Biohacking therapies or NAD supplements? Microbiologist Venki Ramakrishnan says there are far simpler and more proven ways to age well
Venki Ramakrishnan, 72, has been watching as ageing science and the hype around it has exploded.
The microbiologist based in Cambridge, in the UK, is a Nobel laureate for his work on the ribosome – where our cells make proteins using the information encoded in our genes – and former president of the world’s oldest scientific academy, the Royal Society.
In his new book Why We Die he writes that in the last 10 years alone, more than 300,000 scientific articles on ageing have been published, and more than 700 start-ups have invested tens of billions of dollars into ageing research.
There have been some real scientific breakthroughs, deepening our understanding of the fundamental causes of ageing, Ramakrishnan says. But despite what companies that have jumped on the bandwagon will have you believe, “we’re not there yet” when it comes to translating that research into real-life treatments, he says.
The global market for therapies associated with longevity and anti-senescence (senescence means biological ageing) was valued at US$25.1 billion in 2020, and is projected to reach US$44.2 billion by 2030, according to Allied Market Research.
Unlike medications prescribed by doctors, biohacking treatments such as ozone therapy and ostensible longevity-boosting supplements like NAD+ are not rigorously tested and approved by the US Food and Drug Administration before hitting the market.
“I wouldn’t spend enormous amounts of money on supplements until they’re very well established to have a real benefit,” Ramakrishnan says. “I would wait for the evidence, but people always feel they can’t wait because the clock is ticking. That’s what I think a lot of these businesses capitalise on.
“I’m not negative about longevity research or the science. There’s a lot of very good science going on, but I am negative about some of the excessive hype.”
He wrote his book to inject a note of realism into the space, he said.
Ramakrishnan shares three simple, evidence-based lifestyle choices he prioritises as he gets older.
1. Eating nutritious food in modest portions
Eating a Mediterranean-style diet has been linked to many health benefits.
How we eat can have a huge impact on our health. Eating a diet high in ultra-processed foods, for example, has been linked to a higher risk of cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes and cancer.
Following a Mediterranean-style diet, filled with lots of fruit, vegetables, lean protein and whole grains, has meanwhile been linked to living a longer life.
Ramakrishnan tries to eat a good mixture of protein, fruits, vegetables and fibre, he says. He is a lifelong vegetarian and always cooks from scratch using basic ingredients.
He also believes portion control is important and subscribes to writer Michael Pollan’s famous food rule: “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.”
2. Cycling everyday
Exercise has all kinds of benefits for healthy ageing, Ramakrishnan says, such as helping many components of the body regenerate, including mitochondria, the “powerhouses of the cell”.
As well as cycling at least 10km (six miles) a day as he does not have a car, Ramakrishnan goes to the gym a few times a week where he does both strength training and aerobic exercise.
“You need to do both cardiovascular exercise and weight-bearing exercise. One for keeping your cardiovascular system healthy, the other for maintaining muscle mass and strength,” he says.
In a 2022 study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, based on data from 100,000 US adults with an average age of 71, people who lifted weights and did 150 to 300 minutes of aerobic exercise a week were 41 per cent less likely to die of any cause compared with their sedentary peers.
3. Getting eight hours of sleep per night
Ramakrishnan thinks people underestimate the importance of sleep.
He likes to get eight hours of sleep each night. During the sleep cycle, the body repairs a lot of the wear and tear we accumulate from day-to-day life, he says. “It’s a way of resetting things and regenerating things.”
Research suggests that getting enough good-quality sleep could add a few years to your life.
In a preliminary study presented at the American College of Cardiology’s 2023 Annual Scientific Session, researchers identified five measures of quality sleep: sleeping seven to eight hours a night; having difficulty falling asleep no more than twice a week; having trouble staying asleep no more than twice a week; not using any sleep medication; and feeling well rested after waking up at least five days a week.
Of the more than 172,000 people involved in the study, men who reported having all five quality sleep measures were expected to live 4.7 years longer than those who had none or only one. Women with all five lived 2.4 years longer.
“Sleep is much more important than people have realised,” Ramakrishnan says.
