Dr Florence Comite MD

In my latest installment of This or That, I’m weighing in on some everyday staples, and a few of my picks might surprise you!

There are so many healthy snack options out there, and sometimes even I have a hard time choosing! In my latest This or That, I share my picks for adding an extra boost to your diet. Which is your favorite? 👇

My New York Times best-selling book, Invincible: Defy Your Genetic Destiny to Live Better, Longer, came out 6 months ago today, and I wanted to take a moment to appreciate all the support since then.  I remember waking up that morning so excited to share it on CBS Mornings. I'll never forget the moment when Gayle King had her copy of the book filled with notes and asked for my phone number! Here’s to allowing people, no matter who they are, the opportunity to live a long, healthy life!

Not all proteins are created equal! 🥩🐟 When it comes to supporting muscle health and healthy aging, our choices matter.  These are some of my go-to proteins.

Sleep isn’t the thing you do when you’re done optimizing. It is the optimization. 😴 Your body does a lot of repair overnight, and skimping on rest can disrupt your appetite, energy, and metabolic health. Want to recover faster? Start with an earlier bedtime. 🌙

This past week, I had the honor of speaking at Next Generation Longevity 2026 in Osaka, Japan, joining leaders in precision medicine, regenerative therapeutics, and healthspan research from around the world. Our panel explored how we can treat one patient across multiple systems, and why personalized care matters now more than ever. Thank you to the NGL team and everyone who joined us!

Living longer isn’t the same as living better. I’m all for extending healthspan, but if optimizing every meal, metric, workout, and biomarker leaves no room to actually enjoy your life, what are we optimizing for? The goal isn’t just more years. It’s more good years.

Even identical twins don’t have identical health.    Genes are only part of the story. How we live, what we’re exposed to, and how our bodies respond can all shape our health. Take it from my sister and me!    Your genes are a rough draft. Your health story is still being written.

I'm so excited to be speaking at Next Generation Longevity 2026 in Osaka, October 15–16, on precision medicine and hormones across the health span. Looking forward to the conversations ahead!

Our team is gearing up for the Super Age longevity games! Last weekend, members of our team beta-tested the trials, and from what they said, it's shaping up to be a great day! Unlike traditional fitness competitions that focus on how fast you can run or how much you can lift, the Super Age Longevity Games test the abilities that help us live well for longer. From strength and endurance to balance, agility, cognitive performance, and connection. The games are just around the corner, and we can’t wait to see what our team can do! 🏋️‍♀️

Your brain is not destined to decline with age. The choices you make today are determining the brain you’ll have at 70, 80, even 100. Some of the most powerful ways to protect your brain are within your control right now. ✔️ Build strength with resistance training to help preserve the hippocampus, the part of the brain essential for learning and memory. ✔️ Keep blood sugar stable. Repeated glucose spikes can impair your brain's ability to produce energy and contribute to processes associated with cognitive decline. ✔️ Prioritize deep, restorative sleep. This is when your brain clears away metabolic waste, regulates stress hormones, and supports memory consolidation. Brain health is about the result of consistent daily habits that support your body's most complex organ. The earlier you invest in your brain, the greater the opportunity to preserve cognitive function and resilience for decades to come.

Most of us lose arm strength after 40. You don't have to! Do these 3 simple, joint-friendly moves help preserve strength, posture, and independence as you age: 1️⃣ Tricep extensions — build the pushing, throwing, and elbow stability you rely on daily 2️⃣ Resistance band pull-aparts — strengthen the upper back and protect your shoulder joints 3️⃣ Single-arm dumbbell rows — build pulling strength while reinforcing core control and posture You don't need high reps or heavy weights. You need consistency, good form, and movements that train the muscles you actually use — the way you actually use them.

If you work nights, your schedule doesn't have to work against your health. Shift work has been linked to a higher risk of diabetes, heart disease, obesity, and cognitive decline. The big reason? Sleep: The king of all health habits. But even shift workers can have healthy sleep habits. Here’s how. If you're on the night shift, focus on the fundamentals: Block morning light after work. Eat protein before bed and avoid heavy meals and alcohol. Sleep in a cool, dark, quiet room. Wake with water, movement, and natural light. Time your meals consistently to help regulate glucose. Cut off caffeine early enough that it doesn't interfere with sleep. You don't need a "perfect" schedule. You need one that supports your body's internal clock as consistently as possible. Small, repeatable habits can go a long way toward reducing the health risks associated with shift work. Do you work overnight or rotating shifts? What's been the biggest challenge for your sleep?

Hemoglobin A1c is one of my five biomarkers of healthy longevity you need to know about. It is often treated like a pass/fail test. But your health doesn't work that way. @drchatterjeeuk and I discussed that what matters isn't just whether your number falls inside a reference range. It's where you're trending and what that trend says about your future health. I see patients every day who are told, "Everything looks normal," while their biomarkers are steadily moving toward insulin resistance and diabetes. This is why I don't practice reactive medicine. I practice predictive, precision medicine: I look beyond a single lab value to understand the whole person, identify risk and intervene before disease develops. That may include optimizing nutrition, movement, sleep, stress reduction, targeted supplementation, or when appropriate, medication. Small interventions, made early, can have a profound impact on long-term health. Your lab results are part of your story, but they are not the whole story. Don't settle for "normal." Shoot for optimal.

This past Friday at @TheAtlantic Festival, I joined leaders across medicine, science, and policy for an important conversation about the future of health. One message guided my perspective: longevity isn't about adding more years to life. It's about extending your healthspan so those years are vibrant, independent, and full of possibility. The future of medicine is predictive, preventive, and deeply personalized. When we use advanced diagnostics to understand how your body is aging, we can intervene earlier, optimize health, and help prevent disease before it starts. Thank you to The Atlantic for bringing together so many thoughtful voices to discuss what's next. Conversations like these will shape how we all age.

When I suddenly lost hearing in one ear, it was a mystery– even for me. Finally, a genetic test explained it: A common gene variant had been silently working against me for years, and I had no idea. I carry two MTHFR gene variants, which affect my body's ability to properly process key B vitamins like B12 and folate. During one of the most stressful periods of my career, a viral illness collided with those deficiencies. The casualty was hearing in one of my ears. That experience changed the course of my life, and it's why I tell every patient the same thing: Your genes are not your destiny. They're information. Those MTHFR genes were information about my body, I wish I’d known sooner. Once you understand how your own body works, you can make targeted decisions that protect your health, optimize your biology, and potentially catch serious complications before they happen. Have you ever uncovered a health insight that completely changed how you care for yourself?

30+ years as a longevity doctor taught me this: These 5 things can reverse your biological age. And they don’t require millions of dollars, invasive procedures, or expensive equipment ⬇️ 1️⃣ Build and preserve muscle Muscle is the most powerful anti-aging organ you have. It drives insulin sensitivity, bone density, and metabolism. Lift weights 3-4x a week. Non-negotiable. 2️⃣ Stabilize your glucose Glucose spikes accelerate aging through inflammation and glycation — the same process that wrinkles your skin. Eat protein and fiber first, manage your stress, and track it with a CGM. 3️⃣ Optimize your hormones Estrogen, testosterone, thyroid, DHEA — they all decline with age. Balance them and you get your energy, libido, cognition, and strength back. Test, don't guess based on symptoms. 4️⃣ Prioritize sleep and recovery Deep and REM sleep repair your cells, regulate your hormones, and clear beta-amyloid from your brain. This is where longevity actually happens. 5️⃣ Track your biomarkers Fasting glucose, insulin, lipid ratios, inflammatory markers — your data shows you the risk years before it becomes disease. That's your window to reverse it.

These are my longevity supplement superstars, backed by 30+ years of clinical experience in precision medicine. ⬆️ Keep in mind that when it comes to supplementation, one size never fits all. Personalized data makes the difference between guessing and truly optimizing.

Your kidneys could be losing function long before you feel anything is wrong. Chronic kidney disease (CKD) often develops gradually over years, which is why I believe in looking for changes before they become a bigger problem. Two of the biggest drivers are also incredibly common: diabetes and high blood pressure. One of the first numbers I look at? Creatinine. It’s a simple blood marker that helps us understand how well your kidneys are filtering and it’s especially important to monitor if you have diabetes, heart disease, a family history of CKD, or are over 65. Your everyday habits matter, too. A Mediterranean-style diet, regular exercise, quality sleep, maintaining a healthy weight, and managing your blood sugar and blood pressure can all help support kidney health. Don’t wait for symptoms to tell you something has changed. Know your numbers, track your trends, and be proactive about your health.

“Your labs are normal” can be the four most dangerous words in medicine. Why? Because your labs can come back “normal” and still miss the bigger picture. That creates a false sense of security that can lead to a nasty surprise in the ER one day. (Where more than 80% of diabetes is diagnosed!) After 30+ years in precision medicine and measuring thousands of people, I’ve found five biomarkers that tell an incredibly important story about metabolic and hormonal health: • Fasting glucose • Hemoglobin A1C • Fasting insulin • Cholesterol risk ratio • Free testosterone On a recent podcast with Extend, I talk about what continues to surprise me: I have yet to meet someone who was optimal in all five. That’s why I don’t believe we should wait for a number to cross into the “disease” range before we pay attention. The goal is to understand your unique biology, identify where your health may be headed, and intervene early enough to change the trajectory. Your biomarkers tell a story. The earlier you learn to read it, the more power you have to rewrite it.