Many have said 50 is the new 30 in terms of age, however their bodies’ look and feel otherwise.

Many have said 50 is the new 30 in terms of age, however their bodies’ look and feel otherwise. Many people complain of lower back pain, fatigue and feel like a 90 year old when they wake up in the morning. So wait, what does DIE stand for? Diet, Intermittent fasting and Exercise!

The purpose of this post is not to miraculously wake up feeling like you’re 20 again, but rather to offer scientifically-proven research to slow down the ageing process and prevent disease. While you may beat risk or have some illnesses based on lifestyle and genetics, here are some ways you can look and feel younger again!!

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1. Intermittent Fasting

We have mentioned the benefits of intermittent fasting in our previous blog post but here’s a quick summary:

· Faster weight loss

· Increase in Human Growth Hormone (Anti-Ageing Hormone)

· Improved brain & heart function

· Improved insulin sensitivity

So how does IF actually make you age slower?

Upon fasting, the body undergoes major metabolic changes to meet its energy needs. After depletion of glycogen stores, it activates hepatic and non-hepatic gluconeogenesis (e.g. via glucogenic amino acids or glycerol) as well as production of fat-derived free fatty acids and ketone bodies. So the body would use an alternative form of energy maintain its needs.

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The mechanism in which this occurs is via 3 ways:

1. More HGH production: This hormone has a role in muscle growth, tissue repair, metabolism, exercise performance and strength. As HGH declines as we age, IF has proven to boost this hormone production and assists with reversing the effects of aging.

2. Cells have a chance to repair itself: Digestion can consume a lot of the body’s energy and resources. When the body is given a break from digestion via fasting, it gets a chance to divert its attention to cellular repair. A key aspect of the repair process is something known as autophagy. Autophagy means “self-eating”, which accurately reflects what takes place during this process. When autophagy occurs, the body’s cleaning mechanisms remove old cell membranes that may have accumulated with time. These old membranes can negatively impact cell performance. As they are being removed, the body’s HGH (which is boosted during fasting) sends the call out to produce replacements. In this way, autophagy helps the body to recycle and renew its cells. Research shows that intermittent fasting induces autophagy. As a result, IF plays a key role in initiating a process that can ultimately reverse aging.

3. Life-extending gene expression is supported: IF can cause your genes to express themselves differently. This change can help extend the healthy life of your nervous system and help shield your neurons against the genetic and environmental factors that can damage them as you age. Protecting the nervous system in this way can help support successful brain aging.

By the body engaging in periods of over-nutrition and starvation, the body adapts and resembles how native tribes live today, many of which showing no signs of age-associated diseases, such as cancer, neuro-degeneration, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, or hypertension.

2. Exercise

In rodents as in humans, regular exercise can reduce the risk of morbidity and mortality. Exercise training can have a beneficial impact against diseases and metabolic disorders that typically accompany aging, notably cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and osteoporosis. Exercise is also the only known treatment that can prevent or even reverse sarcopenia, a chronic disease associated with age-related loss of muscle strength and function.

Three types of exercise which is beneficial as anti-aging modalities are as follows:

1. HIIT

· HIIT and endurance training increased telomerase activity, which is beneficial for cell growth and replication. Telomeres are nucleotide sequences found at the end of chromosomes that protect our genetic information. When they shorten, cellular aging occurs. HIIT and endurance training were found to increase telomere length, inhibiting cell death, and ultimately producing an anti-ageing effect.

· HIIT training increased aerobic capacity and mitochondrial function, leading to a reduction in mitochondrial decay, which contributes to ageing.

2. Aerobic Endurance Training (AET)

· Aerobic endurance training (AET) consisting of 45 minutes of walking/running at 60% heart rate reserve (HRR) was reported to increase telomerase activity in participants in a study published in the European Heart Journal.

· In another study with mice, both young and old mice with running wheels established a routine, running about 10 and 4.9 kilometers per night, respectively. The human equivalent to the mice running wheel regime would likely be regular, aerobic exercise— swimming, running, cycling. Thereafter, researchers injured certain muscles and analyzed how the mice rebuilt the injured tissue. They also transplanted muscle stem cells from old mice into other injured mice and saw how well the cells functioned. Compared with young donor muscle stem cells, old donor muscle stem cells formed smaller and fewer fibers in the injured mice. But old muscle stem cells from exercising mice performed like young muscle stem cells, forming more fibers than non-exercising old muscle stem cells. The study concluded that these older mice who exercised experienced “improved muscle stem cell function and accelerated muscle tissue repair.” Therefore, this aerobic exercise had a rejuvenating effect on old cells.

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3. Strength/Resistance Training

This modality of exercise builds muscle endurance and can help older adults to preserve their independence and quality of life. It can overcome the loss of muscle mass and strength, build resilience, ease the management of chronic conditions, and reduce physical vulnerability. As you get older, your body will have decreased muscle mass. This can increase your risk for:

· falls

· fractures

· impaired function

· osteoporosis

· death

By adding resistance training to your exercise routine, your muscles benefit by muscle fiber hypertrophy, increased strength, as well as extended independent living and reduced fall risk as you get older. Additional benefits include:

· Improved muscle strength and tone – to protect your joints from injury.

· Maintaining flexibility and balance, which can help you remain independent as you age.

· Weight management and increased muscle-to-fat ratio – as you gain muscle, your body burns more kilojoules when at rest.

· Pain management.

· Improved mobility posture

· Increased bone density and strength and reduced risk of osteoporosis.

3. Eating Quality Foods (Diet)

Many studies have shown that eating a healthy, balanced diet results in a longer lifespan and a decrease in health issues such as diabetes, heart disease and other diseases. As you get older, eating well can help improve your mental sharpness, boost your energy levels, and increase your resistance to illness. Although heredity plays a part in the incidence of diseases resulting in premature ageing and death, the incidence and seriousness of heart attacks, strokes, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, gall‑bladder, liver, kidney and skin diseases, as well as many other ailments, are decidedly influenced by nutrition. Poor-quality foods, like trans-fats, cause inflammation -- and aging is basically a chronic inflammatory state. Eating too much sugar and processed carbohydrates (like pasta, bread, and baked goods) can lead to damage in your skin's collagen, which keeps your skin springy and resists wrinkles.

Below are recommendations for healthy foods and supplements that should be eaten/taken to slow down the ageing process:

· Eat plenty fresh fruits and vegetables

· Calcium for bone health

· Healthy fats such as foods rich in Omega 3

· Increased fiber intake

· Eating enough high-quality protein

· Increasing water intake

· Vitamin B supplements

· Vitamin D supplements

Foods to Limit/Avoid

· Potato Chips and French fries - Carbohydrates

· Doughnuts and Sugary Pastries – Sugary foods and drinks

· Hotdogs, Bacon and Pepperoni – Processed Foods

· Fatty Meats

· Alcohol

References:

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2. de Cabo, R., Carmona-Gutierrez, D., Bernier, M., Hall, M. N., & Madeo, F. (2014). The search for anti aging interventions: from elixirs to fasting regimens. Cell, 157(7), 1515–1526. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2014.05.031

3. Clarke, W. (2020). Is Intermittent Fasting a Productivity and Anti-Aging Hack? [Internet]. Online. FreshnLean Blog.  Available from: https://www.freshnlean.com/blog/intermittent-fasting/

4. Holloszy JO, Schechtman KB. Interaction between exercise and food restriction: effects on longevity of male rats. J Appl Physiol. 1991;70:1529–1535. 

5. Fontana L, Partridge L, Longo VD. Extending healthy life span--from yeast to humans. Science. 2010;328:321–326. 

6. Capone, C. (2020). The most effective anti-aging workout, backed by science. [Internet].Online. MD Linx.  Available from: https://www.mdlinx.com/article/the-most-effective-anti-aging-workout-backed-by-science/5jPVnxfJp2PyZyN7KFlpEF

7. Christian M Werner, Anne Hecksteden, Arne Morsch, Joachim Zundler, Melissa Wegmann, Jürgen Kratzsch, Joachim Thiery, Mathias Hohl, Jörg Thomas Bittenbring, Frank Neumann, Michael Böhm, Tim Meyer, Ulrich Laufs, Differential effects of endurance, interval, and resistance training on telomerase activity and telomere length in a randomized, controlled study, European Heart Journal, Volume 40, Issue 1, 01 January 2019,Pages 34–46, https://doi.org/10.1093/eurheartj/ehy585

8. Shumway, A. (2020). Researchers Find that Aerobic Exercise Can Reverse Aging Effects. [Internet].Online. Myeloma Crowd.  Available from: https://www.myelomacrowd.org/researchers-find-that-aerobic-exercise-can-reverse-aging-effects-/

9. Health line. The Top 2Workouts That Slow Aging on a Cellular Level. [Internet]. Online. Health line. Available from: https://www.healthline.com/health/fitness-exercise/anti-aging-exercise

10. Medical News Today. Resistance training for healthy aging: The whys and hows. [Internet]. Online. Medical News Today. Available from: https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/325907

11. Fragala M. S., CadoreE. L., Dorgo S., Izquierdo M., Kraemer W. J., Peterson Ark D., et al. (2019).Resistance training for older adults: position statement from the national strength and conditioning association. J. Stren Condition Res. 33 2019–2052.

12. Endo, Y., Nourmahnad,A., & Sinha, I. (2020). Optimizing Skeletal Muscle Anabolic Response to Resistance Training in Aging. Frontiers in physiology, 11, 874. https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2020.00874

13. Better Health. Resistance training – health benefits. [Internet].Online. Better Health. Available from: https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/healthyliving/resistance-training-health-benefits

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15. HelpGuide. Eating Well as You Age. [Internet].Online. HelpGuide. Available from: https://www.helpguide.org/articles/healthy-eating/eating-well-as-you-age.htm#

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