For many scientists and life extension enthusiasts, telomeres are considered the ‘Holy Grail’ of anti-ageing research and the secret to the fountain of youth.
Telomere attrition is the second biological dysfunction on our list of the 9 Hallmarks of Ageing and one of the most fascinating discoveries about how our DNA function and protect themselves.
The excitement around telomeres comes from the fact that they are so easy to understand and can be influenced by simple lifestyle interventions and nutraceutical applications. Even simple things like the foods we eat and getting regular sunlight can have a positive influence on our telomeres and their repair.
So, let’s get into the details of our telomeres and get an understanding of why they are so fundamental to how long we can live for.
Here are the major points about our Telomeres and how they operate –
- Telomeres are long nucleotides (caps) at the end of our chromosomes that preserve the stability of our genome – they are our genome protectors.
- These ‘caps’ on the ends of our chromosomes get shorter with each cell division.
- The telomere caps don’t contain any genetic material.
- They are specific DNA–protein structures found at both ends of each chromosome to protect our genome from nucleolytic degradation, unnecessary recombination, and interchromosomal fusion.
- Telomeres play a vital role in preserving the information in our genome.
- For each additional year of chronological age, telomeres are 15.6 base pairs shorter on average.
- A small portion of telomeric DNA is lost with each cell division.
- When the telomere becomes too short, the chromosome reaches a ‘critical short length’ and can no longer be replicated.
- Shorter lifespans are associated with decreased telomerase activity and shorter telomeres.
An easy way to understand the telomeres’ role in protecting the chromosome is to use the example of the humble shoelace. Telomeres are placed on the ends of our chromosomes (which hold all our genetic material) to help them stay intact and tightly bound. If the end cap of a shoelace is damaged or removed, then the shoelace starts to fray and unravel. So to, if the telomere end cap is too short or damaged then this fraying and unravelling can occur to our genetic material which is tightly bound in a helix inside the chromosome and the cell dies.
Telomeres play an important role in making sure our DNA gets copied properly when cells divide. Interestingly, every time our DNA divide, a few nucleotides (the building blocks of DNA) at the very end of the strand don’t make it into the new DNA copy, leading to the loss of some genetic information. This is similar to using a photocopier to copy an important document and you end up cutting off the last line on the page. Our DNA strands end up getting shorter and shorter with every cell division.
As this cell dividing and telomere shortening continue, over time, we get to the point where the chromosomes start to unravel, become damaged and stop dividing. This is what we refer to as senescence. The cell stops dividing, it stops repairing itself, and it is no longer a viable cell.
Many chronic disease states and health conditions are directly associated with and affected by this DNA/telomere shortening process and the premature death of our cells. Here are few of the main conditions you would have heard of –
- Cardiovascular disease
- Cancer
- Alzheimer’s
- Osteo and rheumatoid arthritis
- Osteoporosis
- Skin ageing
- Macular degeneration
- Liver cirrhosis
- General immune dysfunction
- Downs syndrome and Werner’s syndrome
- And ageing itself
The question arises – what then causes this telomere attrition? How are we damaging these cap ends and hastening the death of our chromosomes? This is not as complex a question as you think. Scientists and researchers have recently found one overarching cause of telomere damage – oxidative damage from excessive and constant free radical production.
Once this cause was established, the hunt began for the mechanisms that drove this telomere damage and what we were doing as humans to accelerate the pace of telomere shortening. The main culprits have been sitting there right in front of us all this time – excessive UV exposure, inflammation, poor metabolism, obesity, smoking and air pollution, processed foods, stress, and ionising radiation exposure from our technology. All these cause high levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) that then go on to damage the end caps of our chromosomes and cause the premature death of trillions of our cells.
Now enter TELOMERASE - this is where all the magic occurs. Telomerase is an enzyme that’s sole function is to protect and repair our telomeres. What an amazing tool we have in our ‘regeneration toolbox’ – an enzyme that plays a vital role in maintaining the length of telomeres and stabilising chromosomes during cell division. Telomerase carries out the task of adding repetitive nucleotide sequences caps (telomeres) back to the ends of the DNA strands to slow, prevent and repair shortening. This allows the process of healthy cell division to continue. As you can see in the diagram below, telomerase is like a mobile workshop sorting and repairing the broken fragments of DNA protein.
Are Telomeres Really the ‘Fountain of Youth’?
So what can we do about our telomere damage I hear you ask? How can I keep my telomeres from getting too short too quickly? Can I lengthen my telomeres again? There are two areas that can make a significant impact on telomere length and can also slow down the rate of DNA loss from the chromosome end caps –
- Dramatically reduce free radical damage and oxidative stress to our genes. This constant inflammatory process that attacks our telomeres every day eventually depletes the telomeres, and the cell dies. Protect the cell, protect the telomere cap, protect the genetic code in our chromosome.
- Activate healthy telomerase enzyme activity and provide all the molecules required to repair the telomeres.
The bottom line – we need to start living healthier. We need to start making better lifestyle choices. We need to target our telomeres with scientifically validated foods, plants, and nutrients to slow the pace of shortening and bring about repair.
Here is the list of the most studied and scientifically validated natural ways you can look after your telomeres and maintain their integrity well over 100 years of age –
- Control inflammation and oxidative stress – use curcumin, green tea, broccoli sprouts, ashwagandha, essential fatty acid rich marine algae, and vitamin C.
- Move more – be less sedentary – work on being fit and strong.
- Work on having a strong mind and keep your stress levels as low as you can each day.
- Stop smoking and drink less alcohol.
- Eat fresh whole plant foods and reduce meat consumption. Ideally, follow a Mediterranean style diet full of colours and seasonal foods.
- Work on your sleep quality – aim for 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep a night.
- Keep working on creating a better life for yourself and your family – change jobs, move house, try a sea/tree change to reduce exposure to environmental and city pollutions.
- Meditate for 20 minutes every day.
- Take daily telomere/telomerase repairers and activators – folate, B12, vitamin D, magnesium, astragalus, ginseng, ashwagandha, pterostilbene’s from berries, broccoli sprouts, CoQ10, and D. Salina marine algae. These are all contained in Healthy Ageing Essentials, which also influences all the other 9 Hallmarks of Ageing.
Start today! Don’t wait for some new drug discovery to improve the length of your telomeres – that could be decades away. Start implementing the lifestyle choices above and taking the telomere activators in Healthy Ageing Essentials to regrow your telomeres and live a longer healthier life.
References and Sources
Mol Med Rep. 2019 Oct;20(4):3701-3708. Epub 2019 Aug 23. Discovery of potent telomerase activators: Unfolding new therapeutic and anti-aging perspectives Dimitris Tsoukalas, Persefoni Fragkiadaki, Anca Oana Docea, Athanasios K Alegakis, Evangelia Sarandi, Maria Thanasoula, Demetrios A Spandidos, Aristidis Tsatsakis, Mayya Petrovna Razgonova, Daniela Calina
Curr Opin Clin Nutr Metab Care. Author manuscript; available in PMC 2012 Jun 8. Telomeres, lifestyle, cancer, and aging. Masood A. Shammas
Nutrients. 2018 Dec; 10(12): 1942. Published online 2018 Dec 7. doi: 10.3390/nu10121942. Physical Activity and Nutrition: Two Promising Strategies for Telomere Maintenance? Estelle Balan, Anabelle Decottignies, and Louise Deldicque
M J Clin Nutr. 2020 Jun 1;111(6):1259-1266. Ultra-processed food consumption and the risk of short telomeres in an elderly population of the Seguimiento Universidad de Navarra (SUN) Project Lucia Alonso-Pedrero, Ana Ojeda-Rodríguez, Miguel A Martínez-González, Guillermo Zalba, Maira Bes-Rastrollo, Amelia Marti