How to Slow Down Your Biological Age
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About the Show
On this episode, Chuck Gaidica is joined by Dr. Angela Seabright, Care Management Physician of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan. Together, they discuss our biological age, or the age your body functions, and what we can do to improve it.
In this episode of A Healthier Michigan Podcast, we explore:
- How biological age can be improved through
- Diet
- Exercise
- Sleep
- Stress management
Transcript
Chuck Gaidica:
For most we've heard the mythical stories of the fountain of youth, but is it actually possible to reverse aging? This is episode 166 of a Healthier Michigan podcast. It's a podcast dedicated to navigating how we can improve our health and well-being through small healthy habits that we can start implementing right now. I'm your host, Chuck Gaidica, and every other week we'll sit down with a certified expert. We dive into biological age in this episode, we're going to talk about the age of our body functions and what we can do to improve all of that and even more. With me today is care management physician of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, Dr. Angela Seabright. Doctor good to have you back with us.
Dr. Angela Seabright:
Thanks for having me.
Chuck Gaidica:
Yeah, sure thing. So we hear about this from time to time from all different kinds of directions, when it comes to age a lot of us, I'll just speak for myself, I think I read the statistics that many folks that have reached middle age would say they're maybe on average 15 years younger in their head, right? We sometimes feel younger, not everybody, but a lot of people. And that number may not be the same. Their chronological age may be different than how they feel. And then if we were to even go inside and look at blood tests and other things, we may have a different physical age. So it becomes something that's maybe psychological, something that's physical. And there's been research that shows that certain lifestyle changes may actually start to slow biological aging by about six years. So it seems like there's something to this, that it's not all fiction, but I don't know if in your view this is something that we can call reverse aging. So how can we improve, slow it down, and is there such a thing as actually turning the clock backward?
Dr. Angela Seabright:
Yeah, there is such a thing. And it does sound like something out of science fiction, but it really comes down to that concept, like you mentioned, lifespan versus health span. So lifespan is the number of years we live and health span is the years we live well. And like you said, there's usually a gap between the two. And so by slowing or reversing our biological age, we're improving our health span. Which is really the goal, it's to have active and full lives and live independently as long as possible.
And so biological age really looks at certain biomarkers, particularly a process called DNA methylation or cell methylation, which is the way our genes are modified over time. And the genes themselves aren't changed, you can't change your genetics, but the expression on the genes can change due to our age and our environmental factors. And it's this field of study called epigenetics, and it's quite complex and it's an emerging study, but we know that certain lifestyle habits can affect that gene expression which could have a pro-aging or anti-aging effect. And one really good example is smoking. So universally we know that cigarette smoking is bad for your health. And why is that? Well, part of the reason is that it interferes with that DNA methylation, which leads to aging at the cellular level and subsequent disease. And through twin studies, we've learned that about 20% of how long the average person lives is dictated by our genes and the other 80% is dictated by lifestyle.
Chuck Gaidica:
Wow. I've studied a little bit, from a distance, this idea of epigenetics. And it seemed to me it was kind of analogous to little light switches. Like you said, smoking, it may not be genetic, but if you were to turn that switch off and quit smoking or turn some other switch on, then we can play with these little switches. They're not your genes, they're not the history of from where you've come, but indeed, they could well be influencing your overall health. Is that a good way to look at it?
Dr. Angela Seabright:
That's a great way to look at it.
Chuck Gaidica:
So this idea of things that we can change, you talked about one way of turning off a switch, we hear the phrase lifestyle change is now analogous to diet. We used to say go on a diet, now we're going on a lifestyle change. That's got to rank way up there too of changing your lifestyle of eating and drinking and the things that we consume.
Dr. Angela Seabright:
Absolutely. The food we eat is either aging us or reversing our biological age. So if you think back to the last thing you ate, whether that was breakfast this morning, dinner last night, you really have to ask yourself, is what I ate supporting my body? Is it going to restore, repair, and heal? And many times the answer to that is no. If you eat a meal that is devoid of nutrients and full of the bad stuff like carbs, sugar, salt, you're going to feel bad. You are what you eat, you feel what you eat. And sugar and processed foods are huge drivers of illness. Just like cigarette smoking affects that DNA methylation, so does sugar. Sugar is silently aging us. And I think many people think, well, I don't have diabetes, my A1C is fine. I don't have a sugar problem. But if you look at the statistics and how many US adults have obesity or metabolic syndrome or pre-diabetes, which is one in three adults have pre-diabetes in the US, it's quite staggering. And this is all related to dysfunction in the body caused by our typical American diet, which is highly processed, high sugar, salts, and fats. And so the studies really show that diets rich in fruits, vegetables, and healthy protein mean less chronic disease and longevity. So the bottom line is more plants, more whole foods and less processed foods.
Chuck Gaidica:
And we should point out, and we've talked about this on the show before, sugar is the word that we hear a lot about. Even it's corrosive effects on your cardiovascular system. But the sugar in a banana or the sugar in an apple is not the same as what you're talking about, right?
Dr. Angela Seabright:
Right. Yeah. I mean, fruit definitely are natural sources of sugar, but I'm talking about the processed stuff. So when you think about when you go to the grocery store, if you stay along the perimeter of the grocery store, that's probably some of the more whole food options there. Once you start going down those aisles, that's where you get into the packaged foods, the processed foods, and there's so much of that. And even our children are eating that. And so it's really an epidemic with poor diets and it really needs to be addressed.
Chuck Gaidica:
So thinking about this idea of other things that we can consume, what about supplements? Where do you stand on that and where would you rank some of the supplements that we should all be thinking about even on a daily basis?
Dr. Angela Seabright:
Yeah. So my take on supplements, and just a disclaimer, I always say with supplements, if you can get it through your diet, it's always best. If you're going to put your energy into anything, put it through the food choices. So we talked about the whole foods, the plant-based diet, fruits and vegetables, and why do we need to eat that? Well, they're rich in nutrients, they're rich in vitamins, they're rich in antioxidants. They're also rich in something called polyphenols. And polyphenols are actually taken in supplement form, but they really come in naturally occurring fruits, and vegetables, teas, and spices, and they have powerful anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and possibly even anti-cancer properties. So you can find them in dietary sources such as berries. Green tea has a substance called EGCG, which is powerful anti-inflammatory. Curcumin, which is found in turmeric. And some good news here is that coffee, dark chocolate, and red wine also have polyphenols. But again, you want to consume these in moderation because too much can have the opposite effect. So, again, if you can get polyphenols, even though they come through supplement form, it's best to get them through diet.
Chuck Gaidica:
Hang on just a minute. I got to get my polyphenol. Hang on.
Dr. Angela Seabright:
Oh yes. Good.
Chuck Gaidica:
Okay. I'm good. It's my polyphenol for the day.
Dr. Angela Seabright:
There you go. You're good. But as far as vitamin supplementation, I think the main thing is if you're looking for a longevity vitamin, if the answer is the vitamin you are deficient in is probably the longevity vitamin for you. Meaning if you go to the doctor and you're deficient in vitamin D, you should really take vitamin D. And a lot of us are deficient in vitamin D, especially if we're not getting our 15 minutes of sunlight per day. B12 is another important vitamin. Many people are deficient, especially if you take my advice and follow a plant-based diet B12 comes from a lot of animal sources. So people who eat a vegan diet or plant-based, they definitely need to supplement with B12. And taking a B complex or B12 or folic acid is really a good idea in general just because those B vitamins do support that DNA methylation that I talked about earlier.
So not a bad idea to make sure that you are taking your B vitamins. And then probiotics always get a lot of buzz. And that goes back to having a healthy gut microbiome, which we know is so important for chronic disease prevention, but also longevity. Our microbiome can change as we age and we acquire various diseases, especially the use of medications like antibiotics and acid reducing medications. And so there may be some benefit in taking probiotics, however, more research is needed to make a definitive recommendation on that. And then there's been a lot of buzz around creatine. So creatine used to be thought of as a gym supplement, but there's some new evidence to support its use as we age because it does help improve muscle mass and strength, which is very important to think about as we're aging.
Chuck Gaidica:
So everything you've basically talked about from creatine to vitamin D to B12, there are the natural sources. None of those things require a script. I mean, we hear about metformin now going from a diabetes or pre-diabetes drug to also having a longevity play, that may be a whole separate episode, but you would need a script for that. Everything you've just talked about, we can partake in.
Dr. Angela Seabright:
Yep, those are available. Just the caveat with supplements is that they are not FDA regulated. So you don't always know that what's in the bottle is what it says on the label or what's advertised. So it's always a good idea to go with reputable brands or brands that are third-party tested, and then you can always talk with your doctor as well.
Chuck Gaidica:
So as the air is getting cooler in Michigan, some people, and rightfully so, may say, I just can't get out and do my 10,000 steps a day when it's 92 degrees outside. Well now we're not going to be 92 degrees, we know that where we're headed. But exercise, that's another one of those switches we can turn on even if we haven't been turning it on as long as we're doing safely. What kind of specific physical activity would you suggest could really optimize a biological age of each of us?
Dr. Angela Seabright:
Yeah. So if you are looking for the fountain of youth, you can find it at your local gym. Because as we age, our muscle mass decreases and when that happens, our metabolism slows down, our bone density or our bone mass decreases which increases our risk for falls, fractures, weakness, and debility. Adults need a minimum, and that's a minimum, of 150 minutes of moderate intensity physical activity per week. So that means you're doing an activity where you can still talk through the activity, but it's kind of hard to hold a conversation. And then you also need to incorporate two days of muscle strengthening or resistance training per week. And if you do that, you're improving your cardio respiratory fitness and then your muscle strength. And that will absolutely slow biological aging.
And I just want to touch a moment on this cardio respiratory fitness. The American Heart Association recently released a that cardio respiratory fitness is potentially a stronger predictor of mortality than established risk factors such as smoking, hypertension, diabetes, and high cholesterol. So that means that people with low cardio respiratory fitness, the people who are sedentary, they're at higher risk not only for cardiovascular disease but mortality in general. So exercise is extremely important. As we age we should also incorporate exercises that work on balance and flexibility.
Chuck Gaidica:
It's interesting. I was working out with a trainer for a little bit and he was having me pick up a barbell with about 40 pounds on it. And he said, "I just want you to stand and walk around with this for a little while". And it does tend to lean. I kept thinking, this is not the kind of exercise I'm thinking about. I'm thinking I need to be lifting something and putting on muscles. And I said, "What is this for?" He said exactly what you said. "This is for your balance". And he said, "Someday, you may have to pick up a grandchild or a five-gallon drum of paint or a suitcase, and you're going to be off balance. You're going to have to compensate. You don't want to fall down". And I thought, I've never really thought of exercise in that context, but it made perfect sense. And it wasn't easy. I mean, as you're doing this and you switch arms, you really feel how it's not like you're standing on a BOSU ball or something, but you just feel a little off-kilter and quickly your body tends to react. And I just thought, man, I never would've assigned any high value to that stuff.
Dr. Angela Seabright:
Right. It's so important to exercise in a way that you can maintain your capacity and your ability to function. And you mentioned the 10,000 steps, and I know some people feel intimidated, like, oh, I have to go to the gym, I have to lift weights. What does that mean? And they could maybe work with a trainer or someone who can show them how to do these exercises safely, but it's also just about movement and being consistently physically active. So whether that's outside gardening or doing yard work. And anecdotally as a kid I had neighbors, they lived well into their 90s, and I can tell you every single day they were outside working on their garden. And it was a win-win because they had the prettiest yard in the neighborhood and they lived a long and full life. And if you look at these blue zones, which are areas around the world with centenarians or people living into their 100s, they are physically active.
Chuck Gaidica:
Yeah, that's awesome stuff. I've been out a lot this summer doing garden and yard work, and my watch has often asked me, have I fallen because I'm doing bark mulch and I'm lifting, and I kind of trip with something and it's like, no, I haven't fallen. But the kind of stuff that I was doing, it implied to me, man, I'm really out there working it because if the watch thinks I took a fall, which I didn't, that means I'm actually doing some good hard work. So I'm with you 100% on that. What about sleeping and how do we start to assign value to how that impacts biological age? And there are a lot of other factors. I don't know how many people in America now either have sleep apnea or won't admit they have it, but sleep is just a key factor in this, isn't it?
Dr. Angela Seabright:
It is. It's one of those important pillars of health. And just like exercise, the health benefits of sleep are well established. And if anybody ever tells you, "You look tired today", it's basically an insult, right? Because we know when we don't sleep or we look tired, we look terrible. So imagine what's going on inside your body when you get poor sleep. Sleep is imperative for every function in your body. And we've had other episodes on sleep and how important it is for your immune system, your memory, your mood, chronic disease prevention. And so really getting less than seven hours of sleep per night on a regular basis, it's not only linked with chronic disease, but it will also accelerate aging. So you got to make sure you get in an adequate amount of sleep and that your sleep is quality sleep as well. Just like you mentioned, sleep conditions can definitely impair our ability to bank those quality z's that we need that are really important for our cell function.
Chuck Gaidica:
And we know that there are these influencers that keep us away from a good night's sleep. It could be your young family, you've got kids. We know how that works. Many of us, we know that if you're a caregiver for an older adult parent or something. So there are a lot of inputs, but there are ways to compensate. The best way in my mind is when our kids were growing up, five kids, soon to be eight grandchildren, just taking a nap with them. I'm not a napper, I'm an awful napper. I just can't nap. But when I've got a little kid that I know I need to make sure he doesn't roll off the bed. I can be out as fast as they are. So it's actually a nice way to compensate, right?
Dr. Angela Seabright:
Yeah. And it's a good way to listen to your body. If you're feeling tired and you decide to take that nap, you listen to your body and hopefully gave your body that little bit of time to recover and rejuvenate.
Chuck Gaidica:
So mental wellness, mental health, stress, how does that impact our biological age?
Dr. Angela Seabright:
Stress is a huge contributor to aging. And I wish it could be as simple as take the stress away. But it's life, there's going to be stressful events, and especially as we age, I think we encounter more stressful events in life. So how stress affects our body, it goes back to inflammation. When we're stressed, what happens physiologically, your heart starts beating faster. So your heart rate goes up, your blood pressure goes up, your muscles get tense, your face gets flushed. And all that happens because of the stress hormones and the cascade of events that happens as they're released during periods of stress. And I think most of us have heard of cortisol, poor cortisol gets a bad rep, but it is a stress hormone and when that is elevated, it not only leads to inflammation but it can raise your blood sugar, it can raise your blood pressure, it can cause weight gain, the list goes on.
So we really need tools to manage our stress. And so exercise is a great tool. Meditation is a great tool. Breathing techniques, all of these are very important to mitigate the damaging effects of chronic stress on our mental health. And just to touch on mental health, our social connections are also very important. There's a body of literature that shows that social connections have a positive effect on our health and longevity, and we saw that during the pandemic where isolation and loneliness were associated with poor outcomes. So connecting with family and friends, having family dinners, seeing family members on a regular basis, it's really protective for your health. And then also just being a helper and having a purpose and having a mission and helping others. That also has a very positive effect on our health and longevity.
Chuck Gaidica:
So much of what you're saying, and I mean, it's blowing my mind how easy it is to understand how you're explaining these things because it's marvelous. A lot of it, though, it's not simple but it's common sense, right? I mean, we probably all know we could exercise a bit more, we shouldn't sit. But then we've got these inputs. I mean, streaming in America, look at the price of a Netflix stock. I mean, it's a thing so that idea of just sitting, instead of sitting you could be lifting weights. You could be doing something and stretching. You could be breathing. So it just seems that there are ways we can work this into our lifestyle. It's just we have to start it. If you don't start something, you can't begin it. So I am encouraged to hear all these great ideas because it just makes me want to think about, well, what else can I start today?
Dr. Angela Seabright:
Right. And it feels like we never have the time, but if you check your screen time on your phone, I think we can all argue that maybe we have some time that we can do this. And it doesn't have to be everything at once. I think just taking little steps can make a big difference.
Chuck Gaidica:
So Dr. Seabright, any other takeaways you want to leave for the audience today?
Dr. Angela Seabright:
Yeah. I think this is just a really interesting topic, and it's not about being anti-aging or avoiding any illness or disease altogether. It's really just about, like we said, being proactive and mindful about what we can do to support our health and improve our quality of life and that health span. You can't live forever, but you can certainly strive to live well.
Chuck Gaidica:
Well, it's great to see you again. Thanks for all the wisdom.
Dr. Angela Seabright:
Thank you.
Chuck Gaidica:
And thank you for listening to a Healthier Michigan podcast. It's brought to you by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan. If you like our show, especially this show, don't forget you can check out a lot of old episodes. We've got 165 other ones that deal with a lot of these topics today, maybe in depth, and all the new episodes as well. Check us out online at ahealthiermichigan.org/podcast. You can leave us reviews or ratings on Apple Podcast or Spotify. You can also follow us on our YouTube channel, Facebook, Instagram or X. You can get all these episodes on your smartphone or tablet. So if you are going to gear up and do some walking or you want to just be home and listen to something as you're walking around the house doing chores, we can be there with you. Be sure to subscribe to us on Apple Podcast, Spotify, YouTube, or your favorite podcast app. I'm Chuck Gaidica. Be well.
For most we've heard the mythical stories of the fountain of youth, but is it actually possible to reverse aging? This is episode 166 of a Healthier Michigan podcast. It's a podcast dedicated to navigating how we can improve our health and well-being through small healthy habits that we can start implementing right now. I'm your host, Chuck Gaidica, and every other week we'll sit down with a certified expert. We dive into biological age in this episode, we're going to talk about the age of our body functions and what we can do to improve all of that and even more. With me today is care management physician of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, Dr. Angela Seabright. Doctor good to have you back with us.
Dr. Angela Seabright:
Thanks for having me.
Chuck Gaidica:
Yeah, sure thing. So we hear about this from time to time from all different kinds of directions, when it comes to age a lot of us, I'll just speak for myself, I think I read the statistics that many folks that have reached middle age would say they're maybe on average 15 years younger in their head, right? We sometimes feel younger, not everybody, but a lot of people. And that number may not be the same. Their chronological age may be different than how they feel. And then if we were to even go inside and look at blood tests and other things, we may have a different physical age. So it becomes something that's maybe psychological, something that's physical. And there's been research that shows that certain lifestyle changes may actually start to slow biological aging by about six years. So it seems like there's something to this, that it's not all fiction, but I don't know if in your view this is something that we can call reverse aging. So how can we improve, slow it down, and is there such a thing as actually turning the clock backward?
Dr. Angela Seabright:
Yeah, there is such a thing. And it does sound like something out of science fiction, but it really comes down to that concept, like you mentioned, lifespan versus health span. So lifespan is the number of years we live and health span is the years we live well. And like you said, there's usually a gap between the two. And so by slowing or reversing our biological age, we're improving our health span. Which is really the goal, it's to have active and full lives and live independently as long as possible.
And so biological age really looks at certain biomarkers, particularly a process called DNA methylation or cell methylation, which is the way our genes are modified over time. And the genes themselves aren't changed, you can't change your genetics, but the expression on the genes can change due to our age and our environmental factors. And it's this field of study called epigenetics, and it's quite complex and it's an emerging study, but we know that certain lifestyle habits can affect that gene expression which could have a pro-aging or anti-aging effect. And one really good example is smoking. So universally we know that cigarette smoking is bad for your health. And why is that? Well, part of the reason is that it interferes with that DNA methylation, which leads to aging at the cellular level and subsequent disease. And through twin studies, we've learned that about 20% of how long the average person lives is dictated by our genes and the other 80% is dictated by lifestyle.
Chuck Gaidica:
Wow. I've studied a little bit, from a distance, this idea of epigenetics. And it seemed to me it was kind of analogous to little light switches. Like you said, smoking, it may not be genetic, but if you were to turn that switch off and quit smoking or turn some other switch on, then we can play with these little switches. They're not your genes, they're not the history of from where you've come, but indeed, they could well be influencing your overall health. Is that a good way to look at it?
Dr. Angela Seabright:
That's a great way to look at it.
Chuck Gaidica:
So this idea of things that we can change, you talked about one way of turning off a switch, we hear the phrase lifestyle change is now analogous to diet. We used to say go on a diet, now we're going on a lifestyle change. That's got to rank way up there too of changing your lifestyle of eating and drinking and the things that we consume.
Dr. Angela Seabright:
Absolutely. The food we eat is either aging us or reversing our biological age. So if you think back to the last thing you ate, whether that was breakfast this morning, dinner last night, you really have to ask yourself, is what I ate supporting my body? Is it going to restore, repair, and heal? And many times the answer to that is no. If you eat a meal that is devoid of nutrients and full of the bad stuff like carbs, sugar, salt, you're going to feel bad. You are what you eat, you feel what you eat. And sugar and processed foods are huge drivers of illness. Just like cigarette smoking affects that DNA methylation, so does sugar. Sugar is silently aging us. And I think many people think, well, I don't have diabetes, my A1C is fine. I don't have a sugar problem. But if you look at the statistics and how many US adults have obesity or metabolic syndrome or pre-diabetes, which is one in three adults have pre-diabetes in the US, it's quite staggering. And this is all related to dysfunction in the body caused by our typical American diet, which is highly processed, high sugar, salts, and fats. And so the studies really show that diets rich in fruits, vegetables, and healthy protein mean less chronic disease and longevity. So the bottom line is more plants, more whole foods and less processed foods.
Chuck Gaidica:
And we should point out, and we've talked about this on the show before, sugar is the word that we hear a lot about. Even it's corrosive effects on your cardiovascular system. But the sugar in a banana or the sugar in an apple is not the same as what you're talking about, right?
Dr. Angela Seabright:
Right. Yeah. I mean, fruit definitely are natural sources of sugar, but I'm talking about the processed stuff. So when you think about when you go to the grocery store, if you stay along the perimeter of the grocery store, that's probably some of the more whole food options there. Once you start going down those aisles, that's where you get into the packaged foods, the processed foods, and there's so much of that. And even our children are eating that. And so it's really an epidemic with poor diets and it really needs to be addressed.
Chuck Gaidica:
So thinking about this idea of other things that we can consume, what about supplements? Where do you stand on that and where would you rank some of the supplements that we should all be thinking about even on a daily basis?
Dr. Angela Seabright:
Yeah. So my take on supplements, and just a disclaimer, I always say with supplements, if you can get it through your diet, it's always best. If you're going to put your energy into anything, put it through the food choices. So we talked about the whole foods, the plant-based diet, fruits and vegetables, and why do we need to eat that? Well, they're rich in nutrients, they're rich in vitamins, they're rich in antioxidants. They're also rich in something called polyphenols. And polyphenols are actually taken in supplement form, but they really come in naturally occurring fruits, and vegetables, teas, and spices, and they have powerful anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and possibly even anti-cancer properties. So you can find them in dietary sources such as berries. Green tea has a substance called EGCG, which is powerful anti-inflammatory. Curcumin, which is found in turmeric. And some good news here is that coffee, dark chocolate, and red wine also have polyphenols. But again, you want to consume these in moderation because too much can have the opposite effect. So, again, if you can get polyphenols, even though they come through supplement form, it's best to get them through diet.
Chuck Gaidica:
Hang on just a minute. I got to get my polyphenol. Hang on.
Dr. Angela Seabright:
Oh yes. Good.
Chuck Gaidica:
Okay. I'm good. It's my polyphenol for the day.
Dr. Angela Seabright:
There you go. You're good. But as far as vitamin supplementation, I think the main thing is if you're looking for a longevity vitamin, if the answer is the vitamin you are deficient in is probably the longevity vitamin for you. Meaning if you go to the doctor and you're deficient in vitamin D, you should really take vitamin D. And a lot of us are deficient in vitamin D, especially if we're not getting our 15 minutes of sunlight per day. B12 is another important vitamin. Many people are deficient, especially if you take my advice and follow a plant-based diet B12 comes from a lot of animal sources. So people who eat a vegan diet or plant-based, they definitely need to supplement with B12. And taking a B complex or B12 or folic acid is really a good idea in general just because those B vitamins do support that DNA methylation that I talked about earlier.
So not a bad idea to make sure that you are taking your B vitamins. And then probiotics always get a lot of buzz. And that goes back to having a healthy gut microbiome, which we know is so important for chronic disease prevention, but also longevity. Our microbiome can change as we age and we acquire various diseases, especially the use of medications like antibiotics and acid reducing medications. And so there may be some benefit in taking probiotics, however, more research is needed to make a definitive recommendation on that. And then there's been a lot of buzz around creatine. So creatine used to be thought of as a gym supplement, but there's some new evidence to support its use as we age because it does help improve muscle mass and strength, which is very important to think about as we're aging.
Chuck Gaidica:
So everything you've basically talked about from creatine to vitamin D to B12, there are the natural sources. None of those things require a script. I mean, we hear about metformin now going from a diabetes or pre-diabetes drug to also having a longevity play, that may be a whole separate episode, but you would need a script for that. Everything you've just talked about, we can partake in.
Dr. Angela Seabright:
Yep, those are available. Just the caveat with supplements is that they are not FDA regulated. So you don't always know that what's in the bottle is what it says on the label or what's advertised. So it's always a good idea to go with reputable brands or brands that are third-party tested, and then you can always talk with your doctor as well.
Chuck Gaidica:
So as the air is getting cooler in Michigan, some people, and rightfully so, may say, I just can't get out and do my 10,000 steps a day when it's 92 degrees outside. Well now we're not going to be 92 degrees, we know that where we're headed. But exercise, that's another one of those switches we can turn on even if we haven't been turning it on as long as we're doing safely. What kind of specific physical activity would you suggest could really optimize a biological age of each of us?
Dr. Angela Seabright:
Yeah. So if you are looking for the fountain of youth, you can find it at your local gym. Because as we age, our muscle mass decreases and when that happens, our metabolism slows down, our bone density or our bone mass decreases which increases our risk for falls, fractures, weakness, and debility. Adults need a minimum, and that's a minimum, of 150 minutes of moderate intensity physical activity per week. So that means you're doing an activity where you can still talk through the activity, but it's kind of hard to hold a conversation. And then you also need to incorporate two days of muscle strengthening or resistance training per week. And if you do that, you're improving your cardio respiratory fitness and then your muscle strength. And that will absolutely slow biological aging.
And I just want to touch a moment on this cardio respiratory fitness. The American Heart Association recently released a that cardio respiratory fitness is potentially a stronger predictor of mortality than established risk factors such as smoking, hypertension, diabetes, and high cholesterol. So that means that people with low cardio respiratory fitness, the people who are sedentary, they're at higher risk not only for cardiovascular disease but mortality in general. So exercise is extremely important. As we age we should also incorporate exercises that work on balance and flexibility.
Chuck Gaidica:
It's interesting. I was working out with a trainer for a little bit and he was having me pick up a barbell with about 40 pounds on it. And he said, "I just want you to stand and walk around with this for a little while". And it does tend to lean. I kept thinking, this is not the kind of exercise I'm thinking about. I'm thinking I need to be lifting something and putting on muscles. And I said, "What is this for?" He said exactly what you said. "This is for your balance". And he said, "Someday, you may have to pick up a grandchild or a five-gallon drum of paint or a suitcase, and you're going to be off balance. You're going to have to compensate. You don't want to fall down". And I thought, I've never really thought of exercise in that context, but it made perfect sense. And it wasn't easy. I mean, as you're doing this and you switch arms, you really feel how it's not like you're standing on a BOSU ball or something, but you just feel a little off-kilter and quickly your body tends to react. And I just thought, man, I never would've assigned any high value to that stuff.
Dr. Angela Seabright:
Right. It's so important to exercise in a way that you can maintain your capacity and your ability to function. And you mentioned the 10,000 steps, and I know some people feel intimidated, like, oh, I have to go to the gym, I have to lift weights. What does that mean? And they could maybe work with a trainer or someone who can show them how to do these exercises safely, but it's also just about movement and being consistently physically active. So whether that's outside gardening or doing yard work. And anecdotally as a kid I had neighbors, they lived well into their 90s, and I can tell you every single day they were outside working on their garden. And it was a win-win because they had the prettiest yard in the neighborhood and they lived a long and full life. And if you look at these blue zones, which are areas around the world with centenarians or people living into their 100s, they are physically active.
Chuck Gaidica:
Yeah, that's awesome stuff. I've been out a lot this summer doing garden and yard work, and my watch has often asked me, have I fallen because I'm doing bark mulch and I'm lifting, and I kind of trip with something and it's like, no, I haven't fallen. But the kind of stuff that I was doing, it implied to me, man, I'm really out there working it because if the watch thinks I took a fall, which I didn't, that means I'm actually doing some good hard work. So I'm with you 100% on that. What about sleeping and how do we start to assign value to how that impacts biological age? And there are a lot of other factors. I don't know how many people in America now either have sleep apnea or won't admit they have it, but sleep is just a key factor in this, isn't it?
Dr. Angela Seabright:
It is. It's one of those important pillars of health. And just like exercise, the health benefits of sleep are well established. And if anybody ever tells you, "You look tired today", it's basically an insult, right? Because we know when we don't sleep or we look tired, we look terrible. So imagine what's going on inside your body when you get poor sleep. Sleep is imperative for every function in your body. And we've had other episodes on sleep and how important it is for your immune system, your memory, your mood, chronic disease prevention. And so really getting less than seven hours of sleep per night on a regular basis, it's not only linked with chronic disease, but it will also accelerate aging. So you got to make sure you get in an adequate amount of sleep and that your sleep is quality sleep as well. Just like you mentioned, sleep conditions can definitely impair our ability to bank those quality z's that we need that are really important for our cell function.
Chuck Gaidica:
And we know that there are these influencers that keep us away from a good night's sleep. It could be your young family, you've got kids. We know how that works. Many of us, we know that if you're a caregiver for an older adult parent or something. So there are a lot of inputs, but there are ways to compensate. The best way in my mind is when our kids were growing up, five kids, soon to be eight grandchildren, just taking a nap with them. I'm not a napper, I'm an awful napper. I just can't nap. But when I've got a little kid that I know I need to make sure he doesn't roll off the bed. I can be out as fast as they are. So it's actually a nice way to compensate, right?
Dr. Angela Seabright:
Yeah. And it's a good way to listen to your body. If you're feeling tired and you decide to take that nap, you listen to your body and hopefully gave your body that little bit of time to recover and rejuvenate.
Chuck Gaidica:
So mental wellness, mental health, stress, how does that impact our biological age?
Dr. Angela Seabright:
Stress is a huge contributor to aging. And I wish it could be as simple as take the stress away. But it's life, there's going to be stressful events, and especially as we age, I think we encounter more stressful events in life. So how stress affects our body, it goes back to inflammation. When we're stressed, what happens physiologically, your heart starts beating faster. So your heart rate goes up, your blood pressure goes up, your muscles get tense, your face gets flushed. And all that happens because of the stress hormones and the cascade of events that happens as they're released during periods of stress. And I think most of us have heard of cortisol, poor cortisol gets a bad rep, but it is a stress hormone and when that is elevated, it not only leads to inflammation but it can raise your blood sugar, it can raise your blood pressure, it can cause weight gain, the list goes on.
So we really need tools to manage our stress. And so exercise is a great tool. Meditation is a great tool. Breathing techniques, all of these are very important to mitigate the damaging effects of chronic stress on our mental health. And just to touch on mental health, our social connections are also very important. There's a body of literature that shows that social connections have a positive effect on our health and longevity, and we saw that during the pandemic where isolation and loneliness were associated with poor outcomes. So connecting with family and friends, having family dinners, seeing family members on a regular basis, it's really protective for your health. And then also just being a helper and having a purpose and having a mission and helping others. That also has a very positive effect on our health and longevity.
Chuck Gaidica:
So much of what you're saying, and I mean, it's blowing my mind how easy it is to understand how you're explaining these things because it's marvelous. A lot of it, though, it's not simple but it's common sense, right? I mean, we probably all know we could exercise a bit more, we shouldn't sit. But then we've got these inputs. I mean, streaming in America, look at the price of a Netflix stock. I mean, it's a thing so that idea of just sitting, instead of sitting you could be lifting weights. You could be doing something and stretching. You could be breathing. So it just seems that there are ways we can work this into our lifestyle. It's just we have to start it. If you don't start something, you can't begin it. So I am encouraged to hear all these great ideas because it just makes me want to think about, well, what else can I start today?
Dr. Angela Seabright:
Right. And it feels like we never have the time, but if you check your screen time on your phone, I think we can all argue that maybe we have some time that we can do this. And it doesn't have to be everything at once. I think just taking little steps can make a big difference.
Chuck Gaidica:
So Dr. Seabright, any other takeaways you want to leave for the audience today?
Dr. Angela Seabright:
Yeah. I think this is just a really interesting topic, and it's not about being anti-aging or avoiding any illness or disease altogether. It's really just about, like we said, being proactive and mindful about what we can do to support our health and improve our quality of life and that health span. You can't live forever, but you can certainly strive to live well.
Chuck Gaidica:
Well, it's great to see you again. Thanks for all the wisdom.
Dr. Angela Seabright:
Thank you.
Chuck Gaidica:
And thank you for listening to a Healthier Michigan podcast. It's brought to you by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan. If you like our show, especially this show, don't forget you can check out a lot of old episodes. We've got 165 other ones that deal with a lot of these topics today, maybe in depth, and all the new episodes as well. Check us out online at ahealthiermichigan.org/podcast. You can leave us reviews or ratings on Apple Podcast or Spotify. You can also follow us on our YouTube channel, Facebook, Instagram or X. You can get all these episodes on your smartphone or tablet. So if you are going to gear up and do some walking or you want to just be home and listen to something as you're walking around the house doing chores, we can be there with you. Be sure to subscribe to us on Apple Podcast, Spotify, YouTube, or your favorite podcast app. I'm Chuck Gaidica. Be well.
