If you’re a regular reader, you’ve heard me talk about telomeres.
The discovery of these “caps” at the end of your DNA led to an eventual Nobel Prize in Medicine. It changed our understanding of how and why we age.
But because telomere biology is an emerging science, there are researchers who suggest the telomere is merely an “end point.” That all it does is signal the end of life when the telomere burns down to the end and cell division stops.
I believe the telomere has a more powerful role. A more commanding place in our lives and how we live.
The telomere determines how old your cells act, what they’re capable of, and what their true potential is at every moment of your life.
It gives your cells a complete set of instructions, like a script or screenplay, based on what act and scene of your “life movie” you’re currently acting in.
And those instructions can change quickly if telomeres get short too fast.
The good news is, you can keep your telomeres longer and healthy. And you can influence the instructions your telomeres give your cells… so your body starts creating younger cells.
Here’s how it works.
Short telomeres create cells that are older, weaker and less able to fight disease, illness, and the threats you experience from your environment.
That means as you get older, you start to look and act more and more like an “old person.” You develop back pain, you don’t have the energy you used to … your skin wrinkles, your eyesight diminishes and you appear older and more distant to your family.
On the surface, it seems “natural.”
But the key here is realizing that the accelerated loss of your telomeres creates an “older” version of yourself.
That puts you in control. Because you can reverse the process so you can be younger, happier, and more energetic.
You just have to maintain the health of your telomeres.
Today, we know how to do this. In fact, here’s something you can try right now.
You can use a potent amino acid, called N-acetyl-cysteine (NAC). It helps build one of your body’s strongest protectors and a primary antioxidant called glutathione.
But, the most important thing is that they both have the ability to prevent cell aging by protecting telomeres. Low glutathione is associated with shorter telomeres. And NAC protects telomeres from oxidative damage.1
Just one of the many examples of how NAC protects your cells from aging is in your inner ear.
Did you know that our military now treats soldiers with NAC to protect them from blast noise from gunfire and explosions?2
One study looked at military officers after shooting practice.
The guns are incredibly loud.
A roaring jet engine from a plane taking off a few feet above your head would be about 120 decibels. These officers were hearing gunfire that was up to 160 decibels.
After the noise exposure, one group took NAC and one got no treatment. When they were later tested, the NAC group had much better hearing. The NAC group stayed completely normal and totally protected.3
Another study took 363 people and randomly divided them so that one group got a placebo and the other got NAC. Then they exposed them to harsh, loud noises.
The people taking the NAC were protected from hearing loss.4
To protect telomeres in your hearing cells, I recommend getting one to two grams of NAC a day. But you can use a much lower amount and still get the telomere health benefits.
The nutrients that protect your telomeres are something you need to know about. That’s why tomorrow I’m going to show you something I do every day that promotes telomere health … and could transform your life.
To Your Good Health,
Al Sears, MD
1. Ludlow A, Spangenburg E, Chin E, Cheng W, Roth S. “Telomeres Shorten in Response to Oxidative Stress in Mouse Skeletal Muscle Fibers.” J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci. 2014. Epub ahead of print.
2. Ewert D, Lu J, Li W, Du X, Floyd R, Kopke R. “Antioxidant treatment reduces blast-induced cochlear damage and hearing loss.” Hear Res. 2012;285(1-2):29-39.
3. Lindblad A, Rosenhall U, Olofsson A, Hagerman B. “The efficacy of N-acetylcysteine to protect the human cochlea from subclinical hearing loss…” Noise Health. 2011;13(55):392-401.
4. Ge Z, Ma S, Jia X, Song L. “Study of protective effects on noise-induced hearing loss using N-acetyl-cysteine.” Lin Chung Er Bi Yan Hou Tou Jing Wai Ke Za Zhi. 2011;25(22):1040-1.