Ten functional and integrative medicine physicians weigh in on what conventional medicine gets wrong about aging — and what to do about it.
What does it actually take to live a long, healthy life? Not just surviving to 100, but arriving there with energy, clarity, and independence intact? (tennis elbow or liver spots aside).
Smart Senior Daily put that question — in three specific forms — to eight leading longevity, integrative, and functional medicine physicians. Their backgrounds span Chinese medicine, lifestyle medicine, culinary medicine, preventive medicine, naturopathy, and integrative psychiatry. But certain themes ran through all of them with striking consistency.
We spoke with: Dr. Colin Zhu (TheChefDoc) · Dr. Laura Stix (Carpe Diem Health & Wellness) · Dr. John Gaviria (ELEVA Institute) · Dr. Mao Shing Ni · Chad Larson (The Adapt Lab) · Dr. Yoon Hang Kim · Turner Osler MD (University of Vermont) · Dr. Sam Zand (Anywhere Clinic)
Here’s what they told us.
1️⃣ What does conventional medicine get wrong about aging? For our panel, the consensus was swift and pointed: conventional medicine tends to treat aging as a collection of individual problems to manage rather than a single interconnected process to understand.
Up first is Dr. Colin Zhu, Board-Certified Family & Lifestyle Medicine Physician — The Chef Doc, who plainly broke down the major difference in what we can personally affect. He had this to say:
"Aging is often treated as decline to manage rather than a process we can actively shape. We tend to rely on medications while overlooking the biggest drivers of longevity — nutrition, movement, purpose, and connection."
Dr. Mao Shing Ni, a 38th-generation doctor of Chinese medicine, frames it as a confusion between common and normal:
“It’s common to see muscle loss, fatigue, poor sleep, and cognitive decline after 60 — but much of this is preventable or reversible with the right lifestyle and early intervention.”
Dr. John Gaviria, founder of the ELEVA Institute for Functional and Integrative Medicine, takes aim at what he calls linear thinking. When a patient arrives with four symptoms, conventional medicine writes four prescriptions. But as he sees it, those aren’t four separate problems — they’re four branches of the same tree, rooted in decades of diet, stress, and sleep choices.
"By the time something like diabetes, osteoporosis, or cognitive decline is identified, those processes have usually been developing for quite a while." — Dr. Laura Stix, ND — Naturopathic Doctor, Carpe Diem Health & Wellness
Dr. Sam Zand, an integrative psychiatrist, adds a mind-body dimension that most annual physicals miss:
“A chronic state of excessive stress increases both inflammatory processes and cognitive decline — and an overabundance of stress creates a chronically stressed brain, causing it to age at an accelerated rate.”
2️⃣ Which supplements have the strongest evidence for people over 60? Here, there was remarkable agreement — and remarkable restraint.
Not one of the eight physicians advocated for a complex, expensive supplement stack. Instead, they returned consistently to the same short list of evidence-backed basics.
The consensus picks: omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin D, magnesium, B12, and creatine — with protein consistently called the most underrated of all.
"Rather than chasing trends, I focus on common deficiencies and evidence-backed basics: vitamin D, B12, and omega-3s. The goal isn’t more supplements — it’s fewer gaps." — Dr. Zhu
Dr. Stix highlights protein as the overlooked priority:
“Higher protein intake, especially alongside resistance training, is consistently linked to better muscle preservation and lower frailty risk.”
"The most powerful supplements will typically be the ones that are unremarkable yet effective. All supplements should be taken in accordance with laboratory results, medications, and your individualized diet plan." — Chad Larson
Dr. Ni adds a couple of other supplements to his suggested mix:
“In select cases, CoQ10 (especially when someone is taking statins medications) and targeted bone support may be appropriate.”
3️⃣ What's the first thing these medical professionals tell a new patient in their Sixties or Seventies? Here's where things changed a little and where the answers were a) the most varied and, b) the most memorable. But two themes surfaced in nearly every response: muscle and connection.
"After 60, muscle is medicine. It protects metabolism, balance, brain health, and independence. My first prescription is simple: walk daily, strength train two to three times a week, eat enough protein, prioritize sleep, and stay socially and mentally engaged." — Dr. Ni
Chad Larson puts it even more directly:
“Muscle should be protected like an internal organ.”
"Community, belonging, and purpose are core longevity factors — not soft extras."— Dr. Yoon Hang Kim
Dr. Gaviria adds a mindset reset before any protocol:
“Before we add anything, we need to subtract one thing — the belief that aging is something that happens to you rather than something your body is actively doing. You have more control than you think.”
Dr. Kim, brings in the social dimension through the story he shared about Roseto, Pennsylvania — a small Italian-American town that in the 1950s had heart attack rates far below surrounding communities, despite similar diets, smoking rates, and genetics.
The difference was a tightly knit, multigenerational community with strong shared traditions. When those eroded, so did the health advantage. Research suggests people with robust social ties have roughly a 50 percent higher survival probability compared with those who are isolated. It's an interesting story and one you can watch here:
Dr. Sam Zand frames the first priority as protecting your nervous system:
“Consistently getting enough sleep, moving, developing a connection to another person, and finding activities that bring you a sense of purpose. Mental stimulation and reduction in chronic stress are more important to successful aging than adding complicated mechanisms to your routine.”
Not everyone on our panel played along with the supplement question. Turner Osler, MD, Emeritus Professor at the University of Vermont, offered a useful reality check instead
His take is the simplest of all: genetics account for roughly half of how long you’ll live. The other half comes down to not smoking, eating well, moving regularly, sleeping enough, and seeking companionship. No supplement list required.
The Bottom Line
Eight doctors. Three questions. And at the end of it, the advice converges on something remarkably unglamorous: move your body, feed it well, sleep, connect with people, find meaning, and don’t smoke.
"If you look at Blue Zones, people don’t live longer because of one big change. They live longer because of small habits done daily." — Dr. Zhu
That’s not the answer supplement companies want you to hear. But after speaking with eight of the country’s leading longevity physicians, it may be the most powerful one.
