Five ways to be a supercentenarian
As scientists suggest that living to 120 will one day be routine, Charlotte Lytton shows how it can be done
Fancy living to the age of 120? Increasingly, it’s a question of when, rather than if. The world’s leading gerontologists have long been searching for the most effective ways to hold back the years. But last month, at an international symposium on longevity held in Geneva, Switzerland – a country with the world’s second-highest life expectancy (82.9 years, compared with the average of 70.4) – new research showed how it might soon be possible to slow down the biological, or “inner”, ageing process. According to scientists, such breakthroughs may enable us to far exceed current life expectancies.
Claudio Franceschi, professor of immunology at Bologna University, who describes ageing as “a disease”, is convinced that we can “remodulate our bodies as they change. The recipe isn’t easy, but we’ll find it.”
A number of Silicon Valley billionaires have funnelled their own millions into the anti-ageing cause, too. Paypal co-founder Peter Thiel has invested in Breakout Labs, a funding body dedicated to tackling degenerative diseases, while Google’s Larry Page has directed $750 million of company funds into Calico, its biotech research arm.
While future generations may benefit from such cutting-edge technologies, for those of us alive today the gen from Geneva is that small lifestyle changes can have the greatest positive impact on our longevity.
According to those at the symposium, tweaks to our daily routines – from what we eat to the unguents we slather on our wrinkles – are our best hope in the fight against the ageing process.
“A clean environment, fresh food, physical activity and medical advances can allow people who are young today to live until 120,” says Professor Vladimir Khavinson, president of the European region of the International Association of Gerontology and Geriatrics. “If they lead a healthy life, they will have a good start. The main goal for us now must be to allow people to stay healthy for as long as possible into their old age.”
So here are five things we can all do to improve our chances of becoming supercentenarians. What are you waiting for? It’s later than you think…
Keep taking the peptides
The single greatest hope in the battle against ageing – and the one most keenly highlighted by scientists in Geneva – is the use of peptides, both within and without the body.
Often referred to as “small proteins”, naturally occurring peptides (short chains of amino acids) increase the production of human growth hormone, more commonly known as HGH, which helps to metabolise fat and stimulate muscle and bone growth.
Once you hit your twenties, the body’s natural production of HGH slows by 14 per cent every decade. “Peptides can be seen as a trigger that switch on specific mechanisms inside our cells,” says Prof Khavinson, who began looking into peptides during the Cold War, while serving in the Soviet medical military corps. “The production of protein is vital to maintaining the functionality of different organs and the body as a whole.”
His ongoing research recently found that administering peptides not only increased the lifespan of lab animals, but inhibited their carcinogenesis (the initial stages of a cancer forming). Earlier this year, a separate study found that the kidney function and fur quality in mice was dramatically repaired when given peptide infusions over the course of three months.
In recent years, peptides have been introduced to cosmetics and food supplements, making boosting your levels of them easier than ever. Peptide-enriched moisturisers, which have been available for several years, have been shown to help skin cells to heal and stimulate new cell growth.
Products from Nars’s Soft Matte Complete
The single greatest hope in the battle against ageing is the use of peptides – in and on the body
Concealer (£23) to Charlotte Tilbury’s Magic Night Cream (£100 for 50ml) are loaded full of them.
And there’s potentially good news for those on statins, too. Last week, Canadian health authorities became the first in the world to approve a range of nutraceutical supplements containing shrimp shells – which are naturally rich in peptides, but are normally discarded during food processing – after several clinical trials showed they have a remarkable blood pressure-lowering effect.
Try the Okinawa diet
Fifty per cent of age-related diseases, from cardiovascular problems to arthritis, are caused by diet and lifestyle – according to Yuriy Medzinovskiy, director general of Moscow “longevity clinic”, GLMED – making what we eat crucial to the age-defying process. At 83.7 years, Japan has the longest life expectancy in the world and a greater number of centenarians than any other nation, largely credited to their adoption of the Okinawa diet. Based on the eating habits of the Ryuku Islands’ indigenous people, it replaces traditional Japanese rice with sweet potato, and includes a higher than average consumption of pork.
It also adheres to what is easily the least popular, yet most effective, means of boosting overall health: calorie restriction.
Okinawa dieters eat around 300 calories fewer than average. According to Dr Craig Willcox, co-author of
The Okinawa Way: How to Improve Your Health and Longevity Dramatically
(Kindle edition, £8.99): “Okinawans have a low risk of arteriosclerosis and stomach cancer, a very low risk of hormone-dependent cancers, such as breast and prostate cancer. They eat three servings of fish a week, on average… plenty of wholegrains, vegetables and soy products, too, more tofu and more konbu seaweed than anyone else in the world, as well as squid and octopus, which are rich in taurine – that could lower cholesterol and blood pressure.”
Meanwhile, Dr George Roth, CEO of Baltimore tech firm Geroscience Inc, says we can “increase the quality and quantity of human life” by reducing our calorie intake. His recent study on rhesus monkeys demonstrated that this restriction both extends lifespan and delays the onset of age-related disorders.
Wrap yourself in fir
Christmas trees and cancer prevention may seem strange bedfellows, but recent research into terpenoids, a hydrocarbon found in Siberian firs, have shown that the compounds could defend against cancer and the ageing process. Produced in bulk by conifers to protect against disease, the genes have been found to play a key part in the transportation of complex proteins as well as degrading unnecessary ones, exhibited in their suppression of tumours, leading scientists to believe that they could be applied to further ailments in the future.
Pure terpenoid supplements and creams have yet to hit the market, but you can get a hit through the likes of chamomile extract, which promises to restore the skin’s elasticity.
Drink gin
Health experts are regularly warning us off booze, but a dose of mother’s ruin could work wonders. At least, that’s what the makers of Collagin (£34.99 for 50cl; collagin.co.uk), which is produced in the Midlands, promise, distilling the hard stuff with pure collagen, star anise and orris root, botanicals said to have antiageing properties. They’re not the first company to mix the business of staying young with pleasure: last year, Nicky Hambleton-jones,
one-time presenter of Ten Years Younger,
teamed up with food alchemists Bompas & Parr to create a similar product. “For those who want to do everything they can to stay young, but don’t want to give up alcohol, this is surely the next best thing,” she said.
Make more melatonin
Melatonin – a hormone naturally produced in the body – is being rebranded as “the fountain of youth”. Commonly used as a sleep aid, it can help regulate circadian rhythms and is widely used as a jet-lag remedy. But as the quantity produced by the body declines with age, in trials supplements have been found to improve the overall health of mice, as well as extend their life.
There is also increasing evidence that melatonin as a dietary supplement could help slow down the ageing process. Recent studies have shown that taking the hormone in small doses (such as 0.5mg each night) can protect against heart damage and help to delay the onset of Alzheimer’s by guarding against cell decay. It has also been shown to fight UV ray-induced skin ageing due to its antioxidant properties and ability to repair DNA damage.
However, melatonin is not yet available over the counter in this country. While a US government survey last year found that 3.1 million Americans take the hormone in supplement form, in the UK it is licensed only in slow-release form to treat sleep disorders in the over-55s.
One of the easiest ways to support your body’s ability to produce melatonin is to consume more magnesium, which is found in foods such as almonds, avocados and spinach. Also, tropical fruits such as pineapples, oranges and bananas are naturally rich sources of natural melatonin.