WEBVTT - Wisdom Wednesdays: Anti-aging strategies part 1 - how to reduce Genomic Instability 0:00:08.640 --> 0:00:12.920 Hey, everybody, welcome to another edition of Wisdom Wednesdays. And 0:00:13.000 --> 0:00:15.640 if you remember from last week, I announced that we're 0:00:15.640 --> 0:00:18.920 going to do a series on the twelve major hallmarks 0:00:18.960 --> 0:00:22.159 of aging and what we can do to prevent or 0:00:22.320 --> 0:00:26.119 reduce the rate of aging from these hallmarks. So this 0:00:26.239 --> 0:00:28.200 week is the first one, and we're going to explore 0:00:28.240 --> 0:00:32.440 the topic of genomic instability, which is one of the 0:00:32.479 --> 0:00:35.920 primary hallmarks of aging. You might be thinking, what the 0:00:35.960 --> 0:00:40.559 hell is genomic or genomic instability. The clue really is 0:00:40.600 --> 0:00:44.800 in the genome and this is really about our DNA 0:00:45.080 --> 0:00:49.440 and managed to maintain the stability of our DNA. So 0:00:49.479 --> 0:00:52.400 you probably know our DNA acts as a bit of 0:00:52.440 --> 0:00:55.800 a blueprint for everything that happens in the body. Now, 0:00:55.840 --> 0:01:01.680 over time, this generic material is constantly exposed to damage 0:01:01.720 --> 0:01:07.080 from sources like ultraviolet light, toxins in the environment, and 0:01:07.200 --> 0:01:13.480 even the natural process of metabolism and particularly breaking down 0:01:13.520 --> 0:01:16.720 oxygen at a cellular level to create energy which then 0:01:16.880 --> 0:01:20.600 create oxidative stress. So one way to look at it 0:01:20.640 --> 0:01:24.960 is thinking of your DNA as a library of instructions 0:01:25.560 --> 0:01:30.000 that basically tail sales what to do and when it's damaged, 0:01:30.120 --> 0:01:34.000 it's like the pages in a book, becoming torn or smudged, 0:01:34.319 --> 0:01:38.319 and you lose clarity on how things should operate. And 0:01:38.440 --> 0:01:42.720 the issue with aging is that our DNA reper systems 0:01:43.120 --> 0:01:47.199 think of them as the natural librarians. They actually become 0:01:47.360 --> 0:01:51.440 less efficient as you get older, which then allows these 0:01:51.520 --> 0:01:57.600 damages to accumulate. And this genomic instability contributes to many 0:01:57.800 --> 0:02:04.480 age related diseases, including, but not limited to, cancer, neurodegenertive diseases, 0:02:04.840 --> 0:02:09.359 and immune dysfunction. No, what do we do about it? Well, 0:02:09.720 --> 0:02:14.000 the first intervention you probably won't be surprised is exercise, 0:02:14.240 --> 0:02:18.000 because the coe news is that exercise has a profound 0:02:18.040 --> 0:02:21.880 impact on our cellular repair systems, and it does it 0:02:22.000 --> 0:02:27.240 by a few different mechanisms. The firstly, I'm sorry. The 0:02:27.240 --> 0:02:32.080 first mechanism is that exercise boosts or uplifts are DNA 0:02:32.200 --> 0:02:36.520 repair mechanisms. So it's been shown to activate the repair 0:02:36.639 --> 0:02:40.600 pathways that DNA repair pathways in the body, particularly the 0:02:40.639 --> 0:02:44.959 ones that deal with the broken strands of DNA, and 0:02:45.040 --> 0:02:49.079 it does this by boosting enzymes that actually fix these 0:02:49.200 --> 0:02:53.880 errors before they become harmful. The next way that exercise 0:02:53.960 --> 0:02:58.440 can be helpful in this process is by reducing oxidative stress. 0:02:58.480 --> 0:03:00.480 So I hinted at that earlier on and I said, 0:03:00.600 --> 0:03:05.320 just the normal process of metabolism can be harmful. Oxidative 0:03:05.360 --> 0:03:09.440 stress occurs when there's an imbalance between free radicals, which 0:03:09.480 --> 0:03:14.799 are unstable molecules, and our antioxidant defense system in the body. 0:03:14.960 --> 0:03:19.080 So that can be our indogenous antioxidant defense system, or 0:03:19.120 --> 0:03:21.440 the antioxidants that we get from food. We call those 0:03:21.600 --> 0:03:27.400 exogenous antioxidants. And this oxidative stress, we know is a 0:03:27.600 --> 0:03:33.880 major contributor to DNA damage. So regular exercise produces the 0:03:33.960 --> 0:03:38.520 body's production of antioxidants, and you're indogenous antioxidants, and this 0:03:38.640 --> 0:03:41.840 is really really critical, right, I often so we know 0:03:41.920 --> 0:03:45.480 that exercise boosts the production of a number of genes 0:03:45.520 --> 0:03:51.720 involved in these antioxidant defense and they would be superoxide, dismutis, 0:03:51.840 --> 0:03:57.280 glutotherone perioxidase, and the third one is catalyse. Now I 0:03:57.320 --> 0:04:02.760 often refer to these antioxide and as the special forces 0:04:02.760 --> 0:04:06.800 of your antioxin defense system. We know they are much 0:04:06.880 --> 0:04:11.800 more potent than antioxidants that you get from food. So 0:04:12.280 --> 0:04:18.200 doing regular exercise really increases the special forces for this 0:04:18.279 --> 0:04:22.240 antioxin defense, which is really what you're after. Then the 0:04:22.279 --> 0:04:26.279 third mechanism by which exercise is useful is that it 0:04:26.400 --> 0:04:31.040 promotes autopogy, or this cellular spring clean that goes on. 0:04:31.480 --> 0:04:35.680 So exercise has been known to activate autoplogy, particularly in 0:04:35.720 --> 0:04:38.839 the muscle cells. And what that does is it basically 0:04:39.360 --> 0:04:44.119 cleans out the damaged cellular components, including those that could 0:04:44.160 --> 0:04:47.520 harm DNA. You can think of this as the body's 0:04:47.560 --> 0:04:51.120 housekeeping system that is working all the time to ensure 0:04:51.200 --> 0:04:55.280 everything stays tidy and functional. And then the last way 0:04:55.360 --> 0:05:00.440 that exercise is useful for DNA damage or minimizing dnaamage 0:05:00.600 --> 0:05:03.880 is improving your mitochondrial efficiency. And we will do a 0:05:03.960 --> 0:05:06.919 deeper dive on this because mitochon damage mitochondria is one 0:05:07.000 --> 0:05:11.920 of the major hallmarks. But we know that when our 0:05:12.200 --> 0:05:17.640 mitochondria are not working well, it actually increases our DNA damage. 0:05:17.839 --> 0:05:22.480 We know that exercise dramatically improves mitochondrial function, not only 0:05:22.560 --> 0:05:25.320 the function, but it can also improve the number or 0:05:25.360 --> 0:05:31.240 increase the numbers called mitochondria boogenesis, and having good mitochondria 0:05:31.279 --> 0:05:35.719 and lots of them indirectly reduces DNA damage by keeping 0:05:35.800 --> 0:05:40.400 oxidative stress in check. So they're the mechanisms by which 0:05:40.520 --> 0:05:44.560 exercise is useful, and there's lots of research to show 0:05:44.600 --> 0:05:48.800 that individuals who engage in regular, moderate to vigorous physical 0:05:49.800 --> 0:05:54.680 intense exercise have lower levels of DNA damage and better 0:05:54.839 --> 0:05:59.920 overall genomic stability compared to sentary individuals. And one thing 0:06:00.040 --> 0:06:04.400 escinating study involving endurance athletes find that regular exercise increases 0:06:04.440 --> 0:06:09.120 the expression of genes responsible for DNA repair, suggesting that 0:06:09.160 --> 0:06:12.960 staying active can literally rewrite your body's ability to protect 0:06:13.040 --> 0:06:16.760 itself at a cellular level. So we know from all 0:06:16.800 --> 0:06:18.200 of the research, wes, I'm not going to go through 0:06:18.240 --> 0:06:22.680 it at all, but we know that aerobic activities typical 0:06:22.720 --> 0:06:27.000 cardio like running, cycling, swimming, they improve our cardiovascar health 0:06:27.000 --> 0:06:30.400 and reduce our oxidative stress. We know that lifting weights, 0:06:30.880 --> 0:06:33.880 lifting heavy shit as I like to say, has been 0:06:33.920 --> 0:06:38.120 linked to enhance DNA repair mechanisms, and also high intensity 0:06:38.200 --> 0:06:40.920 interval training. So there's a twenty twenty three study in 0:06:41.000 --> 0:06:46.560 Nature Communications that show that regular moderate to vigorous exercise 0:06:46.760 --> 0:06:51.720 increases the expression of DNA repair enzymes. And particularly interesting 0:06:51.720 --> 0:06:54.720 with the finding that high intensity interval training seem to 0:06:54.760 --> 0:07:01.520 be especially effective us up regulating these pathways. SPOT appears 0:07:01.560 --> 0:07:05.799 to be that government guidelines that minimum of one hundred 0:07:05.839 --> 0:07:07.480 and fifty Well it's actually one hundred and fifty to 0:07:07.520 --> 0:07:12.160 three hundred minutes of moderate figure physical activity or seventy 0:07:12.200 --> 0:07:14.240 five to one hundred and fifty minutes a week of 0:07:14.440 --> 0:07:19.760 vigorous physical activity, and don't forget to incorporate lifting heavy shit. 0:07:20.720 --> 0:07:24.760 Now let's talk about nutrition. So there's been several nutrients 0:07:24.760 --> 0:07:28.520 that have been shown to support DNA repair mechanisms, and 0:07:28.720 --> 0:07:35.640 particularly foliate and vinamin B twelve are crucial for DNA 0:07:35.760 --> 0:07:40.400 synthesis and what's called methylation, that ability to switch on 0:07:40.720 --> 0:07:44.200 and switch off genes and regulate the expression of our genes, 0:07:44.200 --> 0:07:46.920 which is really really key. So we know that green 0:07:47.000 --> 0:07:51.800 leafy vegetables lay goomes fortified foods. They are excellent sources, 0:07:52.040 --> 0:07:55.280 but animal foods are probably the best source of vinomen 0:07:55.400 --> 0:07:57.880 V twelve, which is why if you're vegetarian or vegan, 0:07:58.240 --> 0:08:01.520 you've really got a supplement because multiple lines of research 0:08:01.560 --> 0:08:05.040 have showing that vegetarians and especially vegans are deficient in 0:08:05.080 --> 0:08:08.440 P twelve, So ensure that you're supplementing if you're on 0:08:08.440 --> 0:08:11.480 one of those diets. We know that a deficiency in 0:08:11.520 --> 0:08:16.600 these nutrients has been directly linked to DNA strand breaks. Now, 0:08:17.080 --> 0:08:19.560 just a little thing on folio, and this is where 0:08:19.560 --> 0:08:22.600 we get a little bit technical of it and certain 0:08:22.760 --> 0:08:26.760 variations of a particular gene, the MTFR gene, which we 0:08:26.800 --> 0:08:30.120 call the motherfucker gene. If you have certain variations of it, 0:08:30.560 --> 0:08:35.240 you really don't metabolize foliate very very well, and you 0:08:35.440 --> 0:08:39.600 need to have an activated form. Now, the best way 0:08:39.640 --> 0:08:43.559 to find out that is to actually do a generic test. 0:08:44.520 --> 0:08:48.680 Go and see Denise who's been on this podcast. I 0:08:48.760 --> 0:08:53.160 will put a link in to her website where you 0:08:53.200 --> 0:08:57.240 can go and actually get some testing done. Because if 0:08:57.240 --> 0:09:01.120 you're eating folio but you can't youake it done, it 0:09:01.160 --> 0:09:03.680 can sometimes do more damage than good. And there's lots 0:09:03.720 --> 0:09:06.160 of foods that are fortified in foli it, so you'll 0:09:06.200 --> 0:09:09.920 want to make sure that you're actually able to use 0:09:09.960 --> 0:09:13.920 the foliate in your diet. So the next thing is zinc. 0:09:14.080 --> 0:09:17.559 Zinc actually plays a vital role in DNA repair enzymes, 0:09:18.000 --> 0:09:22.480 and studies suggests maintaining optimal zinc levels through foods like 0:09:22.520 --> 0:09:25.679 oysters are brilliant sources of zinc. As there's beef and 0:09:25.760 --> 0:09:29.280 then to a lesser extent, things like pumpkin seeds. They 0:09:29.280 --> 0:09:33.040 can enhance our sales ability to fix DNA damage. But 0:09:33.080 --> 0:09:37.960 perhaps the most fascinating nutritional intervention is the role of sulfurifian, 0:09:38.640 --> 0:09:43.880 which is the main active ingredient in cruciferous vegetables like 0:09:43.960 --> 0:09:48.320 broccoli and cabbage. And you get like ridiculous amounts of sulfurifine, 0:09:48.360 --> 0:09:51.880 particularly in broccoli sprouts. So if you can be arked 0:09:52.080 --> 0:09:55.079 to sprout your own broccoli, that's ideal, or you can 0:09:55.120 --> 0:09:59.320 actually buy broccoli sprouts, but just having lots of cruciferous 0:09:59.360 --> 0:10:04.760 vegetables like broccoli, broccolini, cabbage, kale, all of those things 0:10:05.320 --> 0:10:09.760 high in sulphurior fain, which activates the NRF two pathway, 0:10:10.280 --> 0:10:16.040 and that pathway is really critical in cellular defense against 0:10:16.160 --> 0:10:19.439 DNA damage. Now, the next thing I want to talk 0:10:19.440 --> 0:10:25.920 about is sleep, and that is our time for cellular maintenance. 0:10:26.400 --> 0:10:29.720 When we go to sleep, our sales activate these DNA 0:10:29.840 --> 0:10:33.600 reper mechanisms and these are little enzymes. Just want to 0:10:33.600 --> 0:10:36.240 think of these little enzymes that run all the way 0:10:36.280 --> 0:10:40.440 through your body, checking yourselves looking for cancerous and pre 0:10:40.520 --> 0:10:43.640 cancerous sales, and when they find them, they tag them 0:10:44.000 --> 0:10:47.800 and then your natural killer sales come along and execute them, 0:10:48.000 --> 0:10:51.000 which is pretty cool shit. What we know is that 0:10:51.200 --> 0:10:53.840 groundbreak and study from the University of Washington to show 0:10:53.920 --> 0:10:57.560 that just one night of poor sleep can alter the 0:10:57.640 --> 0:11:01.640 expression of over a one hundred gene involved in DNA 0:11:01.800 --> 0:11:06.600 rapper mechanisms. So ensuring that you're getting regular, good sleep 0:11:07.080 --> 0:11:09.439 it's hugely important. I've talked a lot of times about 0:11:09.440 --> 0:11:12.880 sleep hygiene, but one of the other things that's important 0:11:12.880 --> 0:11:16.480 to note around sleep is that if you eat late 0:11:16.520 --> 0:11:21.559 at night, the basically your liver and your pancreas will 0:11:21.600 --> 0:11:26.839 sense the nutrients and they actually switch on what are 0:11:26.920 --> 0:11:31.360 called these peripheral clocks that then turn off our DNA 0:11:31.800 --> 0:11:36.120 reper mechanisms. So making sure that you finish eating three 0:11:36.200 --> 0:11:38.680 hours before you go to bed is really important for 0:11:38.720 --> 0:11:41.600 your DNA rapper right. And I know there's lots of 0:11:41.640 --> 0:11:44.240 couples sit and listen to this and one of them go, see, 0:11:44.280 --> 0:11:47.200 I told you we should be eating dinner early. Sorry 0:11:47.200 --> 0:11:50.319 for the other people, but that is the research. Now 0:11:50.559 --> 0:11:55.400 let's talk about some other interventions that show promise but 0:11:55.600 --> 0:11:58.600 need a bit more research. One is the whole concept 0:11:58.679 --> 0:12:00.960 of core misis. You know, I love this concept. This 0:12:01.080 --> 0:12:06.079 is basically mild intermittent stress and that's that what doesn't 0:12:06.160 --> 0:12:09.800 kill you makes you stronger, because we know that certain 0:12:09.840 --> 0:12:14.960 hormetic interventions are repair or help our cellular repairer systems. 0:12:15.679 --> 0:12:18.440 So that's things like exercise, which I've talked about already, 0:12:18.800 --> 0:12:22.240 intermittent fasting, which research is showing can entanse your DNA 0:12:22.320 --> 0:12:26.640 repair by activating certoons, and I talked about that late 0:12:26.800 --> 0:12:30.800 night eating, so avoiding that cold exposure. Some researchers are 0:12:30.840 --> 0:12:34.679 showing some evidence that cold regular cold water exposure may 0:12:34.720 --> 0:12:40.160 stabilize DNA structure as can solely use. So basically the 0:12:40.280 --> 0:12:44.200 staff that is releasing heat shock proteins or cold shop 0:12:44.280 --> 0:12:48.240 proteins either or are actually protects our cellular components. So 0:12:48.280 --> 0:12:54.040 that intermittent exposure to stressors or toxins, which at high 0:12:54.120 --> 0:12:58.120 levels can kill you, at low to moderate levels drive 0:12:58.240 --> 0:13:03.400 hormetic mechanisms which, amongst other things, protect your DNA repair. 0:13:03.880 --> 0:13:05.600 And the last thing I want to say, I've been 0:13:05.600 --> 0:13:07.600 talking about all the stuff that you can do to 0:13:08.000 --> 0:13:11.520 improve your DNA repairer and the other obvious thing is 0:13:12.040 --> 0:13:15.079 on the other side of the ledger and trying to 0:13:15.160 --> 0:13:20.280 minimize your DNA repair damage. So probably three things stand 0:13:20.320 --> 0:13:24.600 out here. One is just making sure you don't have 0:13:25.080 --> 0:13:29.160 excessive UV exposure from the sun, because we know that 0:13:29.320 --> 0:13:35.360 excessive UV exposure actually causes DNA damage, so it's important. 0:13:35.400 --> 0:13:37.920 It's kind of the Goldilocks effect with some it can't 0:13:37.960 --> 0:13:39.599 be too much, can't be too little, it's got to 0:13:39.679 --> 0:13:43.360 be just right. And then the next one is chronic inflammation, 0:13:43.840 --> 0:13:49.160 so having diseases or conditions, whether their aarable ball syndrome, 0:13:49.760 --> 0:13:55.600 dental issues as well, can crosse chronic inflammation or autoimmune conditions. 0:13:56.080 --> 0:13:59.600 These things that chronic inflammation can really rekavoc with your 0:13:59.679 --> 0:14:03.040 DNA repair mechanisms, so making sure you try and address that. 0:14:03.760 --> 0:14:07.560 And then the last one is minimizing your oxidative stress, 0:14:08.000 --> 0:14:12.640 so reducing the amount of ultra process shit and exposure 0:14:12.679 --> 0:14:18.120 to environmental toxins everything from chemicals in makeup, plastics that 0:14:18.160 --> 0:14:22.560 are frigging everywhere. And it's basically just trying to eat 0:14:22.600 --> 0:14:26.080 good foods and not exposing yourself to your whole rains 0:14:26.120 --> 0:14:28.480 of toxins, which is kind of hard to do in 0:14:28.520 --> 0:14:31.160 modern life, but there are certainly things that we can do. 0:14:31.880 --> 0:14:35.120 So just to wrap up, remember that genetics, our genomic 0:14:35.200 --> 0:14:40.160 stability isn't just about preventing damage. It's also about enhancing 0:14:40.200 --> 0:14:44.160 our natural repair mechanisms, and it's making sure that we 0:14:44.320 --> 0:14:47.440 are affecting both sides of the Ledger. That's it for 0:14:47.480 --> 0:14:50.320 this week. Catch you next week for the next installment.