Sleep, stress and exercise: your longevity toolkit | Kayla Barnes-Lentz

Can science really help us live longer - and feel better while we age? In this episode, longevity expert Kayla Barnes-Lentz joins Jonathan and Dr Federica Amati to explore how daily behaviours, emerging science, and personalised data may shape our health span. Many people believe longevity requires extreme routines or expensive treatments, but new evidence suggests simple habits may have a powerful impact. This conversation asks one central question: how can we age well while still enjoying life?

Together, Kayla, Jonathan and Federica explore what longevity science currently understands… and what it still doesn’t. Kayla shares her personal journey from chronic fatigue and brain fog to measurable improvements after changing her diet, sleep routine and lifestyle. The discussion covers nutrition, sleep, oral health, fasting, environmental toxins, supplements, wearable tracking, personalised lab testing, and why women may need different guidance based on physiology and life stage.

For listeners wanting practical steps, this episode includes guidance on five foundational habits such as consistent sleep timing, reducing late-evening eating, flossing and dental check-ins, supporting your gut and oral microbiome, and increasing plant diversity in meals.

As science continues to uncover how and why we age, what small behaviour could you change today that your future self may thank you for? And if you could meaningfully extend your healthy years, how differently might you live now?

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Timecodes

00:00 Intro

01:47 Biohacking, longevity - or something else?

03:50 The moment food changed Kayla’s health

11:02 Why women need personalised longevity science

14:03 Is longevity worth the lifestyle cost?

16:56 Why women were excluded from research

19:30 How alcohol affects sleep (and the shocking tracking data)

21:44 The history of extreme self-experimentation

23:58 What’s worth testing?

26:41 The wildfire moment that changed everything

28:52 Plasma filtering and toxin removal

31:22 Forever chemicals and microplastics

33:06 30 supplements a day - smart or risky?

36:19 Supplement stacking dangers

38:59 Why oral health matters for ageing

40:44 The sleep routine that rewires biology

42:51 Why women may need more sleep

44:56 Why exercise may be the closest thing to a longevity pill

46:39 The mistake women make with exercise timing

48:52 Bone density, pelvic floor and overlooked essentials

50:19 Kayla’s full diet - and why she eats 50 plants a week

52:41 Fermented foods, fibre and mindful meals

54:26 If you do one thing - start here

56:16 The goal: Longevity with quality of life

📚Books by our ZOE Scientists

The Food For Life Cookbook (amzn.to/4amfIMX)

Every Body Should Know This by Dr Federica Amati (amzn.to/4blJsLg)

Food For Life by Prof. Tim Spector (amzn.to/4amZinu)

Ferment by Prof. Tim Spector (amzn.to/4hU1Df5)

Free resources from ZOE

Live Healthier: Top 10 Tips From ZOE Science & Nutrition (zoe.com/freeguide?utm_medium=podcast&utm_s…)

Gut Guide - For a Healthier Microbiome in Weeks (zoe.com/gutguide?utm_medium=podcast&utm_so…)

Better Breakfast Guide (zoe.com/breakfastguide?utm_medium=podcast&…)

ZOE’s Holiday Hosting Guide (zoe.com/holidayguide?utm_medium=zoe_podcast&am…)

Mentioned in today's episode

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Validating Benefits of Rapamycin for Reproductive Aging Treatment (VIBRANT) (reports.obgyn.columbia.edu/2024-annual-report/…), Columbia University (2025)

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Menstrual cycle phase does not influence muscle protein synthesis or whole-body myofibrillar proteolysis in response to resistance exercise (pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39630025), The Journal of Physiology (2024)

•
Tracking Sleep, Temperature, Heart Rate, and Daily Symptoms Across the Menstrual Cycle with the Oura Ring in Healthy Women (pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9005074), International Journal of Women's Health (2022)

Have feedback or a topic you'd like us to cover? Let us knowhere (gf6hx47iu5g.typeform.com/topicsuggestion).
Episode transcripts are available here (zoe.com/learn/category/podcasts).