Move more. Sleep more. Eat less. Stress less: This is the mantra of Dr Ron Whelan, CEO of Discovery Health. He talks to Johané du Toit about the power that good health habits have in driving your wellbeing, and how he applies this ethos in his life. He also shares his insights into the increasing personalization evident in healthcare, and the exciting role of big data and AI in getting us there.
Q: How do you maintain your health and wellbeing?
A: I have a simple personal mantra: Move more. Sleep more. Eat less. Stress less.
Q: Tell us what moving more means to you?
A: I love to exercise in the early morning, and prefer to be outdoors. I’m an avid runner. I’ve run most of the leading trail runs in South Africa. I aim to run three times a week before work, and make sure to do a longer run – either road or trail – on a Saturday morning. My favourite places to run are in Cape Town (particularly on Chapman’s Peak Drive) and in Dullstroom, where you get the benefits of altitude training.
I’ve completed two Comrades Marathons and have done a 100-mile trail run in the KZN midlands (running for 28 hours in one go really pushed my mental and physical limits). My bucket-list runs are the Great Wall Marathon along the Great Wall of China, and the Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc, 171km across Italy, Switzerland and France.
Q: Does physical activity have to be vigorous to count towards good health?
A: Not necessarily. Even a little physical activity can have a significant impact on health outcomes, as long as it’s carried out regularly. The Vitality Habit Index – released in March – found enormous health benefits from regular physical activity, even at low volumes. This research by Vitality and the London School of Economics (across more than one million Vitality members) found that walking only 5 000 steps three times a week can add up to three years to an inactive person’s life expectancy.
The research also showed that it takes between seven and fifteen weeks to form a strong habit, irrespective of age, sex and chronic-disease profile. Lasting physical-activity habits are formed gradually, starting with small and consistent steps. I strongly support this view, and believe physical activity should always be about the enjoyment.
Q: What role does sleep play in maintaining good health?
A: I’m very excited by the wealth of data that’s emerged around how important good sleep is, for everything from mental health and cognitive performance to weight management, disease prevention and longevity. On the flipside, inadequate sleep quality and quantity are linked to everything from poor immune functioning to mental illness, and chronic illnesses such as hypertension, obesity, Type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and more. Prioritizing good sleep quality and quantity every night is as important as regular exercise and healthy eating in maintaining holistic wellbeing.
I function best on seven hours of sleep. For me, getting good sleep means higher energy levels all day and better overall wellness. I’m typically in bed by 22:00, and I get up at 05:00. This routine allows me to get my exercise in early in the day too.
Q: How does eating less benefit you?
A: We’ve long known that there’s a clear correlation between obesity and chronic disease – particularly heart disease and Type 2 diabetes. However, what’s becoming increasingly clear, and very concerning, is that there appears to be a strong correlation between obesity and cancer, with obesity linked to one-third of the most common cancers. It’s therefore more important than ever to pay close attention to healthy eating habits.
I practise intermittent fasting, typically not eating from 20:00 in the evening to noon the following day. During my eight-hour eating window, I eat a variety of foods, but I’m cautious not to overindulge.
Stay away from refined sugars
I don’t eat refined sugars, rather satisfying any craving for sweet food with fruit or dried fruit. I drink black coffee, and sometimes Rooibos tea (shown to have many health benefits too).
As a runner, keeping my weight in check is key to achieving the speeds and distances I work towards. Intermittent fasting helps me with this, and more. Research suggests that intermittent fasting reduces overall insulin levels, and has a positive effect on glucose modulation and fat storage. I find it gives me greater energy levels, and helps me keep to my disciplines and habits around healthy living.
Dr Ron Whelan, CEO Discovery Health
Q: Why is it important to stress less?
A: Effective stress management is critical, as stress affects us all. Across the medical schemes administered by Discovery Health, we’ve seen a significant increase in members diagnosed with stress-related mental-health conditions, particularly since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
At the same time, we’re seeing significant advances in the management of mental health and stress, with tools such as cognitive behavioral therapy, and even mindfulness and meditation techniques, more widely accessible in-person and online.
At work, I aim for regular, short breaks during the day, and use these to either “walk the floor” to connect with colleagues, or have quiet time. During times of intensified stress, I journal to gain perspective and also to structure my thoughts.
When I have time off, I love to read, to unplug, relax and learn. I particularly love biographies. After my run on a Saturday morning, I will often do some meditating to take stock of the week, and focus my mind – something many of us struggle with in our always-on existence.
I also make time for my family and loved ones. I make sure I’m home for dinner every night. My wife and I, our daughter and two sons, eat dinner together at the dining-room table. As for family vacations, anything that involves either water or snow is a winner all round.
Q: What is your approach to longevity?
A: Any focus on lifespan must be accompanied by a concomitant focus on healthspan – the number of years lived in good health. The prevailing narrative says that aging means an unavoidable deterioration in health. However, when one considers that our state of health at any given point is the sum of the healthy habits preceding that point, we can simultaneously achieve greater lifespan and healthspan through healthy habits.
Here’s a case in point: between 2008 and 2023, the number of centenarian (people who are 100 years old or older) Discovery Health Medical Scheme members increased from nine to 90. These are remarkable individuals with remarkable stories – people who, in many respects, hold the secret to lifespan and healthspan. Interestingly, these centenarians experience a very low incidence of chronic conditions, with a prevalence similar to that of Scheme members aged between 60 and 64. Additionally, the prevalence of cancers across this group is very low (only four of the 90 Discovery Health Medical Scheme centenarians had been diagnosed with cancer), and they have rarely needed admission to hospital.
On living longer
We need to take this analysis further to really understand the drivers of their exceptional longevity. While good genetics may play some part, it’s also likely that positive epigenetic changes (healthy environments and behaviors causing positive changes to how our genes work) have fueled their healthspan. The centenarians we’ve had the privilege of speaking to have told us that they’ve long kept up with everything from regular physical activity to growing their own food and eating home-cooked, wholefood meals; keeping their minds challenged with learning, whether through their work or hobbies; managing stress well; and nurturing their friendships, family relationships and spiritual lives.
Q: What’s your top advice for maximizing health and lifespan?
A: It’s surprising how many health risk factors are in our control. Sure, we can’t change our age, ethnicity and genetic make-up. However, we can control what we eat, how much we move, how much we sleep, how much we stress. And we can manage our risk factors through regular health checks and screening.
I do a thorough set of health checks once a year. I start with an annual health check that includes my blood pressure, cholesterol, blood glucose and HbA1c levels, and related tests – mainly to assess my risk of heart disease and diabetes. Given my family risk of heart disease, I also do an annual stress ECG, to check for any underlying ischemic heart disease that could heighten my risk of a heart attack. I also do targeted screening for colon cancer, prostate cancer and skin cancer – the screening checks recommended for men of my age (48). As most cancers are now readily curable when detected early, I see huge benefit in annual screening for cancer.
Q: Is it important that we take a personalized approach to healthcare, and even to longevity?
A: Personalization is the future of healthcare. Where modern medicine has resulted in average lifespan increasing by approximately four months every year, personalized medicine is likely to accelerate these advances in lifespan, and also drive healthspan.
Healthcare is at an exciting inflection point in this sense, and it’s driven by powerful technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning. These technologies enable everything from predictive diagnostics to personalized prevention and treatment of disease.
Within the Discovery Health Medical Scheme, we’re applying machine learning and AI to very large datasets across the Scheme’s population, to create precise and individual health recommendations and “Personal Health Pathways” for each of the Scheme’s 2.2 million adult members. These recommendations and pathways are unique to each individual member, and are optimized to increase the lifespan and healthspan of that person.
End note
The science and sophistication behind our Personal Health Pathways is remarkable, and it gives me immense pride to be part of an organization that is driving this sort of world-leading innovation. Personal Health Pathways go live on the Discovery Health app in the second half of 2024, driving what we expect will be significant advances in healthspan and lifespan for our clients.
