Good Genes: Corner Book Club’s Takeaways from Lifespan, plus the Wellness Wearable You Need to Know About

Now is the perfect time to check in on your wellness resolutions. The Corner Studio is committed to helping you reach your goals—from offering over 65 fitness classes each week across two studios to hosting health-minded community events, like our Wellness Book Club that met earlier this month. Many of you joined us at Coreander’s Children’s Bookshoppe where Dr. Susan Grabowski and Dr. Ginette Gomez discussed David Sinclair’s Lifespan: Why We Age—and Why We Don’t Have To. Dr. Grabowski and Dr. Gomez broke down some highly dense material, adding personal commentary on the benefits of applying these concepts in our own lives. Here, a few key takeaways from the book.

We’re in control.

“There are genes in us that have the ability to turn back the clock,” offers Dr. Grabowski, reflecting on Sinclair’s findings that turning genes on and off can protect against aging and other diseases. Many of us already experience the difference in how we look and feel when we move our bodies, eat healthy foods, and get enough sleep. “We have these strategies to tap into to make real changes,” says Grabowski.

Little stressors are good.

Minor discomfort can be good for our bodies. Little stressors like calorie restriction, cold exposure, exercise, and heat have the ability to turn on sirtuins, the longevity gene studied by Dr. Sinclair, which he thinks of as the protectors of our body.

We have the tools to optimize our health.

Among some loftier ideas mentioned in the book, CGM, or continuous glucose monitoring, is one Dr. Grabowski believes we easily can—and should—use. “CGM is a great wearable tool to learn about how you process food and get your glucose under control,” she says, calling it “a game-changer for diabetics” because it constantly scans glucose levels and doesn’t require a finger poke. CGM crosses into the prediabetes world and the general wellness world as a device that not only gives you instant data on how every bite of food personally affects you, but also acts as a powerful behavior modification tool that will change the way you eat.

Learn more about CGM at our next talk with Dr. Grabowski and Dr. Gomez on Tuesday, February 8, at 6:30 p.m. at The Corner Studio GPW.

See You at The Corner!