In this episode of Beyond Longevity, Daphna speaks with Dr David Cox, a health journalist (BBC, The Guardian, The Telegraph, NBC News and others), who holds a PhD in neuroscience from the University of Cambridge and is the author of The Age Code, about how diet, ultra-processed foods and the modern food environment shape biological ageing.

Dr David argues that the longevity conversation often focuses too heavily on future drug breakthroughs, supplements and biohacking, while overlooking lower-hanging fruit that could already have a meaningful impact on long-term health. He explains why reducing ultra-processed foods, increasing fibre intake and paying closer attention to micronutrients such as vitamin K may matter far more than many people realise.

The conversation explores gut ageing and its relationship with immune ageing, possible drivers behind the rise in early-onset cancers, and practical lifestyle strategies that may support healthier ageing. These include slow cooking, eating more protein and calories earlier in the day, lowering dietary acid load through fruits, vegetables and herbs, and the role omega-3s may play in long-term health.

Daphna and Dr David also discuss biological ageing tests, visceral fat, kidney health markers, the limitations of CGMs for the average person, exercise mimetics, affordability within longevity medicine, and whether governments should take a far more active role in tackling the everyday drivers of chronic disease and accelerated ageing.

The Age Code: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0008708878

https://www.instagram.com/drdavidcoxhealth

https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-david-cox-6b219666

00:00 Welcome and Guest Intro

02:00 From PhD to Journalism

03:17 Science Scepticism and Nuance

05:22 Trust Crisis in Health

06:44 Protein Hype vs Fibre

07:40 Micronutrients Matter

09:07 Inside The Age Code

10:50 Early Onset Cancer Clues

12:38 Gut Ageing Explained

14:49 Ten Nutritional Stressors

17:55 Ultra Processed Food Reality

19:32 Personal Choice vs Policy

23:33 Longevity Focus Misplaced

25:00 Ageing Tests and Omega 3

27:39 Advice for Any Budget

29:48 Sauna Protocols

31:04 Metabolomics Health Snapshots

33:16 Testing Anxiety and Rule of Three

35:41 His Own Biomarker Wake Up

37:41 Best and Overrated Biomarkers

41:25 Exercise Mimetic Drugs Debate

48:05 Government and Ageing Strategy

50:23 Kitchen Takeaways and Seaweed

53:18 Rapid Fire Round

56:08 Final Reflections and Outro

Supplements promise a lot: mitochondrial support, better brain health, healthier gut function, anti-ageing benefits and more.

But how much of that is real science, and how much is simply clever wording on a label?

In this episode of Beyond Longevity, Dr Luke Bucci, PhD, Chief Scientific Officer at Juvenon, brings both a scientist’s eye and decades of experience in the supplement industry to one of the most confusing areas of longevity.

Dr Luke explains the difference between a product being described as “science-backed” and one that is supported by meaningful human clinical evidence. He also discusses why the dose, form and standardisation of an ingredient matter, and why “fairy-dusting” fashionable ingredients into a formula can make a product sound far more proven than it really is.

We talk about bioavailability, absorption, the gut microbiome, and why feeling stimulated is not the same as supporting mitochondrial health. Dr Luke also explains why creatine has moved beyond the gym, why blood flow and nitric oxide matter as we age, and how nutrients such as magnesium, vitamin D3, omega-3s, polyphenols and CoQ10 fit into a more thoughtful approach to supplementation.

This is a practical and refreshingly honest conversation about how to read beyond the label, ask better questions, and think more clearly about what supplements can, and cannot, do.

Links:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/juvenonwellness

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Juvenon/

Website: https://juvenon.com/

00:00 Welcome and Guest Intro

01:53 Dr Bucci Origin Story

03:26 Science vs Marketing Today

04:44 Science Backed vs Clinical

09:14 Fairy Dusting Exposed

11:05 Bioavailability Reality Check

14:15 Standardisation and Sourcing

22:03 Gut Microbiome Benefits

24:30 Testing and Trial Periods

27:33 Longevity Trend Explained

30:35 Mitochondria 101

34:14 Stimulants vs Real Energy

40:47 Stimulant Band Aid Trap

41:51 Creatine Beyond The Gym

45:08 Creatine Dosing And Safety

47:11 Creatine For Brain Ageing

50:53 Why Blood Flow Declines

53:42 Nitric Oxide Basics

57:44 Arginine Silicate Explained

01:04:45 Polyphenols And Nitrates

01:06:53 My Essential Supplements

01:11:36 Rapid Fire Wisdom

01:13:49 Episode Takeaways

This week on Beyond Longevity, I am joined by Dr Herna de Wit, CEO and Founder of Omnisci Consulting, with a PhD in Biochemistry and an LLB in Law.

Dr Herna brings a very unusual and valuable combination to the longevity conversation: deep scientific training, legal expertise and hands-on experience advising companies in the health, biotech and longevity space.

Longevity is full of exciting science, but it is also a field where marketing can move faster than evidence. In this episode, we ask a simple but important question: how do we separate what is genuinely credible from what merely sounds convincing?

Dr Herna shares her five-point “scientific sanity check” for evaluating longevity products, supplements and protocols. We discuss why human RCT data matters more than animal or cell studies, why dosage and bioavailability are often overlooked, what biological age clocks can and cannot tell us, and why safety, third-party testing, and regulatory discipline are essential in a fast-moving market.

We also look at longevity from the perspective of investors and company builders. What are the red flags? What makes a claim scientifically weak? And why does defensible intellectual property matter far beyond simply having a patent?

Dr Herna explains how companies can think more intelligently about protectability, including through delivery systems, synergistic formulations, data, know-how and clearer scientific positioning.

The conversation then turns to South Africa, a market that many listeners may not immediately associate with longevity, but one that raises fascinating questions. We discuss medical tourism, scientific talent, regulatory realities, affordability and whether South Africa could carve out a distinctive role in the global healthspan conversation.

Finally, we speak about one of the most important tensions in longevity: if the science advances, who actually gets access? Is longevity already becoming another layer of privilege, or can the field develop in a way that is more credible, more inclusive and more useful?

This is a conversation about evidence, accountability and the future of a field that urgently needs both excitement and discipline.

Links:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/herna-de-wit-phd-llb/

https://linktr.ee/drherna.omnisci

00:00 Show Intro and Guest

02:41 Dr Herna’s Unusual Path

04:29 What She Does Today

06:13 Five Point Science Audit

11:17 Investor Red Flags

15:31 IP Beyond Patents

20:12 Open Science vs Profit

24:35 Founder IP Strategy

32:54 Global Longevity Hotspots

33:42 South Africa Opportunity

36:33 Access and Inequality

43:12 Regulation and Innovation

46:20 How to Work With Dr Herna

50:02 Rapid Fire Questions

52:20 Final Takeaways Outro

On Beyond Longevity, Dr Filippo Ongaro, medical doctor, entrepreneur, and strategic advisor, shares how nearly eight years working with astronauts at the European Space Agency shaped the way he thinks about ageing.

In space, the body can lose muscle, bone and resilience at a frightening speed. Stress, sleep disruption, nutrition, movement and circadian misalignment are not lifestyle details. They become central medical issues. For Dr Filippo, space became a kind of accelerated ageing model, showing in fast-forward what happens when the systems that keep us strong begin to break down, and why exercise and nutrition are such powerful countermeasures.

After leaving ESA, Dr Filippo opened one of Italy’s early anti-ageing and functional medicine centres. But over time, he came to believe that the biggest obstacle in longevity is not simply knowledge, testing, or more biomarkers. It is the behaviour gap. People often know what they should be doing. The harder question is why they do not follow through.

Together with his wife Sonya, he shifted from one-to-one clinical work into education, coaching, professional training and strategic advisory, with a focus on making longevity more accessible, affordable and practical, including through pharmacy-based pathways.

In this conversation, he argues that longevity should focus on healthspan, avoid overpromising, build trust, start earlier with younger people, and move beyond fear of death towards purpose, identity and the joy of life

links: www.metodo-ongaro.com

https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-filippo-ongaro/

Dr. Filippo Ongaro

00:00 Welcome and Guest Intro

02:53 From ESA to Longevity

05:07 Space as Accelerated Ageing

07:40 Countermeasures and Behaviour Gap

09:53 Mindset Over Biohacking

14:24 Mission Drives Discipline

17:22 Delayed Gratification Science

20:37 Building Anti-Ageing Practice

22:11 Why People Don't Follow Through

24:31 Who Wanted Anti-Ageing Help

28:16 Pivot to Education at Scale

31:53 Training Health Professionals

32:24 Scaling Impact Through Partners

33:27 Broadening the Audience

34:36 Affordable Longevity Access

37:11 Institutions and Mass Market

40:14 Business Advice for Clinicians

43:26 Hype, Trust, and PR

45:07 Fear Versus Joy of Life

47:16 Identity Driven Change

53:24 Future of Longevity Market

56:00 Healthspan Over Lifespan

57:58 Rapid Fire and Wrap Up

01:00:18 Final Episode Takeaways

Michael A. Clinton, former President of Hearst Magazines.

Michael spent four decades at the top of the publishing world, including as President and Publishing Director of Hearst Magazines, before turning his attention to one of the biggest questions of our time. If many of us are likely to live longer than previous generations, how do we make the second half of life not just longer, but more intentional, productive and meaningful?

In this episode of Beyond Longevity, Michael discusses the ideas behind his book ROAR and his framework for rethinking later life. ROAR stands for Reimagine, Own your numbers, Action plan and Relationships, and it became the foundation for Roar Forward, his B2B platform advising organisations on the fast-changing 50-plus consumer.

The conversation explores why Michael believes we need to shift the language from “ageing” to “longevity”, how culture and business are slowly beginning to respond, and why institutions, employers and policymakers still have a long way to go.

Michael also previews ideas from his new book, Longevity Nation, which looks at the people, companies and innovations reshaping what longer lives could mean. He raises important concerns about inequality, access and the growing number of products making claims that are not always backed by evidence.

This is also a very personal conversation. Michael reflects on his working-class roots in Pittsburgh, the moment that changed how he thought about identity and reinvention, and why the longest chapter of life may be the one most people have planned for the least.

The episode also touches on the economic power of the $8.3 trillion 50-plus consumer, why this market is still widely misunderstood, and the one longevity habit Michael believes anyone can begin with, regardless of income.

Links:

Longevity Nation

ROAR forward

LinkedIn

00:00 Welcome and Guest Intro

02:19 Early Life and First Memory

03:17 Ambition and Upbringing

05:12 Finding His Career Path

06:29 Hearst Lessons on Identity

09:22 ROAR Framework Explained

13:29 Longevity Economy for Business

16:19 Language and Pro Age Messaging

18:43 Brands and Countries Adapting

21:55 Fear and Reinvention Mindset

22:59 Purposeful Second Act

23:38 Reimagineer Stories

24:37 Why Longevity Nation

27:33 Inequality and Access

30:13 America and 100 Year Life

33:18 Policy Gaps to Fix

35:53 Hope Worries Takeaway

40:16 Rapid Fire Round

42:42 Longevity Habits and Myths

45:05 Closing Reflections

What does good prevention actually look like, and is the longevity industry helping people live better, or simply making health feel more complicated?

In this episode of Beyond Longevity, Daphna speaks with Niko Hems, Operations Lead at YEARS, a longevity clinic in Berlin, Germany.

Niko brings a rare perspective to the conversation. He works inside the longevity field, but he is not afraid to challenge it. He believes deeply in prevention, yet he is sharply aware of where the industry can go wrong, from over-testing and over-promising to fringe science and the uncomfortable gap between those who can afford cutting-edge healthcare and those who are still struggling to access the basics.

His own story makes this especially interesting. At 13, Niko became fascinated by nutrition and fitness while trying to gain weight and feel better in his body. Years later, after completing a Master’s in Longevity Sciences and working inside one of Germany’s leading longevity clinics, he put himself through the kinds of tests many people now associate with the future of health, including genome sequencing, microbiome analysis and more than 200 biomarkers.

The result was not quite what he expected. Instead of clarity, much of it created anxiety. Instead of answers, it raised a harder question: when does prevention become too much?

This is a refreshingly honest conversation about the promises and problems of modern longevity, the tests that help versus the ones that confuse, the basics that still matter most, and what a more credible, useful and accessible version of prevention could look like.

Niko Hems Head of Growth at YEARS.

Host of Return on Health podcast.

Links:

https://nikohems.de

https://www.linkedin.com/in/niko-hems/

https://returnonhealth.de/

00:00 Podcast intro and themes

01:52 Nico’s path into longevity

03:37 Defining longevity and healthspan

04:47 Peakspan explained

06:26 Basics that move the needle

08:32 When testing becomes anxiety

10:07 Inside the Years clinic model

14:26 Cost access and inequality

15:58 Who buys high-end programs

17:55 What 16K actually includes

20:43 Why behaviour change is hard

24:07 Are we really getting healthier

26:04 Lifespan hype vs healthspan focus

28:25 Prevention Over Testing

29:23 Affordable Core Diagnostics

30:50 Why Healthcare Lags

32:58 Fixing Incentives

37:37 Longevity Branding Problem

41:09 Basics That Move Needle

43:28 Free High Impact Habits

46:22 AI And Longevity Future

52:04 Rapid Fire Wrap Up

53:42 Final Takeaways

In this ViVE conference bonus episode of Beyond Longevity, recorded live at the ViVE event in Los Angeles, the conversation explores how BioAro is seeking to bring different strands of personalised health data together within a single longevity platform.

Brock Hay explains BioAro’s approach to integrating genomics, microbiome testing, biomarker analysis, AI-driven interpretation, and personalized supplementation. The central idea is that health and longevity cannot be understood through any single test alone, but require a broader and more connected picture of the individual.

The conversation also examines one of the most important questions in modern health technology, namely data privacy. As more companies collect deeply personal biological information, the focus turns to who owns that data, how it is stored, and whether individuals truly remain in control of how it is used.

The episode also explores how tools such as telomere testing, methylation analysis, gut microbiome testing, and athlete-focused genomics are being positioned within the wider move towards preventive health. It also considers how far today’s longevity interventions can genuinely take us, and where the limits of current science and commercial promise still remain.

Links:

https://bioaro.com/

linkedin.com/in/brock-hay-95204471

00:00 Welcome to Beyond Longevity

02:11 Meet Bio Arrow at ViVE

02:23 All in One Longevity Platform

05:02 Genomics Explained Simply

07:03 Privacy and Data Security

09:13 Genes as Prevention Tools

11:23 Methylation and Telomeres

12:08 Who It’s For and Pricing

16:13 Key Longevity Biomarker

17:40 Telomeres and Supplements

22:13 Future of Personalized Medicine

24:10 Gut Microbiome Testing

28:43 Founder Story and Integration

32:38 Research vs Consent

37:06 Vatra Decentralized Storage

38:58 Rapid Fire Longevity Tips

41:06 Closing Takeaways

On Beyond Longevity, Corinne Briaud Manon discusses women’s healthspan through the lenses of science, consumer trust and commercial execution, drawing on her experience in major corporates and her work across Green Marlin, which advises health and longevity startups, and LongHER, a women’s healthspan community platform.

She explains how the two initiatives connect, including how startups can test their propositions with real consumers, and outlines common early-stage pitfalls such as focusing too much on technical detail and not enough on real consumer need, lacking competitive awareness and structure, and letting passion override business discipline.

The conversation explores what “science-backed” should really mean, why longevity is currently a kind of wild west with real credibility risks, and why women’s health needs to become a serious business if it is to address historic underinvestment.

Corinne emphasises the importance of getting the basics right first for women, including basic health assessments, body composition, sleep, movement, strength and social connection, rather than spending blindly on superficial solutions. She also points out that access remains skewed towards the privileged and that prevention will need to be properly incentivised if it is to reach the masses.

Instagram: @‌longher_collective

https://www.linkedin.com/in/corinne-briaud-manon/

00:00 Welcome and Guest Intro

01:38 Two Ventures Overview

02:43 Ecosystem Linking Both

04:17 How Longher Helps Startups

06:20 Green Marlin Origin Story

07:39 Startup Gaps and Fixes

11:48 Passion Versus Business

13:00 Spotting Real Innovation

14:44 Authenticity in Longevity Clinics

16:53 From Lab to Market

18:53 What Science Backed Means

20:56 Longevity Wild West

24:09 Why Womens Health Must Scale

28:01 Workplace Healthspan Shift

28:30 Workplace Health Costs

29:19 Menopause Support Programs

30:57 Women Led Health Startups

32:09 Beauty Versus Longevity Hype

33:54 Muscle Health Foundations

35:29 Where To Begin Basics

39:17 Stop Wasting On Superficial

41:14 Longevity Access Inequality

45:19 Prevention Model Shift

50:02 Future Of Longevity Trust

51:49 Rapid Fire Takeaways

55:32 Closing Reflections