My biological age was 23 when I was 37… here’s how you can de-age yourself
A ‘biohacker’ who has reversed his biological age by 14 years claims he’s proof you don’t need to spend a fortune to wind back the clock.
A number of tech gurus have made headlines in recent years for their efforts to de-age, including Bryan Johnson who spends $2million a year on pelvic floor blasts, laser therapy and a team of 30 doctors.
But New Yorker Chris Mirabile says he managed to ‘turn back time’ just by making simple tweaks to his sleep, exercise regime and diet.
At his last body check-up when he turned 37 two years ago he was given a biological age — the age of his cells and tissue — of 23 years.
Chris Mirabile, from New York City, was biologically aged at just 23 years old when he turned 37. He has revealed his hacks to DailyMail.com. Pictured above in his late 20s, left, when he was listing his start-up on NASDAQ, and in his late 30s, right, after launching NOVOS
Mr Mirabile has achieved the young body through a combination of eight hours of sleep a night, exercise six times a week and popping supplements. But he also leaves space for the occasional chocolate lava cake and pizza
Mr Mirabile told DailyMail.com that de-aging should not be seen just as a pursuit of the ultra-wealthy.
‘Unfortunately, I think the field of longevity has gotten the reputation that it is only for the rich because you’ve got some really rich people who invest a lot of money into trying these crazy scientific approaches to improve their lifespan,’ he said.
‘But the truth is the most effective ways to improve lifespan are completely free.’
Revealing his top tips to this website, Mr Mirabile — who founded longevity company NOVOS — said getting enough sleep was among the most important.
US health chiefs recommend seven to nine hours of sleep per night to gain optimal functioning of the body and brain.
Scientists have also found that too little sleep can cause an uptick in inflammation, damage skin health and lead to a poor diet, all of which lead to faster aging.
Mr Mirabile gets eight hours of sleep every night, monitored by his Oura ring.
He achieves this by going to bed around the same time every night — normally between 10 and 11 — while wearing earplugs and using black-out curtains to avoid being disturbed.
‘Within three weeks, it got to the point where I could wake up every morning without an alarm clock,’ he said.
‘I now go to sleep within five minutes of putting my head on the pillow, whereas prior to focusing on my sleep that would never happen.’
He also swears by exercise, doing six sessions every week that each last for about 45 minutes to an hour.
They are split into two groups, with half focused on cardio — such as an intense run — and the rest on weight-lifting.
Research shows cardio enhances heart and lung function, slashing the risk of disease and halting age-related declines in the systems.
Building muscle also helps to slam the brakes on muscle loss caused by aging, with people losing about three to eight percent of their muscle per decade after they turn 30 years old.
On diet, he said he sticks to a strictly planned eating schedule 90 percent of the time — within an eight-hour window daily with a focus on vegetables, proteins and whole foods. He avoids processed foods wherever possible.
Numerous studies including a paper published in JAMA Internal Medicine in 2019 have shown that avoiding processed foods can help extend someone’s lifespan and avoid age-related decline.
The science on intermittent fasting is less clear-cut, however, with some studies suggesting it can extend lifespan in animals like mice but not necessarily in monkeys, a much closer relative. Recent studies have warned of the health risks of the habit including a higher likelihood of early death and a weaker immune system.
He is also shown above with longevity doctor David Sinclair, based at Harvard, who encouraged him to pursue founding an anti-aging start-up
Despite the strict plan, Mr Mirable also admitted to cheating, saying he always ensures to ‘live a little’ — including enjoying chocolate lava cake or chowing down on the occasional pizza.
‘I love Italian food, I love Japanese food, and I do have something of a sweet tooth,’ he confessed to DailyMail.com.
‘So, when I am going to cheat it is typically something like pizza, sushi rolls, chocolate lava cake, tiramisu, stuff like that.’
He added: ‘Roughly speaking, I have about two cheat meals a week.
‘Ninety percent of the time I am eating a healthy diet, and then living a little ten percent of the time — I think all of that combined is what we have to get the biological age results that I have.’
On coffee, he says he drinks up to four cups a day — and always has one just after waking up — but never indulges after 12pm in case it disrupts his sleep.
Mr Mirabile has founded the longevity company NOVOS
He also has the occasional alcoholic drink for a celebration or when there is ‘good company’ at dinner, his favorite drink being a Manhattan straight-up.
‘Yes, I do drink,’ he told DailyMail.com. ‘I used to drink a lot more in my 20s, but now I try to minimize it.
‘A nice dinner with good company or a celebration of some sort, then I will drink, but a typical week I will try to abstain.’
Several studies have shown that drinking coffee boosts alertness and can stimulate the nervous system, helping someone to get more out of a workout.
There is no science to directly suggest that it counteracts aging.
There is no known health benefit to drinking alcohol, although it raises the risk of suffering heart problems, liver issues and certain cancers like those of the throat and mouth.
Recently, the Canadian Department of Health caused consternation when it suggested people should only drink up to two alcoholic beverages a week. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says women can drink up to one alcoholic beverage per day while men can have up to two.
Mr Mirabile is also an avid supplement taker, popping up to ten pills every single day.
He takes fish oil, a multivitamin, and vitamin D and K supplements alongside his own NOVOS Core and NOVOS Boost supplements.
He did not reveal how much he spends a month on supplements, but together these would set him back in the range of $200 every 30 days. Without the NOVOS supplements, the cost is $44 per month.
Fish oil is packed with omega-3 fatty acids, which can counteract aging by boosting antioxidants in the body which remove molecules that could damage cells and DNA.
Vitamin D can contribute to healthy aging by boosting bone health and muscle function, while vitamin K can boost blood clotting and heart and brain health.
NOVOS Core ($109 for a month’s supply) contains substances including magnesium, vitamin C and Ginger, and is thought to help reduce inflammation and with managing senescent cells, or cells that stop dividing and start spewing toxic chemicals that can damage their neighbors.
NOVOS Boost ($44 for a month’s supply) contains nicotinamide mononucleotide, or NMN, which can help to boost DNA repair and mitochondrial function — and may help reverse aging.
About 92 percent of Americans are deficient in at least one nutrient, which Mr Mirabile says can be counteracted through supplements and a healthy diet.
The entrepreneur’s simplistic hacks pale in comparison to those of tech CEO Mr Johnson who is worth nearly half a billion dollars.
In his crazy daily routine, he wakes up at 5am and immediately does an hour-long workout with 25 exercises.
He then takes a dozen supplements and applies seven skin creams to his face, and goes for a blood test before eating a meal that has been calibrated to exactly 1,977 calories.
In the evenings he puts on goggles for two hours before bed that block out blue light and, on some days, will also go for ultrasounds or body scans.
Mr Johnson, who is 45, is aiming to return his body to the same biological age as that of an 18-year-old through the challenging lifestyle.
He has de-aged himself by five years since 2021, doctors say, and now has the heart of a 37-year-old. But this pales in comparison to Mr Mirabile’s 13 years younger.
Tech billionaire Bryan Johnson, 45, spends $2million a year on a project to reverse the aging of all of his bodies organs
He has undergone a significant transformation since embarking on the project. He is pictured here in 2017
Mr Mirabile has been following a healthy lifestyle since he was 16 years old and suffered a brain tumor, which left him bedridden and then unable to exercise for a year.
After the experience, he decided to focus on exercise and diet to avoid ever being in that position again.
His passion led him to take exercise to the extreme — ranking seventh in the US for Marine Corps High School National Championship aged 17 and smashing the Guinness World Record for the most pull-ups in 60 seconds.
He went to college and into private equity, before founding his start-up Hotlist, which was a social media app that showed people which venues near them were busy and good to attend.
Mr Mirabile said that his health then took a slip when the start-up went under and he was left in his late 20s depressed and with virtually no money to his name.
And to top it off, his apartment in New York City had been flooded by Hurricane Sandy and then looted, with all his valuables stolen.
‘I was in a difficult place,’ he said. ‘I was depressed, and part of that was from having a failed start-up venture.
‘I basically had no money saved because I had invested it all in my business and wasn’t paying myself much — and when I could have been a millionaire in the end I ended up with zero, with nothing.’
‘I just felt like ‘blah’, why not just sit at home by myself and do nothing? I had no desire to go out on my own to start a business, nothing,’ he added on a podcast.
‘This included spending time with friends, or going out, or going on a date, or something.’
Friends were telling him to exercise more to start to feel better, but he said he was already doing this and that it wasn’t helping.
It was then that he refocused on himself and started to ask base questions such as ‘What do I want from my career?’ and ‘Why did I even become an entrepreneur?’
This led him to found the start-up NOVOS, which sells longevity supplements to help people boost their healthspan — or the healthy years of their lives.
his week the company launched its longevity product line of NOVOS Core, NOVOS Boost and NOVOS Age.