This or That: Longevity Edition

Dr. Andrea Klemes:
Hi. I'm Dr. Andrea Klemes, chief medical officer of MDVIP, the national primary care network, and we're about to play a game of this or that, the longevity edition. But I'm gonna need some help.

He's a leading longevity expert and a New York Times bestselling author whose latest book is The Great Age Reboot. I'm pleased to welcome Dr. Mike Roizen.

Dr. Mike Roizen:
Thanks, Andrea.

I am privileged to be here today to play with you and MDVIP on the longevity edition. Let's go ahead and play, but you gotta make 'em easy.

Dr. Klemes:
No, I'm not gonna make 'em easy for you, Mike. Okay, so this is how the game works. I'm gonna ask a series of questions, and you say which of the two options you prefer for promoting longevity. Are you ready? Here we go.

Dr. Roizen:
I'm ready.

Dr. Klemes:
All right, fruits or vegetables?

Dr. Roizen:
I like vegetables better here. Now, they're both healthy, they both can be nutrient rich, but I love grilled vegetables. I can eat 'em any time of day or night. They have a little less sugar, uh, and a little more protein in general than fruits.

Dr. Klemes:
Mm. Oatmeal or egg whites?

Dr. Roizen:
Well, egg whites are really healthy. Egg yolks? Toss 'em to the curb, whatever you want to, get rid of 'em, um, give 'em to someone you don't like. But the point is that I have egg white omelet, a veggie omelet of egg white, every Saturday and Sunday.

So the first answer was veggies. Extra grilled veggies with my egg white? That's the egg white omelet that I have. So I've gotta go with egg whites. Now, oatmeal? Pretty good, but not as good as egg whites.

Dr. Klemes:
All right. I'm interested in the next one. Half a glass of red wine or dark chocolate?

Dr. Roizen:
Eat 'em together.

Dr. Klemes:
(laughs)

Dr. Roizen:
So that is... They both give you some flavonoids. Half a glass of red wine, great choice. Helps relax you, socialize. We have... Have a glass of red wine with me.

Dr. Klemes:
(laughs)

Dr. Roizen:
We'll split the chocolate and the red wine.

Dr. Klemes:
There you go. All right, coffee or green tea?

Dr. Roizen:
Oh, wow. Wait a second.

Dr. Klemes:
Yeah, go get your-

Dr. Roizen:
I can bring this into the, uh, picture here. This is... I only o-... go through six or eight of these a day, so I... Coffee is the thing I do. Green tea doesn't have quite enough data, but coffee decreases dementia, decreases Parkinson's disease, decreases type 2 diabetes and decreases 11 cancers. So why not go with coffee all the time?

Dr. Klemes:
I'm guessing there’s nothing in that coffee though.

Dr. Roizen:
It's black.

Dr. Klemes:
It's black. I know. (laughs) All right, next. Running or weightlifting?

Dr. Roizen:
Well, I would normally say weightlifting, but I have a confession. This week, I tore my right rotator cuff. It was the second time I've done it by weightlifting. Same exercise, a chest press. So this week it's running, but normally I'd say weightlifting. They're both healthy. They both turn on that gene that increases your brain size, and both help your cardiovascular system in its reactivity.

Dr. Klemes:
Early riser or night owl? I know which one I want it to be. (laughs)

Dr. Roizen:
I, I am an early rise.

Dr. Klemes:
Me too.

Dr. Roizen:
And, you know, I get a lot of my work done before the rest of the world wakes up, so it's where I get to read. Um, night owl, actually there, there is a difference, if you will, in circadian rhythm and in weight gain. So night owls tend to gain more weight than early risers. So from a longevity standpoint, early risers-

Dr. Klemes:
Risers.

Dr. Roizen:
... may be... Ben Franklin was right.

Dr. Klemes:
Oh. Well, good 'cause I'm an early riser too. Okay. Crossword puzzle or game of Uno?

Dr. Roizen:
Well, Uno is a social game, so you get your posse, and it's a speed game. Much better for your brain, speed games and posse-

Dr. Klemes:
Mm-hmm.

Dr. Roizen:
... than just doing something on your own.

Dr. Klemes:
Got you. Okay. Avocado oil or olive oil?

Dr. Roizen:
Well, both are healthy. Avocado oil is omega-3. The other odd omega, I'd like to say a 9... So 3, 5, 7 and 9 are odd numbers, so odd omegas. The number 9 is what you get with olive oil. And since I get plenty of omega-3 with walnuts and with salmon, I like to get, um, omega-9 in my extra virgin olive oil.

Dr. Klemes:
All right. 30 minutes of walking or 30 minutes of yoga? I'm guessing both are good, but... (laughs)

Dr. Roizen:
Both yoga and, and walking are good. Um, I am about as stiff a person... I played a game call squash. I captained the US team in the Pan American Games long a-... when you were not probably born yet.

Dr. Klemes:
(laughs)

Dr. Roizen:
But in 1983, so-

Dr. Klemes:
I was born.

Dr. Roizen:
(laughs) So I, I am so stiff that I try and do yoga, but I don't do it well. So 30 minutes of walking I do. I do 10,000 steps of walking, at least, every day, so walking is my thing.

Dr. Klemes:
I've seen you walking around here all-

Dr. Roizen:
(laughs)

Dr. Klemes:
... the time, so you get a lot of it. Okay, treadmill or stationary bike?

Dr. Roizen:
You know, I like the stationary bike that has both... The Schwinn bike. It's an Airdyne. I have no stock or other interest in the company, but that's a great bike 'cause if you injure your leg, you can do the arms. If you injure your arm, you can do the legs. And, you know, I have a treadmill desk that I'm on that I use every day, so that's how I get 10,000 steps. So I have both.

Dr. Klemes:
Mmkay, so anything is good. I think I know the answer to this one from one of your other que-... answers. Nature walk or dinner with friends?

Dr. Roizen:
Oh, man. That's really tough. Um, I've gotta say dinner with friends 'cause posse is the most important... Posse and purpose are the most important thing, and you get that with dinner with friends.

Dr. Klemes:
Try a new hobby or volunteer your time?

Dr. Roizen:
You know, we have a thing called social prescribing, um, and social prescribing is what do you get someone who is lonesome? So it is both. Trying a new hobby helps and doing something, if you will, with friends. So both things are great. I would go try a new hobby.

Dr. Klemes:
Mmkay. Hot shower or a cold shower?

Dr. Roizen:
Um, you know, if your hot shower is hot enough and your cold shower is cold enough, you release heat shock protein. The same thing with both hot and cold. So I'd say whatever you prefer. I actually like hot more than cold.

Dr. Klemes:
Me too, but that's 'cause I'm always cold so I need the hot shower. All right.

Dr. Roizen:
So you live in Florida, right?

Dr. Klemes:
Oh I know, but I have a space heater in my office.

Dr. Roizen:
(laughs)

Dr. Klemes:
I'm always cold. All right, my last one. Books on tape or podcasts?

Dr. Roizen:
Books on tape or podcast. You know, in podcast, there is often an interaction, and I like that interaction more than just listening. So I do a lot of reading. I have my own podca-... You know, I, I-

Dr. Klemes:
You have your own.

Dr. Roizen:
YOU The Owners Manual podcast has two sections, an A, which is the latest medical news of the week and what it means to you, and the B, which is always a guest who has written a book. And I read that book the... before I am on the podcast with 'em 'cause I feel it's my responsibility to the audience and to the author. So it is podcast.

Dr. Klemes:
Got you. All right. Well, this was a lot of fun. Thank you so much, Mike, for playing and sharing some really great information. Go to mdvip.com/longevityiq to learn more about aging well.

Dr. Roizen:

Thank you.