Pool at Longevity Health and Wellness Hotel, Portugal Shaun Fisher
Next on my schedule is a visit to clinical director Dr Joana Santos. A specialist in aesthetics, anti-ageing and integrative medicine, Dr Santos’s know-how ranges from face sculpting to spotting mineral deficiencies, providing chemical peels and telomere-length evaluations (the latter indicate cellular ageing, which is linked to cardiovascular diseases and cancer). Dr Santos shows me the results of my blood analysis, which I observe through nervous fingers. It’s a relief to learn that my cholesterol and antioxidant protection are good, and my skin elasticity is in the ‘acceptable’ range. However, my metabolism overload is poor, meaning it would be a struggle for me to lose weight if I tried. The results of my heavy metals test reveal that I’m low on Vitamin D and exposed to high amounts of aluminium – a by-product of living in a big city. A deficiency in chromium lies behind my blood sugar imbalance and diehard sweet tooth.
Those sugar cravings can be reduced, says the nutritionist in an appointment the following day. She advises me to add cinnamon to my breakfast porridge. Then she provides tips on how I can snack more healthily. Discipline isn’t my forte, so I’m pleased to see that the Longevity’s food menu allows some gluten-free treats such as chocolate brownies and panna cotta. Mains are mostly vegetarian, organic Mediterranean dishes that are low glycaemic and gluten-free but also cater to committed carnivores; vegan dishes can be ordered off-menu too.
Treatment room at Longevity Health and Wellness Hotel, Portugal Shaun Fisher
The ground-floor restaurant, Mediterrânico, opens in high-season and offers a space for guests on shake diets who might be tormented by the lure of solids. Three floors further up is the other restaurant, the poolside Pure Café, whose floor-to-ceiling windows flood its interior with glorious sunlight and views of the hills where azure-winged magpies flit among palm trees. Enveloped by ambient music, I eat sea bream, parsnip purée and grilled tomatoes, and marvel at the absence of my customary energy slump and post-dessert malaise. Five days of this five-day mental and physical detox has also given my skin a lustrous finish.
When lunch is over, I move across to the adjacent infinity pool to sunbathe, and for a moment I experience that rare sensation of untempered bliss: 24˚C sunshine, blue skies, shimmering ocean and Alvor Bay curving ruggedly into the distance. It’s easy to see why a younger, healthier crowd is drawn here in pursuit of plain leisure. “I’ve had a busy couple of years and just need some me time,” one 31-year-old visitor tells me as he sips Portuguese organic wine. With a routine like this, longevity has never felt more achievable.
