The fourth post in a four-part series on longevity.
Week 4: Medications and Supplements for Longevity
We made it to the final week, and we’ve barely scratched the surface! The recap? Eat more protein, get exercise, and don’t forget the importance of emotional health! If we’re consistent, we have hope of dodging the deadly four horsemen of chronic disease. Of course, as is the case with most things in life, it’s a wee bit more complicated than that.
If you’re following us on Instagram, you may have seen Alicia’s post on getting 10,000 steps a day. Turns out getting 10,000 steps, or anything close to it, has an incredibly positive impact on cardiovascular health. Now, even if you can’t get 10,000, don’t worry! Even a moderate amount of walking can improve your health. Pair walking with strength training and you’ll greatly improve your odds.
This week we’re taking a look at medications and supplements and how they may impact both your lifespan and healthspan. We’ve already touched on the fact that the so called miracle cure-alls we’ve heard about in the past aren’t living up to the very serious hype. Remember resveratrol? Wouldn’t it have been great if all we needed was a glass or two of red wine a day?
That said, some drugs such as rapamycin offer some promise. Rapamycin has been shown to increase the lifespan of mice. Ready for some jargon!? Rapamycin inhibits the mTOR pathway by… just kidding. We’re not going to get overly technical here! What we can tell you is that this drug tells your body’s cell control center to relax and stop working so hard! You know we’re fans of balance: activity and rest are both critical. Get too much of either and you’ll end up in malfunction junction!
If your mTOR pathway is too relaxed, you’re susceptible to insulin resistance and infections, but if it’s overactive it can cause us to age more quickly and possibly lead to cancer growth. Given that this drug is used to prevent organ donation rejection, don’t expect to see it over the counter any time soon! The last thing you’d want to do is inadvertently kneecap your immune system and make yourself prone to infections.
A more common drug you may have heard of is called metformin. It’s often prescribed to those with pre-diabetes or diet-controlled diabetes. It works by reducing the amount of sugar your liver produces, as well as making your tissues more sensitive to insulin, and can also decrease appetite. Metformin has been shown to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and cancer. What, just 3 out of the 4 horsemen? Those are rookie numbers!
As a matter of fact, a study currently underway called TAME (Targeting Aging with Metformin) aims to discover the impact of metformin on aging in humans. There is some evidence that metformin may lessen cognitive decline! Miracle drug? We’ll have to wait until at least 2027 before we have any conclusive data from the study. But why wait? We’re betting that that diet, exercise, and a healthy emotional life is better than taking a pill, no matter how helpful!
Another promising field of research is hormone replacement. Hormone replacement therapy, or HRT, has gotten somewhat of a bad rap in recent years and many primary care providers won’t touch it. Why? Well, there’ve been some abuses with testosterone replacement therapy that may be more aptly named testosterone additive therapy. That’s right: “T” is used by body builders when going “natty” doesn’t cut it. That’s right: “natty” or natural takes time and consistency. Another hormone that’s gotten some heat in the image department is human growth hormone, or HGH. The gym bros will often pair HGH with T. The thing is, both do show promise in extending healthspan, but given their reputation, it may be some time before they’re widely recommended for longevity purposes.
Bio-identical hormone replacement therapy (with estrogen or other hormones), or BHRT for short, also shows promise. BHRT and HRT is often ignored or discouraged by traditional primary care practitioners due to a few studies that showed an increased risk of some forms of cancer and certain embolisms. The headlines can certainly be attention-grabbing! 100% increased risk of this, or that! In truth, the increased risk is smaller than you may think, and some hormones actually strengthen bones and help with certain types of heart disease. As with anything, the truth can be complicated. Over time, we expect to see a lot more clarity around the use of these therapies in extending healthspans.
What about supplements? There are hundreds and hundreds of supplements and hundreds of versions of each. It can get confusing! If you’re a client of ours, you know we like some supplements, but we also think it’s important to do your best to get your vitamins and minerals from your diet, first and foremost. Certainly probiotics have a solid track record and are well-recognized as having a positive impact on health. Some brands, like with anything, are better than others. But it’s well understood that they can be good for your digestive health, and evidence is emerging that they can also be good for your immune system and your mental health! We’ll talk more about this phenomenon, termed the “gut-brain axis” in future posts.
We’ve mentioned resveratrol a time or two within these virtual pages, and we’d be remiss if we didn’t mention that although many bold claims have been made (and fallen short), there is research underway that is still promising if not outright revolutionary.
Another promising group of compounds are known as NAD+ boosters. NAD+ is a coenzyme found in all living cells and is essential for energy metabolism and cell function. You can take NAD+ precursors today that your body can convert into NAD+. These don’t appear to have serious side effects, and may be helpful in preventing or moderating neurodegenerative and cardiovascular diseases. As with most things, we’re awaiting conclusive research, but early results look promising.
Don’t forget these stalwarts! The essential fatty acids, particularly EPA and DHA found in fish oil are often a great choice. Research suggests they can help prevent chronic disease by reducing inflammation. Anyone interested in lowering your risk of dementia, heart disease, and arthritis? Well, this is one supplement that may fit the bill!
Now, the right supplement for you is the right supplement for you. We don’t believe in throwing all your hard-earned dollars at every new darling on the supplement scene. If you take a scattershot approach you may be disappointed, and even if something is working, you might ask yourself, well, which one of these 10 things is helping? The good news is that you can get tested for vitamin and mineral deficiencies, and we ofter a range of traditional lab work as well as specialized functional medicine tests to determine exactly what might be most helpful to you. If you’re client, just schedule an appointment or reach out via Spruce!
And last but not least: how fast are you aging, anyway? We’ve found a test that actually measures not only your “true” age, but also your pace of aging. It’s kind of like looking at where you’re at on your trip down the ol’ highway of life, but also how fast you’re going! TruDiagnostic offers a test called “TruAge” that analyzes your DNA methylation.
DNA methylation? Yikes. More jargon! Simply put, your DNA gets “blocked” in certain places over time, which means your body can’t use the underlying instructions any longer. Imagine a cookbook with missing or damaged pages.
Methylation isn’t necessarily bad: it’s partly how we develop in the womb! Your body has to develop a liver, a heart, a brain, and to do so it needs to know to build this type of thing, and not that. If you’re trying to make a soufflé, you don’t want to be reading from the sourdough page!
Unfortunately, as we age our DNA can become hyper-methylated. In fact, it can inhibit our ability to repair cellular damage or keep our immune systems from working well.
The TruAge test is one of many in the emerging field of epigenetic research. We’re learning more every day about what our biomarkers can tell us about our aging process, and also how we might slow it down so we can increase our healthspans.
Finally: we eat our own cooking at Orcutt Direct Care. We’ve both taken the TruAge test, and no, we won’t be publishing those results! We both got a little good news, but also some… let’s call them action items. We’ve also personally tried many of the tests we offer, and always do a deep dive into each and every one to make sure they’re going to provide high-quality actionable information. Ditto for the supplements. We wouldn’t want you taking anything we wouldn’t take ourselves if we were similarly situated.
That’s a wrap! We hope you’ve learned a bit about longevity and how to stack the deck in your favor when it comes to both length and quality of life. If you’re a client and are interested in learning more about the TruAge test, tuning up your supplement game, or working with us to find the approach that might work best for you, just reach out. Not a client? Click the yellow button up yonder and schedule a free discovery consultation where you can learn more about our services.
Thanks for reading!
Alex & Alicia