Everyday, 61 year-old Dave Pascoe wakes up, eats a green banana and spends eight minutes sitting on an electromagnetic blanket, which is said to stimulate his blood flow.
Next, he does a short stretching session, followed by a few jumps on his mini trampoline. He scrapes his tongue and takes 82 morning supplements with homemade lemon tea.
These are just a few critical elements of the wellness routine that he says has helped him retain a biological age decades younger than his chronological one.
According to Pascoe, who is believed to be from Michigan, he has the body of a 38-year old.
He is the latest example of the ever-growing trend of ‘bio-hacking’ – in which older folk attempt to reduce the age of their body’s cells, making them technically younger than their chronological age.
David Pascoe is the latest ‘bio-hacker’ to gain popularity online – he is 61 but claims to have the body of a 38 year-old.
Perhaps the most famous of these ‘hackers’ is the California-based entrepreneur Bryan Johnson, 46, who claims to have the heart of a 37 year-old and the skin of a 28 year-old.
Johnson cites his $2million annual health regime for his youthfulness, which involves infusions of his teenage son’s blood and using erection tracking devices.
But now, there’s an new longevity enthusiast in town. Pascoe says his routine is more effective and cheaper than Johnson’s, totaling just $30,000 per year.
Pascoe, a retired systems engineer, claims he didn’t initially set out to cheat death or avoid aging, but instead started making lifestyle changes to avoid cancer and frailty. Eventually, he decided to commit fully to a lifestyle that would help him, ‘feel better in the long run.’
According to his website, his youth-enhancing routine involves an omnivorous diet, 120 plus supplements like zinc and ‘hormone balancing’ Nutrafol, as well as a daily exercise routine, infrared saunas and electromagnetic technology to stimulate blood flow.
Pascoe also conducts monthly blood tests, quarterly genetics testing and annual bone density to monitor his biological age. There’s even a mineral analysis of his hair tissue.
The likes of Johnson and Pascoe have popped up amid the recent advancements in longevity research.
Pascoe shared this photo from a trip to Israel in 2014. He takes breaks from his regimen while on vacation
Some scientists, like those at the Institute for Aging Research at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, believe there are ways to ‘target aging before it starts’.
Director of the Institute, Dr Nir Barzilai said on a recent podcast that his mission is to ‘cure aging’ by finding therapies that remove aged and dying cells from the body before they can cause unpleasant affects, like inflammation.
Over time, reducing the amount of inflammation and other stressors from dead cells could cause your aging to slow or stall, Barzilai explains.
In extreme cases, biohackers say they’ve been able to reverse their age – computed by comparing genetic markers, blood tests or organ health to the average person of the same chronological age.
While Johnson measures his biological age by testing the health of his organs, Pascoe bases his on the results of regular blood tests and DNA tests.
This highlights tiny, almost imperceptible changes to a person’s DNA that happen as a result of numerous environmental factors like stress or cigarette smoke.
Changes in this measurement might be a decent marker for how you’ve aged, according to epidemiologists from the University of Bristol.
Sceptics of longevity hackers are not sold, however.
They say much of the mens’ claims about their results rely on them measuring their own fitness.
What’s more, their self-tests are not standardized – so there’s not much outsiders can do to verify the claims.
Dr Jennifer Gunter, an OB/GYN and health writer, shared her frustration about biohacking practices in a comment posted on X this week.
The women’s health specialist said the small sample size and self reporting make these impressive sounding achievements unscientific.
‘Oh, are we doing an n of 1 contest? Cool. My grandfather who started smoking at age 8 lived to be 98. By this logic smoking gave him longevity,’ Dr Gunter wrote.
For another, clinicians like Dr Charles Brenner, a biochemist who studies aging, say that aging probably has a lot more do with genes than lifestyle changes.
Dave Pascoe spends $30,000 annually on his anti-aging regimen, compared to the $2 million Bryan Johnson spends
‘There’s nothing in Bryan Johnson’s protocol that would change his maximal lifespan,’ Dr. Brenner told the Guardian.
‘There are people who aged remarkably well and lived for 110 to 122 years. None of those people had highly regimented practices like that of Johnson.
‘One can say that he’s put himself on a better ageing trajectory, but one cannot say that he has reversed or eliminated ageing.’
Pascoe’s philosophy focuses on avoiding factors that accelerate aging and trying to reverse some aging that’s already taken place, Avea Life Insights reported.
Banned ‘ingredients’ include added sugars, seed oils, artificial flavors, pesticides and artificial flavors.
Bryan Johnson is a former Silicon Valley CEO who claimed he has reversed his age by more than 5 years via a thorough anti-ageing regime.
And methods of pushing the clock back include massages, weight training, regular cardio, a ban on processed foods – and plenty of sleep.
He also takes over 120 supplements as well as experimental pills, like rapamycin, which some research has shown might be effective for anti-aging.
By his own estimates, Pascoe spends about $30,000 per year on his lifestyle.
However, he has an impressive array of costly wellness gadgets, according to a profile by longevity trends forecaster, Avea Longevity Insights. This includes a $10,000 red light, a $12,000 sauna – and a $5,490 electromagnetic mat to stimulate blood flow.
The devices total $44,820 – and that’s not including the supplements, grocery and less tech-y interventions.
Pascoe is currently retired, but according to his website, earns some income as an Amazon Associate when people purchase products that he promotes.
Source: Mail Online
