Your Genes Are Under Your Control

In this episode

Welcome to another episode of In Search of Excellence! My guest today is Dr. Mike Roizen – a world-renowned physician and author whose work has helped tens of millions of people improve their health and wellness through lifestyle changes, and whose purpose in life is help other control their gene expression through healthy living.

Dr. Mike formerly served as the Chairman of the Department of Anesthesia and Critical Care, and Dean of the Division of Biological Sciences at the University of Chicago, and in 1997, he left to co-found a company called Real Age, a consumer health media company that inspires people to adopt healthier lifestyles.

Shortly after selling the company, Dr. Roizen was named Chief Wellness Officer at the Cleveland Clinic, the first such position at a major healthcare institution in the United States. Dr. Mike has published more than 185 peer-reviewed scientific papers, has written 18 books, including 4 New York Times bestsellers, and has received 13 patents.

07:32 The difference between real age and actual age

- Used to think this was all physiologic
- How to calculate your actual age?
- Age test on a new app called Longevity Playbook at the longevityplaybook.com

13:10 The results of the Human Genome Project

- What's the rest of the DNA?
- Switches that control your genes
- Your habits influence how your genes function

15:58 How will 20% of our genetics we cannot control negatively influence our life expectancy?

- Some of us are born with dominant genetic genes that might cause sickle cell disease
- Many of those 20% we're learning how to alter with CRISPR Cas9
- Stress Management turns off or on over 256 genes and reduces our rate of aging very substantially

17:51 How useful is DNA testing like 23andMe?

- They are designed to let you know what risk you have from a genetic standpoint
- You can take action to reduce the risk
- Some of these tests aren't exactly accurate

20:19 Should parents do genetic testing of their kids?

- In the future, it will be more common and more useful.
- Some genetic tests are mandated state by state
- We're still in the infancy of this field

24:34 38 choices to improve cognitive functioning and reduce aging

- Mike’s life mission is to alter your genetics to control them to improve the quality of life and life expectancy
- Speed of processing games
- Favorite video games
- Mike jumps rope every day

36:14 How to get 10,000 steps a day when you are a very busy person?

- Walking on a treadmill as you work, making phone calls
- What is important is physical activity
- 10,000 daily steps are optimal

40:35 The benefits of drinking coffee

- If you're a fast metabolizer, drinking lots of coffee lowers your risk of Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, Type 2 diabetes
- 8 cancers, including breast cancer