Ian Gawler Blog: Is this the elixir of youth?

Who would like to live longer? Who would like less risk of illness and the prospect of recovering quicker if one did become sick? Who would not?

This week we go Out on a Limb and consider the implications of groundbreaking new research that shows how all this may be possible – and tap into how we can gain the benefits, but first

Thought for the day
In just 60 seconds, there are:
• 2 million searches on Google,
• 571 new websites created
• 204 million emails sent
• Amazon sells $83,000 worth of goods.
Tell me – exactly when did the world change?

THE IMPORTANCE of TELOMERES and TELOMERASE

Telomeres are like the protective caps on the end of shoelaces that protect them from fraying. Only telomeres protect your DNA from fraying.

Short telomeres are associated with many things that can go wrong with your health right up to premature death. Shortening telomeres are also crucial in the process of aging. Delay telomere shortening, have longer telomeres, and all the evidence points to significantly better health, delayed aging, and increased longevity.

In related blogs, I have presented evidence that shows shorter telomeres are associated with an increased likelihood of developing cancer and other chronic degenerative diseases, and that for people who do develop cancer, the longer their telomeres, the less likely they are to die of cancer. (See the links below)

So clearly, looking after our telomeres, preventing them from shortening and lengthening them if possible, is crucial to our good health and a vibrant old age.

Happily the body has it’s own built in telomere protector and regenerator. Telomerase is the enzyme that does just this and evidence has been mounting that increased telomerase levels increase telomere length and reduce wear and tear on telomeres.

To date the things that have been shown to increase telomerase activity are a fairly seriously healthy lifestyle (which includes a way of eating very similar to the Wellness (or maintenance) Diet I have advocated for years and is detailed in You Can Conquer Cancer), meditation and some herbs.

On the herb front, Product B (a synergistic blend of herbs) which I researched thoroughly and began to recommend about a year ago, has recently been approved for registration by the Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) as a therapeutic substance that provides telomere support (the only substance registered by the TGA so far for that purpose) and is a protector of liver function. For full details CLICK HERE.

Now the exciting new research

In a small pilot study, Dean Ornish, along with Australia’s own Nobel Prize winner for medicine Elizabeth Blackburn, have investigated the long-term effects of a programme of comprehensive lifestyle changes (diet, activity, stress management, and social support).

The results are compelling, showing that in this small pilot study, comprehensive lifestyle intervention, when compared with controls, was associated with increases in relative telomere length after 5 years of follow-up.

To quote directly from the research
Relative telomere length increased from baseline by a median of 0·06 telomere to single-copy gene ratio (T/S) units (IQR—0·05 to 0·11) in the lifestyle intervention group, but decreased in the control group (−0·03 T/S units, −0·05 to 0·03, difference p=0·03). 

When data from the two groups were combined, adherence to lifestyle changes was significantly associated with relative telomere length after adjustment for age and the length of follow-up (for each percentage point increase in lifestyle adherence score, T/S units increased by 0·07, 95% CI 0·02—0·12, p=0·005). 

Larger randomised controlled trials are warranted to confirm this finding.

COMMENTS

1. A major new rationale
Currently there are many ways to explain the seemingly obvious suggestion that a healthy lifestyle is good for us. However, this new research offers a whole new way of understanding how this may unfold on a cellular level.

We know longer telomeres are associated with lower risks of the chronic degenerative diseases including cancer. We know longer telomeres are associated with longer cancer survival and even a longer life span for everyone.

We have known for a while that activating the enzyme telomerase was possible through a healthy lifestyle, meditation and some herbs.

This new research suggests is the first to suggest that increasing telomerase activity does translate into longer telomeres over time. The implications for preventive medicine, recovery from the chronic degenerative diseases and for longer, vibrant lifespans are exciting indeed and this pilot study is bound to stimulate a mass of follow-up research to test these implications.

Are we seeing a benefit or a norm?
When research shows us that a healthy lifestyle is associated with longer telomeres over time compared to controls, I suspect what it is really telling us is that the controls, who are really ordinary people doing what ordinary people do these days, are knocking their telomeres around unduly.

I suspect the healthy lifestyle tells us what a normal, healthy telomere does; the controls tell us what so many in our current society are doing – eating badly, not exercising, getting stressed out – and prematurely shortening their telomeres with all the unhappy consequences that follow.

What we do not know yet is can we do better than a thoroughly healthy lifestyle. Do the herbs such as those in Product B add an extra benefit, or are they too just helping protect people with an unhealthy lifestyle and supporting them to return to normal telomere function? Time and research will tell.

What to do?
Obviously, this research provides another compelling reason to take up on a really healthy lifestyle and to meditate regularly. The research showed a “dose dependent relationship”. The more thorough you are, the greater the benefit. It is worth developing healthy habits and sticking to them.

For me, it makes sense to use herbs to support telomerase activity and by implication, to extend telomere length. I take Product B regularly and this research makes me feel even better about it.

RESOURCES
Product B: Product B is available on-line and I have created a website that details the contents of Product B, some of the research on the herbs it contains and makes ordering easy.
For details, CLICK HERE

You Can Conquer Cancer – not just for those seeking to recover from cancer, this book details what a healthy lifestyle really is and points to how we can actively prevent chronic degenerative disease including cancer.

RELATED BLOGS

DNA and the dangly bits

Telomeres, meditation and length of life

NOTICEBOARD
1. Melbourne Day seminar with Ian Gawler and Dr Nimrod Sheinman coming soon
 MIND-BODY MEDICINE in DAILY LIFE
Relaxation, meditation and creative imagery for health, business, healing and wellbeing.
A healthy lunch is included.

ii) IMAGES, WORDS and SILENCE 
Training/retreat for those interested in mind made healing – either for personal use or as a health professional.
With Dr Nimrod Sheinman, Ruth and myself in the Yarra Valley.

2. NEW ZEALAND
i) AUCKLAND
Evening Public Lecture: Medicine of the Mind.  Thursday November 14th.
Let go of stress, activate healing, maximise performance in all you do. The power of the mind at work in everyday life.

ii) Weekend workshop: A New Way of Living
Saturday November 30th: Meditation and the power of the mind
Sunday December 1st: Living Well, Being Well –
A way of living that generates good health, profound healing and log-term wellbeing.

iii) Rotorua: Health, Healing and Wellbeing – Saturday 16th November 2013
The essence of what Ian has found most helpful.

iv) Christchurch: Inner peace, Outer health. Sunday November 24th.
A free event - find peace and clarity amidst troubled times.

v) Nelson: Mind-Body Medicine in Daily Life. Evening of November 26th.
Relaxation, meditation and creative imagery for health, business, healing and wellbeing

vi) Meditation Under the Long White Cloud. December 2nd – 8th. Seven day meditation retreat – the first from Ian and Ruth in New Zealand.
Ian will detail how to deepen your understanding and experience of relaxation, mindfulness and meditation; then he and Ruth will guide you into the direct experience of inner peace.

vii) Five day follow-up cancer program.
Specifically for people who have attended a CanLive program in NZ, or Gawler Foundation program. November 18 – 22 at Wanaka out of Queenstown - one of the most beautiful environments there is. Details: CLICK HERE

NEXT WEEK - A PHOTOGRAPHIC ESSAY FROM MEDITATION IN THE DESERT
Here is a taster!






The evening walking meditation heads out from Hamilton Downs

The iconic Uluru or Ayers Rock,
photographed during the add-on tour










KEY REFERENCE WITH LINK

Ornish D, Lin J, Blackburn E, et al. Effect of comprehensive lifestyle changes on telomerase activity and telomere length in men with biopsy-proven low-risk prostate cancer: 5-year follow-up of a descriptive pilot study. Lancet Oncol. 17 September 2013. DOI: 10.1016/S1470-2045(13)70366-8.

Ian Gawler Blog: Eating well, Being well – and the new edition of “You Can Conquer Cancer” is released.

What a delight to speak at the Gawler Foundation’s conference this last weekend, presenting dietary guidelines and some of the exciting research linking nutritional changes with increased survival.

Great chance to catch up with old friends like Petrea King and Dr Craig Hassed and to have the honour of sharing the stage with them. Then there was the opportunity to meet up again with people who came to groups in days gone by. People like the lady who had secondary breast cancer 7 years ago and looks radiantly well. When asked what had helped her most, she thought for a moment, then shared the fact of learning to love herself enough to really care about what she ate, how often she meditated and so on. A real confirmation of Jess' guest blog from last week. Her new husband chimed in with how much he admires her capacity to make those choices and stick by them; how diligent she is.

Lots of new people to meet as well and my new edition of “You Can Conquer Cancer” arrived mid morning on the Saturday, hot of the press as they say! That’s synchronicity for you.

I had the opportunity to speak on the therapeutic potential of food – a vast topic!

A key point. Anyone who might be silly enough these days to say there is no evidence that changing your diet can improve cancer outcomes is just not keeping up with the research.

At the conference I shared 17 recent studies that come from the last few years and typify the exciting times we live in as research is making clear the powerful the between what you eat and cancer recovery. For over 30 years my clinical experience has been that food can be used therapeutically in cancer medicine, now we are getting some good confirmation via the research.

In the new edition of “You Can Conquer Cancer”, there are several fully rewritten chapters on cancer and food and nutrition, providing the detail of how to put all this into action; how to convert the theory into a meal.

The new book is just that, virtually a new book given the rewrite has been so thorough. So for anyone dealing with cancer, for anyone keen on not getting cancer, for anyone interested in a comprehensive, healthy lifestyle, the new book is recommended.

As promised here are the research articles linking cancer and nutrition, reproduced via “Out on a Limb”, and the dietary guidelines in summary. Again, the details are in the new book.

1. NUTRITION & LIFESTYLE prevents 40% of breast cancers by
i) Being lean
ii) Exercising 30 mins/day
iii) One alcoholic drink/day - max
iv) Women breastfeeding exclusively for 6mths
                                     Based on 954 studies: AICR & WCRF 2009

2. FOOD & EXERCISE SAVE LIVES
A major review of breast, colorectal, and prostate cancer concluded:
i) Observational studies suggest a low-fat, high-fibre diet might be protective against cancer recurrence and progression.
ii) There is more support for physical activity, with a dose response for better outcomes.
                                     Davies, N J, Br J Cancer, 2011
      More detail:Blog:  Let food be your medicine – 18 & 25/6/2012

3. LIFESTYLE CHANGES AFFECT BREAST CANCER RECURRENCES
i) Healthy weight decreases secondaries by 40 – 50% c.w. being obese.
ii) Seven or more alcoholic drinks per week almost doubles the risk of cancer in the opposite breast.
iii) Smoking & drinking:  increases the risk of cancer in the opposite breast by 7.2 times.

4. META-INFLAMMATION FEEDS DEGENERATIVE DISEASES
Meta-inflammation is low-level, systemic inflammation:
   - A major factor in most chronic degenerative diseases including cancer
   - Modern nutrition is a significant “inducer”
          Egger,G ACNEM Journal, Mar 2012, Vol 31 No 1 P12-14
 Inflammation potentiates active cancers.
 Improve the diet, reduce inflammation, assist recovery.

5. WESTERN DIET is BAD NEWS
High intake of meat, fat, refined grains & sugary desserts is associated with a
3x increase in colon cancer recurrence and death
                 Meyerhardt, JA et al, JAMA 2007;298:754-764

6. LOW CARBS REDUCE RISK of CANCER DEATH
High carbohydrate intake and high glycaemic load is associated with a
2x increase in colon cancer recurrence and death.
But only in the overweight and obese.
             Meyerhardt JA et al, J Natl Cancer Inst Nov 2012

7. Differential Stress Resistance
FASTING
For normal cells – increases protection
For cancer cells – increases vulnerability
Fasting around chemotherapy leads to:  
i) Better outcomes
ii) Less side-effects
                             Lee C, Volgo et al, Sci Trans Med 2012

8. CUT the CAMOUFLAGE, CURE the CANCER
Cancer’s “camouflage” seems to rely on the protein CD47.
Animal trials show anti-bodies to CD47 remove the camouflage, allowing the body’s immune system to recognise and destroy cancer.
                          Wellingham SB et al, Proc Nat Academy Sci, 2012
                          More detail: Blog - 2 April 2012

9. Multivitamins Reduce the Risk of Developing (or Dying) of Cancer
A very large randomized trial over 11 years concluded multivitamins produced:
1. No effect on prostate cancer
2. 12% risk reduction in total for developing all other cancers
3. Also, a 12% reduction in the risk of dying from cancer (not statistically significant)
                                   Gaziano, MJ et al, JAMA Oct 2012

10. Multi-vitamins & Breast Cancer
Another big study concluded:
1. Multivitamins are not harmful
2. Improved outcomes with radiation, or radiation and chemotherapy
3. Consistent multivitamins use before and after diagnosis, eating more fruits and vegetables, as well as being more physically active is associated with better overall survival.

           Kwan ML et al, Breast Ca Res Treat. 2011 Nov;130(1):195-205

11. SOY is Safe for Breast Cancer
This is the conclusion drawn from this extensive review of the available literature
              Messina MJ and Wood CE; Nutrition Journal 2008

12. MILK increases the risk of Prostate Cancer
Higher levels of cow’s milk consumption in boy’s is strongly associated with an increased risk of prostate cancer in men
                              Torfadottir et al; Am J Epidemiol, 2012

13. TELOMERES are protective, DNA—protein complexes at the end of chromosomes.
Telomere shortness is emerging as a powerful indicator of disease risk, progression, and premature mortality in many illnesses, including cancer.

Telomere shortening is counteracted by the cellular enzyme telomerase.

Increased telomerase activity is associated with
      1. Reduced disease risk generally
      2. Increased cancer survival    
      3. A longer, healthier life

There is a statistically significant inverse relationship between telomere length and both cancer incidence and mortality
                     Willeit P et al, JAMA 2010;304 (1): 69–75

14. WHAT INCREASES TELOMERASE ? 
1.  LIFESTYLE PROGRAMS  - LIKE TGF
          After 3 mths, 10% increase
                            Ornish, D et al, 2008,The Lancet Oncology

 2.  LIFESTYLE FACTORS
            HARMFUL EFFECTS  . Smoking
                                                      . Processed meats
                                                      . High BMI – overweight, obese
            HELPFUL EFFECTS    . Vitamins C,D & E, + Folate
                                                       . Omega 3 Fatty Acids
                            Lin j, Epel E, Blackburn E, 2011, Mutation Research

3.  MEDITATION - The Shamatha Project
       After 3 mth intensive retreat, 30% increase
                                            Jacobs TL, Wallace A, Blackburn E et al,
                                                    2010, Psychoneuroimmunology Jnl

4.  SPECIFIC HERBS   –  Product B – a combination of telomerase activating herbs. For details go to iangawler.isagenix.com

15. TUMERIC & PEPPER target breast cancer stem cells
Turmeric (curcumin) and black pepper (piperine) separately, and in combination, inhibit breast cancer stem cell self-renewal
      Kakarala, M et al, 2010, Br Ca Research & Treatment, Vol 122, No 3, 777-785

16. CURCUMIN (turmeric)
Reduces the side-effects and increases the benefits of radiotherapy
                              Jagetia G C; Adv Exp Med Biol, 2007

17. POMEGRANATE JUICE targets Prostate Cancer
8 ozs each day increases PSA doubling time - by almost 4 times : from 15 – 54 mths
                              Pantuck et al. 2006 Clin Ca Research
                              Pantuck et al. Abstract of follow-up Am Soc Clin Onc 2008

DIETARY GUIDELINES
In broad terms: ADOPT a PLANT-BASED, WHOLEFOOD DIET

1. READ the summary of The Wellness Diet

2. STUDY and APPLY the detail in the new edition of “You Can Conquer Cancer”

3. LISTEN to the 2 food CDs

4. ENJOY the recipes in “Eat Well, Be Well”

5. SEEK personal help if needed

6. DELIGHT in the fact, and the tastes of eating well

RESOURCES

1. DOCTORS & INTEGRATIVE MEDICINE
When you need a doctor trained in nutritional medicine, refer to

i) The Australian College of Nutritional Medicine (ACNEM)
   www.acnem.org

ii) The Australasian Integrative Medical Association (AIMA)
   www.aima.net.au

2. You Can Conquer Cancer – buy the new edition online (or over the phone) via the Foundation’s bookshop and support the Foundation – NOTE: check to make sure you order the new edition, not the old one!

3. CDS 
i) Eating Well, Being Well – Outines the Gawler Wellness Diet – the key to good health for everyone.

ii) Eating for Recovery – Outlines the Gawler Healing Diet specifically developed for people dealing with cancer. Please Note: This CD builds upon the information on "Eating Well, Being Well”. For those dealing with cancer, you need both CDs for completeness.

RELATED BLOGS

DNA and the dangly bits

Food 101 – what fuel goes into your tank?

Eating for recovery