What we eat shapes
how we age
Most of us think of food as fuel calories in, energy out.
But nutrition is far more powerful than that. Every meal you eat is a message. It tells your body what kind of day to have tomorrow: how to burn energy, how to repair, how to think, how to age.
In longevity medicine, food isn’t about restriction or perfection. It’s about using nutrition as a tool to slow ageing and strengthen the systems that keep us well metabolism, hormones, immunity, and the gut.
You’re never eating alone
Inside your digestive tract live trillions of tiny organisms bacteria, fungi, and other microbes known as the gut microbiome.
Together they form an internal ecosystem that influences almost every aspect of your health:
how you digest and absorb nutrients
how you regulate blood sugar and weight
how your immune system behaves
how clearly you think and how stable you feel
When this ecosystem is balanced and diverse, it protects you. When it’s depleted, inflammation rises, energy dips, and the ageing process speeds up. Your microbiome responds to what you eat within days. Feed it well, and it will repay you with better metabolism, sharper cognition, and a calmer mind.
I don’t believe in one-size-fits-all diets; what works beautifully for one person can be unhelpful for another. My approach is simple: measure what matters and personalise everything else. The markers that truly predict long-term health are measurable — microbiome diversity, muscle mass, body composition, insulin sensitivity, and inflammation.
Food as information,
not ideology
The two biggest levers: what you eat and how your gut reacts
Build and protect muscle
Muscle isn’t just about appearance it’s a metabolic organ.
It stores glucose, burns fat, and produces anti-inflammatory molecules that protect your brain and heart.
Resistance training and adequate protein (around 1.6–2.2 g per kg of body weight per day) preserve muscle and stabilise metabolism as we age.
Strong muscles and a strong microbiome are two sides of the same coin each helps the other thrive.
Feed your microbiome
A healthy gut thrives on variety. The more plant diversity you eat, the more resilient your internal ecosystem becomes.
Practical ways to do it:
Aim for 30 different plant foods each week count herbs, spices, seeds, and grains.
My simple framework
To help patients visualise where they stand, make them look at nourishment and muscle:
A new way to look
at your plate
Forget perfection. Think signals. Each meal should send messages of calm, repair, and energy balance not stress and inflammation.
A simple starting point:
Fill half your plate with plants of different colours.
Include a solid source of protein.
Add healthy fats like olive oil, avocado, or nuts.
Eat slowly, and finish before you’re stuffed.
Repeat that pattern most days and you’ll already be eating in a way that slows ageing.
Why this matters for longevity
Healthy ageing isn’t built in labs or supplements it’s built in kitchens.
Every time you eat, sleep, and move, you’re reshaping the internal environment that determines how quickly (or slowly) you age.
By supporting your gut, maintaining muscle, and keeping blood sugar stable, you’re giving your body what it needs to repair itself every day, quietly, without fuss.
“Every patient wants to know which diet is “best.” The truth is, there isn’t one. There’s only what your data, metabolism, and microbiome tell us is right for you.
I’ve learned that the people who age best aren’t perfect eaters; they’re consistent. They eat real food, enough protein, and plenty of plants, and they do it predictably.
The gut is not just a digestive organ — it’s an immune and hormonal control centre. When you feed it well, inflammation drops, energy steadies, and the rest of the system follows.
Nutrition isn’t restriction; it’s information. The more precisely you deliver it, the more intelligent your biology becomes.”
