Viewing: Genetics - View all posts

How can you live to be 100-years-old? These 52 Centenarians Have Some Thoughts

Award winning photographer, editor and artist Karsten Thormaehlen based in Frankfurt, Germany has captured gorgeous photos all over the globe of architecture, high-end luxury goods, and fashion models. For his most recent collection of published photos, he's chosen to focus on what he thinks is his most beautiful subject yet: centenarians- or people who have lived at least 100 years of life.

In his book: "Aging Gracefully: Portraits of People over 100," Thormaehlen traveled from New York, to Japan, to Peru, to the Netherlands, and everywhere in between to take portraits of 52 centenarians. Each photograph in the collection is accompanied by insightful and engaging text about each subject that captures their essence, their insight and their wisdom that only comes from living over 100 years on this Earth.

When asked about this project, Thormaehlen is quoted saying:

“Since I’ve worked for many years in the beauty industry as an art director for luxury goods and cosmetic brands, I know what it takes to achieve ‘perfect beauty.’ It’s almost impossible! Like reaching ‘absolute zero’ or ‘squaring the circle.’ I’m convinced true beauty comes from self-awareness.”

Tonaki Tsuru from Japan (Photo: 'Aging Gracefully' by Karsten Thormaehlen/Chronicle Books 2017)

While selfies seem to have taken over the internet in recent years, Thormaehlen says very old people look at photography in a completely different way than most:

“Being photographed is and has been something special in the past, only performed on special events, and on certain stages of one’s life: baptism, wedding, first child, all generations together, anniversaries etc. Back then, photographing was a complicated issue, it was expensive — and always very sad if the photo, which you saw days or weeks later for the first time, didn’t come out properly. ... They give me, the photographer, the impression that they enjoy the attention, being photographed. It’s fun for them.”

Secundo Timoteo Arboleda Hurtado from Ecuador (Photo: 'Aging Gracefully' by Karsten Thormaehlen/Chronicle Books 2017)

In order to find his subjects, Thormaehlen searched via many avenues: some he discovered through people who had seen his work, some through their grandchildren and some through advertisements or by talking to managers of resident homes. Some he found through online searches.

Olivia Hooker from White Plains, New York (Photo: 'Aging Gracefully' by Karsten Thormaehlen/Chronicle Books 2017)

Dr. Olivia Hooker of White Plains, New York, (pictured above) was one of the first African American women to join the U.S. Army. As a child, the Ku Klux Klan ransacked her home during the 1921 riots in Tulsa. "I still don't know why they bothered to burn up a little girl's doll clothes, but they did," she told the Wall Street Journal. When Thormaehlen photographed Hooker, he noted that the walls in her home are filled with diplomas and greetings from the Clintons, the Bushes and the Obamas.

Sigurgeir Jonsson from Iceland (Photo: 'Aging Gracefully' by Karsten Thormaehlen/Chronicle Books 2017)

When speaking about the project, Thormaehlen spoke about how the main theme that continued to show up again and again was a shared love of life. Thormaehlen is quoted as saying: "I learned from almost everybody that they love living, 100 percent. They don’t think about dying, but if it happens it won’t be a problem."

Maria Luisa Medina from Ecuador (Photo: 'Aging Gracefully' by Karsten Thormaehlen/Chronicle Books 2017)

When visiting one of his subjects at her home in Ecuador, Thormaehlen had to clime a short but steep path to get to her. When Luz met him at the door and saw how hard the photographer was breathing from the climb, she smiled and said, "Hope this answers your question how to become 100!"

Gaspare Mele from Italy (Photo: 'Aging Gracefully' by Karsten Thormaehlen/Chronicle Books 2017)

One question Thormaehlen asked all of his subjects was: "What's the secret to your longevity?"

In response to his question, Gaspare Mele from Italy shared: "Live and work in peace and harmony with yourself and with others. Always try and distinguish good from evil."

Most days Gaspare can be found sitting at his kitchen table composing poetry on his timeworn typewriter.

Zoila Donatila Aliaga Melendez vda de Roman from Peru (Photo: 'Aging Gracefully' by Karsten Thormaehlen/Chronicle Books 2017)

Zoila Donatila Aliaga Melendez vda de Roman from Peru believes that it's her faith that has allowed her to live so long. She gathers with friends at least twice a day to pray. Zoila has lived a full life - she married at 19 years of age and has 8 children, 21 grand children and 23 great-grandchildren. In addition to praying, she love to spend her time playing cards, knitting and reading.

Gerardus Jacobus Johannes Keizen from the Netherlands (Photo: 'Aging Gracefully' by Karsten Thormaehlen/Chronicle Books 2017)

When asked what his secret was, Gerardus Jacobus Johannes Keizen, a centenarian from the Netherlands, said: "A routine life of moderation. Go to bed early, don't smoke, don't drink — although you can always make an exception now and then for a whisky. And for gin, too."

So there you have it - some helpful tools for living a long and vibrant life include: living in harmony with yourself and others, living a life of faith and everything in moderation.

This book is a beautiful contribution to the world.

To find it, you can follow this link: http://amzn.to/2kMpC3g

Busted: The Industry Selling Us Fake Herbal Supplements

In 2013, a Canadian Government study found that there are at least 65,000 dietary supplement being sold in America, and over 150 million Americans buying them consistently. Herbal supplement sales made an estimated $6 billion in 2013 alone. Needless to say, we're talking about a hugely profitable industry.

However, recent DNA tests of big brand herbal supplements are discovering the truth about these outrageous earnings. Do herbal supplements sell like hot cakes? Yes. Are the big-brand supplement companies saving tons of cash by loading pills with cheap ingredients and lying on the labels? Absolutely.

New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman commissioned an involved DNA study of thousands of bottles of store-brand herbal supplements. The results were shocking enough to warrant cease-and-desist letters to Target, GNC, Walmart and Walgreens, demanding that mislabeled supplements be taken off the shelves.

Four of the five tested products (which claimed to benefit a variety of ailments ranging from depression to prostate issues), were found to contain none of the ingredients listed on the bottle. Instead, cheap fillers such as wheat, beans, rice, and even house plants were discovered in these pills.

As Schneiderman pointed out, this is a huge liability issue. Individuals with certain food and plant allergies are being put at risk whenever they ingest a mislabeled supplement. For this reason, it has been strongly advised that those with various dietary restrictions resist purchasing big-brand supplements for good.

In one of the tests, all of which took place at Clarkson University in Potsdam, New York, Walmart-brand pills said to contain echinacea, an immune-boosting herb, showed not a single trace of echinacea DNA. GNC-brand products marketed to contain St. John's Wort actually held garlic, rice, and a tropical house plant. Ginseng pills were found lacking any amount ginseng. This list goes on and on.

The company with the most shocking test results was Walmart, where only 4% of the products had DNA from the plants listed on the labels. Each product was tested at least five times, on three to four samples of each supplement.

GNC and Walgreen's have agreed to give the Attorney General detailed information on production and quality control, while suspending the sale of certain supplements. Walmart is flat out refuting the claims, stating that their own studies show no such disparity between labeling and product content. Still, Walmart will comply by removing some products from their shelves in the state of New York.

It is clear that the supplement industry is in major need of reform. In the meantime, consumers are becoming more conscious about their supplement intake and are switching to small-brand, organically certified pills.

Non-labeled fillers that the tests discovered ranged from citrus, pine, and primrose to wild carrot and even unidentified, non-plant material.

Do you know what's in your pills?

Author: Nate Morgan

Learn more at:

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2015/02/05/herbal-supplements-fake-health-canada_n_6624762.html
http://www.forbes.com/sites/davidkroll/2015/02/03/cease-and-desist-orders-hit-walmart-walgreens-and-others-for-herbal-supplement-sales/

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2015/02/buyer_beware_gnc_walmart_target_walmart_new_york_a.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/02/03/snake-oil-supplements_n_6602940.html
http://www.newyorker.com/tech/elements/dna-barcoding-new-york-dietary-supplement

According to New Studies, Exercise Changes Your DNA

We've known for years that exercise increases overall functionality and lowers the risk of disease in the body. However, certain details about how exercise leads to a healthier body have remained a mystery. A recent New York Times article shed some light on scientific findings concerning the crossroads of exercise and epigenetics.

The human body has the remarkable ability to revise it's genetic behavior, and our genes are constantly responding to the body's biochemical signals. Depending largely on our habits, certain genes may become more active, while others take a back seat.

In an epigenetics study published this past December, scientists at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm engaged 23 men and women in physical activities that isolated just one leg. Participants bicycled on that leg for 45 minutes, 4 times per week for 3 months. Obviously, the active leg slowly began to show more power than the other. But what interested researchers were the changes within the DNA of the exercised leg.

New methylation patterns were found on over 5,000 sites on the muscle genomes of the active leg. What is methylation? Simply speaking, it's a process in which clusters of atoms attach to the outside of a gene, making that gene more or less receptive of the body's various biochemical signals. Most of the genes that were observed to undergo new methylation play important roles in the processes of insulin response, energy metabolism, and inflammation within muscles.

In other words, the genes that play an important role in the body's overall fitness became more expressed through methylation. These changes were not observed in the unexercised leg.

These findings offer a fresh understanding of human versatility and the benefits of regular exercise. (We can't speak for you, but we definitely needed the reminder!) Still, other questions remain. How does gene expression change with different types of exercise, such as strength training? Only time will tell.

Author: Nate Morgan