Tomorrow (Saturday) I fly to France for Christmas and to save time I have brought forward a promotional piece and adapted it for you.
You’ve heard people making wild claims about “turning back the clock” and anti-aging miracles. Probably you thought it was a load of hooey. How can you turn the clock back?
You get older. Nobody gets younger.
But then science has started to reveal some amazing truths. What if it was really possible to turn back the clock—to have your body showing the characteristics of a human being years younger?
If only there was a way, bring it on, right? Well, there is!
The first clue it was possible came from studies of mice. Look at these two animals from a study at Harvard University… would you believe they were both the same age (siblings in fact, born the same day!)
The one on the left, as you can see, is very aged: fat, past its sell-by date, grey haired and a very dull coat. The one on the right is obviously much healthier: slim, bright-eyed, dark glossy coat!
“What we saw in these animals was not a slowing down or stabilization of the ageing process. We saw a dramatic reversal – and that was unexpected,” said Ronald DePinho, who led the study, which was published in the journal Nature.1
How is that possible? The researchers used a potentially-toxic drug, we don’t want you taking that. I merely want to make the point that dramatic change is possible. The secrets of age prevention have begun to emerge!
Age Factors In The Blood
In another series of tests, researchers at Stanford University injected blood from younger mice into older mice, to see what would happen (it has to be animals at first, until proven safe). The results were remarkable. The older mice literally grew younger: again glossy coat, bright eyes, slim and energetic.
And they were smarter too, less signs of senility!
The big question then became: was there something in the blood of younger mice that caused these benefits… or was something removed from the blood of older mice that enabled them to become young again, or at least function as if they were much younger?
To find out, researchers injected the blood of older mice into younger animals, to see if that would cause rapid aging. It did! So was there something present in old-mice blood that made them old, which was not present in the blood of younger healthy mice?
Yes!
I’ll tell you the final outcome: it’s not the presence of something, it’s an absence of certain factors, that causes dramatic anti-aging benefits. The older mice have senility factors in their blood, which are not present in the blood of younger animals.
So when a good portion of the aging mice blood is switched over to the younger blood, the animals rejuvenate. The senility gunk is washed out, to a degree. In fact it didn’t need blood transfusions at all; injections of protein-enhanced saline solution were just as good. The effect seemed to be that of diluting the senility factors, rather than transforming them.
There were many measurable benefits, apart from looking young. Immune function improved, muscle bulk increased, wound-healing was enhanced and replacement of brain cells was speeded up.2
How Do We Get Rid Of The Senility Factors In Our Blood?
Wouldn’t it be great if we could somehow keep eliminating the senility factors? Of course one way is known to everybody: if you’ve read Bram Stoker’s Dracula, or know the rumors about Vlad The Impaler, you’ll probably be thinking we could use blood drained from young maidens… Ha!
Naturally, drinking blood that doesn’t belong to you is not a recommended solution! For one thing, it’s what mathematicians call a “zero sum game”. There are only so many years of life to go around and you would live longer only by stealing years from the maidens! That’s a REALLY dumb solution!
We want good science, from which you will live longer; the maidens live longer (and stay beautiful longer); animals live longer (especially beloved pets); and even vampires could benefit. Is there a way?
Yup!
It’s called autophagy (Greek: literally “eating yourself”).
Now we don’t mean taking a bite out of your own liver. This is a very exact biological process that takes place in our bodies all the time. It’s the action by which certain leukocytes (white blood cells) clear up the senile junk… the old senile cells, damaged proteins and other unwanted debris.
It’s a kind of recycling.
With the old-stuff gone, tissues regenerate and function in a far more youthful way. The chance of any chronic or aging disease is dramatically reduced and, yes, that includes much lower risk of cancer.
Let me write that again: IT GREATLY REDUCES THE RISK OF CANCER.
We benefit too in avoiding the slow decline of aging: mental senility and dementia
For example: in 2019, biotech startup Alkahest reported the results from a six-month trial that saw 40 patients with mild to moderate Alzheimer’s disease infused with a proprietary human plasma “fraction”, to dilute the aging factors. It appeared to arrest their expected mental decline.3
Alkahest Labs
Isn’t that cool?
So How Do We Get Into This Autophagy Thing?
It’s not very convenient to keep having repeat blood transfusions or a saline drip with added protein. What else is there?
I’ll tell you in one word: fasting. Don’t eat so much and don’t eat so often.
Now before you panic, it isn’t so difficult! You will NOT be hungry. You will not be faint and weak or unable to work. I promise!
The secret is that it is not necessary to fast all the time, or even for long periods. Today we are smarter, more knowledgeable, and science tells us that “intermittent fasting” or “time restricted eating” has all the desired health benefits listed above.
What do we mean by intermittent fasting? You can do 2 days a week; 5 days a month. If that’s too hard, you can fast for just 16 hours every day. Eat for 8 hours and then STOP! We call that an eating window. Anyone can avoid eating for 16 hours; after all, we can sleep for 8 of them!
My preferred method is not written about so much but it’s to fast on alternate days (day on, day off). It never seems so arduous!
Whichever method you choose, be aware you CAN eat. It’s not an absolute: as in, nothing but water to pass your lips. In fact some writers suggest up to 500 calories on a “fasting” day. To me that’s absurd.
But 100 – 200 cals is fine… a handful of nuts, a slice of ham, a smidgeon of cheese. Actually, it depends more on what kind of calories. Carbs are ruinous and you should not eat ANY carb foods. Whereas nuts, which are quite high in calories, work well because they contain fat, which quenches your appetite.
I’ll write more about intermittent fasting another day.
If you want to read more about holding back aging, check out my book Aging Without Growing Old.
[Note: this is Get Healthy For Your Next 100 Years with a newname. Don’t buy it twice!]
Prof. Keith Scott-Mumby
References:
1. https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2010/11/partial-reversal-of-aging-achieved-in-mice/
2. Mehdipour M, Skinner C, Wong N, Lieb M, Liu C, Etienne J, Kato C, Kiprov D, Conboy MJ, Conboy IM. Rejuvenation of three germ layers tissues by exchanging old blood plasma with saline-albumin. Aging (Albany NY). 2020; 12:8790-8819. https://doi.org/10.18632/aging.103418
3. http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2017/11/blood-young-people-does-little-reverse-alzheimer-s-first-test
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