Unlock your potential for vibrant health and transform your wellness journey this New Year
Happy New Year! Here we are setting our intentions for 2026 – are you ready for it?
My word for the year is DISRUPTION. An unusual one I know…….. but CHANGE happens through DISRUPTION. This is true in nature and in our biology. If we want things to be different in our life and in our health, we have to change the status quo. What are you willing and needing to disrupt this year for a healthier happier version of yourself?
I am going to quote Tony Robbins because well, he is Tony Robbins. Even if you think he is a bit much in the positive psychology realm of “rainbows and unicorns”, hear me out.
He advocates for “massive determined action” and that is what is required for disruptive change and this is me throwing down the challenge for myself and for you in 2026!
Ready to make this your healthiest year ever?
PhenoAge
Another year may have passed but what is your PhenoAge? There are several ways to calculate biological age, some involve testing methylation patterns of clock genes and some involve telomere length. These measurements are interesting and can be helpful but all of that involves lab draws and resources including time and money. I recently came across a fantastic algorithm (see full article) using STANDARD lab data that you probably have already had done and have access to!
Check out your PhenoAge which stands for Phenotypic Age and compare it to your Chronological Age. Maybe your goal for the new year is to reduce your “PhenoAge”.
Exercise
Starting an exercise routine this year with your cardiometabolic health in mind? What you choose to do makes a difference it turns out. If weight loss is the goal, historically exercise alone does not get you there alone, we have known that for a long time- even the year I ran a marathon my weight actually increased! That being said there is extra evidence for certain types of exercise yielding weight loss and cardiometabolic health benefits.
Sparkle Health-5 Day ProLon Fasting Mimicking Diet
Using a structured program, like this 5-Day session with Dr. Mercuro, helps you achieve a fast where normally something like this would be quite hard to too.
The benefits of fasting are to support your metabolic health and help with the cellular renewal process.
Book Recommendations
This book highlights the links between aging, cancer and metabolic dysfunction and provides the research and rationale for interventions such as the five day fasting mimicking protocol. Use of a five day fasting mimicking (Sparkle Health’s 5-Day ProLon Fasting Diet) reduced risk factors for diabetes, cancer, dementia and heart disease. All conditions we would like to avoid to live a long and healthy life.
This book also goes into lifestyle interventions for longevity including long term dietary recommendations (spoiler alert- pescatarian eating pattern) and exercise.
Health News
Interested in weight loss medication news?
The FDA recently approved oral Semaglutide for weight loss. The other forms of GLP-1 medication to date for weight loss are all injectable. This was following a paper a few months ago in the New England Journal of Medicine.
Oral Semaglutide has been commercially available for Diabetes for some time under the brand name “Rybelsus”.
It is now available under the brand name Wegovy-pill.
