Spermidine: Amazing Anti-Aging Supplement or Useless Junk? by Jerry Brainum 6/24

 

What causes aging? The truth is that aging is more complex than it's believed.  The aging process is what scientists call "multifactorial," meaning that it has many underlying causes. The problem with attempting to slow the aging process is that even if you conquer one aspect of aging, you are still left with other factors that will invariably result in aging. I've mentioned a few of these various aging factors in past issues of Applied Metabolics. They include genomic instability, a fancy term that describes changes in multiple genes that can affect the speed of aging. Another cause of aging is epigenetic alterations. "Epigenetic" refers to things that can influence the activity of genes from outside the body, such as various environmental stressors. Epigenetics has both a good and bad side in that previously, it was thought that you were a prisoner of the genes you were born with, and there was little or nothing you could do about it. However, more recent research shows that gene activity can be altered by diet and exercise. One example of this is the tendency to gain body fat. Specific genes favor the acquisition of body fat. But while these genes increase the chances of gaining body fat more readily, the ultimate control is still up to you. The genetic tendency to gain body fat can be controlled by diet and exercise, although it isn't easy.

Aspects of body physiology that are useful when you're young and turn against you when you age and speed not only the aging process but also the development of certain diseases. This is called "antagonistic pleiotropy." One good example of this is cancer. Cancer is the second leading cause of death for Americans, behind cardiovascular disease. While some forms of cancer are related to genetic predispositions and can affect younger people and even children, most types of cancer are more prevalent past the age of 40. And this is related to aging. The cellular DNA that controls cellular replication becomes less efficient with each cell replication. This affects aging and lays the groundwork for DNA mutations, the basis of cancer.  A protein called the Mammalian Target of Rapamycin or mTOR is vital for promoting increased protein synthesis in the body. It plays a pivotal role in helping to increase muscular size and strength. You stimulate mTOR activity by engaging in exercise, especially resistance training, and ingesting essential amino acids from protein. Among all amino acids, leucine, a branched-chain amino acid, is the most potent at stimulating mTOR. However, with increased age, mTOR can become overactive, which turns ugly when that happens. Overactivity of mTOR is associated with more rapid aging, increased cancer incidence, and even brain degeneration.  Anabolic steroids and growth hormone also stimulate mTOR activity. One reason why mTOR speeds the aging process is by blunting autophagy.

Autophagy can be described as an internal house cleaning of . . .