Telomeres and Aging

In our opinion the cause of aging is simple: it is telomere shortening.

Telomeres are little caps at the end of each of our chromosomes. When our cells divide, the DNA in those chromosomes has to be copied. During this process, the last little bit of the strand - the tip of the telomere - does not get copied and so our telomeres shorten over our lifetimes. This is often referred to as the end-replication problem, but in our opinion it is a 'problem' that is by design.

You can read why we believe in the telomere theory of aging here or you can read this brief description about it. But to make a long story short, as telomeres shorten, the cells they inhabit become 'older' and more dysfunctional. ¹ They divide less frequently.² Stem cells produce new copies less frequently, and at a certain point not at all.³ As a result of all this, our eyesight begins to fail, our skin becomes less elastic⁴, our immune systems become less effective⁵ and a host of other changes typically associated with aging begin to take place⁶.

Renewal (Close)

With the exception of a limited number of cell types, our cells constantly turn over. On different schedules according to cell type, they die as planned and then are replaced from underlying stem cells. This happens continuously throughout the body. Our skin cells, for example, constantly migrate outwards to the surface and are naturally exfoliated. Even our bones have been completely replaced, both cells and extracellular structures, after several years. Aging is not, as it might first seem, the gradual wear and tear of the body, but in fact the gradual breakdown, or in our opinion the intentional abandonment, of this system of renewal.

As the stem cells produce new cells over a lifetime, little caps at the end of the chromosomes, called telomeres, shorten. As they wind down, the stem cells they are in create new cells less frequently⁷, they produce cells more dysfunctional on a number of fronts (due to the 'telomere position effect')⁸, and ultimately are unable to create new cells all together, a state called stem cell depletion. The adult somatic cells (created by the stem cells) continue to divide and their telomeres also continue to shorten, but as these cells are scheduled for replacement anyway, it is really the underlying stem cell's telomere length that are the marker of aging.

Renewal Breakdown - A Grey Hair

Consider for a moment the hallmark of aging - the grey hair. When our first grey hairs appear, it is because the stem cell pools that feed the 'melanocyte' cell populations are heading towards depletion. The melanocytes are responsible for injecting a sort of dye (melanin) into the hair as it emerges from the follicle.

When the melanocytes are no longer there or no longer functioning well - because they have naturally died off but not been replaced yet by the underlying stem cells, or have been replaced by cells with shorter telomeres that are no longer functional - the hair appears in its uncolored state - grey. This grey hair is an innocuous effect of telomere shortening. But it is a canary in the coalmine of the overall body. Imagine now, that this phenomenon is happening all over the body, inside and out in places that are not as visible, but are more critical, like in the liver. The old cells are gradually dying, but they are not being replaced as frequently by the underlying stem cells. They are also being replaced by inferior cells, cells that become senescent in higher proportion and at the final stage of stem cell depletion they are not being replaced at all. In other words, the body's natural defenses against wear and tear, its system of renewal, is slowly being abandoned. It is not difficult to imagine how this would result in aging as we know it.

What is Telomere Guard?

 

1

A product designed to SLOW AGING at its TRUE SOURCE by SLOWING TELOMERE SHORTENING

2

A blend of thoroughly-researched nutraceuticals, each independently shown in public studies to slow telomere shortening.

3

A revolution in life extension!

The Triumphs and Challenges of Telomerase

Telomerase is an enzyme that extends telomeres. The gene that codes for it is in every one of our cells, but not 'expressed' in most of them, which means that telomerase is not made from it. Over the last several years, the telomere-based life extension conversation has centered largely around the topic of turning this gene on - 'telomerase activation'. It was believed by some that when we could do that, then telomeres could be lengthened in cells all over the body and aging could be conquered.

However, recent in vivo studies of telomerase activation in humans and mice have shown that telomerase activation did not increase average telomere length and in fact did not even slow down telomere shortening in a statistically significant way⁹. It did lengthen critically short telomeres¹⁰, which was an enormous success, and served to reverse some aspects of aging as a result, most notably in the remodeling of the immune system.

Telomerase is the enzyme that extends telomeres, and one of the few known natural processes by which they can be extended. But it is now clear that there are more regulation mechanisms at work in the cell that need to be unlocked before we can put it to use fully. We do not today have a way to extend average telomere length. What is worse, however, is that we do not even appear to have an effective way to counter the inevitable shortening of average telomere length over long periods of time.

A New Approach

This is where Telomere Guard comes in. At the same time as this research in telomerase activation was going on, the excitement surrounding telomeres was causing different scientists across the world to ask whether anything can slow telomere shortening down. Most substances had no effect. But as it turned out, some natural compounds did in fact make a very significant difference.

Telomere Guard takes advantage of these discoveries by combining the most promising of these neutraceuticals into one powerful product. Now for the first time you can slow down aging at its true source - telomere shortening.

Components

Alpha-tocopherol

In this study, pretreatment of cells with alpha-tocopherol (the most commonly sold component of Vitamin E) delayed the telomere shortening associated with subsequent hydrogen peroxide treatment.

Asc-2-O-phosphate (Asc2P)

Asc-2-O-phosphate (Asc2P) is a rare form of Vitamin C. In this study, it was shown that repetitive addition of Asc2P to human endothelial cells in vitro slowed telomere shortening by a dramatic 52-62%. Regular Vitamin C had no effect. Read more.

Purslane

In this study, a group of three month old mice received purslane subcutaneously (by shot) for only two weeks. The Purslane group (with 2.5 mg/kg-day) had increased telomerase activity and the telomeres of the brain cells of the mice after that period were 27kb as opposed to 23kb in the control group - a very dramatic difference for only 2 weeks of treatment. Read more.

Carnosine

In this study, cells grown with continuous exposure to carnosine exhibited a 32% slower telomere shortening rate (loss of 26.8 versus 39.4 TRFs) and extended lifespan, all in the face of a higher reproduction/cell doubling rate. Read more.

Terminalia Chebula

In one study, the telomere shortening rate of Terminalia Chebula treated cells was 192 bp/PDL, as compared to the control group's 342 bp/PDL - a rate reduction of 45%. Read more.

Tocotrienols

Tocotrienols are part of the group of phytochemicals known together as Vitamin E, but not included in most Vitamin E supplements. In this in vitro study, the authors concluded that "gamma-tocotrienol protects against oxidative stress-induced cellular ageing by modulating the telomere length possibly via telomerase". Cells were exposed for 24 hours to gamma-tocotrienol before and/or after 2 hour exposure to hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). At the optimal dose, telomere lengths of treated cells appear to have been roughly 16% longer than controls after only this very short period of exposure.

Green Tea

In this study, consumption of green tea was correlated with longer telomeres in men . Out of a sample of over 2000 Chinese participants, those in the highest quartile of tea consumption (greater than 750 mL/day) had an average of 0.46 kb longer telomeres than those in the lowest quartile (less than 70 mL/day). This is approximately equivalent to 5 years of life.

N-Acetyl Cysteine (NAC)

In this in vitro study, the authors found that the "onset of replicative senescence [was] delayed by incubation with N-Acetyl Cysteine".

Homocysteine

High levels of homocysteine have been shown to triple the rate of reduction in telomere length during cell division. High homocysteine levels are the result of poor methylation the severity of which varies from person to person. However, it has long been known that these supplements can help support healthy homocysteine levels.

• Folic Acid
• Vitamin B12
• Pyridoxine (B6)
• Riboflavin (B2)
• TMG (trimethylglycine)

Oxidation

Part of the job of the telomere is to 'cap' the chromosome in order to protect it from damage. But nothing caps the telomere itself. Because of this, telomeres are vulnerable to damage, particularly from oxidative stress, a phenomemon that has been discovered recently to dramatically accelerate telomere shorteing.¹¹ Because of this we have included three powerful anti-oxidants: Blueberry, Acai and Grapeseed extract.

Things We Excluded

Omega 3s

In this study, patients who were in the lower quartile of marine Omega-3 fatty acid levels had over triple the rate in telomere length reduction (13 T/S units) over a five-year span than patients in the upper quartile of marine Omega-3 fatty acid levels (5 T/S units). Read more.

We did not include Omega 3s in Telomere Guard because it was not cost and volume effective to offer it in the amounts we would recommend (700mg per day) in powder form. We also thought that many people interested in life extension would already be taking this by oil or softgel capsule. So we left it out. But, the above study indicates that it may be very effective in slowing telomere shortening so make sure to take an Omega 3 supplement in conjunction with Telomere Guard. Naturally, we recommend ours.

Suggested Use

Although a daily dose has not been established, for adults we recommend taking 6 capsules per day, three in the morning and three in the early afternoon.

Telomere Guard Supplement Facts