Live Long with Peter Bowes

Achieving a great age, with good health and vitality, is at the heart of everything we discuss on this podcast.  But who are we, as human beings? What is our purpose and what is the difference between getting old and growing old?  Richard Leider, founder of Inventure – The Purpose Company, is one of America’s preeminent executive-life coaches. He has spent a lifetime trying to better understand th...

To maintain mental and physical vitality, the status of the most basic building blocks of our bodies is all important.  There has been an explosion in research relating to cellular health and the measures we can take to nurture their wellbeing. Greg Macpherson is a biotechnologist, pharmacist and the author of Harnessing the Nine Hallmarks of Aging: Turning Our Cells Into Little Pharmaceutical Fac...

As we grow older, frailty becomes an issue due to declining muscle strength. For athletes, muscle fatigue can be a huge challenge at any age, but there is scientific evidence that nutritional interventions can slow down or reverse the process.  The LLAMA podcast has previously covered the science behind muscular health and the potential benefits of Mitopure, a pure form of the metabolite compound...

Regular exercise is key pillar of healthy longevity. But which activities really make a difference – running, walking, a gym class, yoga, weightlifting? Does it have to involve breaking into a sweat, or ten thousand steps, to do any good?  Some health practitioners have taken to advocating daily movement over traditional exercise. Stefan Zavalin is a Doctor of Physical Therapy and the owner of Lov...

Wearable technology has evolved at a pace recently, making it possible to better understand how our bodies respond to food and exercise. A continuous glucose monitor (CGM) device provides real-time feedback, tracking blood sugar levels throughout the day and night. LLAMA host Peter Bowes has been wearing a CGM to learn more about my metabolism. It was provided by NutriSense, a US company that uses...

Real-time information about how our bodies respond to food and exercise is transforming preventative healthcare. Wearable technology provides immediate feedback during a workout and can collate and interpret complex data based on our food choices. One of the deepest dives into the inner workings of our metabolism is achieved through continuous glucose monitoring (CGM). Carlee Hayes is the lead die...

It's often the little things that help us most. Enhancing our wellbeing and living better usually starts with baby steps. Small changes - you could call them lifestyle hacks - can make a big difference to both our physical and mental health. In our latest LLAMA LIVE! conversation, via @TwitterSpaces , we discussed the ways we can kickstart a healthier life by implementing small, progressive c...

Dr. Jonathon Sullivan has spent much of his professional life treating patients on the brink of death. Working at a Level I trauma center he became familiar with medical conditions that claim lives far too early. But emergency medicine also helped the former US marine develop a deeper understanding of the human body and the reasons people get sick as they grow older. Now, as the owner, head coach...

Healthspan - what is it and why is it important? This is our second LLAMA LIVE! - a Twitter Spaces conversation about human longevity.  Host Peter Bowes chats with Dr. Jonathan Sullivan, owner and Clinical Director,  Greysteel Strength and Conditioning Stefan Zavalin, a doctor of physical therapy and owner of Love to Move , a consulting company which offers advice for environment design and physic...

This is our first LLAMA LIVE! episode - a Twitter Spaces conversation about human longevity, healthspan and lessons learned from Covid-19.  Dr. Felice Gersh, an integrative medicine specialist, based in Irvine, California, joined Peter Bowes for a live discussion, earlier today. The conversation, published here as a podcast, covers children and Covid, immunity, obesity, inflammation, resilience th...

Mineral deficiencies can have a crippling impact on our everyday health and vitality, as well as long term implications for healthspan.  The food we eat and the environments we live in, play a critical role in maintaining a delicate balance of chemicals that sustain life.  But even the most ideal-sounding diet can fall short of providing an essential mix of minerals.  Barton Scott discovered the h...

Developing a health strategy to navigate the decades ahead can be a daunting task.  In fact, many people focus on their wellbeing only when ill health strikes and an intervention is needed to tackle sickness. Jim LaValle, a California-based clinical pharmacist, health educator and the author of Cracking the Metabolic Code: 9 Keys to Optimal Health, is on a mission to demystify the process.  The fo...

What if we all had a personal, digital avatar to guide and nurture our lives, as we pursue a long healthspan? The concept, in a world of personalized medicine, could become a reality, according to future-thinker and longevity entrepreneur  Dmitry Kaminskiy.  The London-based investor and co founder of the UK All Party Parliamentary group for Longevity focuses on the intersection of artificial inte...

There are some people who just never seem to get any older. Whether it be their appearance or mental attitude, the passage of time eludes them.  How do they do it?   There are myriad explanations;  our genes, physical and dietary lifestyles, mindset and perhaps an element of luck. The truth is that all these factors - and many others - likely play a role is determining our destiny. Jason Elias is...

In a world where we are bombarded with health advice, it is easy to feel lost in a sea of unverified information. From dietary supplementation to exercise, we are inundated with suggestions, hard-sell advertisements and sometimes peer pressure, to take up one regime or another. LLAMA’s advice is simple; consult your primary care doctor or healthcare professional if you are considering lifestyle ch...

If only we could detect all life threatening diseases before symptoms occur and early enough to reverse the course of those conditions.  We are on the cusp of being able to achieve that.  Significant, recent developments, in the field of genomic testing, mean that scientists are able to pinpoint the warning signs for some major degenerative illnesses, in time to make life-saving interventions. In...

The power of food - plants in particular - to help us optimize our health and potential longevity can not be underestimated. Indeed nature itself is arguably the most powerful tool we have to thwart disease and the ravages of the aging process.  Dr. Nora Khaldi is the founder of Nuritas, a Dublin based biotechnology company that's pursuing a theory that natural foods contain all the molecular...

Finding the most effective workout and diet regime, with the goal of getting fit and lean, is, for many, the ultimate challenge.  Even elite athletes struggle as they strive to achieve their peak level of performance.  Jon Pearlman, a former #1 singles player for the Harvard tennis team, learned through personal experience that athletic prowess does not come easy.  The two time All-Ivy athlete and...

Making exercise a daily routine, from childhood, could be the key to preventing or slowing down some of the diseases of old age. Multiple studies have demonstrated the efficacy of physical activity, in improving cognitive health, throughout the human lifespan. Jenny Etnier is a professor of sport and exercise psychology in the Department of Kinesiology at the University of North Carolina. Working...

We are all used to feeling younger than our years and occasionally older than our birth date would suggest.  In effect, we have two ages - chronological and biological. Chronological age simply states the number of years that we have been alive, whereas biological age is a measure of how well our bodies are performing, in relation to the rest of the population.  So how is it determined?  LLAMA hos...

Some of the world's healthiest people spend little or no time pondering their propensity to live a long life.  They just do it. Their lifestyles are a model for longevity. There is much we can learn from these vibrant populations, in countries such as Italy, India, Japan, and (even) parts of the United States.  In this episode of the LLAMA podcast with Peter Bowes, filmmaker Daniel Kennedy di...

The science of aging is so infinitely fascinating that Dr. Sandra Kaufmann decided to immerse herself in the field, as a hobby. A pediatric anesthesiologist from Florida, Dr. Kaufmann, is also an athlete who manages to fit swimming, running and rock climbing around her busy hospital schedule.  Determined to enjoy physical activity for as long as possible, she decided to carry out an extensive revi...

Embracing science and a holistic approach to living a healthier life, has been a hallmark of the Swiss spa-clinic, Clinique La Prairie (CLP), for the past ninety years. Known for its signature treatment, cellular therapy, the medical center opened in 1931, under the guidance of  Dr Paul Niehans, an early expert in the field. Today, CLP melds cutting edge technology with a mission to help people op...

The art of growing old, gracefully and purposefully, preferably in rude health, is unique to us all. The journey, with its many twists and turns, involves myriad emotions, adventures and challenges. But Kathleen O'Brien says the process has been somewhat hijacked by society's growing disrespect for the elderly. In her book, Reclaim Your Right To Grow Old, the American writer and broadcas...

There has been "spectacular" progress in recent years in the understanding and treatment of Alzheimer's.  The progressive disease, which is the most common cause of dementia, a late-in-life decline in memory and cognitive ability, afflicts 50 million people around the world. Taking family members and other carers into account, that number increases exponentially.  The condition, for...