The Mel Robbins Podcast
Advice From the #1 Longevity Doctor: Add 10 Years to Your Life With 3 Simple Habits
Thu, 1 May 2025
Today’s episode could change (or save) your life. It’s a must-listen. You’ll hear from the world’s leading longevity doctor about the simple, proven changes that will help you live longer, feel better, and prevent diseases like cancer, heart disease, and dementia. Today, Mel sits down with one of the world’s most respected scientists, Dr. Eric Topol — a pioneering cardiologist, longevity researcher, and one of the top 10 most cited medical researchers alive today — to reveal the real, evidence-based approach to longevity. This is the science and art of living better, longer. Forget the trendy anti-aging supplements, infusions, and miracle cures: Dr. Topol is here to give you the truth on exactly what the science says about how to reverse the biological age of your organs, add up to a decade of healthy years to your life, and avoid the biggest killers we all fear. You’ll learn: -The #1 free intervention proven to slow aging -The three everyday habits that are aging you faster (and how to fix them) -How to exercise and eat for optimal health and longevity -The truth about supplements, IV drips, and anti-aging clinics -Why loneliness is as dangerous to your health as smoking -How exercise can be more effective than antidepressants -The breakthrough blood tests and tools that could predict — and prevent — diseases decades before they happen This conversation is full of science and hope, because as Dr. Topol says: “It has never been a more exciting time in medicine.” Whether you want to prevent disease, feel better, or just live a longer, healthier life, this episode will give you the real plan for how to do it. If you love someone, send them this episode. It could save their life. For more resources, click here for the podcast episode. If you liked this episode, and you’ll love listening to this one next: Look, Feel, & Stay Young Forever: #1 Orthopedic Surgeon’s Proven ProtocolConnect with Mel: Get Mel’s #1 bestselling book, The Let Them TheoryWatch the episodes on YouTubeFollow Mel on Instagram The Mel Robbins Podcast InstagramMel's TikTok Sign up for Mel’s personal letter Subscribe to SiriusXM Podcasts+ to listen to new episodes ad-freeDisclaimer
Chapter 1: Who is Dr. Eric Topol and why is he important?
Hey, it's your friend Mel, and welcome to the Mel Robbins Podcast. Today, you are going to meet one of the most respected scientists in the entire world. His work in genomics, longevity, cardiology, precision medicine, and AI is so important that other researchers have cited him in more than 365,000 papers.
He's actually one of the top 10 most cited medical researchers alive today, and you've probably never heard of him because he's so busy working in his lab, he's not on social media.
I am personally honored by the fact that he jumped on a plane and flew here from the Scripps Research Institute in San Diego to launch his new mega bestselling book, Super Agers, an evidence-based approach to longevity. This book is so important that five Nobel laureates have endorsed it. And you and I are the very first people to sit down with Dr. Eric Topol
and hear him explain why he is enthralled by the science of aging. Now, he's going to teach you exactly what you need to know about the science of aging and how you can add years, even decades, to your life. Today, he's also here to call out the junk science and the people that are trying to sell you supplements and drugs and intravenous drips as the key to longevity.
He's going to be very blunt because he says there isn't a pill you can take, there is not a drug anyone can prescribe that will reverse aging. But there is one thing based on research that costs nothing that can reverse the biological age of your organs. And he's going to tell you what that is today.
You're also going to learn based on the research about the three things that you're doing right now that are aging you faster. And a simple protocol that he calls Lifestyle Plus that can add years to your life and prevent you from ever having cancer, heart disease, or dementia, which are the three biggest killers in the world today.
I cannot wait for you and for me to sit down and learn from Dr. Eric Topol as he unpacks his life's greatest work and shares with you why it's the most exciting time for discovery in medicine right now. This is going to be one of those conversations that you're going to want everybody that you love to hear because the reality is...
If you could add years or even a decade to your life, if you could prevent yourself or someone you love from having cancer, dementia, or heart disease in the future, why wouldn't you? Hey, it's your friend Mel, and welcome to the Mel Robbins Podcast. I am so excited that you're here. I'm excited that I'm here, and I am really excited that our guest, Dr. Eric Topol, is here today.
It's always such an honor to spend time with you and to be together. And if you're a new listener, I just want to take a moment and personally welcome you to the Mel Robbins Podcast family. I'm glad you're here. And because you made the time to listen to this particular episode, here's what I know about you.
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Chapter 2: What are the three habits that could extend your life?
There are carnival barker scientists making false claims and hawking supplements. These entrepreneurial companies and investments aren't likely to settle down anytime soon because we are seeing some real progress in understanding the science of the aging process. Unfortunately, though, that has led to irrational exuberance in many dimensions.
I'm hoping to set the record straight on what we know, what we don't know, and how likely it is that we'll be able to modulate the aging process to some extent one day. So Dr. Topol, those are strong words. What do you want to say about the anti-aging craze and all the marketing around it?
There is nothing that's been proven in people to promote the slowing or reversing of aging, whether they're pills or compounds or infusions, transfusions. None of that is proven to have an anti-aging effect in human beings. There's a lot of that that's been looked really good in mice or rats. but not in people. So we'll start with rapamycin. A lot of people are taking this drug.
It suppresses our immune system. That could be very risky to do that. And unfortunately, too many people are advocating that. There's nicotinamide, NAD+, a supplement. There are no data to show that it improves healthy aging in people. There's this epigenetic reprogramming, very elegant. It could cause cancer. It isn't in people yet, but it's certainly a risk.
There's senolytic drugs that take out our senescent cells. They're indiscriminate. They could take out bad cells out of our body, these drugs that do that. There's plasmapheresis taking young people's plasma and infusing it into old people's plasma to promote healthy aging and better cognition. There are clinics doing that. There's no data to support it.
There's all kinds of infusions of kind of multivitamins, and there's just no data to support any of it. And it's really unfortunate because people that believe this stuff are the prey. Not only are they expensive, but they are posing significant risks. It could be cancer. It could be immunosuppression. These are not things you want to play around with.
You actually warn about the dangers and this obsession of trying to stop or reverse aging. Could you explain, Dr. Topol, the problem with stopping or reversing aging?
Well, so one of the most elegant approaches, which caught a lot of interest in the biomedical community, was the idea of giving genes to an old animal, in this case a mouse, and now extend it to other species. And these are known as Yamanaka factors because they have the ability to reprogram the organism, the cells of an organism.
Okay, so you're taking genes from a younger animal and then you're injecting them into the older animal with the presumption that the genes of the younger animal can then infiltrate and reprogram older genes, thereby making you younger?
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