Juventology: The Science of Staying Younger Than Your Age
Education
September 2024
Written by: Dr. Joseph Antoun
In the ever-evolving field of longevity research, there is a new frontier that goes beyond simply fighting the effects of aging – juventology. While gerontology, the study of aging, has traditionally focused on combating age-related diseases, juventology takes a different approach. At its core, juventology (derived from the Latin word iuventus, meaning “age of youth”) is the study of youthspan, the period when our body is most resilient, functional, and least susceptible to the chronic diseases of aging. Its goal is to preserve and extend the period when we feel our best.
Juventology has the potential to revolutionize how we approach aging; instead of waiting for symptoms of aging to appear, we can proactively engage in strategies that maintain our youthfulness. By enhancing the biological processes that keep us young, juventology research enables us to stay biologically younger for longer.
Shifting From Traditional Aging Theories: Traditional aging research has largely focused on combating the damage that accumulates as we grow older, particularly the effects of free radicals and oxidative stress. While these are important factors, they do not address the root cause of aging. Juventology shifts the focus from merely managing the symptoms of aging to understanding how to maintain youthfulness. By leveraging what we know about “longevity programs” within our biology, we can activate these programs to keep our bodies youthful for longer. What are these “longevity programs?” Biological evolutionary mechanisms designed to help our bodies survive under challenging conditions.
The Power of Our Body’s Evolutionary Programs: One of these key biological mechanisms is autophagy, a process in which the body cleans out old, damaged cells and regenerates new, healthy ones. This process not only helps prevent the buildup of cellular waste that comes with aging but also promotes the regeneration of healthier cells, potentially slowing down the biological aging process. Autophagy’s role in maintaining cellular health is so significant that it won the Nobel Prize in 2016, recognized for its promise in supporting longevity and reducing disease risk.
Autophagy is triggered, essentially, by starvation; after around three days of food deprivation, the body begins digesting its own components as a means for survival. Therefore, one key way to trigger autophagy is through prolonged fasting. Prolon’s Fasting Mimicking Diet (FMD) was designed to trigger autophagy while allowing individuals to consume foods scientifically formulated to stay below the body’s nutrients sensing pathways (more on that below) – allowing people to still receive nourishment even though the body thinks it is in a fasting state.
As the first and only patented nutrition program to support longevity through autophagy, Prolon taps into these biological cellular rejuvenation mechanisms to proactively support longevity – and research supports it. Studies have shown that three consecutive cycles of Prolon can reduce biological age by 2.5 years.
Practical Applications of Juventology: Autophagy, the body’s natural cellular recycling process, is suppressed when food – particularly protein, carbohydrates, and fat – activates nutrient-sensing pathways like mTOR, PKA, and IGF-1. Research in model organisms such as yeast and mice has demonstrated that these nutrient signaling pathways play a pivotal role in regulating longevity. Leveraging this insight, Prolon was formulated with specific nutrients designed to stay below the threshold of these pathways, mimicking the effects of fasting.
IGF-1, specifically, is a growth hormone that when triggered excessively by certain animal proteins can accelerate aging. L-Protein, L-Nutra’s innovative plant-based protein, was uniquely formulated to provide the optimal amount of protein to support muscle health without over-activativating the pro-aging pathway, and is the only protein patent-pending for promoting healthy aging.
The Future of Health and Longevity: With innovations like Prolon 5-Day FMD and L-Protein, L-Nutra is harnessing juventology research with the aim to extend youthspan, helping the body stay in peak condition while potentially delaying the onset of age-related diseases. As we look to the future, we are committed to applying the science we learn from this exciting field to help as many people as possible not just survive, but thrive – and stay younger than their age.
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