I found something interesting in my research the other day. An “under the radar” animal that only grows stronger and more fertile with age.
Its power never weakens. From birth to death, it never stops getting better and stronger.
But it’s not an animal you think of as being powerful and virile.
It’s the lobster.
Lobsters are part of an exclusive group of animals we call “biologically immortal.”
They only die if they get eaten or injured from a predator, or get a rare disease, but never from old age. They don’t have a built-in life expectancy in their cells.
They constantly are getting stronger, bigger and more virile. If left alone they get huge and can live for centuries. Every few years you’ll hear about someone catching a giant lobster. I’ve read about 25-40 pound and 140-year-old lobsters. And those are just the ones that have been caught.
Why do they grow so large and live so long?
It’s telomerase, the enzyme that helps rebuild and maintain telomeres.
In humans, telomerase production is turned off when you’re an adult. So our telomeres get shorter with time, creating older cells that result in everything we attribute to aging. Wrinkles, joint soreness, foggy memory and everything that goes along with it.
In lobsters, telomerase production is ramped up their whole lives. 1 So it’s a constant, abundant stream that helps keep their telomeres long and stops their cells from ever dying.
Even at our best, we will never live forever. But if you can maintain highly functioning telomeres you can produce cells that keep you looking and feeling younger.
I’ve discovered a nutrient that does just this.
You need to boost a little-known—but Nobel Prize winning—molecule in your body, nitric oxide (NO). NO can expand blood vessels, increase blood flow, improve muscle performance and help erectile dysfunction.
But what few people know is that it also helps maintain telomeres.
Recently, I read a study from Circulation Research that examined the effect of NO on telomere length. They performed a test by injecting a NO supplement into a culture of umbilical cord blood vessels. The cells from these blood vessels are perfect for testing because aging affects how they function, and they have an effect on aging themselves.
They found boosting NO helped maintain telomeres and reduced the number of the cells that died.2 It helps to prompt your telomeres to create younger cells again—not the old ones most adults are stuck with—that keep you looking, feeling, and moving like a younger person.
It’s so critical that one German study found that even if your “normal” NO production is inhibited it can accelerate cell death, and affect your telomeres.3
In my practice, I recommend my patients take arginine—an amino acid that converts to NO when it enters the body—to boost their NO production.
Once you boost NO production, over time, your telomeres will be better, and you should feel the difference creating younger cells makes on your body.
Another study I read from the National Academy of Science of the United States of America used a common biological marker in cells from blood vessels to test the effect of arginine (plus citrulline and other antioxidants) on telomeres, and cell death.
After a few treatments with arginine, the number of cells that showed signs of age-related deterioration decreased and telomeres were better maintained.4
You can get arginine either from arginine-rich foods like red meats, nuts, spinach, lettuce, seafood and eggs or by supplementing.
If you prefer supplementing, I recommend taking 50mg daily of arginine. It’ll help you kick-start your body’s production of NO drastically which will help maintain your telomeres.
But for even better results take 50mg of citrulline with your arginine. It helps maximizes the effectiveness of arginine.
You see, arginine metabolizes in the intestines and the liver. From there it converts into NO. But, after long-term or heavy use, its effectiveness can waver because of arginase.
After heavy use, arginase blocks arginine’s NO conversion in the liver. Citrulline can block arginese activity, and allow arginine to convert freely into NO.
It also can boost your NO itself because it enters the kidney converting quickly into arginine and absorbing. Raising plasma and tissue levels of arginine and enhancing NO production.5
By taking them together citrulline should provide you an additional NO boost, and help you get the most out of your arginine. Giving you a powerful NO-boosting one-two punch for your telomeres.
1. Klapper W, et. al. “Longevity of Lobsters is Linked to Ubiquitous Telomerase Expression.” FEBS Lett. 1998; 143-6.
2. Vasa M, et. al. “Nitric Oxide Activates Telomerase and Delays Endothelial Cell Senescense.” Circulation Research. 2000; 540-542.
3. Scalera F, et. al. “Endogenous Nitric Oxide Synthesis Inhibitor Asymmertic Dimethyle L-Arginine Accelerates Endothelial Cell Senescence.” Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology. 2004; 1816-1822.
4. Hayashi T, et al. “Endothelial Cellular Senescence is Inhibited by Nitric Oxide: Implications in Atherosclerosis Associated with Menopause and Diabetes.” PNAS November 7, 2006.; 17018-17023.
5. Romero M, et. al. “Therapeutic use of Citrulline in Cardiovascular Disease.” Cardiovasc Drug Rev., 2006 Fall-Winter; 275-90.