How Leaky Gut Causes Premature Aging
Aging is a natural process.
Over time, as the stem cells we're born with become used up, our body is less and less able to regenerate itself.
It's less and less able to replace damaged or dying cells and our organs slowly stop working, our skin becomes wrinkled and begins to sag, muscle becomes weaker and our energy levels and health deteriorate.
That's natural.
But then there is accelerated aging, premature aging, where this process happens years or decades before it should. And while this is definitely not natural, unfortunately, it’s becoming more and more common.
We're seeing people in their 30's look like they're in their 40s, and people in their 40's look and feel like they're 50.
That's not natural, and it has a cause. Several actually, as covered in the Longevity Series.
But in this article we're going to cover one very key cause directly related to our gut and brought on by harmful bacteria, the diet that feeds them, and Leaky Gut, which it results in.
We’re going to cover exactly what is happening to our cells, what is doing this, how this affects aging and what we can do to prevent it.
This is something that accelerates aging by destroying our cells so that our stem cells are needed to produce new cells more often than they should, thus accelerating our biological aging process and making us “old” before our time.
It’s a word you’ve probably heard, but never gotten a real explanation for: Free Radicals.
WHAT ARE FREE RADICALS & WHAT DO THEY ACTUALLY DO?
We’re going to go very deep here for a minute, then we’ll come back up.
You've heard of or know what an atom is.
Very basically, it contains a particle called a neutron at its center and, circling around it, are other particles called electrons and protons.
Think of it as the solar system: the neutron is the sun, and the electrons and protons are planets orbiting around them. Not exact, but good enough for an example.
Except this solar system can only be seen by the best microscopes.
When atoms join together, they're called molecules. And, in your body (and everywhere else), they come together to make groups of molecules, like amino acids or fatty acids. And together these build up to make larger things like cells.
Okay. So a molecule is small. But it’s what your cells are made of. And it’s very exact. And very stable.
Now, when a cell dies, the molecules that made up that cell are broken apart… And some can be damaged. What that means is, on some, they can lose one of their electrons.
But they need that electron. It makes them stable. Without it they’re off-kilter, and they don’t like that.
So what do they do? Well, they go and steal an electron from another molecule, of course. Maybe one that’s still part of a cell.
But now that one is unstable. So it steals one from another molecule, which then steals one from another, etc, etc.
Okay. This causes trouble in a cell, obviously, as these molecules make up that cell.
It can alter the cell’s membrane, making it less functional.
It can open “holes” in the cell so important things leak out and harmful things get in.
It can prevent or impair cell-signaling (communication) such as with hormones, so messages can’t be delivered to or by the cell.
And it can lead to the cell’s death.
We don't like any of these things.
Luckily, other specific molecules made by our body, and that we get from plants and fruits, can take these free radicals and give them what they want — that missing electron. And they can do so without causing themselves to become free radicals.
These are called antioxidants.
You’ve heard of many of them: Vitamins C, E & A, Zinc, Selenium and Copper, and Flavonoids and Polyphenols (antioxidants in fruits, vegetables, tea, cocoa, and red wine). These are antioxidants.
(Now you know one reason vitamins are so important.)
Also, the Fullerene in our Metal-Free & Chemical Cleanse and the Astaxanthin in our Omega 3 Health are two of the most powerful antioxidants there are.
These help to protect the molecules holding healthy cells together from being harmed by free radicals.
Alright.