Dr. Molly Maloof is the esteemed physician, entrepreneur, and Stanford Medical School lecturer who’s on a mission to radically extend humans’ healthspans and maximize their physical and mental potential.
Through her private practice, she delivers personalized medicine and health optimization to investors, executives, and founders. Molly has also worked as an independent scientific consultant and medical advisor to over 45 tech companies in the Bay Area.
She sat down with The Proof so we could dig deeper on her immense expertise and approach to wellness in her personal life. We touch on routines, functional products, sleep cycles, and more.
“Nearly everyone has lost touch with nature and the natural physical rhythms that help us function. So that’s a large goal of mine: to help people return to a relationship with their body where they listen to and follow its needs and signals.”
The Kickoff
Most mornings, Molly starts the day with a spiritual practice via an hour-long meditation in bed, which she describes as the perfect solution for individuals who struggle to maintain focus.
The first 30 minutes entail a regular full-body scan. In the second half, she’ll run through a body scan — while holding a full smile on her face.
She describes the physical act as strangely effective for a mental boost and generating joy throughout the body.
Afterward, she’ll take time to say a prayer for individuals in her life, practice gratitude by noting what she’s thankful for, and set her goals for the day.
Once a positive tone is set for the rest of the morning, Molly makes coffee or an elixir and catches up on global news, by reading the Wall Street Journal.
Finally, she’ll take her supplements and hit the gym before starting the workday.
“I’m not an actively religious person, but I find a lot of magic in starting the day a bit spiritually, from a place that’s peaceful, joyful, and loving.”
Leveraging Energy Cycles
When we asked how she maintains such a consistent level of high energy in both her workplace and personal life, Molly attributed this to both fitness and a more recent practice and mindset in her life: being able to get in touch with the natural rhythms and cycles of her feminine body.
In fact, it’s an area of and practice within holistic health, particularly for people who menstruate, that she’s been deeply researching and writing about for her upcoming book.
In her own life, Molly will typically spend the first two weeks of her monthly cycle feeling invigorated and outward facing in her energy. As hormones shift, that stage eventually gives way to the next period, which is more inward facing with lower energy levels.
As Molly recounts, she’d previously power through every workday of the month, completely focused on high performance and achievement — just like all the men were, in her words — without paying any attention to all the signs her body was giving her.
Today, she’s learned to feel for and respond to the cyclical needs of her body. She’ll allow herself to move around meetings or events, and to carefully plan out her schedule so she won’t have to put her body through highly intense social events at the wrong time.
Naturally, as a founder and CEO, Molly never quite switches off completely, but she’s choosing to prioritize what her body needs to be its healthiest and sharpest in the long run, and working accordingly.
It’s a practice she hopes to normalize listening to one’s body and recommends this for anyone, regardless of gender.
“For me, it’s a spiritual practice as well as a biological one — honoring the natural design of my body, and not trying to force it into functioning like a male body.”
High-Performance Products
Caffeine
If it’s done with balance, there’s no shame in having a dependable caffeine routine. However, she does regularly wean off of caffeine and prefers to go fully caffeinated when she really needs to perform. Most days she does half-caffeine.
She’ll tend to up her intake during the drearier, low-energy winter months, but will reduce her caffeine intake if stress is building or it’s not helping her performance.
For a pre-gym ritual, Molly recommends Strong Coffee, an easy instant mix that provides 20 grams of protein plus healthy fats per serving. She usually fasts for 14 hours, but if she’s hitting the gym, she likes to eat something with calories before her workout. Women tend to underperform with fasted workouts, and generally require more pre-workout caloric fuel than men if they want to nail a high-intensity session without over-stressing the body.
Meanwhile, for matcha, Molly’s go-to is Breakaway Matcha, which she mixes with maca, Stevia, a pinch of salt, water, and almond milk.
Supplements
In Molly’s words, her supplements knowledge is extensive and no joke. She has custom compounds formulated for her needs, and she recently re-designed a new protocol and ordered a three-month supply.
On top of this, she never skips out on taking omegas and fish oils, magnesium, and essential B vitamins. Molly also keeps a steady electrolyte and mineral intake and has her levels tested semi-regularly, something most folks tend to overlook when building out their regimens.
Elixirs
To round out her routine, Molly swears by Wizard Sciences, which produces a neural Rx or oil-based LipoFullerene supplement — essentially a mitochondrial enhancer formula. (She swears this boost helps her feel like Bradley Cooper’s character in Limitless.)
When people ask Molly how she’s constantly juggling numerous roles and commitments, she chalks it up to the last decade she’s spent figuring out how to maximize her mitochondrial health and function — the equivalent of flooding her body with more sustainable battery life.
She does admit that the real secret to her energy is consistent fitness, a whole-food diet, and sleep.
“When I call these my must-haves, I mean that of course I’m okay without all these things. But when I get to follow my routine of practices and products that are great for my health, I feel like a superhuman.”
The Wind-Down
For her evening routine, Molly will stick to her oral hygiene and skincare practices every night, no matter the time or place. That’s brushing, flossing, and using a tongue scraper, plus applying face wash, moisturizer, and eye cream.
Lately, she’s also been trying to only incorporate products that are as kind to the environment as they are the human body.
Some favorites include the brand Kopari for body wash; Puna Noni shampoo, conditioner, and body lotion; body oils; and PurO3, which produces an ozonated oil deodorant that’s far more effective than other non-aluminum formulas on the market.
Molly also swears by a pair of exfoliating gloves from Amazon for removing any rough skin and dead cell buildup during her nightly showers. In her words, it’s the secret to looking younger while growing older.
She eventually gets to bed around 10 PM and reads to relax, while black-out shades, an eye mask, and earplugs are key for the full night’s sleep.
“Honestly, in medical school, you learn to sleep anywhere at any time. So I’m a good sleeper. Once I’m out, I’m out for the full eight hours.”
