In the world of scientific longevity research, we don’t calculate age by what’s on your driver’s license, and we pay no attention to the youth-obsessed culture that ascribes to the notion that ’50 is the new 30′. Scientists now calculate age on a cellular level, by the length of your telomeres.
Telomeres are the “caps” at the ends of our chromosomes that naturally shorten as we age, they are similar to the plastic caps at the end of a shoelace. As the plastic ends shred, and the shoelace becomes frayed and damaged, so too the shortening of our telomeres can leave our cells and chromosomes vulnerable to damage.
Telomere shortening means the cell’s lifespan is shortening. Telomeres become shorter with each cell division, at some point can no longer divide which leads to senescence (aging) and ultimately, cell death. Recent research shows that telomere shortening plays an important role in human disease and mortality. More than 20 studies, from top universities around the world, have shown associations between shorter telomere length and various types of cardiovascular disease and diabetes. Shorter telomeres have also been associated with cancer, osteoporosis, cognitive function, dementia, and arthritis. On the flip-side, long telomeres are related to healthy aging and overall longevity.
The longer and more stable the telomere, the longer we live.
What causes telomere shortening
- Stress
- Poor diet
- Lack of exercise
- Too much exercise
- Unresolved emotions
- Toxins (industrial, environmental and food)
- Smoking and other recreational substances including alcohol
- Anything that creates free radicals
It’s not surprising that this shortening or aging can be accelerated by an unhealthy lifestyle. However, there’s hope that we can actually turn back our cellular clocks.
How to lengthen telomeres
Researchers report that lengthening your telomeres isn’t directly related to healthy eating and exercise. Numerous studies, from Harvard University to UCSF, have shown the primary contributor to cellular aging isn’t fast food or a sedentary lifestyle, it’s actually stress. Accelerated cell aging has now been associated with many stress-related conditions, including trauma exposure, major depression and other psychiatric disorders.
In Chinese medicine we believe that almost every symptom the body experiences primarily comes from stress. Stress wreaks havoc on the organ systems and creates stagnation and disharmony of Qi, blood and other important substances. So, logics will tell us that if acupuncture treats stress and balances the body overall, then it must lengthen telomeres. And we are happy to report that evidence based studies confirm that acupuncture, in fact, is effective in lengthening telomeres.
Our Recommendation
If you aren’t experiencing any symptomatology and are ‘healthy’, we recommend receiving acupuncture at least once a month. This will help de-stress the body overall, thereby creating the enzyme telomerase to protect and bring stability to the already present telomere. As a positive side effect, it will also do the following:
- Decrease inflammation
- Build immunity
- Strengthen the gastro-intestinal system
- Enhance circulation
- Regulate brain chemistry and hormones
- Relax the nervous system
- Clear trauma in the body memory
- Open the meridians and create a clear connection to the associated organ system hereby eradicating stress and free radicals.
- And lengthen telomeres.
We are your support system for anti-aging and longevity.
