Blog

May 30

Recovery is at the heart of prevention and health promotion this time of year. It's an easy time to get over-stressed, overdone, and maybe even run down to the point of injury or illness. Since, on one side of the (load) balance, work and life demands are often not under our full control, it tends to be the recovery side where we can gain the most ground. With that in mind, we are always on the lookout for ways to tip the scales. This week, a team in Switzerland opened a rabbit hole to a whole new idea, and it starts with the lining of our arteries.

Inside the muscular pipes known as our arteries are a layer of cells called the endothelium. This thin layer of specialized cells plays an oversized role in our health, acting as both a physical barrier between the arterial wall and the bloodstream, and is also critical in regulating blood flow, controlling some of our inflammatory responses, and repairing the vessels from the day-to-day wear of a busy life. Their ability to recover and repair is directly related to how and when our vessels begin to age. When the endothelial cells can no longer replicate but are still active, called senescence, the entire system slows down. It stands to reason then, that if we could influence this cellular switch, we might be able to keep our systems healthier for longer...and a research team in Switzerland may have just solved the puzzle.

They found that as our bodies break down certain foods they leave a key byproduct (aka metabolite) that in a high enough concentration, flips the cellular switch to prompt cardiovascular system aging. Determining how to counteract this byproduct, which accumulates over time and is related to the consumption of foods high in phenylalanine, such as red meat, dairy, and certain artificial sweeteners, could act as a fountain of youth. While the initial experiments used antibiotics to kill off the gut bacteria which produces the negative byproduct, they also found that adding in another more positive metabolite (acetate) can restore and rejuvenate the aging cells. While the concentration of good bacteria and therefore the capacity to rejuvenate seems to get lower with age, the researchers believe that diets rich in fiber and foods with antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties could boost the body's own "fountain of youth", something they have begun testing.

This may explain why another recent study showed that a garlic supplement was linked to improved cardiovascular endurance in recreational athletes and a third study showed that curcumin helped control cellular stress before and after exercise.

We may not be able to limit the stress and strain we face this time of year, but we may be able to recover better and therefore age a little slower...and it starts in the gut.

Have a great weekend,
Mike E.