Healthy Aging
Redefining aging: Understanding the aging process
The word “aging” evokes a wide range of associations. Some people perceive it as surface-level changes like wrinkles or loss of muscle tone. For others, it may signal mild memory loss or other shifts in mental health. Scientifically, all of these things are signs of aging, but its true definition runs much deeper.
According to the World Health Organization, aging is really the “accumulation of a wide variety of molecular and cellular damage over time,” which can lead to a “gradual decrease in physical and mental capacity, a growing risk of disease and ultimately death.”
The aging process starts deep inside your cells, and with NAD+ (nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide).
The connection between NAD+ and aging
NAD+ is vital to life as you know it. Without it, cells die.
NAD+ is required by the 37.2 trillion cells in your body to produce the energy they need to function properly and is also used to repair and recover from cellular damage.
As you age, your “pool” of NAD+ can be depleted in the face of everyday stressors. NAD+ declines by up to 65% between your early thirties and age 70.
Aging: The hidden process in your cells
During this timespan, you may be in good health on the surface, but as less NAD+ is available, your cells become increasingly at risk of being compromised.
When there isn’t enough NAD+ to meet the needs of your cells, the signs of aging begin to develop on a deep cellular level. And looming behind them could be more health concerns.
But this isn’t set in stone.