Think “reversing time” on your cells is just a fantasy? Then keep reading for an exciting breakthrough that might prove it’s already very real…
Two weeks ago, I attended a meeting with Spy Briefing director Doug Hill, our senior health editor Brad Lemley, our quality assurance queen Jasmine LeMaster (she thinks that title’s funny, so I’m trying to come up with one more annoying), and other Spy Briefing luminaries.
The topic of discussion was one we always cover: You.
This time, it was what nutritional supplement formulas you’d be most interested in, and which would serve you best.
Doug can attest I enjoy meetings much in the same way a cat appreciates getting a soapy bath in the sink. But nothing makes me want to bolt out of my chair and escape the room (possibly by chucking the chair through the nearest window) more than the argument we always embroil ourselves in about the term “anti-aging.”
Some of us don’t mind using it. Others think it’s nonsense because your cells are always aging, despite our best efforts to slow them down and build robust bodies the best we can.
Today I’m going to defend the “anti-aging” folks because of an experiment revealing how we can turn back the clock on our cells:
Researchers from the Buck Institute for Research on Aging and McMaster University tested out a certain treatment program on a group of healthy older and young men and women. Their muscles were sampled before and after this six-month program
What were these mad scientists looking at?
The mitochondria inside the muscle cells.
Think of the mitochondria as the “powerhouses” of your cell. They produce energy for your body out of raw materials. And recent studies have shown the health of your mitochondria might be a massive indicator of how well (or not) you are aging.
So something that maintains your mitochondrial health might slow down the negative effects of aging.
And something that reverses age-related mitochondrial degeneration… hmmm… that’s where things get exciting.
These scientists zeroed in on 596 genes found in muscles associated with aging. They measured the gene expression in the volunteers’ samples before and after the six-month program.
The result?
179 of those 596 genes went from “downregulated with age” to showing a “marked reversal to youthful levels…”
So what was this program?
Some diabolical laboratory experiment?
Were surgeries, electroshock, or 12-hour marathons of watching Hillary Clinton interviews involved?
Nope.
Or was it expensive? Some exotic treatment only the 1% will have access to on some tropical island?
Not at all.
Actually, this miracle program is something just about everyone has access to… if not everyone (if you get creative).
What is this anti-aging wonder?
Lifting weights.
Yup, good ole-fashioned pumpin’ iron. Or, as the researchers put it, “resistance training.”
I can psychically sense some of you nodding your heads in agreement, while the vast majority sneer with barely contained contempt… possibly mixed in with a plethora of excuses.
“I can’t do that!”
“I have no time!”
“I don’t have the energy!”
Let’s start with time. The weight lifting regimen took up a whopping two days per week, with 10 exercises per session. Considering the benefits, it’s worth bumping something else out of your schedule to make the time.
And as far as energy… lifting weights will deliver you more energy over time.
I can’t possibly address every other excuse. That’s your call. Instead, I’ll urge you to keep lifting weights if you’re doing it… or start, if you haven’t already.
Just in case anyone thinks they’re too old to benefit, consider another study result:
Before beginning, the older group (aged 65-80) was 59% weaker than the younger group. And after six months? Only 38% weaker. They’re catching up big-time, and I’d like to see updated progress after a year or two. Maybe they could show the whippersnapper group what wisdom combined with new muscle can do.
Which is probably why in part of the discussion at the end of the published study, the scientists admit:
“Our observation of a ‘reversal’ of the aging signature in skeletal muscle following six months of resistance exercise training is interesting from a number of perspectives.”
Whoa, calm down, guys! Let’s not get carried away here.
… As you can see, these researchers are far more levelheaded than I. You can find me already sitting squarely in the camp of the converted.
The next time we have a meeting here at our HQ, I’m going to bust out this study as proof there truly is such a thing as “anti-aging.”
In the meantime, I’m going to show you how lifting weights can transform your body and mind into a “younger you” and reveal the best ways to get started. Plus, if you’re already hoisting some iron, I’ll pass along some advanced tricks to make even better progress.
Regards,
Nate Rifkin
Underground Health Researcher
P.S. Here’s the study.
