Once you reach a certain point in life, it’s not unusual to start looking for ways to help restore some of the qualities of your youthful body and mind.
It could be the first appearance of a gray hair or wrinkle, or an increased feeling of stiffness as you get out of bed. Perhaps you’re even starting to forget friends’ and coworkers’ names. What catches our attention is different for each of us.
Maybe you’ve already run out to get a hold of the latest miracle cream or potion. Or you’ve decided this is the year you’re going to take exercising seriously and join your local gym.
No matter what action you take to try to slow down the clock, one thing is for certain: you can’t stop the cells in your body and brain from aging.
While you may not be able to stop the process of cellular aging, you can help slow it down…
However, you won’t find the complete answer in either a jar or an exercise class. Working out is certainly part of the solution, but it won’t do the trick all on its own.
Instead, the answer lies right where the cellular aging process is happening inside your cells’ powerhouses – your mitochondria.
Your mitochondria hold the key to living a long, healthy life.
But how do you get inside your cells and slow down the changes taking place right now?
Some of the latest studies tell us exactly what we need to do to take control of what’s going on in our cells. And it could make all the difference for your health and well-being.
Why Your Mitochondria Hold the Keys to Longevity and Health
Many people don’t realize that absolutely everything that happens in their body depends on healthy mitochondria.
If your mitochondria don’t function well, nothing in your body will.
Nearly all your cells contain hundreds of mitochondria. Cells with a higher demand for energy – like your heart, liver, brain and nerve cells – have thousands of mitochondria.
Mitochondria are tiny energy factories that supply about 90% of the fuel your body needs. They take the food you eat and the oxygen you breathe and put it through a series of reactions known as the Krebs cycle to produce energy in the form your cells can use – adenosine triphosphate (ATP).
Your nuclear DNA isn’t the same thing as your mitochondrial DNA, or mtDNA. Mitochondria have their own set of circular genetic material, but it is far more fragile and susceptible to damage than DNA in the rest the cell.
Why is that? Producing ATP creates a virtual firestorm inside your mitochondria. Highly destructive reactive oxygen species (ROS) damage your mtDNA, fats and proteins and affect how your mitochondria function.
Unfortunately, your mitochondria lack the mechanisms that cells use to protect their DNA.
It’s All About Energy… Your Body Can’t Survive in an Energy Vacuum
Nothing can happen in an energy vacuum. When your mitochondria become damaged and don’t function well, your cells can become energy-starved and damaged, or even destroyed. Depending on which cells are affected, the impact can be tremendous.
You can imagine the potential consequences if those damaged cells happen to be in your most energy-hungry organs, such as your heart, brain, kidneys, liver or muscles…
Worse than the damage from regular free radicals, the damage from ROS affect how your mitochondria function. Aging can also lead to a greater chance of mutation and replication errors of your mtDNA. What else can harm your mitochondria and its genetic material?
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Processed foods with excessive sugar, net carbs and unhealthy fats
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Eating too late in the evening when your body doesn’t need the energy
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High iron levels from food or cooking
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Inactivity and low energy demand on your cells
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Toxins from air, water, food and personal products
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Radiation and EMFs from appliances, cell phones, Wi-Fi and “smart” gadgets
All of these things profoundly and directly affect your mitochondria, even if you can’t see or feel it happening. Unrepaired damage can lead to mutations in your mtDNA.
Sure, you can take measures to help protect your mitochondria from these and other destructive forces. But what about the damage happening beyond your control? After all, you can’t stop the clock.
Fortunately, research has found an effective strategy to help your mitochondria repair themselves. It’s almost like climbing inside your cells and fixing the damage yourself…
Do This Today to Help Your Mitochondria Fix Themselves
An interesting thing happens to the cellular aging process when you reduce your calories.
In an animal study, rhesus monkeys in the experimental group were fed a third fewer calories than monkeys in the control group, who ate normally. Compared to the control group, the calorie-restricted monkeys’ healthy lifespan and survival rates increased significantly.
How does this apply to you? When you fast or restrict your calories, some highly beneficial changes take place in your cells:
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Your body shifts into a protective and regenerative mode.
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Your cells and tissues work extra hard to fight damaging free radicals and repair their genetic materials.
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Your mitochondria undergo mitochondrial biogenesis, a process where they replace old, malfunctioning mitochondria with new ones.
Essentially, your mitochondria restore themselves.
Fasting for at least 14-16 hours drives your cells to use their mitochondria to shift over and burn fat for energy. Because there is no or limited glucose available for energy at that point, your body has no choice but to use stored fats for its fuel.
Having the metabolic flexibility to easily shift over to using fat for fuel instead of glucose is a profoundly effective way to help optimize your mitochondrial health.
Intermittent fasting can be part of a healthy strategy for giving your mitochondria the care they need.
However, you may be pleased to learn that it’s not the only way to help get your mitochondria back into shape…
No Fasting Required: Trick Your Body into Regeneration Mode With the ‘Molecule of Youth’
What if there were other ways to get the same mitochondrial protective and regenerative effects as fasting without actually restricting your calories? Or better yet, something you could do in addition to intermittent fasting for even faster results?
Researchers have isolated plant substances that mimic the effects of calorie restriction to help protect your mitochondria and genetic material, and to help slow premature cellular aging.
As you age, your mitochondria suffer increasingly more damage from oxidative stresses. Communication between your cells breaks down, largely due to the age-related decline of one of the most important coenzymes found in every cell in your body: Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide, or NAD+.
NAD exists in two different forms: NAD+ and NADH. NAD+ is known as the “Molecule of Youth.”
When your cells break down carbs and fats for energy, your body stores the energy in the form of ATP and NADH. When NADH converts into NAD+, the preferred form, it supplies your body with even more ATP.
NAD+ plays several crucial roles for your health, so the higher your levels of NAD+, the better. The more NAD+ in your cells, the more efficient your mitochondrial ATP or energy production.
Factors That Can Make Your NAD+ Levels Plummet
Researchers have discovered that low levels of NAD+ can accelerate cellular aging and reduce the activity of SIRT1. This can age your body and impair the formation and functioning of new mitochondria.
Aging is also a major factor. When you’re younger, NADH can easily give up its energy-rich electrons to create NAD+. However, as you age, unrepaired DNA damage lowers your levels of NAD+.
Since your levels of NAD+ drop as you age, your sirtuin activity declines as well. That impacts cellular signaling, which leads to mitochondrial dysfunction.
So what else can lower your levels of NAD+, or the “Molecule of Youth?”
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Chronic inflammation
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Disrupted circadian rhythm or body clock, such as an irregular bedtime
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Low oxygen levels in your cells
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Consuming too many calories
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Alcohol consumption
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High blood sugar and insulin levels
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Extensive DNA damage
Many of these factors are within your control. Every little step you take to influence these variables is a step that helps you maintain your levels of NAD+ and slow the cellular aging process.
These Red Flags Might Mean You Have Low NAD+
How can you tell if you have low levels of NAD+?
Obviously, you can’t see what’s happening in your cells. But these are all signs that you may have low NAD+:
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Fatigue or lower levels of physical energy
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Low mental energy or brain fog
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Increasing weight gain, especially in your abdomen
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Rising cholesterol levels
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Moodiness and feeling blue
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Heart issues
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Cold feet and hands
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Immune system issues and infections that won’t clear up
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Inflammatory issues
Fasting, calorie restriction and interval exercise are three things that can help raise your NAD+ levels.
And so can something else. This approach has been shown in studies to radically increase levels of NAD+. Let's see how that happens…
Compound Transforms the Equivalent of a 60-Year-Old’s Muscle Health to That of a 20-Year-Old’s in Just ONE Week
Scientists set out to discover if raising NAD+ levels could potentially turn back the clock on cellular aging in mice.
In one recent study, researchers injected a group of elderly mice with a pharmaceutical compound known to increase cellular levels of NAD+.
Within only one week of treatment, mitochondrial homeostasis was restored, and the key biochemical markers of muscle health in a 22-month-old “old” mouse were restored to levels similar to a youthful 6-month-old mouse.
To appreciate that in human years, that’s like transforming muscle biochemical markers of a 60-year-old body to those of a 20-year-old!
How did this compound create such astonishing changes?
It restored a high ratio of NAD+ to NADH, the cofactor that plays a key role in the production of energy. High levels of NAD+ (relative to NAHD) are needed for DNA repair and the activation of SIRT1.
As impressive as this study certainly was, we’re not big fans of using pharmaceuticals to increase your levels of NAD+. That’s what led us to look closer at one of our favorite herbs…
The Plant-Sourced NAD Precursor That Helped Mice Live Even Longer Than Those on Calorie Restriction
That herb is Pau d'Arco, made from the bark of a large tropical tree with stunning pink flowers called the Pink Lapacho. Found in the rainforests of South America and Latin America, it has a long history of use for a number of health concerns.
The inner lining of the bark is the tree’s most treasured part. It contains two valuable substances called lapachol and beta-lapachone.
Lapachol is best known for its potential cellular health benefits. Beta-lapachone powerfully increases NAD+ inside your cells. By increasing NAD+, Pau d’Arco can help improve ATP or cellular energy production.*
In a study with aged mice, researchers added beta-lapachone from Pau d’Arco bark into one group’s diet while keeping activity levels and total calories unchanged in both groups.
The following effects were noted in the beta-lapachone group, compared to the control group:
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Increased ratio of NAD+ to NADH in the muscle
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Higher number of intact mitochondria, suggesting resistance to mitochondrial breakdown
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Less damage to mitochondrial proteins that reduce the production of damaging reactive oxygen species (ROS) inside the cell
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A decrease in body weight and body mass, compared to the level found in young adult mice
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Lower age-related markers in blood, such as increased glucose, lipids and leptin
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Increased body temperature, suggesting a higher energy expenditure and body metabolism
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Higher capacity of associative memory
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Greater motor performance and muscular strength, as seen by up-regulated genes associated with muscle development
What’s most surprising is this: beta-lapachone benefited the health of the mice even more than calorie restriction. The beta-lapachone group lived significantly longer than the calorie-restricted group, which lived longer than the control group.
In addition, the researchers noted that beta-lapachone protected the mitochondrial structure better than calorie restriction.
Made Only From the Inner Bark of the Pink Lapacho Tree, Our Pau d’Arco Provides a Multitude of Potential Benefits for Your Well-Being
In addition to Pau d’Arco’s impressive mitochondrial and longevity benefits, studies show Pau d’Arco may also help:
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Support healthy cellular growth.*
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Boost your strength and vigor.*
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Support smooth and healthy skin.*
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Support immune function.*
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Maintain respiratory health.*
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Support heart health.*
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Maintain blood sugar levels already in the healthy normal range.*
Another naturally occurring ingredient in Pau d’Arco – besides beta-lapachone and lapachol – is quercetin, a potent antioxidant. Quercetin is known for its powerful support for respiratory and immune health.*
While many companies use the whole bark – including the dead wood, which can dilute its activity and effectiveness – our Pau d’Arco is made only from the mature, living inner lining of the bark of the Pink Lapacho tree for optimal potency.
And here’s another potential benefit Pau d’Arco offers…
The Type of Body Fat You Want to Gain, Not Lose
I know it may come as a surprise when I say I want you to gain body fat. However, it’s likely not the type of fat you think. Let me explain…
When you’re cold, your body has a number of ways to keep you warm. Shivering is one. Non-shivering, which involves a tissue called brown fat, is another.
Unlike regular white fat that stores calories, brown fat burns energy and produces heat. And when it produces heat, it stimulates energy expenditure.
Babies are born with high levels of brown fat to help them stay warm. As you age, your brown fat deposits drastically decline.
Everyone has at least some brown fat cells. The lower your body mass index (BMI), the more you likely have.
Brown fat is loaded with mitochondria and it’s desirable for your metabolism.
Researchers believe brown fat may hold the key to wellness, and by restoring your levels, you may be able to significantly improve your health.
Mice Studies Suggest Pau d’Arco’s Beta-Lapachone May Help Turn Your White Fat into Brown Fat
The more brown fat you have, the better. Low levels are linked to three conditions:
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A decline in your body’s metabolic function
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A decreased ability for your cells to use insulin
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A lower production of new mitochondria (known as mitochondrial biogenesis)
Now researchers believe there may be a way to help you restore your levels…
Mice studies suggest that the beta-lapachone found in Pau d’Arco’s inner bark can convert white fat into brown fat.
One especially revealing study showed that beta-lapachone along with a high-fat diet stimulated the expression of brown-adipocyte genes, decreased weight gain and increased energy expenditure, compared to a control group of mice.
Imagine the potential implications for your well-being…
Because of their plentiful mitochondria, brown fat cells may help you regulate your body weight and protect your vital organs, especially your heart, brain and nervous system.
You can further increase your brown fat levels by regular cold exposures. This could be as simple as taking cold showers. They are uncomfortable for sure, but you feel so good afterward, and they really improve your metabolic health.
Pau d’Arco to the Rescue: Help Your Mitochondria Fix Their Damaged DNA… and Much More*
Pau d’Arco can be taken every day for its mitochondrial, immune-supporting and anti-cellular aging benefits.* It’s a great part of a strategy for optimizing your mitochondrial and cellular health.
You can only do so much to help slow the rate of cellular aging, and this remarkable compound is one of the most effective tools available.*
To summarize, our Pau d’Arco can potentially help you:
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Support healthy cellular growth.*
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Support heart, skin, respiratory and immune health.*
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Raise your levels of NAD+ to support the repair of mitochondrial DNA and the biogenesis of new mitochondria.*
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Improve cellular energy production or ATP.*
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Support mitochondrial health by reducing damaging reactive species or ROS.*
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Maintain blood sugar levels already in the healthy normal range.*
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Support your weight management.* referred
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Boost your strength and vigor.*
Give your cells the care they need so you can enjoy a long, healthy life, and order Pau d’Arco today!