DR. SHAWN BAKER: Carnosine has been shown to protect the brain against aging

Beef facts!! Brain edition pic.twitter.com/6Bg7tLrcb3

— Dr Shawn Baker 🥩 (@SBakerMD) March 25, 2024

Mushrooms Slow Down Premature Aging Effect

Vitamin E removes the build-up of hydrogen peroxide overload in the body.  Fights against premature wrinkles.  It improves the skin.  The pituitary is storage for a lot of vitamin E, so when you go into menopause and you lose the function of the ovaries because you're not going to have babies anymore, guess what happens?  Your vitamin E drops dramatically.  Premenopausal women have much lower vitamin E levels than they did before that change.  

Maybe deficient in B vitamins because the microbiome of your gut isn't recycling these B vitamins.  I supplement with Biotin which makes my hair thicker, which is nice, but it doesn't do a thing for hair color.  Biotin is a good antidote for alopecia that many experienced from COVID or from the injection.  

The goal here then is to increase the good bacteria in the gut, but how does one do that?  Dr. Berg ends with saying, "Take a really good probiotic."  Well, which one?  

Okay, still no answer as of yet on which is the best probiotic.  In the meantime, he does offer some nutritional compounds that help to prevent graying.  Imagine my surprise when PABA, or B5, was not mentioned.  He lists: 

1.  Catalase, an enzyme that helps breakdown hydrogen peroxide.

2.  Glutathione, the master antioxidant that helps reduce hydrogen peroxide.

3.  Selenium, an antioxidant.

4.  Coconut Oil.  Put this on your scalp, get it into the pours.

CALORIE-RESTRICTED DIET . . . DOUBLES THE LIFESPAN AND HEALTHSPAN

Hope springs eternal.

The Washington Times reports that scientists were able to reverse the graying of hair on mice and smooth the wrinkles of the same critter.  And with this result, it is advanced that the treatment will work on humans.  Maybe.  Good luck bringing this to market.  

Science has made mice look good by reversing age-related wrinkles and hair loss at the genetic level. Humanity could get a similar make-over in the future.

They introduced a specific gene mutation on a test mouse, which prompted a change in profound appearance. Within four weeks, the mouse had developed wrinkled skin and extensive, visible hair loss. When regular function was restored within the gene by turning off the culprit mutation, the mouse returned to a previous life of smooth skin and luxurious fur only two months later — deemed “indistinguishable” from a healthy mouse of the same age.

“To our knowledge, this observation is unprecedented,” said Keshav Singh, a professor of genetics who led the study.

“This mouse model should provide an unprecedented opportunity for the development of preventive and therapeutic drug development strategies to augment the mitochondrial functions for the treatment of aging-associated skin and hair pathology and other human diseases in which mitochondrial dysfunction plays a significant role,” Mr. Singh said in a statement.“

Wrinkled skin and hair loss are hallmarks of aging. What if they could be reversed?” asked researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham — who appear to have accomplished that feat, according to the research team. 

Oh, I see.  So what we've learned, then, is that to reverse aging one needs to repair the mitochondrial function.  But we already have that capability.  And for a little pushback on the study cited above, let it be known that the most important concern when it comes to reversing aging is not gene mutation, as was conducted in the experiment, but "rather the dynamic ability of genes to make proteins."

While gene mutations only account for ~2% of all disease, most chronic age-related disease doesn’t involve faults in gene structure but rather the dynamic ability of genes to make proteins (called gene expression or gene silencing) which is referred to as epigenetics.  

Sardi adds that

. . . inherited gene mutations may be inevitable and produce single-gene disorders such as cystic fibrosis, sickle cell, muscular dystrophy or Huntington’s disease.  But aging and its accompanying diseases (diabetes, arthritis, cancer, heart, brain and liver disease) are modifiable. 

I'll add two more points by Sardi on an anti-aging compound.

The diet, namely a calorie-restricted diet, practiced daily or intermittently, doubles the lifespan and healthspan [my emphasis] of lower forms of life (fruit flies, roundworms, and mice).  Or a molecular mimic (i.e. anti-aging pill) may target the same genes as food deprivation and provide a shortcut to allay the ravages of aging.   

. . .  

In other words, what would taken a lifetime to achieve in a laboratory mouse was exceeded by 9-fold in just 12 weeks.  Eighty-two percent (82%) of the same 832 longevity genes were switched in the same direction (on or off) as a limited calorie diet by the resveratrol matrix (Longevinex®), which is a commercially available nutraceutical.  That is the closest anyone has come to a molecular mimic of a calorie-restricted diet. 

But get Sardi's Longevinex.  It's one of the few Resveratrol products that's actually been tested.  

LYCOPENE IS THE MOST POTENT FREE RADICAL QUENCHER OF ALL CAROTENOIDS

Tomatoes are delicious and refreshing when fresh-picked or chopped and mixed into a salsa.  And we hear how good they are for your health.  And they are.  But sometimes we find ourselves disappointed when we buy them fresh where they seem to lack all the rich taste and nutritional value.  And that is true.  That's not just folklore or rumor.  If you can find a delicious, vine-ripened tomato, those tend to be the most flavorful.  But the truth is that the tomatoes found inside a can of tomato sauce is actually more flavorful with a higher concentration of Lycopene.   

It's the Lycopene that gives tomatoes their health benefits.  Lycopene is one of 600 or more carotenoids.  Carotenoids accumulate in the skin where their protective compounds go to work.  I use the word protective because these carotenoids protect your skin from UV rays, working in this way as an anti-wrinkle food and anti-aging food.  What's not to like?  

But the health benefits of Lycopene don't end there.  According to NCBI, Lycopene is the most potent of all carotenoid free radicals.  

Lycopene, the most potent singlet oxygen quencher of all carotenoids, is a possible treatment option for male infertility because of its antioxidant properties. 

A singlet oxygen quencher is an antioxidant that destroys single oxygen free radicals.  

Dietary carotenoids seem to participate in the prevention of photooxidative stress by accumulating as antioxidants in the skin.  

Lycopene is the most potent of all carotenoids.  In fact, carotenoids have more powerful antioxidant activity than vitamin E.  

Carotenoids are known to be powerful O₂ (¹Δ_g) quenchers,⁽⁶⁾ and their activities are much higher than that of α-tocopherol and other biological antioxidants.

When the two are combined, Lycopene with vitamin E, they are a powerful compound for reducing erythema.

Stahl, et al ⁽³⁹⁾ found that combination of a relatively low dose of total carotenoids (25 mg/day) and vitamin E (RRR-α-tocopherol; 335 mg/day) significantly diminished the erythema (redness of the skin) on dorsal skin induced by illumination with UV light after 8 weeks.  

Eat your tomatoes and your watermelon and your red apples.  Not only is Lycopene good for your skin, it has terrific affects on your overall fertility, while enhancing your immunity.  Incorporate this food in your diet. 

other beneficial effects via nonoxidative mechanisms in the testis, such as gap junction communication, modulation of gene expression, regulation of the cell cycle and immunoenhancement. 

To achieve these results, however, one must take 4-8mgs per day for 4 to 12 months.  Fine.  You want these health benefits?  Great.  Take Lycopene on a daily basis for a full year and voila!

Okay, so reports on how much lycopene one should get on a daily basis varies.  The above NCBI article cites 4-8mgs per day.  But this Telegraph article says that one needs closer to 22mgs per day.  

One serving of cooked tomatoes a day, and several servings of fresh tomatoes a week. You should ideally eat 22 mg of lycopene a day; there are 27 mgs in two tablespoons of tomato purée. On a gram-for-gram basis, cherry tomatoes contain more lycopene than large tomatoes.

So far no mention of how many milligrams are found in an average-sized tomato.  

How should I eat them?

Here, canned is better than fresh. Lycopene is better absorbed when it is consumed in processed products, such as baked beans and tinned tomatoes, rather than as whole tomatoes. Choose tomato-based pasta sauces rather than creamy ones. Organic tomato ketchup is particularly good, and tomatoes are a fine excuse for a Bloody Mary.  

That surprised me.  You get more Lycopene in processed products. 

Tomato-based foods offer the highest concentrations of lycopene, according to the Linus Pauling Institute. Because carotenoids are fat-soluble nutrients, cooking tomatoes with oil or eating cooked tomatoes with small amounts of fat increases the amount of lycopene that your body can absorb. Tomato sauces, pastes, soups and juices contain more lycopene than the fresh vegetable. One cup of canned tomato paste provides 75 mg of lycopene, compared to 5 mg[s] in one cup of raw tomatoes, the Linus Pauling Institute notes. Watermelon, pink, grapefruit, guava, apricots and papaya contain lycopene. These nutritious foods also provide vitamin C, potassium, folate and other antioxidant pigments.

That should be the final word on tomatoes and lycopene.  You get more Lycopene in processed foods. The one citation above even pointed to ketchup.  I used to think that Ronald Reagan was crazy when he and his commission cited ketchup as a vegetable, but apparently it has enough nutrients in it to have some protective effect against aging, illness, and a more youthful look.  

This was interesting.  If you consume too much carotenoids, they will deposit in your skin and turn your skin yellow, red, or orange.  I once consumed too much carrot juice one night and woke the next with orange arm pits.  Literally.  I freaked out and went to the Emergency Room the afternoon of the next day where the doctor asked if I had consumed any carrot juice.  Guilty as charged.  The best way to get the right amount is not really through supplementation but through food.  Your body will select the amount of Lycopene it needs and discard the rest.  

VITAMIN B3, NIACIN

"One of the most potent forms of vitamin B3 stops the aging process of organs"

Having grown up active and sport-minded, looking to drugs or medicines to enhance one's ability was the greatest offense to tenacity and talent I'd ever known. And though into middle age, I can still bring a game of basketball even to youngsters; I am grateful, however, to the value of restorative medicine that comes in a pill, er, capsule.  Vitamin E is remarkable for wound healing.  I witnessed this first-hand with a cut on the back of my hand.  I cut open the E capsule and squeezed its contents onto my hand and in two days the wound had almost healed.  Incredible.  Truly.  

Then I learned of E's internal benefits.  It improves circulation and heals vessels and organs internally.  To what degree, how much is needed, whether it repairs all organs and vessels is hard to know . . . at least for me since I am no doctor. 

Then I leaned of B17's anti-cancer effects.  

Then I learned of zinc's ability to regrow the Thymus, the master gland of our immunity that sits right behind the heart.  You can learn all sorts of things on the internet!

Now I read about the power of B3.  What can it do?  Stop organs from aging.  Seriously.  What doses, what form of B3 is required has yet to be known, but I would definitely give this a try at least. 

HealthySustainableLiving has this to say: 

One of the most potent forms of vitamin B3 stops the aging process of organs and can only be described as restorative. Nicotinamide riboside is naturally produced in our bodies and studies continue to validate its effectiveness in preventing disease and regenerating cells.

When I read that I thought, okay, prove it.  I've heard terrific things about Nitric Oxide too as well as Benfotiamine.  Anytime distinctions are made concerning prevailing wisdom, either to debunk or illuminate I am all for. HealthySustainableLiving offers this in its review of the study.   

B3 is one of eight B vitamins. It is also known as niacin (nicotinic acid) and has 2 other forms, niacinamide (nicotinamide) and inositol hexanicotinate, which have different effects from niacin.

B Vitamins are good for us.  We all know this.  But what forms of B do we get on a daily basis through our food or supplement industry?  Do you know?  Not everyone does.  

An earlier study reviewed at Cell.com involved researchers at Harvard University and the University of NSW, Sydney. Published in the scientific journal Cell, the landmark paper was one of the first to provide valuable insights into Nicotinamide's brain performance and anti-aging.

Okay, now that's promising.  Nicotinamide provides enhanced brain function as well as anti-aging abilities.  Nicotinamide riboside is a chemical precursor to B3.  

Nicotinamide riboside is naturally produced in our bodies. It’s a chemical compound which acts as a precursor to vitamin B3.

WHY THE FUSS OVER NICOTINAMIDE RIBOSIDE?

Here's why.  

Nicotinamide riboside has been linked to a number of surprising and powerful benefits. Foods high in Nicotinamide include Brewer's Yeast, Sunflower Seeds, Raw Peanuts and Beets. Interestingly Beet Juice & Yeast have been shown to have remarkable cancer killing attributes. Possibly due to the sugars in the beets causing a beneficial form of fermentation to occur with the B vitamins in the Brewer's Yeast.

Read the rest of the article below.

Now a team of researchers at EPFL's Laboratory of Integrated Systems Physiology (LISP), headed by Johan Auwerx, has unveiled even more of its secrets. An article written by Hongbo Zhang, a PhD student on the team, published in Science and describes the positive effects of NR on the functioning of stem cells. These effects can only be described as restorative.

As mice, like all mammals, age, the regenerative capacity of certain organs (such as the liver and kidneys) and muscles (including the heart) diminishes. Their ability to repair them following an injury is also affected. This leads to many of the disorders typical of aging.

Mitochondria: also useful in stem cells

Hongbo Zhang wanted to understand how the regeneration process deteriorated with age. To do so, he teamed up with colleagues from ETH Zurich, the University of Zurich and universities in Canada and Brazil. Through the use of several markers, he was able to identify the molecular chain that regulates how mitochondria -- the "powerhouse" of the cell -- function and how they change with age. The role that mitochondria play in metabolism has already been amply demonstrated, "but we were able to show for the first time that their ability to function properly was important for stem cells," said Auwerx.

Under normal conditions, these stem cells, reacting to signals sent by the body, regenerate damaged organs by producing new specific cells. At least in young bodies. "We demonstrated that fatigue in stem cells was one of the main causes of poor regeneration or even degeneration in certain tissues or organs," said Hongbo Zhang.

This is why the researchers wanted to "revitalize" stem cells in the muscles of elderly mice. And they did so by precisely targeting the molecules that help the mitochondria to function properly. "We gave nicotinamide riboside to 2-year-old mice, which is an advanced age for them," said the researcher. "This substance, which is close to vitamin B3, is a precursor of NAD+, a molecule that plays a key role in mitochondrial activity. And our results are extremely promising: muscular regeneration is much better in mice that received NR, and they lived longer than the mice that didn't get it."

Scientists have long used NAD+ as a powerful anti-aging tool. While trying to find a cure for aging, scientists increased the levels of NAD+ within the mitochondria. The mitochondria responded by increasing their performance and energy, which effectively neutralizes the effects of aging.

Specifically, nicotinamide riboside effectively delays early- and late-stage disease progression, by robustly inducing mitochondrial biogenesis in skeletal muscle and brown adipose tissue, preventing mitochondrial ultrastructure abnormalities and [mitochondrial DNA] deletion formation.

A breakthrough for regenerative medicine

Parallel studies have revealed a comparable effect on stem cells of the brain and skin. "This work could have very important implications in the field of regenerative medicine," said Auwerx. "We are not talking about introducing foreign substances into the body but rather restoring the body's ability to repair itself with a product that can be taken with food." This work on the aging process also has potential for treating diseases that can affect--and be fatal--in young people, like muscular dystrophy (myopathy).

So far, no negative side effects have been observed following the use of NR, even at high doses. But caution remains the byword when it comes to this elixir of youth: it appears to boost the functioning of all cells, which could include pathological ones. Further in-depth studies are required.

Further reading here and here.