Reset the aging clock with nutrition supplementation

This research about nutrition supplementation will astound you.

It unequivocally shows you have the power, with specific nutrition supplementation, to reverse the aging process. An outrageous claim? Not at all. The science of gerontology proves it. Consider just one study, supplementing older adults with only two of the supplements gerontologists call “rejuvenins.”

At baseline, older adults (OA), with an average age of approximately 71, were compared to younger adults (YA), with an average age of approximately 26. Imagine these rejuvenating benefits to OA after only 16 weeks:

• 71-year-olds at baseline had extreme elevations of age-accelerating inflammatory cytokines compared to 26-year-olds: Interleukin-6 820% higher, tumor necrosis factor-alpha 290% higher and C-reactive protein (CRP) 100% higher, along with a lower level of the anti-inflammatory cytokine interleukin-10. After 16 weeks of supplementing with just two rejuvenins, IL-6 was lowered by 78%, TNF-α by 54% and CRP lowered by 41% as IL-10 increased by 94%.
• OA had 66% lower muscle glutathione, which increased 164% to the same level as YA.
• Markers of oxidative damage were 424% higher in OA yet came all the way down to the level of YA.
• In physical function tests, OA were extremely deficient relative to YA in gait speed, grip strength, chair-rise test and six-minute rapid walk test. The six-minute rapid walk test showed significant improvement from supplementation, and the other tests were brought up to the performance level of YA.
• OA compared to YA had significantly higher body weight, BMI, fat mass and waist circumference. All those parameters improved, with a particularly significant improvement in waist circumference, achieved with no attempt at weight loss.
• Rejuvenin supplementation significantly lowered systolic blood pressure in OA.
• Mitochondrial energy production was evaluated using muscle fatty acid oxidation as a marker. OA were 42% lower than YA, yet muscle fatty acid oxidation improved by 78% to the same mitochondrial efficiency as YA.
• OA showed poor glycemic control, with significantly higher insulin resistance and fasting plasma insulin, which supplementation decreased by 64% and 65%, respectively, to the same level as YA. In the process, supplementation significantly increased muscle glucose transporter-4 and Sirtuin expression.
• DNA damage was elevated to an extreme in OA yet was decreased by 73%. Both mitophagy and autophagy (critical youth-preserving processes) were improved.
• Other measures of stem-cell exhaustion, cellular senescence and telomere health were vastly improved by 16 weeks of supplementation.
• Two markers of endothelial function, and thus the tendency toward atherosclerosis, were elevated by 271% and 124% in OA, and they were decreased to the same level as YA. The triglyceride level was decreased by 16%.

Having read this far, you need to ask yourself, “Do the supplements I recommend have the power to decrease the inflammatory state (inflammaging) of my 71-year-old patients to the level of a healthy 26-year-old? Do my supplements stoke the fire of their mitochondria to maximize the burn of fat and carbs to match the energetics of a young adult? Are my recommendations restoring grip strength and muscular stamina even without the benefit of an exercise regimen?” It may be time to redefine yourself, no longer as a clinical nutritionist, but as a metabolic therapist.

Noteworthy regarding the research study is the test subjects were supplemented with only two rejuvenins: glycine and N-acetylcysteine. There are other supplements classified as rejuvenins that yield similarly astounding benefits. Of further interest is that while glycine and NAC have favorable metabolic benefits when administered singly, only in combination in the proper proportions are the results you just read about achieved.^1-4

The concept of synergistic benefits of supplements that gerontologists classify as “rejuvenins” or “senolytics” applies to other supplement combinations.

For example, when lipoic acid and acetyl-L-carnitine are tested together in cell cultures, their anti-aging benefits are achieved at 1/1000^th of the concentration of either administered separately. Simultaneous and ideally proportioned administration is critical.

The list of rejuvenin nutrients is short, which allows you to give patients a concise, affordable and powerful blend of supplements. These nutrients include:

• Carnosine^,,
• Alpha lipoic acid^6,,
• Quercetin^,
• The combination of glycine plus N-acetyl-cysteine (but only in combination because NAC is toxic when not combined with glycine)^,
• NAD(+) (in small quantities)

With these rejuvenins, you can target specifically the underlying forces that drive the aging process. While other alternative healthcare practitioners offer nutrition remedies for the consequences of the aging process, you can target the causative factors, the foundational immuno-neuro-endocrine stresses. It is these metabolic stresses that accelerate age-related decline at the cellular level.

The quantum leap in gerontology research was the discovery that there are two parallel aging processes. After decades of analyzing the breakdown in tissue structure and function resulting from oxidative stress (OxS), researchers discovered there is a second aging pathway driven by reductive stress (RedS), which has far more relevance in life extension than does the OxS pathway.

While OxS stresses the immune system, the nervous system, the hormonal system and virtually every cellular function from the moment of conception, RedS does not activate until we are fully mature, at about age 23. From that point on, RedS supplants OxS as the driving force of aging decline. Further research reveals the alarming truth that excess supplementation with antioxidants will exacerbate the RedS-driven aging process.^5,12,13,

From that historical turning point in gerontology research, gerontologists began to discover the incredible benefits of rejuvenins on inflammaging.

Carnosine heads the above list of rejuvenins for good reason. It has sweeping rejuvenating effects, particularly benefiting the health of the brain, the immune system, the autonomic nervous system and the cardiovascular system, and in preserving glycemic control. As a powerful protector against inflammaging, carnosine is a major player in both healthspan and lifespan, protecting a broad array of cellular functions that erode with aging. In fact, the term “rejuvenin” may have first been coined by gerontologists when researching carnosine.^8,9

Carnosine is found in its highest concentrations in the brain, the heart and in muscle tissue. In the brain, carnosine protects against cross-linking, glycation, excitotoxic brain cell destruction, zinc- and copper-mediated neurotoxicity and a broad array of OxS and RedS damage to mitochondrial structure and function.⁷

Perhaps the most versatile of the rejuvenins is alpha lipoic acid, which plays a critical role in energetic metabolism, as well as protection from mitochondrial damage resulting from both OxS and RedS. It is critical in maintaining youthful function of the liver, a plaque-free endothelium, sympathetic/parasympathetic balance and cardiac function, while protecting against prostaglandin-mediated inflammation.^6,10,11

Final thoughts

By adding nutrition supplementation to your patients’ treatment plan, you can holistically and synergistically help them control the process of aging itself. By doing so, your clinical results will astound you.

Guy R. Schenker, DC, a Pennsylvania doctor of chiropractic since 1978, is the developer of the Nutri-Spec System of Clinical Nutrition, which eschews symptom-based nutrition in favor of individualized metabolic therapy. Nutri-Spec offers a stage of life diphasic nutrition plan (SOLID DNP) empowering each patient to live stronger longer. Schenker can be reached at 800-736-4320 or nutrispec@nutri-spec.net.

References

1. Kumar P, et al. Glycine and n-acetyl-cysteine supplementation in older adults improves glutathione deficiency, oxidative stress, mitochondrial disfunction, inflammation, insulin resistance, endothelial disfunction, genotoxicity, muscle strength and cognition: Results of a pilot clinical trial. Clin Transl Med. 2021;11(3):e372.PubMed. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33783984/ . Accessed March 5, 2025.
2. Kumar P, et al. Supplementing glycine and n-acetyl-cysteine (GlyNAC) in older adults improves glutathione inefficiency, oxidative stress, mitochondrial dysfunction, inflammation, physical function and aging hallmarks; A randomized clinical trial. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci. 202326;78(1):75-89. PubMed. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35975308/ . Accessed March 5, 2025.
3. Sekhar RV. GlyNAC supplementation improves glutathione deficiency, oxidative stress, mitochondrial disfunction, inflammation, aging hallmarks, metabolic defects, muscle strength, cognitive decline and body composition: Implication for healthy aging. J Nutr. 2021;151(12):3606-3616. PubMed. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34587244/ . Accessed March 5, 2025.
4. Sekhar RV. GlyNAC (glycine and N-acetylcysteine) supplementation improves impaired mitochondrial fuel oxidation and lowers insulin resistance in patients with Type 2 diabetes: Results of a pilot study. Antioxidants (Basel). 2022;11(1):154. PubMed. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35052658/ . Accessed March 5, 2025.

5. Fulop T, et al. Immunology of aging: The birth of inflammaging. Clin Rev Allergy Immunol. 2023;64(2):109-122. PubMed. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34536213/ . Accessed March 5, 2025.

6. Zhang H, et al. Combined R-alpha-lipoic acid and acetyl-L-carnitine exerts efficient preventative effects in a cellular model for Parkinson’s Disease. J Cell Mol Med. 2010;14(1-2):215-225. PubMed. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20414966/ . Accessed March 5, 2025.

7. Baek SH, et al. Modulation of mitochondrial function and autophagy mediates carnosine neuroprotection against ischemic brain damage. Stroke. 2014;45(8):2438-2443. PubMed. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24938837/ . Accessed March 5, 2025.

8. Hipkiss AR, et al. Carnosine and the processes of aging. Maturitas. 2016;93:28-33. PubMed. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27344459/ . Accessed March 5, 2025.

9. Tallon MJ, et al. Carnosine, taurine and enzyme activities of human skeletal muscle fibres from elderly subjects with osteoarthritis and young moderately active subjects. Biogerontology. 2007;8(2):129-137. PubMed. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16967207/ . Accessed March 5, 2025.

10. Park S, et al. Physiological effect and therapeutic application of alpha lipoic acid. Curr Med Chem. 2014;21(32):3636-3645. PubMed. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25005184/ . Accessed March 5, 2025.

11. Skibska B, Goraca A, et al. The protective effect of lipoic acid on selected cardiovascular diseases caused by age-related oxidative stress. Oxid Med Cell Longev. 2015:2015:313021. PubMed. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25949771/ . Accessed March 5, 2025.

12. Blagosklonny MV. The goal of geroscience is life extension. Oncotarget. 2021;12(3):131-144. PubMed. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33613842/ . Accessed March 5, 2025.

13. Siamak T. Resolving geroplasticity to the balance of rejuvenins and geriatrics. Aging Dis. 2022;13(6) 1664-1714. NCBI. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9662275/ . Accessed March 5, 2025.

14. Gusarob I, et al. Dietary thiols accelerate aging of C. elegans. Nat Commun. 2021;12(1):4336. PubMed. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34267196/ . Accessed March 5, 2025.

15. Rhodes K. Performance and side effects of supplementation with N-acetyl-cysteine: A systemic review of meta-analysis. Sports Med. 2017;47(8):1619-1636. PubMed. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28102488/ . Accessed March 5, 2025.

16. Levine DC, et al. NAD+ controls circadian reprogramming through PER2 nuclear translocation to counter aging. Mol Cell. 2020;78(5):835-849. PubMed. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32369735/ . Accessed March 5, 2025.

17. Poljsak B, et al. Healthy lifestyle recommendations: Do the beneficial effects originate from NAD(+) amount at the cellular level? Oxid Med Cell Longev. 2020;2020:8819627. PubMed. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33414897/ . Accessed March 5, 2025.

18. Schenker G. Inflammaging: Treat the cause of your patients’ symptoms. Chiropractic Economics. 2025;73(5):54-58.