Age & Aging: What Can (And Can’t) We Do About It?

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The 10almonds Team

How old do you want to be?

We asked you how old you are, and got an interesting spread of answers. This wasn’t too surprising; of course we have a general idea of who our readership is and we write accordingly.

What’s interesting is the gap for “40s”.

And, this wasn’t the case of a broken poll button, it’s something that crops up a lot in health-related sociological research. People who are most interested in taking extra care of their body are often:

  • Younger people full of optimism about maintaining this perfectly healthy body forever
  • Older people realizing “if I don’t want to suffer avoidable parts of age-related decline, now is the time to address these things”

In between, we often have a gap whereby people no longer have the optimism of youth, but do not yet feel the pressure of older age.

Which is not to say there aren’t 40-somethings who do care! Indeed, we know for a fact we have some subscribers in their 40s (and some in their 90s, too), just, they evidently didn’t vote in this poll.

Anyway, let’s bust some myths…

Aging is inevitable: True or False?

False, probably. That seems like a bold (and fortune-telling) claim, so let’s flip it to deconstruct it more logically:

Aging is, and always will be, unstoppable: True or False?

That has to be “False, probably”. To say “true” now sounds like an even bolder claim. Just like “the moon will always be out of reach”.

  • When CPR was first developed, first-aiders were arrested for “interfering with a corpse”.
  • Many diseases used to be death sentences that are now “take one of these in the morning”
    • If you think this is an appeal to distant history, HIV+ status was a death sentence in the 90s. Now it’s “take one of these in the morning”.

But, this is an appeal to the past, and that’s not always a guarantee of the future. Where does the science stand currently? How is the research and development doing on slowing, halting, reversing aging?

We can slow aging: True or False?

True! There’s a difference between chronological age (i.e., how much time has passed while we’ve been alive) and biological age (i.e., what our diverse markers of aging look like).

Biological age often gets talked about as a simplified number, but it’s more complex than that, as we can age in different ways at different rates, for example:

  • Visual markers of aging (e.g. wrinkles, graying hair)
  • Performative markers of aging (e.g. mobility tests)
  • Internal functional markers of aging (e.g. tests for cognitive decline, eyesight, hearing, etc)
  • Cellular markers or aging (e.g. telomere length)
  • …and more, but we only have so much room here

There are things we can do to slow most of those, including:

In the case of cognitive decline particularly, check out our previous article:

How To Reduce Your Alzheimer’s Risk

It’s too early to worry about… / It’s too late to do anything about… True or False?

False and False!

Many things that affect our health later in life are based on early-life choices and events. So it’s important for young people to take advantage of that. The earlier one adopts a healthy lifestyle, the better, because, and hold onto your hats for the shocker here: aging is cumulative.

However, that doesn’t mean that taking up healthy practices (or dropping unhealthy ones) is pointless later in life, even in one’s 70s and beyond!

Read about this and more from the National Institute of Aging:

What Do We Know About Healthy Aging?

We can halt aging: True or False?

False, for now at least. Our bodies are not statues; they are living organisms, constantly rebuilding themselves, constantly changing, every second of every day, for better or for worse. Every healthy or unhealthy choice you make, every beneficial or adverse experience you encounter, affects your body on a cellular level.

Your body never, ever, stops changing for as long as you live.

But…

We can reverse aging: True or False?

True! Contingently and with limitations, for now at least.

Remember what we said about your body constantly rebuilding itself? That goes for making itself better as well as making itself worse.

But those aren’t really being younger, we’ll still die when our time is up: True or False?

False and True, respectively.

Those kinds of things are really being younger, biologically. What else do you think being biologically younger is?

We may indeed die when our time is up, but (unless we suffer fatal accident or incident first) “when our time is up” is something that is decided mostly by the above factors.

Genetics—the closest thing we have to biological “fate”—accounts for only about 25% of our longevity-related health*.

Genes predispose, but they don’t predetermine.

*Read more: Human longevity: Genetics or Lifestyle? It takes two to tango

(from the Journal of Immunity and Ageing)

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  • Hardcore Self Help: F**k Anxiety – by Dr. Robert Duff

    The 10almonds Team

    10almonds is reader-supported. We may, at no cost to you, receive a portion of sales if you purchase a product through a link in this article.

    We’ve reviewed other anxiety books before, so what makes this one different? Mostly, it’s the style.

    Aside from swearing approximately once every two lines (so you might want to skip this one if that would bother you), Dr. Duff’s writing is very down-to-earth in other ways too, making it unpretentiously comfortable and accessible without failing to draw upon the wealth of good-practice, evidence-based advice he has to offer.

    To that end, he talks about what anxiety is and isn’t, and goes over various approaches, explaining them in a “about” fashion, and also a “how to” fashion, covering areas such as CBT, somatic therapies, social support, when talk therapy is most likely to help.

    The book is a quick read (a modest 74 pages), and it’s refreshing that it hasn’t been padded unnecessarily, unlike a lot of books that could have been a fraction of the size without losing value.

    Bottom line: if you (or perhaps someone you care about) would benefit from a straight-to-the-point, no-BS approach to dealing with anxiety (that’s actually evidence-based, not just a “get over it” dismissal), then this is the book for you.

    Click here to check out Hardcore Self Help: F**k Anxiety, and indeed do just that!

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  • The Happy Menopause – by Jackie Lynch

    The 10almonds Team

    10almonds is reader-supported. We may, at no cost to you, receive a portion of sales if you purchase a product through a link in this article.

    The author, a nutritionist, takes the approach that just as no two menopauses are exactly the same, how it is managed needs to be personalized too.

    Thus, rather than simply “do this, do that”, she sets about talking the reader through identifying what things are likely to influence what symptoms, and then then actually testing them to see if a given adjustment is helpful or not. Lest this sound like a lot of work, she does invariably start from a place of “Most women…”, which means that on average, the reader will still get the right thing first try. However, in the cases of not being average, this book has the less common cause-and-effect pairings down as well. To this end, the book is mostly arranged by symptom, so it’s quite easy to find a particular thing one might be looking to fix.

    As for HRT, she takes the very respectable position that she is a nutritionist and as such, that matter is not her wheelhouse, and so she restrains herself to her own field of expertise, nutrition. Her intent is that the information in this book should be useful to all, HRT or no HRT.

    The style is very light pop science, making this very easily readable and comprehensible to all.

    Bottom line: if you have unwanted menopause symptoms, and would like to not be suffering from those, this book offers a natural approach, so give it a try!

    Click here to check out The Happy Menopause, and menopause happily!

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  • Cashews vs Peanuts – Which is Healthier?

    The 10almonds Team

    10almonds is reader-supported. We may, at no cost to you, receive a portion of sales if you purchase a product through a link in this article.

    Our Verdict

    When comparing cashews to peanuts, we picked the peanuts.

    Why?

    Another one for “that which is more expensive is not necessarily the healthier”! Although, certainly both are good:

    In terms of macros, cashews have about 2x the carbs while peanuts have a little more (healthy!) fat and more than 2x the fiber, meaning that peanuts also enjoy the lower glycemic index. All in all, a fair win for peanuts here.

    When it comes to vitamins, cashews have more of vitamins B6 and K, while peanuts have a lot more of vitamins B1, B2, B3, B5, B7, B9, and E. Another easy win for peanuts.

    In the category of minerals; cashews have more copper, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, and selenium, while peanuts have more calcium, manganese, and potassium. A win for cashews, this time.

    Adding up the sections makes for an overall win for peanuts, but (assuming you are not allergic) enjoy either or both! In fact, enjoying both is best; diversity is good.

    Want to learn more?

    You might like to read:

    Why You Should Diversify Your Nuts!

    Take care!

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Related Posts

  • Aging Is Inevitable… Or is it?

  • Reversing Alzheimer’s – by Dr. Heather Sandison

    10almonds is reader-supported. We may, at no cost to you, receive a portion of sales if you purchase a product through a link in this article.

    The 10almonds Team

    The title here is bold, isn’t it? But, if the studies so far are anything to go by, she is, indeed, reversing Alzheimer’s. By this we mean: her Alzheimer’s patients have enjoyed a measurable reversal of the symptoms of cognitive decline (this is not something that usually happens).

    The science here is actually new, and/but references are given aplenty, including Dr. Sandison’s own research and others—there’s a bibliography of several hundred papers, which we love to see.

    Dr. Sandison’s approach is of course multivector, but is far more lifestyle medicine than pills, with diet in particular playing a critical role. Indeed, it’s worth mentioning that she is a naturopathic doctor (not an MD), so that is her focus—though she’s had a lot of MDs looking in on her work too, as you may see in the book. She has found best results in a diet low in carbs, high in healthy fats—and it bears emphasizing, healthy ones. Many other factors are also built in, but this is a book review, not a book summary.

    Nor does the book look at diet in isolation; other aspects of lifestyle are also taken into account, as well as various medical pathways, and how to draw up a personalized plan to deal with those.

    The book is written with the general assumption that the reader is someone with increased Alzheimer’s risk wishing to reduce that risk, or the relative of someone with Alzheimer’s disease already. However, the information within is beneficial to all.

    The style is on the hard end of pop-science; it’s written for the lay reader, but will (appropriately enough) require active engagement to read effectively.

    Bottom line: if Alzheimer’s is something that affects or is likely to affect you (directly, or per a loved one), then this is a very good book to have read

    Click here top check out Reversing Alzheimer’s, and learn how to do it!

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    Learn to Age Gracefully

    Join the 98k+ American women taking control of their health & aging with our 100% free (and fun!) daily emails:

  • The Science Of Sounds

    10almonds is reader-supported. We may, at no cost to you, receive a portion of sales if you purchase a product through a link in this article.

    The 10almonds Team

    We Think You Might Like The Sound Of This…

    We’ve written before about the benefits of mindfulness meditation, and how to do it.

    We also reviewed a great book on a related topic:

    This is Your Brain On Music – by Dr. Daniel Levitin

    (yes, that’s the same neuroscientist that we featured as an expert talking about The Five Keys of Aging Healthily)

    But what happens when we combine the two?

    Mantra meditation & music

    Most scientific studies that have been undertaken with regard to meditation tend to focus on mindfulness meditation. It’s easy, effective, and (which makes a difference when it comes to publication bias) is a very safe bet when it comes to funding.

    However, today we’re going to look at mantra meditation, which has a lot in common, neurologically speaking, with music. Indeed, when the two were compared separately in a randomized control trial:

    ❝Daily mantra meditation or classical music listening may be beneficial for cognitive outcomes and quality of life of breast cancer survivors with cancer-related cognitive impairment.

    The cognitive benefits appear to be sustained beyond the initial intervention period.❞

    ~ Dr. Ashley Henneghan et al.

    Read in full: Sustained Effects of Mantra Meditation Compared to Music Listening on Neurocognitive Outcomes of Breast Cancer Survivors: A Brief Report of a Randomized Control Trial

    One possible reason for some of the similar benefits is the vagus nerve—whether intoning a mantra, or humming along to music, the vibrations can stimulate the vagus nerve, which in turn activates the parasympathetic nervous system, resulting in body-wide relaxation:

    The Vagus Nerve (And How You Can Make Use Of It)

    How effective is mantra meditation?

    According to a large recent narrative review, it depends on your goal:

    ❝Based on the studies in the four important areas presented, there is no doubt of a strong connection between mantra meditation and human health.

    Strong evidence has been found that practicing mantra meditation is effective in relieving stress and in coping with hypertension.

    For the other two areas: anxiety and immunity, the evidence is inconclusive or not strong enough to firmly support the claim that the mantra meditation can be used to reduce anxiety or to improve immunity. ❞

    ~ Dr. Dr. Ampere Tseng

    Read in full: Scientific Evidence of Health Benefits by Practicing Mantra Meditation: Narrative Review

    this is a very interesting read if you do have the time!

    How do I practice mantra meditation?

    The definition is broad, but the critical criteria are:

    1. You meditate…
    2. …using a mantra

    Lest that seem flippant: those really are the two key points!

    Meditation comes in various forms, and mantra meditation is a form of focussed meditation. While some focussed meditation forms may use a candle or some other focal point, in mantra meditation, the mantra itself provides the focus.

    You may be wondering: what should the mantra be?

    Classic and well-tested mantras include such simple things as the monosyllabic Sanskrit “Om” or “Ham”. We’re a health science newsletter, so we’ll leave esoteric meanings to other publications as they are beyond our scope, but we will say that these result, most naturally, in the humming sound that we mentioned earlier stimulates the vagus nerve.

    But that’s not the only way. Practitioners of religions that have repetitive prayer systems (e.g. anything that uses prayer beads, for example) also provide the basis of focused meditation, using a mantra (in this case, usually a very short oft-repeated prayer phrase).

    How long is needed for benefits?

    Most studies into mantra meditation have used timed sessions of 15–30 minutes, with 20 minutes being a commonly-used session length, once per day. However…

    • Vagus nerve benefits should appear a lot more quickly than that (under 5 minutes) in the case of mantras that cause that vibration we mentioned.
    • Repetitive spoken prayers (or similar repeated short phrases, for the irreligious) will generally effect relaxation in whatever period of time it takes for your brain to be fully focused on what you are doing now, instead of what you were thinking about before. If using counting beads, then you probably already know what number works for you.

    (again, as a health science publication, we cannot comment on any otherworldly benefits, but the worldly benefits seem reason enough to consider these practices for their potential therapeutic effects)

    10almonds tip: for any meditative practice that you want to take approximately a given period of time, we recommend investing in a nice sand timer like this one, as this will not result in a jarring alarm going off!

    Like to jazz things up a little?

    Enjoy: Meditation That You’ll Actually Enjoy ← Meditation games!

    Prefer to keep things to the basics?

    Enjoy: No Frills, Evidence-Based Mindfulness ← The simplest scientific approach

    Take care!

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    Learn to Age Gracefully

    Join the 98k+ American women taking control of their health & aging with our 100% free (and fun!) daily emails:

  • NADᐩ Against Aging

    10almonds is reader-supported. We may, at no cost to you, receive a portion of sales if you purchase a product through a link in this article.

    The 10almonds Team

    Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide, or “NAD” to its friends, is a coenzyme produced in the human body (amongst other places), and it is critical for cellular energy metabolism, but there’s more to it than that.

    Today we’ll be looking mostly at NAD+, of which the + indicates the positive formal charge of one of its nitrogen atoms. We won’t get too much into the chemistry of this, but we will mention that it’s a cofactor with NADH—the former accepting electrons and the latter donating electrons.

    Both NAD+ and NADH are critical to good health, but we’re going to focus on NAD+ for the simple reason that it gets depleted with aging.

    Note: it gets depleted with aging.

    Chronological age is not so important here, but there is a direct relationship between biological aging and NAD+ depletion.

    For example, healthy centenarians tend not to have depleted NAD+ levels. Further, its depletion (in those in whom it is depleted) is then a causal factor for many age-related diseases:

    ❝Remarkably, ageing is accompanied by a gradual decline in tissue and cellular NAD+ levels in multiple model organisms, including rodents and humans.

    This decline in NAD+ levels is linked causally to numerous ageing-associated diseases, including cognitive decline, cancer, metabolic disease, sarcopenia and frailty.

    Many of these ageing-associated diseases can be slowed down and even reversed by restoring NAD+ levels.❞

    ~ Dr. Rosalba Perrone et al.

    Read in full: NAD+ metabolism and its roles in cellular processes during ageing

    As for restoring those NADᐩ levels, that does help in interventional trials, whether by supplementing directly, or with NAD precursors*:

    ❝NAD+ levels steadily decline with age, resulting in altered metabolism and increased disease susceptibility.

    Restoration of NAD+ levels in old or diseased animals can promote health and extend lifespan, prompting a search for safe and efficacious NAD-boosting molecules that hold the promise of increasing the body’s resilience, not just to one disease, but to many, thereby extending healthy human lifespan.❞

    ~ Dr. David Sinclair et al.

    Read more: Therapeutic Potential of NAD-Boosting Molecules: The In Vivo Evidence

    *There are actually also other NAD-boosting molecules besides NAD itself and its precursors. For example, the liver will not produce NADᐩ unless it has aminocarboxymuconate-semialdehyde decarboxylase (or “ACMSD”, to its friends), which limits the production of NADᐩ. Why, you ask? The theory is that it is a kind of evolutionary conservativism, much like not lighting a fire without the ability to put it out. In any case, taking ACMSD-blockers will thus result in an increased endogenous production of NADᐩ.

    You can read about this here:

    De novo NAD+ synthesis enhances mitochondrial function and improves health

    Nor is taking supplements or drugs the only way to get more of it; there’s an enzyme nicotinamide phosphoribosyltransferase (“NAMPT”, to its friends) involved in the synthesis of NADᐩ, and exercise boosts levels by 127% (i.e., it more than doubles the levels), based on a modest three-week exercise bike regimen:

    Skeletal muscle NAMPT is induced by exercise in humans

    And to underline that point, another study found that resistance training (so, a different kind of exercise from that of the previous study) boosts levels of NADᐩ itself by the same 127%:

    Resistance training increases muscle NAD+ and NADH concentrations as well as NAMPT protein levels and global sirtuin activity in middle-aged, overweight, untrained individuals

    One way to get more out of NADᐩ

    We’ll get straight to the point: it works very well paired with a senolytic agent, i.e. something that kills aging cells so that they get recycled sooner:

    NAD+, Senolytics, or Pyruvate for Healthy Aging?

    To read more about senolytics, check out:

    Fisetin: The Anti-Aging Assassin

    Want to try some?

    We don’t sell it, but here for your convenience is an example product on Amazon 😎

    Enjoy!

    Don’t Forget…

    Did you arrive here from our newsletter? Don’t forget to return to the email to continue learning!

    Learn to Age Gracefully

    Join the 98k+ American women taking control of their health & aging with our 100% free (and fun!) daily emails: