Can Supplements Help You Age Well?
We’re all getting older, there’s no denying it.
And personally, I don’t think we should try to deny the aging process. But with aging comes the decline of health, and the increased risk for certain conditions. Choosing to take steps to slow down aging is not always about vanity – it can also be about improving your quality of life. The faster you age, the more your health will deteriorate, with conditions such as type 2 diabetes, arthritis, cancer, osteoporosis, Alzheimer’s disease and heart disease becoming more likely.
Ageing well not only means you will live longer, more comfortably and independently, but it will also reduce the burden on those that would be required to act as carers, and to reduce the economic burden on yourself and society that is associated with the diseases of ageing.
In this article I have written for Natural Beauty Expert, I explain what is happening in our bodies as we age, and list some supplements that can help us to age well. You can read the full article HERE. Below is a sneak peak.
You can slow down ageing
It is possible to age with health and strength, but some need to work harder for this than others. Your genes only affect how quickly you will age by about 20% – your environment determines the rest.
There are many factors which we know contribute towards the speed of aging, such as exercise, stress levels, rest, diet and nutrition, social connections and spirituality, and mental stimulation. Many of these things can be worked on, such as by building an exercise habit, eating well, getting enough rest, letting go of stress and making efforts to meaningfully connect with people around you.
They all need to happen together i.e. if you get enough sleep but don’t exercise or eat well, it’s not going to work the same way, similarly if you eat well but aren’t able to destress at the end of the day, you won’t receive the same benefits.
In that same vein, if you take anti-ageing supplements but don’t look after your health in these key areas it will you do little good. All together however, it could reward you with good health that lasts a long time.
Drivers of Ageing
Before I delve into which supplements can help you to age gracefully, I want to give you a little background of what is going on inside our bodies when we age. While ageing is a complex process the main problems that occur are:
Inflammation
If inflammation is well controlled, it is a vital and lifesaving function of the body. But it seems that as we age, inflammation increases and begins to get out of control. It’s still unknown whether chronic inflammation causes, or is caused by, ageing. Controlling inflammation with diet, lifestyle and supplements can help to reduce the development of age related conditions.
The link between inflammation and ageing is so strong that it even has its own name – ‘inflamm-ageing’. This process links into all the other problems associated with ageing such as mitochrondial damage, hormonal disruption, lowered immunity and DNA shortening.
Mitochondrial damage
Inside of our cells is a little factory called a mitochrondria – this works to produce the energy we require to live. As we age the mitochrondria can be damaged, in particular by inflammation and chemical stress. Normally when the mitochondria is damaged it is removed and replaced with a new one, but this process does not happen as well when we age. If this mess is not taken care of properly by our body we are left with faulty mitochondria and inadequate energy production, which makes us more vulnerable to conditions such as fatigue, type 2 diabetes and Alzheimer’s disease.
Read the rest of the article HERE.
