Nutritional Strategies For Anti-Aging

By Laura Power, MS, PhD

Anti-aging is not just about looking younger; it's also about having more energy, thinking clearly, attaining optimal weight, and being healthier in general. With nutritional help, it is possible for some people to look years younger, have better muscle tone, and banish some wrinkles and excess weight.

Science has identified several factors that are involved in anti-aging, including growth hormone, DHEA, melatonin, telomeres, and mitochondria. Growth hormone is a pituitary hormone that helps us grow when young and maintains our muscles and organ functions as adults. DHEA is an adrenal hormone involved with muscles, bones, and sexual function. Melatonin is a pineal hormone that controls sleep, daily rhythms and life cycles.

Telomeres are little caps on the ends of our genes, used up each time a cell replicates, until we run out and the cells die.

Mitochondria are the tiny batteries in the cells that create energy out of the foods we eat.

These factors help us mature, keep us healthy as adults, then decline after mid-life. Research has shown that people with the highest levels of these factors live the longest. But, nutritional supplements are now available that may be able to repair and/or supplement most of these factors.

A New Paradigm

Consider how the body works. With age, stress, and poor nutrition our metabolisms slow down, adrenal and thyroid hormones decline and fail to stimulate fat-cell hormones, which then decline. These in turn fail to adequately stimulate mitochondria. Meanwhile, the mitochondria wither and die from oxidation, stress, and 85,000 man-made environmental toxins. As a result our ability to burn calories declines, we tire, we store fat in our fat cells, arteries, and organs, causing us to gain weight and have elevated triglycerides and cholesterol. Hence, aging, fatigue, and ill health. This is not inevitable.

We can now test for these factors and use diet and supplements to “repair” our metabolism and improve our health. Lab tests include adrenal and thyroid hormones, fat-cell hormones, and some mitochondrial functions. We can change our diets to avoid food allergens and reduce oxidation and inflammation. We can use specific nutrients to repair and improve our hormone functions.

Finally, we can improve our pH balance, antioxidant status, and nutrient status to repair and even grow new mitochondria. Based on how nutrients interact with our biochemistry, these strategies can help improve heart function, muscle tone, brain function, diabetes, weight loss, chronic fatigue, adrenal function, digestive function, and more.