Harvard genetic expert explains why modern life threatens longevity

Why do we age? Perhaps the most burning question for those who study aging is what factors trigger it. For decades, a dominant theory in the scientific world has explained that aging results from an accumulation of DNA changeswhich over time prevent the genes from working properly.

This process over the years generates failures in the cellular function, whereby tissues and organs deteriorate, leading to disease and ultimately death. In recent years, various studies have offered new theories and expressed that DNA alterations are not the only explanation.

In this sense, Dr. David Sinclairprofessor at the department of genetic and co-director of the Paul F. Glenn Center for biology research on aging at the School of Medicine of Harvard, raises a revolutionary idea: the aging is not an inexorable process.

The expert, longevity guru according to ‘Time’ magazine and chosen by the magazine as one of the 100 personalities of the year in 2020, is known throughout the world for his work to understand why we age and how to stop its effects.

Over the past 15 years he has focused his research primarily on sirtuins, enzymes that respond to changes in DNA levels and caloric restriction with associated interests in chromatin, energy metabolism, learning, memory and neurodegeneration. One of his latest discoveries, made after ten years of research, is the TET enzymewhich, according to Dr. Sinclair, would reverse skin aging.

The Harvard expert thinks we should rethink how to conceive of aging since, he argues, aging is not inevitable. For Dr. Sinclair, this is not a natural, habitual process, but should be approached as a disease and, from this point of view, it can be treated with different therapies, or even more, it can be cured.

“There’s no law in biology that says we have to age. We don’t know how to stop it, but we’re getting better at slowing it down. And, in the lab, we were able to reverse the process,” he said. he told the BBC when explaining the theory described in his latest book, “Lifetime‘ (Life Expectancy), a best-seller that made him known around the world.

In a recent interview with the newspaper The world, the expert pointed out that taking care of the skin would be one of the keys to anti-aging with good vegetable-based nutrition. “I also drink a lot of water and try to do not eat more than twice a day. In fact, if I can do it once, the better. By skipping meals, your body fights against aging,” he told the Spanish media.

Among his advice, he proposes not to eat meat every day and postulates that the ideal is to wear a plant-based food. “I stopped eating meat a year ago and what’s interesting is how quickly your skin changes when you vary your diet. A lot of people ask me what I’ve been doing lately to avoid wrinkles. The ideal diet is vegetarian. It is closely followed by the Mediterranean, followed by the Mediterranean which includes red meats. The worst for aging is the American dietthe one that incredibly more people follow”.

“The worst thing you can do is smoke, because toxins break DNA, which accelerates aging. The next thing, don’t exercise and don’t sunbathe. In general it is necessary avoiding chemicals and toxinsIt is better not to drink from plastic bottles or tap water,” the expert said in the report to the Spanish media.

As far as caloric intake is concerned, he recommends eating three times a day and giving up the bad habit of “snacking” during the day, because then the body “is in mode of abundance, no survival. Fooling the body into thinking it’s having a hard time, with fasting and exercise, is the perfect way to feel better,” he said.

The geneticist pointed out that one aspect that definitely accelerates aging is stress: “Gray hair is an example of this, stress produces gray hair. Of course, if it is stopped, the hair returns to its natural color, because according to what we study, the aging is a reversible process. In fact, in my lab, we’re working on a shampoo that reverses gray hair.

Being one of the most renowned researchers in the field of genetics, Dr. Sinclair postulated that lifestyle ages more than geneticsand explained that a good example was a study they conducted with twins, where they observed that those with the worst lifestyle could present, on a cellular level, up to 20 years apart.

Dr Sinclair argues that in a world of elevators, escalators and rolling suitcases, where everything involves little movement, ease of access to things can be extremely detrimental: “Abundance will eventually kill us. The world we’ve built makes us feel good, we have plenty of food, we don’t have to exercise. A perfect blend of ancient wisdom and modern medicine should be achieved,” he concluded.

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