever since and I did the whole Bible in a year a couple of years ago and it was right when I needed it, when I was going through some stressful stuff. And then, I redid my catechism in a year, last year. And, I'm a cafeteria Catholic. But anyway, that's very important to me. And so, every morning, I read a little bit from the Bible. I'm reading the gospels right now and just sit and kind of pray. And yeah, and I'd mass, I'd say, three weeks out of four.

Ben:  Yeah, yeah. I'm right there with you. For me, it's Bible in a Year every morning, bibleinayear.org with Nicky and Pippa Gumbel. And so, it takes about 15 to 20 minutes to read. There's some different prayers that you do as you're reading. There's an audio version, but sometimes if I put on the audio, I wind up walking around and doing stuff and not focusing as much and not stopping to say the prayers along with them. So, I like to do it. My best time is before I get out of bed in the morning because then, I'd do it. And then, later on, we all meet as a family at 7:00 am in the living room and we read more Bible and we pray together and we talk for a little while as a family. And then, we have little prayer breaks throughout the day before breakfast, before lunch, before dinner. 

And then, at night, we all gather on my kids' room and we pray and we read the Bible again. And then, my wife and I go to bed and we pray again together. So, I've kind of woven it. Even the Bible says pray without ceasing. I'm not praying right now, but the idea of weaving that into your life the same way as you would exercise or healthy eating for me, it's probably, it is the most important. It's the one thing that I know even if I completely lose my entire body from the neck down, I can sit there and become stronger and more encouraged and happier just reading the Bible and praying. It's underrated and you don't do it as a hack to live a long time, you do it because it's good for loving God and loving other people. But, there's certainly some crossover there as far as just how you feel and your general satisfaction and fulfillment every day.

Julie:  Well, I think I mean, especially too, if we're looking at longevity and you asked me this and we'll get to that, but say you're going to live 100, 125 years, life is hard. It's thrown me some serious curveballs and you got to have your why and your bigger push. I mean, I had depression. I was on an anti-depressant a long, long time ago and it was like the Dalai Lama talks about this, you got to get out and help people. And, I think kind of always being reminded of prayer makes you aware that other people are struggling. There's just so much to it that kind of it makes you feel. I always just feel like I'm just this little piece of pepper in this whole grand scheme of things, but also somebody who belongs. There's just the sense of belonging to that whole history that is the Bible, I guess.

Ben:  Yeah, it gives a different perspective for sure as far as your own mortality and dependency.

You mentioned there about how long you want to live. Obviously, some people on the Rejuvenation Olympics have name that like 160. I personally say I just want to live as long as I'm genetically capable with a good enough lifespan and health span to be impactful and satisfy my purpose in life and hopefully play with my grandkids and if I'm lucky my great-grandkids. How about you? Do you have a number or are you just doing this to be around?

Julie:  No, no. Yeah, no number. I think that's complete. I mean, for me I think that's complete. I, unfortunately, lost my brother when he was 38 and he was a triathlete. He was a ER doctor. Amazing. And, you just know unfortunately no day is promised. So, I would hate to put a number out there and get hit by a bus the next day kind of thing. I mean, that sounds really morbid. 

So, no, my goal is just to be as happy and healthy and mobile and vital for as many years as I live on the planet. And obviously, I've got one son. He's got me. I've got him. And, I want to be here to help him as long as possible. And, being a single mom, you give up a lot. There's just a lot of traveling that doesn't happen. There's a lot of things that you give up career-wise. And so, I just kept thinking, “Wow, if I could live another 60 years past the time that he leaves the home, I could have this whole second life and still be here for him.” So, that's kind of my goal.

Ben:  Yeah. I love that perspective. You're an inspiration. I'm going to link to the Fortune Magazine article in which I first discovered you in the shownotes at BenGreenfieldLife.com/JulieClark. Send me the Goodreads thing. I'll link to that.

Julie:  I will.

Ben:  I'll link to the Rejuvenation Olympics for any of you who want to test your own blood and see where things stand. It's not that expensive. It's a little kit that gets to your home. You wait a few weeks and then you just go to the Rejuvenation Olympics website and I'll link to that in the shownotes as well.

But Julie, I'm just really glad we're able to connect and kind of share this holistic perspective on longevity with people. So, I really appreciate you coming on.

Julie:  Thank you so much and I hope it inspires people. Sometimes I imagine all the biohacking world can get confusing for people and just start where you're at. If you're not doing anything, just get the exercise snacks in. Just start somewhere. Yeah.

Ben:  Yeah, take a cold shower. It could be confusing. Thanks to guys like me putting out way too much information. Alright. Well, cool. Again, the shownotes are at BenGreenfieldLife.com/JulieClark. And, until next time. I'm Ben Greenfield along with Julie Clark, signing out from BenGreenfieldLife.com. Have an amazing week.

Do you want free access to comprehensive shownotes, my weekly roundup newsletter, cutting-edge research and articles, top recommendations from me for everything that you need to hack your life, and a whole lot more? Check out BenGreenfieldLife.com. It's all there. BenGreenfieldLife.com. See you over there. 

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In the world of tech titans, competition extends beyond the boardroom to space conquest and extravagant lifestyles. However, one of the most intriguing competitions focuses on reversing the aging process itself: the Rejuvenation Olympics, Bryan Johnson's brainchild.

Quickly rising to the top of the leaderboard is Julie Clark, a single mom in her 50s earning less than $100k per year. Today, she joins the show to teach you how to defy aging with her budget-friendly routine, which includes regular exercise, sauna sessions, a balanced diet with limited refined sugars and grains, and affordable supplements.

Despite not having a billionaire's budget, Julie's aging rate — 0.665 (she only ages 66 out of 100 days) — is remarkable, demonstrating that longevity is within reach for many, without breaking the bank. Unlike many of her counterparts in the Rejuvenation Olympics, her routine is somewhat ordinary. She spends $27 a month on a gym membership and $79 a month on the longevity supplement NOVOS. Julie consumes about 16 ounces of a variety of vegetables daily, snacking on carrots, radishes, and peppers during her workday. She limits the amount of refined sugars and grains she eats, and at least three times a week, Julie uses the sauna for 20 minutes before taking a cold shower.

At the gym, she does a mix of cardio and strength workouts each week: two days of upper body workouts with weights, two days of lower body with weights, and one day of strength training targeting her core, along with 20 to 30 minutes of cardio four times a week. On the weekends, she hikes, kayaks, plays pickleball, or takes a long walk.

Through these simple, affordable health and longevity methods, Julie is considered a top competitor at the Rejuvenation Olympics — measured by the DunedinPACE test, the gold standard for assessing the pace of human aging. This test analyzes DNA methylation marks in white blood cells, providing unique insight into an individual's rate of aging. (I had my test done by TruDiagnostic, which is operated by a former podcast guest of mine named Ryan Smith.) You can read more details about my test results in this article: Ben Greenfield’s Latest “Age Reversal” Lab Testing Results, Diet & Supplement Stack, Top Tactics To Slow Aging, Longevity-Enhancing Stacks & Much More.

Once the leader in the Rejuvenation Olympics, billionaire Bryan Johnson (check out my podcast with him here), is neck and neck with individuals like Julie and Dave Pascoe (a retired engineer who, at 61, looks and feels decades younger), proving that optimizing your longevity doesn't need to cost a fortune.

In this episode, you'll uncover the diverse approaches to anti-aging with me and Julie, showcasing that while there is no one-size-fits-all solution, healthy habits, including exercise, diet, and smart supplementation, can significantly impact healthspan and lifespan. Whether you're a billionaire or an average Joe, the key to longevity may be simpler and more accessible than you think.

During this discussion, you'll discover:

-What is the Rejuvenation Olympics?…04:39

-What is Julie’s background?…07:57

  • Heard about longevity in 2017
  • Had always been interested in health and nutrition since she was a kid
    • Was a swimmer
    • Her dad was mixing protein smoothies for her during meets
  • Had a really rough period in her 30s
    • Married, divorced, and went to college
    • Had health issues and was almost kidnapped
    • Was excessively stressed and under antidepressants
  • Went to see a naturopath
    • Got off all wheat and dairy
    • Finally took her health seriously
  • In her 40s, new problems appeared
    • Always felt exhausted, hair was falling out
  • Worked out every day, had a healthy diet
  • Went to a functional doctor and was tested for heavy metals
    • Positive for tungsten, lead, and mercury
    • 15 rounds of chelation therapy — has to be done with a doctor to be safe
    • Heavy metals were coming down to healthy levels
  • Gave up a vegan diet

-How did Julie become a part of the Rejuvenation Olympics?…14:46

-Was Julie surprised with the results?…19:41

  • Didn’t know who Bryan Johnson was at first
  • She was mostly interested in different protocols impacting different people
  • A lot of the stuff is based on genetic individuality and your response
  • A genetic profile in Julie’s family
    • Maternal grandmother died of lupus
    • Autoimmune diseases all over that side of the family
    • Maternal grandfather smoked, drank, and lived well into his 80s
    • Her mother is 85 and has Parkinson’s
  • The influence of genetic tests
  • Has the MTHFR gene — mutations in the MTHFR gene can lead to reduced enzyme activity, potentially causing elevated homocysteine levels, which are associated with an increased risk of heart disease, stroke, and pregnancy complications
  • Methyl folate — the active form of folate, a B vitamin that plays a crucial role in various bodily functions, including DNA synthesis and repair, cell division, and the production of neurotransmitters — doesn't necessarily help her
  • Choline — an essential nutrient that plays a crucial role in various bodily functions, including supporting brain development, nerve function, muscle movement, and metabolism — works better for her

-What does Julie’s diet look like?…25:38

-What supplements, digestive enzymes, and probiotics does Julie take?…40:26

-What does Julie do for sleep support?…45:31

-How does Julie incorporate the use of technology?…47:28

  • Sensate (use code BGL to save $30)
  • Apollo (use code BG15 to save 15%)
  • Tried HBOT once or twice
  • She doesn’t use any device

-Ben’s ad for his Spokane house…48:35

-What is Julie’s fitness routine?…50:30

  • Sometimes swims
  • Likes going to the gym but does not like working out
  • Likes going to the sauna
  • Monday
    • VO2 Max
    • 30 minutes Norwegian 4×4 (3 minutes easy, 4 minutes hard, 4 times through, and then just two minutes really easy)
    • 5 minutes for abs
    • 30 minutes sauna
    • 5 minutes cold shower (as cold as she can get, 4 to 5 solid minutes) — a natural anti-depressant for her
  • Tuesday
    • An hour or so of full-body workout with free weights
  • Wednesday
  • All workouts are done in a fasted state
  • Thursday
    • Zone 2 cardio
  • Somewhere between Thursday, Friday, or Saturday
    • Another full-body workout using machines
  • Nothing on Sunday, except walking or hiking

-What are Julie’s spiritual practices?…56:46

  • Prayer in the morning
  • Was raised Lutheran but followed Buddhism in high school and loves meditating
  • Deployed in the military but was not a soldier — in Doha, Qatar
    • Went to a Catholic service
  • In Europe, went to cathedrals
  • Wanted to raise her son Catholic, so she went to catechism classes
  • Like many people, just knew that there was something bigger out there
  • Looked at different practices and ended in the Catholic Church
  • Reads the Bible every morning, prays, and goes to Mass
  • Ben uses Bible in One Year
    • Takes about 15 to 20 minutes to read
    • Meet as a family at 7:00 a.m., read the Bible, and pray together
    • Prayer breaks throughout the day, before breakfast, before lunch, and before dinner
    • At night, her family gathers, prays, and reads the Bible again
  • Always being reminded to pray makes you aware that other people are struggling
  • You have to have your WHY and a sense of belonging

-How long does Julie want to live?…1:03:03

  • Doesn’t have a number
  • Lost her brother when he was 38 — he was a triathlete and an ER doctor
  • A goal is to be healthy, happy, mobile, and vital
  • To be a mother to her son

-And much more…

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Resources from this episode:

– Julie Gibson Clark:

– Podcasts:

– Books:

– Other Resources:

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