‘Backcasting’ and ‘biohacking’ as ways to fight ageing
In the last of a four-part series that explores the idea of living longer, CNA’s Otelli Edwards looks at the tried-and-tested ways to fight ageing.
SINGAPORE: As scientists experiment with ways to unlock the secrets of longevity, one expert suggested a tried-and-tested method to fight ageing called “backcasting”.
Backcasting involves thinking about what life will be like in old age, said Dr Naras Lapsys, a longevity medicine practitioner at the Integrative Medical Centre.
To determine that, questions one needs to ask include: What does my body need to look like? How much muscle do I have? Do I want to not be frail? Do I want to have a certain level of strength? Do I need to be able to move?” said Dr Lapsys.
“If you're predicting that the kind of life you want to have in your final 10 years is one of things that you enjoy, you have to start doing them now. And that's what backcasting is,” he said.
Working backwards first means getting tested, he added.
“The gold standard, at least at the moment, for knowing what your body composition is like, and the things that you're going to need to do as you get older to preserve your muscle or to have good heart and lung fitness would be a DEXA scan,” he said.
A DEXA scan shows how much bone, muscle and fat an individual has and where they are located, he explained.
TURNING TO “BIOHACKING”
When entrepreneur Sun Ho did such a scan two years ago, she was shocked by the high amount of fat her body stored. Her muscle mass, on the other hand, was too low.
The 36-year-old took to intermittent fasting, exercise and changing her diet to try and make her body look and feel younger, a trend called “biohacking”. Biohacking is typically described as DIY biology.
Ms Ho also wears a glucose monitoring device.
“Biohackers have found all ways to use devices to improve and optimise health. So, if we manage to keep glucose at a kind of steady state, you know not too much of a spike, nice gentle curves, then it means that you're not taking too much carbs at one time,” she said. Some foods can slow the signs of ageing, Dr Lapsys said.
Adopting a more plant-based diet, especially with more whole foods and minimally processed food such as nuts and seeds and olives provides fibre and Omega 9 fatty acids, which are said to reduce the risk of heart disease, decrease inflammation and help improve blood sugar control.
Other anti-ageing hacks have emerged, but do not have a lot of science to support them currently, Dr Lapsys said.
“You can spend a lot of money with an expensive ice bath or a sauna, but there are other ways to do it. If you're looking at those sorts of therapies, a very hot bath will do something similar,” he said.