How To Not Die: 10 Health Markers Your Doctor May Be Missing

Your doctor’s job isn’t to help you live to 90, it’s to make sure nothing kills you in the next 6–12 months. And the gap between “not dying” and “optimal” is huge.

This came up 5 times on coaching calls in the past three days and it pisses me off!

Blood Pressure: Is It Just the Coffee?

The first was a guy whose blood pressure is 145/90 every visit, and his doctor blamed his coffee.

Coffee can bump blood pressure a few points for a couple hours, and if you drink it every day, your body may partially adapt. But that doesn’t mean persistent readings of 145/90 should be dismissed as coffee. [1, 2]

Blood pressure that high for decades will tax the brain, heart, kidneys, and pretty much every organ, increasing your risk of heart disease, stroke, and certain types of dementia.

LDL Cholesterol: “A Little High, But Fine”

Then I talked to 4 other guys, and weirdly enough, they all had LDL between 145 and 160. All four had been told some version of “a little high, but fine.”

One of them was in his early 30s and had LDL in the 140s. His doctor didn’t suggest testing ApoB or Lp(a), didn’t even recommend any changes, he just said, “At your age, you’re fine.”

Not good enough!!

Plaque builds based on how much LDL and other atherogenic particles your arteries are exposed to, and for how long.

An LDL of 150 won’t necessarily cause problems this year, but 40 years of elevated exposure can contribute to atherosclerosis and heart disease in your 50s or 60s. [3, 4]

“Fine” Isn't the Same as Optimal

Your doctor isn’t lazy, dumb, or negligent. They’re seeing 20+ patients a day and they don’t have the time or bandwidth to go deep on this stuff.

But “fine” is the standard for not dying, not for optimizing your health and minimizing your risk of these horrible conditions that nobody wants.

Want to Take Control of Your Health?

I know this stuff can be confusing, so I put together a ten-point checklist of the most important longevity markers you should have under control if you want to live a long and healthy life.

Download it below fo FREE:

Good to Great - Top 10 Longevity Markers Your Doctor Doesn’t Have Time To Explain

Best,

John

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Sources

1. Mesas et al. (2011). The Effect of Coffee on Blood Pressure and Cardiovascular Disease in Hypertensive Individuals. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. PubMed

2. Noordzij et al. (2005). Blood Pressure Response to Chronic Intake of Coffee and Caffeine. Journal of Hypertension. PubMed

3. Domanski et al. (2020). Time Course of LDL Cholesterol Exposure and Cardiovascular Disease Event Risk. Journal of the American College of Cardiology. PubMed

4. Ference et al. (2024). The LDL Cumulative Exposure Hypothesis: Evidence and Practical Applications. Nature Reviews Cardiology. PubMed

Best,

John

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