Whether it’s your grandmother that amazes you with her bubbling energy and never-ending optimism at every annual gathering or a senior model that looks young beyond her years and steals the show with her radiance, people who exude youth despite their age have a natural magnetism. We all want to be them, we’re envious of their genes and we don’t know which overpriced serum to buy first to turn back the clock. But anti-aging isn’t a skin-deep process. Both physically and mentally, aging starts from the inside. If you learn to improve your lifestyle, reduce stress and take care of yourself, your cells will age at a slower rate and your skin will show it. It all starts in our DNA, with some tiny caps called telomers.
Exercise, sleep and nutrition are all pieces of the same puzzle
The science of telomers is quite complicated, but Nobel winner Elizabeth Blackburn explains that these are like protective tips at the end of our chromosomes. They prevent cells from aging prematurely and enable them to replicate until they inevitably start to take damage and make us susceptible to chronic diseases. However, we now know that this process is not set in stone and that it can actually be stopped, even reversed through lifestyle changes. Eating right, getting plenty of sleep and having a healthy diet are common sense habits, but at a cellular level they are part of the anti-aging process because they prevent the shortening of telomers and allow us to live longer, healthier lives.
Once again, slowing down aging isn’t a matter of treating, but a matter of prevention. An important lesson to be learned from here is that you cannot stay young by choosing just one of the three – sleep, exercise and nutrition. They are all just as important and although investing in them seems impossible in the 21st century, now is actually the best time in history to practice self-care. Thanks to the latest innovations in biotech and wellness solutions, you have the tools to take control of your health.
According to biotech experts, the future of anti-aging is in nutraceuticals and combined with sleep and exercise, they could significantly slow down DNA degeneration.
Blackburn adds and we don’t even need to go to great lengths to turn back the clock. Contrary to common belief, intense physical exercise is not the minimum requirement here. According to science, you can get the same anti-aging benefits as an athlete from engaging in moderate exercise such as aerobics or cardio three times a week.
Tackling Low-Grade Anti-Aging Supplements & Nutrition
Take nutrition for example. With the growing interest in organic, non-processed foods and the expansion of whole foods stores, it’s never been easier to start a healthy nutrition plan. And if reading labels and understanding what each food does is confusing, you can always build your custom diet with the help of nutraceuticals, which can address concerns ranging from auto-immune diseases to bone and joint problems. The ingredients used in these supplements, as pointed out by Dr.Eric Huntington of Custom Nutra, are natural and highly effective. For instance, one molecule called NAD+ is a powerful booster that has been shown to support healing muscles and help reverse the aging process in mice. It can be found in avocados and broccoli, but you can also seek natural supplements that include this molecule along with many others, creating a custom youth-boosting cocktail.
But, if the ingredients aren’t what the label says they are, we have an entirely new problem.
Nature supplies us with raw ingredients which in its uncorrupted form has support elements which have shown to decrease aging symptoms. Good oil intake can replenish the dry skin which in its hardened form can result in early wrinkles. Calcium and Magnesium composites have been shown to help muscle tension and encourage relaxation of the body.
However, in this day and age the whole process can be defeated if retailers and distributors manufacture their supplements with nutrition companies who use starch and sugar fillers to effectually “water down” the raw ingredients.
Custom Nutra are piloting what they consider must become the new industry standard. As primary supplier and nutritional supplement manufacturer to some of the top disruptive nutritional brands in the USA, they say the responsibility is held at factory level.
Dr Eric Huntington, President & Clinical Director of Custom Nutra said,
“Anti-Aging supplement manufacturing has turned into a wealth machine. Products rolling off the line from vitamin manufacturers in the USA are unregulated and uninspected on the most part.”
He goes on to say,
“Some anti-aging products are about as useful as digesting chalk. Stuffed with fillers and sugars, they can have little value or worse, be unhealthy to consume.”
Dr Huntington believes this is one of the reason that trust in anti-aging supplements is dropping because manufacturers are using shortcuts and the end-consumer is not getting any benefits.
When sourcing anti-aging vitamins, take the extra effort to demand test results of the components. This should be an industry norm but it isn’t.
Aging as a mindset
The importance of sleep, healthy dieting and exercise is already common sense, but feeling younger also comes from your state of mind. No matter how healthy you eat or how much you exercise, you can still have a weakened immune system and feel unmotivated and lacking energy. High stress levels can be behind this. According to a report published by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, experiencing long term stress shortens telomers, reduces cellular replication and causes oxidative stress. For example, the report concluded that mothers of chronically ill children had shorter telomers. In the case of victims of domestic abuse, there was a clear link between shortened telomers and the duration of the abuse. In older people, the size of telomers seemed to be influenced by the social support they felt.
Stress at the workplace has been linked to premature aging and higher risk of sudden death, but new studies suggest that it’s our attitude towards stress that dictates the effects. Stress is more dangerous when it is seen as a threat, not when it is seen as a challenge. So, working in a high stress or high responsibility position doesn’t necessarily cause premature aging if you look at your daily tasks in a different light.
Meditation and mindfulness are more than just good habits to destress after a long day. According to recent studies, taking a few minutes to meditate every day may reduce oxidative stress and increase positive coping. In other words, having a positive outlook on life, even in its toughest moments, can help you look and feel younger. Investing in self-growth, thriving to learn new skills even well in your 60s and avoiding negative emotions slows down cell aging and helps you feel young at any age. You may not be able to see the effects of this mindset from one day to another, but in the long-run, the lack of wrinkles will be only one of the many benefits you’ll be able to enjoy.
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