- A 64-year-old woman tops the youthful Olympics with a simple anti-ageing routine.
- Her daily habits include eating homemade bread, doing her favorite exercise, and always having dessert.
- She beat out entrepreneur Brian Johnson, who spends $2 million a year on his longevity routine.
The 64-year-old grandmother of 11 has become one of the most talked-about figures in the world of longevity, beating billionaires in the anti-ageing category with her simple, cost-free routine.
Amy Hardison has topped the Rejuvenation Olympics, an online leaderboard where people submit their health statistics to show how well they’ve slowed or reduced markers of biological aging.
Earlier this month, she was ranked fifth, one place ahead of technology executive Brian Johnson, 45, who is notorious for his grueling and expensive daily routine, which includes taking more than 100 supplements and receiving blood transfusions for his teenage son.
Hardison’s results — derived from blood samples and other tests — showed improvements in key markers of ageing, including cellular senescence (or “zombie” cells that linger and cause damage), shortening of telomeres and mitochondrial dysfunction.
No one is more surprised than Hardison herself, who told Business Insider that she’s not a very competitive person and doesn’t even plan on living past 100.
“The truth is, I had no idea,” she says. “My daughter said to me, ‘Mom, this is pretty amazing. The person just below you is spending $2 million a year to get these results.'”
By contrast, Hardison says she spends about $300 a month on supplements. Her other longevity habits cost little or nothing — and have solid science to back them up, showing they help her stay young and healthy.
“My philosophy is to find something you love, find something that works for you that you can stick with long term throughout your life, and do it in moderation,” she said.
Her diet includes big salads, chocolate and homemade bread
According to Hardison, the foundations of a healthy life are a solid routine, plenty of homemade bread, and small daily treats.
Hardison has been a health conscious eater since she was a teenager, having seen numerous fad diets come and go, and believes in a balanced approach that utilizes intuitive eating principles and is nutritionally conscious.
“I listen to my body. I only eat what I like. I savor what I eat,” she said.
These days, she wakes up around 6 a.m. Intermittent fasting, one of the biggest longevity trends, involves refraining from eating until a certain time of day, but Hardison isn’t a fan of that lifestyle, instead starting her day with a large slice of toast and a glass of chocolate milk.
She doesn’t like processed foods, so she always uses homemade whole wheat flour for her toast.
“I don’t eat out a lot because I think my own food is better and healthier. I cook because if I’m going to eat something, I want it to taste good,” Hardison says.
She also eats a big salad filled with vegetables, berries, chicken protein, nuts, and cheese for lunch and dinner most days, and at the end of the day, she eats an extra slice of bread.
For dessert, she has chocolate or homemade cookies. (“I can’t remember the last time I went a day without eating something sweet,” she says.)
Her supplement routine includes magnesium and ginger
Hardison first became involved with the Rejuvenation Olympics after taking part in a clinical trial for longevity supplement brand NOVOS (which coordinated the interview with BI).
She had never taken vitamins before.
Her current treatment includes three NOVOS products (Core, Boost, and Vital) which cost about $160 per month.
It contains the following ingredients:
- Research shows that magnesium is beneficial for bone health and helps regulate blood pressure and blood sugar levels.
- L-theanine is linked to alertness, stress reduction and a healthy brain
- Ginger is rich in antioxidants and supports digestive health
- Fisetin is an anti-inflammatory compound found naturally in strawberries, onions, and apples.
A gentle combination of cardio and high intensity training
A typical workout for Hardison involves an hour on the elliptical at a moderate pace while listening to an audiobook, followed by a shorter, more intense workout. If the weather’s nice, she’ll do some cardio in the pool instead. She also stretches for 20 to 30 minutes a day to improve her range of motion.
Over time, she’s adjusted her exercise routine to fit her schedule (for example, when she was a busy mom, she aimed for 30 minutes), but she always makes time for exercise.
“It’s an integral part of my day and something I enjoy a lot. I think it’s important to find something you love enough to look forward to,” she said.
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Unlike many longevity gurus and biohacking enthusiasts, Hardison said he’s not interested in staying forever young.
“Growing older is an amazing thing and a wonderful thing,” she said. “You never know how wonderful it is to experience the good, the bad and the hard things in life until you’ve experienced it.”
Her parents lived into their 90s, but over time their cognitive abilities declined, severely impacting their ability to enjoy things as they once did.
“I don’t want to go through what they went through,” Hardison said. “My kids’ generation will say, ‘You don’t want to live to be 130? No, I don’t want to.'”
Instead, she focuses on finding a balance of habits that will keep her healthy and allow her to enjoy the life and relationships she’s built over the years.
“I’m not trying to slow down my old age. I feel like I’m at the best age of my life right now.”
