Anti-Aging - Personalized
Optimizing our Health - this will be central to much of what we do in the Personalized phase. By reaching this phase, you commit to taking a proactive stance by not just fixing your health issues, but also improving your lifestyle, biomarkers, etc. with the intent to optimize your health. We’ll be working even more closely with a naturopathic physician as our enabler to help select the appropriate Tests and develop a plan to Restore our bodies in achieving this end goal. But keep in mind that you own your health. Don’t rely too much on your doctor. Try to get educated about the areas that relate to you and decide WITH your doctor what makes sense.
Test for Risk Factors – the risk factors can be predicted from a variety of tests, the most basic of which include the CBC (complete blood count) and Metabolic Profile. It’s a good idea to do these annually to learn about potential problems before they get nasty.
Heart disease and stroke are among the leading causes of death according to the CDC. A good reason to add the Lipid Panel to our annual test. If you’re in a high risk category, ask to be tested for ‘C-Reactive Protein’ and ‘Homocysteine’ which are strong biomarkers for coronary risk.
Cancer is another leading cause of death. There are many different types of cancer which are often difficult to detect until symptoms start weighing you down. There are gender-specific tests such as PSA screenings for men. I don’t recommend mammograms for women since they’re not too accurate and emit enough radiation to increase women’s risk of cancer. Dr. Mercola recommends thermography which is a safe alternative, and be sure to avoid products with parabens. A galectin-3 test would be beneficial in providing an indication of cancer somewhere in the body. But if you’re living healthy and following the Beyond Organic philosophy, you have reasons to be optimistic even with cancer in your family history. I’ve heard of numerous success stories of people who beat cancer not with a drug – but by adopting a healthy lifestyle. Don’t underestimate the power of healthy food and living.
A third big 1 to watch for is Diabetes. In a previous post, I drew attention to a news article that shows just how prevalent this disease truly is. 1 out of 3 are at risk. Get a glucose screening periodically to keep an eye on it. If you’re following 1 of the diets mentioned in the Foundational post, your risk is probably low. However, even skinny people can develop diabetes, so it's best to be sure.
As we get older, several elements decline with age. Hormones and nutrient absorption are just 2 examples. Checking our hormone levels and micronutrient testing can provide us key insights into where we stand in relation to the general populous (or as compared to yourself in previous years if you have enough testing history). I’ll get into how we address the test results in the Restore section of this post.
The final tests I’d like to introduce to you are the DNA testing by Genova. And I’m not talking about who’s the baby daddy. Genova has an excellent set of DNA tests that can tell you about your genetic makeup, strengths, and weaknesses as well as what you can do about them. More than anything, it’s 1 piece of the puzzle in figuring out how your body ticks. I’ve done the ImmunoGenomic Profile test, and it has told me so much. Click on the “Sample Report” links off to the right and see for yourself.
Because there are so many, I recommend doing the tests we’ve slated for an annual basis and rotating through the rest (in addition to the tests recommended by your doctor). If you haven’t already done so in the Supplemental phase, remember to get tested for allergies.
Restore Depleted Elements – in observation, it seems like sometimes things spiral out of control with old age. There are so many interdependencies in the human body. Allowing 1 thing to go wrong could be comparable to throwing a wrench under your car’s hood and seeing what happens. But we’re not going to let it happen that easily. We know what some of those things are that our bodies need to keep running … like gas, engine oil, or the transmission fluid in your car. Except within our bodies – it amounts to restoring nutrients, hormones, enzymes, and a few other things. For the most part, the medical establishment is hyper-focused on controlling the by-products of aging. We want to control our cholesterol … or control our insulin … instead of addressing the underlying factors. In the Beyond Organic approach, we’re going to take a restorative approach as the primary means of bringing depleted elements back to healthy levels. This is done with the expectation that out-of-range biomarkers will naturally shift in the right direction.
Hormones have such a profound impact on our health – both the general hormones and gender-specific. Unfortunately, our endocrine system is susceptible to decline. There are the more commonly mentioned hormones like testosterone, estrogen, and growth hormone. There’s also a few that you wouldn’t have heard of unless it’s your job to know. Bioidentical hormones are available to replenish your body to youthful levels. This is typically done with testosterone, estrogens & progesterone, and thyroid hormones. There’s such a long list of benefits, but I’ll just summarize by saying that hormone replacement therapies are essential for restoring health (as in the case of thyroid) or can be significant in anti-aging (for example, testosterone and estrogen are essential to maintaining coronary health and bone density).
- Estrogen & progesterone – While it’s mostly postmenopausal women who require them, these hormones can also be administered to achieve balance and reduce symptoms. Some may point to the Million Women Study in saying that hormone treatment causes cancer. The results of this study were later debunked because the way the study was carried out is actually flawed. Women requiring hormone replacement therapy need not be concerned, particularly if using bioidentical hormones. I recommend staying away from the synthetic hormones.
- Testosterone – Steroids are an example of synthetic hormones. There are long-term side effects that come with its use. Men should stick to bioidentical testosterone if levels warrant therapy.
- Thyroid – there are different types of thyroid issues. But for certain issues, natural treatments come in the form of desiccated porcine extracts. It sounds odd, but effective and with less side effects. My preference is a combination of Ashwagandha, Guggul, and Tyrosine for low thyroid function.
- Growth hormone (GH) – this hormone is not really available for replacement therapy in its pure form (nor would you want it in that form). However, I see benefits to taking an annual dose of GHRP to temporarily promote the renewal of cells and flush out cellular junk.
- Melatonin – if you find yourself getting less restful sleep, you could be deficient in melatonin. Some people find relief in a melatonin supplement, but it’s not for everyone. Try getting to bed at a regular time, give yourself time to wind down, and no caffeine or exercise late in the day. One theory is that a healthy circadian rhythm produces proper melatonin levels. Reishi mushroom supplements or tea can help restore your circadian rhythm. Red wine has melatonin, but I don’t suggest making a habit of drinking yourself to sleep.
I also have 1 more suggestion I will introduce in the next section.
Many are aware that brain neurotransmitters such as serotonin, GABA, and dopamine govern aspects related to our mental health. But not too many know that it's possible to optimize your neurotransmitter levels. Doctor-prescribed saliva tests including 1 offered by Pharmasan Labs can do just that. It has helped me personally with managing stress levels. Others may benefit through improvement in depression symptoms, weight loss, and sleeplessness among other issues. Testing to know where your levels are at is the absolute best thing to do before taking supplements such as 5-HTP, GABA, and L-Dopa. It's a powerful treatment, but care should be taken in balancing one's levels. As a rule of thumb, don't fix what's not broken or you can create other problems for yourself with excess neurotransmitter levels.
Nutrient absorption is 1 area discussed that decreases with age. A micro-nutrient test will show you if you’re deficient in any nutrients, and also if you’re taking too much. Vitamins D, B, C, Zinc, Chromium, and iron have been shown in studies to be subject to malabsorption. Restore by increasing your dosage of the nutrients indicated in your lab results. This will usually work as long as there isn’t another underlying problem, in which case a nutritional IV may be required.
Our bodies run on enzyme activity. There are digestive enzymes and systemic enzymes. With age you may find you’re more sensitive to digestive issues. If this applies to you, Betaine HCL and digestive enzymes can help keep your digestive system in top shape. A little known fact is that digestion accounts for 80% of your immunity. Poor digestion can also lead to food allergies and infections that needlessly bog down your immune system. Systemic enzymes are great as well for inflammation and immune support. Enzyme cofactors like CoQ10 are also very important in the support of enzyme activity.
Recommended Products
Betaine HCL – (dosage as recommended by doctor)
Digestive enzymes – Digest Gold by Enzymatica
Systemic enzymes – Wobenzym N or Veganzyme
Enzyme cofactors – CoQ10, creatine, B complex
Other miscellaneous elements:
- Our intestinal flora becomes unbalanced with age. However, specific strains of probiotics are more beneficial to some more than others. The common recommendation is to change your probiotic cupplement frequently. Some may find that products containing FOS cause bloating and other stomach issues. I steer clear of them.
- For 50+, acetyl l-carnitine can be effective at restoring cellular energy and possibly cell wall function. Take with lipoic acid. This supplement is contraindicated for those with hypothyroidism.
- Glutathione is our body’s master anti-oxidant, versatile for attacking infections and quenching free radicals. You can increase glutathione levels through certain supplements or intravenously. But my preference is the Y-age homeopathic patch for glutathione. It raises your anti-oxidant levels naturally using your body’s own resources (can be ordered through a doctor).
- Carnosine – this is a dipeptide with strong anti-aging effects. It has anti-oxidant like properties, improves energy, helps to maintain telomeres, and also skin health. It comes as a supplement, and Y-Age offers a patch for carnosine as well.