Utilizing Your Genes for Longevity
As discussed in our previous blog post, the breakthroughs that science is making in regards to aging are occurring at an astounding speed. These dramatic results will be far-reaching and available to all. We believe that this will happen soon, and the information that we learn now will impact our health in incredible ways going forward.
In today's blog post, we want to help make sense of the biology of what is happening, and the genes that we are targeting to decrease aging in a profound way. If you haven't had a chance to read the new book Lifespan: Why We Age and Why We Don't Have To by Harvard genetics professor David Sinclair, we highly recommend it.
In the last decades, scientists have been able to identify the genes that control aging. These are noted as the "longevity genes", and are present in almost every life form on Earth. One of the major groups that comprise these genes sirtuins. Sirtuin genes regulate nearly every biological process for proper cellular function, and are the impact players that influence our longevity and aging. Learn more here.
The key to sirtuin genes is their modulation process. This process allows sirtuins to interact with various signaling pathways in the body, for the purpose of increasing health. These genes are activated by familiar stress responses, including: cold therapy, fasting, and exercise. It is the adaptation to these stress factors that turn on the sirtuin genes, causing them to improve cellular health.
We all have the same DNA when we are newborns as we do when we are 90. So what is happening to the DNA that creates an old person versus a young, healthy child? The answer lies in the epigenome, and this process is what tells specific genes to turn on or off. As DNA damage accumulates, our sirtuins become distracted by the need for DNA repair, that they no longer have the ability to regulate gene activity.
As a result, cellular levels of nicotinomide andenine dinucleotide or NAD+ begin to deplete. This is vital, because NAD+ serves to provide the cells with energy, and without ample levels of it, our bodies cannot function properly. Over time, as NAD+ decreases and the sirtuins become occupied by the accumulation of DNA damage, our cells are bombarded in two major ways that further expedite the aging process. Learn more here.
If you have been following along with aging research, then you may have already heard of NAD+. NAD+ (nicotinomide andenine dinucleotide), as described above, is a coenzyme found in all living cells. NAD+ is vital to cellular metabolism and hundreds of other biological processes, including the modulation of the aging process through sirtuin modifers (PGC1 alpha and FOXOs genes). But why is this so important?
Sirtuins can only function in the presence of NAD+. Learn more here. Think of it this way: if sirtuins are a company’s CEO, then NAD+ is the money that pays the salaries of the CEO and employees, all while keeping the lights on and rent paid. You cannot have one without the other. Moreover, more NAD+ translates to more cellular energy, thereby allowing the body the ability to resist DNA damage. This puts the brakes on the aging process.
The key to naturally enhancing your NAD levels includes all of the areas where you can create energy deficits. For instance, a new study published by the New England Journal of Medicine demonstrated how periods of fasting would oscillate the ratios of NAD levels and increase them during the fast. This, in turn, allowed for the cells to activate their sirtuin genes, and begin the DNA repair process. If the body is in a constant feed state, there is never an opportunity to increase critical NAD levels needed for repair processes.
Another critical lifestyle factor that increases NAD levels is exercise. Much in the same way that fasting creates an energy deficit, exercise also creates a deficit. Though exercise, the energy-sensing enzyme NAD recognizes that it needs to increase its production, thereby creating new proteins such as PGC1 alpha and FOXO 1 and 4, which help maintain skeletal mass. Aging decreases skeletal mass; therefore, encouraging the body to create these new proteins through exercise is critical to combatting the aging process.
In David Sinclair’s book, he talks about his key lifestyle habits, and one of them is to get cold. So why would he say something like this? NAD upregulation. Because NAD is an enzyme that senses an energy crisis, the cold begins a network of changes that upregulate the genes that we need to improve adaptation to the cold. Like exercise and fasting, the cold therapy (cryotherapy) is a healthy stressor that creates a more resilient human immune system that is more adaptable to stress.
We now know what we can do to increase NAD levels through lifestyle, but what about through supplements or precursors? There are a couple of crucial candidates that seem to help boost NAD+ levels and they are: Nicotinomide Riboside (NR) and Nictoniomide Mononuculeotide (NMN). These two studied compounds have been shown to increase NAD+ in animals, and appear to improve age related diseases. There are preliminary studies that have demonstrated NR to increase the NAD+ levels in humans, but due to our long lifespan, it been difficult to observe the actual long term results. However, it does appear to be promising.
At Cryo Recovery, we carry clinical grade Tru Niagen, a NAD+ precursor (Nicotinomide Riboside). Many of our members have experienced phenomenal results adding this to their daily routine. Feel free to ask us about it in the shop, or read more about it at the link above.
We hope that we have brought you up to speed on some of the critical genes that are driving the healthy aging process. While we may not have all of the answers YET, we believe that there are critical steps that we can take to prevent DNA damage, thereby increasing our health span. Stay tuned for Part IV of our Longevity Series on the Cryo Recovery Blog!