Access Your Body's Built-in "Fountain of Youth"
Aging is inevitable.
But thanks to some groundbreaking scientific revelations, it is indeed possible to slow aging—and even reverse some of the existing damage.
The secret to this fountain of youth lies within your ability to disrupt your body’s own aging processes—all the way down to the cellular level. And today, I’m going to show you how one all-natural, science-backed strategy can help you do just that.
How your cells age
The pace at which you age is dictated by your telomeres. They “cap” the end of your DNA strands in each of your chromosomes. They’re a lot like the little plastic tips on your shoelaces that keep your laces from fraying.
Your telomeres “cap” the ends of your chromosomes.
IMAGE SOURCE: Shutterstock.com
Similar to the way your skull protects your brain, telomeres work to protect the precious DNA inside your cells’ chromosomes from any sort of damage—a major factor linked to accelerated aging.
And throughout your lifetime, your cells will continually divide and copy themselves—a process called cell division. This process is essential for your body to grow and heal itself.
The basic anatomy of a cell.
IMAGE SOURCE: dreamstime.com
But cell division comes with a caveat: Each time your cell is copied and divides, your telomeres gradually get smaller—making your DNA more vulnerable.
Eventually, if your telomeres become short enough, your cells lose their ability to divide, causing them to deteriorate and eventually die. This cell death contributes to aging and increases the risk of age-related diseases.
However, emerging research has uncovered that this cellular decline can be slowed significantly, making it possible to actually lengthen your telomeres.
Avoid these age-accelerating factors
The first step is to address what daily factors may be damaging your telomeres and speeding up the aging process.
In a 2012 study on lifestyle, cancer, and aging, researchers pinpointed five major lifestyle/environmental threats that can rapidly shorten telomeres:
- Chronic stress
- Environmental pollution
- Obesity
- Poor Diet
- Smoking
Of those, chronic stress was shown to cause some of the most significant damage.
In a 2004 study, women with the highest levels of perceived stress were found to have dramatically shorter telomeres as compared to those with lower levels of stress. In fact, the amount of telomere shortening in the high-stress women was equivalent to at least ten years of aging!
Now that you know the major age-accelerating habits to avoid, let’s talk a little bit more about what you can do to protect your telomeres and even restore their length.
How a strong vagal tone protects telomeres
One effective technique for decreasing stress and slowing aging is to strengthen your vagal tone. Your vagal tone is a measure of how fast your body bounces back after a stressful event.
When your vagal tone is strong, your body is able to return itself to a calm, collected state quickly and easily.
But when your vagal tone is low, your body is more apt to remain in a heightened state of alert for longer. This increases the amount of time your body is affected by high levels of the “stress hormone” cortisol, further shortening telomere length.
Fortunately, a 2018 study analysis on cellular aging found that techniques that improve vagal tone—including sound-based vagal nerve stimulation (VNS), meditation, and breath work—help to strengthen and even lengthen telomeres.
In addition to fortifying your vagal tone and avoiding the four major age-accelerating habits, there are three more easy ways you can protect your telomeres.
- Get moving. Exercise helps burn away any excess cortisol heightened by chronic stress. Physical activity can also boost the production of the telomere-building enzyme, telomerase.
- Eat well. Increase your intake of dietary fiber and healthy unsaturated fats (like olive oil). Decrease your sugar and saturated fat consumption——both of which can speed up telomere damage.
- Strengthen your vagal tone. To build up your vagal tone, you must also strengthen your vagus nerve—the longest nerve in your body. Here are eight easy (and free) ways to get started.
Taking care of your telomeres has been the best-kept secret in anti-aging for years. But now, the word is out!
Working these manageable steps into your everyday routine will give you the best chance for healthier, happier, stronger years. You certainly deserve it!
Be well, Jim
SOURCES:
Ask, T., Lugo, R. and Sütterlin, S. (2018). The Neuro-Immuno-Senescence Integrative Model (NISIM) on the Negative Association Between Parasympathetic Activity and Cellular Senescence. Frontiers in Neuroscience. Retrieved from: frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnins.2018.00726/full
Blackburn, E. (2017). Could your thoughts make you age faster? TED. Retrieved from:ideas.ted.com/could-your-thoughts-make-you-age-faster/
Blackburn, E. and Epel, E. (2012). Telomeres and adversity: Too toxic to ignore. Nature. 490: pp. 169 – 170. Retrieved from: nature.com/articles/490169a
Dean, S. et al. (2017). The association between telomere length and mortality in Bangladesh. Aging. 9(6): pp. 1537 – 1548. Retrieved from: ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5509454/
Epel, E., et al. (2011). Can meditation slow the rate of cellular aging? Cognitive stress, mindfulness, and telomeres. Annual New York Academy of Science. 1172: pp. 34 – 53. Retrieved from: ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3057175/
OpenStax College. (2016). Telomeres and telomerase. Khan Academy. Retrieved from: khanacademy.org/science/biology/dna-as-the-genetic-material/dna-replication/a/telomeres-telomerase
Schutte, N. and Malouff, J. (2014). A meta-analytic review of the effects of mindfulness meditation on telomerase activity. Psychoneuroendocrinology. 42: pp. 45 – 48. Retrieved from: pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24636500/
Shammas. (2011). Telomeres, lifestyle, cancer, and aging. Current Opinions in Clinical Nutrition and Metabolic Care. 14(1): pp. 28 – 34. Retrieved from: ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3370421
Schulman, J. (2018). Telomeres: The Key to Staying Young and Disease-Free? Healthline. Retrieved from: healthline.com/health/telomeres#telomere-lengthening
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Disclaimer:
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The material provided on this site is for educational purposes only and any recommendations are not intended to replace the advice of your physician. You are encouraged to seek advice from a competent medical professional regarding the applicability of any recommendations with regard to your symptoms or condition.
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About the author:
Jim Donovan M.Ed. is a multi-platinum musician, educator and TEDx speaker.
His mission is to share the restorative power of music through education and performance.
Donovan is an Assistant Professor and Director of Music and Wellness at Saint Francis University.
His viral TEDx Talk "How to Trick Your Brain Into Falling Asleep" has been viewed over 6 million times to date.
He currently performs with his band The Sun King Warriors who can best described as as a blend of rhythm heavy roots rock, with a strong dose of big barreling drums.
Jim Donovan got his start as a founding member of the multi-platinum selling band Rusted Root.
There he co-wrote the song “Send Me on My Way” featured in the movies "Ice Age", "Matilda" and the Netflix series "New Girl".
During his time with the band 1990-2005, he recorded and released seven full length albums. Including "When I Woke" (3x platinum).
He also had the honor of sharing the stage with many of his musical influences and heroes including Robert Plant and Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin (1995 US/UK tour), Carlos Santana (1997/2002 US tour), The Allman Brothers Band (1995/96 US tour), The Grateful Dead (1995 Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh, PA) and many others.
Send Me On My Way also became the first song on Mars where it “woke up” NASA’s Mars Rover.
Author
Jim Donovan
Author
Jim Donovan, M. Ed. is a professional musician, author, trainer, Assistant Professor at Saint Francis University, and TEDx speaker. He’s editor of the daily Jim Donovan Digest newsletter and host of the Sound Health Podcast.
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