Health holistic lifestyle27 February 2021

How to stop aging with a holistic lifestyle

Death is inevitable, but do you know aging is not!? With current knowledge, we can not only slow down aging but also reverse it. We have to embrace our age, but in the same way, aging is not a natural process. Aging is a disease and in fact, it´s the major cause of all major diseases on the planet. It´s the driver of cancer, heart disease, and Alzheimer’s. The world paradigm that tells us aging is common and something we just need to accept, is proven false. Dr. David Sinclair, professor in the Department of Genetics and co-director of The Paul F. Glenn Center for the Biology of Aging at Harvard Medical school, suggests that we can stop aging and increase our longevity by changing our lifestyle. Eating organic foods, a plant-based diet or less meat consumption, exercise, fasting, and reducing psychological stress (with yoga and meditation) are the key points. This in combination with the intake of plant molecules, such as resveratrol supplements, helps you to get the most benefits.

Our body works holistically

We used to think that all diseases were separate from each other and that’s also the way how we treated them in the past decennia. But current research shows that our body is a system that works holistically. Our immune system, hormone regulation, inflammation, Mitochondria (Powerhouse of the Cell), etc. are all connected. And by understanding the common links we can solve aging. When our body functions well disease doesn’t have a chance. Aging will be tackled on an intern (functions organs and tissues) and extern level (skin, hair) because it’s the same process.

With aging, we see an increase in inflammation, a decrease in Mitochondrion function (energy cells), hormonal changes (lower testosterone, higher cortisol, lower growth hormone, increased insulin), increase in blood sugar, reduced metabolism, and buildup of toxins. By changing our lifestyle we can tackle this problem. Early 1990’s we thought we can only slow down aging, but now we know there exist protective pathways to reverse aging. We have inbuild repair systems that get lazy if you get lazy. If you don’t eat well or too much, exercise too little, have a lot of stress, etc. you activate aging.

Creating biological stress

There are three levels of aging. 1. The things that kill you (DNA damage, Mitochondria dysfunction, etc.) 2. Regulators of aging (sirtuins=longevity genes)  3. The environment. When the environment is harsh, it kicks the protectors in action and reverses the causes of aging. You need to trick your body it’s in adversity. The third level is really important to understand if you want to reverse the aging process. By creating biological stress in your body you turn on ancient defenses to survive, the sirtuins. Which are ancient genes that were evolved to survive when times are tough. How do we trick our body that times are tough?

Implement these lifestyle changes from today

There are several things you can change in your lifestyle to increase your longevity and stop aging. Here are 10 things you can do to stop aging. The best is to implement it all into your lifestyle to get the most benefits.

1. Eat less and less often. Eating too much brings your body into a state of completion, and you want to put your body in a state of stress. If you can skip a meal do this. It’s also better to eat your food in a certain timeframe than to eat all day long. This is why intermittent fasting works because it burns all the bad proteins. The minimum for fasting to get the benefits is 16 to 18 hours. It’s also good to restrict your calorie restriction and avoid high calorific foods (white rice, pasta, etc.) Salads and high-fiber foods are good choices.
2. Restrict your sugar and high fat intake. This signals to the body it is in completion and it doesn’t need to fight disease anymore. However healthy fats like fat fish (omega-3), avocado, and olive oil are good fats to consume.
3. Eat organic foods. It’s not only because of the non-use of pesticides that make organic foods healthier but they are also stressed out. The protection for influences of the weather and insects makes their DNA stronger which in turn produces different plant molecules such as resveratrol. By eating foods that are stressed, we trick our bodies into a state of defense. These molecules turn on our sirtuins defenses and mimic exercise and fasting.
4. Exercise. If you exercise you also turn on your ancient defenses. It’s important to do high-intensity training a few times a week, for at least 10 minutes, to get the exercise benefits.
5. Eat plant-based, or as much as possible. If you consume lots of animal products you get amino acids in your body that increase the aging process. Especially meat contains a high amount of amino acids. It’s also better for animal welfare and the environment. I suggest a vegan or flexitarian diet (100% almost plant-based/vegetarian).
6. Avoid psychological stress. Biological stress is good, but psychological stress not. You get high cortisol levels that kill your immune system. Meditation and yoga are powerful ways to combat stress in your life.
7. Artificially molecule intake. Lots of research show the benefits of resveratrol (supplements). It activates the sirtuins that protect the body. It boosts your immune system and enhances the function of mitochondria. Your body has more ability to take in the nutrients and get rid of the toxins. You can buy this in your local health food store or online. A second potential molecule to consume is NAD boosters. With aging your NAD levels decreases (28-50), which is important for controlling your sirtuins. These genes go back and forth repairing and organizing DNA. They sense the environment and measure the amount of NAD and protect us. Without NAD you will be literally dead. However, there’s not enough human-based research so far to know if it’s already safe to use. When you exercise and get hungry you can also boost your NAD and get the benefits.
8. Avoid DNA breaks. Too much sun, toxins in the environment (PCB, microwave food, plastic, yellow inc, TAC scanners, and other radiation) can kill your DNA and causes aging.
9. Sleep. The quality of your sleep is really important. When you disrupt your sleep cycles you’re aging.
10. Cold and heat exposure. When you take ice baths after a sauna or shower hot and cold you will develop brown fat. Brown fat causes our bodies to burn extra calories to keep warm. The bare minimum for cold and heat is 1 min to get the shock. You want to hit and recover with all things.

If you want to learn more about aging you can listen to these podcasts with David Sinclair:

https://podcasts.apple.com/nl/podcast/the-mindbodygreen-podcast/id1246494475?l=en&i=1000461787181

https://podcasts.apple.com/nl/podcast/fad-or-future/id1482431896?l=en&i=1000460789101

https://podcasts.apple.com/nl/podcast/the-doctors-farmacy-with-mark-hyman-m-d/id1382804627?l=en&i=1000449360075

https://podcasts.apple.com/nl/podcast/the-peter-attia-drive/id1400828889?l=en&i=1000423227132

https://podcasts.apple.com/nl/podcast/impact-theory-with-tom-bilyeu/id1191775648?l=en&i=1000450359359

https://podcasts.apple.com/nl/podcast/the-rich-roll-podcast/id582272991?l=en&i=1000465132216