Optimised ageing

Longevity specialist Dr Harpal Bains, medical director at Harpal Clinic in London, on reducing “inflamm-ageing”

Inflammation is a natural response to injury or infection. “It’s a protective mechanism,” says Harpal. But chronic inflammation, when there is no threat to health, can be low-grade and occur over a prolonged period of time, contributing to accelerated cellular ageing.

“Everyone experiences inflammageing to varying degrees,” says Harpal. “But it has increased in recent years due to factors including higher stress levels, food with lower nutrients and overexposure to environmental toxins.”

Here, she shares some anti-inflammageing tips:

INTERMITTENT FASTING

This is an eating pattern that focuses on when you eat, rather than what you eat. By fasting for a set number of hours, the gut is not working hard to continuously digest food. Therefore it is able to repair, regenerate tissue and the right type of microbiome can proliferate.

HAVE A LIE-IN

Hormones that are crucial in the process of repairing our bodies, such as melatonin, are released during sleep, so one of the best things you can do is to implement a good sleep hygiene routine. This can include no blue light or screens before bed, eating earlier in the evening, using weighted blankets and ensuring the temperature of your bedroom is a comfortable 18°C.

COLD-IMMERSION THERAPY

Toxins are some of the prime drivers of inflamm-ageing. It’s hard to avoid all manner of pollutants, so the next best option is to increase efforts to get rid of toxins so that the body is not in constant, low-level fight mode. Ice baths or cold showers can help flush toxins out of the body by increasing blood circulation. Evidence also suggests that cold immersion therapy improves immune response and antioxidant protection.