Fitting Into Your Genes

Are you aging rapidly?
The rate of aging is genetically determined, but how well you age is very much controlled by diet, lifestyle, hormone balance, and stress control when it comes to our genes.  I'll explain why in this blog.  The pace at which we age is to a large degree controlled by these important little things called telomeres.  Telomeres serve as 'a cap' at the end of chromosomes which make up our DNA.  Each time that a cell divides to make a new copy of itself the telomere is shortened.  When the telomere is basically whittled away to nothing, DNA becomes frayed at the ends and the cell cannot make copies anymore. Frazzled DNA due to poor lifestyle, diet, and stress can expedite the process of aging resulting in shortened telomeres prematurely.

Long telomeres are connected with longevity, but short telomeres have been linked to diseases like heart disease, cancer, Alzheimers disease, osteoporosis, and death. People don't realize it, but cells in your skin are changed out once a month, your liver in 6 weeks, your GI tract 5 days and so on.  So, you will want to keep your DNA in tip top shape (literally because telomeres serves as caps preventing frazzled ends), so you prevent degradation of the cells needed to restore the body.  Telomeres tend to be longer in younger people than in older individuals.  Men tend to have shorter telomeres than women, probably because they tend to burn them up faster in more self-destructive behaviors (smoking, poor diet, alcohol consumption, and lack of exercise, job stress, pushing physical limits).  Researchers think there is a link to telomeres in the men vs women caterogry of aging in the fact that women live 4 to 5 years longer than men.

So how do you prevent the shortening of telomeres and stress on your body?
1) Eat a healthy diet
2) Follow a healthy lifestyle (exercise, activities of enjoyment, sunlight)
3) Take supplements of fish oil and Vitamin D daily.
4) Avoid junk food
5) Keep your waist size down
6) Get plenty of sleep
7) Control stress.
8) Minimize exposure to harmful vapors, smoke, fumes, and chemicals.  Stop smoking!
9) Drink tea daily. Teas provide healthy nutrients to the body.
10) Know your numbers (thyroid, blood pressure, blood sugar, hormones)
11) Avoid artificial sweeteners.
12) Limit alcohol consumption
13) Get your hormones balanced!!!  The impact of hormone imbalance often results in stress to the body (insomnia, poor mood, cravings, lack of energy, wrinkles, decreased hair growth, weight gain)

Have you ever seen someone who went through a major stress and they age 10 years overnight?  Have you experienced sleeplessness, anxiety, poor mood and the other "issues" of the modern day lifestyle?  Then follow these key steps to slow the process down so you can fit into your genes better.

To your good health,
Dr. Sonja