It's difficult to differentiate between processes that are inherent to aging and pahtological processes that mainly develop during those ages. Let´s see how they are related.
Today, no one believes that there is a single gene that controls aging or that is responsible for how long a person will live. What is known is that there is a kind of genetic program. Although genes are present, they may not express all the time but do so in defined periods of life, for example, sometime after reaching maturity.
A hallmark of aging is the number of times a cell can divide, replicate, and thus repair damage from wear and tear that has occurred in a tissue. The rate at which this phenomenon occurs is not the same in all tissues; those that are exposed to more intense wear, such as the skin or the mucosa in the digestive tract, will require more frequent division.
The explanation of why the number of divisions is limited was found years ago by Dr. Calvin Harley, who discovered that old cells have shorter chromosomes. The terminal portion of the chromosomes is known as telomeres. With each cell division, they get shorter, until a point is reached where it is not possible to do so, and the cell is then unable to divide.
Despite this, the death of most people occurs long before all the potential for division has been exhausted. In fact, cells whose telomeres no longer allow new divisions can continue to live, but they begin to show alterations in their normal functioning, and this is not a consequence of telomere shortening, but it can be a consequence of alterations present in other segments of DNA.
Every day our DNA suffers from 10,000 base changes (mutations), and free radicals are responsible for these alterations. The vast majority of these changes are automatically repaired, but some are not.
The older the age, the greater the number of free radicals, and the great damage they can cause to biomolecules such as DNA, to the organs and tissues of our body, is well known. The external membranes of cells, due to their high lipid content, are especially susceptible.
This increase in free radicals that is recorded after maturity is not related to an increase in metabolic processes, that is, it is not about a greater internal generation of free radicals, it could even be slightly lower. What happens is that, on the one hand, there is a cumulative effect of environmental factors, external, bad habits (imagine a person who has been smoking for 30 years); and on the other, the production of our internal antioxidant defenses decreases with age.
Science has shown how a number of chronic degenerative diseases that manifest with age have, within their etiological factors, the presence of free radicals. Atherosclerosis, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, Type 2 Diabetes, and many others are among them.
Would antioxidants have any effect on these processes? The answer to this question is a resounding YES! Which has been widely demonstrated by science. To begin with, we have the well-known "blue zones" in the world, those towns and regions where the population on average reaches a longevity of 100 years, with very little presence of chronic degenerative diseases, and enviable and preserved cognitive abilities.
Despite being located at very different latitudes among various countries, the populations of the blue zones share some common factors among themselves, the most important being... the diet. The consumption of foods rich in antioxidants is a common characteristic among the long-lived inhabitants of the blue zones.
But evidence has also been found in laboratories and with experimental models. There is the classic experiment conducted with gerbils placed in mazes, studying their movements to reach their food. Old gerbils make on average twice as many mistakes and errors as younger individuals; but after receiving antioxidant supplements for two weeks, their performance was equal to that of the young.
The hectic life found in our Western cultures exposes us to a number of polluting factors that harm our oxidative balance: diets with ultra-processed foods with very little or no antioxidants, additives, environmental pollution, etc.
To overcome this disadvantage and help restore our internal balance, we must consider supplementing our daily diet with a good antioxidant, as not all are equal. They differ in their antioxidative capacity, and in the property of being able to cross barriers and membranes such as the blood-brain barrier, in order to protect all our organs.
GranaGard® is a potent natural antioxidant extracted from pomegranate seed oil, which through nanotechnology has been formulated in a presentation that allows it to cross all barriers and membranes.
Do not let free radicals and oxidative stress steal years of life from you... Protect yourself now with GranaGard®.