One of the joys of aging is gradually losing the battle against gravity.  The elastic tissues under the skin and the deeper collagen structural fibrous tissues become weaker as the ability of the body to make new replacement proteins decreases.  Elastin, the rubber band-like tissue that allows the skin to snap back into shape after being stretched, gets thinner and less elastic.  The collagen, which forms the structural framework that holds everything together, gets bound up with cross-linkages making it stiffer and weaker.  The net result of these degradations is the formation of wrinkles and loose skin.

The obvious manifestation we easily see is wrinkles on the surface of our skin.  This same process is happening throughout our bodies.  Collagen and elastin form the framework and glue for all our organs, blood vessels, muscles, and so on.  Not only does our skin sag, but our internal organs start to sag as well.  Women often experience this with uterine and bladder tissues prolapsing and losing proper functioning.  Hardening of the arteries is another form of the loss of proper elastic properties on the tissues in the walls of the arteries.  Loose skin is not just an aesthetic issue, it is a health issue.

Another area where loose skin becomes obvious is after someone loses a lot of weight.  Bariatric surgery has become commonplace, and you will see people who have lost 100 pounds or more with the same amount of skin they had before weight loss, only now their skin hangs on them like their old clothes.  As a prelude to the point of this article, when you look at people who have lost that much weight because of starvation conditions, you don't see this problem with excess skin.  What is the difference?

Collagen and elastin are special protein molecules that don't contain the same ratio of amino acids that we find in muscle.  Collagen has none of the branched-chain amino acids like leucine, valine, and isoleucine, while elastin is almost half of these types of amino acids.   I will explain why this is important in a bit.  These tissues also require large amounts of vitamin C to form in the body, which is why tissue weakness is one of the signs of scurvy - vitamin C deficiency.  

So, what does this all have to do with wrinkles and loose flabby skin?  If you want to do something about these issues, it must be attacked from at least three different angles at once.  You have to supply the right nutrition to the skin and connective tissues in the body.  This means you have to consume the right amino acid blend to actually feed the connective tissues.  In simple terms, you have to eat connective tissue to feed connective tissues or at least consume the right amino acids in the right ratios.  In America, we primarily consume muscle meats, which do not feed the connective tissues.  We avoid the slimy tough stringy connective tissues as a food source.  Other countries do not.  For instance, in a nice bowl of pho, you can request tendon cooked in the pho.   Fortunately for us, we can get connective tissue into our diet as a protein supplement in the form of powdered collagen.  There are many different types of collagen indicated by different Roman numerals.  I use types l, ll, lll, V, and X.  As stated earlier you need to be sure you are getting plenty of vitamin C. Of course, you need to have good digestion, meaning enough stomach acid and pancreatic enzymes to digest the collagen.  These diminish with age and this is one of the primary reasons our tissues decline.  We simply don't get the nutrition we need inside because we can’t digest and absorb it even if we are careful about making sure we are eating it.

Important factor number two, we have to tame the fires of inflammation to slow down the destruction of the body's tissues, including the skin.  I have devoted several previous newsletters to how to do this with diet, light, skin essential oils, detoxification, and so on.

The third factor for dealing with wrinkles and loose skin is about unleashing the body's ability to eat up these unwanted items.  This process is called autophagy, which means self-eating.  Remember I mentioned how people that have lost weight because of starvation did not have loose skin, while those who had bariatric surgery did?  The reason is that starvation is one way to induce autophagy.  Rather than let vital tissues die from lack of necessary proteins for repair and replacement, the body scavenges protein from less important tissues to feed the more important ones.  Loose skin is not important, while the heart and lungs are more important. The body just eats up the loose skin to feed the heart and lungs.  This does not happen with the diet bariatric patients are put on.

There are several key factors in inducing autophagy.  Your calorie consumption total must be below 700 calories per day, your carb/sugar intake must be about zero, and you must not consume any branched-chain amino acids (the ones I mentioned earlier.)  What this looks like on a practical level is eating salads, soups, and veggies without any protein foods.  A little fat for the dressing or for flavor in the soup is okay, but you eat no starchy foods or sweet foods.  This protocol is called a fast mimicking diet.  The absence of carbs puts you into a ketone-based energy metabolism which reduces inflammation.  The absence of protein, particularly the three branched-chain amino acids, triggers the body into autophagy so it eats up unnecessary proteins in the body to repair or replace damaged vital tissues.  What does that mean for you?  It means it is eating up your wrinkles and flabby skin! 

Another bonus to this process is that after a couple of days, this eating protocol jumps growth hormone 200% to 300%.  It just builds up until you start eating proteins again and then it converts into anabolic hormones, like testosterone, to really jump-start building new, younger tissues.  This is the point where new elastin will be formed to give your skin its bounce and elasticity again.

The system I use is to eat the fast mimicking way for 60 hours, Sunday afternoon after supper to Wednesday morning.  Then I switch to good quality protein (in this case I use my actual perfect amino acid blend) for the rest of the week.  I generally stay in ketosis for the inflammation-reducing benefit all the time.  Since I have been doing this for some time, my body has some carb tolerance at this point so I am able to eat a couple of pieces of fruit a day to get the benefit of the special nutrients found in the deep colors of the fruit.  For instance, my favorite beverage is Pellegrino water with a splash of pomegranate juice added to it – a 10 to 1 ratio.  

A special warning to older dudes like myself.  This protocol builds tissue, like muscle.  If you have a lot of aromatase enzyme in fat cells the increased testosterone will end up increasing estradiol estrogen levels which will increase prostate tissue.  If you have an enlarged prostate as I did, then don't do this.  It will make it even larger and land you in the urologist's office as it has me.  Any anabolic hormone builder like DHEA or actual testosterone will do the same thing from the outside, so be careful.  I figured this out the hard way and have now suspended my fast mimicking until after I recover from prostate surgery to remove the excess prostate tissue.

That warning aside, this is the best way I know to turn back the clock on our aging bodies.  The obvious sign will be seen in the reversal of wrinkles and loose flabby skin.  The same renewal will be happening throughout your body.  Short of plastic surgery, this is the only way I know of doing this.  This is a super-powerful technique.  A couple of years ago I wrote a 70-page e-book on how to do this and gave it to my brother who is the director of the clinic at Western States Chiropractic College.  I asked him to let his interns give it a try with their patients.  They loved it.  This is the short and simple version for my newsletter readers.  Enjoy building a new you.

Take care,

David         

   
Ellen update:    

Ellen is all excited working on the formal menu for our Christmas Fantasy Feast.  Yes we start early on these things.  The theme will be feasting on fantasy creatures appropriate to Christmas, such as the Grinch, elves, and reindeer.  It gives us the opportunity to let our imaginations roam widely to create a memorable Christmas dinner for family.  I have been asked to take pictures of the dishes we come up with.