SLEEP & LONGEVITY
To understand how the test developed by Genkowme SA works, food critic Knut Schwander (61), who is to be found four or five times a week in the best restaurants in French-speaking Switzerland after his working day, tried it out for himself. He visited MedIn Vita Clinic in central Geneva, where Dr Stefania Ubaldi agreed to subject him to two tests, one investigating epigenetic stress and one examining longevity and lifestyle – and then give him the results. To his surprise, the outcome was not exactly what he’d hoped for. “I suddenly discovered I was almost fourteen years older than I’d thought”
I have a dream job. For over twenty-five years, I’ve been in charge of a prestigious good food guide covering French- speaking Switzerland. After a day’s work managing my team, writing, proof-reading, and answering readers’ correspondence, I travel the region between Delémont and Grimentz from one gourmet address to another several times a week. Of course I do other things at well, but most of my time really is spent at the dining table or in my own kitchen, and it really is a dream job. It does however require a certain discipline to avoid ending up looking like the Michelin man – not least because he’s the mascot of a competing good food guide, but also because it’s important to pay attention to one’s health. I do try to do that, but apparently not well enough.
Before I reveal the results of my tests (a real slap in the face for me) I need to tell you a little more about my everyday life. I’m 61, weigh 80kg and am 1.78m tall. I take medication for excess cholesterol (a hereditary condition) and when I’m not in a restaurant, my kitchen or my office, I do gardening, run, and walk an annual average of 12,380 steps a day (6.5km). Full disclosure: I always start my day at 6.15am with a quarter of an hour of floor exercises and every week, I have a one-hour Pilates session. In summer, I go down to Lake Geneva three times a week and swim for 20 minutes. And when I find the time, I play golf (albeit very badly). As to sleep, my Oura ring tells me that on average, I sleep 6 hours 14 minutes a night. When it comes to stress management, six months ago I handed over several of my responsibilities to decrease my workload
“As well as easing back on a lifestyle that’s rather too hectic, perhaps I need to get myself an Elite bed to make sure of getting restorative sleep...”
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