We own the fountain of youth. It is not a physical fountain. The fountain of youth involves making the right decisions to counter the effects of aging.
There are two primary causes of aging. One is the gradual decrease in the body’s production of human growth hormone (HGH) as we age. The second is the loss of telomeres when cells replicate. You have control over both.
There are several options to increase HGH in your older years. Sleep, exercise, fasting, and sugar reduction are effective methods of increasing HGH level.
You can begin your day eating at 6 am and end your eating at 6 pm. That twelve hours after 6 pm qualifies as a fast. That twelve hours increases the production of HGH. This happens while you are sleeping.
Exercise increases HGH levels. High-intensity interval training (HIIT) results in more HGH created than other exercises. All exercise causes the body to produce HGH. HIIT is metabolic and increases lactic acid which causes the most HGH to be created.
Quality sleep increases HGH levels. Minimize your exposure to blue light (computers, cell phones) at least three hours before going to bed. Don’t eat within three hours of bedtime. Don’t drink alcohol within five hours of bedtime. Deep sleep is when HGH is created. The better quality of your sleep, the more HGH you will produce.
Fasting to raise HGH levels can be done in a few ways. The fasting must be at least twelve hours. Fasting means water, unsweetened tea, and unsweetened coffee only. The longer the fast, the more HGH is created. Eating within an eight-hour window and fasting for sixteen hours produces more HGH.
Reducing sugar intake increases HGH level because insulin levels are reduced. Insulin levels affect the production of HGH. The higher the insulin levels the greater the reduction of HGH.
Telomeres are the ends of our DNA molecules. Each time a cell replicates (one cell becomes two cells), the tip end of the DNA is lost. How much that loss is determines how fast cell age. When a telomere is used up (no more telomere to lose when a cell replicates), the cell dies.
Slowing down the rate of loss of telomeres is critical for better and longer aging. Brigham Young University’s exercise science professor Larry Tucker analyzed data from CDC’s National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey of over 5,800 adults. Telomere length was one value measured in the survey.
Highly active people (30-40 minutes of exercise five days a week) had a biological advantage of seven years compared to the test patients who were moderately-active, and nine years compared to sedentary patients.
Other ways to improve longevity and reduce the loss of telomeres are meditation, reduce/eliminate toxins/pollution, maintain a healthy weight, eat nutritionally balanced meals, and boost NAD+ levels. NAD+ is the acronym for nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide.
NAD+ is found in all cells and is required for a healthy life. NAD+ levels decline with age. The loss
of NAD+ is like the loss of HGH when we age. NAD+ is at half the levels of a teenager. At age 80, NAD+ levels drop to between 1-10% of our youth. The same is true of HGH.
NAD+ is converted in our cells to make sirtuin protein work. Sirtuins protect our cells from age-related disease and decline. NAD+ also assists in the maintenance of telomere length. NAD+ is available in supplements. A high-fat, low-carb keto diet brings on ketosis which increases NAD+. Intermittent fasting also increases NAD+ levels.
Another large factor in telomere length is lifestyle. Obesity, stress, alcohol, smoking, air pollution, toxins, and low physical activity increase the rate of loss of telomere length which shortens your lifespan and increases the risk of age-related diseases.
Your fountain of youth is well within your control. A healthy lifestyle that includes active exercise, intermittent fasting, nutritional balance, toxin avoidance, quality sleep, and reduction of insulin levels (eat less refined carbohydrates). Whether you look ten or twenty years younger than your peers, your inner cells will be ten or twenty years younger than your physical age.