In the race to turn back the hands of time, grandmother Amy Hardison has earned herself a top spot on the leaderboard. The 64-year-old is currently ranked fifth in the Rejuvenation Olympics, an online challenge where participants compete to reverse their biological age and “win by never crossing the finish line,” per the website.
Earlier this month, Hardison notably surpassed co-founder and tech exec Bryan Johnson, whose anti-aging regimen costs millions. Meanwhile, Hardison has slowed her age with the help of supplements and her two favorite foods: bread and chocolate.
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"My daughter told me: 'Mom, this is kind of a big deal. The guy just underneath you, he spends $2 million a year to get these kinds of results,'" Hardison told Business Insider.
Hardison shared that one of the best investments she’s made in her health journey is learning about longevity-formulated supplements.
Prior to the Rejuvenation Olympics, Hardison had never taken vitamins. Now, the grandmother takes three different kinds of supplements from the longevity-supplement brand NOVOS (who arranged her interview with Business Insider). Her supplement line-up—which costs her about $160 per month—includes NOVOS products Core, Boost, and Vital, which contain magnesium, L-theanine, ginger, and fisetin.
According to the Office of Dietary Supplements at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), magnesium regulates blood pressure and blood sugar levels and plays a crucial role in muscle and nerve function. L-theanine is an amino acid that can improve sleep quality, reduce stress and anxiety, and boost mental clarity, explains the Cleveland Clinic.
Ginger is best at targeting nausea; however, it can also help with pain relief, improve blood sugar regulation, and even lower cholesterol, per the Cleveland Clinic. On the other hand, NOVOS reports that fisetin “reduces the amount of senescent cells, which are cells that increase during aging and damage healthy surrounding cells, accelerating the aging process.”
Nutrition has always been top of mind for Hardison, even as a kid. Speaking with Business Insider, the grandmother of 11 attributes intuitive eating to her slimmed physique, noting that she was never one for dieting.
"I'll listen to my body. I will only eat what I love. I savor what I eat," she said.
As someone who makes her own bread, Hardison said breakfast is one of her favorite meals. Her ideal breakfast includes a hearty slice of her homemade whole wheat toast and a tall glass of chocolate milk. For lunch, Hardison will build her own salad, adding veggies, berries, chicken, nuts, and cheese. And in the afternoon, she’ll toast herself another slice of bread as a little snack.
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Cooking at home isn’t only a health-conscious decision for Hardison but an act of self-care, too.
"We don't eat out a lot just because I think my food's better and I think it's healthier. And I cook because if I'm going to eat, I want it to be good," she explained. Hardison added that making her own meals also allows her to avoid processed foods.
But while she does take pride in eating clean, she always saves room for dessert. Her favorite sweets include chocolate or homemade cookies.
"I can't think of the last time I went a day without my little sweet treat," she shared.
At 64, Hardison believes “this is the best age ever.” She told the outlet her goal isn’t “to stave off old age” but to enjoy the things in life that make her happy while she still can.
"Growing old is amazing, and it's wonderful," she continued. "You can only get how sweet it is to have had the experience of life, the good, the bad, the hard things, you only get that by doing it."
