Longevity Expert David Sinclair Says Even One Glass of Wine Can Hold You Back

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.

That’s devastating news.

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.

I expect Tally to evolve into a personal assistant for wellness and health so that it can give you recommendations that are personalized. I could see that in the future you’d be at a restaurant and it would know which restaurant you’re at and it would know based on your biomarkers that you should order this appetizer and this main meal, and suggest that you skip dessert because it knows that tomorrow you’ve got to workout and that kind of thing. But we’re not there yet.

If you’re already 10 years younger than your chronological age then your doctor might not want to take immediate action, but if you’re 10 years older than your birthday candles would suggest then your doctor might want to take immediate action. I think it’s important that people know how they’re doing on the biological age curve, not just their chronological age, which doesn’t tell you as much about your health.

What about 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, which is about 7 p.m. That 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.

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.

What do your workouts look like?

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’s my biggest challenge right now is to get moving. I’m writing my second book, and I’m developing my next podcast, a TV show—it’s getting a little bit too busy and I would love to do more. I would say I’m not ideal in that department.

When you’re traveling, do you still prioritize food and supplements and all that?

Serena and I travel together often and we’ve both got half a small suitcase dedicated to this stuff. We take green tea matcha, supplements… It’s part of our lifestyle. And we try to choose foods from around the world that are vegan and super healthy. We are prone to late-night picnics, but in general we try to contain our eating window to six or so hours a day.

What would be your main piece of advice to people wanting to improve their overall health?

You don’t have to be so strict and draconian about it, but you do have to be consistent and try your best under the circumstances. And not find excuses to just do what your body wants or what you feel like doing.