Life Extension Magazine®

Health Advisors at your Service

Life Extension’s advisors provide individualized health advice based on up-to-the-minute research. This service can help you understand complex health issues as well as design an enhanced nutrition program.

Scientifically reviewed by: Dr. Gary Gonzalez, MD, in October 2024. Written by: Dave Tuttle.

Knowledgeable wellness professionals provide you with valuable health information not available anywhere else

One of the most unique aspects of being a Life Extension member is having direct access to a dedicated team of people known as the health advisors. Staffed by four medical doctors, a naturopath, and two chiropractors, along with nutritionists, nurses, personal trainers, and other health professionals, Life Extension health advisors provide a valuable service by helping members understand their dietary and supplement needs, current studies about nutrients, as well as the latest data on almost any health and wellness issue.

Life Extension members utilize the health advisors to learn about a wide range of health-related topics. The ability to tap into this wealth of information helps keep Foundation members the best informed health enthusiasts in the world. No question is too large or too small for the health advisors. When necessary, they will research questions to give the most comprehensive and accurate information possible. In a typical day, an advisor could help a member to find the best nutrients to maintain bone health, clarify a question about cholesterol management, and assist in deciding which blood tests to order. The advisor could also field questions about an article in Life Extension magazine and provide additional information on nutrient formulas, all the while offering the highest level of customer service.

Most supplement companies only sell products, providing minimal information even on their own offerings. If you have ever tried to contact another company, you have no doubt discovered that it is difficult or even impossible to determine anything other than what is already stated on the label. But that’s not the case at Life Extension, which fully supports members with trained professionals who know their research and are committed to helping aging humans achieve an optimal health maintenance program.

A Broad Range of Expertise

Life Extension’s health advisor team comprises a unique combination of professionals. These experts know the real science behind nutrient formulations and how they can help with a variety of health problems. Whether your joints ache or you want to design a program to keep them from starting to ache, the health advisors are ready, willing, and able to work with you one-on-one to give you access to the latest scientific studies. They are on the front line of the longevity movement, dedicated to showing you how to live a long, healthy life. Between the hours of 7:30 am and 1:00 am Eastern Time, they are only a phone call away.

The advisor team includes skilled professionals with up to 38 years of experience, along with recent graduates who are trained in the latest techniques. Many of them have been instructed in traditional medicine but have learned through personal experience that alternative and complementary medicine not only works, but often works better than the options offered by Western allopathic practice. Other advisors have come to Life Extension after realizing early in their lives that there are options to drugs and traditional approaches to disease. Many of these advisors have been educated at schools that focus on these natural methods.

Regardless of their background, once they start working at Life Extension, advisors go through a training program that enlightens them about scientific approaches to better health and longer life. Advisors are kept up-to-date on the latest technical information with weekly staff meetings that include specialized presentations on particular topics of interest. Recent lectures have included detailed discussions of prostate cancer, sleep apnea, oral health, antibiotics, and antidepressants.

This combination of diverse academic backgrounds and the most current training gives our advisor team the wherewithal to offer scientifically based information regarding individual health concerns. This passion for helping members to achieve their goals through natural remedies, tied to their deep commitment to customer satisfaction, ensures a friendly and sympathetic response to your health questions.

Help in Understanding Our Protocols

One of the major resources that Life Extension offers is the Disease Prevention and Treatment book. This compilation is one of the most broad-ranging textbooks on this topic. Health advisors can help members understand the full meaning of each individual protocol and how it pertains to individual needs. While they cannot diagnose a condition, they can educate about the studies on a particular topic, providing information that will help members obtain the best care from their personal doctor.

We encourage members to read the protocols first so they will have a basic understanding on the topic, but members are free to call the Advisor Helpline whenever they have questions on any health-related subject. The advisors can help you establish priorities among the various nutrients that are listed in any particular protocol.

Life Extension’s protocols are continually being updated as new clinical studies are published on a particular topic and as advisors develop new insights. Depending on when you received your Disease Prevention and Treatment book, there may be updates to the information in the book as well. The newest versions of the protocols are also available on our website. By calling the advisors, you can ensure that you get the latest information on how to best approach your own health issue.

What You Need to Know: Health Advisors at Your Service

One of the greatest benefits of Life Extension Foundation membership is access to its highly knowledgeable staff of wellness specialists known as health advisors.
Comprising medical doctors, nutritionists, personal trainers, and other professionals, Life Extension’s health advisors are available 365 days per year to answer all of your health-related questions.
With their up-to-the-minute scientific knowledge, health advisors can help you customize a supplement program, discuss the results of blood tests, fine-tune a longevity lifestyle, dispel health misinformation, and understand a disease prevention program. They can also answer questions related to product offerings or Life Extension magazine articles.
While Life Extension health advisors provide a wealth of information and services, they do not take the place of your treating physician. Information provided by the Life Extension Foundation may help you and your doctor make more informed choices about your treatment options.
You can speak to a health advisor by calling the Helpline number: 1-800-226-2370.

Learn More about Life Extension Products

Unlike most supplement companies, Life Extension makes product information fully available to its members. You will never get a receptionist telling you to read the label again or who takes a message for someone who never calls back. Life Extension believes that customer services is a number one priority and provides more product-support information than any commercial company.

The advisors have extensive knowledge about individual nutrients and special-purpose formulations. This enables them to answer specific questions on topics such as timing, allergens, and how the nutrient may interact with other supplements or drugs. For example, they can explain label warnings on the use of a supplement with prescription blood thinners or how to separate your fiber consumption from the intake of certain nutrients.

Staff members are also able to explain which nutrient is best for each individual, allowing Life Extension members to make the most effective use of their supplement dollar.

Promoting the Longevity Lifestyle

At the Life Extension Foundation, our goal is to help our members live the longest, most healthy lives possible. This involves appropriate supplementation, of course, but it is not limited to swallowing pills. We want our members to live the longevity lifestyle, and we encourage them to call the advisors about this important topic. Diet and exercise play key roles in maintaining a youthful body and mind, and our nutrients are intended to supplement—not substitute—a good diet and exercise regimen.

The advisors can describe the benefits of caloric restriction and explain how appropriate lifestyle practices can help to keep various diseases from occurring. This is much better than dealing with disease after the fact. Studies have shown that up to 80% of disease is preventable, and the advisor team knows how to best integrate diet, exercise, and supplementation into a comprehensive wellness regimen. By retarding the aging process, you can live longer with the greatest possible quality of life. We encourage you to use the advisors as a tool to facilitate positive change.

Blood Test Analysis

Each year thousands of members have their blood tested through Life Extension’s low-cost and comprehensive blood-testing service. While the advisors cannot interpret these tests or diagnose a medical condition based on them, they can explain what each test measures and provide information to help intelligently discuss a particular topic with your doctor. For example, they can discuss various reasons why certain test results are out of balance and can offer suggestions on natural ways to improve these blood markers.

Access to this information is a major resource for members, and many of them tell us that the blood tests and advisor follow-up are the greatest benefit they obtain from their annual membership renewal. Life Extension’s blood tests enable members to find out information on natural hormones and other issues that are often not covered by insurance, so members can become active players in their own health care.

Combating Misinformation

We live in a world where there is a huge amount of misinformation, some accidental and some intentional. Depending on who funds the research, serious flaws have been identified in studies that on the surface appear to disprove the life-saving value of certain nutrients and hormones. In other cases, statistical manipulation is employed to take raw data showing a nutrient to be beneficial and turn it around so that the nutrient appears to be ineffective. Studies financed by the drug companies are often purposely flawed, and even when a neutral researcher is involved, the mainstream media can misinterpret a study in order to create fear and boost ratings.

It can be hard to determine what to believe in these situations. Life Extension helps to fill the gap by providing analyses of the most widely disseminated studies. Working with its medical review staff, a comprehensive examination of the statistical data is performed that cuts through the morass of misinformation in the media.

The advisor team is the front line of defense when members are confronted with this type of media misinformation. Health advisors are the people you can turn to for help and clarity from the confusion of competing claims put out by vested interests seeking to convince the public that only drugs are beneficial.

How to Talk With Your Doctor

Dietary supplements promote health by providing the nutritional support that your body needs. Life Extension reports each month on numerous studiesthat have shown a positive correlation betweencertain nutrients and a reduced risk of disease. Yet,even the healthiest people occasionally need to visit their doctor about a condition. When this happens, here are some things to keep in mind:

Provide your doctor with a list of the supplements and medications that you are taking. If your doctor is not knowledgeable about herbs and other natural products, he or she may not be the best doctor for you. And yet all doctors learn from experience. You could help teach your doctor about natural options!
Prepare questions for the doctor with the most important questions first. That way you’ll be sure to get the information you need.
Bring a list of symptoms if you are not feeling well. Include anything that is out of the ordinary. Doctors are highly educated, but they are not mind readers.
If you need help understanding medical terminology or if you tend to avoid confrontations, bring along a friend or family member for support.
Never withhold information, even if you find it embarrassing or uncomfortable. Doctors are professionals, and the law ensures doctor-patient confidentiality.
Take notes and don’t let the doctor rush you. If he or she does not have time, ask them to have a nurse or physician assistant explain things to you. Don’t leave the office without understanding everything you need to know.
If the doctor recommends drugs, inquire about alternative treatments. Discuss side effects, interactions, and dosing options. Ask if a generic version is available.
When your doctor suggests surgery, be sure to get a second opinion.
If there are issues you want to discuss that the doctor doesn’t mention, raise them yourself.
If you forgot to ask a question or think of a new one, call the doctor’s office right away. Politely insist that the doctor speak with you, although you will probably have to leave a message.
If your symptoms get worse, or if you have problems with your medications, call the doctor. If he or she wants to see you again, schedule the appointment immediately.
When your doctor does not understand how a natural product functions in the body, feel free to call the Health Advisor Helpline at 1-800-226-2370 and ask for assistance. At Life Extension, we believe in complementary medicine, and we want to help members obtain the best health information available.

A Vital Resource

The health advisors are a unique group of wellness professionals. No commercial company offers such a resource, and it is all free of charge to members. We encourage you to make use of the advisor team, and to call with your questions. The advisors are ready to assist you seven days a week because your need for optimal health does not take days off.

If you have any questions on the scientific content of this article, please call a Life Extension Health Advisor at 1-800-226-2370.