Good news to older adults: regular exercise with good nutrition slows down aging

Good news to older adults: It’s not too late to start exercise with a good nutrition program, you may be as young as young people in their 20s (with respect to muscle NAD+, energy metabolism).

Top science journal “Nature” recently (February 17, 2022) reported:

“Furthermore, we found that in the older adults, NAD+ muscle abundance positively correlated with muscle and mitochondrial health parameters. Taken together, these results show that NAD+ is lower in aging human muscle and that NAD+ abundance is directly associated with the healthy aging state of the individual.”

These researchers found that NAD+ is one of the most depleted metabolites with age, as it declines significantly with age. Among older adults who maintained exercise and good nutrition, their (60-85 years of age) NAD+ levels remained normal, even comparable to those of younger adults (in their 20s). This is very encouraging and interesting in the field of anti-aging medicine. This is yet another piece of evidence supporting the importance of mitochondrial energy metabolism in aging. Staying active with good nutrition, especially nutrients that support mitochondria and energy metabolism, is essential for anti-aging.

They also found that these metabolic changes that occur with aging can be reversed by exercise a nd nutrition. This is great for seniors: it’s not too late to start exercising and improve nutrition! Another important takeaway from this study is that glutathione is in high demand within cells as we age. Therefore, supplementing with glutathione or the nutrients used to produce glutathione is crucial. Unfortunately, ordinary glutathione is poorly absorbed orally, with the exception of liposomal glutathione, which is highly absorbed by the gastrointestinal tract. Glutathione precursors such as NAC are commonly used to increase intracellular glutathione levels.

Ref:

Janssens, GE, Grevendonk, L., Perez, RZ et al. Healthy aging and muscle function are positively associated with NAD+ abundance in humans. Nat Aging (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43587-022-00174 -3

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