Nicklas Brendborg: Could we age backwards like jellyfish?

02/20/23 • 42 min

The search for the Fountain of Youth has intrigued and challenged scientists for centuries. Now, longevity is a buzzword - a multi-billion dollar industry with myriad interventions that could help us live longer and better. But are we any closer to fully understanding what it takes to extend healthy lifespan or healthspan? Nicklas Brendborg is a biotechnology researcher and the author of Jellyfish Age Backwards: Nature's Secrets to Longevity. The Copenhagen-based PhD student explores, with a critical eye, some of the fundamental questions related to aging science and mankind's quest to push the boundaries of healthy living. In this LLAMA podcast, with Peter Bowes, Nicklas explains how some animals have already achieved immortality and why the mechanisms behind aging continue to challenge researchers.
This episode is brought to you in association with Clinique La Prairie with whom we share a common goal of helping people pursue a long healthspan. The pioneering health and wellness destination, nestled on the shores of Lake Geneva in Montreux, Switzerland, combines preventative medicine with bespoke lifestyle and nutrition plans, and offers a holistic approach to living fuller, healthier, and longer lives.
In this interview we cover:

Defining the Fountain of Youth and what we mean by the aging process.
A critical analysis of aging research and the science of longevity
Do jellyfish really age backwards?
The small animal advantage when it comes to living a long life
The intriguing of people with Laron syndrome - why they appear able to avoid the killer diseases of old age
The whole body factor and why mental health also plays a role in living a long life
Calorie restriction and life extension in mice
Time-restricted eating
An appreciation of the pioneering researcher, Dr. Roy Walford
Self-experimentation and understanding our own bodies

Support the show

The Live Long and Master Aging (LLAMA) podcast, a HealthSpan Media LLC production, shares ideas but does not offer medical advice. If you have health concerns of any kind, or you are considering adopting a new diet or exercise regime, you should consult your doctor.

Defining the Fountain of Youth and what we mean by the aging process.
A critical analysis of aging research and the science of longevity
Do jellyfish really age backwards?
The small animal advantage when it comes to living a long life
The intriguing of people with Laron syndrome - why they appear able to avoid the killer diseases of old age
The whole body factor and why mental health also plays a role in living a long life
Calorie restriction and life extension in mice
Time-restricted eating
An appreciation of the pioneering researcher, Dr. Roy Walford
Self-experimentation and understanding our own bodies

Support the show

Previous Episode

James R. Hagerty: Telling the stories of our lives

Telling the stories of long, healthy and productive lives is what we do here. We share insights into how people conduct themselves - the habits, hacks, lessons and learning curves that evolve over time. We hear about relationships, athletic adventures and career achievements - the highs and the lows of a life well-lived.

One day, hopefully in the distant future, it will be obituary-time. A few paragraphs politely mentioning some of our milestones along with funeral arrangements and options for flowers. But before it comes to that, have you ever thought about telling your own story?

James R. Hagerty writes obituaries for The Wall Street Journal, but his new book focusses on the living. In Yours Truly: An Obituary Writer's Guide to Telling Your Story, James shares his skills and insight into how to record the pivotal moments of our lives. He also explains how the process could prove life-enhancing or enlightening and a valuable resource for our loved-ones.
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The value of having a life story preserved.
The difference between an obituary and telling your own story
James' story as a career obituary writer and journalist
But I'm not famous or infamous - do I have a story to tell?
How open do I need to be about every high and low in my life?
When discretion is the better part of valor
Saving stories - from letter-writing to social media posts
Is the process therapeutic?
How do others benefit from you writing your story?
The skill of asking questions
Realizing how little we know about each others' lives
Enjoying a long life and career and staying engaged

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Next Episode

Barrie Tan: Vitamin E for longevity

Choosing the most appropriate supplementation for optimum health and longevity can be a perplexing process. This episode is the first of a series, over the coming months, in which we will focus on a single nutrient and its importance for our every day health.

Vitamin E is a powerful antioxidant. It is important to maintain the immune system and cellular health. It is found in many foods but do our diets provide enough for our needs? Dr. Barrie Tan is a leading expert on vitamin E. A biochemist, he is the President of American River Nutrition, a natural health research and development company, located in Hadley, Massachusetts, and a longtime researcher into the health benefits from a form of the vitamin called tocotrienol.

We explore how it differs from the more commonly known form, tocopherol, and why it matters.
This episode is brought to you in association with Clinique La Prairie with whom we share a common goal of helping people pursue a long healthspan. The pioneering health and wellness destination, nestled on the shores of Lake Geneva in Montreux, Switzerland, combines preventative medicine with bespoke lifestyle and nutrition plans, and offers a holistic approach to living fuller, healthier, and longer lives.
In this interview we cover:

The discovery, in 1922, of alpha-tocopherol vitamin E - and four decades later, tocotrienol.
What's the difference?
Dr. Tan's journey from Malaysia to Massachusetts
The annatto plant - sometime called the lipstick plant and its significance as a source of tocotrienol.
The importance of vitamin E for cellular health and especially cell walls.
Can we get enough vitamin E from our diets?
The relationship between vitamin E and stresses on the body
Should vitamin E levels be a regular
Identifying signs of a vitamin E deficiency
Differentiating between vitamin E supplements and why they don't all come equal
Avoiding snake oil by scrutinizing indepenedent research
Longevity aspirations
Are multi-vitamins worth taking?

Support the show

Live Long and Master Aging - Nicklas Brendborg: Could we age backwards like jellyfish?

Transcript

Nicklas Brendborg00:00:02.009

If you stress this jellyfish, then you can actually get it to go from its adult stage back to something called the polyp stage. It's practically an example of, you know, the holy grail of aging research. That's an animal that's actually biologically immortal.

Peter Bowes00:00:22.469

Nicklas Brendborg is a biotechnology researcher and the author of Jellyfish Age Backwoods: Nature's Secrets to Longevity. It i