by Dr Minkoff July 01, 2023 9 min read
In this article we're going to refresh on what we've learned to increase Lifespan and Healthspan.
To summarize, your body is made of 10’s of trillions of cells. It’s nothing but cells.
And the health and longevity of these individual cells determines how long you will live healthy, strong, with high energy and doing the things you want to do.
While we have our chronological age (our age in years), we also have our biological age (the age of our body according to its internal longevity markers).
Our biological aging can be sped up, slowed down and even reversed.
And this determines both our lifespan, how long we’ll live, and our healthspan, how long we’ll live in a healthy, active state.
And this is all determined by the health of our cells and, more importantly, the health of a limited number of cells called stem cells which exist to replace injured cells throughout our life.
So let’s dive in for a quick refresher.
When a cell is injured, or dies, your body has a solution — specific cells you were born with called stem cells. These cells contain the full blueprint of every type of cell in your body, so when a new cell is needed, no matter what it is, these stem cells divide, creating a new cell of the exact type needed.
This blueprint is your DNA, and it’s contained in tiny thread-like structures called chromosomes. Each chromosome houses a specific part of the DNA.
And on the tip of these chromosomes is something called a telomere. If chromosomes were like shoelaces, telomeres would be the plastic tips at the end of them.
Every time a specific stem cell divides, a tiny piece of this telomere is cut off, until there is no telomere left and the stem cell can no longer divide.
And that’s the problem. While we’re born with all of our stem cells, we only have so many of them, and their telomeres can only be cut about 62 times before that stem cell can no longer divide.
Now, look at how important this is: every time we get a cut, every time we walk down the stairs creating tiny micro-fractures in our bones, every time we’re ill, our stem cells must go to work replacing the dead or injured cells.
And they go on replacing them, throughout our life, until there are no more stem cells active, at which point our body can no longer repair itself from normal wear and tear throughout the day.
This is aging.
But we can speed this process up, or slow it down, depending on how well we take care of our body.
This doesn’t mean we can’t live. By all means, go running, workout, go on adventures.
But there are specific things that harm our cells more than anything else, and which do so needlessly, speeding up the aging process over time.
Toxins can kill cells, plug them up so they can’t take in nutrients or release waste, disrupt hormones so cells don’t get the messages they need for survival, or create free radicals (unstable molecules) that can then damage cells to the point they must be replaced.
The more toxins we take in and carry in our body, the more of this damage occurs.
Processed sugars and high omega 6 foods, as in soy and corn-based packaged foods, also injure our cells.
Harmful bacteria injure our cells directly, and also through the creation of free radicals.
Even just being low in amino acids, the main nutrients needed to help repair injured cells, or healthy fats, can lead to cellular death due to our body not having what it needs to repair injured cells.
And how much this occurs in our body during our life determines how fast our stem cells are being used up.
It may takes decades to see the effects, because there are still stem cells there to help replace dying cells, but inside our bodies, this is what’s happening.
This is why children heal so rapidly whereas, when we get older, it can take longer. They have more available, active stem cells.
But there aren’t just elements that harm our cells. There are also elements that protect our cells from this harm.
Just as free radicals act to injure cells and dismantle them, antioxidants help to protect cells from free radicals.
Antioxidants are found in vitamins such as vitamins C, E, A, CoQ10, selenium, beta carotene, and others.
They’re in fruits and vegetables such as strawberries, blueberries, spinach, artichokes and many more.
Our Greens & Reds Powders are made from concentrated extracts filled with antioxidants known as bioflavonoids which help to protect our cells from not just free radicals, but also from harmful bacteria.
And our Multi Complete contains the full spectrum of vitamins necessary for cellular health and for protection against free radicals.
But there’s more…
Toxins and free radicals can also harm DNA itself, smudging the instructions on the blueprints so that the structures built from them aren’t quite what was ordered.
If the DNA is a record and RNA is the record player, reading out the instructions of the new cell this stem cell must build, then we could say that toxins and free radicals make scratches on the record, so it skips, or replays or just doesn’t sound right here and there.
But DNA is made of nucleic acids, and when we take in more nucleic acids, as found in Nu Cell in a concentrated form, our stems cells are able to help repair the scratches in the DNA, so the record can play correctly again.
Metal-Free & Chemical Cleanse is important here as it not only helps remove the toxins and free radicals causing damage to the cells ad DNA, it also helps to protect the cells and DNA from further damage.
And, of course, the essential amino acids are the building blocks of the cells, being formed into new proteins according to the instructions of the DNA.
Without these, in the quantities needed, our body couldn’t repair muscle tissue, create needed hormones, repair bone, create neurotransmitters for nerve communication, repair injured cells, create immune cells to protect against harmful bacteria or viruses, and much more.
There is even a specific enzyme (chemical in the body that creates reactions) called telomerase. This enzyme, discovered only recently, has the ability to re-lengthen telomeres.
And it’s made out of… amino acids.
In short, if we give our body what it needs to repair itself, lengthening the lifespans of our individual cells, while still living active, adventurous lives…
And if, at the same time, we keep out of our bodies the things that harm our cells and speed up the use of our stem cells, or make the blueprints unreadable…
We can not only extend our lifespan and health span, we can actually reverse our biological age, bringing our overall health back to a newer, younger level: in looks, energy levels, strength, health and much more.
So let’s see what we have to do.
And that’s all there is to it.
It seems pretty simple, doesn’t it?
That’s because it is.
Living a long, healthy life actually isn’t that hard. It’s about keeping out of your body the things that harm it, while at the same time giving your body each of the things it needs to maintain proper health.
The reason it seems difficult to slow aging is, really, because our diet and the amount of toxins coming into our bodies, have truly just gotten this bad.
But if you were to get your biological age tested, and then followed this protocol for three months and had it tested again, you might be pretty surprised at the results.
Lowered health, energy and strength are not automatically a part of aging.
We can live long, healthy, adventurous lives doing what we want.
And that’s what I want for you.
I hope this helps.
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August 18, 2024 4 min read
Anyone who works out, runs, bikes or does any type of intense exercise, knows about DOMS — Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness.
This is the soreness you feel not right after a workout or exercise, but 24-48 hours later.
At one point it was thought this was caused by lactic acid build up, but this isn’t the case.
Lactic acid is an acid that starts to build up just before we reach our VO2 Max and can’t go any further in our exercise or workout. (VO2 Max is literally the Maximum amount, or Volume, of Oxygen (O2) that your cells can utilize during intense exercise, before you burn out.)
But lactic acid actually helps you. Your body can metabolize it (burn it and use it as fuel).
So what really causes DOMS? And how can we prevent it or lessen it?
Let’s see.
August 18, 2024 1 min read
The body requires all kinds of nutrients, minerals, and vitamins for optimum health. And in the Standard American Diet (SAD), none are more deficient than Omega-3 fatty acids.
An array of critical bodily processes are dependent on these fats for proper function, particularly in the immune system and brain.
When it comes to eating healthy fats and oils, most people don't realize that the ratio of the right kinds of fats is really important.
Most experts agree that a ratio of 3:1 or 4:1 of Omega-6 to Omega-3 is ideal, but the average American intake is more like 20:1 – over ten times more than needed.
Unfortunately, many of our sources for healthy Omega-3s are poor, degraded by modern food manufacturing processes, by our polluted environment, and by the lack of choices available in restaurants and grocery stores. Unless you're paying vigilant attention to your dietary fat intake, you're probably out of balance.
You probably need more Omega-3s.
This is where supplementation can make all the difference.
At BodyHealth, we've put together the most advanced, high-quality Omega-3 supplement available to optimize your brain health: Omega-3 Health.
April 19, 2024 5 min read
We know about amino acids, hormones, and how different foods affect our ability to build lean muscle, burn fat and stay healthy.
But if we want to achieve maximum levels of energy, recovery, health and performance, and build the most lean muscle, then we need to go down to the cellular level.
After all, our bodies are just one big mass of some 100 trillion cells all bonded together.
How well we're doing is an exact reflection of how well our cells are doing.
And they require a multitude of nutrients and biochemicals, all held in equilibrium, to ensure they can work properly, produce energy, build muscle, and keep our body going.
When these aren't properly balanced we can get headaches, brain fog, low levels of energy, muscle cramps, slower recoveries from workouts, and imbalances in hormones.
But when everything is in place, we have the most powerful you that you can be.
So let’s see how this works.
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