Morning Routine

• Wakes up bright and early
• Begins the morning by sending emails from the comfort of his bed
• Follows with a quick shower to kickstart the day

Oral Care Routine

Dr. David Sinclair prioritizes dental hygiene, opting for non-toxic toothpaste to ensure a safe and gentle oral care. Additionally, he incorporates coconut oil pulling into his routine.

Dr. David Sinclair on Coconut Oil Pulling

“I’ll start by rinsing my mouth with coconut oil—pulling it—that improves my mouth microbiome.”

Benefits of Coconut Oil Pulling

1. Reduces Harmful Bacteria: Coconut oil has lauric acid, known for its antimicrobial properties, which can help reduce harmful bacteria in the mouth. This can lead to a decrease in plaque formation and gingivitis.
2. Whitens Teeth: Regular oil pulling may help to naturally whiten teeth by reducing plaque and removing stains on the teeth’s surface.
3. Improves Breath: By reducing the bacteria that cause bad breath, oil pulling can act as a natural breath freshener.
4. Prevents Cavities: The antimicrobial action of coconut oil can help in preventing cavities by reducing plaque buildup.
5. Soothes Throat Dryness and Oral Inflammation: Coconut oil pulling can moisturize the mouth and throat, potentially reducing dryness, irritation, and inflammation in the oral cavity.
6. Improves Gum Health: The practice may help in strengthening the gums, reducing inflammation, and preventing gingivitis.

Dr. David Sinclair’s on Toothpaste Selection

“I brush my teeth with nontoxic toothpaste”

Advantages of Non-Toxic Toothpaste

1. Gentle formulation suitable for sensitive teeth and gums, ensuring a comfortable brushing experience.
2. Free from harmful chemicals like parabens, sulfates, and artificial dyes, reducing potential health risks.
3. Environmentally friendly packaging, promoting sustainability and benefiting both oral and environmental well-being.
4. Allergy-friendly composition with fewer synthetic ingredients, making it safe for individuals with allergies or sensitivities, including children.

Dr. David Sinclair’s Nutrient-Rich Yogurt Blend

Dr. David Sinclair’s homemade yogurt is enriched with carefully selected ingredients optimized for his health.

Ingredients in Dr. David Sinclair’s Yogurt:

Resveratrol: This compound, renowned for its potential health benefits and commonly found in red wine and various fruits, has been found to combat aging.

Olive Oil: A staple known for its heart-healthy properties, olive oil forms a crucial element of his yogurt mix.

Probiotics: These beneficial bacteria, known for supporting gut health, play a vital role in enhancing the nutritional profile of the blend.

NMN Supplements: Nicotinamide Mononucleotide (NMN) supplements, a notable inclusion in Dr. David Sinclair’s regimen, are raved about for their potential anti-aging properties.

Dr. David Sinclair on his supplements:

“I go down to the kitchen and have a little bit of yogurt with some polyphenols. The one I’ve talked about a lot is resveratrol. Now, it’s just a couple of mouthfuls of yogurt so it’s not going to break my fast and it’s not considered breakfast by any means. But it is how I get all my polyphenols in and they dissolve—I’ve been doing that for about 15 years.”

Dr. David Sinclair shares insights into Resveratrol:

‍“One resveratrol is a small, what’s called a polyphenol. It’s produced by many plants to survive. It’s produced by grapes and it’s concentrated in red wine. It should be a white powder; it shouldn’t be brown. If you buy it and it’s brown, throw it away. I take a gram of it every morning, with rare exceptions when I’m traveling and I forget it, but I mix it with a little bit of yogurt because it’s just a little bit like a couple of teaspoons.”

Dr. David Sinclair on NAD (Life Extension):

“The doubling of that NAD is important because as we get older, we make less of this chemical. We have about half the levels of NAD in our skin, for example, as I have about half the levels I would have made when I was 20. So, I boost those levels back up to being youthful, and the idea is that the body’s defenses are activated.”

Morning Supplement Regimen

1. Athletic Greens AG1
2. Nicotinamide mononucleotide (NMN)
3. Resveratrol
4. Spermidine
5. Quercetin and Fisetin

Dr. David Sinclair on his morning supplements:

Athletic Green AG1

“Now, the third supplement I mentioned is Athletic Greens. Because I’m on a vegetarian/vegan diet, which I describe as being a newbie struggling vegan, I need to ensure I get all the necessary nutrients. Athletic Greens is full of vitamins and plant-based whole foods that ensure I don’t lack those nutrients. When you’re on a vegan diet and have also given up dairy, it’s crucial to make sure there’s adequate nutrition.”

“I typically follow a one-meal-a-day (OMAD) pattern, but I want to add another couple of letters to that, making it ANOMAD (Adequate Nutrition One Meal A Day). I just made that up, by the way, so consider it trademarked. Adequate nutrition is key, and that’s what Athletic Greens provides for me.”

Dr. David Sinclair’s Supplement Regimen:

Nicotinamide mononucleotide (NMN): 1g daily in the morning

To enhance absorption, David combines NMN supplements with olive oil or natural yogurt. NMN serves as a precursor to NAD+, a molecule essential for cellular metabolism and maintaining youthfulness.

Resveratrol: 1g daily in the morning

David pairs 1000mg of Resveratrol with olive oil each morning. This blend complements NMN by activating Sirtuin genes and aiding DNA repair processes.

Spermidine: 1 mg daily in the morning

Present in foods like cheese and legumes, Spermidine influences aging processes and may reduce the risk of various diseases.

Quercetin and Fisetin: 500 mg each daily in the morning

These flavonoids help eliminate senescent cells, decrease inflammation, and combat tissue damage associated with aging.

Vitamin D3: 4,000 to 5,000 IU daily

Critical for bone health and immunity, especially in individuals with vitamin D deficiency.

Vitamin K2: 180 to 360 micrograms daily

Supports bone and mitochondrial health, sourced from leafy greens and natural oils.

Statin: David has been using Statin since age 29 to maintain heart health, but its suitability varies among individuals.

Low-dose aspirin: 85 mg daily

May offer protection against heart stroke, but caution is advised due to bleeding risks.

TMG (Trimethylglycine or betaine): 500 mg to 1,000 mg daily

Supports liver health and cellular replication.

Omega 3: Essential for heart health and cognitive function, with a daily intake limit of 3 grams to prevent side effects.

Morning Hydration Regimen

To kickstart his day, Dr. David Sinclair drinks hot water with lemon and Green Matcha Tea.

Hot Water With Lemon: Beginning with hot water infused with lemon slices, Dr. Sinclair benefits the vitamin C-rich properties of lemons, which are known to offer benefits such as improved skin complexion, reduced bloating, and detoxification.

Matcha Tea: For his caffeine fix, Dr. Sinclair opts for Green Matcha Tea, known for its abundance of healthy polyphenols like ECGC catechins. These compounds act as natural antioxidants, potentially aiding in the prevention of cancer and reducing cell damage. Matcha also boosts cognitive function, promotes heart health, and provides liver protection.

Intermittent Fasting

Dr. David Sinclair adheres to a 16:8 Intermittent Fasting window as part of his dietary routine. 

“one of the most beneficial practices for your health.”

“It’s not just about the period of eating, it’s the period of not eating that’s so important to boost the body’s defenses against aging to maximize longevity,”

Dr. David Sinclair’s Perspective on Skipping Breakfast:

“I started working on my age in my early 30s.”

“I started skipping breakfast, avoiding sugar, and taking Resveratrol.”

Dr. David Sinclair on Intermittent Fasting:

“I think three meals a day plus snacks is too much. It puts the body in a state of abundance, which turns off our longevity genes. So you want to have a period of fasting each day starting as early as your 20s. But if you’re younger, we don’t want malnutrition or starvation, that’s not the point. But you want to take-in your nutrition and your calories in a certain window. The one that I try to go for is 16 to 18 hours without eating a large meal. That’s basically having a very late lunch or large dinner”

Dr. David Sinclair Suggests Three Varieties of Intermittent Fasting:

“You’re an individual, you’ve got a different lifestyle, tolerance for pain and hunger, and microbiome—these are really important things to take into consideration.”

Extended fasting

“These extended periods are going to do a real deep clean of the body and turn on that autophagy. Especially once you pass the three-day mark, when your metabolism switches into what’s called chaperone-mediated autophagy—also known as the deep cleanse.”

Time-Restricted Feeding

“You want to have at least 16 hours of not eating or not eating very much,”

“So typically that means having a late lunch if you skip breakfast, or if you prefer to skip dinner, you can skip that.”

Fasting-mimicking diet

The “fasting-mimicking diet” has demonstrated advantages for cancer patients during chemotherapy. Dr. David Sinclair follows a monthly five-day calorie restriction plan, consuming 1,100 calories per day. His diet primarily consists of plant-based, low-carb, low-protein, and high-healthy-fat foods. This approach aims to mimic the physiological effects of fasting. Dr. Sinclair emphasizes the importance of reducing meat intake to suppress mTOR for optimal health.

Work Routine

Dr. David Sinclair dedicates approximately 12 hours daily to his laboratory work and managing various companies. He uses a standing desk throughout the day.

“Then I go to work at a standing desk—I have a standing desk in my office at Harvard and I have one at home as well—and I do my best not to sit down throughout the day. I will continuously drink water and hot tea throughout the day until dinner.”

Stress Management

Dr. David Sinclair has various strategies he uses for stress management.

Daily meditation is at the cornerstone of Dr. Sinclair’s stress management regimen. He’s increasingly fascinated by meditation’s potential to bolster longevity and overall well-being.

Beyond meditation, Sinclair finds solace in nature. During weekends, he frequently immerses himself in the outdoors, enjoying forest strolls with his family or going on kayaking adventures.

To alleviate stress, David intentionally carves out quiet moments in his day and seeks the company of positive individuals, prioritizing time spent with those who contribute to his well-being. 

Health Monitoring

• Dr. David Sinclair places a lot of  importance on being attuned to his body’s signals.
• Evaluates his biological age through epigenetic tests
• Undergoes an annual  comprehensive full-body MRI scan to detect potential cancer at its earliest stages
• Relies on InsideTracker for blood tests to monitor various biomarkers, with a focus on cholesterol, LDL, HDL, triglycerides, HbA1c, and us-CRP
• Uses Freestyle Libre to track glucose levels, identifying dietary factors that may lead to sugar spikes, thereby combating aging and insulin resistance.

“In the near future, cancer, heart disease, and type 2 diabetes will be largely preventable and increasingly curable”

Snacking

“For snacks during the day, if I am peckish or my brain feels a little bit tired, I’ll nibble on a little bit of very dark chocolate—80-percent chocolate—or some nuts. I have a Brazil nut a day for the selenium. I’ve learned from Serena that being vegetarian—or vegan in our case—I haven’t had to give up much at all. In fact, I feel like my life is richer for it. It does take some effort when it comes to socializing or restaurants. Sometimes we even splurge—I’ll have the occasional French fry.”

Lunch

“In my day, I’ll rarely eat lunch. If it’s a small salad, that’s fine. Maybe that’s once or twice a week, but mostly I try to go without a lot of food until dinner”

Dr. David Sinclair’s Workout Routine

Dr. David Sinclair’s philosophy towards exercise is straightforward: “Just get off your ass.”

Dr. Sinclair actively weaves physical activity into his everyday life, including gym sessions or lifting weights in his office. He ensures he completes 100 push-ups daily, long walks twice per week and brief, 20-minute treadmill workouts. He champions a workout regime that includes three times a week sessions designed to elevate the heart rate for 10 minutes, alongside advocating for at least 30 minutes of moderate daily exercise.

To limit time spent sitting, he employs a compact stepper under his desk, aiming to remain as active as possible throughout the day.

Dr. David Sinclair’s on Optimizing Workouts for Healthspan and Longevity

• Prioritize exercises that raise both heart and breathing rates.
• Choose workouts of higher intensity, favoring High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT).
• Aim for breath control that is deep and quick, targeting a heart rate between 70-85% of its maximum. This method improves oxygen circulation in the blood and increases calorie burn, stimulating the Epigenetic clock.
• Select strenuous exercises that limit your ability to talk to just a few words before needing to catch your breath, triggering a hypoxic effect.
• Include exercises in colder environments to boost the immune system’s efficiency.

Dr. David Sinclair on his exercise routine:

“Before the pandemic, I was doing a lot of gym exercise—running on the treadmill and doing weights. After that, I’ve fallen a bit off the wagon. I don’t exercise every day. I have weights at home in my bedroom and a gym in my bedroom that I use. Ideally, I aim for three times a week to do some weights, and if I don’t go for a run, I go for a walk. I would say that my biggest challenge right now is to get moving”

Cold Plunge

Following his workout, Dr. David Sinclair immerses himself in a cold bath.

Advantages of Cold Therapy After Exercising:

• Diminish muscle soreness and swelling, promoting quicker recuperation
• Enhance blood flow, mitigating fatigue that comes from physical activity
• Increasing alertness and energy throughout the day

Dinner

Dr. David Sinclair enjoys his evening meal alongside his wife, Sandra Luikenhuis, and their three children. Despite fasting during the day, his evening meal is relatively light. He advocates for a daily caloric intake that can be as low as 1000 calories.

His meals are plant-based,  light, and nutritious, with a minimal consumption of sugar and starchy foods. On occasion, he indulges in a glass of red wine with his meal. He emphasizes a diet low in sugar and starch and recommends avoiding processed foods. 

“The longer your foods last, the shorter you will.”

Dr. David Sinclair’s Diet

“Dinner would be a plant-based, nut-based dinner with rice, almonds, couscous, or crushed cassava. I love what I eat—as much as when I used to eat meat.”

“Adequate nutrition is necessary because otherwise you’re going to be doing your body more harm than good,”

Dr. David Sinclair Discusses Changes he Made to his Diet

“A plant-focused diet. I rarely, rarely eat anything other than plant-based and nut-based foods, including milk. I’m off dairy and I’m off alcohol as well. Very rarely will I eat any or drink any of those things, but on occasion for a celebration or whatever I’m happy to do that, but that’s what I focus on. That’s made a huge difference to my blood biomarkers and epigenetic age. In just a matter of months, I was able to further reduce my biological age by eating better.”

“Before that, I was on a red wine and cheese-based diet, which was not conducive to health as much. It’s good to know though that the recent data on alcohol is showing that even one glass a day of alcohol is going to affect your brain cells.”

“It’s sad, though when I switched to this new diet, I got my memory back as well. I was unable to remember phone numbers and key codes easily, and now it’s simple. So I got back to my 20-year-old brain. I just thought it was old age, but it wasn’t, it was my lifestyle.”

Nighttime Supplement Routine

Consumes 800 mg of Metformin.

Initially prescribed for diabetes, Metformin has gained attention for its potential anti-aging benefits, attributed to its capacity to lower blood glucose levels and through various other pathways.

Dr. David Sinclair on his Nightly Supplement Routine

“I do take one other medication, called metformin, which is a type 2 diabetes drug that has been associated with longer life and fewer age-related diseases. Studies have shown that type 2 diabetics who take metformin, typically at two grams a day (I’m on one gram a day), actually have fewer diseases and live longer than people who don’t have type 2 diabetes.”

Sleep Routine

• Aims for 6-8 hours of sleep
• Goes to sleep between 11 PM and 12 AM
• Uses a temperature-regulating bed and an Oura Ring to track his sleep patterns
• Sleeps with a window slightly ajar and engages in cold therapy to enhance the quality of his sleep.

Dr. David Sinclair’s Sleep Habits

“Normally I am asleep by 12 and monitor I’m getting seven hours by wearing anOura Ring. I have theEight Sleep bed, which controls the temperature throughout the night to get me quickly to deep sleep.”

“I try to get at least six hours of sleep a night, and sometimes I’m successful, but I would say that’s something I need to work on. I would prefer to get seven to eight, but I can get by with six. I sleep on a bed that adjusts my body temperature while I’m asleep to get the deepest of sleep—it lowers your body temperature and then warms you back up toward the morning. It monitors my heart rate through the night and so I see how I’ve done. I also wear a ring that tells me similar information.”