Anti-Aging: New Research on Nutrition, Exercise, Your Nervous System and Hormesis
Hello, I am Julie Donaldson and I am a clinical nutritionist with functional health training. I specialize in restoring balance in complex, chronic and acute health conditions. I welcome you to peruse other articles that may be of interest to you in your health investigation
“When I began to have cognitive and memory issues as well as immune problems in my late 50s, I was really scared. I did not want to go down that rabbit hole. And, luckily I found Julie. Within weeks of beginning a new nutrition program (right for just me) and investigating what was happening to me biologically (then fixing it), I was on the road to being myself again. I once thought I was doomed for aging rapidly and having dementia, and that is a distant experience now. Forever grateful, ”
It’s time to talk anti-aging. And who doesn’t want to be drinking from the fountain of youth?! I’ve got some wonderful new research for you and it backs up some things we’ve been talking about and practicing here for a long time. Holistic health, when practiced correctly, is anti-aging. This article will cover science-based information on your longevity switches, including nutrition, exercise, breathing/adjusting the nervous system, hormesis and powerful natural compounds that reverse your body’s abnormal aging.
A significant study revealed successful results of an 8-week anti-aging approach that reduced biological age markers in the subjects by 3.23 years - how utterly exciting! Research and understanding of what creates abnormal aging and all of its cascading diseases/conditions is ever-increasing. Also, the conversation of aging actually being abnormal and/or a disease is elevating. For the first time ever, 3 years ago the W.H.O. declared aging as a disease, the definition of which is a condition that causes loss of function and disability, happening over time. Abnormal aging produces a lot of downstream effects/illness. What is new is the conversation that aging isn’t inevitable. We know that death is inevitable, but a slow, frail, miserable process towards it is not. Let’s talk about some of the specifics of what reverses the aging process. You are never too young to begin to live in a way that sustains vitality and well-being throughout your life span!
The components of the 8-week program
First up in this program is nutrition. The research team had subjects follow a Mediterranean-style diet, comprised of proteins, fats, vegetables and fruits, with limited starch and no sugar. Now, as you know, I am an eternal proponent of personalized nutrition through Metabolic Typing® - I do not recommend one-size-fits-all diets, period. However, for the purposes of research, when choosing a nutritional plan for subjects to follow, the Mediterranean diet is one that will cross into many of the types of MT® and offer some moderation. Also, the team utilized a “mild intermittent fasting” approach, essentially in an overnight fashion of 12 hours. We’ll cover hormesis again later, but this type of approach is less of a hormetic stressor than most.
Next, the team utilized 2 daily 20-minute sessions of breathing to calm and regulate the nervous system. I give a huge thumbs-up to this inclusion, but I am also here to say that I have written about techniques studied at the Huberman Lab at the UC Berkley that show only 5 minutes daily of specific breath work will accomplish this and sustain it for a full 24 hours! Please see the video below to familiarize yourself with these breathing techniques.
The 3rd component of the program is exercise. Subjects of the study did moderate exercise for 30 minutes a day. We know from years of research that exercise helps to maintain all kinds of healthy function in the body, including:
Improve memory and brain function
Protect against chronic diseases
Aid in metabolism, weight management and insulin regulation
Lower blood pressure and improve heart health
Improve the quality of sleep
Improve mood
Maintain muscle & bone strength as well as flexibility
Improve energy
Support sex drive and function
Improve skin health
Next up in the program was sleep support. Subjects were prescribed a minimum of 7 hours of sleep nightly. You may read more on healthy sleep here.
As described by one of the authors of the study, these are changes in epigenetics (lifestyle, environment, food, etc) that can help repair DNA damage. Your DNA is your body’s “code”, and epigenetics/healthy lifestyle make up the software that helps the hardware to function properly. Dr. David Sinclair of Harvard speaks of this in terms of restoring lost information from the epigenome that involves loss of “identity” in our cells, forgetting who/what they are.
(A special technical note for those interested: DNA methylation age {DNAmAGE} was the basis for determining the participants’ age at onset of the study and after the 8 weeks. DNA methylation is the addition of a methyl group to cytosine residues at selective areas on a chromosome. Methylation constitutes the best-studied and likely most resilient of many mechanisms controlling gene expression. Unique among epigenetic markers, DNA methylation can readily and cheaply be mapped from tissue samples. Of 20+ million methylation sites on the human genome, there are a few thousand at which methylation levels are tightly correlated with age. Currently, the best biochemical markers of an individual’s age are all based on patterns of methylation, tested via saliva samples.)
Dr. Mark Hyman’s 4 “longevity switches”
Dr. Mark Hyman is one of the leading authorities on this topic and has a new book out entitled “Young Forever”. In the book, Dr. Hyman discusses what he calls the longevity switches, 2 of which detect excesses in the body and 2 of which detect scarcity. Having balance is the key with each of these switches. Let’s talk about these and some basic monitoring/supports we can utilize.
#1 in the excess detection category is insulin signaling. Hopefully by now, most of us are well aware of what insulin does and what goes awry when it is not properly signaled and/or regulated - but let’s do a quick review. Insulin is secreted by the pancreas and its job is to regulate glucose. Every time we eat (no matter the amount), blood glucose rises in response. Insulin is secreted in order to move glucose where it needs to be in the body and to prevent proteins and fats from being converted to glucose. Chronic exposure to insulin (hyperinsulinemia) results in a decrease of insulin receptors on the cell surface. This occurs as a result of excess sugars, starches, over-eating or too frequent eating, or pancreatic disease. Proper nutrient ratios and meal timing are critical for maintaining insulin balance.
#2 in the excess detection category is mTOR signaling. mTOR is a very complex protein signaling process that controls cell growth and autophagy (restoration). Of great import is that mTOR is stimulated by hormones, including insulin. And when over signaled, there is excess cell formation, inclusive of tumor cells.
In addition to the control by hormones and growth factors, mTOR signaling is also regulated by amino acids and by cellular energy status.
Amino acids are what make up proteins in the body. Amino acid deficiency alters mTOR regulation.
Depletion of cellular ATP also causes an impairment of mTOR signaling. Remember, ATP production is optimized via practice with Metabolic Typing®.
Now, let’s discuss the two scarcity markers.
#1 are sirtuins. Sirtuins play a key role during cell response to a variety of stresses (such as oxidative or toxic stress) and are crucial for cell metabolism. Sirtuins reduce over time, as does a critical compound called NAD+ that sirtuins depend upon. NAD+ helps convert food to energy, has significant impact upon maintaining the integrity of our DNA, and ensures proper cell function to protect our bodies from aging and disease. NAD+ is supported by the microflora in the gut and saliva, making a healthy microbiome a major priority for this longevity supporter. Again, exercise is a primary stimulator - research shows that both aerobic and resistance forms of exercise restore enzymes associated with NAD+ in muscle tissue.
Sirtuin activation (by phytochemicals, diet, exercise, etc.) elicits an adaptive response to continuous mild exposures to stressors, in alignment with the hormesis principle.
Supporting sirtuin levels is best accomplished through supporting NAD+ levels as well as through the use of curcumin, resveratrol and melatonin (NAD+ helps support circadian rhythms in the body). Rather than direct supplementation of NAD, the use of precursors NMN (nicotinamide mononucleotide) and NR (nicotinamide riboside) is recommended. Use of NAD+ is contraindicated in some people with methylation compromises.
#2 is AMPK. Adenosine 5′ monophosphate-activated protein kinase (AMPK) is an enzyme that is known as the body’s master regulator of energy metabolism. It is stimulated in the body when energy is depleted, and it also decreases over time and with age - perhaps there is some correlation as well, with the fact that many people become less active and do not utilize effective hormetic stressors when aging.
While there is some evidence on foods and supplements that can effectively activate AMPK, research is limited and more information is needed. In this realm, curcumin is again highlighted, as are polyphenols (teas, coffee, apples, pears & grapefruit), medicinal mushrooms and zinc. Antioxidants are also highlighted but care should be utilized in personalized ways, as some nutritional antioxidants can alter immune function and require combination with the body’s self-producing antioxidants, i.e. glutathione.
Careful planning of hormetic practices is the safest and best-documented approach.
Notably, sirtuins and AMPK are in a feedback loop with each other. Also notable, AMPK downregulates the mTOR pathway, and mTOR affects insulin - so we can see that these switches are all cooperating/interacting with each other in crucial ways.
One last key topic, telomeres
Telomeres are the “caps” on the ends of our chromosomes, protecting our DNA from damage. Through chromosomal replication over time as well as through oxidative stress, poor diet and stress, telomeres become shorter. The shortening of telomeres has been linked with lower life expectancy and higher disease rates. A 2003 study found a link between shorter telomeres and an increased rate of death from heart disease and infectious diseases. A newer study found association between shorter telomeres and higher rates of certain types of cancer.
Telomeres on human chromosomes
So, we have the question and challenge of how to increase telomere length over time to preserve healthy DNA and provide anti-aging. While this area of study is quite new, evidence points back to 3 of the approaches used in the initial anti-aging study we discussed! Those are nutrition, exercise and stress management. In separate research, reducing oxidative stress and reactive oxygen species (ROS) also contributes to this success - all of these things increase the production of telomerase, the enzyme that stimulated telomere growth. Controlled, individualized hormesis is also appropriate for helping to trigger telomerase.
(Another special note: In juxtaposition to these realities, In a just-released study from the Salk Institute, research on telomeres has added insight into how aged, shortened telomeres can actually help destroy cells that would become cancerous. Shortened telomeres move into a “crisis state” and activate immune processes that kill abnormal cells that would otherwise become cancerous. This appears to be a unique evolutionary process with synergy between short telomeres, mitochondria and innate immunity to prevent some age-associated cancers. So, while in some cases, shortened telomeres will cause cancer, in others, they will prevent it. This is complex adaptive physiology at work.)
Summations and solutions
Anti-aging practices are gaining more attention and clarification through research. Much of what is now known are practices that have been part of the holistic health foundations here at True Nature for years! Let’s highlight these for summation:
Personalized nurition
Personalized exercise
Stress reduction/breathing techniques
Healthy sleep
Personalized supplement protocols (with focus on contraindications as well as synergistic
combinations)
Through all practices, bringing balance to insulin regulation, mTOR, sirutins and AMPK signaling
Some other technologies that are on the horizon for deeper research include hyperbaric oxygen therapy, ozone therapy and peptide therapy. As science-based information is published on these emerging therapies, I will make it available to you.
And let’s not forget the all-important aspects of connection, care, community and curiosity in keeping us all young…in the words of Albert Einstein, “Do not grow old, no matter how long you live. Never cease to stand like curious children before the Great Mystery into which we were born.”
Please contact me at Julie@truenaturehealthconsulting.com today to begin your personalized journey to health and longevity. We provide holistic telehealth services.