Your stem cells act as the foundational building blocks for repairing and regenerating cells that are inevitably damaged or lost during the body's everyday activities.
When stem cells fall down on the job, your health and well being suffers.
But you can give your stem cells some much-needed support fairly easily – by tweaking your diet and lifestyle. In fact, the results of making these lifestyle changes can be life-saving.
A closer look at how our stem cells react to poor lifestyle choices is eye-opening and reveals the road blocks these hard-working cells often face in their efforts to keep the body in good working order.
One of the worst lifestyle choices is eating too much sugar.
How your stem cells feel about sugar
Indulging a sweet tooth and munching on sugary foods represents a particular danger to stem cells in bone marrow that are destined to become immune cells which travel within your bloodstream, battling invaders. When you consume too much sugar and, as a result, your blood sugar levels are consistently elevated – an especially significant danger for people with diabetes – it alters how these stem cells behave.
And not in a good way!
A study at the University of Oxford in England shows that when blood glucose is high, it makes epigenetic changes to the stem cells that regenerate immune cells. The result? These stem cells change into newborn immune cells that are inflammatory and can cause serious problems in the heart and arteries.
In fact, these changes can result in chronic inflammation. What’s more, the researchers report that these epigenetic alterations have long-term effects on increasing the risk of heart disease.
At the same time, studies in Japan reveal another problem with sugar: When your blood sugar is high it also impairs the activities of stem cells that regenerate new, healthy gum tissue and makes it harder to bounce back from periodontal disease. These tests also show that high blood sugar leads to oxidative stress that similarly interferes with stem cells.
However, the Japanese scientists report that NAC (N-acetyl-cysteine), which is available as a supplement, may be able to offset some of these harmful effects.
If all of that doesn't discourage you from limiting sugar in your diet, Tulane researchers have produced additional evidence of sugar’s negative impact on the body. They found that high blood sugar causes stem cells that have been derived from fat cells to produce extra fat cells instead of going to work helping the body to regenerate bone and cartilage.
Your stem cells want you to work out
Not only are stem cells affected when your blood sugar goes up, their behavior also changes depending on whether you exercise consistently or spend too much time as a couch potato.
Researchers at Indiana University have reviewed research into how stem cells function. They found that, when you exercise frequently and also get sufficient rest between exercise sessions, this enhances the ability of stem cells – which are "mechanosensitive" – to regenerate bone tissue and keep muscles stronger. But a lack of exercise encourages these same stem cells to lean more toward creating more body fat.
As an added bonus, exercise also activates cardiac stem cells to get to work rebuilding the heart muscle. Studies in the United Kingdom indicate that exercise increases your available heart stem cells. And the more intense the exercise, the more stem cells are produced for regenerating the heart.
Our Takeaway
These studies show that the healthy lifestyle measures I've been promoting for years possess powerful benefits for your stem cells. As a result, a healthy lifestyle can help you reduce the risk for all kinds of diseases and conditions at the cellular level before they can ruin your life.
One additional point…
While you're cutting back on sugar, eating more fruits and vegetables, and adding exercise into your routine, make sure you get a healthy dose of omega-3 fats in your diet or via supplements.
These fats -- which you can get from fatty fish like sardines, salmon, herring and tuna – also help your stem cells produce more muscle and bone, making them less likely to morph into fat cells. Researchers at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden believe omega-3s are so effective for protecting stem cells that they should be investigated as treatments for older people who have too much body fat and not enough muscle.
Kommentarer