GROWING YOUNGER
LONGEVITY STRATEGIES THAT HELP REVERSE THE AGING PROCESS
by Marlaina Donato L
ongevity, a human quest through the ages, is now a hot topic among scientific researchers that assert there has never been a better time to maximize our potential for metabolic renewal.
Biological age—the state of our health at the cellular level—is in the spotlight, as are the anti-aging benefits of science-supported phytonutrients, cell-rejuvenating foods and safe, non-surgical, stem cell procedures. Functional medicine, with its focus on the biology-based root causes of disease, is also a rising star in the arena of age reversal. No matter which path we follow to aging vibrantly,
the most inspiring takeaway is that lifestyle, not genes, determines destiny. “On average in the United States, the last 16 years of life are spent with multiple diagnoses and on multiple medications. We are giving our hard-earned money to pharmacies, hospitals and nursing facilities,” says Kara Fitzgerald, a naturopathic doctor in Newtown, Connecticut, and
the author of Younger You: Reduce Your Bio Age and Live Longer, Better. She and other researchers contrast “lifespan”, the years from birth to death, to “healthspan”, the years spent in good health free of age-related disease and disability. “Lifespan is not necessarily healthspan, and we can change that,” she says.
Age Is Not Just a Number Until recently, age was determined by the year on our birth certificate, but “bio age” is the new number to pay attention to. It might not only predict health outcomes down the road, but also add years to our lives. In groundbreaking work in 2017, anti- aging researcher Steven Horvath at the University of California, Los Angeles, used algorithms to calculate biological age on the basis of how extensively our genome is modified by a process called DNA methylation. Researchers are now understanding what factors can turn on positive gene expressions and turn off those that may activate life- threatening diseases. “Bio age is how fast our bodies are aging, and aging is the main risk factor for all diseases, including Type 2
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