Telomeres
The telomeres are the ends or tips of the DNA. You can think of the telomeres as the metal tips on the ends of your shoe laces. These metal tips on the end of your shoelaces prevent your shoelace from fraying or unwinding. The metal tips protect the shoelace just like the telomeres protect your DNA from “fraying” or becoming damaged.
A telomere is obviously not a metal tip, but it is a repeating sequence of up to 3,300 (TTAGGG) nitrogen bases. These long endcaps or telomeres typically protect your DNA. With each cell division, your telomeres actually shorten. When the telomeres shorten significantly, three things can happen:
- The cell senses that the telomere is short and enlists the Sirtuins to get involved. Once the Sirtuins get involved, the Sirtuins are no longer available to perform their normal function that we discussed previously, which was to stabilize and maintain orderly packing of the epigenome.
- The telomeres shorten and we start to see cellular death or senescence.
- Sometimes when the telomeres get too short, the two ends are incorrectly fused together which can create an unstable epigenome in that cell.
You can begin to see the domino effect, as well as how all of these processes are interrelated. When the telomeres get too short, the cell can either die (apoptosis) or become senolytic, both of which lead to aging. Previously we discussed how Quercetin functions as a senolytic and eliminates senescent cells. Previously we discussed how NMN boosts NAD+ levels which function in concert with the Sirtuins to help maintain the epigenome and cellular homeostasis to avoid cellular death and senescence. Now, we are focusing on how we can prevent the development of cellular death or senescent cells by maintaining the telomere lengths.
Telomerase
Telomerase is an enzyme inside our cells that constantly tries to maintain the length of the telomeres. If left alone, this race between age-shortening the telomere and telomerase trying to maintain the length of the telomere is ultimately won by age. Life choices as well as environmental factors affect telomere shortening rates and these can be partially reversed by telomerase.
Astragalus
Astragalus has been identified as being able to activate the enzyme telomerase. It is a natural bioactive molecule that is found in beans, legumes and a Chinese plant called Astragalus membranaceous. Extensive studies have revealed statistically significant increases in telomerase activity when cells are treated with Astragalus. Proprietary formulas claim significant age reversal with metabolic systems, as well as the prevention of senescence and cellular aging.
Longevity
Maintaining the length of the telomere goes a long way toward extending our biological clock. Scientific peer-reviewed publications have demonstrated numerous benefits associated with Astragalus: statistically higher telomerase activity in cells treated with Astragalus, an increase in red blood cell and lymphocyte telomere lengths, an increase in mouse cell telomere length, a reduction in the percentage of cells with short telomeres, an improvement of the structure of multiple tissues and a reduction in cellular aging. Pharmacological and clinical studies have identified positive effects on maintaining bone quality, immune, liver, heart and brain function.
Telomeres are essentially biological clocks. They play a major role in aging and the stability of the genome. When used appropriately, the natural bioactive element Astragalus appears to be very safe and to have very few side effects.
Astragalus is the fifth natural bioactive element that we have selected to be in Rebesana. Nothing should be more important than extending our biological clock and promoting a healthy, more athletic life. We hope that this information will help you make an educated life choice and begin using Rebesana on a daily basis. This should be the one thing you do for yourself.
Amplification
The oral ingestion of Astragalus through its natural sources alone is not enough to promote the beneficial effects of Astragalus on your telomeres. What is required is to amplify the amount of Astragalus that you can ingest, to promote up-regulation of the beneficial effects on your telomeres that are associated with longevity. This is what is being done in all of the studies that have occurred and that are underway.
Review
Now we have discussed all the components of REBESANA: NMN, Quercetin, Berberine, Resveratrol and Astragalus. The overlap of longevity and a healthy, athletic life are hopefully becoming obvious. We need our cells to remain efficient and replicate when needed in order for our tissues and organs to function. We need our cells to be able to maintain our genome and epigenome in each and every cell in our body. We need our cells to have the right genes turned on and off in order for our cells to maintain their specialization and their identity. When these processes are disrupted, we begin to age. If we really want to extend our biological clock, we believe that it is best to draw on all of these mechanisms, especially in a cell where multiple reactions are going on at once, where cascades and domino effects are in play.
NMN functions on the epigenome. When dysfunction in the genome and the epigenome allow for cellular senescence, Quercetin helps to eliminate the senescent cells. Berberine works on an enzymatic level to minimize oxidative stress, promote mitochondrial function and, by activating the cellular energy master switch, further grease the cell’s ability to function efficiently. Resveratrol works at the level of the epigenome by activating AMPK and Sirtuins, as well as through extracellular mechanisms. Astragalus works at the level of the genome.
That invisible purposeful dance that occurs in our cells - a dance without smoke, flames or fanfare, but a beautiful dance that is so remarkably capable of promoting a healthy, athletic life should allow us to truly state that “60 is the new 40.”
I hope that by now, after reading these newsletters you recognize that all of the components of Rebesana work in similar and different ways to help promote longevity and a healthier and more athletic life.
We believe that if you understand this topic of longevity, you will be more likely to adopt the recommendations we are making. As a Medical Physician with a strong background in chemistry and science, I can tell you that this field is exploding and is beyond the scope of medicine. Just think about why you have not heard about this already. The information is out there - it’s just not easily accessible or easily digestible. Look around and see how much money our healthcare system spends on treatment. Very little is done on maintenance.
Below is a summary of the individual component as well as a description of their effects on the longevity genes, Sirtuins, AMPK and mTOR.
