The biggest breakthrough in anti-aging medicine in our lifetime involves telomere biology.
Each time your cells divide, they copy your DNA to make the new cell. But the telomeres – the sections of DNA at both ends of a chromosome – get shorter with every copy. And the shorter your telomeres are, the “older” the cell acts.
Once the telomeres get to their shortest length, your cells can no longer divide, and damaged or diseased cells aren’t replaced. This causes a chain reaction that weakens your tissues and organs. And that can only lead to disease… and, ultimately, death.
Fortunately, there are some ways to start to slow down the rate at which your telomeres are shortening right now…
1. Lower your homocysteine levels. According to a report in the journal Atherosclerosis,high levels of this amino acid can shorten your telomeres as much as 3 times faster.
I help my patients lower their homocysteine levels by having them supplement daily with the following:
- Vitamin B12 – 500 mcg
- Folic acid – 800 mcg
- Vitamin B6 – 25 mg
- Riboflavin (B2) – 25 mg
- TMG (trimethylglycine) – 500 mg
You can find these supplements at your local health food store. If you don’t want to take them all separately, you can use the same formula I give my patients.
2. Take vitamin C. This inexpensive supplement is a powerful antioxidant. And recent studies – including one reported in the journal Life Sciences – show it can slow telomere shortening by over 50 percent. I recommend 2,000 mg per day to my patients.
3. Take SOD. Besides protecting your cells from the damage of toxins and stress, SOD (superoxide dismutase) has been shown to slow the rate of telomere shortening. I recommend 500 mg a day. You can find it at your local health food store. Or you can check out my formula, which contains SOD as well as other potent cell protectors.
[Ed. Note: Dr. Sears is a practicing physician and the author of The Doctor’s Heart Cure. He is also a nutritional expert, a fitness expert, and is certified by the American Board of Anti-Aging Medicine. Find Dr. Sears’s practical solutions and get immediate access to more than 500 of his articles by visiting www.alsearsmd.com.
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