Getting older does not mean inevitable decline; incorporating exercise, diet and supplements can delay the effects of aging.
The late comic George Burns once said, “You can’t help getting older, but you don’t have to get old.”
While that is true in an ideal world, the reality for many people is that aging does not always go smoothly. Yes, there can be infirmities associated with growing older, but aging in and of itself is not an inherent health hazard. Through good nutrition and diet, exercise, regular visits to practitioners and taking dietary supplements when recommended, living longer and more healthfully is possible.
What Is Aging?
The aging process is more than just counting off days on a calendar or counting gray hairs and wrinkles or areas of pain and stiffness. Aging is complex, and scientists have been studying it for years. One theory of aging revolves around free radicals and inflammation. “Aging represents the sum of a continual damage caused by free radicals, which occurs at all times and is unavoidable. The damage occurs from our metabolism such as breathing and eating as well as from the external environment in terms of solar radiation and pollution. Overall, the process affects the entire organism and the damage is cumulative. All the organs are subject to it but only the skin allows it to be visible. To determine the damage to other organs testing of blood enzymes and radiological exams are needed,” said Dr. George Sadowski, chief medical office, NB Natural, an Iowa-based manufacturer.
Another premise is the mitochondrial theory, which states that “…defects in the metabolic pathways lead to decreased energy production, leading to cellular dysfunction,” said Jorge Angel, MD, medical advisor with Equisalud Laboratories, a manufacturer based in Spain, who has distribution facilities based in Idaho.
Dr. Angel noted several other theories, including the telomere theory (where telomeric shortening leads to cell divisions and eventual cessation of cell proliferation); the immune theory (in which the immune system controls the aging process); and the neuroendocrine theory (abnormalities in the hypothalamic pituitary adrenal axis leads to damage in the homeostasis of the body).
“As scientists have learned more about longevity, they’ve discovered that our genes hold the secret to how long we will live. However, genes degrade as we age, and their ability to self-repair diminishes. Cells that are no longer able to multiply become senescent cells that have no functions except to produce inflammatory cytokines that increase the risk of multiple diseases,” said Rich Carson, founder and owner of ProHealth, a California-based manufacturer.
Regardless of why we age, most consumers want to stave off the aging process, as well as its effects, for as long as possible.
Aging Concerns
As people get older, they begin to be concerned about cognition and memory health, pain and diminished senses such as hearing and vision. Muscle mass, bone density and balance can all be affected.
“Specific illnesses that are the biggest concerns are Alzheimer’s, cancer, diabetes, stroke and heart disease,” said Jacob Teitelbaum, MD, a practitioner based in Hawaii and a member of Natural Practitioner’s Editorial Advisory Board.
“Our energy and zest for living can be diminished, and we may start experiencing problems with sleep, fatigue and cognitive functioning. Simply put, our genes are just not functioning as they did when we were young. We become more susceptible to serious health problems like cancer, stroke and heart attack—all diseases that are exacerbated by aging,” added Carson.
Christopher Shade, PhD, founder and CEO of Colorado-based Quicksilver Scientific, said that many people are concerned with immune system health but also how to take a preventative and proactive approach to improving mental and physical performance.
Alec Friedman, pro assistant director at Sovereign Laboratories (Arizona), agreed that consumers are concerned with a decreased quality of life due to aging. “Some prominent issues that we see as a result of aging are a weakened immune system, chronic pain and decreased energy levels.”
“Survey after survey tells us that aging consumers tend to focus on a few key health issues like heart health, joint flexibility, mental sharpness or metabolic health,” added Joe Brunner, president of Endurance Products Company (EPC), a manufacturer headquartered in Oregon. “But, when you take a step back, it’s easier to see the big picture. What aging consumers really want is to stay active and independent so they can enjoy life to the fullest and not have to rely on others.”
Slowing Down the Clock, Naturally
Many consumers prefer natural alternatives over pharmaceutical solutions to age-related issues.
“As health care heads toward a more well-rounded, preventative medicine-based model, we expect practitioners to segue some of their treatment options to natural alternatives. We see practitioners assuming a higher position of guidance in support of patients’ long-term health,” said Friedman.
To that end, many physicians emphasize getting the foundational macro and micronutrients that their patients need to stay healthy, along with recommending a regular exercise program.
“Metabolic health is key to overall wellness. Our approach to treatment and wellness is to restore, maintain and elevate. Restore—if you’re starting on a health journey and haven’t taken supplements before, you most likely need to start with a detox protocol with whatever level is necessary for their toxic load. It’s a foundation and removes barriers to wellness. Removing toxic burden makes the body more capable of healing itself. Step two is optimizing and activating metabolism and step three is elevating products that support optimal performance. Take away the bad, maintain the good and optimize,” said Dr. Shade.
Role of Supplements
In addition to a healthy lifestyle that includes plenty of exercise and good nutrition, supplements can play a key role in staving off the deleterious effects of aging.
“Beyond diet and exercise, I would suggest adding appropriate supplementation to provide the nutrients that are most often missing from the standard American diet. In addition to the fact that most people eat a less than ideal diet, research has shown that the ability to absorb and utilize nutrients decreases with age; therefore, the nutritional requirements of older adults actually increases,” said Carson.
He added that common nutrient deficiencies in older adults include magnesium, calcium, potassium, iron, fiber and various vitamins such as D, B12, A, C and E.
With this in mind, many practitioners recommend a daily multivitamin or multimineral, including Dr. Teitelbaum, who noted that he would recommend it to anyone over 50, as it is essential for optimizing most bodily functions. He said he’d also recommend folic acid for decreasing Alzheimer’s risk and said that magnesium is associated with lower risk of diabetes and heart disease. Others he’d recommend are omega-3 to support brain and heart health and decrease inflammation as well as a highly absorbable curcumin, also for anti-inflammatory properties, among other benefits.
“The four pillars of health are biochemistry, biophysics, structural and mind–body–spirit. All of these are critical. Supplements address the biochemistry. Addressing all of these simultaneously leads to optimal health and vitality,” added Dr. Teitelbaum.
“Natural supplements are effective because they are loaded with antioxidants and anti-inflammatories. These agents are able to disarm or neutralize the free radicals which cause the damage. As free radicals are disarmed, less damage is likely to happen. Less damage means better function and better health,” said Dr. Sadowski.
Market for Supplements
Carson said that the book Lifespan: Why We Age and Why We Don’t Have To by Dr. David Sinclair, an authority on genetics and longevity based out of Harvard, was published in 2019 and was the catalyst for many people becoming increasingly interested in longevity-related supplements. He added that longevity is one of the fastest growing topics of interest in medicine.
As expected, older consumers sustain the market for healthy aging supplements, but Carson said that health conscious 20- and 30-somethings are a substantial second market for these products, as they are interested in preserving their youthful cells to prevent the effects of aging down the road.
Consumers want to age gracefully and make sure that their golden years are as healthful and productive as possible; for this reason, the market for these types of supplements is projected to continue to grow. “A key trend that affects the natural products category is the aging of America and the world. As more and more adults enter their 50s, 60s, 70s and beyond, they are looking for effective products to address their individual health needs so they can stay active and independent as they age,” said Brunner.
“Consumers are becoming more aware of prevention and the importance of staying healthy. And, they seem to be ready to turn that awareness into action with a new look at what a healthy diet and lifestyle can do for you. Natural supplements play a key role in this holistic approach to staying healthy,” he added.
“The future of the market will be what we’re doing—looking holistically at all components of longevity and addressing them individually. Fascinating diagnostic tests can measure your individual level of longevity status, NAD levels, sirtuin activity, etc. As diagnostic tools become more accessible, people have tangible data to know where they stand in terms of longevity factors,” said Dr. Shade.
Supplements on the Market
Sovereign Laboratories’ cornerstone product, Pro Colostrum-LD, is for total body optimization, starting with the gut. Another is Pro Vital C-LD that provides antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and advanced immune support. Several others are Pro Curcumin and the latest, Regenacol, a brand new colostrum-based skin care line that supports anti-aging.
“Almost all of our nutritional supplements involve a liposomal delivery (LD) application which allows the delicate bioactive molecules to survive passage through the digestive system. LD also enables delivery at higher concentration at the cellular level. Our Colostrum-LD contains a natural synergy of essential immunoglobulins, growth factors, peptides, lactoferrin, amino acids and more bioactive nutrients,” explained Friedman, adding that liposomal delivery makes their products up to 1,500 percent more absorbable and better retained at the cellular level.
“As the health care industry is progressing toward modalities for gut microbiome health and precision medicine, colostrum is perfectly positioned in this landscape. As related to gut health, we believe colostrum is the center of the natural health universe,” Friedman added.
ProHealth provides supplements to the practitioner market, including its most recent line, Physicians Longevity. The company offers NMN Rx in several delivery forms, such as NAD+ Powder RX, which is NAD+ in a pure powder form, and NMN Rx Complete, which contains NMN, Trans-Resveratrol and TMG (Trimethylglycine). “NMN is the most powerful longevity molecule yet discovered, and it has taken the longevity world by storm,” said Carson, adding that it is the first and only company to provide NMN products to healthcare practitioners.
“Fortunately, researchers have made a discovery that can slow and even reverse this cell degradation,” he continued. “They’ve found that one of the body’s most important energy molecules, NAD+, is an essential molecule involved in genetic repair and epigenetic functioning. Among other things, it preserves and lengthens telomeres, which are associated with a longer life.”
Holoram Agelife by Equisalud targets premature cellular aging and contains a synergistic blend of various vitamins, trace elements, amino acids and adaptogenic plants.
A controlled release tablet technology in which nutrients release slowly over hours is behind 15 of EPC’s dietary supplements that they offer for the practitioner market, including Extended Release ENDUR-ACIN Wax Matrix Niacin, the company’s flagship product for heart health and cholesterol balance. And its two niacin products top the list of healthy aging products. “Both are precursors to NAD+, the active enzyme form of niacin. NAD+ is critical for cell metabolism and mitochondrial function, yet our ability to produce it declines as we age. While the body can use both forms of niacin (nicotinic acid and niacinamide) as building blocks for NAD+ production, niacinamide is the form that’s closest to the biochemical payload of NAD+. Plus, it doesn’t cause the nuisance skin flushing that can occur with nicotinic acid,” said Brunner. Another product is MAG-AMIDE, a combination of niacinamide and Magtein magnesium L-threonate, that is shown to increase magnesium in the brain and promote synaptic plasticity, a function critical for a variety of cognitive processes.
EPC plans to launch Sustained Release Taxifolin Complex for immune health in January; all of its products are backed by scientific studies.
Quicksilver Scientific launched NAD+ Gold just over a year ago, and it quickly became a bestseller. The company expanded its line with NAD+ Platinum and Methyl Charge+. Dr. Shade explained that NAD+ drives cellular defense and activates our “anti-aging” genes, but levels fall sharply with age, infection and exposure to environmental stressors. NAD+ Gold helps combat this loss by reestablishing NAD+ levels with direct precursors like NMN. Unlike capsules, its exclusive liposomal delivery technology mimics the body’s own NMN transport system and offers rapid uptake into the bloodstream.
How Practitioners Can Help Patients Age Healthfully
Diet and Exercise
Dr. Teitelbaum believes that it is a myth that body function inevitably declines with age, thus practitioners should try to have patients embrace “70 is the new 40” by doing simple measures to maintain vitality. “The body has a ‘use it or lose it’ approach to efficiency. Use your mind for things that are enjoyable. Go for walks each day with a friend or loved one. Find the things that feel good and do those,” he explained. Advising patients about a healthy diet is critical. “There is no disease that cannot be made better by good nutrition and there is no disease that cannot be made worse with poor nutrition. A healthy diet is the single most important component of health as it is done at least once daily, every day of your life,” said Dr. Sadowski.
Supplements
Dietary supplements certainly can play a role in neutralizing the aging process, but it is important that practitioners arm themselves with knowledge.
Brunner said that practitioners should stay abreast of the science, including keeping informed of clinical trials and to understand how to read dietary supplement labels and recognize the forms of active ingredients in products. “Try the product you’re recommending, be fully behind them, and be confident that patients will see the results,” Dr. Shade recommended.
As Friedman pointed out, consumer choice in supplements can be overwhelming, so having a practitioner who is well-versed in the benefits of supplements can help patients make educated decisions about what is right for them. He added that testing is also essential. “It’s important for providers to measure before-therapy baseline and results produced. Not only does this create tangible evidence for the patient but also serves the provider to see which natural health products/protocols actually work.”
Personalized medicine is what the industry is leaning toward, and a multifaceted health approach is generally warranted. “It is important to remember that everybody is different, and when guiding patients in their health and wellness/aging journey, we must remember that the body needs to be balanced in order to achieve overall wellness that includes all-natural solutions; the body needs to work double-time to absorb anything that is not natural and that will lead to stress-causing illness,” said Dr. Jenelle Kim, a doctor of Chinese medicine and founder of JPK Wellness Labs, headquartered in California.
“Naturopathic doctors and other integrative health practitioners are experts when it comes to using a holistic approach to healthy living. Encouraging patients to maintain healthy lifestyle habits—including supplementation—is right in their wheelhouse. Combining this expertise with a strong doctor-patient relationship can go a long way to helping patients stay healthy and active as they age. This includes regular checkups and lab tests to monitor progress and adjust goals as needed,” said Brunner.
Healthy Take Aways
• Aging represents the sum of a continual damage caused by free radicals, which occurs at all times and is unavoidable.
• Genes degrade as we age, and their ability to self-repair diminishes.
• Common nutrient deficiencies in older adults include magnesium, calcium, potassium, iron, fiber and various vitamins such as D, B12, A, C and E.
For More Information:
Endurance Products Co., www.endur.com
HoloRam/Equisalud, www.holoram.net/en/equisalud-labs
ProHealth, www.prohealth.com
Quicksilver Scientific, www.quicksilverscientific.com
Sovereign Laboratories, www.sovereignlaboratories.com
