Poison Alert! (Did that get your attention?)
What if there was a substance in the environment that you were exposed to on a daily basis that could shorten your life, shrink your brain and make you fat in the bargain? You can bet there'd be a million e mails circulating about it, it would be lighting up the blogosphere and it would be the headline subject in at least a dozen consumer health newsletters. I mean, look at the brouhaha over cell phones, irradiated food and plastics recently.
Well the "thing" I'm talking about is worse than any of them. And every one of us is exposed to a ton of it on a daily basis.
I'm talking about... stress.
The granddaddy of the stress hormones- cortisol- has been written about extensively, by me and by many other health professionals. You probably already know how it works. Nature designed us with a "fight or flight" apparatus in place that allowed us to turn up the gas anytime we were in danger. So when your Paleolithic ancestors happened to come upon a wooly mammoth, the adrenals would jump into action, shoot a load of cortisol into the bloodstream and make it a lot easier for you to either run up a tree or pick up a club(hence "fight or flight").
Problem is, the gas pedal on cortisol was never meant to be locked in the "on" position 24/7.
Now new research from the University of California, published in the May 2008 issue of Brain, Behavior and immunity, has illustrated one of the many mechanisms by which excess cortisol ages the body. The key is in something called telomeres, which are the little "caps" at the end of chromosomes that help stabilize them. As we age- and each time a cell divides- those telomeres lose a little length. We even have an enzyme- called telomerase- that helps prevent shortening, maintaining the cells healthy ability to keep dividing.
In this research study, scientists took some white blood cells from healthy people and treated them with different amounts of cortisol. After only 72 hours, the cultures treated with cortisol had less cells than the control cultures. While normal amounts of cortisol had no negative effects, the concentrations of cortisol that are comparable to that found in a typical human under typical stress was a different story. That amount of cortisol reduced the activity of the telomere protecting enzyme (telomerase) by up to 50 percent.
That's one way stress accelerates aging. Another is by wearing down the immune system. And a third is by shrinking an important area of the brain critical for memory and thinking (called the hippocampus).
Wouldn't it be great if there were a supplement that could reduce cortisol?
Unfortunately there isn't.
While Phosphatidyl Serine has been shown to reduce cortisol in athletes (and is a great supplement for the brain), the fact is that nothing- including supplements- have been found to be as effective in bringing down cortisol as a simple, free, low-tech activity: meditation. And as someone who hasn't personally taken to meditation like the proverbial duck to water, I'm happy to report that even five minutes a day of focused deep breathing can produce similar results (though actually this is one of those cases where more really is better).
I mention this because it's important to remember that living well- and healthy- and having what we're now calling "the Youngevity Lifestyle" is about more than just taking supplements, or even eating well. Sure those are important things to do, and I wouldn't have a career if they weren't.
But let's remember that there are plenty of things we can do to increase both the length of time we're on the planet and the quality of the time we are blessed with. Connecting with other people is one. Deep breathing and relaxing is another. Getting plenty of sleep is a third. Spending some time in the sun is a fourth. Making a contribution to the world and 'giving back' is a fifth.
The best part is that you don't have to spend a penny to do any of the above.
And the payoff is greater than almost anything else I can think of.
Your "telomeres" will thank you. And so will your health.
Well the "thing" I'm talking about is worse than any of them. And every one of us is exposed to a ton of it on a daily basis.
I'm talking about... stress.
The granddaddy of the stress hormones- cortisol- has been written about extensively, by me and by many other health professionals. You probably already know how it works. Nature designed us with a "fight or flight" apparatus in place that allowed us to turn up the gas anytime we were in danger. So when your Paleolithic ancestors happened to come upon a wooly mammoth, the adrenals would jump into action, shoot a load of cortisol into the bloodstream and make it a lot easier for you to either run up a tree or pick up a club(hence "fight or flight").
Problem is, the gas pedal on cortisol was never meant to be locked in the "on" position 24/7.
Now new research from the University of California, published in the May 2008 issue of Brain, Behavior and immunity, has illustrated one of the many mechanisms by which excess cortisol ages the body. The key is in something called telomeres, which are the little "caps" at the end of chromosomes that help stabilize them. As we age- and each time a cell divides- those telomeres lose a little length. We even have an enzyme- called telomerase- that helps prevent shortening, maintaining the cells healthy ability to keep dividing.
In this research study, scientists took some white blood cells from healthy people and treated them with different amounts of cortisol. After only 72 hours, the cultures treated with cortisol had less cells than the control cultures. While normal amounts of cortisol had no negative effects, the concentrations of cortisol that are comparable to that found in a typical human under typical stress was a different story. That amount of cortisol reduced the activity of the telomere protecting enzyme (telomerase) by up to 50 percent.
That's one way stress accelerates aging. Another is by wearing down the immune system. And a third is by shrinking an important area of the brain critical for memory and thinking (called the hippocampus).
Wouldn't it be great if there were a supplement that could reduce cortisol?
Unfortunately there isn't.
While Phosphatidyl Serine has been shown to reduce cortisol in athletes (and is a great supplement for the brain), the fact is that nothing- including supplements- have been found to be as effective in bringing down cortisol as a simple, free, low-tech activity: meditation. And as someone who hasn't personally taken to meditation like the proverbial duck to water, I'm happy to report that even five minutes a day of focused deep breathing can produce similar results (though actually this is one of those cases where more really is better).
I mention this because it's important to remember that living well- and healthy- and having what we're now calling "the Youngevity Lifestyle" is about more than just taking supplements, or even eating well. Sure those are important things to do, and I wouldn't have a career if they weren't.
But let's remember that there are plenty of things we can do to increase both the length of time we're on the planet and the quality of the time we are blessed with. Connecting with other people is one. Deep breathing and relaxing is another. Getting plenty of sleep is a third. Spending some time in the sun is a fourth. Making a contribution to the world and 'giving back' is a fifth.
The best part is that you don't have to spend a penny to do any of the above.
And the payoff is greater than almost anything else I can think of.
Your "telomeres" will thank you. And so will your health.
Jonny Bowden, PhD, C.N.S. is a nationally known expert on weight loss, nutrition and health and is the author of several best-selling books.
Jonny,
Biotest recently came out with a product called Eleven T. One of it's properties is said to reduce cortisol levels. The product just came on the market 10 days ago. There is a lot of discussion about it on the t-nation.com forums.
MH
Hi Mike
Thanks, I'll look into it. I'm going to be doing a monthly Q and A for T-Nation.com
thanks
jb
Good advice! But I do have a question. I've noticed a number of references in your articles to spending time in the sun. I also checked out the book by Dr. Sears that you mentioned on the same topic. I do understand the absolute necessity of vitamin D and have in fact discovered firsthand what it can do for overall mood and sense of well-being. But I have been a heavy sunscreen user for many years. This is both to prevent (so I was lead to believe) skin cancer and photodamage. Now I understand the link between cancer and the sun may not be what it has been believed to be. But what about aging of the skin? We've all seen those photographs that seem to point distinctly to damage caused by sun exposure, as well as pictures of (or aquaintance with)folks who have apparently spent time unprotected in the sun. Robert Redford comes to mind. How damaging, in this respect, do you think the sun really is? And what are the ways to get some healthy exposure without incurring these harmful effects?
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