Why Do We Age?

What makes us grow old – and how do we STOP IT?


As it turns out, there are a few things we can do to slow and even stop the process of aging in our bodies. The first thing to know is that there are two kinds of aging in the body: chronological and biological. Chronological age is how many years you've actually been around. But biological age is different. This shows how young your tissues are compared to how they were in years past, or compared to other people of the same age.

The good news is that living a long healthy life is more about biological age, and this is something you have some control over. You may not be about to stop he real clock, but scientists are agreeing more and more that biological age can be slowed, stopped and even reversed for many people! For details about the benefits of increased HGH in the body, see article The benefits of Human Growth Hormone therapy.

But first we need to know what makes us age biologically, and that is the question that scientists have been working on answering.  Here are the most common general groups of aging theories, so you know what you're up against.

It's all about stress!

This theory tells us that the everyday punishment that our bodies take from dealing with life results in disturbances to our hormones, which leads to damaged cells.

This is a complex process, but a simplified version looks like this:

The hypothalamus (a gland in your head) tells the other glands in your body what to do. It is like the 'Boss of All Glands". It directs the release of all hormones form various other glands, when to release and how much. With time, this gland becomes less accurate, leading to 'off' hormone levels within the body, causing damage to tissues.

Some researchers blame the stress hormone known as cortisol, which is the only hormone that increases with age – all other hormones decrease with age. Cortisol actually does damage to the hypothalamus, which causes more stress to he body, leading to higher levels of cortisol. It's a bad cycle to get into!

The increase of this cycle is what some researchers think contributes to the aging of your body, although it takes decades for this effect to show up as aged tissues.

Blame your parents!

If these other scientists are right, a lot of your aging process is inherited from your parents – coded into your genes like a road map of your life – which means you can't do much to change it. This isn't the most popular theory in anti-aging circles!

At least this theory agrees with the others on one thing – environmental damage makes it worse. The genetic theory says that these codes (the DNA and your genes) are damaged by exposing the cells to pollutants that degrade the information. These pollutants can include stress, chemical contaminants, radiation, and even poor nutrition.

What happens is that each time cells reproduce (divide), they reproduce at the exact level of the previous cell. If that previous cell had its information damages just a little, then the new cells will also have slightly damaged information sets, right from the start. Over time this gets worse, leading to the aging process.

Cell pumps & membranes

The cells of our bodies work much like a pump, getting food into the cells wile getting waste products out. Over time, this process gets less efficient – and is known as the 'membrane theory of aging'.

The accumulation of toxins in the cells, and especially the accumulation of the toxin called lipofuscin, is said to accumulate in the heart, lungs, and skin ('liver spots' on the skin of older people is an accumulation of this toxin). A connection has been shown between the presence of this toxin in the brain and Alzheimer's Disease.

The membrane theory tells us much the same as the other theories – that aging happens when biological processes break down.

The popular choice - Free radical theory

Possibly one of the most popular theories of aging right now is based on the idea that free radicals, or highly reactive chemicals loose in the body, are responsible for degrading tissues when they get too highly concentrated. Free radicals are used by the body for a number of purposes, but when you get too many of them, cellular damage can be the result.

Free radicals are highly reactive – they have an extra electron (a "free" electron) that makes them more able to 'steal' electrons from other molecules. So they do, and they do it a lot, creating new free-radicals in the process. This happens over and over, slowly wearing out the cells because of the constant need for molecular repair – an leading to the effects of aging.

The current popularity of this theory may have something to do with the fact that there is a clear and relatively easy answer to the aging process, and that is to increase you intake of anti-oxidants. These are 'neutralizers' of free radicals that include Vitamin C, E, grape seed extract, and melatonin.

Stopping the aging train

No matter which theory you subscribe to, there are at least three things that you can do to stop the effects of biological aging. These include healthier lifestyle choices, antioxidant supplements and HGH precursor supplementation.

By limiting the amount of 'junk food' you take in and pollutants you take in, you cover several of these theories of aging. These are choices that are easy to make because you can substitute better things foe the really bad ones. Choose a snack that's high in protein, rather than a bowl of ice cream, and give you hormones a break.

Taking regular Vitamin C and E are also good for limiting the effects of aging. But by far the greatest single change you can make is by taking HGH precursors.

A high quality HGH producing supplement like Genf20 HGH is a key in obtaining the following results, which stem from increased HGH levels:
 

The effects of aging are both frustrating and confusing, not only to the researchers who study them, but to the people like you and me who experience their effects. Luckily, the research done over the past couple of decades has given us the knowledge to produce products to counter the effects of biological aging.

Look into HGH products like GenF20 to improve your levels of HGH production and effective precursor nutrient levels. Click here to check out the HGH precursors.