Biological Age Vs. Chronological Age: How Old Are You Really?

Hey Everybody, Mazen here. Welcome to The Maximal Life!

Forget about the number of years you’ve been on this earth. Scientists are now classifying a person’s true age based on how well they are in mind and body. This new way of determining age is broken into two categories: Diseasespan and Healthspan. Our healthspan is the number of years we live free from diseases that affect the quality of our lives. Diseasespan defines the number of years spent with a noticeable decline in health. Your chronological age maybe 55, but depending on your lifestyle choices, you could be in a healthspan more relative to that of a 40-year-old. Your biological age would then be 40. Sounds like a good deal to me!

These recent classifications (disease span and healthspan) came along after the recent discovery of Epigenetics, which is being proclaimed by the scientific community as the most important discovery since DNA. This is really exciting stuff, guys.

Epigenetics proves that we are in fact, not tied down and destined to live out the same disease span as our descendants. 

While certain illnesses are coded into our genetics, it’s our environment and lifestyle that determine whether or not those disease-promoting genes are activated. By making positive choices for living The Maximal Life, we have the power to activate disease-preventing genes and keep the disease-promoting genes lying dormant for longer.

There’s an Old Cherokee proverb that talks of how within every man is a battle of dark and light. Bad and Good. Disease and Health.

An Old Cherokee Chief, tells his young boy, “My son, there is a battle of two wolves within us all. One is of the dark. It is anger, jealousy, greed, resentment, lies and poor judgment. The other is of the light. It is joy, peace, love, humility, empathy, gratitude, and truth.”

The boy ponders these two wolves within him for a moment, and says “Yes, father, but which wolf wins?”

The old man smiles and leans in closer to his son’s face, looking him directly into his wide eyes and replies: “The one you feed.”

The first time I heard that story, I felt it deep in my gut because at the time I had a terrible case of the Grind Mind.

I was 28. I was getting the first of my 9 businesses off the ground, and I was pulling 70-90 hour work weeks. I won’t lie to you, guys. There were aspects of The Grind that felt glorious. The Go Go Go Culture of today lionizes the CEO who sleeps in his office. I’d try talking myself out of daily fatigue, “Suck it up, Mazen! This is what it’s supposed to feel like when you are doing it right.” The money was starting to flow, and I was buying nicer cars and fancier clothes for me and my wife. “More proof,” I thought, that this is how I have to live to get ahead.” I was skipping or scarfing lunch, and joking with my colleagues, calling their lunch break “The Productivity Thief.” While I may have often felt like I was in control, the truth is I was over-stressed, overweight, and over-caffeinated. I wasn’t sleeping well, and I wasn’t nearly as attentive to my marriage as a wife needs her husband to be. 

As a result, our relationship was strained and we weren’t enjoying each other like we always had in the past. She was growing resentful that I was never around, and I was growing resentful that she wasn’t happy even though I was busting my butt to create a greater future for us and our growing family. 

Today I am grateful to say, I was able to recognize how the daily grind was taking a nasty toll on my health and my relationships. Now, what I want you guys to know is that: I didn’t do it alone. 

I had the help of mentors who had walked this path before me. And the wake-up call of almost losing my sacred connection to my darling wife before I fully committed to being my Maximal Self.

After a lot of soul-searching and science-based research, I came up with two major conclusions: First, The Grind Mind is a cultural conditioning designed to keep our noses down and our wallets open. And second, making small but consistent shifts in my attitude and lifestyle would quickly add-up to give me that Incremental Edge I hadn’t realized I was missing.

The Body is a Reporter, and when we allow The Grind Mind to dismiss the reports of our body, we activate the disease-promoting cells within our genetic code. When we listen carefully and respond appropriately to our body, we activate the disease-preventing genes, and we are rewarded with Natural Energy. And that Energy is the antidote. Today, I stand before you feeling ten years younger than I felt ten years ago. You will too.

Maximal Achiever, Zig Ziglar said, “The man who earns a million but destroys his health in the process, is not a success.”

So, Why do some people seem to age differently??

Why are some people whip-smart and energetic at an old age, while other people become sickly, fog-minded, and tired?

Imagine two men, Sam and John. These guys are same age, let’s say 45, and they have been friends since grade school. They meet for lunch at least once every couple of weeks to catch up. Before they can even be seated, Sam is already complaining about how tired he feels. In fact, John can’t recall the last time he asked Sam how he was, without Sam replying, “I’m tired, man.” Sam always looks stressed, and it doesn’t help that he keeps getting sinus infections. Sam often remarks to John: “You’re lucky man, you have good genes. I mean look at you! We are the same age, and I look way older than you!” And Sam is… partially right. Even though these guys are the same age, biologically, John is younger. Sam moves as though his muscles are stiff, and he’s always furrowing his eyebrow. John, by contrast, is bright-eyed and smiling. He’s calm, and his body appears to be relaxed, confident. Sam just figures “He just has better genes than I do.” But Sam knows John hasn’t led a life free of difficulty. John recently lost a parent to an illness. The start-up company that John has launched is often teetering toward running out of capital. In fact, Sam is far more financially secure than John. “Yep,” Sam decides, “It must be good genes.”

Why do people age differently? People have been asking this question for hundreds of years, and many have noted, even thousands of years ago, that the quality of our health is shaped by the way we choose to live.

There is an ancient Chinese legend (over two thousand five hundred years old!) that tells of a dark-haired warrior, who was faced with such a tremendous challenge, that his hair turned all white overnight. Even two thousand five hundred years ago, long before sophisticated science, people were noticing that stress can trigger premature aging.

So getting back to John and Sam, is Sam correct that John has just been blessed with better genes? Or Is it the way John chooses to exist in his environment that has kept him from aging the same as Sam? Genes, or Environment?

Actually, both are critical, and it’s the interaction between the two that matters most. The real difference between these two men’s rate of aging lies within the intricate interaction between genes, environments, lifestyle, and especially how one or the other responds to those twists of fate that can rocket you to the moon, or shake you to the core.

You see, John is well aware of the genetic illness that resides in his chromosomes. He witnessed his father struggle and pass from chronic illness. But John never resigned himself to living out the same fate. Instead, he took preventative action. He changed his eating behavior and his mindset. Luck had nothing to do with his health or upbeat attitude. John was making a daily effort, not only for himself, but for his children as well, and likely, for his father too, I would imagine.

?As acclaimed researcher, George Bray has said: “Genes load the gun, and environment pulls the trigger.”

The research I’ve uncovered reveals a completely different way of thinking about your health, both now and many years down the road. To fully form these new concepts, scientists had to find out what premature aging looks like at a cellular level. They had to dive deep into the genetic heart of every cell, the chromosomes.What they discovered revealed how living in a disease span cannot only be significantly delayed but also reversed. What they discovered is what are now called, telomeres.

The scientific eye identifies telomeres as repeating segments of non-coded DNA that live at the ends of your chromosomes. What you need to know, is that telomeres determine how fast your cells age, and when they die. Every time a cell divides, our telomeres get shorter, and the more worn down the telomeres, the less healthy the cells. Here’s the part where I get really nerdy and excited! Extraordinary, and quite frankly, SHOCKING evidence produced in both American labs and labs across the world, found that the ends of chromosomes, these crucial telomeres, can be restored and lengthened. What this means is that aging isn’t a steady decline, as we once believed. No longer is it true that aging is a slippery slope toward infirmity. It just isn’t true!

Aging is actually a dynamic process that can be accelerated, slowed, and even reversed.

What was shocking for us and other researchers, is that our telomeres do not simply carry out the robotic commands of a genetic code. Telomeres are listening to the reports of the body and responding to how we treat ourselves! And even more crazy, telomeres not only respond to how were are treating ourselves physically but emotionally as well. The way we live, both in body and soul, determines the speed of the aging process at the deepest level of cellular health.

I am standing here telling you I have scientific evidence that how you choose to exist in the world, who you choose to be, how you choose to treat yourself and others, CAN and will override your genetic code. Are you astounded yet? Don’t you love it when science and spirit irrefutably converge? As a scientist myself, this is what I call proof that life is truly meaningful, and this is what I call magic.

Poor physical health can happen for a variety of reasons, but premature entry into the disease-span is almost always a sign that your cells are aging. How old do you feel? If your answer is older than your actual age, there’s a good chance your telomeres are getting worn down. Shortened telomeres send a message that it’s time to fast-forward the aging process. And to that, I say, “Not today!”

There is plenty we can do to fight premature aging right where it lives: at the cellular level.

There are three major categories for having a positive impact on our telomeres: The diet-telomere connection, the exercise-telomere connection, and the mind- telomere connection.

These findings are so new and extraordinary, that the topic of telomeres is still in flux, so this list is by no means all-encompassing. Keep an eye out for future episodes, as I fully intend to continue to update this research. I mean it when I say, this is huge.

For today, let’s just focus on the diet-telomere connection, and stay tuned for further in-depth coverage in future episodes. Now, don’t be put off by the word ‘diet’. I’m not about to assign you a food plan. The goal here is to identify the foods that cause the most telomere damage, and the foods that provide the greatest telomere benefits. Food is a good place to start because we make food choices several times every day.

It only takes small, but consistent, positive changes made daily to gain that Incremental Edge.

What’s good for the cell is good for the telomere, and there are three predominant ways that food choices can damage the cells. I call them cellular food-enemies. They are inflammation, oxidation, and insulin resistance.

Certain foods cause inflammation of the body and especially the intestines and stomach lining. While other foods reduce and prevent inflammation. Just off the top of my head, some inflammatory foods would include: 

• sugar
• flour
• dairy
• artificial sweeteners
• grain-fed
• heavily processed meats
• trans-fats

Oh! And also excessive alcohol consumption. Actually, excess consumption in general, of almost anything, can lead to inflammation. Now, anti- Inflammatory foods would include:

• berries
• ginger
• green tea
• coffee
• wild caught salmon (or anything high in omega-3)
• turmeric
• beets
• leafy greens
• olive oil
• coconut oil
• garlic

That should be a pretty good list to start from.

Okay, so next is oxidative stress which is caused by free radicals. Free-radicals are basically unstable molecules that try to stabilize themselves by bonding with and attacking our cells. The effects are similar to how a banana turns brown when exposed to air. Oxidative stress takes a real bite out of our telomeres. Foods that fight oxidative stress include:

• goji berries
• cranberries
• blueberries 
• raw cocoa
• kidney beans
• and cilantro

I also want to point out that many of these anti-inflammatory and antioxidant ingredients can be taken in shake or supplement form for a convenient, concentrated boosts.?

Then we have insulin resistance, which is the leading cause of diabetes, and right now diabetes is practically an epidemic. I can make this one really simple for you guys: added sugar is bad for your telomeres.

Added sugar increases insulin resistance, oxidative stress, and inflammation. It’s a real triple threat.?

Now is a great time to make small, but consistent positive changes that will support your health-span, and lower your biological age. Feed the wolf that serves your Maximal Self. Start by protecting your telomeres from the cellular food-enemies: Inflammation, oxidative stress, and insulin resistance.

Pick one category that appeals to you the most, and take it one day at a time to gain that Incremental Edge! Thank you so much for joining me. We will certainly be talking more about this extraordinary discovery as the science continues to evolve, and as more information is revealed to us through living The Maximal Life!

MAXIMAL YOU MAXIMAL LIFE?

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