Be the Sun, Not the Salt

#54 Longevity & Mindset: Dr. Michael Roizen's Tips on Posse, Purpose, & Play

• Connie Fontaine and Harry Cohen, PhD • Episode 54

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Ever wondered if you could actually turn back the biological clock? In this game-changing episode of Be the Sun, Not the Salt, Dr. Harry Cohen and Connie Fontaine welcome Dr. Michael Roizen—pioneering longevity expert, Chief Wellness Officer Emeritus at the World-Renowned Cleveland Clinic, author of 9 best selling books and 195+ Peer-Reviewed Papers, and Holder of 14 Patents—for a conversation that will completely shift how you think about aging, health, and the choices you make every single day.

Here’s what you’ll discover:

  • The jaw-dropping truth about mindset: You have power over 93% of your genes through daily choices
  • Loads of simple tips and helpful facts, like getting a flu shot 10 years in a row can reduce dementia risk by 40%
  • The “magic” of 10,000 steps a day and why 12,000 isn’t better than 10,000
  • Why you need to find your personal health motivator (hint: it might be grandkids, sex, or not being a burden)
  • The three P’s that matter most: Posse, Purpose, and Play
  • How breathing with your diaphragm is working out your second-most important muscle
  • A simple reframe that turns road rage into compassion
  • The mission-critical need to manage stresses, both the major ones and the little nagging ones

Dr. Roizen breaks down complex longevity science into bite-sized, actionable wisdom and dives into the psychology of behavior change, exploring why financial incentives work and how empathy might be the most crucial human skill of all.

Ready to take control of your health destiny? This episode is your roadmap to living younger, longer, and with more energy than you thought possible. And it all starts with mindset.

(Full episode—packed with science, stories, and practical wisdom for anyone ready to age backwards!)

About Dr. Michael Roizen:

Dr. Michael Roizen is a trailblazing physician, bestselling author, and one of the world’s leading voices on healthy aging and wellness. As the longtime Chief Wellness Officer at the Cleveland Clinic, Dr. Roizen has devoted his career to making the science of longevity accessible and actionable for everyone. He’s perhaps best known for creating the RealAge concept, which empowers people to take charge of their health by understanding how daily choices affect their biological age. Dr. Roizen’s groundbreaking work includes coauthoring five #1 New York Times bestsellers, publishing nearly 200 peer-reviewed scientific papers, and holding 14 U.S. patents. He’s also served as a trusted advisor to the FDA, co-founded innovative health ventures, and appeared on national platforms from *The Oprah Winfrey Show* to *Good Morning America*. Whether he’s mentoring future doctors, developing new wellness programs, or breaking down complex science into practical tips, Dr. Roizen’s passion is helping people live younger, longer, and with more joy.

Helpful links:

To explore the book, or for more episodes, information, tips and tools to live a more heliotropic life, visit us at bethesunnotthesalt.com and find us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and TikTok.

Mike Roizen: [00:00:00] two things.

One is we all learn from people asking questions and students. Um, and the second, thing is, empathy is probably the most important human characteristic, from a standpoint of, of living life. and it's the way you reframe situations, you know. Someone cuts me off while driving. It's a, it's a woman. I think she's going to the hospital for a baby, and it's a guy, I think he's going to take care of his wife. Um, so, um, and it does get, it does get some interesting, uh, comments from, from me and my mind, which obviously oc when you see it's a very old guy and you say, well, why is he having another kid?

Connie Fontaine: Grandpa?!

Harry Cohen: The voice you just heard was Dr. Michael Roizen, and oh my God, I got so much out of that and I can't wait to literally re-listen to it 'cause we just recorded it and read some of the show notes that we're gonna post. [00:01:00] Connie, just tell our listeners who he is and, uh.

Connie Fontaine: Yeah. And before you say that I, I wanted to take notes. I was actually really struggling 'cause I wanted to take notes while I was doing. The good thing is we can go back and re-listen to it right. With our listeners, but before we launch into the episode, I'd love to just share a little bit with our listeners of who he is because Dr. Roizen is a pioneer in the field of, of longevity and wellness. a space that could be really crowded and very complex, but he simplified it for us. It's not based on theories. The work he talks about is based on science. He has, uh, he's the bestselling author of Real Age, the Phenomenon. It's a book that you can reference but will have a lot of the, the great materials also in the show notes.

He's empowered millions of us, including now all of you, uh, to extend your health span, live with purpose. And again, it gives lots of great little nuggets for us to follow along with. So we hope you enjoyed as much as we did.

Harry Cohen: let's take a listen.

 Mike, thank you so much for agreeing to do this podcast with us, [00:02:00] for going through all of the technical challenges and difficulties that we've encountered to get to us to be doing this. We are very grateful and very honored that you agree to do this podcast. 

Mike Roizen: I am the one who's honored. Thank you.

Harry Cohen: and your, your spirit is exactly the spirit. That I believe, um, I've tried to get in all of our work that is health is fun and, um, the, uh, the cartoons in the books, et cetera, are all in an attempt to take a subject that otherwise could be dry and, um, not followed and make it enjoyable and pursued.

Connie Fontaine: I think that's great because nowadays what we find is that the longevity discussion is so prolific that there's so much information. It's almost like an overload. And so people are looking for simple messages and I think that that's a great approach to it. Connect with people. I. 

Mike Roizen: Well, really, it really is quite [00:03:00] simple. You know, you get to control your genes, the switches on your genes. We now know what we call epigenes. You control them. So when you do healthy choices. You turn on genes that give you joy and health, and you turn off genes that create inflammation and other, um, adverse quantities.

So the message you have, which is be the sun, not the salt, is perfect for what we think, uh, should be the message of health.

Harry Cohen: Oh, I so love this. We have prepared so many questions and thoughts and conversation starters and, and I love that you just summarized it all in that opening. So let's just go to town and try and help as many people as we can by keeping it simple, making it easy, making it not hard, making it more fun. And more people will go, I can do that. Connie. 

Connie Fontaine: [00:04:00] Right. Yeah. And I, and we didn't get a chance to meet earlier. I'm Connie Fontaine. So Harry and I connected several years ago on about this book and this idea to put it out in the world. But we've known each other for 30 years. So, um, we love to have these kinds of conversations. We've been working together to spread this.

It's why I'm the chief super spreader, and we look forward to spreading your message. And it's a little selfish because quite frankly, it's 60 now. I was really excited to see that you were saying things like, we can turn the biological clock backwards a little bit. 

Mike Roizen: Well, you can slow the rate of aging. So at 75 a woman is physiologically 44, 31 years. If you did all 150 things in, um, that we, that have at least uh, two studies in humans showing man about 29 years. But the real breakthrough is that if you stay young. You may be able to get younger. What we mean by that is, although you can slow aging so [00:05:00] that you can be physiologically when you're 90, you may be able to turn the clock back to 40.

That's the, the message of aging research that is now present 

So, um, that's the amazing thing. So, um, you're not only able to slow it, which we knew in, uh, by current choices, but there is the chance that by some specific things in 14 different areas, you may be able to get much younger.

Connie Fontaine: Well, and we'll work to put all that de the details of those 14 in the show notes because I know we won't have time to take on the. Amount of research you have, but we do wanna get these ideas in front of everyone. And the most important thing you just said is it's about choice. It's that role of a mindset shift.

It's the role of personal agency choosing to be your own source of wellness. And that is, that is what I think. Without that, you're not gonna be able to slow the aging process. [00:06:00] So you wanna talk a little bit about that? 

Mike Roizen: Um. Well, you've, you've opened up a big field, which is behavior change. So if you look at it, why is medicine so expensive in America? Well, if you said how many people have what we call. Six plus two Normals normal blood pressure, normal fasting blood sugar, normal LDL cholesterol, normal waste for a height, no coating tobacco end products in the urine and doing stress management and then see a primary care physician and screenings up to date.

Well, in America at age 47, it's only 6%. But at age 65, when we're paying for Medicare, we're sharing that burden. It is 0.06%. Less than 1% of us have that. And at the Cleveland Clinic, we pay people to get there. Um, they get the [00:07:00] maximum allowable by loss. $1,680. Now, if you get to those six normals plus two.

Follow the full set and, uh, now 45, 70 5% voluntarily participate, 45% get there. It saves us about 190 million a year over our trend line and over, um, what our competitors get and what the national average is. Um, and uh, that has saved us a little over 1.5 billion since we started the program. It's roughly half of our, um, if you will.

Uh, margin. Now the message on that is why does it take an incentive of money to do it? Why don't people do it naturally? That is, why don't we get the behavior change without giving them a large incentive? And I think it's because although people know they're the choices, [00:08:00] our reptilian brains. Yeah, I'd rather have, uh.

If you will, the peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Um, or I'd rather have, um, if you will, red meat, um, and, uh, fried, uh, whatever it is in the, the season of,

Connie Fontaine: Right. 

Mike Roizen: uh, the, if you will, uh, the summer festivals. Then, um, do something. Other than that, such as having avocado or having, um, salmon. And the reason is we don't market.

You are doing this. That's why I agreed to do this. You are really marketing that the choices can be both fun and healthy and are, if you will be the sun, not the salt is exactly that. It is making choices that are fun and that. We'll also give you, um, what we [00:09:00] call, uh, slowing the aging process and maybe set you up for longevity.

Connie Fontaine: That's right 

Harry Cohen: So lemme ask, let me ask you a question, Mike. Of all the lectures that you do and this information, wisdom science that you, that you impart to people, what have you found flips the switch more easily for people to then do the behavior change on a more regular basis? Easily and, and consistently. And therefore the listeners of this podcast will go, oh, I could do that.

That's not a bridge too far. So give some of the easy ones that you've said and it makes people go, I'm on it. I'm gonna do it. And then when you see 'em later, you're proud. They're proud, and everybody wins. 

Mike Roizen: Well, the easiest thing to do is to first understand you have control over 93% of your [00:10:00] genes, so whether you suffer and whether you have arthritis. Whether you have a problem in pain someplace, it is largely your choices that have set that up and you can stop setting it up. So if one is understand you have control.

And then two, find the person's motivator. I. So I get to, I am privileged to work in executive health at the Cleveland Clinic 90 minute visit. I spend 90 minutes trying to find what is their motivator? Is it their grandkids? Is it sex, is it whatever the food, they enjoy food. It is trying to find their motivator, and then you play on their motivator and find things they want to do.

So I can give you a lit there. There literally are now 108. When we wrote the first real age book, there were 151 with, uh, at least two studies in humans that changed the rate of aging. There now are 185. So is it, [00:11:00] um, avoiding secondhand smoke and, and choosing, um, if you wanna use marijuana, is it choosing gummies versus smoking?

It makes a huge difference. Is it walking? People, you know, 10,000 steps a day really is a magic number. Yes, 6,000 is better than four, and four is better than two, but 12 isn't better than 10. So you really want to get to 10,000 steps a day. Is it a progressive walking program that gets them there? Is it just getting a flu shot?

Getting a flu shot 10 years in a row decreases your risk of dementia by over 40% and decreases your risk of heart attack and stroke by over 25%. 'cause it decreases inflammation. Uh, and the 10 years in a row are the accumulation of. Fighting it so you don't get inflammation, even if you a great deal of inflammation.

Is it taking a baby aspirin with half a glass of [00:12:00] warm water before and afterward? Is it choosing a collagen preparation that's inexpensive, such as gelatin? I think gelatin is even made in Buffalo, New York. Uh, is it, um, in, I mean there are, there are whole. You know, I, I can't even begin. So

Harry Cohen: These are great. 

Mike Roizen: each person has something that they find easy. Is it double breathing. So put your finger on your belly button, Harry.  Take a breath in. Hold it. Take a big breath On top of that, did your finger go in or out.

Harry Cohen: Went out. 

Mike Roizen: That's the way it should do. You're breathing with your diaphragm. Most people breathe with their chest and when they breathe in their diaphragm, so just practicing that 10 times a day strengthens the second most important muscle in your body.

Harry Cohen: these. I love these. Give us some mindset 

Mike Roizen: diaphragm. Your diaphragm is the second most important muscle in your [00:13:00] body. So you do exercise like weightlifting and cardio to strengthen your brain and your first most important muscle, your, uh, heart. Um, the second most important is your, uh, diaphragm. And the third is what you're using. What we're using now are tongues.

Connie Fontaine: I, I've learned so much already, and I can just picture all of our listeners driving in their car with their finger in their belly button right now. 

Mike Roizen: Well long as they keep the other hand on the, on the, on the 

Connie Fontaine: That's right. 

Harry Cohen: and notice you're drinking water, hydrate, hydrate. I want more mindset shifts that, that, you know, to be true. That would help people go, I could, I could shift that when someone cuts them off on the highway. To Connie's point, give, give us a, well, here's one that we know to be true. Easy for people to shift the way they either think or speak or do.

Um, that would be, oh my, That's easy to do. 

Mike Roizen: You probably can do much better than I, I [00:14:00] always think of reframing the situation so when someone cuts me off, I think, well, they're having a baby. They gotta get to the hospital fast, or something like that. Um.

Harry Cohen: know, lemme interrupt you for a second. When you say that reframing, which is perfect, and that's assume positive intent, is the science behind that really true that it helps you? I believe that it does. I certainly feel better. But give us the science said, yep. It is true for your. Uh, wellbeing and longevity.

That reframing that mini stress management moment is really good for us. 

Mike Roizen: Um, you know, the, the. Um, greatest ager of all is unmanaged stress, Harry. Um, and unfortunately the data on how to manage it isn't specific in any one way other than we know that if you call [00:15:00] six friends, if you're vulnerable to six people a month. Way back in the, uh, Whitehall, studies in Great Britain, confirmed in the Alameda County studies, um, in, uh, California in the fifties, and now confirmed multiple times, um, that, uh, talking to people is the best stress management.

So we have a phrase, posse, purpose in play. Those are the three most important things. So I think from an easy standpoint, it's calling someone and talking it out. That's the posse. And so making six phone calls on, uh, that is on a Sunday to people who've been important to you. So in fact, uh, I used to, uh.

Uh, call one of my old teachers from Nichols, um, on a Sunday and renewed, uh, friendship, if you will. So in fact, it is Posse purpose in play. We don't have data [00:16:00] on any of, believe it or not. On longevity, we don't have good data on any of the other stress management techniques versus those, um, or versus other ones.

But any of them that help you manage it should be major. And you know, there are several causes 

 So the, the, the simple, um, conclusion if you will, is that, um. Anything you do to manage stress is helpful and there really are, if you will, the major life event stresses, you know, divorce, having to move, take a new job, um, take a mortgage, et cetera. All of those major. Things. Um, and eight of them are financial, if you will, of the 14.

But they're also what we call nagging unfinished tasks that gnaw at you. So I, I had, uh, you know, [00:17:00] one of those that, that I constantly remember is there was a, we moved into a new house when we moved to Cleveland and there was a, um. Tear in the screen door going in the back screen door. And I would go through that door every day.

My wife said, uh, you know, should I get someone to fix it? And I said, no, no, I can fix that. Right? Um, and every day I went through it, it gna at me. Finally she got someone to fix it and I stopped having that stress. But, um, it is, the nagging, unfinished tasks are a major, uh, burden as well. So do the nagging unfinished tasks or get someone else in my case to do 'em.

Um, talk to people about the major life stresses, a death in the family, financial problems, et cetera. And, um, you'll be much, much better off. And then as you get up in the morning, just like I do, [00:18:00] we have a purpose and at least my purpose is, uh, to help, uh, many understand how much control they have and to help them and encourage them and nudge them to stay younger.

Harry Cohen: when I heard it from my sister Warren's wife. Purpose posse and Play. I have been using it. Think about it. And it is a helpful mnemonic that summarizes so many things that we can do. I schedule play dates. I did one today, the with my adult friends, and I'm 70. I know how important play is and exercise and purpose is, to your point.

Why are we doing this podcast? it. is to do what we are doing together. And Posse is, you know. Really important to surround yourself with good company and be good company. And Mike, you are that for us. We, we are really grateful for you taking this time and thank you for that my 

Connie Fontaine: Let me, [00:19:00] I wanna ask Mike and Harry, if you guys could both riff off the idea around purpose, because I think a lot of people struggle with that. And I know as people age especially, I've known a lot of people how I know how critical it is and yet how hard it is for some. How does purpose give people that energy and direction, and why does that matter? 

Mike Roizen: Um, I don't. Think we know other than a focus on the brain and a reason for living. You know, I call it the motivator, if you will, and that's why 

I spend 80 or 90 of those initial meeting minutes, and then I have the nurses and the transporters and everyone else work to find the purpose of the patient. That is what motivates them. And it can be money, it can be a relative, it can be their grandchildren. Grandchildren and sex are the two leading. Once in the, in the patient, in the group that's over 60 that I get to [00:20:00] see in both executive health and wellness. Um, as well as not the, the third one is a very interesting one. It's not being a burden to their kids, but whatever their purpose is, it gives them a reason to make choices that are healthful for them.

Um, and that key again, is making sure they understand how much their choices matter. 

Connie Fontaine: Mm-hmm. 

Mike Roizen: Um, and it is, you know it when we exercise, when when you lift weights, for example, Harry, you injure a muscle and the muscle turns on a gene. It's not a, a weird process. It turns on a gene that repairs that muscle stronger.

If you tear it in. Don't turn on that gene. All you do is get connective tissue and the muscle ends up weaker, but whoever engineered the human body, engineered it so that muscle would get stronger. But in [00:21:00] addition, when you use a muscle, it turns on a gene in the muscle that produces a small protein arisen goes to your brain, it in turn turns on brain derived neurotrophic growth factor, and that makes your memory.

Now we don't know why that is. But maybe it was so you had muscle memory and if someone atta, if something attacked you, you automatically reacted in a athletic enough way to get out. Your muscles responded, but. When you jump on a hard surface, you injure your bone. Well, the great news is you actually turn on a gene in that bone that repairs it.

When you use, when you do speed of processing games with your brain, you apparently injure the neurons, but you turn on a gene in the brain that repairs those neurons, so, and makes all of those, the connections in the brain that. Bone stronger, the muscle stronger. So one is to [00:22:00] educate people so they understand it.

Two is to understand there's a compounding. Um, do you know the rule of 72? 

Harry Cohen: Uh, uh, uh, um, yes, I, I, if you. Um, yeah, well just say it 'cause it would take me a long time to explain it, but I think it's, it, it doubles

Mike Roizen: If you desi divide the interest rate into 72, it's the number of years it takes to double your money. So if the interest rate is 9%. And nine in 72 goes eight times In eight years, you'll double your money. Well, guess what? There's an interest rate for staying younger, so keeping your LDL cholesterol going from one 40 to 70 is an interest rate of about 4% in blood pressure.

It's about a 9% interest rate from a blood pressure of 1 35 over 90 to one 20 over 75. So in eight years, you double the benefit. So 9% [00:23:00] reduction in risk at age 20. At age 30, it's an 18% reduction risk. Age 38, it's a, uh, 36% or whatever that is to 36% reduction in risk, et cetera. So you, the, the key point is making sure people understand a little of that and then finding their motivator.

Is it, um, their grandkids? Is it a specific grandkids? Is it having enough money to leave to a specific child or spec a wife or charity or husband? So it is, it is the specifics of trying to find that motivator that is the passion, uh, for, um, waking up in the morning and deciding what are you going to do that day?

Connie Fontaine: Making the right choice. Yeah. 

Harry Cohen: before I forget this, so it, it's a slightly different direction, but it really stimulated [00:24:00] something in my own mind. I struggle or contemplate how we can find more motivators for being more kind, uplifting, and. Heliotropic for people. And what you just turned me onto is my job is to not just do that for myself, which is to have healthier relationships and more effective relationships personally and professionally by not losing my temper, by taking the high road, by biting my tongue, by being more kind, by reframing the guy who cut me off by saying, please, and thank you.

All these things that we do, but I can do more and I wanna help more people. And what you've given me is Harry. Find their purpose and they will lean into the reasons why they could hold the door or hold their tongue.

Mike Roizen: Yeah. Now you, you, the, the interesting thing is at the clinic. What we found the purpose of a lot of people work is to have enough money for some [00:25:00] pur other purpose, but that having enough money, whether it's working for it, or whether it's working on your health, getting your health normal so that you can save more money or have devoted to spending it on another purpose, is a very strong motivator.

So, um, the, the, the interesting thing is you'd like people to have their own motivator, but money is a motivator so they can do something else that they have a purpose in life for. Um, and that, and believe it or not, it does capture a huge number of people. So, um, trying to work with the, uh, the government in trying to build a large incentive into Medicare.

The exchanges in Medicaid so that more people will do that and we will lower our, uh, medical costs and our deficit considerably. [00:26:00] 

Connie Fontaine: It's gr just, I mean, I didn't even know some of that thinking was going on. You know, as, as part of that, you talk a little bit about, um, relationships and having community and fr you call it posse, which was great. Do, do relationships and avoiding negative relationships. Do you think that that has a very strong connection to longevity?

Mike Roizen: Um, well the, the data that is best on that is marriages, I suppose. Um, men benefit from a marriage at any age, women after age 50. Apparently women, um, don't benefit as much as men do from marriages, but, um, a bad marriage ages you. A good marriage makes you younger. And that's how people characterize their marriages and then what happened to them in their length of life and when they develop disability.

So we know that, that [00:27:00] having a marriage that you like that is positive for you is a substantial, it's only a three year benefit, but it's a substantial benefit. Um, as opposed to a marriage that is unhealthy, it's about a three year deficit in life expectancy. So, um, there is a, uh, that's the one of, of positive versus negative relationships, but relationships are, you know, that, that seems like a small change, six years from the best of the worst.

But, um, the, uh. If you look at relationships, they form a huge amount of stress in addition. So this is the amount in addition to the stress they cause. So, and stress is, as I've said, so a divorce is, um, about an eight years stress, if you [00:28:00] will, aging you. So there are, there are. In addition, other components of that.

It's like saying why is managing blood pressure so good? Um, just the number. Well, it's because the number has some spinoffs that we measure.

Connie Fontaine: Yeah, that makes sense. So we, we dug in pretty well on Posse and purpose. Um, I'd love to talk a little bit about play as well. 

Mike Roizen: Uh, um. We don't know why that is so important other than it focuses you on doing something other than worrying about stress. So all of these have a way of changing your mindset from focusing on stress. To focusing on something else or solving the problem, if you will, in a problem solving way with Posse.

So I think it is the fo play, uh, play can't be, I'm [00:29:00] thinking about stress, um, while I'm playing. Play has to be a total devotion to that game, that play event. Um, whether it is running and you're trying to set a and you're focusing on your stride or your technique, or whether it is, uh, if you will, pickleball where you're trying to win a point and you don't have time to think about something else, you're focusing on the acts you, you have 

Connie Fontaine: So the getting better at something, working towards something that's 

Mike Roizen: it, it's not necessarily getting better. I. It is just, your mind is totally focused on that, so it can't, so it's, um, you know, I, one of the meditations I heard, and I'm trying to remember who said it, but I love it. Um, and I'm not giving proper attribution 'cause I can't remember who said it, but it said it is: in America, if you [00:30:00] unplug something, give it a few minutes and then plug it back in. Everything goes a little better. That's what play is. You're unplugging from the stress you're, and then after you finish playing, you're plugging it back in. But things are better because you unplugged for a few minutes. I. 

Harry Cohen: So these, these little nuggets, these little beauties are forever sticky for me, Mike, I, I mean, I cannot unthink about purpose Posse and play and unplugging for a bit will make it better. It's just great metaphor stories, anecdote example for me, and I think our listeners, and I'll use it forever to help more people find people's purpose, whatever it might be.

Yours or anybody else and do whatever it is to, to fuel that. I love this business of do what works for you, Mike, in your journey. You're, I think you're 80 ish, uh, 'cause I know [00:31:00] Warren is 80 ish, my brother-in-law. What have you learned to do with all of your knowledge and wisdom and practices that you didn't used to do, but you do now, now that you know it's power? 

Mike Roizen: If there are 184 things to do, I do 182 or three of them. I don't get enough sleep and I have too much stress. So, but I do everything else. So if you will, um, you know, the, the data are fairly rear re real to me 'cause I've done the work to understand the data and read the articles. Um. And know how that they're replicated.

So when you say, um, what have I, you know, the first thing I did was understand that we get, it's more than physiology. You know, we used to think, as I I've already told you, when you exercise, it improves, it changes the gene. [00:32:00] We used to think that was just physiology. You increase blood flow. Well, you do do that, but the major benefit.

Is that you turn on genes that make, um, your hippocampus, your memory center bigger. Um, so what I'm saying is that that, um, the, the thing that got me to change was more understanding. And then as, as I've told you, I read, uh, you know, like I know what the science is and I know that, for example, resveritrol looks like it works in every animal study and has failed every human trial.

No reason to do that while it biopsy and pay for it. On the other hand, there are things that work, Such as collagen 

Connie Fontaine: Well, I think, I think it was actually leading into the next piece of this, which is, you know, Harry was talking about what Mike got out, those changes, he is made and all that. And I think one of the things that I've really gotten out of today already [00:33:00] is a, you're not, you're not genetically programmed to have a certain.

You know, age, longevity. Um, so you're, I'm empowered to make these choices, and there's just more choices than I realize. So I think I, I'm feeling like I'm a listener now, kind of just engaged, going, wow, where can I, I'm gonna learn more about this. I'm gonna get into the show notes and find all of these resources and try and do more of the 180 th

Harry Cohen: Uh, okay, so hold on a second.

So. Mike here. My question, if you do 182 outta 184, I get intimidated by 184. I think. Oh my God, there's so many. There are just too many to do. Which one should I do? There are too many, eh, and it's overwhelming. I wanna make for our listeners and for myself, dude, don't, don't worry about 184 do blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

Mike Roizen: Um, just do three things you like doing. So we don't allow anyone to change more than three behaviors at once. So because it becomes, [00:34:00] as you said, overwhelming. So if you like salmon, go and say, I'm going to have salmon this week, and I'm substituting it for, um, X, Y, z, that isn't healthy. I'm not, or I'm not going to have, uh, I'm going to find.

You know, there, there are five food felons you wanna avoid. Uh, simple sugars, added syrup, simple carbs or strip carbs, uh, red and processed red meat and fried food. So I'm going to avoid those for the rest of my life. Or, um, I'm going to pick just four days a year. That's what my wife and I do, where we do that.

You know, on our anniversary all we have is champagne and souffle. Kind of the worst kind of combination, but it is, we only do it one day a year. Right? So the, the, the point is, and I, you know, I can show you my steps. I get 10,000 steps a day. I do resistance training, uh, twice a week. I'm heck or high water.

This is Wednesday, I'm [00:35:00] gonna be flying at night, so I can't do my usual evening Wednesday. I normally do. Saturday, Sunday and Wednesday morning, and Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday morning, Wednesday evening. So I did it this morning. So you just make adjustments to make sure, uh, you do therefore physical activities that you can do that change your rate of aging.

And you, I do the minimum I can do for the maximum benefit. Um, and so. And so, and you know, you, like blueberries, have blueberries every day or three days a week. Um, so olive oil instead of, um, fried foods, you know, cooking olive oil. So the, the point is it's not.

None of it is rocket science. Just pick three things to do. Ingrain those, each habit takes about, you know, they say 61 days to ingrain. I, I think it takes about 180 days for me to ingrain. And [00:36:00] then you go onto the next thing after you've ingrained it. So it's not, uh, you know, and, and we used to give, and we still do a list of priorities, which things to do in what order.

Um, but people don't do that. They do the ones they want, and that's the way it should be. So, um, even if stress management and calling six friends on a Sunday is the most important thing you can do, you don't wanna do it, don't do it. Do something else. So find things you like to do, um, that are beneficial.

You know, we, we say this, you know, food is like a marriage. Um, you wouldn't marry someone who's trying to kill you every day. You shouldn't eat food that's trying to kill you every day. So give up those five food felons, but everything else is great. Right? You like avocados? I love guacamole. Yeah, I have it.

Um, do I, do I visit the anchor bar anymore? No. 'cause the anchor bar has, has fried, uh, wings and [00:37:00] much as I love fried wings, I know that I can have other food. Um, that is, that I love just as much. That actually makes me younger rather than older. So.

Connie Fontaine: What a common sense approach. I mean, you make it. I think that's the thing is people get too overwhelmed. They try and be too perfect and then they walk away from it all. So I think you've reminded us first, we're empowered, um, to make

Mike Roizen: and, and let me give you another word on that. Make a U-turn. Okay, so YOU - a you-turn that is if something happens that is, uh, messing up with what you do, don't stop. Just make a u-turn on that one thing. Everyone's gonna make mistakes, and as I said, I, I have four days that are ridiculous, right? A year, but I love them.

Harry Cohen: So we have a, one of our little phrases is do the next right thing, which is for now, I'm gonna code, I'm gonna copy you and say [00:38:00] make a YOU-turn. Same you make.

Mike Roizen: it a YOU turn and point to you at this time, and then you're, you're hitting our trademark.

Connie Fontaine: Yep.

Connie Fontaine: We like doing well and you, this isn't just about living longer. You what you started from the very beginning of this recording, talking about being brighter, living with intention and energy, and you gave us that sense right away that this just isn't about just food, just exercise. This is a mindset too.

Mike Roizen: it, it's a mindset in that you get to control your genes. And your risk of disability and death doesn't mean something won't, you know, a car can't come out of the woodwork and hit you or something else, but to the large degree, you're maximizing, um, your choices and your benefits in life and. Yeah, I have.

I have this purpose. But if your purpose is [00:39:00] playing with your grandkids, this helps you get on the floor and play with your grandkids. If your purpose is more sex, it helps with more sex, or if your purpose is, you know, anything you want, getting healthy helps you make those choices and do it with vigor.

Harry Cohen: So I, I asked because you're such an icon in this field, I asked Warren and Patty, I. Would Mike be a good person to have on our podcast? Is he heliotropic? And they both resoundingly said, absolutely. Meaning you're generous and wise and not full of yourself with do you know who I am? And I want you to know that, that, that those qualities come through.

We want more people to be that way 'cause they and everyone around them will be better, especially as a physician or as a person in, in positions of leadership. So hats off to you. Do you work at being a lovely human [00:40:00] being or are you just that way?

Mike Roizen: don't have to work at it. I mean, basically it, it's, it's learning empathy. You know, the Cleveland Clinic has a great video. It's the most watched video of any hospital video on the internet. It's a YouTube video on empathy. Um, so it started, um, with, um, Toby Cosgrove, our CEO, and the person who, who helped.

Um, a lot of our programs in wellness and help us design all of this and, and he, and. Broke all the barriers so we could do it. But he, um, was asked by a MBA student, he was giving a talk. Harvard, um, the Harvard Business School uses Cleveland Clinic as an example of well-managed, uh, large corporation, a hospital.

And, uh, Toby was giving a talk there. And, uh, a, one of the graduate students raised her hand in the question, answer period, and said. [00:41:00] Uh, Dr. Cosgrove, do you teach empathy? You know, um, I took my, um, father to the Mayo Clinic for his heart procedure rather than the Cleveland Clinic, even though you had better outcome results.

Um, but the reason I did it is they, they have empathy. And so Toby looked the word up in the dictionary. Um, and after that, uh, learned what it meant. And then, um, he, he had, uh, he googled the word empathy to be specific. And then after that, uh, we, there was a major campaign on empathy at the Cleveland Clinic, and that's all about an example, two things.

One is we all learn. From people asking questions and students. Um, and the second, uh, thing is, um, empathy is probably the most important human characteristic, um, from a [00:42:00] standpoint of, uh, of living life.  and it's the way you reframe situations, you know. Someone cuts me off while driving.

It's a, it's a woman. I think she's going to the hospital for a baby, and it's a guy, I think he's going to take care of his wife. Um, so, um, and it does get, it does get some interesting, uh, comments from, from me and my mind, which obviously oc when you see it's a very old guy and you say, well, why is he having another kid?

You know, or what.

Harry Cohen: I, I love it. So bottom line that you and we and everyone can learn more empathy and to be more skilled in that wonderful quality, which is Heliotropic. I love that you said it. I love that people can learn it and we,

Mike Roizen: And do go on the web and look at the empathy video. Um, it's a.

Harry Cohen: We put it in the show notes [00:43:00] work, put that in the show notes on this podcast. Are we allowed to do that?

Connie Fontaine: Yeah, absolutely. And we've got, you know, we've got Rena ad wishes, um, when we did her podcast. She's a physician that wrote a book and has a whole training program with the University of Michigan now around empathy in healthcare. And that was a, that was a really enlightening discussion too.

Harry Cohen: I, I love that you brought it up, Mike. Thank you. Um.

Connie Fontaine: I, I'm so inspired. I have to go look up and see how many of the 184 I'm missing. We work really hard at it. Harry is excellent and on top of all of our healthcare needs all the time, so we're doing pretty well, but I know I've got a bunch more to do,

Harry Cohen: I am psyched. I, I, I feel like my cup runneth over and you have given us so much, both generously and, and so articulately, if there's such a word that, um, all I can say is thank you, my friend.

Mike Roizen: You are allowed to make up words. You know, our new, our new, our new comp, our company that has the AI coach on longevity [00:44:00] is called, uh, y for Young Gev, so Y-O-U-N-G-E-V-I-T-Y. It's a made up word that that shows that you can be young as you get older.

Connie Fontaine: love that.

Harry Cohen: Love that 

Connie Fontaine: so for our listeners, don't get overwhelmed. We talked about a lot. Wherever you are today, we invite you to take one small action, something you heard today. I know I've got a laundry list, but, um, reach out to someone you care about. That was a new one for me, to remind myself. It doesn't have to be just that one call to home parents on Sunday.

There's more people in my life too. Take a walk, smile, whatever it takes. So thank you for joining us. We are truly grateful for today.

Harry Cohen: Truly.

Mike Roizen: privilege.