Highlights

  • Mary Ní Lochlainn does resistance training and rides her bicycle to and from work for cardio exercise.
  • She also takes vitamin D since an estimated 57% of the population where she lives—the UK—have suboptimal levels of this vitamin.
  • Mary Ní Lochlainn does intermittent fasting, opting to go without eating between breakfast and dinner, because she believes the evidence for its pro-longevity effects is “fairly convincing.”

Mary Ní Lochlainn is a scholar who does aging research as a gerontologist at King’s College in the UK. A lot of her research is associated with nutrition and the prevention of age-related frailty—a condition of muscle loss and weakness—that affects more than 10% of people over age 80.

Interestingly, Mary Ní Lochlainn has applied lots of what she has learned through her research to orchestrate a longevity-oriented daily routine. Accordingly, her routine includes resistance and cardio exercise, taking vitamin D, and intermittent fasting—eating patterns that alternate between fasting and eating. Below is a more detailed review of her daily regimen with explanations for why she incorporates these practices into her schedule.

Resistance Training and Cardio

Ní Lochlainn cycles about 10 kilometers (about 6.2 miles) to and from work each day. She also takes tennis lessons and does resistance training—using resistance from weights for muscle contraction—for about an hour-long session once weekly with a personal trainer.

Although cardio exercising like bicycling positively influences cardiovascular health, she says resistance training is perhaps the best thing you can do for healthy aging. This is because we start to lose muscle mass in our 30s, and maintaining it with resistance training as we get older can help prevent frailty and falls. She also adds that it is important to build muscle mass when you are younger so that as you lose it with age, there is still plenty left to maintain physical mobility.

Research backing what Ní Lochlainn says about exercise comes from a 2022 study of 99,713 adults between the ages of 55 and 74 who did resistance training and cardio once or twice a week. The individuals in the study who exercised had about a 41% lower mortality rate after seven to 10 years of following them, suggesting that exercise significantly reduces the risk of dying.

An image of an aged woman undergoing an intense resistance training workout
(An image of an aged woman undergoing an intense resistance training workout | NMN.com)

Supplementing with Vitamin D

Vitamin D is important for preventing osteoporosis and bone health more generally. Along those lines, Ní Lochlainn takes an unspecified dose of vitamin D daily.

Also, an estimated 57% of people where she lives—the UK—have suboptimal levels of circulating vitamin D, maybe due to not getting enough sunshine, which triggers natural vitamin D production. As for Americans, about 42% of the US population may have low levels of vitamin D, especially in Midwestern states like Illinois and Wisconsin.

Along the lines of recommended amounts of vitamin D for supplementation, the Office of Dietary Supplements recommends adults between the ages of 19 and 70 get 15 µg of the vitamin daily. This quantity can come from supplements, sunlight exposure, or foods like milk, cereal, and fatty fish.

Intermittent Fasting in an Attempt to Boost Longevity

Ní Lochlainn practices a form of intermittent fasting—an eating pattern that alternates between fasting and eating—where she will skip lunch. In this way, she opts for a late breakfast and then eats again around dinner time. Her rationale for practicing this type of intermittent fasting for longevity is that she thinks the evidence for it is “fairly convincing.”

As for the research on general fasting, not enough evidence exists as of yet to confirm longevity enhancement in humans. All the same, animal studies have shown that fasting by restricting calorie intake extends lifespan in rodents and monkeys. In fact, restricting calories has worked in all animal models tested, and putting these animals through fasting conditions seems like one of the best ways researchers know of to extend their lives.

An image with a clock illustrating one form of intermittent fasting---fasting for 16 hours and then feeding during an eight-hour window within a 24-hour timeframe
(An image with a clock illustrating one form of intermittent fasting—fasting for 16 hours and then feeding during an eight-hour window within a 24-hour timeframe | Pharmaconic)

Mary Ní Lochlainn’s Routine Is Backed by Others In the Aging Research Sphere

In an attempt to prolong her years without disease, Mary Ní Lochlainn has turned to a formula of habits that includes resistance and cardio exercises, vitamin D supplementation, and intermittent fasting. Her devotion to regular exercise is backed by a number of studies, and the celebrity podcaster, Dr. Peter Attia, has said that exercise’s benefits against aging exceed those of any other intervention we know of. Moreover, aging researcher Dr. Matt Kaeberlein from the University of Washington has said that targeting vitamin deficiencies can be the best way to decide what supplements to take, so perhaps vitamin D supplementation is a good place to start for many. Last, putting animal models through intermittent fasting appears to be an effective way to extend their lives, so whether humans can reap the same benefits will need confirmation from human trials like the CALERIE Legacy Study.