One of the most insightful and wise things about my field of work in the health sciences is that the deeper you go into the technical details of biochemistry and molecular biology, the simpler things become.
The further down the complicated biochemical rabbit hole we go, the quicker we come out the other side to the realm of simple truths and common sense, all of which our mothers harped on when we were kids.
With that in mind, here are my biochemist’s top dozen tips for slowing aging at the cellular level:
1. Don’t Smoke Cigarettes Or Vape Nicotine
Cigarette smoke contains oxidative free radicals that damage DNA and cause more rapid aging and cancerous mutations. Nicotine vaporizers also contain carcinogens like cigarettes, although in much lower concentrations. They also expose users to microplastics, “forever chemicals” like phthalates in their flavourings, and trace amounts of metals from their heating coils. Both should be avoided.
2. Reduce or Stop Drinking Alcohol
Although drinking alcohol seems to be considered more socially acceptable today than smoking cigarettes, they are in the same class of cancer-causing carcinogens. Alcohol reduces oxygen delivery to the brain and other tissues, resulting in cellular damage that ages humans more rapidly. Although we have “safe drinking guidelines,” there is no amount of alcohol that is entirely free from causing toxicity and cellular damage.
3. Exercise Regularly
Exercise (both cardio and resistance training) helps improve every health marker and significantly reduces all-cause mortality for every human being on planet Earth. There’s a reason exercising regularly is considered such common-sense advice.
4. Get Adequate Sleep
8 hours per night is ideal! If there were a supplement that could do half as much as getting consistent, high-quality sleep, it would be the best-selling healthcare product of all time! Without sufficient sleep, you can throw the rest of my tips in this article in the trash! I would say that sleep is the most foundational tip in this article to slow aging, and it should precede all the rest.
5. Manage Stress
Stress increases inflammation and oxidative stress, which ages us more rapidly. To reduce this inflammation and oxidative damage from stress, your adrenal glands release cortisol, our natural anti-inflammatory hormone. If stress remains and/or becomes a chronic issue, cortisol stays elevated long-term, keeping us in a constant “fight-or-flight” state, which becomes very taxing to our hearts, adrenal glands, and virtually every cell in the body. As a result, long-term stress ages us more rapidly.
6. Eat Primarily Unprocessed Foods
Processed foods tend to have higher caloric density than whole foods, much lower nutrient density (more “empty” calories), as well as a lot of preservatives, additives, added sugars, and sodium. All of these additional “unnatural” ingredients in processed foods make them suboptimal for chronic consumption. Diets high in processed foods are associated with a higher incidence of heart disease, diabetes, cancers, and shorter life expectancy.
7. Consume More Antioxidants (Via Diet and/or Supplements)
Antioxidants help to mop up harmful oxidative free radicals, shielding our tissues from damage by taking the oxidative “hit” in place of our DNA and cells. Fruits and vegetables are the best dietary sources of antioxidants, but if you suspect your diet is lacking, you can supplement with several effective antioxidants as well. These antioxidant supplements include Vitamin A (Retinol), Vitamin C (ascorbic acid), Vitamin E (Alpha-Tocopherol), Alpha-Lipoic Acid, and Glutathione, as well as antioxidant building block supplements that help to produce more of your own antioxidants, such as N-Acetylcysteine (NAC) and Selenium.
8. Consider Bio-Identical Hormone Replacement Therapy (BHRT)
All human beings, male or female, produce less of their critical sex hormones as they age. For women, a critical drop in the hormones estrogen and progesterone takes place around age 50 during menopause, and a gradual decrease of testosterone occurs for men during andropause, also around age 50. When these hormones drop, we lose muscle mass, bone density decreases, our moods can worsen, sleep quality declines, we feel less energetic, and our bodies become weaker and frailer. Supplementing with bio-identical hormones can help to counteract these hormonal aging processes, preventing and treating symptoms of aging.
9. Supplement Precisely with Nutrients We Lose As We Age
Aside from our hormones, other cellular metabolites decline as we age. One critical energy molecule of interest, which our cells make less of as we age, is NAD+ (nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide). Many researchers point to humans’ universal decline in cellular NAD+ levels as the ultimate root cause of aging. Clinical data for increasing NAD+ using supplements to reduce aging is still lacking, but in theory, taking supplements that can increase NAD+, such as NMN (nicotinamide mononucleotide) or NR (nicotinamide riboside), could combat the aging process.
10. Improve Your Digestion
You’ve probably heard of the gut microbiome and its importance for digestive health, but you may not be aware that the gut microbiome is connected to much more. Poor gut health, also known as dysbiosis, is associated with a plethora of medical conditions, such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, obesity, cancers, mental health issues, inflammatory conditions, and more rapid aging.
11. Stay Connected With Friends and Family
Many studies can now confirm that people live longer when they have a support network of family and friends. In the areas of the world where people live the longest with the lowest rates of chronic illnesses, known as “The Blue Zones,” one of the significant factors associated with these populations’ long lives is social connectivity, even very late in life.
12. Have More Fun!
Feeling joy and laughter is known to increase the feel-good neurotransmitter, serotonin, in the brain. Having fun and forming emotional bonds with your family, friends, or spouse also increases the love bonding hormone, oxytocin. The novelty of fun helps keep our neurotransmitters and biological age low.
Aging doesn’t have to mean slowing down. If you’re ready to take control of how you age, NutriChem Clinic offers expert support in anti-aging treatments, hormone balancing, digestion, and natural health. With over 40 years of experience, we’re proud to help Ottawa residents look and feel great at any age.
Want to learn more about Cellular Aging? Read our in-depth article on the causes and science behind aging here.
