“Sleep” hormone reawakens your youth gene

You could be 80 years old and feel like a teenager.
Or you could be in your 30s and feel like you have one foot in the grave.
The secret to feeling young is how well your body “talks” to your telomeres.
In doing research for my upcoming book on how to benefit from telomere biology, I’ve discovered an interesting fact. Telomeres have receptors that communicate with your hormones. They talk to each other.
That’s important because your hormones and your telomeres affect aging more than anything else. If they have “good” conversations you feel (and stay) young. If they have “bad” conversations you can age more quickly than your chronological age.
Youthful hormone levels tell telomeres, “We’re still young and strong! Continue to rebuild and revitalize these cells.”
The opposite happens when you have too little of a specific hormone. That signals the telomere that you’re “old.” Repair and maintenance work slows down. The cell takes on older, slower and less active behavior.
One of the most remarkable examples of this is the way the “sleep” hormone melatonin affects aging and telomeres.
Many studies show that melatonin’s antioxidant power prevents telomeres from shortening.1
But one group of researchers was looking into using melatonin for eye health. They found that melatonin protected the eyes by increasing telomerase, the enzyme that rebuilds telomeres.2
Another study also looked at melatonin’s role in activating telomerase. They divided 37 rat...

Source: Al Sears, MD Natural Remedies - January 12, 2015 Category: Complementary Medicine Authors: Dr. Al Sears Tags: Anti-Aging Source Type: news