"It's never too late to start getting younger" Mae West. Since ancient times, it has been known that hormone levels decrease with age. The inhabitants of ancient Greece , Egypt and India tried to restore their declining sexuality and increase their energy potential by taking extracts from the male gonads of animals.
Today we already know that the decline in hormone levels is due to the development of diseases that accompany the aging process , such as cardiovascular disease , osteoporosis and cancer.
Some hormonal fluctuations are associated with other age-related changes , such as muscle loss , obesity, and mental disorders. Most of these undesirable changes now occur not only due to a decrease in the absolute level of hormones , but also due to a shift in the balance between various hormones.
All hormones in our body can be divided into two groups: anabolic and catabolic.
Anabolic hormones contribute to the growth and formation of tissues - for example , they are responsible for powerful muscles and strong bones. You may have heard of anabolic steroids , synthetic chemicals used to develop powerful muscles ( and banned from use in preparation for the Olympics). But sex hormones , growth hormones and DEA ( dehydroepiandrosterone) are natural anabolic hormones - steroids , the level of which almost always begins to fall after reproductive age.
Catabolic hormones , on the other hand , cause tissue destruction. The main catabolic hormone is cortisol , a stress hormone produced by the adrenal glands. Insulin ( produced by the pancreas) and estrogen ( in men) act as catabolic hormones to some extent. Unlike anabolic hormones , cortisol and insulin levels ( in both sexes) and estrogen levels ( in men) do not typically decrease with age; in rare cases, the level may decrease slightly , or remain at the same level, or in some cases , as is the case with estrogen in men , on the contrary , it rises. This leads to hormonal imbalance , which plays an important role in the aging process.
Insulin is produced in the pancreas in response to high blood sugar. Be aware that insulin does not always act as a catabolic hormone. In small amounts, it works as an anabolic hormone and promotes tissue growth.
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In large quantities , when too many sugary foods or foods with a high glycemic load are consumed , it stimulates the growth of only one type of tissue - adipose tissue , or simply fat. With age, the susceptibility of cells to insulin decreases , and its level increases. This is the main reason for gaining excess weight in the aging process. With age, the balance between hormones shifts from anabolic to catabolic.
Anabolic hormones - testosterone , estrogen in women , progesterone , growth hormone , melatonin and DEA - promote tissue growth and youth maintenance , therefore they are referred to as hormones of youth. Conversely , cortisol , insulin and estrogen ( in men) are classified as aging hormones.
Aging hormones
What steps can we take now to maintain a more youthful balance between the two types of hormones? We suggest you start by discussing ways to reduce or even reverse the gradual prevalence of catabolic hormones.
Cortisol
The body's response to stress is a rapid release of cortisol from the adrenal glands , which makes the cardiovascular system and lungs work hard , suppressing the immune system , slowing down digestion and reducing reproductive function.
A strong spike in cortisol increases your heart rate , allowing you to run faster , dilates your pupils , allowing you to see better , and raises your blood sugar , improving mental performance. But the constant release of excess cortisol accelerates the aging process , promotes disease , destroys muscle tissue ( sarcopenia) and bones ( osteoporosis), causes sodium retention in the body and high blood pressure , increases blood sugar and destroys the immune system.
Patients with Cushing's disease ( associated with an excess of cortisol) or patients who have taken synthetic forms of cortisol for a long time develop significant loss of muscle mass and bone weakness. In Dune, by Frank Herbert, it says "Fear destroys the brain."
Indeed , fear raises cortisol levels , which studies have shown lead to impaired brain activity . For example , Dr. D.S. Halsa demonstrated with the help of his Alzheimer's patients how chronic stress destroys memory.
As you can see in the picture below , all steroid hormones ( including cortisol) are synthesized from cholesterol. Cholesterol is first converted to pregnenolone , which can then be converted to either progesterone or DEA , the "mother hormones" of testosterone and estrogen. When stress is chronic or excessive , more cortisol is produced at the expense of DEA , testosterone, and estrogen. The normal aging process is associated with a slight shift towards more cortisol production and a simultaneous decrease in the production of other hormones.
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The easiest way to determine how well your youth hormones fight aging hormones is to determine the ratio of DEA ( anabolic hormone of youth) and cortisol ( catabolic aging hormone). You can find out by taking adrenal stress test , which will also test the health of the adrenal glands themselves.
You can get a test kit from a GP or medical practitioner without having to donate blood. You do the analysis at home , collecting saliva samples 4 times a day - upon waking up , at lunch , dinner and before going to bed.
A normal result is one with higher cortisol levels in the morning and a gradual decrease throughout the day. Under the influence of chronic stress, this daily variation is often imperceptible, and as a result, we get a practically straight line instead of a downward one.
In adrenal stress tests, the ratio of DEA to cortisol is also calculated. In young people, this ratio is usually high , but in older people it is already decreasing.
the relationship include supplementing with DEA , eating herbs such as natural Chinese herbal liquorice or the Ayurvedic herb ashwagandha , and following a cortisol-lowering lifestyle and a low glycemic load diet . , stress reduction , regular exercise and a healthy amount of sleep.
Insulin
If there was a race between insulin and cortisol to see who would destroy the body faster , we would bet on insulin . Barry Sears in The Rejuvenation Zone calls an excess of insulin "a ticket to accelerated aging."
Excess insulin increases body fat , increases cortisol levels and causes insulin resistance , accelerates the development of atherosclerosis and increases the risk of heart disease , and interferes with other hormones of youth.
Insulin is produced when there are excess calories. When you eat sugar or foods with a high glycemic load , you are so stimulating the production of excess insulin that your body can separate the sticky sugar from your blood. As soon as insulin levels rise , blood glucose instantly turns into fat , which is then deposited in the body's fat cells.
Cortisol and insulin are the same "good old boys" of the Hormone Country Club . Excess insulin increases cortisol levels , and excess leads to an increase in insulin levels. Excess insulin is also an independent risk factor for coronary heart disease.
Insulin reduces the effectiveness of youth hormones , which accelerates the aging process.
It is for this reason that in sugar or foods with a high glycemic load that raise insulin levels cause us to age much faster than anything else in our diet. It's easy to get caught up in a lifestyle that promotes insulin overload: lack of exercise , constant low stress, and high glycemic carbohydrates.
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Knowledge about nematodes
C. elegans is a type of roundworm that scientists often use in their experiments. Nematodes gained their fame by being the first metazoans whose genetic map was fully reproduced in 1999. In 2003, c.elegans again came under the spotlight , having lived 188 days , which is equivalent to 500 years in human terms.
In earlier experiments, lifespan has reached 150 days by manipulating the genome of roundworms coded for IGF-1 , a protein that is very close to human growth hormone. But there was one problem: while the worms gained longevity , they showed reduced activity throughout their lives.
In further research, Cynthia Kenton of the University of California , San Francisco , added insulin manipulation and removed some of the gonadal tissue. As a result, the worms gained even greater longevity without a decrease in activity. Since in humans and c. elegans most of the genes are the same , this research could lead to methods to extend human life by manipulating the levels of insulin and some other hormones without removing any organ tissue.
Youth hormones
A decrease in the level of catabolic hormones helps to equalize their ratio to the anabolic hormones of youth. But historically, the most acceptable way to level the balance has been direct hormone replacement. Usually the term "hormone replacement therapy" (HRT) refers to sex hormones: estrogen, progesterone and testosterone. Next, we will discuss the no less important hormones of youth: DEA , growth hormone and melatonin.
DEA
DEA , or dehydroepiandrosterone, is the most common steroid hormone that is produced in our body. In the past , DEA was thought to be just a precursor to other hormones and had no special physiological properties.
But later, William Regelson , a well-known medical research practitioner , called DEA "the superstar among superhormones." The level of DEA reaches its peak at 25 years of age , then gradually decreases by 50% by the age of 40 , and by the age of 85 it is approximately 5% of its level in youth.
Does this mean that DEA could help prolong life? According to animal experiments, DEA supplements can slow down the aging process and increase life expectancy.
It has been proven that men with higher levels of DEA are less susceptible to the development of cardiovascular diseases. DEA has anti-inflammatory properties and is able to reduce the level of IL-6 ( interleukin-6) and TNF-α ( tumor necrosis factor alpha), which are strong causative agents of dangerous inflammation in the body. 's oncology research , DEA prevents uncontrolled cell division , a clear sign of cancer cells .
Useful properties of DEA:
- Reduces the risk of developing cardiovascular disease
- Fights stress
- Improves the functioning of the immune system
- Relieves depression
- Improves memory
- Alleviates menopausal symptoms
- Prevents bone weakness
- Strengthens libido
- Increases insulin sensitivity and glucose tolerance
- Increases lean body mass
DEA "tames" cortisol. When you are stressed , your body produces an excessive amount of insulin , which negatively affects the functioning of your immune system , which in turn leads to a predisposition to diseases and accelerates the aging process.