Is Elysium Health Basis the New Fountain of Youth?

Is Elysium Health Basis the New Fountain of Youth?

Humanity has been searching for a remedy to fight the onset of aging since Ponce de León. In an industry historically filled with snake oil salesmen, it’s difficult to trust anyone pitching a drug promising to curtail the inevitable effects of father time. Now a group of Nobel laureates and recognized scientists are putting their name behind a supplement, called the Elysium Health Basis, which they believe can slow the process.

A True Anti-Aging Supplement

Elysium Health Basis is a daily supplement that combines two precursors to NAD+, a coenzyme that fights inflammation, disease, and physiological decline. NAD+ levels decrease as we age, especially in the skin and brain. This co-enzyme is known to help repair DNA and activate Sirtuin, or SIRT enzymes, known to play a role in a number of bodily functions ranging from circadian rhythm, to metabolism, and fat storage.

There are currently a number of supplements out there, like Niagen, that contain nicotinamide riboside, NR, the precursor to NAD+. These supplements promise to activate this coenzyme and are the result of the latest scientific discoveries that will supposedly help us achieve vitality or at least extend the healthy period of your life.

The Elysium Health Basis adds another NAD+ precursor known as pterosilbene (PT) to its mix, which is a derivative of reservatrol, a phenol often recognized in the health supplement world due to its natural prominence in red wine.

These two simple ingredients are the primary components of the Elysium Health Basis supplement that is backed by seven Nobel Laureates and 13 leading names in science and medicine; all of whom are backing a product with ingredients found in blueberries and milk. But have they really discovered an effective anti-aging drug or just another devious nostrum?

Advances in Longevity

Telomere Supplements

One of the more profound understandings recently made in aging involves telomeres, or the caps on the ends of our chromosomes that begin to unravel and shorten as we age.

With only a few exceptions, the cells in our bodies divide, replicate, and replace themselves on a regular basis throughout our lives. As this happens our telomeres grow progressively smaller and once they get too small, our cells start dying.

Skin cells participate in this process of replication and replacement every few weeks, so they are most susceptible to shortening telomeres – one of the reasons why aging can be so distinct in our appearance.

The good news is that scientists have pinpointed an enzyme called telomerase, that mitigates this process. Telomerase slows this decaying process and can potentially even lengthen telomeres to function as if they were younger.

But messing with telomerase is tricky, too much can give immortality to certain cancer cells and increase the likelihood of getting cancer, while too little telomerase can leave one susceptible to getting cancer by diminishing that which allows our cells to regenerate; it’s a fine line.

 

shortened telomeres

 

Some of the factors that were found to be beneficial to telomeres were commonly known healthy routines like antioxidants, exercise, and reduced exposure to harmful agents like carcinogens and stress.

Though, one of the bigger takeaways was that a calorie restricted diet positively impacted the life of telomeres. This concept had already been proven in rodents, whose lifespan had been shown to increase by as much as 66 percent in studies involving calorie restriction or CR.

Before founding Elysium Health, Leonard Guarente studied the effects of CR on sirtuin enzymes in relation to these studies showing longevity in rodents. Sirtuin enzymes act as nutrient sensing regulators in the body’s metabolic system.

This eventually led to the discovery of reservatrol, an antioxidant found in the skin of grapes that has a multitude of health benefits. Reservatrol happens to activate these sirtuin enzymes that are necessary for longevity, but are typically only activated when the body experiences CR.

What Guarente discovered was that this process tricks the body into thinking that it is in starvation mode. The same concept of metabolic austerity leading to cellular longevity was found in response to an exotic bacterium found on Easter Island known as rapamycin.

But drinking red wine alone won’t give you a large enough dose unless you drink liters of it, or happen to live in France. And the negative impact of drinking that much wine will probably cancel out the positive effects.

 

telomeres in aging

 

Guarente’s supplement contains a highly condensed source of reservatrol, so you can activate those sirtuin enzymes without consuming large quantities of alcohol. This, combined with NAD+ activators, is the Nobel laureate backed key to longevity.

One thing that lends credibility to the Elysium Health Basis is that it is in the process of undergoing a clinical study on 120 human subjects, a process that is not required by the FDA to allow a supplement on the market.

Elysium originally skipped the FDA-approval process by marketing the product as an aging supplement. Since age isn’t a disease, the FDA doesn’t regulate supplements that claim to treat it.

One might also look at the dietary and lifestyle habits of those who live in Blue Zones, areas of longevity that defy global and national statistics. These diets often include high concentrations of polyphenols containing reservatrol.

At $50 for a month’s supply, the Elysium Health Basis isn’t cheap, but if it could be definitively shown to improve health or longevity it may be worth it. Some in this field of study have said that instead of focusing on an extended lifetime, the focus of these drugs should be on extending the healthy part of your life. That sounds more feasible.

Telomeres: The Fountain of Youth


Telomerase May Be The Secret to Anti-Aging

Telomerase May Be The Secret to Anti-Aging

Dr. Bruce Lipton invites us to consider this: “contained within our bodies is what so many have studied, sought after, and dreamed about—the fountain of youth.”

What he’s talking about are telomeres; sections of DNA found at the end of each chromosome that can offer us insight into how we can “create a long-lived biology,” filled with wellness and meaning.

Telomeres And The Genetics of Aging

The science of genetics was formed in large part because of the human need to grapple with a limited lifespan. Central to this discussion is the role telomeres play in understanding the genetic coding of our aging. Telomeres have two essential functions:

  • To allow DNA to be replicated without losing genetic information 
  • To prevent the double helix of DNA from unraveling

The process of DNA replication involves a shortening of our chromosomes from their original version, reducing the length of the original DNA molecule. This process invariably leads to aging, depression, and disease.

The role of the telomere is to extend that replication time by adding a piece of DNA at the end of the strand that doesn’t code for anything and acts as a mechanism to prevent the degradation, or unwinding, of the double helix structure. 

Lipton uses the analogy of shoelaces to bring the concept of telomeres to life. At the end of shoelaces are little plastic caps known as “aglets,” which make the process of lacing shoes simple and fluid, while holding the strands of the shoelace material together. And the same concept can be applied to the telomeres at the ends of our chromosomes.

While the role telomeres play in retaining the integrity of a DNA strand is important, Lipton stresses they have an even more important function—telomeres form an extension of the DNA that allows for replication without affecting the gene programs, allowing for an extended amount of divisions before running out; the implication of this on our longevity is profound.

For many years, it was believed the lifespan of an organism was directly proportional to how many times a cell can divide before losing the telomere extensions and cutting into the DNA program. 

Leonard Hayflick, a scientist in the 1960s calculated that a human could live approximately 90 years before telomeres were lost. However, in 1984, research scientist Elizabeth Blackburn made a truly life-changing and life-extending revelation with the discovery of the enzyme telomerase, which extends telomere length. Her discovery made an exciting impact on our understanding of the human lifespan. 

But as interesting as Dr. Blackburn’s discovery was, the enzyme’s ability to be activated or inhibited is dependent upon a number of external factors. The inhibition of telomerase can be caused by improper nutrition, childhood abuse and neglect, domestic violence, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), as well as a lack of self-love, love from others, and life purpose—factors that can all have a negative impact on our lifespan.

Read Article

More In Alternative Health

Our unique blend of yoga, meditation, personal transformation, and alternative healing content is designed for those seeking to not just enhance their physical, spiritual, and intellectual capabilities, but to fuse them in the knowledge that the whole is always greater than the sum of its parts.


Use the same account and membership for TV, desktop, and all mobile devices. Plus you can download videos to your device to watch offline later.

Desktop, laptop, tablet, phone devices with Gaia content on screens

Discover what Gaia has to offer.

The video streaming platform exploring Alternative Health, and Longevity

Testing message will be here

Discover what Gaia has to offer.

Testing message will be here