The Dr. Josh Axe Show
The Dr. Josh Axe Show

The 7 Biggest Health Mistakes People Over 40 Keep Making: And what to do instead

September 7, 2026

AI Summary

5 min read

After age 40, the human body rewrites its biology. Muscle builds less easily, recovery takes longer, and the same habits that worked at 25 quietly stop working. In this episode, Dr. Josh Axe walks through the seven biggest mistakes he sees people over 40 make—and what to do instead. The core argument is simple but easy to miss: most people aim at the wrong targets. They chase a number on the scale, do more cardio, and ignore the metrics that actually predict their future. Axe is 45 and recovered from a severe spinal infection that left him bedridden for a year, so he speaks from personal experience as well as clinical practice.

What changes after 40—and why most people drift

The average person loses 3% to 8% of their muscle every decade after age 30. Researchers call this sarcopenia; Axe calls it “the drift.” It is silent and slow, and by the time most people notice it, they have been drifting for 20 years. The same effort yields different results because the body’s anabolic hormones decline. Muscles become “hard of hearing”—the same protein intake now produces a weaker building signal. This is not weakness or imagination; it is biology. But Axe insists the game is still winnable: “Your body can heal, and you can be in your 70s and 80s and experience phenomenal health.”

The seven mistakes—and the fixes that matter most

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What you'll learn

  • 1 (01:15) **Why Your Body Changes After 40** - Dr. Axe introduces the core problem: the health playbook that worked at 25 stops working after 40, and most people are aiming at the wrong targets.
  • 2 (03:38) **The Silent Muscle Loss: "The Drift"** - Dr. Axe explains sarcopenia, the gradual loss of muscle mass that begins in your 30s and accelerates after 60.
  • 3 (07:25) **Mistake #1: All Cardio, No Strength Training** - Walking is great, but after 40, cardio alone cannot stop muscle loss; only progressive resistance training can.
  • 4 (08:47) **Mistake #2: Eating a 20-Year-Old's Breakfast** - After 40, your muscles become "hard of hearing" and require more protein to trigger the same building signal.
  • 5 (10:00) **Mistake #3: Treating Bad Sleep as Normal** - Poor sleep after 40 is often driven by high cortisol from a packed schedule, which suppresses melatonin.
  • 6 (12:20) **Mistake #4: Not Being Active Enough** - This isn't about steps or weight; it's about your overall fitness level and ability to do physical activities you enjoyed when younger.
  • 7 (13:28) **Mistake #5: Chasing the Scale Instead of Muscle** - After 40, aggressive dieting or using GLP-1 drugs without strength training sheds muscle along with fat, which is exactly what you can't afford to lose.

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Guests on this episode

Dr. Josh Axe

Show Notes

After 40, your biology rewrites the rules — and most people are still playing the old game. In this episode, Dr. Josh Axe breaks down the 7 mistakes that accelerate aging, why the scale is an outdated marker, and what a study of 140,000 people across 17 countries says actually predicts how long you'll live. In this episode: - Why muscle loss after 40 is silent, slow, and almost always preventable — and the two-day-a-week fix that reverses it - The grip strength finding from 140,000 adults that predicts mortality better than blood pressure or cholesterol - Why GLP-1s and aggressive dieting without strength training leave you metabolically weaker, not stronger - The blood markers most doctors skip — fasting insulin, ApoB, and high-sensitivity CRP — and why "normal" isn't the same as optimal - How poor sleep and social isolation are quietly compounding every other health mistake you're making - Josh's personal protocol after recovering from a spinal infection at 41 — and what his 76-year-old water-skiing father proves is possible Grab our free guide for the Bloodwork Markers that Matter Most: https://bit.ly/draxe25bloodworkmarkers Uncover what’s really going on in your body with advanced biomarker testing for hormones, thyroid, and metabolism— plus a 1-hour consultation with a Senior Health Advisor! → http://mybloodwork.com *Disclaimer: The bloodwork our team runs at mybloodwork.com covers a handful of the biomarkers listed in the guide above — including critical thyroid and metabolic markers — plus a 1-hour consultation with a Senior Health Advisor, but does NOT cover all 25. You will want to consult your primary or functional doctor for the entire list. Thank you to our sponsors! Sunlighten Sauna: https://get.sunlighten.com/axepodcast Manukora Manuka Honey: https://manukora.com/axe Watch The Dr. Josh Axe Show every Monday & Thursday on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@drjoshaxe?sub_confirmation=1 🎧 Early Access! Our listeners enjoy every episode before anyone else! Tune in below and join our exclusive group of listeners → Spotify: https://bit.ly/DrJoshAxeSpotify Apple Podcast: https://apple.co/3JDvWcS Pre-order my NEW BOOK, Heal Your Cells → healyourcellsbook.com Watch my free training on how to naturally balance your blood sugar and reverse your symptoms → http://DrAxeDiabetesClass.com Discover practical steps you can take today to start healing your thyroid naturally → http://DrAxeThyroidClass.com If you’re ready to start feeling like yourself again and balance your hormones, take my free class → http://DrAxeHormoneClass.com CONNECT WITH DR. JOSH AXE Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/drjoshaxe/ Facebook → https://www.facebook.com/DrJoshAxe/ TikTok → https://www.tiktok.com/@thedrjoshaxeshow/ X → https://x.com/drjoshaxe/ LinkedIn → https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshaxe Website → http://thehealthinstitute.com Sign up for my newsletter → https://bit.ly/4oE9Jf3 Ask Dr. Axe → http://speakpipe.com/drjoshaxe 0:00 Introduction 1:28 What chan

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