One of the key pieces in the longevity puzzle is, not surprisingly, understanding your body, your genetics, and the role that data can play in the decisions you make to extend your life. I was recently accepted into the beta for Function Health, a startup that conducts over 100 blood tests (and a urine sample) and then provides analysis from top doctors on what you can do to live a longer, healthier life.

Given the amount of blood that Function Health takes you actually need to get your blood taken in two separate appointments, both close together, I think the timing is ten days or less apart. I finished both of my appointments and have now been watching data populate into my dashboard. This week, what I'm most excited about is my biological age, which came in at 30.8 years old.

As you can see on the right side of the Dashboard, the results are still processing but 91 biomarkers have already been analyzed. Once all the results are in then a clinician will review them and I will be able to start leveraging an action plan which is divided into two categories - Foods and Supplements.

I think companies like Function Health are going to become a core piece in the longevity puzzle. The reality is, we're all different, and we also don't know how the foods we eat, or the supplements we take, really impact us - until we have the data to tell us what we really need.

One of the reasons why I started The Centenarian Path and believe that we're now in a time where having a goal of living to 100 isn't all that crazy is because of the amount of data we can access about our bodies. This data is causing a real shift in how we think about our health, in many ways moving us from a system focused on treatment, to a system focused on prevention.

Along with Function Health I'm also planning on getting a full body MRI, this isn't something I'll do annually, but it is something I think aligns well with the preventative vs. treatment based approach to our health.

As I get more data in from Function Health I'll continue to share it here. For now, I need to now go back in time, think of all the things I would have told myself in my 30's, and tell them to myself, because it looks like I'm getting a second chance!