Books
| Book | Author, year | Why read it |
|---|---|---|
| Outlive | Peter Attia, 2023 | The best general-reader book on prevention-first medicine. The "four horsemen" and "centenarian decathlon" framings in this guide come from it. |
| Super Agers | Eric Topol, 2025 | A cardiologist and researcher on what actually predicts healthy aging, with healthy skepticism of the supplement aisle. |
| Ageless | Andrew Steele, 2020 | The clearest introduction to the biology of aging and the science of treating it. |
| Lifespan | David Sinclair, 2019 | A readable case for treating aging as a disease. Its enthusiasm for specific supplements has aged poorly. |
| Why We Sleep | Matthew Walker, 2017 | The book that made sleep a priority for many people. Some of its statistics have been challenged; the core advice holds. |
| Exercised | Daniel Lieberman, 2021 | An evolutionary anthropologist on why we evolved to avoid exercise and why we need it anyway. |
Podcasts and video
- The Drive, Peter Attia. Long, technical interviews. The episodes with Iñigo San Millán on zone 2, Mike Joyner on VO2 max, Matt Kaeberlein on rapamycin, and Hussein Yassine on APOE4 shaped this guide.
- Optispan, Matt Kaeberlein. A geroscientist's unusually candid read on what the evidence does and does not show.
- FoundMyFitness, Rhonda Patrick. Deep dives on sauna, omega-3s, and nutrition research.
- Huberman Lab, Andrew Huberman. Useful on light, sleep, and circadian biology. Some protocols rest on single studies or animal data, so check the source before adopting one.
- Stronger By Science, Greg Nuckols and colleagues. Evidence-based strength training, with careful reading of the research.
- Stephen Seiler on YouTube. Polarized endurance training explained by the researcher who defined it.
Reference sites
- US Preventive Services Task Force: every screening and preventive recommendation, with the evidence review behind it. Grade A and B items are covered without cost sharing by most US insurance.
- CDC adult immunization schedule: the official vaccine schedule. The Infections and vaccines chapter notes where medical societies now differ.
- NIH Office of Dietary Supplements: balanced fact sheets on every common vitamin, mineral, and supplement.
- Examine: independent summaries of supplement and nutrition research.
- MedlinePlus: the National Library of Medicine's plain-language reference for conditions, tests, and drugs.
- RadiologyInfo: what each scan involves, from the American College of Radiology and the Radiological Society of North America.
- Interventions Testing Program results: the authoritative list of what has and has not extended lifespan in rigorous mouse studies.
- Laura Deming's Longevity FAQ and Nintil's Longevity FAQ: the two best written introductions to aging research, one short and one exhaustive.
- Lifespan.io and its Rejuvenation Roadmap: a tracked database of aging therapies in development.
By topic
| Topic | Where to look |
|---|---|
| Lungs | The GOLD report, the global COPD strategy updated each year; the American Lung Association; and the Alpha-1 Foundation for alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency |
| Digestion | The American College of Gastroenterology patient center and the Celiac Disease Foundation |
| Women's health | ACOG's women's health pages, The Menopause Society, and ReproductiveFacts from the American Society for Reproductive Medicine |
| Later life | HealthInAging.org from the American Geriatrics Society, the National Institute on Aging, the Medicare Annual Wellness Visit, the Eldercare Locator for local services, CaringInfo for advance care planning, and the Family Caregiver Alliance |
Calculators and tools
| Tool | What it does |
|---|---|
| AHA PREVENT calculator | Estimates your 10- and 30-year risk of cardiovascular disease, including heart attack, stroke, and heart failure, for adults 30–79 without known heart disease. Used by the 2025 blood pressure and 2026 cholesterol guidelines. |
| MESA risk score | Adds a coronary calcium score to the risk estimate, and shows how your score compares with people of your age, sex, and ancestry. |
| FRAX | Estimates your 10-year risk of a major osteoporotic or hip fracture. |
| NIH Body Weight Planner | Estimates the calories needed to reach and hold a goal weight. |
| Family health history | Guidance from the NIH's genome institute on collecting a three-generation family history to share with your doctor. The CDC's My Family Health Portrait tool went offline in 2026; see Building your care team. |
| Validate BP | The American Medical Association's listing of blood pressure monitors independently validated for clinical accuracy. |
People and organizations
- Howard Luks on zone 2 training and muscle mass, Uphill Athlete on aerobic base training, and Marco Altini on heart rate variability.
- The Longevity Biotech Fellowship and the Hevolution Foundation, if you want to work in the field rather than read about it.
- The XPRIZE Healthspan, a $101 million competition for therapies that restore muscle, cognitive, and immune function.
What changed in this edition
The first version of this guide lived in Notion at thelongevity.guide from 2021 to 2023 and had five sections. The second edition, in October 2026, rebuilt it as 26 chapters in six parts, rechecked every claim against current sources, and added an interactive prevention checklist, site-wide search, and evidence grades.
A revision later that month changed the guide's standard from the guideline minimum to what is optimal, and added five chapters:
- Every chapter now leads with the optimal plan and shows the guideline minimum second, labeled. The checklist shows both for each item.
- Testing became yearly or better. A lipid panel with ApoB, HbA1c, fasting insulin, kidney markers (cystatin C and urine albumin), and a liver fibrosis score every year, and every three months while adjusting treatment, instead of every three to five years.
- Targets moved to optimal: ApoB under about 60 mg/dL, blood pressure under 120/80, and HbA1c under about 5.5%.
- Screening starts earlier:
- a first colonoscopy at 40, every 5 years if normal
- yearly mammograms from 40
- a baseline PSA by 45
- a coronary calcium scan around 40 for men and 45 for women
- a one-time hereditary cancer gene panel by 30
- a baseline DEXA in the 30s or 40s
- New chapters cover the lungs, digestive health, women's health, men's health, and aging well after 65.
The most important changes in the second edition:
- Aspirin moved from "worth considering" to "do not start for primary prevention," following the 2022 USPSTF reversal and the ASPREE trial.
- Metformin lost its place as the presumptive longevity drug: no lifespan benefit in the Interventions Testing Program, a still-unfunded human trial, and evidence that it blunts the benefits of exercise.
- Seed oils and sweeteners got evidence-weighted positions instead of blanket bans. Alcohol got a stricter one.
- Protein targets rose to 1.2–1.6 g/kg, matching the 2025–2030 Dietary Guidelines, and the old per-meal cap was dropped.
- Vitamin D blood-level targets (40–60 ng/mL) and high daily doses were removed after the 2024 Endocrine Society guideline, and every supplement was re-graded against the trials.
- Biomarker and blood pressure targets were updated to the 2025 blood pressure and 2026 cholesterol guidelines, including the return of LDL goals and a one-time Lp(a) test for everyone.
- Full-body MRI went from a yearly recommendation to an optional extra, with a deep dive on what the scans find, what they cost, and what radiology societies say.
- Vaccines reflect the 2025–2026 changes to US vaccine policy, including the March 2026 court stay of ACIP's votes and the schedules medical societies now publish themselves.
- New chapters cover the science of aging, reading evidence, mental health and connection, avoiding harm, cardiovascular disease, cancer and screening, brain health, metabolic health, muscle and bone, the senses, infections and vaccines, lab tests, imaging, wearables, building a care team, longevity drugs, and hormones.
- Defunct products and companies were removed and current ones verified.
If you find something out of date, tell me. Every claim links to its source so you can check anything that matters to you.