 "Kalpana Gupta Shekhawat")
Denham Harman was the father of free radical theory of ageing. This theory suggests that free radicals are formed due to radiation, smoking, sunburn, pesticides, insecticides and herbicides, lipid peroxidation and stress.
These free radicals, then, can lead to cellular damage and in turn speed up ageing by initiating an inflammatory response in the cells. It is now recognised that inflammation is the underlying cause of most chronic diseases such as heart disorders, diabetes, chronic pain, asthma, inflammatory gut disorders, degenerative diseases, obesity, cancer, and Alzheimer's disease. Inflammation is a natural response to injury, but when it becomes chronic due to constant exposure to free-radical forming substances, the body goes through a faster-than-normal ageing process.
Medication is often prescribed to suppress the symptoms of inflammation. However, by the time the body signals the presence of inflammation, disease has already begun and medication may reduce symptoms but not necessarily address the root cause. To prevent inflammation, functional medicine experts promote lifestyle change and use food, nutraceuticals and bio-identical hormones to manage the root cause of disease manifestation. Adherence to an anti-inflammatory diet is critical if one expects to stay young and free from chronic diseases associated with ageing.
An anti-ageing diet also includes managing stress, limiting alcohol intake, smoking cessation, increasing exercises and ensuring adequate sleep. There is no one anti-ageing diet, but they all broadly lay emphasis on eating whole foods, food rich in beneficial fats, vegetables and fruit with appropriate amounts of grains and plant-based, healthy proteins.
Dietary supplements that can reverse existing free-radical damage and can even reverse certain chronic inflammatory disorders have shown promising results in various clinical trials. Supplements that can be effective are vitamin C, vitamin E, vitamin A, selenium, co-enzyme Q 10 and lipoic acid.
Magnesium plays an important role in more than 200 critical enzyme reactions in the body. Ensure adequate intake of magnesium with rich green leafy vegetables, fruits, nuts, legumes and whole grains.
Chocolate is one of the richest sources of dietary flavonols and has been shown to favourably affect anti-inflammatory cytokines, to inhibit platelet aggregation, and to reduce lipoxygenase activity.
Kalpana Gupta Shekhawat
Functional medicine and metabolic disease management consultant
