Are you on top of your cellular housekeeping? If you’ve fallen into a midlife energy slump, hit by fatigue, low mood and shredded libido, your cells have likely run out of charge, says Dr Molly Maloof. A “professional biohacker” and former Stanford University lecturer, she now works with Silicon Valley head honchos, A-listers and common folk to assess mitochondrial function (“the batteries in our cells that power life”), and help them make the requisite lifestyle tweaks to reignite that lost midlife spark.
“We are collectively experiencing a human energy crisis, and at its root, the fatigue that plagues so many of us is a result of mitochondrial dysfunction,” Maloof explains. The goal here is boosting healthspan – the years of good, healthy living, as opposed to just living longer.
Maloof does that by biohacking – a term that may sound disconcertingly high-tech but doesn’t need to be, she says. All it means is monitoring individual aspects of your body – from sleep to blood sugar and blood pressure, for instance – keeping track of how they change for the better or worse, and identifying the lifestyle factors that may be contributing to that.
“Yes, there are still some high-tech gadgets that are out of reach for many of us, but the old ways… are often as useful as, if not more useful than, the new,” says Maloof. On sleep, for instance, you can go analogue (noting down how many hours you’re getting) or opt for a souped-up smartwatch that delineates your rest, respiration and heart rate throughout the night. Whichever route you pick, here’s how to spot the slump, make the necessary changes, and reboot your cells for a more energised 2023.
Spotting the signs
Maloof is unequivocal about the reason so many people lose their spark in midlife. “Frankly, it’s a consequence of our lifestyles,” she says. A combination of people exercising less as they age, desk jobs, and the accumulation of years of wine at night and processed food during the day can “break the engines of the cells.”
There are telltale signs that you’ve hit the slump and your mitochondrial function (and, ultimately, energy) is diminished:…