I decided to co-found an upscale vegan restaurant, Millennium, that became a sensation as it turned out that affluent vegans were tired of their low-end, bean sprout options and wanted to experience a “date night” kind of place. So many vegans brought their friends to the restaurant as a way to recruit them into the animal-free diet they’d adopted. And, it became a haven for regular celebs from Meg Ryan to Moby.
While I’m not vegan today, I can say that I read everything I can about the effect of one’s diet on our longevity, especially because my friend Dan Buettner (of Blue Zones fame as they are partners with MEA) says this will help me turn back my biological clock. So, I was particularly interested in a recent study of identical twins that showed that adopting a vegan diet for just eight weeks can make a difference.
The results showed decreases in epigenetic aging clocks only in the vegan twin (the other twin was omnivorous for the eight weeks). Veganism led to reduced estimated ages of several organ systems, including the heart, hormone, liver, and inflammatory and metabolic systems. In fact, by some measures, going vegan knocked almost an entire year off their biological age. Overall, the average reduction in biological age for the vegan group was an impressive 0.63 years just from this eight week trial.
So, the next time you’re about to pick up that savory piece of bacon that our chef Krista cooks at our Santa Fe campus, consider going animal-free for a day and see how you feel. Or, consider joining me in Baja with one of the world’s best-known functional medicine doctors, Dr. Mark Hyman, for our workshop “Young Forever: The Secrets to Living Your Longest, Healthiest Life” Nov 17-22. It’ll fill up in the next week or two so enroll now.
-Chip