Today I want to myth bust the very tip of the iceberg surrounding anti-aging my hope is these thoughts will pique your curiosity enough to question what you are being told on this topic, most of which does little to actually help you reach your goal.
What you are told about reverse aging
First, regardless of the online and media claims and hype, we are all aging and going to pass. This is the cycle of Life. Dr. Oz and Dave Aspery are not going to instantly change that with some new device or supplement. However, you have the power to slow down the aging process and reverse chronic disease.
What each of us has control over is the RATE of aging, however, this entails commitment, discipline and work during the initial phases.
Second, time is dynamic so it doesn't matter where you are in your journey, the time to get started is NOW!
Third, so much of the anti-aging sphere is focused on the external - what we can see and feel. However, it is the internal mechanisms of metabolism and physiology, the very stuff you cannot see nor precisely feel, which have to be addressed for the real and sustainable results you seek.
The Marketing of Anti-Aging Products
Let’s face it, none of us want to grow old and that desire to retain our youth drives various multi-billion dollar industries. People are going to great expense to retain or regain the appearance of youth by using anti-aging offerings, ranging from antioxidants to a myriad of cosmetic products and procedures.
These "strategies" are supposed to help you look and feel younger, all to the tune of billions of dollars in sales of products and services.
Due to modern online marketing, we react rather than analyze. This is by design and what I call being “Sold, Told and Controlled’ in a precise behavioral formula to get you to react. Ironically, this formula leverages modern technology, to set in motion our most primitive instincts. Once again, modern marketing has us hyper-focused on the convenient silver bullet externalities we perceive as a need rather than focusing first on developing internal empowerment.
Your Internal Aging
Without that internal work, however, those internal metabolic processes which drive aging continue unabated. You really cannot stop the aging process, but you can slow it to a crawl to a point where it is imperceptible. How? Let’s start with the familiar:
Free Radicals
Most of you have probably heard about Free Radicals, technically called Reactive Oxygen Species or “ROS” for short. You have heard how free radicals can cause all sorts of damage on a cellular and systemic level if kept unchecked. I could detour off on the impacts to your mitochondria, inflammation, glycation and even how your telomeres get shortened, but the short message you have understood is this:
Free Radicals are “bad”
Free radicals are a big part of the aging process
The more free radicals, the faster you will age
What can I do?
What happens next? You do some Googling, and what pops up?
“Antioxidants!”
You get a simple, animated info piece showing how antioxidants scavenge those damage-causing free radicals, thus preventing all kinds of cellular damage, making a compelling case for increasing antioxidant intake whether through foods or supplements.
The reality is more in, what I call, the “Murky Middle.”
ROS are a normal byproduct of metabolism and, at low levels, can signal a hormetic response, causing the body to become more robust which is a good thing. From the journal Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology:
“Reactive oxygen species (ROS) is an umbrella term for an array of derivatives of molecular oxygen that occur as a normal attribute of aerobic life.” - Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology volume 21, pages 363–383 (2020)
It is an overproduction of free radicals that is damaging. This process is also known as Oxidative Stress, so while a tiny amount are probably good for you, a lot makes you grow old faster. Additionally, an overabundance of free radicals is a key driver of systemic inflammation and can even trigger chronic diseases like diabetes, heart disease, and cancer, as well as exacerbate any type of viral infection.
I endorse and practice consuming the recommended antioxidant foods, the point I want to make here is - the conventional approach of increasing antioxidants that you hear and read about is a reactive approach.
A proactive approach to anti-oxidants
On the other hand, OFM’s preventative approach seeks to minimize the creation of excess free radicals by driving higher levels of beta-oxidation (fat metabolism) by employing several strategies. This is why I came up with the OFM Pyramid to help break things down to the key strategies:
This proactive approach minimizes oxidative stress, thus prevents damage. So, no need to reactively throw a bunch of antioxidants into the mix to scavenge free radicals once the damage has started to occur.
So. . . prevent the damage versus mitigate it?
If you are one of the thousands of people we’ve helped over the years you know this already in the lower level of muscle soreness in the days following a tough workout or competition.
This strategy includes using VESPA, a natural catalyst, which works with your body to drive higher levels of beta-oxidation without any change to your diet or exercise regimen. Research, testing, and real-world competition have demonstrated VESPA increases fat oxidation at all levels of aerobic metabolism without changing your diet, training, or lifestyle.
If you are a person with some challenge(s) to your metabolism, simply starting to use VESPA can give you a taste of what being fat-adapted is all about. As you progress on your OFM journey, you can actually feel the reverse aging process when you bring your metabolism back to burning fat as your fuel. So many athletes of a ‘certain age’ have shared with me how they feel decades younger as a result of using VESPA and following the OFM protocols for performance and, most of all, life!
Don’t accept the “normal” you are told
Like the Serenity Prayer, accept aging as part of life, something we cannot change.
Don’t accept the accelerated aging that is considered “normal” because it isn’t. This is something you actually CAN change, so “have the courage” to go against the acceptance of poor health as inevitable. As a society, we’ve made ill health all too convenient and robust, resilient health way too hard to achieve as a result.
While we chase those quick & convenient external solutions which make us look and/or feel younger, this only distracts us from the work we need to do to attain the robust health necessary to slow the aging process to a crawl.
Our bodies are meant to be robust and resilient and how society has descended into this Dante’s Inferno of ill-health is beyond me. We are addicted to convenience and have taken advantage of those conveniences of modern life to the point there is no return for many.
But guess what! Our athletes are living proof of how simple and sustainable regaining and retaining robust health is when you are OFM Fat Adapted. I am one of them, guinea pig numero uno.
Click the picture to see our Metabolic Heroes.
How can we help you get Robust Health
As for the “Wisdom to know the difference,” that’s where we can help. The athletes I’ve worked with, my team, and I have the experience, continued innovation, information, and products to guide you on your journey. In a sense, you don’t have to “grow up” because your body has the ability to get back to having a child’s boundless energy, sense of wonder, and zest for life!
I’ll leave you with this: Don’t act your age. Defy it!
This is where I’m supposed to do the Call to Action. Instead I am going to leave you to call yourself to action in the words of the Buddhist proverb: “When the student is ready, the teacher appears.”
Sure, we can help, but until you ‘get it’ then make the decision to empower yourself with knowledge and action rather than cede your power to another person or entity, you cannot find success and I’d be taking your $ like everyone else.