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AGING (ANTI-AGING)

By: Articles by a Naturopathic Doctor and a Holistic Nutritionist

Growing older is inevitable, but how we age in the process is entirely up to us...

Aging is a broad term used to describe the accumulation of physical changes in a person over time, but more commonly we think of it as the age-associated declining of our physical health. There are psychological and social changes that occur with aging as well, but those are beyond the scope of this article. Check out our Senior's Health article for more information. Since the time of the industrial revolution, human longevity has been increasing. The most common causes of death are no longer communicable diseases but are instead diseases from lifestyle and environmental sources. Because of this, our focus has shifted to maintaining a healthy body as the best insurance against aging.

Physical Aging

Aging as a physical process is often independent of chronological age, and two people of the same age may have considerably different physical effects from the passage of time. This physical aging of the body and its cells is known in the scientific community as senescence. In the simplest of terms, senescence is a progressive loss of the ability of our cells to respond to stress and maintain homeostasis (metabolic balance). When enough stressors happen, the cell cannot respond well enough and will succumb and die. Our ability to resist these stressors and replace these dying cells is the key to staying young. Thus, cell division is essential to our health because it constantly renews our skin, blood, bone and other cells as required.

Telomere Shortening

In humans, senescence at the cellular level has been attributed to the shortening of the telomeres at the ends of our chromosomes. These telomeres are like buffered edges that protect the meaningful DNA code from damage or loss during replication, much like the plastic tip on a shoelace. Unfortunately, each replication cycle causes the loss of a bit of this buffered edge (a wearing of the plastic), until eventually the coding DNA begins to be lost as well (fraying of the shoelace). Because DNA is replicated each time a cell needs to divide and replace itself the telomeres are considered like a "molecular clock" for the lifetime of the cell. As we age, we eventually lose our telomeres and thus we lose our ability to regenerate, which eventually results in aging and death. Telomere shortening isn't all-bad though, it acts as a protective failsafe against the formation of cell growths. In fact, 85% of growths contain a mutation that activates an enzyme (telomerase) that repairs the telomeres of the cell and prevents shortening.

Free Radical Damage

The number one cause of damage to our cells is exposure to free radicals. Free radicals are unstable molecules with an unpaired electron that are extremely reactive, and damage surrounding cell membranes, fats, and fat-soluble vitamins and nutrients. We encounter free radicals through environmental exposures, such as cigarette smoke, air pollution, processed foods, and ultraviolet radiation from the sun (UV rays).

The damage caused by free radicals can cause cell death, alterations in genetic material and autoimmune reactions to damaged cells. Because of this, it is important to reduce your exposure to these damaging substances by using natural products and avoiding environmental exposures. To help neutralize the effects of those free radicals that you cannot avoid, ensure your diet is rich in as many antioxidants as possible. 

Hormone Loss

Aging inevitably results in a decline in the production of our sex hormones over time. These hormones play essential roles in maintaining muscle mass and bone density, as well as a number of other health markers. In men, this decline in hormone production is known as andropause, and is caused by a drop in natural testosterone. In women, this decline is known as menopause. 

Dietary Changes

Research in mice has shown that when they are fed a diet that contains 30-50% less calories than an unrestricted diet, but still contains all the nutritional requirements can lead to and increase in lifespan of up to 50%. Caloric restriction has been shown to delay the onset of cardiovascular disease, diabetes and possibly cell growths. The easiest way to do this is to focus your diet on fruits and vegetables rich in vitamins and nutrients.

Lifestyle Changes

By making certain lifestyle changes, the quality and longevity of your life can be vastly improved. Gaining healthy habits such as regular exercise, good quality sleep, breathing exercises and a clean diet as well as dropping unhealthy activities such as smoking and chemical exposure will increase vitality. Internally, as we age we lose muscle mass (sarcopenia) so by doing weight-bearing exercise you can delay muscle degradation. All exercise will aid in increasing telomerase activity which helps enhance and elongate the life of our cells. Our external facing organ – our aging skin – can be cared for by keeping moisturized using creams and lotions containing natural and healthy oils like avocado, almond and olive. To avoid damaging your skin, limit sun exposure, be sure to use sunscreen (which will minimize age spots) and avoid direct contact with harsh, cleansing chemicals. See more information on skin health.

Liver Support

Because our liver is the organ responsible for detoxifying our body and for eliminating most reactive substances like free radicals from the body, it is essential that we support its health and function. Some substances that do this are: N-Acetyl Cysteine (NAC), milk thistle, B complex vitamins, and D-glucarate. See more information on supporting liver health. In addition to support, after a time of toxic buildup such as holidays or celebrations, it is often a good idea to do a liver and kidney detox to help clear out any extra toxic build up you may have accumulated, and to ensure those elimination pathways are running smoothly. See more information on detoxification.

Digestive Support

Much like the liver, your digestive tract is the key to your ability to eliminate a large amount of your toxic burden. It is the most direct way for waste to leave our body, and is where the liver releases the toxins that it has processed. Because of this, healthy digestion is one of the keys to aging well.