Health After 60: Essential Guide for Professionals

The Cognitive Vitality Imperative: Why Health Agency Matters for Professional Longevity

Your ability to think critically, synthesise complex information, recognise patterns, and leverage your accumulated wisdom depends fundamentally on your physiological state. Brain fog isn't just annoying. It signals treatable metabolic problems that undermines your cognitive ability.

As health coach Krisna Hanks emphasises: 

"If your body, if your machine isn't working, you are not working, and that means you're not being able to pay your rent or you're not even able to do the thing you really love."

This connection between physical and cognitive health becomes more pronounced after 60, when metabolic dysfunction can masquerade as inevitable cognitive decline. 

Many women experiencing severe cognitive symptoms during perimenopause receive dismissive responses from doctors who lack current knowledge about hormonal impacts on brain function. The memory problems aren't necessarily aging, but treatable physiological disruptions requiring systematic intervention.

The relationship between physical health and cognitive performance becomes more critical after 60, not less. As you shift from competing on fluid intelligence (raw processing speed) to leveraging crystallised intelligence (accumulated wisdom and pattern recognition), maintaining the biological foundation that supports high-level thinking becomes more essential. Hanks describes this as an investment strategy: 

"Trying to figure out what really sustains you, particularly from a nutrition standpoint. Start eating now the way you'd like to for the rest of your life."

This matters because cognitive vitality represents your competitive advantage. While younger professionals may process information faster, your decades of experience create sophisticated mental models, refined judgment, and contextual understanding that cannot be replicated through speed alone. 

But these advantages evaporate when hormonal imbalances cause memory problems, when chronic pain disrupts focus, when sleep disruption prevents neural waste clearance, or when inflammatory markers accelerate cognitive decline.

The extended mind framework recognizes that cognition isn't confined to your brain. It extends through your body, your environment, your tools, and your systems. Health isn't separate from professional capability. It's the biological substrate that makes everything else possible. When that substrate degrades, your entire cognitive architecture suffers.

Traditional approaches to health management assume passive patient relationships with trusted medical authorities. This worked when doctors possessed comprehensive, current knowledge about treatments relevant to your conditions. That assumption no longer holds. The institutional failures documented across multiple domains mean you cannot outsource responsibility for health decisions to practitioners operating within systems designed to lag behind research by years or decades.

Taking agency over your health doesn’t mean that you need to be an amateur doctor. It's more about applying the evaluative frameworks you've spent decades developing in your professional domain to the most important project you'll ever work on: maintaining your cognitive vitality and physical wellbeing that makes continued professional contribution possible.

The Pattern of Medical Knowledge Gaps: When Doctors Don't Know What They Don't Know

Three distinct stories from recent Wisepreneurs conversations reveal an identical pattern: medical practitioners lacking current scientific knowledge in areas directly affecting patient health, creating dangerous gaps between research and practice.

The Endocannabinoid System: A Biological System Omitted from Medical Education

Dr. Michael Best spent 50 years practicing medicine. He worked as a GP, held positions in medical administration, and maintained an active clinical practice into his seventies. Yet he discovered at 74 that an entire biological system regulating pain, sleep, anxiety, and overall body balance had been completely omitted from his medical education.

The endocannabinoid system was scientifically documented in 1988. It exists in every vertebrate animal. It performs critical regulatory functions affecting virtually every aspect of human health. As Best explains, the system 

"does just about everything. It's the most extraordinary system. And in particular, it's there to help us to protect against pain. It's there to help us relax. It's there to help us to sleep."

Best's discovery came by accident during COVID, when a colleague mentioned medicinal cannabis research. His reaction captures the knowledge gap perfectly: 

"How come I knew nothing about this? I've been a doctor for all these years."

This wasn't isolated ignorance. Medical schools worldwide still don't teach the endocannabinoid system comprehensively. Doctors graduating today receive the same inadequate education Best received decades ago. When Best's patients reported chronic pain relief, anxiety reduction, and sleep improvement through medicinal cannabis, their GPs often dismissed these treatments as unproven despite thousands of supporting studies.

The gap exists because medical education focuses on pharmaceutical interventions supported by patent-protected compounds requiring expensive clinical trials. Natural systems and plant-based medicines don't fit this model, regardless of scientific validity.

Menopause: When Half the Population Gets Inadequate Care

Amy Alkon spent eight years researching menopause because her doctors couldn't provide evidence-based care. An investigative science writer with expertise in critically evaluating research, she discovered that gynecology departments worldwide operate under what she calls three dangerous myths:

"There are three big myths about our medical care that we believe: one is that doctors make decisions according to scientific evidence and that they can read and evaluate it. The other is that they're trained in diagnostic reasoning, and the third is that they can properly assess risk. And none of those are the case." — Amy Alkon

Alkon's experience reveals systematic failures. When she reported severe cognitive symptoms during perimenopause, doctors suggested psychological causes. The actual problem: inadequate progesterone disrupting deep sleep, preventing cerebral spinal fluid from washing neural waste from her brain. 

The memory problems she experienced weren't inevitable aging. They were treatable physiological disruptions that doctors dismissed because they lacked current knowledge about hormonal impacts on brain function. The consequences extend beyond individual suffering:

"These vital, important, powerful, accomplished professional women, they lose their power at work, you know, to function even, you know, and they don't know it's perimenopause and other people don't. They think they're lazy or drunk or, you know, something's wrong with them in some kind of pernicious way." — Amy Alkon

Alkon discovered that gynaecologists receive minimal training in menopause management. Most are "baby doctors" without expertise in hormonal medicine affecting women after reproductive years. Yet medical systems assign them responsibility for conditions they weren't trained to treat. This violates medical ethics, but it's standard practice globally.

When Alkon finally obtained appropriate hormone therapy, she had to fight through multiple barriers. Doctors insisted on dosages inadequate for her metabolic profile, citing outdated 2002 research that subsequent studies had discredited. She knew this because she'd read the original research. Her doctors hadn't.

The pattern reveals institutional failure: medical schools don't train doctors to read and evaluate research. Practitioners lack time to study new findings. Regulatory bodies move glacially while patients suffer from treatable conditions.

The Common Thread: Professional Wisdom Enables Self-Advocacy

Both Best and Alkon leveraged accumulated professional expertise to navigate knowledge gaps their doctors couldn't bridge. Best's 50 years of medical training provided the foundation to assess cannabis research quality at 74. Alkon's decades as an investigative science writer gave her the skills to evaluate cardiovascular and endocrinology research despite no formal medical training.

This demonstrates how crystallised intelligence becomes self-reinforcing. Your decades of experience make you capable of maintaining the health that sustains your ability to leverage that experience. The evaluative frameworks you've developed in your professional domain can transfer directly to health advocacy.

The alternative is passive acceptance of inadequate care from practitioners operating within systems designed to protect institutions rather than optimize patient outcomes.

The Seed Oil Story: How Industry Capture Created a Public Health Crisis

Nina Teicholz's research into nutritional science reveals perhaps the most comprehensive example of how industry influence, suppressed research, and institutional capture can create population-wide health disasters. 

She was a recent guest on the DarkHorse Podcast with evolutionary biologist Brett Weinstein exposing the systematic distortion of dietary guidance that has contributed to an obesity epidemic affecting millions.

The Origin Story: From Natural Fats to Industrial Oils

The nutritional transition from natural animal fats to seed oils began with industry interests, not scientific discovery. In 1961, the American Heart Association issued recommendations to avoid saturated fat and dietary cholesterol. This became the "acorn" of today's dietary guidelines. 

The scientific basis for demonising saturated fats never existed. As Teicholz discovered through extensive research, clinical trials in the 1960s and 70s involving nearly 80,000 people showed that high saturated fat diets had no effect on cardiovascular or total mortality. These results were largely ignored or suppressed.

The Minnesota Coronary Survey represented the largest test of the diet-heart hypothesis. It remained unpublished for 17 years because results contradicted prevailing nutrition dogma. When finally published, the data showed no cardiovascular benefit from replacing saturated fats with seed oils.

Industry Influence and the Nutrition Foundation

The systematic distortion of nutritional science wasn't accidental. The Nutrition Foundation, created in 1941 by major food companies, had the stated goal of influencing nutrition science. This institutional structure enabled decades of industry-funded research designed to support profitable products rather than optimize human health.

Teicholz explains how this influence manifested: 

"The big story is how food companies drive research. What you will not find research in are the areas of science that would undermine the food industry."

The pattern extended beyond funding bias. Entire research conferences on seed oils revealed disturbing findings that never reached public awareness. At a Columbia University conference, researchers presented studies showing rats on high seed oil diets developed shellac-like substances in their feces due to oxidation products. This research received no follow-up funding or attention.

The Health Consequences: Oxidation, Inflammation, and Metabolic Disease

Seed oils now comprise 20% of the average American's daily calories. This represents a massive dietary shift with profound health implications. The oils' chemical structure makes them highly susceptible to oxidation, especially when heated. As Teicholz notes, heated seed oils produce "hundreds of oxidation products" that create inflammatory responses in the body.

Studies in Asian countries found women with high rates of lung cancer despite low smoking rates. Analysis suggested enclosed cooking spaces where oils were repeatedly heated contributed to cancer development. The WHO's condemnation of meat as carcinogenic failed to account for the confounding effects of cooking oils, particularly seed oils used in food preparation.

Clinical trials have demonstrated that whole foods-based, low-carbohydrate diets can reverse type 2 diabetes, hypertension, and fatty liver disease. Yet dietary guidelines continue promoting the seed oil-heavy, high-carbohydrate approach that correlates with obesity rate increases since 1980.

The Evolutionary Perspective: What Were We Designed to Eat?

Brett Weinstein's evolutionary biology perspective adds crucial context. Human metabolism evolved over millions of years consuming natural animal fats, fish, vegetables, and seasonal fruits. Industrial seed oils represent a novel food substance introduced at scale only in the last century.

The rapid increase in metabolic diseases, obesity, and chronic inflammation corresponds directly to the adoption of dietary guidelines promoting seed oils over traditional fats. This isn't coincidental. Our bodies lack the evolutionary adaptation to process industrial oils in the quantities modern diets deliver.

The evolutionary lens reveals that "heart healthy" labeling applied to seed oils represents marketing, not science. Traditional societies consuming high levels of saturated fat from animal sources showed low rates of cardiovascular disease. The Mediterranean diet's benefits come from olive oil, fish, and vegetables, not from industrial seed oils that weren't part of traditional Mediterranean cuisine.

The Suppression of Science and Missing Researchers

Perhaps most disturbing is what Teicholz calls the "absence of scientists" willing to study seed oil safety. Industry capture extends beyond funding bias to complete absence of research funding for questions that might undermine profitable products.

"People rightly wonder where the scientists are talking about seed oils? Why is this just all over social media? But where are the high level scientists? Where are the people we can really trust?" — Nina Teicholz

The answer involves institutional dynamics that systematically prevent research threatening industry interests. Universities depend on food company funding. Researchers building careers understand which questions receive support and which end careers. Regulatory bodies operate under industry influence that prevents protective action despite mounting evidence of harm.

Medical school professors privately follow ketogenic diets but feel professionally constrained from teaching these approaches to students. The entire system operates to protect existing paradigms regardless of scientific evidence suggesting alternatives would produce better health outcomes.

Personal Relevance: The Cognitive Impact

For professionals over 60 concerned with cognitive vitality, the seed oil story matters because inflammatory markers predict cognitive decline. Oxidised fats create systemic inflammation affecting brain function. The metabolic syndrome promoted by current dietary guidelines undermines the physiological foundation supporting high-level thinking.

Krisna Hanks connects this directly to professional performance: 

"Only 12% of our population, of our adult population, is metabolically fit. That is a shocking actual number."

She explains that metabolic health isn't about weight or BMI. It's measured through five markers: 

• waist circumference, 
• blood pressure,
• fasting glucose, 
• triglycerides, and 
• HDL cholesterol. 

These indicators reveal insulin sensitivity, which directly impacts cognitive function and energy stability throughout your workday.

As Hanks notes, 

"When you've got a high consumption of carbohydrates and sugar, you're gonna have some fat storage issues. Many of us women who experienced premenopause, menopause, postmenopause, we're having all kinds of hormonal changes. And if we're adding to that with a high carbohydrate and sugar consumption, for me it was a game changer to see this is not really a sustainable path."

Taking agency over nutrition requires understanding that official dietary guidelines emerged from industry influence, not scientific consensus. 

The "food pyramid" that shaped decades of nutrition policy serves commercial interests, not human health. Your body's inflammatory response to industrial seed oils affects not just cardiovascular health but cognitive performance, energy levels, and the biological capacity to maintain professional effectiveness into later life.

The Movement Deficit: Sedentary Behaviour as Metabolic Threat

While nutritional failures represent one dimension of institutional knowledge gaps, the systematic misunderstanding of movement requirements creates parallel risks to cognitive vitality. 

Recent research reveals that prolonged sitting affects metabolic health independently of structured exercise, creating what researchers call "active couch potatoes"—people who exercise regularly but sit for extended periods, experiencing metabolic dysfunction despite meeting standard activity guidelines.

The Science of Sedentary Behavior

Krisna Hanks discovered the research foundation for this concern at Stanford University's 2010 conference on sedentary behavior. Australian researchers Neville Owen and Genevieve Healy presented groundbreaking work showing that "too much sitting is not the same as too little exercise." Their research demonstrated that metabolic markers are impacted by prolonged hours of sitting, regardless of whether someone exercises regularly.

The mechanism involves what researchers call Metabolic Equivalents of Task (METs). Sitting registers at 1 to 1.5 METs. Light intensity movement—simply standing, walking, or engaging large muscle groups—raises activity to 1.5 to 3 METs. This seemingly minor increase triggers significant metabolic benefits through what Hanks calls "metabolic sparks."

As she explains: 

"Prolonged hours of sitting leads to the suppression of skeletal muscle lipoprotein lipase activity, which is necessary for triglyceride uptake and HDL cholesterol production and reduced glucose uptake."

The technical language describes direct compromise of metabolic markers affecting cognitive function: blood glucose regulation, triglyceride levels, and HDL cholesterol all deteriorate during extended sitting periods.

The research distinguished between "prolongers"—people sitting for multiple consecutive hours—and "breakers"—those who interrupt sitting with movement, even fidgeting. 

Studies found that breakers showed better metabolic health markers despite similar total sitting time as the prolongers. The critical variable wasn't total sitting duration but whether sitting occurred in uninterrupted blocks.

The Cognitive Connection

For professionals whose work demands extended cognitive focus, the sedentary behavior research creates uncomfortable tension. Deep work requires sustained concentration, which seems to necessitate remaining at a desk. Yet the metabolic consequences of prolonged sitting directly undermine the cognitive performance that makes extended focus sessions valuable.

Hanks addresses this paradox by reframing movement as cognitive support rather than distraction: 

"You step outside, get a little bit of fresh air. We come back. Suddenly it seems to click for us."

The research backs this experiential observation. Studies show that people who take regular breaks demonstrate higher performance than those who power through without movement.

The mechanism extends beyond metabolic markers. Sitting for extended periods affects sleep quality, which directly impacts cognitive recovery and memory consolidation. As Hanks notes: "People who do too many back to back hours have trouble sleeping. That it can be a sleep disrupter if we haven't had enough of these light intensity exercises."

For professionals over 60, the consequences compound. Women in the Australian studies "fared worse in these studies than the men" for metabolic impacts of prolonged sitting. Combined with hormonal changes affecting metabolic efficiency, sedentary behavior creates accelerated risk for cognitive decline in precisely the demographic whose accumulated wisdom makes cognitive vitality most professionally valuable.

Practical Movement Integration

The solution isn't abandoning desk work. Plan movement breaks to avoid the metabolic dysfunction associated with prolonged sitting. Hanks recommends environmental and behavioral modifications that make movement default rather than requiring conscious decision-making:

Hourly movement protocols
Set timers for 50-minute work blocks followed by 10 minutes of standing, walking, or light movement. Or use a Pomodoro timer, focus for 25 minutes with a 5 minute break. 

Standing work positions
Adjustable desks enable alternation between sitting and standing throughout the day. The goal isn't standing constantly, which creates different problems. It's adding a variation to prevent the metabolic shutdown associated with prolonged sitting. These are not expensive and come in a variety of styles.

Walking conversations  
Phone calls, one-on-one meetings, and brainstorming sessions often work better while walking or meeting in a park rather than sitting in an office. The movement supports cognitive function while preventing sedentary time accumulation.

Environmental cues Hanks notes that simple interventions like using a thermos for beverages automatically increases movement to refill it and use the restroom more frequently. These passive movement triggers reduce the willpower required to maintain healthy patterns.

For professionals working from home, the risks increase because environmental boundaries between work and rest disappear. As Hanks observes: 

"Whether you're in the 30s, 40s, 50s, understanding that too much sitting is not the same as too little exercise because I do see young people who do lots of wonderful physical activity, but they will sit for hours behind their laptop, texting, Instagram, TikTok, watching video after video."

The integration of movement breaks doesn't interrupt deep work. It enables sustained cognitive performance by maintaining the metabolic foundation that supports high-level thinking. As with nutritional optimisation, taking agency over movement patterns requires systematic design rather than relying on motivation or willpower.

The Protein Paradox: Why Women, And Men Need More Than They Think

Beyond seed oils and sedentary behaviour, a third systematic knowledge gap affects women's cognitive vitality: protein requirements. Current recommended daily allowances emerged from minimum survival thresholds, not optimization for cognitive performance and muscle maintenance in aging populations.

The Metabolic Reality of Protein Processing

Hanks's experience shifting from 20 years of vegetarianism to prioritising animal protein reveals how accumulated professional wisdom enables course correction when initial approaches prove inadequate. 

As she describes: 

"Until it didn't, and that until it didn't was towards the end of my dance career. It took someone else asking me the critical question: have you ever thought about your diet as being your joint problem? I was having severe joint issues, swelling problems doing simple things."

This recognition—that dietary approaches creating initial improvements can eventually undermine performance—mirrors the pattern seen with seed oil recommendations and exercise guidelines. What works adequately in younger years often fails to support cognitive and physical performance after 50.

The protein requirements for professionals over 60 differ substantially from younger populations for physiological reasons. As Hanks explains: 

"As we age, we're not as efficient at processing protein and getting your protein. Really helping people get to a good protein target, we use the words prioritise protein at every meal."

Current recommendations suggest 1.5 to 2 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight for older adults engaging in regular activity. For a 60-kilogram woman, this means 90 to 120 grams daily—substantially more than most women consume. The challenge intensifies because protein requirements should concentrate in the first two meals of the day to optimize what researchers call muscle protein synthesis.

Research from Don Layman and Gabrielle Lyon identifies a 30-gram protein threshold per meal required to stimulate muscle protein synthesis effectively. As Hanks notes: 

"Many women think if they eat two eggs, they're just eating gobs of food. And Adele Height, a brilliant registered dietician, said I would probably say you need at least four eggs. Knowing that one egg is only six grams of protein, four eggs gives you just 24 grams."

The Cognitive Implications

Adequate protein intake matters for cognitive function through multiple mechanisms. Protein provides amino acids necessary for neurotransmitter production. Muscle mass correlates with cognitive performance in aging populations, likely through mechanisms involving IGF-1 and other signaling molecules that support neurogenesis and neuron maintenance.

The relationship between muscle mass and brain volume appears in multiple studies. One research paper found that "lean mass of the thigh muscles predicted brain volume in older adults." Another showed that "total neck muscle volume predicted 17% of the total brain volume variance." As summarised in materials Hanks references: 

"Strength training is another big lever. Resistance training in older adults prevented age-related brain atrophy in one paper."

For professionals whose competitive advantage depends on crystallised intelligence, the connection between muscle maintenance and cognitive preservation becomes critical. Both require adequate protein intake combined with resistance training—the two levers available for building and maintaining muscle mass throughout aging.

Practical Implementation

Hanks's approach emphasises realistic target-setting rather than overwhelming transformation: 

"Anything a little bit above what you're doing right now is probably a good thing."

For women accustomed to minimal protein intake, working toward 30 grams per meal represents substantial change requiring systematic planning.

Breakfast might include Greek yogurt with a scoop of collagen peptides or whey protein powder, nuts, and full-fat cream, reaching the 30-gram threshold without requiring elaborate cooking. 

Lunch could feature leftover meat from dinner, a boiled egg, or what Hanks calls "egg casseroles"—essentially crustless quiches combining eggs, sausage, and vegetables.

For traveling professionals, Hanks recommends "meat sticks" from quality producers offering grass-fed or wagyu beef. 

"If I'm really in a pinch, I'll use some of the meat sticks that are out there. Most of those have nine or 10 grams of protein with it. The evening meal is the easy one."

The emphasis on animal protein reflects bioavailability concerns. As Hanks notes from her vegetarian experience: 

"If you're a vegetarian and you're trying to get good, solid protein, it's much harder. If you're eating animal products, fish products, whether you're having shrimp or steak, lamb, beef, it's very easy in the evening meal to find that."

This doesn't require dogmatic adherence to particular dietary philosophies. It means recognising that protein requirements for cognitive and physical maintenance after 60 exceed what most women consume, and animal products provide the most efficient path to meeting those requirements.

Metabolic Health as Foundation: Five Markers That Matter

The convergence of nutritional misinformation, sedentary behavior patterns, and inadequate protein intake creates metabolic dysfunction that manifests cognitively before appearing in standard medical assessments. Understanding metabolic health markers provides early warning of problems undermining professional capability long before diagnosable disease emerges.

The Five Markers of Metabolic Health

As Hanks emphasises: 

"We have five markers and depending upon which organisation you adhere to, some say if you have two or more of these in the suboptimal direction or three or more. Those markers are 

• waist circumference, 
• blood pressure, 
• blood glucose 
• fasting glucose, and two from the cholesterol panel:
• the triglycerides and 
• the HDL.

Critically, these markers measure metabolic function rather than weight or body mass index. As Hanks notes: 

"You notice there's nothing in there about weight. There's nothing in there about BMI. There's nothing in there about total cholesterol. These are five markers that are indicative of a bigger picture of where you sit on the blood sugar insulin spectrum."

The insulin sensitivity versus resistance spectrum determines how efficiently your body processes glucose, which directly affects cognitive function. As explained in the research Hanks references from Benjamin Bikman's work:

"Insulin resistance basically means that the blood glucose is not able to get in the cell. It's locked, it's shut. And once you're moving towards the latter stages of insulin resistance, you're basically becoming diabetic."

The progression takes years, allowing intervention before disease diagnosis if you track the right markers. Most doctors focus exclusively on blood glucose, missing the insulin resistance developing beneath normal glucose readings. Hanks recommends the hemoglobin A1C test, which shows three-month average blood glucose levels, providing better assessment than single fasting glucose measurements.

Waist Circumference as Practical Metric

Among the five markers, waist circumference provides the most accessible tracking method requiring no lab work. As Hanks explains:

"A big piece that's very simple for many women to track is waist circumference. You just need a tape measure. And I see this really beneficial to help people distance themselves from the scale. Because the scale is not necessarily the only piece of evidence to show you that you are healthy and it's maybe even a poor metric at best."

Waist circumference indicates visceral fat—fat surrounding internal organs—which correlates more strongly with metabolic dysfunction and inflammation than total body weight. As Hanks notes: 

"We know that visceral fat or that fat around our organs is the most deleterious to our health as we are aging. Being able to say, my pants are starting to feel looser, understanding that you're really making strides forward in improving your metabolic health."

This matters particularly for women because metabolic improvement often occurs without corresponding weight loss:

"Many men are much quicker to see the scale move. Women, it moves much slower. We really want to start helping to build confidence, and understand they're improving their health, even if that scale doesn't move right away."

For professionals focused on cognitive performance, this distinction is important. Metabolic health improvements affect energy stability, mental clarity, and sustained focus before producing visible physical changes. Tracking waist circumference provides objective evidence of metabolic improvement when subjective experience and weight measurements might suggest no progress.

The Cognitive Performance Connection

Poor metabolic health manifests cognitively through multiple mechanisms. Insulin resistance affects glucose delivery to the brain. Inflammation from visceral fat produces cytokines that cross the blood-brain barrier, affecting neurotransmitter production and neural function. Sleep disruption from metabolic dysfunction prevents the glymphatic system from clearing metabolic waste from the brain during deep sleep stages.

As emerging research in metabolic psychiatry demonstrates, the connection extends beyond general cognitive decline to specific mental health conditions. Hanks describes studying with Dr. Georgia Ede: 

"I see improvements in brain health. I've had individuals come to say I'm feeling brain fog. I'm feeling tired. I don't necessarily have much weight that I wanna lose, but I would like to just have more energy, feel better."

The metabolic psychiatry field pioneered by researchers like Christopher Palmer and Georgia Ede shows that nutritional interventions affecting metabolic health can improve conditions from attention deficit to depression. As Palmer's book "Brain Energy" and Ede's "Change Your Diet, Change Your Mind" demonstrate, "you can't separate the brain from the body. They work together."

For professionals whose competitive advantage depends on cognitive capabilities, metabolic health monitoring provides strategic early warning. The markers Hanks identifies detect problems undermining performance years before they produce diagnosable conditions requiring pharmaceutical intervention.

Taking Action: The Health Coaching Approach

Hanks describes her health coaching practice as starting from patient-identified priorities rather than prescriptive protocols: 

"What does the individual want to work on? The individual needs to understand that this is not medical advice. We work from a position of what the individual wants to work on. I think of the coach as being your support partner, your accountability partner, helping you open your eyes to seeing and hearing other information."

This collaborative approach recognises that sustainable change requires personal ownership rather than external authority. As Hanks emphasises: 

"Readiness to change, because if you're not wanting to change and you are not willing to experiment with some other ideas, it's not gonna happen."

The systematic approach involves several components:

• Baseline assessment Understanding current metabolic markers through lab work reviewed by medical professionals. This establishes objective starting points rather than relying on subjective symptom reporting.
• Priority identification Determining which areas most significantly impact daily function and professional capability. For some, this means nutrition. For others, sleep disruption or stress management create the most substantial bottlenecks.
• Systematic experimentation Testing interventions with sufficient duration to assess effectiveness while maintaining detailed records enabling evaluation. 

As Hanks notes: 

"Sometimes it turns around. I've had people come to me really for nutrition advice, but then what we see is that the biggest component interfering with their being successful is stress and sleep."

Ongoing adjustment Recognising that optimal approaches vary individually and change over time. What works during perimenopause may require modification post-menopause. Business travel demands different strategies than home-office routines.

The coaching relationship provides an external perspective when institutional medical systems prove inadequate. As Hanks observed through worksite wellness consulting: 

"People need more help and they need to be able to see the full picture. It's all those components—nutrition, stress, sleep, your exercise component. Are you even spending time in nature and getting good sunlight?"

Taking agency over metabolic health doesn't mean abandoning medical relationships. It means finding practitioners who demonstrate curiosity and evidence-based practice while building your own capability to assess interventions, track results, and adjust approaches based on outcomes rather than prescriptive protocols disconnected from your specific physiology and professional demands.

The Cognitive Vitality Checklist: Systematic Optimisation for Professional Longevity

The research converges on actionable interventions that maintain cognitive performance into later life. This checklist synthesises findings from the interviews, research, and proven approaches for professionals over 60 who depend on cognitive capabilities.

Foundation Markers: Know Your Metabolic Baseline

Track these five metabolic health markers quarterly. I would recommend discussing these with your doctor, as many practitioners won't order comprehensive panels proactively.

Metabolic health markers

• - Waist circumference (measure monthly, target:      Men: less than 40 inches (102 cm)     Women: less than 35 inches (89 cm)
• - Blood pressure (monitor weekly at home)
• - Fasting blood glucose (test quarterly)
• - Haemoglobin A1C (test every 6 months, target under 5.7%)
• - Lipid panel: triglycerides and HDL cholesterol (test quarterly)

Additional cognitive markers

• - C-reactive protein (inflammatory marker, test annually) 
• - Vitamin D levels (test annually, target 40-60 ng/mL)
• - Thyroid panel including TSH, free T3, free T4 (test annually)
• - B12 and folate levels (test annually)

Cognitive performance indicators

• - Track specific memory capabilities (names, numbers, directions)
• - Monitor focus duration and quality throughout workday
• - Document brain fog frequency and triggers
• - Assess problem-solving speed and quality

Nutrition: The Metabolic Foundation

Protein optimisation

• - Target 1.5-2 grams per kilogram of body weight daily
• - Achieve 30 grams minimum in first two meals to trigger muscle protein synthesis
• - Prioritise animal proteins for bioavailability: eggs, fish, grass-fed meat, Greek yogurt
• - Front-load protein early in the day rather than saving for dinner

Carbohydrate management

• - Limit total carbohydrates to 20-50 grams daily for metabolic optimisation
• - Eliminate or drastically reduce seed oils (soybean, canola, sunflower, safflower, corn etc)
• - Focus on low-glycemic vegetables rather than grains or starches
• - Monitor blood glucose response to carbohydrate intake with continuous glucose monitor if available

Fat as cognitive fuel

• - Prioritise natural fats: olive oil, avocado, coconut oil, butter from grass-fed cows
• - Include omega-3 rich fish (salmon, mackerel, sardines) 2-3 times weekly
• - Consider MCT oil for cognitive support (start with 1 teaspoon, increase gradually)
• - Avoid trans fats and oxidised oils completely

Hydration and supplements (after consultation with healthcare provider)

• - Drink up to half your body weight in pounds as ounces of water daily or 33 grams of water per kilogram   Remembering that tea, coffee and food count toward total hydration
• - Consider collagen peptides, whey, casein, pea, soy, hemp, egg white, brown rice protein powders
•  (10-20 grams daily for protein boost and joint support)
• - Omega-3 fish oil if not consuming adequate fish
• - Magnesium for stress management and sleep
• - Vitamin D if levels test below 40 ng/mL

Movement: Breaking the Sedentary Pattern

Hourly movement breaks (non-negotiable for cognitive function)

• - Set timer for 50-minute work blocks
• - Stand and stretch for 2 minutes minimum
• - Walk around space or outside for 3-5 minutes
• - Perform 10 squats or wall push-ups
• - Total daily breaks: minimum 8-10 during work hours

Strength training (2-3 times weekly minimum)

• - Focus on compound movements: squats, deadlifts, push/pull exercises
• - Progressive overload: gradually increase weight or resistance
• - Hire trainer initially for proper form, especially if new to strength training
• - Target all major muscle groups, emphasising legs and core for functional strength
• - Remember: maintaining muscle mass is critical for both physical and cognitive health

Cardiovascular exercise (3-5 times weekly)

• - Minimum 20-30 minutes at moderate intensity (can maintain conversation)
• - Options: walking, cycling, swimming, dancing
• - Elevate heart rate but maintain ability to speak in complete sentences
• - Can break into multiple shorter sessions if needed
• - Consider electric bikes for cycling: hills and distance that would discourage riding become manageable, making regular cycling sustainable. You still pedal and get exercise, but terrain doesn't become the excuse that leaves the bike gathering dust in the shed

Movement integration

• - Stand for phone calls and video meetings when possible
• - Walking meetings for one-on-one conversations
• - Under-desk treadmill or standing desk for extended work sessions
• - Take stairs instead of elevators when feasible
• - Park farther away, walk to nearby errands

Sleep: Cognitive Recovery and Neural Maintenance

Sleep duration and quality

• - Target 7-8 hours nightly (sleeping less than 5 hours linked to lower brain volume)
• - Maintain consistent sleep schedule, including weekends
• - Track sleep quality with wearable or sleep journal
• - Monitor deep sleep percentage (target 20-25% of total sleep time)

Sleep hygiene

• - Dark, cool bedroom (18–20 °C optimal)
• - Remove electronic devices or use blue light filters after 8pm
• - No caffeine after 2pm
• - Avoid alcohol within 3 hours of bedtime (disrupts deep sleep cycles)
• - Natural sunlight exposure within 1 hour of waking

Pre-sleep routine

• - Fixed 30-minute wind-down ritual
• - Reading (physical books, not screens)
• - Gentle stretching or breathing exercises
• - Avoid stimulating work or difficult conversations
• - Consider magnesium supplement 1 hour before bed

Stress Management: Protecting Cognitive Resources

Daily practices

• - Breathing exercises (4-7-8 technique: inhale 4, hold 7, exhale 8)
• - 10-15 minutes meditation or mindfulness practice
• - Brief nature exposure (even 5 minutes improves cognitive function)
• - Social connection (loneliness correlates with lower brain volume)

Stress monitoring

• - Track stress levels and triggers
• - Identify patterns affecting cognitive performance
• - Develop specific responses for high-stress situations
• - Recognise when stress chronically undermines work quality

Recovery practices

• - Weekly activities that restore rather than distract
• - Regular social engagement (social isolation predicts dementia onset)
• - Hobbies that engage different cognitive systems
• - Deliberate practice in areas unrelated to professional work

Environmental Design: Scaffolding for Health

Kitchen optimisation

• - Remove seed oils and high-carbohydrate temptations
• - Pre-prep protein sources for easy meal assembly
• - Keep healthy snacks visible and accessible

Workspace setup

• - Standing desk or adjustable height desk
• - Reminders for hourly movement breaks
• - Natural light access when possible
• - Separation of eating and working spaces

Information flows

• - Subscribe to researchers, publications or podcasts providing evidence-based health information
• - Curate sources demonstrating intellectual humility and willingness to update views
• - Avoid health influencers funded by supplement or pharmaceutical companies
• - Build network of health-conscious professionals for accountability and learning

Medical Partnership: Strategic Provider Relationships

Finding evidence-based practitioners

• - Observe during initial appointments whether providers demonstrate curiosity about your research or become defensive
• - In Australia, you may need to see a few doctors to find one that shows empathy and interest, but the healthcare system generally makes this more accessible than in some other countries like the US
• - Ask whether they welcome patient-presented research
• - Assess response to informed questions (curiosity versus defensiveness)
• - Seek practitioners with no pharmaceutical industry ties when possible

Self-advocacy practices

• - Collect objective data doctors cannot dispute (temperature tracking, symptom journals)
• - Bring specific requests rather than vague complaints
• - Request comprehensive lab panels, not just standard screening, again be prepared to discuss this with your doctor.
• - Document all appointments, recommendations, and results

When to seek specialists

• - Hormone therapy: Read Amy Alkon's book, or find practitioners specialising in bioidentical hormones for perimenopause/menopause
• - Metabolic health: consider endocrinologist or functional medicine practitioner
• - Chronic pain: explore specialists in medicinal cannabis where legal
• - Mental health: prioritise practitioners familiar with metabolic psychiatry approaches

Measurement and Iteration

• Weekly reviews (consider keeping a journal to record these)
• - Energy levels throughout day
• - Cognitive performance quality
• - Sleep quality and duration
• - Movement compliance
• - Nutritional adherence

Monthly assessments

• - Weight and waist circumference
• - Strength progression
• - Work output and quality
• - Subjective wellbeing measures
• - Review health knowledge base and update as needed

Quarterly evaluations

• - Full metabolic health markers, again, discuss the need with your doctor
• - Intervention effectiveness assessment
• - Identify areas requiring adjustment
• - Set next quarter's focus priorities
• - Schedule necessary medical appointments

Annual comprehensive review

• - Complete physical with comprehensive lab work
• - Cognitive performance formal assessment if concerns exist
• - Long-term trend analysis across all markers
• - Major intervention decisions (hormone therapy, significant dietary changes, etc.)
• - Update health knowledge base with year's learning

The 30-Day Cognitive Vitality Challenge

For professionals ready to take agency but unsure where to start, this 30-day protocol establishes foundation practices:

Week 1: Assessment and baseline

• - Complete metabolic health marker testing
• - Track current eating patterns without changes
• - Document energy and cognitive performance patterns
• - Establish movement baseline

Week 2: Movement integration

• - Implement regular movement breaks during work
• - Begin 20-minute daily walk or equivalent
• - Research strength training options
• - Test standing work positions

Week 3: Nutrition optimisation

• - Calculate protein targets
• - Plan meals achieving 30 grams protein at breakfast and lunch
• - Eliminate seed oils from kitchen
• - Reduce carbohydrates to 50 grams daily or less, prioritising vegetables and fruit over grains, bread, and starches

Week 4: Sleep and recovery

• - Establish consistent sleep schedule
• - Implement pre-sleep routine
• - Test sleep environment modifications
• - Add daily stress management practice

End of 30 days: Assessment and continuation

• - Retest key metrics
• - Evaluate subjective improvements
• - Identify highest-leverage interventions
• - Design sustainable long-term protocol

This challenge provides concentrated experience with evidence-based interventions, enabling you to assess which approaches produce meaningful results for your specific physiology and constraints.

Taking Strategic Agency Over Your Health: Frameworks from the Front Lines

The three stories converge on a single conclusion: you cannot outsource responsibility for health decisions to medical practitioners operating within systems designed to lag behind research. But taking agency requires systematic approaches, not random googling or social media advice.

Build Knowledge Systematically, Not Reactively

Amy Alkon emphasizes proactive health education rather than crisis response. Don't wait for symptoms to drive research. Understanding your metabolic health baseline before problems emerge enables prevention rather than damage control.

Key metrics include triglyceride/HDL ratio, C-reactive protein (inflammatory marker), and insulin levels. These provide early warning of metabolic dysfunction long before diagnosable disease. Most doctors won't order these tests proactively. You may need to request them specifically.

Dr. Best's approach involved deep study of the endocannabinoid system and medicinal cannabis research during COVID lockdowns. He didn't wait for patients to ask questions he couldn't answer. He built knowledge infrastructure that made him capable of providing evidence-based guidance when patients presented with chronic pain, sleep disruption, or anxiety.

The systematic approach means identifying areas where your health intersects with known medical knowledge gaps, then building expertise through focused study. What is suggested here is a deliberate investigation of primary research, not secondary news coverage or marketing materials disguised as science. Rhonda Patrick’s Found My Fitness Website offers a range of healthspan advice with a free newsletter or subscription for detailed health advice. 

Collect Objective Data Doctors Cannot Dispute

Subjective symptom reporting often gets dismissed. Objective data creates evidence bases that overcome defensive responses from practitioners uncomfortable admitting knowledge gaps.

Alkon used temperature tracking for hormone function assessment. This low-tech approach provided daily data showing patterns her doctors couldn't ignore. Blood work from independent labs gave her evidence of metabolic issues her doctors hadn't tested for. Symptom journals with specific metrics documented problems over time rather than relying on memory during appointments.

For professionals experiencing cognitive symptoms, tracking specific capabilities provides documentation. Memory tests, focus duration measurements, and work output metrics create objective baselines showing improvement or decline. This data enables you to evaluate whether interventions work rather than relying on subjective impressions.

The systematic collection of health data mirrors business intelligence approaches. You're building evidence bases that inform decisions rather than operating on intuition or accepting practitioner assertions without verification.

Develop Source Evaluation Frameworks

Not all health information sources provide equal quality. Developing evaluation frameworks prevents falling for pseudoscience while enabling identification of legitimate research overlooked by mainstream medicine.

Alkon uses ConsumerLab (US) for supplement quality assessment. This independent testing service evaluates whether products contain claimed ingredients in stated amounts. The supplement industry operates largely unregulated, making independent verification essential. My recommendation would be to be careful where the product is manufactured, and be prepared to pay a premium, rather than trying to save money.

For research evaluation, prioritise original papers over secondary coverage. News articles often distort findings through oversimplification or sensationalism. Press releases from universities or companies promote institutional interests rather than objective assessment.

Look for researchers with no pharmaceutical funding. Industry-sponsored studies systematically produce results favorable to sponsors. This bias appears even in peer-reviewed journals. Independent researchers face different incentives that make their findings more trustworthy, though never infallible.

Both Best and Alkon emphasize distinguishing rigorous evidence from marketing disguised as science. Medical journals publish industry-funded research that wouldn't meet standards for publication in other scientific fields. Learning to identify methodological flaws, statistical manipulation, and conflicts of interest requires developing analytical skills, but these capabilities transfer directly from professional evaluation frameworks you already possess.

Partner Strategically with Providers

Taking agency doesn't mean abandoning medical relationships. It means finding practitioners who demonstrate intellectual humility and curiosity rather than defensive expertise.

Alkon found a psychiatrist who practices evidence-based medicine, making him an exception in her provider network. Most medical professionals feel threatened by patients presenting research, interpreting it as a challenge to their authority rather than collaboration toward better outcomes.

Assess practitioners during initial appointments to determine if they're the right fit. Ask about their openness to patient-presented evidence. Observe their reactions to informed questions, do they show curiosity or defensiveness? In Australia, it's acceptable to see a few different doctors to find one who demonstrates both empathy and evidence-based practice, though you'll typically need to work with whoever you can access initially.

When practitioners dismiss legitimate concerns, ignore objective data you've collected, or become defensive about knowledge gaps, consider finding alternatives if your healthcare system allows it. Your health depends on relationships with medical professionals who recognise the limits of their training and welcome collaborative investigation.

Use Technology as Cognitive Extension, Not Replacement

AI tools excel at synthesising information across sources, identifying research papers, and generating initial frameworks. But humans with domain expertise must evaluate outputs, spot physiological impossibilities, and integrate findings with individual health contexts.

Dr. Best describes using AI research partners while evaluating outputs against 50 years of medical experience to separate valid information from hallucinations. The technology amplifies his capability to process information but cannot replace the judgment developed through decades of clinical practice.

For professionals without medical training, AI can help translate technical research into accessible language, identify relevant studies from vast literature, and suggest connections between disparate findings. But the accumulated wisdom from your professional domain enables you to spot logical flaws, assess source credibility, and integrate information into coherent frameworks that generic AI cannot produce.

Alkon can identify when AI conflates correlation with causation in health research. This capability comes from years evaluating scientific claims as an investigative writer. The technology extends her cognitive reach but doesn't replace the evaluative judgment that makes the extended reach valuable.

Building Your Health Intelligence System: Meta-Effectiveness for Physiological Wellbeing

The concept of meta-effectiveness from cognitive productivity research applies directly to health management. Meta-effectiveness means systematically developing your ability to develop capabilities. In health contexts, this means building the infrastructure that makes continued health learning and optimisation sustainable rather than sporadic.

Create Your Personal Health Knowledge Base

Professional wisdom comes from accumulated, organised experience. Your health requires similar infrastructure. Create systematic records of:

• Baseline measurements and tracking over time. Blood work results, body composition data, cognitive performance metrics, energy patterns, and sleep quality measurements provide the foundation for evaluating interventions.
• Research discoveries relevant to your specific conditions and risk factors with a focus on investigating areas where medical knowledge gaps intersect with your health concerns.

This knowledge base becomes part of your extended mind. It's not memorisation, but an externalisation of health intelligence that makes future decisions better informed.

Develop Productive Practice with Health Concepts

Productive practice means deliberately engaging with challenging material to build genuine understanding rather than surface familiarity. The depth you need depends on your situation:

For routine health maintenance with a trusted, knowledgeable doctor, basic health literacy is sufficient— understanding your lab results, knowing which symptoms warrant attention, and following evidence-based guidance from your practitioner.

For chronic conditions, unexplained symptoms, or when standard medical advice isn't working, deeper investigation becomes worthwhile:

• Reading primary research papers when you encounter conflicting advice or your doctor can't explain your symptoms. The full methodology sections reveal whether studies actually support their conclusions, though this level of detail is only necessary when making important health decisions.
• Learning fundamental physiology relevant to your specific conditions. If you're dealing with hormonal issues, understanding how hormones work provides context. If managing metabolic problems, learning what inflammatory markers indicate helps you interpret your lab results and have informed conversations with practitioners.
• Developing judgment about conflicting research when it directly affects your treatment decisions. This capability builds over time and transfers across health domains, but it's not required for maintaining basic health with good medical support.

This deliberate practice feels effortful initially, but becomes easier with systematic engagement when you actually need it. The accumulated understanding makes future learning more efficient while building confidence in your health decisions during situations that require your active involvement.

Build Environmental Scaffolding for Health Maintenance

Environmental scaffolding means structuring your surroundings to support desired behaviors automatically, without requiring constant willpower or decision-making. Just as scaffolding supports a building during construction, your environment can support healthy habits by making them the path of least resistance.

Make default choices healthy choices. If seed oils don't exist in your kitchen, you won't cook with them. If walking routes are more convenient than driving, you'll move more. If your electric bike makes hills manageable instead of discouraging, you'll ride regularly instead of leaving it in the shed. Environmental design shapes behavior more reliably than conscious decision-making - remove the barriers and temptations rather than relying on discipline to resist them.

Create information flows that keep health knowledge current without overwhelming effort. Subscribing to specific researchers, following particular publications, or joining communities focused on evidence-based health creates passive information gathering that supplements active research.

Establish routines that maintain physiological basics. Sleep hygiene, regular movement, stress management, and nutrition patterns become automatic through environmental cues and consistent practice rather than daily decisions.

Design measurement systems that provide feedback without creating anxiety. Regular tracking should inform decisions, not generate stress that undermines the health you're trying to optimize.

Your Health Intelligence as Strategic Asset

Taking agency over your health after 60 isn't about becoming a fitness enthusiast or nutrition expert. It's more about applying the evaluative capabilities you've spent decades developing to maintain the cognitive vitality and physical wellbeing that enables continued professional contribution and better quality of life as you age.

The evidence is clear: passive reliance on institutional medicine produces inadequate outcomes when medical education omits entire biological systems, menopause management lags decades behind research, and nutritional guidelines reflect industry capture rather than science. 

Dr. Best discovered at 74 that the endocannabinoid system had been omitted from his medical education. Amy Alkon spent eight years researching menopause because her doctors couldn't provide evidence-based care. 

Nina Teicholz uncovered how industry influence created dietary guidelines contributing to epidemic obesity. Krisna Hanks reversed her vegetarian approach after recognising inadequate protein undermined her joint health despite twenty years of success.

Your accumulated professional wisdom—the pattern recognition, evaluative frameworks, and sophisticated judgment that make you valuable—transfers directly to health advocacy. 

The same capabilities that enable you to identify flawed logic, assess conflicting claims, and navigate complex systems prepare you for health optimisation when institutional medicine falls short.

The oxygen mask principle applies: secure your own cognitive vitality before leveraging accumulated wisdom professionally. Health isn't preparation for future contribution.

It's the foundation making contribution possible now and enabling its continuation into later life.

As Hanks notes:

"I'm 65 years old and I am still very disciplined about how my day goes, how my weeks go. I still get up at quarter past five in the morning and I'm not working out at that time, but I am doing some things."

Take agency. Build systems. Leverage wisdom. Your health is not separate from your work. It's the strategic asset that makes everything else possible.

Resources

Wisepreneurs Podcast Episodes:

Rawlins, N. (Host) Michael Best on Career Reinvention, Cannabis Research, and Learning at 80. 

Rawlins, N. (Host) Amy Alkon Reclaiming Your Vitality in Menopause. 

Rawlins, N. (Host) Krisna Hanks, from dance to dynamic health coach

Rawlins, N. (Host)  Why Sitting Too Long Negates Good Health Habits with Krisna Hanks

Books and Major Publications

Alkon, A. Going Menopostal,
What You (and Your Doctor) Need to Know About the Real Science of Menopause and Perimenopause

Best, M. (In preparation) The Endocannabinoid System: A Doctor's Journey to Understanding Cannabis Medicine.

Bikman, B. (2020) Why We Get Sick: The Hidden Epidemic at the Root of Most Chronic Disease—and How to Fight It. 

Ede, G. (2024) Change Your Diet, Change Your Mind: A Powerful Plan to Improve Mood, Overcome Anxiety, and Protect Memory for a Lifetime of Optimal Mental Health. 

Ovadia Heart Health. (2024) White Paper: The Detrimental Effects of Sedentary Behavior in the Workplace. 

Ovadia, P. (2021) Stay Off My Operating Table: A Heart Surgeon's Metabolic Health Guide to Lose Weight, Prevent Disease, and Feel Your Best Every Day.

Palmer, C. (2022) Brain Energy: A Revolutionary Breakthrough in Understanding Mental Health—and Improving Treatment for Anxiety, Depression, OCD, PTSD, and More. BenBella Books.

Teicholz, N. (2014) The Big Fat Surprise: Why Butter, Meat and Cheese Belong in a Healthy Diet. Simon & Schuster.

Teicholz, N., & Weinstein, B. (2024, November). Seeds of Doubt: The Suppression of Seed Oil Science On The DarkHorse Podcast.