Youthful appearance has never been as valued as today. Those who can afford it spend thousands, if not millions, of dollars on various anti-aging and cosmetic procedures. However, the key to staying young might be much cheaper and more available than you think.
Have you ever heard of metformin? It is a name for type 2 diabetes medication that shows the potential to slow down the aging processes in our bodies. You probably wonder how that works. Well, keep reading and learn more about metformin and its anti-aging properties!
THE AGING PROCESSES IN OUR BODIES
When you think about aging, you probably think about gray hair and wrinkled skin. However, aging is much more than skin-deep. It affects every cell in our body, which long-term causes various age-related diseases and conditions.
Every day, various cells in our body become damaged, and the DNA in those cells becomes damaged. Potentially cancerous free radicals appear, as well as many pathogens and inflammatory agents. In most cases, our body repairs the damages, fights “the bad guys,” and keeps going on.
However, as we age, our body is no longer capable of patching up every damage or neutralizing every free radical. In other words, our body is no longer capable of fully maintaining itself. As a result, more and more of our cells become damaged.
At first, we notice it on our skin and hair. We get our first wrinkles, and our skin is no longer as firm and elastic as it was. The hair gets silver streaks and starts to become thinner. Our eyes start to fail us, as well as our hearing.
But the tissues and organs that we don’t see or feel also go through certain changes. Their capacity becomes reduced, and it will get worse with each new year that passes by. All this sounds rather depressing, but it is natural.
After all, it is a privilege to live long enough to start noticeably aging. However, that doesn’t mean that we should just accept aging as it is and do nothing to stay energetic and active. In short, accepting aging as a natural process doesn’t mean letting yourself go.
Metformin can help you age more gracefully and actively. You should live your life to the fullest even when you are no longer in your 20s. In the end, every phase of your life can be the best one if you decide so.
SHORT HISTORY OF METFORMIN
But before we move on to the anti-aging properties of metformin, let’s first learn more about this medication and its history. This will help you understand how beneficial this medication can be.
At first, metformin was derived from Galega officinalis, more commonly known as goat’s rue. Goat’s rue plant is a widely used medicinal plant rich in galegine (also known as guanidine), a compound that lowers blood sugar levels.
So, when the scientists and medical experts of that age first “discovered” and researched diabetes, they also realized that they could use compounds from goat’s rue as a treatment. However, World War 2 interrupted further metformin research.
Then, in the late 1940s, scientists resumed their interest in metformin, further proving its role in lowering blood sugar levels. Still, this substance didn’t become a popular diabetes medication until the 1970s, when some other medications were withdrawn from the market.
However, since then, metformin has become the most widely prescribed medication for diabetics. Most diabetes patients have taken metformin under the name of some of its numerous brands.
HOW CAN METFORMIN SLOW DOWN THE AGING PROCESS?
While researching metformin, scientists have also realized that this medication comes with many other benefits. One of these benefits is slowing down the aging process. There are several ways in which metformin can make you age slower and even reverse some signs of aging
ANTI-INFLAMMATORY PROPERTIES
Metformin is successful at treating insulin resistance, which is often the main cause of various inflammatory processes in our bodies. These inflammatory processes cause us to age faster. This means that metformin can slow down our aging by treating insulin resistance and preventing inflammations.
ENCOURAGING CELLULAR AUTOPHAGY
Metformin also stimulates cellular autophagy, which is a process in which cells break down and remove dead or damaged proteins, organelles, and macromolecules. During this process, healthy cells are able to reuse various cellular components, which makes autophagy a form of recycling.
PREVENTING PROTEIN DAMAGE
When proteins in our cells become damaged and start to build up, they can cause various diseases and disorders, including neurodegenerative conditions such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. Metformin prevents protein damage, reducing the risk of developing Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and other neurodegenerative and age-related conditions.
REPAIRING OXIDATIVE DAMAGE
When our blood sugar levels are chronically high, the oxidative stress in our bodies starts to increase. This means that our cells are less capable of neutralizing and fighting against free radicals. As a result, we become more vulnerable to conditions such as cancer, Parkinson’s, heart failure, atherosclerosis, and other age-related diseases.
FIGHTING CELLULAR SENESCENCE
Cells in our bodies reproduce through cellular division. However, sometimes these cells enter a state of senescence, which means they stop growing and dividing, no matter how much growth stimuli they get. This can lead to cancer, inflammatory processes, and immunodeficiency.
As we age, the number of our senescent cells grows. That’s why old people are more prone to various health issues. Metformin can prevent more cells from becoming senescent by inhibiting gene expression and the production of cytokines that cause cellular senescence.
OTHER BENEFITS OF METFORMIN
Apart from its role in fighting diabetes and delaying the aging process, metformin can help with several other health conditions. For example, metformin can stimulate weight loss even among people who aren’t diabetic. Many similar diabetic medications cause weight gain, but not metformin.
Surprisingly enough, metformin can help treat infertility among women with PCOS. In these cases, metformin enables women with PCOS to ovulate and get pregnant. Apart from treating infertility, metformin also treats other symptoms of PCOS, such as acne, excess body and facial hair, and excess weight.
Some studies suggest that metformin could help prevent gastric cancer or at least slow down its growth and increase the survival rate among patients. However, these results haven’t been officially confirmed yet.
Metformin also has several other potential benefits. It reduces the risk of hypoglycemia, improves cardiovascular health, and helps retain good cognitive skills even in old age.
POTENTIAL AND FUTURE DEVELOPMENTS
Even though scientists are still learning about metformin and how it works, they all agree that metformin is promising when it comes to anti-aging. This medication has been used long enough to conclude that taking metformin is a great way to prolong life and stay youthful.
In general, metformin is well-tolerated among patients, which makes it a better choice than most other diabetes medications. Still, we need to learn more about this medication to uncover its full potential.
For example, researchers are still uncertain whether the age and gender of patients could affect the anti-aging effects of metformin. Additionally, metformin showed the best anti-aging results when administered in higher doses than usual.
This means that, for future use in anti-aging treatments, researchers would need to determine the maximum safe dose of metformin. They will need to put more effort into researching possible side effects of metformin, especially the negative ones.
Finally, the full anti-aging potential of metformin could be unleashed when using it with other medications and therapies. All these considerations are important to determine whether metformin could be a safe and effective anti-aging drug.
SOME GENERAL ANTI-AGING TIPS
Apart from taking metformin, there are also some other things you can do to age more slowly. Most of these things are simply a part of living a healthy and balanced life. So, to stay youthful, healthy, and active for longer, do this:
- Watch your diet – By eating healthy, you ensure that your body gets all the nutrients it needs, including vitamins and antioxidants that will help you look young and fresh. Antioxidants are also crucial for cancer prevention. A balanced diet will also help you keep your weight within healthy limits, which is another important factor in looking youthful.
- Stay active – Regular exercise will help you stay fit, flexible, mobile, and active. All these are the attributes of young people, and living an active life will help you live longer.
- Stay hydrated – Drinking enough water will slow down the aging process and help all your body tissues and organs function properly.
- Avoid alcohol and drugs – Alcohol and drugs age people significantly. They damage your body on a cellular level, speeding up the aging process and even causing serious health conditions.
- Don’t smoke – Cigarettes will make your skin and teeth yellow, making you look 10-20 years older than you actually are. They can also cause various forms of cancer, including lung, mouth, and throat cancer.
- Protect your skin from the sun – Exposing your skin to the sun without any protection will make it age much faster. Excessive sun exposure is also the leading cause of skin cancer. Protect your skin by wearing a sunscreen.
- Sleep regularly – The phrase “beauty sleep” wasn’t coined by accident. Regular sleep makes us look better and younger, and it also allows our body to repair cellular damage. People who sleep enough are far less likely to develop various health conditions such as cancer, heart issues, dementia, and obesity.
- Reduce your stress levels – Stress accelerates aging by causing inflammation and damage to the DNA in our cells. Try to avoid it whenever possible.
- Go to regular physical exams – Visiting your doctor for routine exams every 6-12 months will help you diagnose most health conditions in their early stages when they are easier to treat.
- Visit your dentist more often – Taking good care of your teeth will make you look younger because healthy teeth are associated with youth. Additionally, teeth and gum diseases can also cause other health conditions, which is another reason why you should go for regular dental check-ups.
CONCLUSION
Metformin is one of the most widely used diabetes medications today. However, recent findings suggest that we could use metformin for anti-aging. Thanks to its anti-inflammatory effects on our body, metformin slows down the aging process.
Metformin is also useful for treating insulin resistance, a condition that can cause many other health issues and make us age faster. There are many other potential health benefits of using metformin. If you are interested in this medication, make sure to consult your doctor before trying it!
