#046 Dr. Elissa Epel on Telomeres and the Role of Stress Biology in Cellular Aging
FoundMyFitness
Rhonda Patrick, Ph.D.
4.8 • 5.5K Ratings
🗓️ 10 June 2019
⏱️ 73 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Elissa Epel
Elissa Epel, PhD, is a Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of California, San Francisco where she serves as the director of the Aging, Metabolism, and Emotions Center.
Her research centers on the mechanisms of healthy aging and the associations between stress, telomere length, addiction, eating, and metabolic health.
In this episode, we dive deep into the world of telomeres, the length of which is one of the useful biomarkers scientists have for getting a sense of the differences between how individuals or groups of individuals age. Telomere shortening is both a cause and a symptom of aging and plays key roles in not only how long we live, but in how well. Lifestyle factors such as poor nutrition and smoking can accelerate telomere shortening by generating oxidative stress and inflammation.
In this episode, we discuss:
- 00:00 - Introduction and overview
- 12:14 - What are telomeres
- 17:23 - Telomerase activity and cancer
- 22:22 - Factors affecting telomere length:
- 24:50 - Diet, coffee, and sugar
- 30:16 - Chronic stress
- 35:01 - Exercise
- 40:14 - Pregnancy and pre-conception
- 51:19 - Omega-3s EPA and DHA
- 52:12 - Vitamin D
- 54:01 - Weight loss and glucose management
- 01:00:30 - Meditation
- 01:07:39 - Consumer telomere length tests
If you’re interested in learning more, you can read the full show notes here: https://www.foundmyfitness.com/episodes/elissa-epel
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome back friends to a fresh episode of the Found My Fitness Podcast, a little digital |
| 0:04.4 | oasis where we can talk about the science of aging, health span, well-being and more, |
| 0:08.4 | usually through the lens of cellular and molecular biology. Today's episode features Dr. Elissa |
| 0:13.2 | Eppel, a professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of California, San Francisco, |
| 0:18.2 | and many other roles, including Director of the Aging, Metabolism, and Emotion Center at UCSF. |
| 0:23.8 | Dr. Eppel's research centers on the mechanisms of healthy aging and the associations between stress, |
| 0:29.0 | addiction, eating, and metabolic health. But one of the reasons I was particularly excited to |
| 0:33.9 | have Dr. Eppel on the podcast relates to her deep expertise in the world of telomere science. |
| 0:39.2 | Telomeres are distinct structures comprised of short repetitive sequences of DNA nucleotides |
| 0:44.7 | present on the ends of our chromosomes. They form a protective cap to protect the chromosomes |
| 0:50.1 | from damage. Telomere length is one of the useful biomarkers scientists have for getting a sense of |
| 0:55.7 | the differences between how individuals or groups of individuals age. This is because telomeres |
| 1:01.6 | get shorter every year as a function of cell division, playing a role in what is known as |
| 1:06.1 | replicative senescence, a process that limits the number of cell divisions as cell can undergo, |
| 1:11.6 | a limit that varies by cell type and factors like the expression of a special |
| 1:16.0 | telomere rebuilding enzyme called telomerase. But as you'll find out in this episode, |
| 1:21.2 | telomere biology is complex. While it is no doubt important for us to keep healthy telomeres |
| 1:26.2 | and do what we can to maintain them, the shortening of telomeres may be a delicate balance that |
| 1:30.8 | biology uses to try to protect us from other dangers like cancer. Now for the teaser. In this |
| 1:36.8 | episode, Dr. Eppel and I discuss the function of telomeres and a discussion about telomere length |
| 1:42.0 | as a biomarker for aging versus its place as an actual regulator of aging. How a specialized |
| 1:47.8 | enzyme called telomerase has the ability to rebuild telomeres after they've been shortened by |
... |
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