Table of Contents
my nmn experiment
On the 7th of April 2019 I ordered two bottles of NMN from Amazon. My 55th birthday was on the 22nd of April 2019 and I started on that day.
I have made, and continue to make, a series of videos on YouTube to map My NMN Experiment, not only as a record for myself, but also to help or inform others now and in the future; I am now writing a Blog too. So, if you’re watching my NMN videos and/or reading this NMN blog I expect you too are at least middle aged and interested in longevity and if not specifically living longer, then how to make the years you do have left as enjoyable, fulfilling and rewarding as possible.
why did my nmn experiment start?
I started to notice a marked deterioration in my stamina and recovery from exercise and injury as I entered my fifties. I had joined the Army at the age of seventeen and obviously had to remain fairly fit until I retired at the age of 40. Going to the gym, keeping active etc. was a habit and one that I was happy to keep. I was also acutely aware that many people of my age, even veterans, were getting fatter – much fatter!
I, like them, was listening to the general advice of following the and eating low fat food, pasta, drinking skimmed milk or fruit juice and keeping animal fat, eggs etc. to a minimum. BUT it wasn’t working, I was feeling bloated and getting fat, I had to exercise for at least an hour a day, five or six times a week just to maintain my weight…not lose weight; just stay the same!
As a boy I remember my father, he never went to a gym a day in his life and up until the early eighties ate plenty lots of red meat, bacon, eggs etc. all cooked in animal fat. Then in the 80’s our diets changed, we all started to eat and more ; my father started to put on weight and I distinctly remember the weight was only around his belly.
The first step of my middle-aged fitness/health journey introduced me to the and the . I’ll be honest; most of my research was conducted on YouTube where I met the likes of and .
I urge you to watch their videos and/or visit their websites, the main thing to remember is that a diet should be a dietary regimen and not a ‘fad’ type unstainable diet like the cabbage soup or zone diet, I even include juicing in this group.
follow the money
The first thing that shocked me was the way in which manipulated his scientific data to fit his Lipid Hypotheses (which I believe to this day has still not been proven); if one man is responsible for the epidemic of obesity related diseases like cancer and diabetes in the world today, it is him!
The mantra I go by now is ‘always follow the money’ who said breakfast is the most important meal of the day, maybe cereal companies, not doctors, that want you to buy their products?
Why is the American food pyramid the shape it is with bread and cereals bread and pasta holding the greatest quantity at the base, could it be because the USA is the second biggest producer of cereal and fourth largest producer of wheat in the world?
my first step
My first step was, long before I started to take NMN, to change my diet by reducing Carbs; by mostly cutting processed food out of my diet and I started to actually read the labels on food.
I learnt that there are three macros, the elements that all food is made up from, they are fat, protein and carbohydrates. If you don’t have enough fat or protein in your diet you can become sick (and in some extreme cases die), not so if you reduce carbs. The keto and are testaments to this fact; not that only eating meat and fatty fish etc. is the key, I think it is cutting out the processed foods and therefore hidden sugar that was the real game-changer.
So, by cutting carbs and sugar in my diet and by that I mean bad Carbs such as bread, pasta, chocolate and by getting my Carbs mainly from , I lost about six inches from my waist in just over a year and with no increase in exercise frequency or intensity. I now ensure that I go to the gym at least twice a week, but no more than four times a week and I don’t exercise for more than 40 minutes during each visit.
I still stick to a low carb diet 5 or 6 days a week and I practice too. That said, for one or two days a week (the weekends) I do indulge myself and eat pizza and drink beer or wine, but not to excess.
Even though it is only for one or two days, I still feel a difference with my energy levels and general well-being the following day, and if you ask my wife my attitude also changes; according to her I am even crankier.
my updates
I record objective statistics as part of such as waist size, BMI, body fat percentage, sleep data etc. and subjective statistics such as energy levels, motivation, gym performance etc. and I share these quarterly during my NMN update videos on YouTube.
Unfortunately, I had to close comments on the Blog because of spammers, more than fifty a day! If you have any questions, please leave them in the comments section of this video: https://bit.ly/3hRvcPn
conclusion
In my early fifties I found it more and more difficult to maintain my weight, let alone actually lose any, my research led me to the Keto diet and Low Carb lifestyle, which in the first year reaped some amazing results, however my progress quickly plateaued. This is when my research led me to and NMN.
My NMN Experiment will chart my progress as I take NMN as a daily supplement, I will also add other longevity enhancing supplements such as Trans-resveratrol, Trimethylglycine and as the months pass, the effects of these supplements will also be recorded as part of my journey.