The New Science of Nutritional Gene Therapy

by TC Luoma

Telomeres and Anti-Aging Strategies

Here are four simple anti-aging strategies to address the shortening of your telomeres and maybe even increase lifespan.

People always talk about how different factors affect lifespan. Some blame a shorter than average life almost entirely on bad genes. Others credit lifestyle factors like stress, bad nutrition, or lack of exercise.

Regardless of which “macro” factors you credit for premature aging and shortened lifespan, they’re likely related to the same micro factor, and that micro factor has to do with telomere shortening. Luckily, there are a few things you can do about it.

What Are Telomeres?

Telomeres are tiny strands of species-specific DNA sequences located at the distal ends of chromosomes, but unlike most DNA sequences, they don’t code for any proteins. Instead, they prevent chromosomes from “unraveling” so they don’t fuse with other chromosomes and cause mutations or accelerate aging.

Telomere pioneer Elizabeth Blackburn compares them to aglets, the plastic thingies on the ends of shoelaces that keep them from fraying.

We’re born with a finite number of these biological aglets. On average, each cell is gifted with about 15,000 base pairs (the pairs of nucleotides connecting complementary strands of DNA or RNA). Each time a cell divides, we lose from as little as 10 to as many as a thousand of them. This phenomenon is called the “end-replication problem.”

Cells are limited to a fixed number of divisions. Use up all the telomeres in a cell – wear the chromosomes down to the nub – and the cell commits apoptosis: cellular suicide. If too many cells commit apoptosis, you get old and sick. Then you die.

All those “macro” causes of aging could, in one way or another, lead to premature telomere shortening or, equally bad, the inability of your cells to restore telomere length and/or integrity. Take heart, though. We know plenty about the care and feeding of telomeres so that you can increase your chances of living a long, healthy life.

The Telomere Killers

The main predator of telomeres – the things that tie macro and micro causes of premature aging together – are inflammation and reactive oxygen species (ROS), more commonly known as free radicals. They not only damage the constituent DNA of telomeres but the DNA building blocks that might lengthen them.

Inflammation itself can further increase ROS-mediated DNA damage and thus increase the formation of cell “senility.” It’s a vicious circle in which these “senile” cells further aggravate inflammation and speed up aging.

Telomeres are an exhaustible resource, but there’s something that can rejuvenate them by growing more base pairs. It’s called telomerase, and it’s a ribonucleoprotein that adds telemetric “repeats” to the ends of chromosomes.

Telomerase activity peters out after birth. There are, however, a couple of exceptions to this cruel rule. One is stem cells. The other is cancer cells, in which approximately 90% of them exhibit an up-regulation of telomerase, while the other 10% use some other method of extending the warranty on telomeres.

That explains why cancer is so pesky – if cancer cells can keep their number of telomeres stable, they no longer have an expiration date. They can continue to divide practically forever. If we could mimic cancer’s action on telomeres, only without all the tumors and death and stuff, we could theoretically live a lot longer.

There are two obstacles to preventing premature aging and a truncated lifespan. One is increased damage of DNA and, consequently, accelerated telomere attrition. The second is low or non-existent telomerase levels. Both can be addressed by lifestyle changes and proper diet and nutrition.

Things That Lengthen Telomeres, Help You Live Longer

Let’s be clear: We’re not going to arrest telomere attrition and give humans the lifespan of a Galapagos tortoise, but we can definitely slow the rate at which telomeres are whittled away.

If you smoke, don’t do that. If you drink more than a TV detective, stop that. Exercise. Breathe clean air and cut down on stress. But you knew all that. It’s the diet stuff you might not know that might make all the difference.

1. Fiber

From 1999 to 2002, scientists collected 5,674 DNA samples from a broad spectrum of U.S. men and women, age-wise, race-wise, and even income-wise. All were required to provide complete data on such factors as body mass index, energy intake, physical activity, alcohol and tobacco use, and fiber intake.

While the DNA samples were collected between 1999 and 2002, it wasn’t until 2014 that the researchers released any of their telomere data. When they did, it turned out that fiber intake was linearly related to the telomere length of leukocytes (white blood cells) – adults that had higher fiber intake had longer telomeres than their counterparts, suggesting less biologic aging.

The scientists found that for each 1-gram of fiber intake per 1,000 calories of food eaten, telomeres were 83 base pairs longer. On average, every year of chronological age shortens telomeres by 15.5 base pairs, but the inclusion of 10 grams of fiber for every 1,000 kcal you eat would correspond with telomeres that were 83 base pairs longer. On average, this equated to over 5 fewer years of biological aging.

That’s a big pay-off for just adding some extra Metamucil (Buy at Amazon) or oatmeal to your diet.

2. Three Specific Minerals

Certain minerals have profound effects on telomere length. Tragically, Americans are generally deficient in a couple of them.

For instance, according to the NHANES (National Health and Nutrition Examination Study), every 20 mcg. increase of selenium in the diet was associated with a 0.42% increase in leukocyte telomeres.

Likewise, Nemoto et al. found that adding additional zinc to a cell culture medium increased telomerase activity. Later on, Bao et al. corroborated Nemoto’s work and found that zinc sulfate did indeed significantly increase telomere length and telomerase activity, along with reducing hTERT expression (an enzyme that rate limits telomerase activity).

The third mineral is magnesium. Rather than directly lengthening telomeres, magnesium’s role is more of a nurturing one, as it appears to help maintain telomeres and help regulate the activity of telomerase.

Unfortunately, about 80% of the American population is deficient in magnesium, and between 12 and 40% is deficient in zinc. When you add working out and sweating to the equation, it worsens as these minerals tend to leave the body via sweat.

Selenium deficiencies are relatively rare, but taking extra amounts may also help regulate testosterone levels and improve exercise tolerance, in addition to adding length to telomeres.

All of these minerals, in addition to chromium and vanadium, two scarce minerals that help regulate blood sugar, are found in Biotest’s Elitepro (Buy at Amazon) formulation. Each serving of Elitepro Mineral Support contains the following:

  • Magnesium (as glycinate chelate): 400 mg.
  • Zinc (as arginate chelate): 30 mg.
  • Selenium (as glycinate complex): 200 mcg.
  • Chromium (as nicotinate-glycinate chelate): 200 mcg.
  • Vanadium (as nicotinate-glycinate chelate): 100 mcg.

Getting these minerals helps ensure telomere viability, along with providing optimal protein synthesis, hormone production, energy production, and carbohydrate utilization.

ElitePro Minerals

3. Omega-3 Fatty Acids

Inflammation is one of the main predators of telomeres. Put the kibosh on inflammation and you’re well on your way to raising a happy crop of base pairs.

Chief among the things that extinguish inflammation are omega-3 fatty acids, commonly associated with fish oils. The reference libraries are filled with studies confirming fish oil’s anti-inflammatory effects, but one study, in particular, examined how it affected telomere length.

Kiecolt-Glaser, et al. found that taking either a 2.5 gram or 1.25 gram dose of fish oil was enough to lower the omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acid ratio in test subjects, which led to reduced levels of interleukin-6 (IL-6), an inflammatory cytokine. This lower omega-6 to omega-3 ratio was, in turn, clearly associated with lengthened telomeres.

It definitely works, but the challenging thing about fish oil is in finding one with the following attributes:

  • High concentrations of DHA and EPA.
  • A product that’s been purified by molecular distillation and stringently tested for PCBs, dioxins, mercury, and other heavy metal contaminants.
  • A product that includes a self-emulsifying delivery system so they’re virtually odorless, better absorbed, and don’t result in a fishy aftertaste or “fish burps.”

Flameout (Buy at Amazon) checks all those boxes. It’s so highly concentrated that you’d have to double or triple the dosage of similar products to get even close to one serving of Flameout. Likewise, it’s meticulously tested for any chemical contaminants.

Each serving contains:

  • Total free fatty acids: 4,625 mg.
  • DHA: 2,200 mg.
  • EPA: 880 mg.
  • CLA (a fatty acid found in the milk of grass-fed cows that keeps fat cells from getting bigger): 352 mg.

Clearly, this isn’t something you just buy from a big box store.

Flameout Buy-on-Amazon

4. Antioxidants

Pollution, smoking, stress, alcohol, lack of exercise, and too much exercise cause the formation of free radicals, and free radicals accelerate telomere shortening. Numerous experiments show that an excess of free radicals can be offset with antioxidants. The best antioxidants are largely polyphenols – plant chemicals that seemingly have inexhaustible beneficial effects.

Well-known polyphenols include curcumin and resveratrol, both of which have been tested independently and found to have antioxidant (and anti-inflammatory) properties.

But let’s just stick with telomere “extenders” with the most bite, i.e., supplements with the most anti-oxidant capability like Superfood (Buy at Amazon), which is a blend of 18 strategically chosen freeze-dried fruits and vegetables. Its ingredients include polyphenols from wild blueberries, acai, pomegranate, spinach, kale, green tea, yam, maqui berries, and many others.

Each powdered serving, mixed into water, juice, protein drinks, or just about anything else you might eat, has an ORAC rating of approximately 15,000.

The ORAC scale is how the USDA measures the Total Antioxidant Potency of foods and nutritional supplements. The term stands for “Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity,” and the measurement is expressed as ORAC units per 100 grams of a given compound.

For instance, the USDA determined an “average serving of fruits and vegetables” has an ORAC rating of between 400 and 500. That means that just one teaspoon of Superfood has the antioxidant equivalency of around 20 average servings of fruits and vegetables.

The free radicals that affect telomeres and telomerase don’t have a chance.

Up to 10 Fewer Years Of Biological Aging

Here’s how much of each you should take per day to help optimize the health (and length) of your telomeres:

The additive effects aren’t unlimited, of course. You can’t live forever by just eating more and more of the telomere-friendly foods or supplements. You top out.

However, if you were to take/do all four things, in conjunction with living what most people define as a healthy life, I guesstimate that it would equate to around 8 to 10 fewer years of biological aging.

Whether you’d actually live that much longer is anyone’s guess, but you’d most likely postpone many of the ailments of aging, and that ain’t bad.

SuperfoodAmazon

References

References

  1. Liu Q et al. **Effects of sodium selenite on telomerase activity and telomere length.**Sheng Wu Hua Xue Yu Sheng Wu Wu Li Xue Bao (Shanghai). 2003 Dec;35(12):1117-22. PubMed.
  2. Farahzadi F et al. Zinc sulfate contributes to promote telomere length extension via increasing telomerase gene expression, telomerase activity and change in the TERT gene promoter CpG island methylation status of human adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells. PLoS One. 2017 Nov 16;12(11):e0188052. PubMed.
  3. Kiecolt-Glaser JK et al. Omega-3 Fatty Acids, Oxidative Stress, and Leukocyte Telomere Length: A Randomized Controlled Trial. Brain Behav Immun. 2013 Feb;28:16-24. PubMed.
  4. Maguire D et al. Telomere Homeostasis: Interplay with Magnesium. Int J Mol Sci. 2018 Jan 5;19(1):157. PubMed.
  5. Nemoto K et al. Modulation of telomerase activity by zinc in human prostatic and renal cancer cells. Biochem Pharmacol. 2000 Feb 15;59(4):401-5. PubMed.
  6. Shu Y et al. Association of dietary selenium intake with telomere length in middle-aged and older adults. Clin Nutr. 2020 Oct;39(10):3086-3091.PubMed.
  7. Paul L. Diet, nutrition and telomere length. J Nutr Biochem. 2011 Oct;22(10):895-901. PubMed.
  8. Tsoukalas D et al. Association of nutraceutical supplements with longer telomere length. Int J Mol Med. 2019 Jul;44(1):218-226. PubMed.
  9. Tucker LA. Dietary Fiber and Telomere Length in 5674 U.S. Adults: An NHANES Study of Biological Aging. Nutrients. 2018 Mar 23;10(4):400. PubMed.

T Nation earns from qualifying purchases as an Amazon Associate. Read more about our policy.

4 Likes

Hey, thanks! Much appreciated!

1 Like

Regarding the zinc and Magnesium - currently taking your ZMA and was expecting (hoping?) to see that mentioned as a good option. What am I missing?

1 Like

Not missing anything. ZMA is a good choice.

1 Like

Why isn’t the zinc and magnesium in ZMA chelated?

As you might know, ZMA is the registered trademark of SNAC nutrition (Victor Conte’s old company). They don’t own the patent, but still, they were the ones who formulated it first and it seems to work just fine without chelation. That being said, if we’d come up with the original formula, we probably would have chelated it.

1 Like

TC, you forgot about astragalus https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7168059/

Wasn’t aware of it having this particular effect. Thanks!

Selenium is interesting. Back in the 70’s, there was a life extension magazine that promoted it as it’s first supplement.

1 Like

I distinctly recall one Bill Phillips alleging that “hardgainer” TC Luoma had put on several pounds of muscle utilizing CLA. I always wondered whether that was poetic license (read: utter horseshit) or if there was a kernel of truth to the tale. As CLA was listed as a Flameout ingredient in the article, this seemed as good a place as any to ask… (Note: I’m well aware that you yourself weren’t making muscle mass claims on behalf of CLA here.)

1 Like

No, it wasn’t true. Full disclosure: I was the one who brought CLA to the market. The mouse studies were compelling, especially as far as its fat burning and tumor destroying (really) potential. I even went to meet with the chief research scientist, Dr. Michael Pariza, during a CLA conference in Indiana and he presented a good case. I still believe CLA has that potential, but not so much as a muscle-builder.

2 Likes

What kind of fiber?

Mostly fiber from cereal and grains, but also vegetables (insoluble fiber).

1 Like

Thanks TC
If been using ZMA for the last 20+, but just recently added Flameout and Superfood this past month. I need to add more daily fiber that’s the challenge

1 Like