It was good to see Julia Jones again last night at the launch of her latest book, 'F-Bomb': the third in her trilogy on the subject of 'smart wellness'. 'Dr Rock' introduced her new work at Neuron Wellness in Folkstone, Kent, her business backed by Channel 4's 'Packed Lunch' host Steph McGovern. Steph had interviewed Julia on her show, and took up this wellness programme herself. Having transformed her own gut health, weight and wellness using these methods, Steph invested.
It's nice down there, in Folkstone's Creative Quarter. We drank kombucha and kefir drinks at the centre's live Bacteria Bar, showing willing.
I hadn't seen Julia for four years. We worked together prior to that, on a series of sell-out rock-talk evenings and music presentations around the country. She also took me on a fabulous Bowie-themed rock tour to Berlin, where I co-presented with photographer Denis O'Regan and Bob Harris, and where we were heroes ... just for four days. She looked fabulous in 2018, but she looks incredible now. She was, she declares, never this slim even in her twenties. Using herself as her own guinea pig during the lockdowns, she has transformed her health and appearance and improved her life expectancy using revolutionary bio-hacking techniques. It's not rocket science, as they say, but this almost is. Quite terrifying in its simplicity. Unbelievable, the way we are killing ourselves with our own toxic lifestyles.
I devoured the book overnight, for which JJ would scold me roundly: proper sleep being one of the factors for which to strive. The good news is that we can stop going to the gym (doesn't work: neither do 'diets'), and start doing high-intensity exercise as simple as walking or running up stairs or the nearest hill; we can heal ourselves and diminish our stress levels with music; we can take cold showers; we can do 'breath work', ie learn how to breathe properly and positively; we can meditate; we can fast for sixteen hours per day easily enough, if we eat dinner early and resist breakfast until around 11am the next day, thus eliminating the 'need' for lunch. And - this was the one that got me - we should be eating at least thirty different fruits and vegetables every week.
THIRTY?! Four-and-a-half different ones every day? Surely that's impossible! This morning, I made a list, of the fruit and veg I like and can stomach. From apricots, blueberries and broccoli (all superfoods) to tomatoes, watercress and watermelon, I clocked up thirty-eight varieties. Just my own little list. Yep, I can do this.
Bottom line: longevity is all the rage these days. But what use is living to beyond a hundred if the last twenty years are spent rotting incontinently in the corner of a care home? Julia set out to secure for herself an independent, positive, productive life until the end of the line. Who doesn't want that?
Love it!