Anti-Aging Vocabulary Lesson

Glycation - a process in which protein or fat molecules bond to simple sugar molecules creating advanced glycation end products (AGEs) which are implicated in aging, heart disease and diabetes. This is what happens when you consume more sugar than your cells need and will take in. the sugar keeps circulating around in your bloodstream doing damage until it gets back to the liver where it gets turned to triglycerides which raises your LDL especially the small particle LDL that damages arteries and excess triglycerides are stored in the liver causing fatty liver disease.


Telomeres - tiny units of DNA that cap the end of each chromosome. They shorten with time because they cannot replicate completely each time the cell divides. Eventually, the telomeres are gone and the cell can no longer be replicated. And you age and die. Some people start out with longer telomeres than others. Short telomeres can be indicators of risk for various diseases.

Free radicals and oxidative stress shorten telomeres and thus shortens your life: smoking, pollution, stress, extreme exercise, etc. The right kinds of exercise such as interval training and walking/chores, etc lenthen them. As does glutationine which is manufactured by your body from sulfur-containing amino acids methionine and cysteine and plant compounds such as those abundant in onions, cabbage, and garlic.

Other nutrients that lengthen telomeres include vitamin D, B12, Omega 3 EFAs, Zinc, Vitamin C, E, polyphenols in grapes, cacao and green tea, curcumin (tumeric), beta carotenes, Magnesium, CoQ10, etc. Really, anything that reduces or prevents oxidative stress. Anything that's an anti-oxidant, anything that boost the immune system, anything that reduces inflammatory response.  Also anything that prevents or repairs damage to DNA such as magnesium and CoQ10.

http://www.jnutbio.com/article/S0955-2863%2811%2900005-2/abstract