6 hacks for your healthy longevity

"The first wealth is health." - Ralph Waldo Emerson.

Genes don’t directly code for aging but control all body processes, including aging.

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Scientists have found evidence for this in several ways. When researchers turn off specific genes in animals, the animals live longer. Scientists have also successfully extended animal lifespans using gene therapy, though not as dramatically as hoped.

What about humans? So far, the results for humans are modest and don’t directly address aging. However, researchers around the world are rapidly developing gene therapy for humans. In the past, doctors only used gene therapy to treat cancer and inherited diseases. Now, they’re exploring its use for conditions that depend more on environmental factors than genes. For example, scientists are researching gene therapy to prevent or treat Alzheimer’s disease in people with a specific gene variant called apoe-4.

These are just the first steps in human gene therapy, but they’re necessary. Once technology allows us to deliver genes more effectively to all body tissues and gene transformation has fewer side effects, we can use gene therapy to address human aging. Many of us wonder what we can do right now to live longer. ⁽¹⁾

However, the main question should be how to live a long, high-quality life. If you can barely move and your list of health problems is longer than your phone contact list, what joy can you find in such a life?

Over the last decades, life expectancy has risen dramatically and translated into a higher population of older adults across all developed countries. This demographic process is accompanied by increasing incidence of age-related pathological conditions, including: 

• osteoporosis

• cardio-metabolic diseases (coronary artery disease, hypertension, type 2 diabetes, obesity, metabolic syndrome, dyslipidemia, atherosclerosis, heart failure, stroke, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, chronic kidney disease)

• neurodegenerative diseases (dementia, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s diseases) 

• cancer

Proper nutrition and exercise are two critically important components of healthy longevity. Of course, adequate nutrition has many elements, but some specifically influence healthy longevity. Today, we’ll discuss these key factors.

Vitamin D

Beyond its status as a vitamin, vitamin D also functions as a steroid hormone that interacts with DNA to regulate gene expression. This regulation impacts more than 5% of the protein-encoding human genome, substantially impacting overall health and aging processes. Approximately 70% of the population has inadequate vitamin D levels, defined as less than 30 nanograms per milliliter (ng/mL).

Sources:

• Fish, particularly oily fish and fish liver oils, are among the richest natural sources of vitamin D.

• Other animal-derived foods such as eggs, meat, and offal (e.g., liver) also contain vitamin D, though in smaller amounts compared to fish.

• Dietary supplements

Vitamin K

Vitamin K2 and Magnesium lower your Vitamin D requirement. Research shows you need 146% more vitamin D to achieve a blood level of 40 ng/ml (100 nmol/L) if you do not take supplemental magnesium, compared to taking your vitamin D with at least 400 mg of magnesium per day. Your vitamin K2 intake can also affect your required vitamin D dosage.

Data from nearly 3,000 individuals revealed that 244% more oral vitamin D was required for 50% of the population to achieve a vitamin D level of 40 ng/ml (100 nmol/L) if they weren’t concurrently also taking magnesium and vitamin K2. So, a simple way to optimize vitamin D absorption is to take it with magnesium and K2. ⁽²⁾

Main sources:

• Leafy green vegetables (e.g., spinach, kale)

• Menaquinones (vitamin K2) are found in moderate concentrations in animal products such as meat, dairy, and eggs and in fermented foods like cheese.

• Dietary supplements

Magnesium

Approximately half of the U.S. population needs to meet the recommended magnesium levels, primarily due to insufficient magnesium-rich foods like dark leafy greens. Magnesium is a cofactor for over 300 enzymatic processes, including energy production (ATP), energy utilization, and DNA repair. DNA damage occurs constantly in our cells due to various internal and external factors, such as metabolic processes, exposure to harmful chemicals, and UV radiation. When magnesium levels are inadequate, the efficiency of these DNA repair enzymes is compromised.

Taurine is a sulfur-containing amino acid.

Functions of Taurine:

• supporting nerve growth

• producing bile salts

• helping with digestion

• maintaining proper hydration

Taurine is abundant in your heart, retina, liver, muscle and platelets, where it plays an important role in cell membrane maintenance, mitochondrial function, antioxidative defense mechanisms and regulating cation balance, which is the process of maintaining proper levels and distribution of positively charged ions (cations) within your body and its cells. ⁽³⁾

Taurine regulates several key metabolic parameters associated with the condition, including:

• Controlling lipid metabolism ⁽⁴⁾

• Improving glycemic markers, such as fasting blood glucose and insulin levels ⁽⁵⁾

• Anti-inflammatory effects ⁽⁶⁾

• Taurine reduces the risk of metabolic syndrome. Taking taurine significantly reduced systolic and diastolic blood pressure, triglycerides, and fasting blood glucose with no significant adverse effects. ⁽⁷⁾  

Taurine is found in animal foods such as seafood, red meat, poultry, fish, and dairy products. If you’re a vegan, you may want to consider a high-quality taurine supplement, as you’re not getting any from the foods you eat.

Ergothioneine (ESH)

It’s the master antioxidant and longevity vitamin. ESH is found in most mushrooms — exceptionally high levels in oyster and king boletus, shiitake, and maitake varieties — and moderate levels in beef and lamb. The compound inhibits oxidative stress and protects against neuronal injury from substances, including chemotherapy, even enhancing cognition in laboratory studies. ⁽⁸⁾

ESH has also been shown to be protective against memory loss and loss of learning abilities in mice, as well as protect against such losses due to beta-amyloid peptides, which are neurotoxic and known to contribute to the development of Alzheimer’s disease. ⁽⁹⁾ 

Besides mushrooms, ergothioneine is also found in offal (kidney and liver), black and red beans, and cereals such as oat bran.

PQQ

It’s another promising longevity vitamin that is essential for mitochondrial health. Bacteria make PQQ, but not plants or animals. It’s a vitamin-like substance and cousin to CoQ10, which helps with mitochondrial biogenesis. The greater the number of mitochondria you have, the more energy your cells can produce and the better they function overall. So, having sufficient amounts of PQQ encourages the proliferation of mitochondria. ⁽¹⁰⁾ 

“daily supplementation with 20 mg PQQ optimizes mitochondrial biogenesis in human subjects.” ⁽¹¹⁾ 

Animal and human studies using doses between 10 and 20 milligrams (mg) of PQQ show significant improvement in mental processing and memory. ⁽¹²⁾

PQQ is found in various foods, including fruits and vegetables.

Use this cheat sheet for improve the availability of vitamin D and K2 in your diet. 👇

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