Dr Oz: Age Like A Lobster?
Dr Oz surprised his audience with two large lobsters that he claimed could hold the secret to turning back the hands of time. He explained that although they can live to be 140 years old, their outer shell gets renewed as they age. A lobster will even shed its own shell once a new, you’re one comes in. Plus, they age so slowly it’s as if they don’t age at all.
So how can you take what’s learned from studying lobsters and harness the secret to fighting aging. Dr Oz introduced his 91-year-old father as well as his mother and asked about the secret to staying young. According to the original Dr Oz, you get to that age “carefully” but according to Dr Oz’s mom, two of his secrets are family and passion.
Dr Oz: Fight Aging From The Inside-Out
Dr Oz shared the connection between lobsters and aging, and spoke to a Novel Prize-winning researcher about how to fight aging. (kaichanvong / Flickr)
Dr Oz then turned to Nobel Prize-winning researcher Dr Elizabeth Blackburn. Dr Blackburn explained that scientists have found that lobsters have long telomeres are the protective coverings at the end of our DNA and lobsters rejuvenate those telomeres over the years, unlike us. Our telomeres tend to break down and shorten over time. Fortunately, there are ways we can “nudge” our telomeres to be longer and keep us healthy, including reducing stress and getting enough sleep.
Dr Elissa Epel explained that telomeres are important because they help the cell stay alive, young, and divide into new cells that replenish our tissues and keep us young as we age. Dr Oz said to think of telomere like a protective covering the end of a shoelace that makes it easy for you to lace up your shoes. Without that protective coating, DNA can’t reproduce. Every time we make a new cell as we age, part of that protective coating disappears until it’s gone. Once it’s gone, the entire strand frays which means the cell can no longer reproduce well.
Dr Oz: Age-Defying Foods To Fight Aging
Dr Blackburn explained that it has been discovered that food is important to rejuvenate telomeres. Those telomeres have to be working properly to allow cells of all types to keep renewing. The stronger the telomere, the better.
There are age-defying foods and aging foods. Aging foods are the foods you think of as unhealthy and processed, while age-defying foods are fruits, vegetables, beans, seaweed, and fish. The more age-defying foods you eat, the more telomeres your cells will have.
Dr Blackburn and Dr Epel are the authors of “The Telomere Effect.”
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