Scientists at the leading edge of longevity science have mapped out the changes in our biology associated with aging. If we can focus on the root causes of disease and aging, we can expect an increase in our health-span.
Our bodies evolved as homosapiens hundreds of thousands of years ago. There are 40 trillion cells in our body. Today, anti-aging technologies today are advanced enough to provide cellular effects that may reverse many of the processes found in well accepted aging theories. Activating the body’s own healing and repair mechanisms by turning on the right genes and activating the right molecules along with providing the body with supporting diet and exercise are the key to rebuild and renew our bodies.
Let us learn what is happening to your body, and how you could improve your chances of not only surviving but also thriving as you age.
What is Aging?
There are many theories that have attempted to explain how we age and why we age.
- Programmed Theories of Aging: The programmed theories explain aging as a biological process that regulates growth and development of the human body. Some of the popular programmed theories include programmed longevity, endocrine theory and immunological theory.
- Damage Theories of Aging: These imply that aging occurs due to damage sustained on cells, tissues and DNA. The damage has been proposed to occur in various damage theories due to mitochondrial dysfunction, oxidative stress, genetic mutations and day-to-day wear tear as we use our body and ignore the body’s distress signals.
Is Aging Reversible?
Although no one can stop the passage of time, it’s possible to look and feel better, protect yourself from aging-related neurological and physical conditions, and improve your mental and physical performance. It’s perfectly possible to increase your health-span and life span if you can:
- Do regular physical exercise to maintain your strength and stamina. Consult a certified physiotherapist, pilates teacher, or fitness trainer to get the best exercise to help you improve your performance even as you age.
- Practice yoga or meditation to keep the brain and body in tune with your breathing. Our movement, thinking and breathing are interconnected, balancing these will result in a calm, focussed and mindful approach to enjoying your golden years.
- Intake correct diet loaded with anti-oxidants to beat oxidative stress and rich in proteins to help reduce bone and muscle loss. Metabolic testing can help you devise diet plans that can further support you in aging gracefully with higher productivity.
- Enjoy healthy conversations and have fun-time with your family and friends. Happiness is the key to longevity!
It’s as simple as that! Once you have these four main healthy ways of living integrated into your core, you should see great improvements in your energy levels.
Biohacking Longevity
Besides ensuring healthy diet, exercise, meditation and emotional living, modern technological advancements can additionally be employed to further enhance your longevity. Some of my favourite anti-aging solutions include:
- Supplementation: We often do not get all our body needs from the foods we eat. It’s particularly important to supplement your body with missing nutrients, therefore it’s advisable to take nutritional tests and intake supplements as advised by your doctor for ensuring that you have everything needed to reduce the chances of chronic diseases. Additionally, as you age, the production of collagen proteins, which are the building blocks of your body, starts declining. Collagen is the most abundant protein in the body and makes your bones, muscles and connective tissues and also affects skin health. While you can eat collagen rich foods such as bone broth, fish, citrus fruits, and green veggies, an aging body may do better if more bioavailable forms of collagen sources known as amino acid peptides are supplemented. You also need healthy gut microbiota, so you should certainly research the prebiotics and probiotics your body needs for optimum digestive health.
- Light therapies: Light therapies also known as Photobiomodulation therapies include low-level light, red light, far infrared, near-infrared and polarized light are increasingly seeing positive results in research studies for reducing inflammation and boosting immunological response.
- Magnetic field therapies: Static magnetic field and pulsed electromagnetic field (PEMF) therapies are two exciting new areas of clinical research for anti-aging. Particular static magnetic fields have been found to rapidly reduce pain and inflammation. PEMF has more than 8 decades of research data which shows its efficacy in treating several aging-related disorders including chronic pain and depression.
As Dr. Mark Hyman says, “When it comes to longevity, the goal isn’t just to live as long as possible. The true objective is to live as vibrantly and energetically as possible, for as long as possible.” So as you age, remember to take utmost care of your health, mood, diet and sleep. Eating right, exercising right and using science to trigger anti-aging processes can make you feel, perform and look younger by DECADES.
