Emil Thorup scales back supplements and gadgets in longevity rethink

Podcast host and influencer Emil Thorup has sharply reduced his use of supplements and health gadgets after years of pursuing longevity, the desire to live longer. He told DR’s P1 Debat that he now focuses more on sunlight, movement and unprocessed food.

Thorup previously weighed his food, took more than 40 different supplements a day, tracked his sleep, cut out sugar and carbohydrates, tried fasting regimes and exercised for hours at a time. He also shared his health advice with listeners and guests on his podcast, Lang Levetid.

“I hardly take any supplements and hardly use any gadgets anymore. I use the natural things that already exist: the sun, movement and foods without an ingredient list,” he said.

Thorup recently became a father and now takes early morning walks with his daughter in a pram. He said he was particularly focused on getting daylight and believed the sun might be the most important thing people could do for themselves.

He has drawn criticism in the past year for saying people should give up oatmeal and sunscreen. Researchers and experts have criticised those views and strongly rejected them.

Thorup said he still takes omega 3 when he does not eat enough fish, but described it as essentially a food that had been condensed. He argued that many of the goals associated with longevity could be reached through ordinary habits.

Those habits could include eating organic eggs from a biodynamic farm, taking frequent walks in the sun and keeping regular bedtimes instead of tracking sleep every night, he said.

Anne Sophia Hermansen, a cultural commentator at Weekendavisen and host of the P1 programme Damerne Først, welcomed Thorup’s decision to reduce some elements of his approach. She said she did not advocate that everyone become “giant couch potatoes who eat cheese puffs all the time”, but hoped longevity would eventually be abandoned altogether.

She described the more extreme version of the movement as highly self-centred and said people needed balance. In her view, Thorup appeared to have moved away from many of longevity’s more extreme principles and found a healthier balance.

Hermansen also argued that people could usually tell whether they had slept well without using a tracker. She said apps that constantly measure people’s condition created stress, and that hearing about 45 pills a day, blood tests, sleep apps and eight to 10 hours of weekly exercise made her feel that the approach “terrorises the life force out of the individual”.

Thorup rejected that claim. Although he has changed his approach, longevity remains his central health focus. He said he was turning 43 in a few weeks and had never felt better, without feeling that he was giving anything up.