Did you know that your telomeres could be speeding up your aging?
This subject has been getting a lot of attention in the skincare field and their effect on the aging of the skin and your overall health.
Ok, what are telomeres?
They are the caps at the end of each strand of DNA that protect your chromosomes. Picture a pair of shoelaces and the little plastic piece at the end of the shoelace. That’s a picture of a telomere.
Every time though a cell divides, telomeres shorten. If we didn’t have telomeres protecting the chromosomes, DNA would be lost every time a cell divides. When telomeres are too short, they can no longer do their job, causing the cell to age, which stops it from functioning properly.
They act as an aging clock in every cell in your body and are essential to how you are going to age.
Telomere length is partly genetic, but the main thing is you don’t want them to shorten. Shorter telomeres are connected to faster aging and a decline in health.
Shortening happens on a cellular level, but the good news there are things you can do to keep the length of your telomeres healthy which supports health and slower aging!
How to protect your telomeres from shortening so you can age well
- Meditation. Whenever you are reducing cortisol levels in your body your reducing stress which has a huge impact on your overall health.
- Exercise. The Fountain of youth, and longer telomeres! Get your body moving and your heart pumping!
- Produce. Lots of fruits and vegetables! Juice them, eat them, snack on them! Every day!
- Green Tea. It has anti-oxidant protection which protects every cell in your body.
- Nuts and seeds. For a dose of healthy fats daily.
- Supplements. The gold standards are Vitamins D, and your Omega 3’s. A B-complex has extra protection for your cells as well.
- No smoking and limit alcohol. The fastest things to age you and wreck your body.
- Maintain a healthy weight. It puts a lot in your favor with aging and your health.
What about telomeres in skincare?
Telomeres begin in your cells, which includes your skin cells. There are a few companies that have claims that their skincare products can lengthen telomeres which would make for younger skin. There is still a lot to discover and I think it’s something we are going to be seeing more of in the future of skincare.
Right now though, I would continue to approach skincare from the inside out. When you’re eating healthy, and your lifestyle includes adequate sleep, and you manage your stress, your skin will show the results.
Science continues to give us cutting edge information on how we age and I’m so glad it does! We can then make informed choices and make changes in our lifestyle to put things more into our favor in how we age outwardly and inwardly.
I hope this has helped you to appreciate how amazing the human body is! Continue to practice self-care, by nurturing your body and soul, and those telomeres might just start to lengthen!
Until next time,
~pat
