By David Blyweiss, M.D., Advanced Natural Wellness

December 10, 2014

• Stem cell research is amazing… sometimes
• The anti-aging secret of a lifetime
• Now let’s kick it into overdrive

Today, some amazing things are happening in the field of stem cell research. The idea, of course, is to find ways to turn stem cells into specific cell types to treat disease. Some day soon, this technology may even make it possible to clone organs for transplant.

This could be great news when it comes to life-threatening diseases we don’t know how to prevent or cure. But there’s one area of stem cell research I have serious concerns about.

You see, a lot of time is being spent on finding out how stem cells can be used to treat easily preventable lifestyle diseases. This includes things like heart disease, type 2 diabetes, Alzheimer’s and dementia. And, I find it very worrisome that researchers, scientists and other experts are spending so much time finding this “cure” for diseases that are so clearly avoidable in the first place.

I would much rather see my patients take control of their own aging process with proactive measures. I would also like to see them do it well before they get any crazy ideas in their head. It doesn’t take changing your genetic profile with altered and/or cloned stem cells to regain your health.

The truth is, nobody knows what the long-term outcomes this technology might present. Your body could reject the cells. They could cause an inflammatory reaction, leading to other diseases. And over-expression of these cells could even result in a cancerous response.

Well, let’s just say “no” to all of that. There are plenty of ways to take matters into your own hands and experience healthy and youthful results that will take you well into old age.

There are many factors that keep your body working efficiently. The food choices you make, your activity levels, how much sleep you get, and even the way you react to stress.

While all of these things need to be addressed at some point, today I want to zero in on three critical aspects of anti-aging and disease prevention that live right inside your own body. And, it doesn’t take a lot of hard work to take control of them.

Invest in your body’s natural energy factories. You’ve probably heard of mitochondria. But I’ll bet you don’t know exactly what they do for you.

Mitochondria power every cell in your body with energy. But they slowly run down and begin to malfunction as we age. As these energy factories run down, it leaves you open to all sorts of health problems… from stroke and heart disease to Alzheimer’s and dementia.

Thankfully, there are ways to help restore mitochondrial function to slow down the aging process. One answer is as simple as supplementation with the highly bioavailable form of CoQ10 called ubiquinol. Just 100 mg. a day will do the trick.

But, since “it’s never just one thing,” you’ll want to add at least 600 mg. a day in divided doses of alpha lipoic acid, 1,500 mg. of arginine and alpha keto-glutarate, and 100 mg. of resveratrol (which I’ll tell you more about in a moment). These doses may be difficult to find, so any close approximation will be significantly better than not taking them at all.

Another trick is to actually make more mitochondria… by keeping active. Moderate levels of movement will increase their numbers. Remember, sitting around all day doing nothing is the new “smoking.”

Turn back your aging clock. If you’ve been keeping up on my alerts in Advanced Natural Wellness, you know that protecting your telomeres is a chief key to staying young and healthy.

Telomeres are strands of DNA at the ends of your chromosomes. However, there’s a problem. Each time a cell divides, some of the telomere is lost. Ultimately, the shorter your telomeres, the shorter your life will be. Shortened telomeres are also linked to many age-related conditions, including cardiovascular disease, diabetes, osteoporosis, cancer, and Alzheimer’s.

This makes telomeres a sort of cellular time clock – one that either speeds up or slows down your biological age. But don’t worry. You not only have the power to protect these time-keepers. You also have the ability to lengthen them.

It’s as easy as supplementing with a high-quality fish oil supplement. They aren’t all created equal. Look for one that contains oil from fresh, wild-caught, deep sea fish. And make sure it’s been molecularly distilled and tested for purity (i.e., no mercury). Aim for 2,000 mg. of EPA and 1,000 mg. of DHA daily for telomere lengthening.

There’s also one more thing you can do. Not only does it turn on your anti-aging genes. It also ramps up your telomeres and helps preserve your mitochondria.

Switch on your anti-aging gene – and more! One of my favorite supplements is resveratrol. A lot of my patients call it “reverse-it-all.” That’s pretty much a true story, because it really does reverse-it-all when it comes to aging.

Resveratrol works by activating two genes critical to telomere protection. One of them is Sirt1. This is your “anti-aging” gene. We’ve long known Sirt1 protects your body from disease by revving up the mitochondria. Now we’ve learned it also reduces telomere shortening by increasing telomerase activity.

The other gene is called WRN helicase. This is a gene that helps protect and repair telomeres. It also helps prepare cells for division, so they can be copied properly. Low WRN activity is the cause of Werner Syndrome, a premature aging disease.

Resveratrol is great by itself. I highly recommend it. But there’s actually a way to amplify your results. You see, resveratrol has a highly potent cousin, called pterostilbene.

Both of these compounds have very similar properties. They also work synergistically, which means a combination of the two is more effective than using them separately.

But there’s one place pterostilbene really shines. It’s a whopping four times more bioavailable than resveratrol alone. So, combining the two really makes good sense if you want to turn back the aging clock.

With this in mind, here’s your best bet against aging and disease: In addition to your daily dose of ubiquinol, alpha lipoic acid, alpha keto-glutarate and omega-3 fatty acids, get at least 100 mg. of resveratrol and 25 mg. of pterostilbene each day.

Sources:
Tian G, et al. “Ubiquinol-10 supplementation activates mitochondria functions to decelerate senescence in senescence-accelerated mice.” Antioxid Redox Signal. 2014 Jun 1;20(16):2606-20.

Kiecolt-Glaser JK, et al. “Omega-3 fatty acids, oxidative stress, and leukocyte telomere length: A randomized controlled trial.” Brain Behav Immun. 2012 Sep 23. pii: S0889-1591(12)00431-X.

Sahin E, et al. “Telomere dysfunction induces metabolic and mitochondrial compromise.” Nature. 2011 Feb 17;470(7334):359-65.

Palacios JA, et al. “SIRT1 contributes to telomere maintenance and augments global homologous recombination.” J Cell Biol. 2010 Dec 27;191(7):1299-313.

Uchiumi F, et al. “The effect of resveratrol on the Werner syndrome RecQ helicase gene and telomerase activity.” Curr Aging Sci. 2011 Feb;4(1):1-7