Time is more valuable than money. You can get more money, but you cannot get more time.
Jim Rohn
Aging and death are inevitable, but will that always be the case?
Your biological clock ticks closer to death with each passing second, but you aren’t ready to go yet. After all, there’s still so much you want to do in life, and getting old isn’t one of those things.
A young body and mind will enable you to achieve more success and productivity in life, be free of disease and pain, and make the most out of your time.
Wouldn’t it be great if we could somehow slow down or even stop the aging process?
Allow me to let you in on a little secret – you may be able to hack your body’s biological mechanisms to achieve a longer life.
It’s possible that in the future, scientists may even halt the aging process altogether, effectively granting us immortality. Although that reality may still be far away, we can take matters into our own hands.
After digging through all the facts (so you don’t have to), here’s what science has to say about achieving a longer life and slowing down the aging process.
How Our Bodies Sustain Life
The human body contains trillions of cells, all working hard to maintain life. As these cells age, they eventually wear out and die.
Fortunately, younger cells clone themselves to replace old cells through mitosis. This process duplicates your DNA and cell components before splitting into two separate entities.
But copying DNA isn’t foolproof. Each cell division shortens the DNA strand at the end. If continual cell division damages genes vital to our existence, it could prove fatal.
The body has evolved a protective mechanism called the telomere – a DNA sequence without genetic information.[1] The telomere’s primary function is to protect the end of the DNA strand, by shortening during DNA replication instead of essential genes.
Afterward, the shortened telomere is repaired by an enzyme called telomerase, allowing for further cell division. With sufficient telomerase activity, our cells can divide forever.
How Our Bodies Age
The caveat of telomerase is that it’s most active in developing children. Without having to worry about shortened telomeres, cell division in children proceeds much faster than cell death. This results in the child growing.
Unfortunately, telomerase activity declines as we age. When telomeres shorten to the point that they can’t protect DNA anymore, cell division is no longer possible. As a result, the cell enters a dormant phase called senescence and eventually dies off.[2] Otherwise, our cells could multiply indefinitely and bring us one step closer to immortality.
The change in telomerase activity is gradual. When we enter adulthood, the rate of cell division slows to match the speed of cell death. In this phase of life, we are still capable of functioning even if we’re no longer growing.
But cell death eventually overtakes cell division. With a net loss of cells, each organ loses cell mass and performs less efficiently over time. This causes the body to deteriorate when we reach old age.
How Our Bodies Die
One way or another, the body dies when its vital organs stop functioning. Even if it doesn’t succumb to illness first, the body breaks down to the point where organs can no longer keep up and death occurs.
The destruction of our bodies can be due to many factors, but short telomeres can predict death in two ways. Short telomeres are not only associated with a shorter remaining lifespan but a higher risk of cancer.[3]
When telomeres get too short, cancer-suppressing genes (such as p53) activates and prepares for apoptosis (cell death) or dormancy. If p53 fails to do its job, then cancer cells are able to proliferate and wreak havoc in the body.[4]
Protecting Our Bodies
Even with telomeres, DNA is susceptible to mutations and damage. When DNA damage accumulates, our cells may no longer function properly and be marked for cell death. In the worst case, it could destroy tumor suppressor genes like p53, which prevent cancer.
DNA damage can occur through multiple means. Oxidative stress is perhaps the most significant contributor to DNA damage, aging, and harmful inflammatory processes.
Free radicals, which are responsible for oxidative stress and inflammation, can originate from many sources. Examples include overheating fats, alcohol consumption, smoking, radiation (sun exposure), and metabolizing oxygen in the body.
The Key to Living Longer
In order to slow aging, the human body needs to produce an infinite number of healthy cells over time. We also have to protect it from damage.
To accomplish this, we must achieve a few things: maintain telomere length, prevent DNA damage for cell division, and repair the body faster than it deteriorates.
If we can maintain all three conditions, then we could effectively become immortal. As individuals, we currently only have a bit of control over the first two. Here are specific, actionable things we can do to slow down aging.
Avoid Smoke and Pollution
Non-smoking individuals enjoy an average lifespan ten years longer than those who do.[5] It’s important to note that cigarettes aren’t the sole source of smoking-related oxidative stress. Inhaling smoke from cannabis[6], wood fire (biomass combustion)[7], and other combustible substances can also reduce lifespan. Fortunately, avoiding smoke inhalation can results in benefits even at the age of 60 years.
Another offender responsible for reducing telomere length is pollution from combustion engines.[8] While we have less control over pollutants than we do over the choice of whether or not to smoke or burn biomass, there are still ways to prevent it. You can check the air quality index (AQI) before you go out to reduce exposure to pollutants. An alternative would be to move to a region with minimal air pollution.
Antioxidants
Antioxidants bind to free radicals and inhibit their interaction with DNA and oxidative stress.[9]
However, it appears that antioxidants don’t affect everyone the same way. In one study with Finnish smokers, the addition of antioxidant supplements increased their risk of lung cancer instead of reducing it.[10] Other clinical trials also did not yield any benefit from supplementation with pills either.
Yet the Mediterranean Diet, which is high in antioxidants, results in longer telomere length, lower oxidative stress, increased longevity, and lower incidence of cancer.[11]
The diet, which consists mostly of vegetables, fruits, and fish, is ranked as the best diet for health in 2020.[12] Whether the diet’s effects on longevity are related to antioxidants is not fully understood. However, there is benefit in consuming this high-antioxidant diet as opposed to taking antioxidants in supplement form.
Exercise
Exercising has a protective effect on DNA by enhancing the body’s natural defenses against oxidative stress.[13] It also reduces the rate at which telomeres shorten, with more significant results when performing aerobic exercises such as running.[14]
Furthermore, exercising for weight loss has the added benefit enhancing life expectancy and reducing overall mortality.[15]
Diet
Calorie restriction has the potential to increase lifespan in animal studies.[16] Across studies conducted on worms, yeast, flies, and other animals, restricting calories resulted in slower aging. In mice and rats, the effects of fasting allowed them to live up to 50% longer than their non-fasting counterparts.
You may also be interested in the Okinawan diet,[17] originating from a region in Japan that produces the most individuals surpassing 100 years of age. Their diet consists of mostly vegetables and fruits, followed by legumes, low glycemic index carbohydrates, occasional fish and lean meats, and daily exercise. Okinawans rarely consume sweets and limit daily fat intake to 6% of calories consumed.[18]
Stress
When someone has a stressful moment and says, “You’re killing me!”, they could be right. Stressing over your job, finances, or anything else could shorten your life. Studies show that high levels of stress, such as from PTSD, contribute to shorter telomere length.[19]
But on the other hand, not all stress is bad for you. Manageable levels of stress appear to have a protective effect from oxidative stress.[20] This type of stress, also known as eustress, makes our bodies more resilient to oxidative damage.
Whether stress is good or bad for you depends on your mindset.
The Key To Immortality
Although we’ve discussed how to extend your lifespan to the maximum limit, immortality is still out of reach as of today. If we want to become immortal, we need to explore technologies that would enable us to stay young forever. Telomere maintenance may just be the beginning.
Stem Cells
Stem cells have the potential to repair all damage in the body. Even with telomerase, damage to the body may be permanent without the help of stem cells.
Although stem cell technology hasn’t progressed far enough yet for us to reverse aging, it does show promise in curing many ailments. It’s only a matter of whether you’ll live long enough to witness stem cell therapy to restore youth.
Before you go out to get unproven stem cell therapies, be warned that stem cell technology is still in its infancy. If you have a quack doctor offering to inject your stem cells into your body, you could have unintended consequences like stem cell tumors.
Cryopreservation
If stem cell therapy is of interest to you, then you may also be interested in cryopreservation as well. For some diseases that are incurable today, some patients have opted to freeze their bodies to halt disease progression and biologic aging. They hope that future technology will be able to cure their disease and revive them from cryopreservation.
Cryopreservation is often used as a last resort for the terminally ill to give them another chance at life in the future. Even if you aren’t sick, you may still want to freeze yourself when nearing death. You might be able to see a future where stem cell technology can reverse the aging process, allowing you to live with eternal youth and immortality.
Conclusion
The consequences of aging faster go beyond what you see on the surface. Prevention of declining body function and disease are other important goals you may want to explore.
Fortunately, there is a lot of promising science out there that highlights how you can benefit from just maintaining healthy habits to increase productivity and lifespan.
This also means that even after the time of writing, there may be new technologies emerging bringing us closer to immortality. Please always consult with your healthcare provider before you implement any life changes, especially with new technologies.
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