2 years younger in just 2 months?

Switch good genes on and bad genes off

Let me explain ‘epigenetic’. Genes are positioned along your DNA in each cell. While your genetic code (DNA) is fixed at conception, (and unique to you), the way those genes are expressed can be changed by nutrition, environment, and lifestyle.

Not all of your approximate 23,000 genes are switched on or off ('expressed') at any one time or indeed ever. Which is why identical twins can have different life spans and health spans because they eat different diets and live different lifestyles.

Genes produce the proteins that run your body. There are genes that protect your DNA and genes that protect you from cancer – like tumour suppressor genes. You’ll obviously want those switched on or ‘dialled up’.

Equally, there are genes that make you more vulnerable to cancer – called onco-genes. You’ll definitely want those dialled down or ideally switched off entirely.

One major aim of nutritional supplementation, exercise regimes and lifestyle interventions like stress reduction is to alter gene expression in a positive way.

The clinical trial

The study in question aimed to see whether a comprehensive lifestyle programme could change gene expression to slow biological ageing or even reverse it. The measurement they used was called an epigenetic clock – in this case the Horvath DNAmAge clock.

Here’s what they did.

The method

43 healthy adult men between the ages of 50 and 72 were enrolled in the trial. Half were put into the "treatment group" and half were in the untreated control group.

Food plan and multi-nutrient supplement

The treatment group participants were given a food plan very similar to the one we recommend – and which you can get at the end of this article. It included a lot of plant foods and limited nutrient-dense animal proteins like liver and egg.

The study diet restricted carbohydrates and included mild intermittent fasting consisting of not eating for 12 hours overnight. Both are designed to stabilise blood sugar levels and lower excess variations in insulin response, which is damaging and ageing.

The treatment group also received a supplement rich in folate, betaine, vitamin C, and polyphenols including curcumin, epigallo-catechin-gallate from green tea extract (EGCG), plant extracts like grapeseed extract plus flax seed for Omega 3 content. These are all in NutriShield – although our Omega 3 comes from fish oil because it is better metabolised.

Lifestyle guidance including exercise/activity

Lifestyle guidance in this study included a minimum of 30 minutes of exercise/activity per day on at least 5 days per week at an intensity of 60-80 percent of maximum perceived exertion. [In my view, this regime can even be improved by adding a few minutes a day of core strength exercises – which we describe at the end.]

Twice-daily breathing exercises were prescribed for stress reduction. Details of this are also at the end. The study also recommended at least seven hours sleep nightly.

Probiotic (single-strain) supplement

Finally, the treatement group also received two capsules a day of a daily single-strain probiotic containing a total of 40 billion CFUs of Lactiplantibacillus plantarum (also known previously as Lactobacillus plantarum). This adds an interesting intervention – and was probably added because this probiotic strain has been shown to increase the body’s internal level of antioxidant activity.

[Ref: A novel approach to Lactiplantibacillus plantarum: From probiotic properties to the omics insights - ScienceDirect]

My reading of the ever-increasing literature on probiotics is that having a variety of strains in a probiotic is generally preferable to having a very high count of one strain.

[Ref: Epigenetic regulation by gut microbiota (tandfonline.com)]

Having said that, we do include Lactobacillus plantarum in Uni-Vite's multi-strain probiotic Microbiotic Plus.

Results

The researchers, using the ‘epigenetic clock’, reported that after just 60 days (2 months):

“... those in the treatment group scored an average 1.96 years younger, at the end of the program compared to the same individuals at the beginning.”

Two years younger biologically in just 2 months is impressive.

Even so, the researchers acknowledged that other elements known to slow biological ageing could have been included – and specifically mentioned vitamin D3 supplementation.

They also referred to another epigenetic study that proposed increasing the energy molecule NAD+ through Nicotinamide Riboside.

Delay Ageing book explains the ageing process and how you can postpone it

Medical researchers agree that if you slow ageing, you also delay the onset of age-related disease. And we know that it’s not just nutrition. Sleep, reducing stress and cardio and strength exercise are also essential to longevity and ageing well.

My book Delay Ageing: Healthy to 100, published in 2020, explains the latest ageing science in an accessible way.

It’s been rated 5-star and I am sure you will get a lot of benefit from it, as so many have already.

Click here to go to the publisher's website where you can buy the printed book or Kindle version.