Good morning. It’s the last day of my 29th year today. 367 days (next year’s a leap year) till I enter a new decade. Woohoo! 🥳 

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Aging in Reverse

Earlier this year, I signed up for a service called Function Health, co-created by Dr. Mark Hyman, whose podcast I frequently listen to. An annual Function membership gets you access to yearly testing for over 100 biomarkers, some twice a year. The results are presented in a sleek interface with suggested ranges, explanations, and numerous tips to improve ones that are out of range, along with notes from a real physician who reviews all your results.

It’s pretty awesome, and a decision I concluded was a worthwhile investment in my long-term health. Prioritizing preventative care before disease strikes is very important to me and is embedded in the Move to Improve philosophy. It’s often very cost-effective in the long term as well!

My first tests were in June, and overall, I was pretty pleased with the results. But a couple categories in particular showed some concerning numbers. The main concerns I want to highlight in this newsletter were around kidney and heart function and systemic inflammation. Those are some serious organ systems that I want functioning well for many more decades, so I knew I wanted to take action when biomarkers like ApoB (huge marker of risk for heart disease) LDL and HDL size and numbers, triglycerides, uric acid, hs-CRP (a major marker of systemic inflammation), and creatinine (marker of kidney function) were out of range.

Sometime between my first tests in June and my retests this month (November), Function rolled out a Biological Age feature where they calculate your body’s biological age (contrasted with your “chronological age” in actual years). On how they calculate biological age, straight from Function:

They included the following biomarkers in their calculations:

• Albumin

• Creatinine

• Glucose

• hs-CRP

• Lymphocyte %

• Mean cell volume

• Red blood cell distribution width

• Alkaline phosphatase

They provided explanations, but you don’t need to fully understand them all (I don’t) to respect that it’s a pretty legit calculation that is a good snapshot of the health of several organ systems. 

Without burying the lede too much, I decreased my calculated biological age by 0.6 years in the span of actually aging ~0.4 years between testing! My calculated biological age decreased from 27.8 to 27.2, despite my chronological age turning 29… tomorrow :) 

In addition to decreasing my biological age, I also improved virtually every biomarker that was out of range and brought a few fully back into a healthy range! (Note that not everything is retested at this point; it will all get tested again at the 1-year mark.) 

Perhaps my proudest accomplishments are halving my hs-CRP, getting it into a healthy range, and lowering my triglycerides by ~21%, achieving a healthy range there as well. I managed to lower my ApoB by about 8%, but it’s still out of range and quite a bit higher than what’s considered “optimal.”

What did I do to make that happen?

I followed some of the recommendations Function suggested, as well as incorporating other behaviors I know are healthy for me. They primarily included:

• Eating 2–4 servings of salmon most weeks (omega-3 fats & heart health)

• Drinking large smoothies at least a couple times a week, full of healthy proteins, berries, different nuts, fiber, psyllium husk, and chia & flax seeds (nutrient density, flavonoids, phytochemicals, fiber, omega-3s)

• Maintaining weight training ~3–5 times per week (essential)

• Incorporating more cardiovascular exercise, including Zone 2 cardio and gradually adding VO2max training sessions and sprints

• Adding two Function-recommended supplements—Ashwagandha and Berberine—to my regimen 

• Trying to eat less sugar and more fruits and veggies. Did I reach optimal levels of each? No. Did I improve some? Yes. 

• Taking walks throughout the day, especially after carb-heavy meals

• Prioritizing adequate quantity and quality of sleep

• Growing & maintaining an active social life 

• Continuing with biweekly therapy

• Through these activities, I managed to add a few pounds of muscle and lose a few pounds of fat (improved body composition & metabolism)

I’m encouraged by my results after about five months of pointed effort to improve my internal health. Knowledge is power, and I’m now informed with information on how my lifestyle directly affects my health.

I plan to continue the above behaviors (which are mostly habitual) and perhaps dial a few up a notch. And like any good boy following the medical-legal advice, I will be discussing my results with my primary care physician soon. 👩‍⚕️ 

Progress is possible, no matter your chronological or biological age. What we consistently do directly influences our health. We can age more quickly or more slowly depending on how we care for our bodies. Good news is, you can always turn the tides.

While I’m still not exactly where I want to be (who is?!), I'm grateful for the direction things are going. Maybe by the time I’m 30, I’ll be 25 again! 😉

✅ Take Action

Every newsletter's Take Action section will invite you to take small steps to improve your health. Recognizing that we all have different capabilities, I'll offer three different levels of action you can choose to take.

Level 1: When was the last time you had basic blood tests and vital signs recorded? If it’s been over a year or two, consider scheduling an annual checkup with your doctor to know your numbers.

Level 2: Take a step beyond knowing your numbers and now take action. Implementing just one or two habits and staying consistent with them can have an incredible impact on your health.

Level 3: Level up all the way and join Function Health with me! Visit functionhealth.com or reply to this email and I’ll send you a direct referral link. Here’s to 100 healthy years!

This newsletter is brought to you by… me!

Interested in becoming a sponsor? Know someone else who might be? I’d love to get to know you and/or your business and see how we can partner together. Reply to this email!

✍️ Drew's Picks:

• Listen: As a little Uno Reverse!™️ to today’s article, here’s a podcast about “The problem with optimizing our lives.” It’s healthy to keep a balanced, nuanced perspective around here, folks!

• Shop: ICYMI, Move to Improve’s 2023 Holiday Gift Guide 🎁 

Peace out, Girl Scouts! (Salivating at the thought of Thin Mints back in my freezer in a couple months 🤤 Hey—like I said—balance!)

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Keep moving,

Drew

The content in Move to Improve is meant to be informative in nature, but it should not be taken as medical advice. It is always a good idea to consult with a trusted health professional before making any major lifestyle changes that could have a significant impact on your health. This is not a medical resource, and any opinions and articles are not intended for use as diagnosis, prevention, and/or treatment of health problems. They are not substitutes for consulting a qualified medical professional. Please think critically and take what I say with a grain of salt (aka don’t sue me).