Like most people, you’ve probably become interested in anti-aging or reverse aging treatments so you can experience more years of healthy longevity instead of the slow decline that used to seem inevitable.
Advances in scientific research have now uncovered new insights into human longevity, and these provide potential avenues for interventions to extend your lifespan.
In addition, we now understand much more about the complex physiological processes that contribute to functional decline – and you may be surprised to discover that many of them involve your hormones!
So – in this guide to mastering the art of longevity, we’ll investigate the aging process we all go through, discover the role of bioidentical hormones in delaying biological aging (as opposed chronological aging), explore the impact of lifestyle strategies, and uncover the latest research in the field.
Finally, we’ll debunk some common myths about aging and emphasize the importance of consulting your healthcare provider so you can access an integrative, functional approach to longevity.
Let’s dive in.
Key Takeaways
- Recognize the influence of environmental and genetic factors on longevity.
- Utilize bioidentical hormones for natural hormone replacement therapy with potential benefits for anti-aging.
- Implement lifestyle strategies such as exercise, diet, and stress management to slow down the aging process.
Understanding the Aging Process
Understanding Hormones and Aging
The Role of Bioidentical Hormones in Healthy Aging
Benefits of BHRT for Anti-Aging
Lifestyle Strategies for Slowing Down Aging
The Future of Hormonal Therapy for Healthy Aging
Understanding the Aging Process
The journey through aging is a complex one, shaped by the detailed interplay of genetic, environmental, and random elements.
But what happens inside your body that triggers all the changes you see in the mirror and feel in your bones and muscles as you grow older? Why do they happen? And what could possibly slow them down?
Even though aging is a highly individualized process related in some measure to your genes, these changes occur at molecular, cellular, hormonal, cognitive, and systemic levels. And the triggers for these changes are a combination of biological, genetic, environmental, and lifestyle factors that directly influence how you age.
You can see how this complex interplay of factors can result in a wide variation in how long you live healthily and whether you will acquire age-related diseases that lead to less healthy aging.
However, you do have some control over the rate you age at in biological terms, and we will therefore look first at the role of bioidentical hormones in healthy aging. As we said up top, they affect all your body’s systems.
Understanding Hormones and Aging
Hormones are chemical messengers crucial to ensure your body systems function well.
The glands in your endocrine system produce and release hormones into your bloodstream, which, in turn, transport them to target cells or organs that regulate various physiological processes, including the following:
- growth
- metabolism
- reproduction
- mood and cognitive functions
As you see, hormones are essential to every aspect of your wellbeing, and even the slightest changes in hormonal production and levels may affect your health, mood, and aging process. So, why not approach longevity through hormonal balance?
While hormonal fluctuation is frequent throughout life – especially in women – the decline in certain hormone levels can significantly impact your quality of life and how you age. For this reason, hormone regulation should be part of your anti-aging approach to health.
Here are a few connections between hormones and the aging process:
The Impact of Sex Hormones on Aging
In women, estrogen levels decline during perimenopause and menopause, which typically occurs around the age of 50. This hormonal change usually comes with many uncomfortable menopausal symptoms, including hot flashes, changes in bone density, alterations in skin elasticity, fatigue, and low sexual drive.
Likewise, testosterone levels also tend to decrease with age in both men and women. This decline contributes to changes in muscle mass, energy levels, and libido.
The Role of Growth Hormone and IGF-1
Growth Hormone (GH) and Insulin-like Growth Factor 1 (IGF-1) are crucial for growth during childhood but are also essential for maintaining muscle and bone mass and regulating metabolism as you age.
As the years go by, there’s a decrease in the production of both these hormones, and the reduced levels of GH and IGF-1 may contribute to decreased muscle mass, increased body fat, and altered metabolic function. All of which affect your biological aging.
Changes in Thyroid Hormones
Thyroid function can also be affected by aging, leading to changes in the production of thyroid hormones and impacting your metabolism, energy levels, and body weight. Maintaining a healthy weight for you is essential to healthy longevity.
Insulin Resistance
Insulin sensitivity tends to decrease with age, contributing to a higher risk of insulin resistance and Type 2 diabetes. This is often associated with changes in body composition and physical activity levels.
This small sample of the relationship between hormones and the aging process is enough to show how much a hormone imbalance can affect how you age.
However, there’s an effective way of enhancing longevity with bioidentical hormone therapy (BHRT). So, let’s now explore the relationship between bioidentical hormones and healthy aging.
The Role of Bioidentical Hormones in Healthy Aging
Promoting healthy aging is significantly supported by using compounded bioidentical hormones, matched to your exact needs by a hormone specialist.
Hormones of this kind are derived from plants and are chemically identical to the ones your body produces – essentially replacing your own depleted hormones.
Our experience at Nava Health – after treating many thousands of patients with BHRT – is that bioidentical hormones safely replenish diminished or insufficient hormone levels in your body. These include estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone, which are essential in the fight against biological aging processes.
The truth is that bioidentical hormones provide a more natural and effective approach to hormone replacement therapy than traditional HRT that uses standardized doses synthetically produced and extracted from animal sources.
Benefits of BHRT for Anti-Aging
Here are a few benefits of using BHRT to address hormone imbalances as you age.
Managing Menopausal Symptoms – because it relieves debilitating symptoms of hot flashes, night sweats, mood swings, and sleep disturbances.
Supporting Bone Health – because estrogen is crucial for maintaining bone density and reducing the risk of osteoporosis and breakages due to falls as you age.
Improving Libido and Sexual Function – because testosterone replacement can address issues related to sexual dysfunction, loss of libido, and overall sexual wellbeing in both men and women. This may improve healthy aging.
Enhancing Energy and Mood – because restoring your energy levels reduces fatigue, stabilizes mood, and improves vitality so you can stay mobile longer.
Cognitive Function: because according to some studies that explored the impact of BHRT on cognitive function, it decreases the risk of neurodegenerative diseases.
Lifestyle Strategies for Slowing Down Aging
Apart from therapies like bioidentical hormone replacement, lifestyle strategies are also pivotal in slowing down your aging process. At Nava Health, we always look at lifestyle changes you can make, because regular physical activity, a healthy diet, and effective stress management are all essential components of a longevity-promoting lifestyle.
Let’s now look in turn at these other proven strategies to slow aging!
Exercise and Physical Activity to Reverse Aging
The aging process is substantially influenced by physical activity, and regular engagement in physical activity is linked to a higher likelihood of successful aging.
To promote healthy aging, try aerobic exercise like walking, treadmill exercises, step-ups, or stair climbing. Additionally, you can strengthen your muscles with dancing, water aerobics, or tai chi to reduce the risk of falls.
Strength training develops your muscle strength, reduces muscle mass loss, and enhances your balance, mobility, motivation, and confidence.
Regular physical activity of these kinds, coupled with a healthy diet (see below), can significantly slow down your biological aging process.
Nutrition for Healthy Longevity
Promoting longevity and slowing down your aging process is also heavily reliant on a healthy diet, as we said. Nutrition is really a longevity medicine! It involves increasing consumption of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and dairy, while reducing intake of added sugars, saturated fat, and sodium. While some diets have gained in popularity for ties to longevity, such as the Mediterranean diet, it’s crucial that you partner with a clinical nutritionist to find the right diet for you, that takes into account any food sensitivities or allergies. Certain foods that are particularly beneficial for healthy aging include:
- Nuts
- Yogurt
- Whole grains like black rice
- Fatty fish like salmon
- Green tea
- Raw honey
These foods offer essential nutrients and antioxidants that support your overall health.
On the other hand, specific nutritional deficiencies are commonly experienced among older adults. These include deficiencies in:
- Calcium
- Vitamin D
- Magnesium
- Vitamin B12
- Folic acid
Deficiencies in these essential nutrients can affect your overall health and the aging process.
Remember that a poor nutrition can accelerate your aging process by contributing to cellular aging and inflammation. So, it’s worth reconsidering your diet. Our clinical nutritionists are happy to help you with that.
Stress Management and Mental Health in the Aging Process
The role of stress management and mental health in the aging process is also significant. Stress can accelerate the shortening of telomeres in your cells, leading to rapid aging. It can also contribute to inflammation and DNA damage, resulting in a haggard appearance and faster aging.
Mindfulness is one way to keep your stress to normal levels. And keeping up with your social life – by participating in social activities and nurturing social connections – also helps to maintain your mental health as you grow older.
The Future of Hormonal Therapy for Healthy Aging
As mentioned above, we strongly recommend you consider BHRT to help you slow down your biological aging – regaining hormonal balance is crucial to your wellbeing.
However, here are some potential future developments, innovations, and trends related to hormonal therapy for aging and the longevity benefits of BHRT.
Precision Medicine and Personalized Hormone Therapy
Advances in genomics and personalized medicine may lead to more precise and individualized hormone therapies. Our vision at Nava Health is to continue to shift healthcare to a personalized approach focusing on prevention, optimization, and longevity medicine.
Tailoring treatments based on your very own genetic makeup, lifestyle, and specific health needs optimizes the benefits of BHRT while minimizing potential risks.
Stem Cell Therapy
Research into stem cells is advancing, and there is interest in exploring the role of stem cells in rejuvenation and age-related degeneration. Stem cell therapies, including those involving hormone modulation, may potentially slow the aging process and regenerate damaged tissues.
Nutraceuticals and Lifestyle Interventions
In addition to hormone replacement therapy and medical interventions, there is increasing interest in the role of nutraceutical interventions (using nutrition-derived compounds with health benefits) in promoting healthy aging.
This includes exploring the impact of dietary patterns, exercise, and stress management on hormonal balance and longevity.
Debunking Common Myths About Aging
We need to debunk some prevalent myths about aging!
One common myth is that physical deterioration is an unavoidable outcome of aging. However, studies indicate that expecting physical deterioration may actually raise the chances of experiencing it. But regular physical activity can prevent significant physical deterioration.
Dementia is often considered an unavoidable aspect of aging. However, while the likelihood of developing dementia does increase with age, it’s not inevitable. Keeping your brain alert and in learning mode is a valuable defense. Creating a brain health baseline with a diagnostic tool like the WAVi brain scan can help you monitor your brain health along with other key markers.
There are also misconceptions about the role of genetics and the physical aspects of aging. Some believe that:
- Solely genetic factors determine your health
- Aging is just a physical process
- Older adults should not engage in physical exercise
- Older adults require either less or more sleep
It’s important to debunk these misconceptions in order to have a better understanding of the aging process and how you can achieve healthy longevity.
Rewind Your Biological Clock with the Nava Method and Hormonal Therapy for Aging
Consulting with an integrative healthcare provider is crucial before implementing any lifestyle or treatment plan changes. At Nava Health, our approach is to customize your treatment using The Nava 5 for total wellness.
This addresses your hormone balance and sexual health, stress management, healthy weight and digestion, control of inflammation, and having adequate restorative sleep.
You will notice how these are all components of reversing the aging process – with BHRT and hormone balance as foundational to achieving optimal health.
We want you to enjoy healthy longevity, so schedule a call today to discuss how BHRT, nutrition support, and lifestyle changes can deliver that for you!
A Medical Director, and one of the first physicians to join the Nava Health & Vitality Center, Dr. Douglas Lord has made significant contributions to our Center and its founding principles. Dr. Lord has helped develop and implement the Nava Method™—Nava’s proprietary approach to total body wellness. He has also been instrumental in liaising with other expert practitioners to successfully implement Nava’s range of therapies, treatments, and products.