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January 03, 2018
Pramod Pathak
By studying the effects of starvation on yeast, It has been discovered that sugar accelerates aging and premature death, in part by activating two genes known as Ras and PKA, both of which are known to accelerate aging. Longo explains:
"At Walford, we were working with human samples and mice and it was very clear that not knowing about the genes and the molecular biology was going to greatly limit us in moving forward. The gamble was, let's move back to a very simple system and hope that what we learn about aging in this simple system applies back to humans. And I think the gamble worked. We did identify what I call the sugar pathway or the PKA or Ras/PKA, and then the protein pathway, the TOR-S6 kinase. "
Research has demonstrated that these initial findings in yeast hold true in other animals as well, including worms, flies, mice and a group of people in Ecuador who have Laron syndrome, a rare genetic disorder where they lack the receptor for growth hormone. As a result, they cannot grow taller than 4 feet.
Interestingly though, this genetic anomaly also appears to protect them against chronic diseases such as diabetes and cancer — even when consuming a less than ideal diet. According to Longo, there's reason to believe the findings apply to most other people as well, as we now know growth hormone and growth hormone receptor in humans regulates both the TOR and MPK pathways.
"We now suspect there is a network pathway starting with the growth hormone and ending with these transcription factors that we described. These are what I call the captains of protection, that are regulated by the food that you eat," Longo says.
Sugar Avoidance and Fasting Are Powerful Longevity Boosters
Longo was one of the first researchers to identify sugar as an aging accelerator and fasting as a process for improving longevity. In 1997, he published a paper showing yeast could be made to live a lot longer when starved. Shortly after that, they discovered the sugar and protein pathways responsible for this phenomenon.
In essence, what he found was that if you knock out both Ras/PKA and something called LCH-9, which is the S6-Kinase gene in yeast, you could obtain up to a fivefold extension in lifespan. As noted by Longo, "It was clear that the effects of fasting were caused in part by shutting down these two pathways." The question was, does the same apply to humans?
To answer this, Longo looked for equivalents to what they'd identified in yeast. Work done by John Kopchick and Andre Barki showed that, in mice, growth hormone deficiency and growth hormone receptor deficiency caused record longevity extension of 40 to 50 percent. They were also far healthier than normal mice. Half of them were completely disease-free at the time of death. As noted by Longo:
"This is very impressive and remarkable. So, we knew that this was true for yeast and this was true for mice, and the Laron [study] was our way to demonstrate that this is also true for people. To summarize, health and longevity are promoted by either a) having low levels of growth hormone, or b) lack of receptors for growth hormone, so it doesn't matter whether you remove growth hormone or the receptor."
Imagine being 80 or even 90 years old and still having the memory and mental sharpness you did when you were 25.
It’s everyone’s dream. And for some, this dream is a reality…
There are “super agers” who have astonishingly resilient minds well beyond the ‘norm.’ In fact, their minds are so resilient that they give people decades younger than them a run for the money in intelligence and memory. A few years back, researchers noticed that super agers who were in their 80s had memories that were just as sharp as people 30 years younger than them. So they decided to dig a little deeper. They did an MRI scan of their brains and found that their cerebral cortex (the part of the brain responsible for intelligence and memory) appeared middle-aged. Their cerebral cortexes were just as thick as those forty to fifty years younger than them. Their brains never shrunk!
The great news is… yours doesn’t have to either. There are a lot of simple ways to keep your cortex thick and your memory sharp. Here are the top seven scientifically-proven ways to keep your brain from shrinking:
Ø Take a walk. One study found that people who walked six to nine miles per week had significantly less brain shrinkage than people who were sedentary. Walking is great because it’s easy and practically everybody can do it. But any type of exercise will prevent brain shrinkage. Basically, the more you move, the less gray matter you lose.
Ø Eat a Mediterranean diet. A 2015 study published in the journal Neurology found that older adults who had eaten a Mediterranean diet for a year or more had heavier brains and more gray and white matter than those who didn’t follow this type of diet. That’s why the Mediterranean diet is one of the go-to diets for Alzheimer’s prevention.
Ø Be a teetotaler. A 2007 study found that the more you drink, the more brain volume you lose. For example, non-drinkers had .25 percent more brain volume than former drinkers. Former drinkers had .25 percent more brain volume than low drinkers. Low drinkers had .25 percent more brain volume than moderate drinkers. And moderate drinkers had .25 percent more brain volume than heavy drinkers. So put down that cocktail! And if you smoke and drink — you brain faces a double whammy.
Ø Relax and stay positive. Stress and depression are ominous forbearers of a shrinking brain. In 2012, Yale scientists figured out why. They both trigger a genetic switch in your brain that stops synaptic connections between your brain cells and ultimately leads to a loss of brain mass.
Ø Avoid brain-shrinking drugs. Some of the top culprits when it comes to shrinking your brain are antibiotics and anticholinergic drugs like cold medicines and allergy medications. Avoid brain-shrinking drugs. Some of the top culprits when it comes to shrinking your brain are antibiotics and anticholinergic drugs like cold medicines and allergy medications. Next time a cold virus takes hold, you might want to the ditch over-the-counter cold medicine for natural cold remedies — many BACKED BY SCIENCE — instead:
Oregano oil is a powerful anti-viral that actually stops the cold virus from replicating… and also kind of tastes like pizza. You can put a few drops in juice or water to knock out a sore throat or put some in a diffuser or vaporizer to relieve stuffy sinuses.
Olive leaf extract is another anti-viral and immune booster that can be incredibly effective at curing a cold… not just covering its symptoms.
Pau d’arco is an herb with anti-viral properties. It’s also an expectorant, which means if your cold includes a cough, it can help you get mucus out of your system. You can take it in pill form or brew it as tea.
Apple cider vinegar, when mixed with some lemon juice and honey, makes for a potent throat-soothing and immune-boosting tonic.
Ø Make meaningful social connections. A 2015 study conducted by Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health found that seniors who volunteered to teach young children how to read in understaffed schools libraries were rewarded in more than just warm, fuzzy feelings—they were rewarded with more brain matter.
Ø Sit in the sun. Low vitamin D levels have been linked to more brain shrinkage. If you don’t get enough D, your brain is doomed. So make sure you sit outside in the sun for at least 20 to 30 minutes per day without sunscreen to get your daily dose of D.