Blood work and wearables are reactive and only sometimes show emergency trends. How do you know whether “healthy” lifestyle practices work for you? What if they’re actually not compatible with your particular biochemistry, and worsening your health?
What if you had a test that could quantify the impact of any facet of your lifestyle, on any outcome? Say disease risk, IQ, healthspan, or athletic performance? It exists, and this week we’re diving deep into the science, applications, and buyer’s guide to biological age testing.
Episode highlights
Epigenetic testing arms scientists with the ability to deeply and rapidly quantify the effects of any modality on the cellular level Share on XPart of your epigenetic expression comes from your parents. Don't focus on where you start, but rather, track your progress Share on XThe Human Genome Project didn't solve all our health problems, but new developments around biological aging might Share on XThough biological age testing has existed since the 1920s, algorithms released in the last few years have made it infinitely more useful Share on XBiological age testing algorithms can be trained to predict just about any outcome. Interested in how spermidine impacts your hair? No problem. How strength training impacts IQ? Done. Share on XPodcast Sponsor Banner
About Ryan Smith
Ryan Smith attended Transylvania University and graduated with a degree in Biochemistry. After finishing all the educational curriculum and passing USMLE Step 1 he decided to leave and open up a pharmacy in the United States that focused on peptide synthesis and formulations for pharmaceutical preparations. That pharmacy, Tailor Made Compounding, became the 4th fastest growing company in healthcare in the US. During that time Ryan invested in several businesses in the functional medicine space. Ryan exited Tailor Made in late 2020. Since then, Ryan has opened many businesses including TruDiagnostic, a company focusing on methylation array-based diagnostics for life extension and preventive healthcare.
TruDiagnostic is a CLIA certified lab and health data company focused on serving integrative and functional medicine providers in the United States. TruDiagnostic has a commitment to research with over 30 approved clinical research studies investigating the epigenetic methylation changes of a variety of longevity and health interventions. Since Tru Diagnostic’s inception, they have created one of the largest private epigenetic health databases in the world with over 13,000 patients tested and continue to lead the space in epigenetic methylation interpretation and diagnostic prediction.
Top things you’ll learn from Ryan Smith
- The move that led Ryan from peptides into specialized diagnostic testing
- Difference between chronological age and biological age
- Consequences of re-classifying aging as a disease
- Types of biological age testing
- What to consider when buying a biological age test
- Why epigenetic age testing is the most effective and best
- Best epigenetic clock algorithms and why
- Epigenetic tests already report on
- Function of immune system
- Telomere length
- Inflammatory markers
- Likely to lose weight with caloric restriction
- Can be trained to predict just about everything
- Algorithms can be trained to predict the impacts of countless health interventions
- Disease risks
- Hair loss
- Diet quality
- Alcohol consumption
- Smoking
- Supplements
- Drugs
- Lifestyle habits
- Exposures
- How it’s different from a 23andMe-like test
- Genome –> Epigenome –> Transcriptome –> Proteome –> Metabolome –> Phenome –> Microbiomes
- Methylation and acetylation
- What is cellular senescence
- What makes the DunedIn PACE by far the best algorithm for epigenetic age testing?
- The more your cells replicate and divide, the greater the chance of disease
- Telomere health supplements
- Why different molecular configurations of the same supplement should be treated as separate supplements
- Ryan’s favorite interventions to slow and potentially reverse biological age
- Natural therapies and supplements with profound biological age improving benefits
- Biological age algorithms have existed since the 1920s
- Uses for measuring biological age outside of disease prevention
Resources mentioned
- Technology: TruDiagnostic TruAge biological age testing service (use code URBAN to save and see my review)
- Technologies: GrimAge & DunedinPoAm clocks
- Article: PhenoAge clock
- Article: Best Fisetin Supplements
- Technology: GRAIL test
- Teacher: Pasteur
- Teacher: John Rawls
- Books: Kingkiller Chronicle Series
- Supplement: DHH-B for sleep, anxiety, insomnia
Connect with Ryan
This podcast is brought to you by
Nick Urban is a Biohacker, Data Scientist, Athlete, Founder of Outliyr, and the Host of the Mind Body Peak Performance Podcast. He is a Certified CHEK Practitioner, a Personal Trainer, and a Performance Health Coach. Nick is driven by curiosity which has led him to study ancient medical systems (Ayurveda, Traditional Chinese Medicine, Hermetic Principles, German New Medicine, etc), and modern science.
Music by Luke Hall
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