Dr Sinclair – World’s #1 Anti Aging Expert – Reveals His Longevity Protocol

Dr Sinclair – World’s #1 Anti Aging Expert – Reveals His Longevity Protocol Graphic © herbshealthhappiness.com
DNA Illustration: Pixabay (PD)

The Work Of Dr. Sinclair

Dr. David Sinclair is a Harvard professor in the Department of Genetics and is the co-director of the Paul F. Glenn Center for Biology of Aging Research. His claim to fame is his work on aging and genetics, specifically understanding why we age and how to slow or stop the effects of aging. ^[1] Veritasium, a popular science and education channel on Youtube, was able to interview Dr. Sinclair and ask him all about his work on anti-aging.

What’s most interesting is Sinclair’s stance that aging is not “essential” and may be able to be halted or even reversed. This is illustrated with the example of the moon jellyfish and how it is known as “immortal”. The fictional character Deadpool, known for his regenerative powers, has been likened to this animal by National Geographic. ^[2] The moon jellyfish is not only known for its ability to regenerate lost body parts, but also it’s ability to turn back the clock from its medusa stage – the stage with tentacles we are most familiar with – to its younger, polyp stage. According to Lisenkova, the moon jellyfish is the only known animal that is able to reverse its life cycle. ^[3]

Dr. Sinclair’s anti-aging doctrine begins with the epigenome, the chemical compounds that surround our genome or genetic material and give it structure and function. ^[4] In layman’s terms, the epigenome helps cells remember their function, and Dr. Sinclair’s theory is that aging is caused by damage to the epigenome and loss of epigenomic information. ^[5] When the epigenome is damaged, cells begin to forget their function, which is why as we age, we often see hair growing in odd places all over our body or our eyesight worsening – Dr. Sinclair believes this our body’s cells forgetting they are skin cells or retina cells, causing various morbidities. This is part and parcel with epigenetics, which tackles the way the epigenome turns parts on and off to give cells their function. ^[6]

What Causes Aging?

DNA damage is largely believed to be the cause of aging – damage to both the epigenome and the genome. ^[7] Damage to genetic material causes the cell to become unstable, resulting in aging and susceptibility to disease. Dr. Sinclair reports that one of the biggest causes of DNA damage is sun exposure, which causes breaks in DNA and creates DNA lesions. ^[8] While sunlight plays an important role in the production of vitamin D, prolonged exposure is detrimental and can accelerate aging – especially of the skin.

Dr. Sinclair talks about the DNA clock, which is the DNA methylome or the areas in DNA where methylation or alteration occurs, as markers of aging. ^[9][10] He hypothesizes that these areas of methylation depicts how biologically old the body is. He stresses that there is a difference between our age and how old, biologically, our body really is. So if damage to our epigenome and genetic material causes aging, is there a way we can reverse it?

The Yamanaka Factors

In his TED talk, Dr. Sinclair discusses the ways in which we can reverse aging, or rather, prolong the “healthspan” of our life. He talks about Yamanaka factors, or a group of protein transcription factors studied by Dr. Shinya Yamanaka discovered to be able to “reset” the epigenome, wiping out DNA methylation and turning them back into stem cells. ^[11] Stem cells are undifferentiated cells from which the different kinds of cells the body grow or “stem” from. However, the use of all four factors to reverse aging would result in the growth of tumors, because one of the factors is actually an oncogene, which promotes cell proliferation. ^[12] So what did Dr. Sinclair do?

In one of the studies conducted by Dr. Sinclair in Harvard, three of the four Yamanaka factors were injected into the retina of aged mice, biologically resetting the retina cells and restoring vision. ^[13] This gives hope that these factors could be used to battle different conditions caused by aging, not just vision problems.

Aside from this kind of scientific breakthrough, what else can we do to turn back our biological clock?

Dr. Sinclair gives a few tips to staying biologically young in an interview with Tom Bilyeu of Health Theory, a popular channel on Youtube featuring inspirational people. His longevity protocol is based on keeping the body on its toes, deliberately inducing a certain level of stress in order to keep our cells focused on repairing and protecting the epigenome.

Dr. Sinclair’s Longevity Protocol

1. NMN

First off is NMN or nicotinamide mononucleotide, which is a precusor to NAD (nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide), a member of the Sirtuin family. Sirtuins are responsible for metabolic regulation and stress response in the body. ^[14] Grabowska, et. al. in 2017 reported that sirtuins could hold the key in slowing down the ageing process by regulating DNA repair, controlling inflammation, and providing antioxidative defense to DNA damage. ^[15] Taking NMN can boost NAD, which higher levels of can improve insulin sensitivity, reverse cellular dysfunction, and boost our lifespan. ^[16] NMN can be bought as a supplement, usually as capsules or powder forms.

2. Metformin

Dr. Sinclair admits that taking metformin is a controversial recommendation, because it is typically used to treat prediabetics and diabetics by lowering blood sugar. However, novel uses for this drug include anti-aging therapy, because of its ability to improve insulin sensitivity by activating certain metabolic pathways in the body. ^[17][18] Studies have even shown how metformin can attenuate systemic inflammation, reducing the risk of inflammation-associated diseases attributed to aging. ^[19]

3. Calorie And Protein Restriction And Intermittent Fasting

Another way to boost NAD levels in the body is caloric restriction and intermittent fasting. Li reports that caloric restriction in aging is one of the most effective ways to extend the lifespan in different animal models. ^[20] Dr. Sinclair explains that this can also be due to increased mTOR receptors in the body, which is associated with increased protein intake. mTOR receptors detect amino acids from the food we eat, and too many amino acids cause our cells to focus on growing and proliferation instead of protecting and repairing, which is vital for anti-aging. ^[21]

4. Avoiding Exposure To The Sun And Radiation From X-Rays Or CT Scans

Too much exposure to the sun, as previously mentioned, can cause DNA damage and breakage, speeding up the aging process. In some cases, it can even lead to the development of certain skin cancers. ^[22] If you do need to go out in the sun, make sure to wear enough sunscreen and reapply as necessary to protect your skin.

5. Resveratrol

Dr. Sinclair also talks about resveratrol, a kind of polyphenol that has been linked to anti-aging. Different studies have focused on the antioxidant and anti-aging benefits of polyphenols, being able to reduce the risk of heart disease, cancer, and other ailments. ^[23] Reservatrol in particular is able to mitigate the effect of aging by reducing inflammation, oxidative stress, and telomere attrition. Telomere attrition or the shortening of telomeres (found at the end of our chromosomal DNA), is one the hallmarks of aging and can happen as the cell replicates as we age. ^[24]

6. Exercise

Dr. Sinclair shares that he exercises about 4 hours continuously on the weekends. While exercise has plenty of benefits, especially in preventing cardiovascular disease, it is a known method to attenuate aging. Garatachea, et. al. found that higher levels of moderate to vigorous exercise more than or equal to 450 minutes a week (well above the AHA recommendations of 150 minutes) were associated with longer life expectancy. ^[25]

7. Hot And Cold Therapy

Body temperature is another factor than influences aging, and Dr. Sinclair actually practices hot and cold exposure therapy after exercising as part of his longevity regimen. He spends 15 minutes in 150 degrees Fahrenheit then dunks himself a few times in cold water with a temperature of less than 4 degrees. He explains that is another method to keep our cells in their fight or flight state, which can potentially trigger their longevity genes, or the “repeat and protect” genes. However, the use of extreme temperature therapy is still something that needs to be studied further. ^[26]

With over 1 billion people in the world over the age of 60, aging is a global problem – and the search for the ever elusive (literal or figurative) fountain of youth is a continuous struggle. However, with many scientific discoveries involving our genetic make-up, maybe we can focus less on the burden of growing older and more on prolonging the healthy lifespan and improving our quality of life.