How to biologically reverse your age?

Just because the whole world is aging, doesn’t mean you also have to. Only 25% of how you age depends on your genetics, the rest 75% depends completely on your lifestyle & choices.

Aging is of two types- Chronological age, which is how many birthdays you’ve had & Biological age, which is determined by knowing the total wear & tear of your body cells.

You can’t change the chronological age, but you most certainly can trick your body organs into feeling very active, fresh & young which results in decreasing the overall biological age of the body.

I am going to cover everything here category-wise, which will help you age backwards & will make you look at least 8-10 years younger on the outside. Set your habits on them strictly if you really wish for changes.

Everything is science-backed & I’ll try to put it in the easiest way possible for you to understand in a non-overwhelming way. Let’s go

How to reverse your biological age?

By gripping these 6 categories.

• • Food
  • Supplements
  • Fasting
  • Exercises
  • Skincare
  • Sleep

Before moving towards that, let me tell you the big outline of things that directly impact human biological aging & need to be altered to slow down the aging process. All the 6 categories mentioned below are written considering that goal.

• • Increase the Stem cells in the body
  • Increase the NAD levels of the body
  • Repair the Mitochondria damage
  • Removal of Molecular & extracellular waste in the body

Let’s begin with the categories

Food

One of the crucial key points which decide the speed of your aging process is what food you put in your mouth every single day. Indulge in foods with more protein, whole carbs & healthy fats. FYI: Not including any steroids or non-vegetarian food items.

Let’s see the do’s & don’ts of food items to slow down your biological age.

First, Do’s- Include these food items in your diet as much as you can.

• • Unsweetened Macadamia nut milk/ Almond milk/ unpasteurized fresh cow milk unpasteurized 

• • Macadamia nuts, Brazil nuts, Walnuts, Pecan, Goji berries & almonds

• • Flax seeds, hemp seeds, pumpkin seeds, chia seeds- 1 tsp a day

• • Raw Cocoa powder or 1 piece of at least 90% dark chocolate- 1tsp a day

• • The spices – rosemary, mint, thyme, curry leaves, turmeric, cayenne, ginger, garlic, fennel, cumin, sunflower lecithin & cinnamon

• • Balsamic vinegar & apple cider vinegar

• • Olive oil for cooking

• • Low sugar fruits- all kinds of berries, cherries, cara cara oranges, green apples & pomegranate juice.

• • Non starchy vegetables- Broccoli, mushrooms, kale, cauliflower, asparagus, beetroot, grape tomatoes, arugula, collard greens, brussels sprouts, sweet potatoes, radish, cilantro, avocado, celery, spinach lemons.

• • Start the day with Vegetable juice which is made of carrots, beets, celery, wild apples & lime.

• • Eat the Lowest glycemic index foods like all lentils especially the black lentil, chickpeas, beans, kidney beans, peas & peanuts (soak them overnight).

• • A glass of buttermilk made with Greek yogurt.

• • Limit the portion sizes of each meal. Put the plate down when you feel 80% full.

Don’ts – If you are here to reverse aging, don’t look at these items.

• • Watch out for refined sugar, it kills slowly!

• • Completely cut down on cigarettes.

• • Limit the alcohol to 1 glass maximum occasionally & for the wine, be specific to organic biodynamic wine to avoid pesticides and herbicides.

• • Avoid all trans fats like desserts made with white refined flour.

• • Stay far away from deep-fried foods

• • Don’t eat too big portion sizes.

• • Stop trying FAD diets every now & then. Stick to a healthy sustainable food lifestyle. Don’t confuse the body & fluctuate the hormones.

Supplements

The list of supplements I will mention are all tested & have shown the results for anti-aging benefits. They trick the organs into staying & feeling 8-10 years youthful than the chronological age.

Recap. All the Supplements I mention will work to increase these 4 major levels in the body to slow down human’s biological age.

• • Increase the Stem cells in the body
  • Increase the NAD levels of the body
  • Repair the Mitochondria damage
  • Removal of Molecular & extracellular waste in the body

Let’s begin,

• • Resveratrol
  • Turmeric
  • Chlorella
  • Colostrum
  • Aloe Vera
  • Coffee berry fruit extract
  • Moringa
  • Vitamin D3
  • Vitamin B3
  • Glutathione
  • Omega 3 fatty acids or Fish Oil
  • Marine Phytoplankton
  • Astragalus
  • Hyaluronic acid
  • Nicotinamide riboside
  • Ashwagandha
  • Zinc
  • Acarbose
  • DHEA
  • Vitamin C
  • Pau d’ Arco bark tea
  • L-Tyrosine
  • Methyl Folate + B12
  • Saffron
  • Cocoa flavanols
  • Pea protein
  • Taurine
  • Vitamin E
  • Collagen peptides

Fasting

Fasting is one of the fastest ways to boost your NAD levels, repair the mitochondria, increase stem cells & clean the extracellular waste from the body all at the same time which results in decreasing the biological age of a human.

Scientists found that if you feed animals less, they live longer & so does it apply to humans as well.

You can either do intermittent fasting where you can eat any 8 hours you want & no eating for straight up 16 hours or,

One of the other powerful strategies is caloric restrictions. You can figure out your per-day minimum calorie need from a nutritionist & stick to that persistently every day.

& The last option is, depending on your will & body, full-day fasting at least 4 times a month. Fasting is like servicing an old car, recharged & renewed every single time. It gives your organs a break from eating, chewing, digesting, and excreting a big load of food the whole day. 

The body gets time to rejuvenate & clean all the accumulated toxins & forces the cells into processes to do that are generally not performed in the presence of food every day. The absence of glucose forces cells to take energy from old, stored carbs & fats & hence you lose weight.

Exercises

Exercising every day boosts NAD levels, repairs mitochondrial damage & increases stem cells. Regular exercise is one of the crucial key points for you to stay young.

Apart from that, a good workout can lift your depression, anxiety & low mood by releasing a chemical called Endorphins. There are millions of people who have fought back against depression only with the help of everyday exercise.

Exercises that are tested & have shown tremendous results in the aging sector specifically are High-intensity workouts, Aerobic exercises, Meditation & Hikes.

To be more precise, Stretching, HIIT workouts, Boot camps, Heavy weightlifting, Burpees, Squat & jump, Pushups, Planks, and jumping rope, always take out time to do a minimum of 10 min meditation daily for your overall well-being & go out on hikes with your family or friends on weekends as a fun sport.

Even a few minutes of meditation will help you with stress reduction & calm brain. Stress can speed up the aging process by shortening the length of DNA strands. So, start the day with either jogging or meditation to induce happy hormones & stop the DNA damage.

Being physically active will improve your cholesterol levels, brain health, fight off heart disease, decrease the risk of obesity & help you stay in check with problems like diabetes, blood sugar & high blood pressure.

Every day, reserve 1 hour from the 1st half of your day for any of these forms of exercises to take the day on with more motivation, power & some sweat!

Skincare

The routine should include- Cleanser, Toner, Serums, Moisturizer, and Sunscreen. Exfoliations- once a week, Face masks- twice a week

Now, let’s talk about ingredients that really make a difference.

First serums.

Reverse aging with the right skin care. You need something which can go deep into the layers of your skin & work from within, eliminating all dark dead cells & renewing new ones at double speed. Retinol is your savior for reverse aging!

So, it comes from the family of Retinoids which are all derivatives of Vitamin A & work under the layers of the skin building collagen production of the skin, treating acne & acne lesions & are prescribed for treating hyperpigmentation as well.

Out of the whole family of Retinoids, Tretinoin & Tazarotene are the most effective & potent ones for treating premature aging issues. FYI: Only use it with complete knowledge first, go through my article on retinol to know how to use it correctly so that it doesn’t backfire on your skin. Apply it only at night-time.

Product suggestions- Tretinoin & Tazarotene both need to be prescribed by a board-certified dermatologist. Don’t use retinoids if you’re pregnant or nursing.

Another ingredient that is loaded with antioxidants & works great for removing the dull cells from the skin, making the complexion overall bright & even-toned is Vitamin C. You can use it every day in the morning with sunscreen for better results. Again, read the article on Vitamin C to know its benefits in depth.

Product suggestions– Klair’s brand has the best quality pure vitamin C serum.

Another beautiful ingredient is Hyaluronic acid. It holds 1000 times more weight in water making the skin look dewy & plump. Hyaluronic acid is already present in your body, especially in your eyes & joints. With growing age, it starts getting depleted in your system. 

So, when you apply it on the skin for its hydrating benefits, the chances of any allergic reactions or side effects are much less compared to any other cosmetic ingredient. You can apply it at any time of the day & it gels up with all the ingredients.

Product suggestions- The Ordinary brand has superb Hyaluronic acid

Moisturizers

Never skip a moisturizer. Be it whatever skin type you are. Dry skin tends to develop wrinkles & fine lines rapidly so it keeps it moisturized & hydrated always.

Choose a moisturizer that is

• • non-comedogenic & doesn’t block your pores.  
  • doesn’t contain any fragrance or alcohol.
  • have ingredients like ceramides, hyaluronic acid, or niacinamide in it.  

Product suggestions- La Roche Posay is a non-comedogenic fragrance-free quality brand.

Sunscreens

Yeah, UV radiations screw the NAD levels badly. It is one of the leading causes of premature aging, especially if you’re in the sun between 11- 4 PM, that’s when the radiation is at its peak.

I know you get worried about the vitamin D levels of the body but limit your time in the sun before 11 AM or after 4 PM & That too for 15 minutes or so & you always have supplements if you get deficient.

On an everyday basis, make a strict habit of wearing sunscreen with SPF 30-50. It is the last step in your skincare routine & for it to be effective the whole day, you’d have to reapply it every 2 hours.

Buy a non-comedogenic one & it can be a physical or chemical sunscreen. Whatever you are comfortable wearing & reapplying every day. For complete detailed information on physical vs chemical sunscreen, you can check out my article.

Product suggestions – La Roche Posay with niacinamide+ ceramides, Cetaphil, Cereve, Aveeno, and Eucerin all are fragrance-free, great quality brands.

Exfoliations

We need something that can go deep into your skin layers & exfoliate from within by eliminating aging cells, debris & extra oil. 

That’s where AHA+BHA peels or glycolic acid peels come from into the picture. They increase the cellular turnover of your skin by double speed. Just remember to not use the peel more than what the time says on it & use it at a distance from the eyes once a week.

Product suggestions- The ordinary peeling solution is superb. A patch test before applying on the face directly is highly recommended. Don’t use it if you’re pregnant or have any fresh cuts or scars.

Eye cream

Eye cream isn’t necessary at all because your moisturizer works for eyes as well but it’s just something additional you can do if you wish to.

So, the eyes have the thinnest skin on the face & the effect of your bad lifestyle or growing age can be seen first under the eyes. Increasing screen time on laptops, phones & TVs is also adding a lot of strain on the eyes. Put a blue light protector on the phones & your screens if you can, to block the harmful rays.

& Lastly, use an eye cream if you see your eye bags or dark circles are getting dominant. Choose eye products that contain ingredients like retinol, green tea, algae, caffeine, or EGCG in the eye cream.

Under the eyes is a pretty sensitive area, so pick an eye cream with no-nonsense ingredients like parabens, fragrances, or alcohol for the safety of your eyes. 

General tips for skin

• • No makeup wipes pls, they spread the bacteria & gunk on the entire face. Unlike cleansers, they are not formulated to thoroughly clean the face. 

• • Change the bedding every week

• • Shift from towels to face tissues

• • Don’t ever go to bed without washing your face.

• • If you’re waxing the delicate skin on the face, pls shift to harmless face trimmers.

• • You can once every three months take a facial from a board-certified dermatologist like a hydra facial or an oxygen facial depending on what your skin needs. Your dermatologist will be better able to tell you that.

• • Try ice therapy at home to tighten the skin & minimize the pores. Fill the bowl with ice & dunk your face for a few seconds. Do it for a total of 10 mins once a week.

• • Be strict with your skincare regimen for the results.

• • Lastly, all the skincare I mentioned doesn’t have to be expensive for it to be effective. What matters is the ingredients inside it, not the packaging. So, the brands like The Ordinary, The Inkey List, La Roche Posay, Cetaphil, Cereve, Aveeno & Vanicream does a pretty good job with their products to be safe, gentle & effective for everyone to use.

Sleep

When we sleep, our body gets this much-needed break of say 7-8 hours to fix any free radical damage or inflammation, sleep floods our body with hormones, calms down the cortisol levels and nervous system & induces a lot of collagen production in the body that’s why we wake up with altered body issues & supple skin.

Now, when you don’t sleep enough, your body can’t do any of those functions & you start developing either dark circles, dehydrated sunken eyes, dull skin, or internal issues like heart disease, bad immune system, diabetes, or even cancer.

According to UCLA research, even one night of not sleeping ages your cells, especially in adults.

Hence,

• • get at least 7- 8 hours of sound sleep every night in an entirely blacked-out room.

• • Try to sleep & wake up every night at the same time

• • Make sure the temperature of the room doesn’t interrupt your sleep. Set it perfectly according to your body’s needs.

• • There shouldn’t be any blue lights from the laptops or phones during those 8 hours.

I hope the article helps you. Love~ Beauty Stroll

References