• Don’t grow old this year, grow better
• “Must-have” supplements have the power to slow down time
• Two more nutrients for your healthy aging arsenal

Whenever a New Year rolls around, it feels like a perfect time to make positive changes; to be better than we were the previous year.

Well, this year, how do you like the idea of aging healthier instead of growing older?

That’s right. Let’s make 2017 the year that you decide to age backwards.

Now, we already started talking about this in the last issue of Advanced Natural Wellness. That’s where you learned about three anti-aging factors you can power up to live a longer, healthier and more youthful life.

These included protecting the length of your telomeres, powering up your mitochondria and boosting positive gene expression.

Well, in addition to certain choices you make in your life, there are also specific supplements that can have an influence one ore more of these factors. In fact, I have five “must have” supplements that I recommend to every single one of my patients. And they have a huge amount of anti-aging power behind them.

Get the Healthy Aging Power Behind my “Must-Have” Supplements

A full spectrum multi-vitamin is at the top of my list.

Not only do multi-vitamins help fill in any gaps in your diet, they also protect your telomeres. And not by just a little bit. Women who take a daily multivitamin have telomeres that are about 10 years younger than women who don’t. That’s a big difference!

Look for one that includes vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and phytonutrients, and make sure to take it every day.

Omega-3 fatty acids are well-known for their ability to protect your heart, support brain health and slash inflammation. However, they also work at a biological level by protecting and lengthening your telomeres. These fatty acids also boost mitochondrial function and influence gene expression to protect against disease.

Look for one that’s been molecularly distilled and tested for purity. Take 4,000 mg in divided doses daily for best results.

Vitamin D supplementation is a must, since deficiency is common here in the U.S. If your levels are low, your telomeres could be five years older than they should be.

If you’re low on this nutrient, you could also experience a mitochondrial deficiency. This may be why muscle fatigue is so common in people who are vitamin D deficient. Without enough mitochondria, there’s no power to the cells in your muscles.

However, supplementing with vitamin D can help your mitochondria work better by boosting energy production from within your cells.

If you choose to supplement, look for a formula that contains the vitamin D3, also known as cholecalciferol. I suggest 2,000 IU daily and up to 5,000 IU if you’ve been tested as deficient.

CoQ10 is critical to life. It’s found in just about every cell of your body. And it’s responsible for around 95% of the energy consumed at the cellular level.

One of its most important jobs is to power up your mitochondria. It actually helps your mitochondria make more energy to keep you feeling younger and more energetic. It also alters the expression of gene patterns related to the reduction of small, dense, LDL particles associated with plaque build-up in the arteries.

You want your CoQ10 supplement to come in the form of ubiquinol. This is the kind that’s easiest for your body to absorb. Just 100 mg a day can protect and preserve your heart health. If you take a statin drug, take 200 mg daily.

A probiotic formula is absolutely necessary for a healthy gut. And there’s a good reason for this. The organisms in your gut have their own genes. In fact, their genome is about 150 times larger than that of the human genome.

Well, when you take a probiotic, it supports the “good” organisms in your gut. This, in turn, can influence gene expression in your own body.

For example, particular strains of beneficial bacteria – like lactobacillus and bifidobacteria – interact with your own gut bacteria to down-regulate pro-inflammatory genes and up-regulate ones that are anti-inflammatory.

Look for a formula that contains a prebiotic along with lactobacillus, bifidobacteria and other strains of healthy bacteria. You also want one with a colony count (CFU) of at least 10 billion. The more strains involved, the better off you’ll be.

Two More Nutrients to Add to Your Healthy Aging Arsenal

When it comes to slowing the effects of aging, there are also a couple of other nutrients that can do you a world of good.

One of my favorites is resveratrol. It turns on your youth gene, called SIRT1. In turn, SIRT1 flips on the master regulator (PGC-1a) of mitochondrial replication.

SIRT1 also reduces telomere shortening by increasing telomerase activity.

I recommend at least 100 mg. of resveratrol each day. Add 25 mg. of pterostilbene (a close cousin to resveratrol) to keep your telomeres and mitochondria at peak performance for years to come.

Green tea is another big winner. Green tea drinkers have telomeres that are about five years younger than people who don’t drink it. It’s also known for its ability to turn on genes that inhibit the development of cancerous tumors.

Drink green tea whenever you can (3-5 cups a day), but it’s also a good idea to supplement. Look for a formula that contains epigallocatechin gallate [EGCG] and is standardized to contain 60% polyphenols. For the most impact, set a goal of 240 to 320 mg. of polyphenols every day.

If you want more energy, power and vitality than you’ve had in years, don’t wait to get started. Make 2017 your year to start aging backwards.

SOURCES:

Xu Q, et al. Multivitamin use and telomere length in women. Am J Clin Nutr. 2009 Jun;89(6):1857-63.

Kiecolt-Glaser JK, et al. Omega-3 fatty acids, oxidative stress, and leukocyte telomere length: A randomized controlled trial. Brain Behav Immun. 2013 Feb;28:16-24.

Herbst EAF, et al. Omega-3 supplementation alters mitochondrial membrane composition and respiration kinetics in human skeletal muscle. J Physiol. 2014 Mar 15; 592(Pt 6): 1341–1352.

Vedin I, et al. Effects of DHA-rich n-3 fatty acid supplementation on gene expression in blood mononuclear leukocytes: the OmegAD study. PLoS One. 2012;7(4):e35425.

Liu JJ, et al. Plasma vitamin d biomarkers and leukocyte telomere length. Am J Epidemiol. 2013 Jun 15;177(12):1411-7.

Richards JB, et al. Higher serum vitamin D concentrations are associated with longer leukocyte telomere length in women. Am J Clin Nutr. 2007 Nov;86(5):1420-5.

Sinha A, et al. Improving the vitamin D status of vitamin D deficient adults is associated with improved mitochondrial oxidative function in skeletal muscle. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2013 Mar;98(3):E509-13.

Schmelzer C, et al. Ubiquinol-induced gene expression signatures are translated into altered parameters of erythropoiesis and reduced low density lipoprotein cholesterol levels in humans. IUBMB Life. 2011 Jan;63(1):42-8.

Plaza-Diaz J, et al. Modulation of immunity and inflammatory gene expression in the gut, in inflammatory diseases of the gut and in the liver by probiotics. World J Gastroenterol. 2014 Nov 14;20(42):15632-49.

Csiszar A, et al. Resveratrol induces mitochondrial biogenesis in endothelial cells. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol. 2009 Jul;297(1):H13-20.

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

Chan R. Chinese tea consumption is associated with longer telomere length in elderly Chinese men. British Journal of Nutrition. 2010;103:107-113.