The problem with the term “anti-ageing” is that it implies a sense of fear, and even anger, towards the ageing process. Everyone gets old, and everyone fears the idea of getting old. You want to feel energetic, vital and healthy, but ageing sounds like the opposite of that wellness ideal. This may be why the global anti-ageing industry is expected to exceed $290 billion by the year 2015 – we hate the thought of ageing, and will do anything to stop it.
According to Dr Aubrey de Grey, a biomedical gerontologist (study of old age) from Cambridge, who is one of the leading figures in the field of ageing, your body is like a machine or a car. It tolerates a certain amount of damage, and can be repaired every once in a while, but the damage accumulates over the years and it ceases to function as it once was. Basically, you are designed to have an expiry date – but that date is not set in stone.
Last year, researchers at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York undertook a study, published in the journal Nature, which found the answer to delaying the ageing process in a chemical in your body called NF-kB. You produce this chemical in the hypothalamus of your brain, which is where you also regulate your hormones, emotions and food intake. When NF-kB started to become more active in mice, the animals started to show signs of ageing. When the chemical was suppressed, on the other hand, the mice started to act more youthful.
However, research shows that having a positive outlook on ageing can extend life by up to 7.5 years. So, all that age fear-mongering from the anti-ageing beauty industry and the media is actually undoing all the good work that their products might achieve for your wellbeing. In his book The Blue Zones, Dan Buettner observed behaviours and habits from people who lived past 100 years, and yet still remained to be vibrant and live an active life. Here are the keys to living longer (and happier) that he discovered:
1. Keep ties with families and the community
2. Maintain a strong sense of purpose
3. Consume a densely vegetarian diet
4. Maintain a positive outlook on life
