David Truong

David Truong

My (longevity) health stack

Stack baseline

This is a post is about how I approach longevity and the habits that I've implemented to support it.

I am less interested in a perfect protocol than in something that works with the way I actually live now. That tends to be the core constraint: it has to be repeatable across weeks, not just on an ideal day, while raising a toddler and aligned with how my wife also lives.

I'll provide my general reasons and thoughts on each part of the stack, as well as references to academic studies and/or videos that support it.

Baseline setup

My current setup is:

  • two water fasts per year.
  • creatine in the morning,
  • four boiled eggs at breakfast, every day,
  • olive oil in regular meals,
  • protein-heavy meals + whey after heavy lifting,
  • daily calisthenics and compound lifting,
  • regular daytime sun exposure,
  • minimal light in the evening and less screen use before bed,
  • sauna 5 days a week,
  • daily cold showers,

Fasting for prevention

I've been doing all sorts of fasting for a number of years (ketogenic, intermittent, water fast etc). What I've found that works for me is to aim to do it twice a year, usually just after we've had a lot of travel. This helps with both jetlag and resetting my diet after thoroughly enjoying foods in a different country. My goal with these fasts has never been to lose weight.

The goal is prevention and long-term maintenance: insulin handling, reduced inflammatory drift, and a framework for timing and consistency.

The water-fasting evidence in humans shows measurable metabolic shifts in several protocols:

However the most important part of any fasting regime (in my opinion) is AUTOPHAGY.

What is autophagy

Autophagy is essentially the mechanism where your body gets rid of the old cells and junk throughout your system. Sort of like a reliable garbage collector that makes space for newer and healthier cells.

In practical terms, autophagy is the cell's cleanup process. The cell tags damaged proteins and organelles, recycles useful components, and keeps quality-control systems from backing up. In aging biology this matters because reduced waste removal is linked with inflammation and accumulation of oxidative damage, while stronger autophagy signals are associated with reduced cancer-prone stress states. The relationship is not simple in established disease, so I treat this as prevention-oriented maintenance, not a silver bullet.

I know recently there has been some talk about muscle loss during long fasts. I plan to try a sardine-only fast for this reason soon:

For now though, I remain pro-water fast for the prevention and consistency benefits above, and also because it is a mental exercise in doing the hard things.

Creatine

I use 10–15g daily, with occasional increases (up to 25g) on rough days (for example, after jetlag or when my son has had a rough night).

This is paired with electrolytes and taken in the morning. I take electrolytes to replace what I lose in the sauna, and also because some evidence suggest that the added glucose can help creatine uptake.

Olive oil and meals

I keep it simple with approximately one tablespoon after a meal + multivitamins. Taking fats with the multivitamin is useful for fat-soluble vitamin uptake in practice.

The cardiovascular and metabolic evidence for extra-virgin olive oil is strong:

Bryan Johnson has also been bullish on (high quality) olive oil for use in longevity regimes.

Protein

I do not track exact protein grams every day, but I keep meals protein-heavy and prioritize whey after hard gym/lifting sessions.

Breakfast is four boiled eggs as a baseline.

A large hard-boiled egg is about 6.3g protein, 5.3g fat, and 77.5 kcal (with 0.56g carbohydrate) according to nutrition tables for whole large hard-boiled eggs.

Four eggs is therefore around 25g protein and 21g fat with very little carbohydrate.

I use that as a practical mechanism for a lower glucose-spike breakfast profile rather than a strict metabolic rule.

I still get pushback from people who remember older cholesterol stories about eggs. I still eat them daily, and my view is that for me they are a useful, low-friction protein anchor: high-quality protein, fat, and micronutrients for a meal that is hard to overcomplicate.

The recent evidence I’m aware of is mixed but generally more nuanced than the old narrative:

Training and weight lifting

Training has shifted toward repeatability and high reps:

  • daily calisthenics (pull ups, dips, ozzie push ups, one legged squats, hangs),
  • high-rep deadlifts (3x20 reps, 60kg),
  • Zercher squats (3x10 reps, 60kg),

The calisthenics are done outdoors in our beautiful garden to optimise sun exposure in a natural setting.

I used to follow strict gym splits, however I found that unsustainable with family life and recovery (i.e. my body would always hurt). For this phase, high-rep compounds and basic lifts track better while still letting me carry and play with my son in real positions (~20+kg).

These days it's pretty obvious that resistance training directly helps in longevity:

Sun, sauna, and cold exposure

These are low-complexity recovery practices I use consistently.

  • morning and daytime sun exposure,
  • sauna at ~90°C for 20 to 30 minutes, 5 days a week,
  • daily cold showers.

Where possible, I try to include family in the sun exposure, and my wife and I have a protected space to talk in the sauna. Morning light and daylight timing also seem to support healthier circadian rhythm and better sleep signals.

I've found doing sauna at night with a cold shower straight after really helps me get into a deep sleep.

Light and screens at night

Whenever possible, I keep evening light low and minimize screens near bedtime. Even with dim conditions, evening screen use is associated with longer sleep latency and poorer morning alertness, especially when it happens in the hour before sleep.

The practical version is simple: if I want better sleep continuity, I trim the night window for screens and use warmer/low-light indoors before bed.

Alcohol

I had a period where I eliminated alcohol for a few years. However, now I occasionally have it in social contexts only.

For me, this is an explicit tradeoff: alcohol can support social flow in some situations, and social connection itself is strongly associated with lower all-cause mortality risk.

Of course this is dosage dependent. Usually I will have no more than one glass, usually only white wine/sparkling/champagne, usually with food, and usually many hours before bed.

Alcohol is disruptive to sleep, so I avoid it near bedtime.

Nasal breathing and sleep

For sleep quality, I optimize fewer awakenings by prioritizing nasal breathing at night.

I use simple sticky tape over my mouth to keep my mouth shut and support nasal breathing. From my data, this has reduced wakeups, and over time my nasal passages have felt less constrained.

It was difficult at first. Over time, nasal passage tolerance improved and breathing through the nose became easier. If I am sick or blocked, I skip this.

One study supports this direction:

Conclusion

This is the current health stack for 2026. Similar to my previous health regimes, this will likely evolve overtime as new evidence and studies are surfaced. If you're also interested in longevity, have your own specific regime, or want to discuss parts of this stack, feel free to reach out!

← Back