Longevity clinics – is it worth using them?

During your first conversation with a clinic, you will most likely be confronted with:

• a stream of specialist terminology,
• complex names of tests and therapies,
• references to scientific studies that you don’t have the time or tools to verify yourself.

It is easy to feel overwhelmed and conclude: “This is too complicated, someone has to take care of me from A to Z. Preferably them.”

And that is exactly where the problem begins. If you enter this conversation completely “naked”, you put yourself in a completely asymmetric situation: they know (or at least say they know) everything, and you – nothing. In such a setup it becomes very easy to:

• sell you expensive diagnostic packages that you don’t actually need yet,
• offer therapies that are low priority at your current stage,
• focus on “cool” things instead of what will truly change your health.

That’s why it is worth arming yourself with solid longevity knowledge first. Not to “know better than the doctor”, but to be able to have a partnership conversation:

• ask meaningful questions,
• distinguish foundations from gadgets,
• understand what really changes your odds of a long, healthy life.

To be clear: longevity clinics are often truly solid medical facilities – with good doctors, modern equipment and excellent diagnostics. They can bring enormous value to your health by helping to:

• catch early signs of disease,
• choose therapies for complex problems,
• optimise more advanced interventions.

At the same time, you must not forget one thing: these are companies, and they have:

• costs,
• sales targets,
• interests that are not always fully aligned with yours.

For example, it is not in their interest to tell you bluntly:

It is hard to hold that against them – after all, that’s how business works. But you have to remember this. If you don’t, it becomes very easy to:

• spend a fortune on therapies that are “on the roof” while your “house of health” doesn’t even have foundations,
• believe that everything will be solved by a few IV drips, red-light sessions or an advanced supplement package.

You can have the best clinic, the most advanced therapies and the most expensive supplements, but if:

• your sleep is terrible,
• your diet is destructive,
• your physical activity is practically non-existent,

then no clinic will magically fix this from the outside.

Example: red light therapy can be valuable. But it will not make you feel great if:

• you go to bed at 1:30 a.m. with your phone in your hand,
• you mostly eat processed food,
• you sit at a desk for 10 hours a day and hardly move.

Most of the early benefits on your longevity journey come from very down-to-earth things:

• sleep (its regularity and quality),
• diet (not perfect, but sensible),
• training (strength + cardio, at your level),
• mental health (stress, relationships, recovery),
• basic, targeted supplementation.

This is the stage where:

• you don’t need a clinic yet,
• you need strategy, knowledge and consistency.

And the good news is that you can do many of these things almost for free – they mainly cost you:

• time,
• energy,
• the decision to take your health seriously.

For the first year (and often two) you can calmly focus on the foundations. That is not “little” at all – it is a huge amount of work that:

• stabilises your health assets,
• radically improves your well-being,
• often normalises basic lab results.

What you can do on your own:

• Get your sleep in order — regular hours, sleep hygiene, fewer screens in the evening, better sleep environment.
• Build a basic movement protocol — 2–3 strength sessions per week + regular walks + easy zone-2 cardio.
• Sort out the foundations of your diet — more whole, minimally processed food, fewer ultra-processed products, a more conscious relationship with eating.
• Start doing something for your mental health — a walk without your phone, a moment to breathe, short relaxation practices, limiting dopamine from social media.
• Introduce basic supplementation sensibly — not 20 supplements at once, but a few well chosen for your situation (e.g. vitamin D, omega-3, magnesium, creatine – if you have deficiencies).

A longevity clinic can become a very valuable partner when:

• you have already gone through the “foundations” stage,
• you have been acting consistently for a longer period of time,
• you have basic knowledge about health assets, your protocol and path.

Then a specialised clinic can help you, for example, to:

• choose advanced diagnostics (e.g. specific blood panels, imaging, organ function tests, cognitive tests),
• plan more complex protocols (e.g. pharmacology targeted to specific risks),
• run specialised therapies (e.g. based on specific diseases or predispositions).

At this stage:

• you are no longer a “naked client”,
• you have your own data, habits and results,
• you know what you want and what you don’t want.

The clinic stops being a “saviour” and becomes a partner. And that is exactly the point.

Before you spend a substantial amount on a visit to a longevity clinic, do three things for yourself:

1. Acquire basic knowledge

   about foundations, health assets and basic KPIs (VO₂max, muscle mass, body composition, glycaemia, lipids, sleep).

2. Build an initial protocol

   even in a simple form: “this is how I sleep, this is how I eat, this is how I train, this is how I handle my stress, this is what I take”.

3. Prepare questions and a decision filter

   what is unacceptable to you, what you expect, and how you will assess whether a given intervention makes sense.

Thanks to this:

• you won’t be overwhelmed by a stream of buzzwords without understanding them,
• you won’t buy everything that is on offer “because that’s what people do”,
• you can honestly ask: “Which of these things are priorities for me right now – and which can wait?”

Longevity clinics are not the enemy. At the right moment, for the right person, they can be:

• a huge accelerator,
• a source of advanced diagnostics,
• support in more complex decisions.

But they:

• will not replace the foundations,
• will not take over responsibility for your daily choices,
• do not know your body as well as you can get to know it yourself.

Therefore:

• for the first months – and often years – focus on the basics,
• gain the knowledge that will let you enter the clinic as a partner, not a “blind patient”,
• treat the clinic as a specialised consultant, not someone who will “take care of it for you”.

In other words: don’t start your house from the roof. Pour the foundation first. And once it is solid, the support of a longevity clinic can truly help you move to the next level of your longevity strategy.