So I wanted to produce a book that would serve as a total body service manual, giving people the simple tools and the knowledge required to use them, so they could make a significant, sustainable difference to their health and wellbeing that could reverse their ageing, and possibly extend their lives by fifteen good-quality years, maybe even more.
I had two other light-bulb moments that further inspired and drove me to write this book:
About fifteen years ago I decided to develop a nutritionally based health plan that looked at diet, nutrition and exercise based on cellular physiology and health. I tested it on hundreds of people and found that it helped them achieve better health, with a better weight control, less inflammation, and better physical and mental functioning. Those with medical conditions such as arthritis, high blood pressure, diabetes and thyroid problems found that their control of these conditions was improved with the medication they were taking. People also reported an improvement in their night vision while driving.
About ten years ago, when my wife and I decided to start our Harley Street Practice, we used to travel from Birmingham to London and back on the days we were working in Harley Street. I also had a NHS practice in Birmingham, and Lesley had a cosmeceutical company and rooms in Harley Street. We would get up at 5am and leave at 6.30. I would stop for fuel, and by the time I had filled the car, paid for it and got back in, Lesley would be fast asleep. I thought she was just tired because of the hours and energy we were putting into our business. Lesley then started to gain weight and complain of pains in her feet. As a medical doctor these should have been red flags to me for something not being quite right. Had a patient presented with these symptoms, I would have immediately got into diagnosing what was going wrong with them. Lesley and I were so close that I missed the early signs and it wasn’t until she reported hair loss that I thought of investigating her for an underactive thyroid, which she had.
After this I asked myself the question: if I, a qualified doctor with over twenty years’ experience, at that time, of diagnosing and treating these conditions could miss the early signs of such a condition in someone who is so close and important to me, then how many people are out there who are living with the early signs of a medical condition related to their lifestyles, and justifying and rationalising the signs and symptoms as those of inevitable ageing?
Sometimes we are so close to the Elephant, all we see is ‘Grey’.
I want to be able to help people pick up on and recognise the early signs of things going wrong, and change the course of their health and highlight it to their GPs at an early stage. I would like this book to help people understand the ageing process – what accelerates it, how that is related to disease processes and what can be done to reverse and slow it down – so they can improve their physical, psychological and mental health and wellbeing.
I dedicate this book to my loving wife, who is a constant support and inspiration to me in all that I do, and to our six wonderful children, Luke, Adam, Farooq, Nadia, Sophie, and Sophia who have brought so much joy into our lives.
From the time we are born our bodies are determined by our genetic blueprint and controlled by various hormones and growth factors, which determine our growth, maturation and development. Most people reach their peak functioning by the age of about thirty years. The growth hormones and factors change and start to diminish from our mid-twenties, and from our mid-thirties we start to age. During our younger, vital years our hormones and growth factors offer protection against environmental hazards and our defences and ability to repair are strong. Our gut bacteria are healthy and work with our bodies to develop a strong and stable immune system that protects our health and wellbeing.
After the age of thirty-five years, our master control hormones change and our bodies start to age, and environmental factors start to have more of an influence on the body. The gut bacteria have probably been damaged by thirty-five years of poor diet and antibiotic exposure, either from prescribed antibiotics, or the antibiotics present in the food chain, so our immune system is compromised, damaged, or, worse still, attacking the host. This is one of the reasons why cancers in younger people are more aggressive and grow and spread more quickly. It is also why cancers accelerate during pregnancy as the growth factors and hormones surge.
The change in the hormones and growth factors can be seen partially as a protective change, as high levels of growth hormone and growth factors in later life would further accelerate any cancers or speed up the ageing process in damaged cells. This would include supercharging any abnormal activity by a damaged immune system. In simple terms, our internal environment influences our health, vitality and wellbeing up to the age of thirty-five and our external environment influences them thereafter. This is assuming we lead a healthy lifestyle and do not poison or damage our internal system. There are a number of factors that affect health outcomes:
Genetics
There is a lot of misconception about the importance of genetics versus environment in the ageing process. Overall, genetics accounts for 20 per cent towards ageing, and non-genetic factors 80 per cent. This does not take into consideration specific genetic or congenital conditions that can lead to shortened life expectancy.
We have genetic tests available that can predict risk factors, which we can then address through very specific lifestyle and environmental changes. Genetic studies in certain groups of people with genetic peculiarities have shown that the presence or absence of certain genes are associated with the slowing or stopping of the ageing process. This is associated with the absence of degenerative, or age-related disease processes like dementia, diabetes, heart disease and even cancer.
Diet and nutrition
Diet provides us with nutrition, energy and external growth factors that work with and complement our internal systems that affect our metabolism, repair and vitality. Food also introduces new organisms, genetic material and antibiotics (these are not listed on the list of ingredients on the packaging) that affect our internal gut bacterial balance, metabolism and can even increase the risk of cancer. As we age we need to consider that the foods that were good for us up to the age of thirty-five may actually accelerate the ageing process so we need to change how and what we eat as we get older.
Exercise
We all know that exercise is important. However, the type and intensity of exercise has to be tailored to our age and, to a lesser degree, genetic/metabolic makeup. Intense, heavy and prolonged exercise that is tolerated by a younger body can be detrimental as we get older and can indeed speed up ageing, degeneration, fat retention and accelerate disease processes, including cancer.
Gut bacterial balance
There is overwhelming evidence to show that the gut microbiome has a very important part to play in regulating the immune system and protecting us from diseases. The microbiome communicates with our central nervous system and can affect our mood, causing feelings of depression and cravings.
There are over 1,000 species of micro-organisms in the gut, consisting of over 3 million genes, which are important to our wellbeing. They perform many functions other than regulating our immune system. These include aiding in digestion and presentation of vitamins and minerals for absorption, regulation of metabolism and the prevention of obesity. Once upset, these regulatory functions can be affected, resulting in autoimmune diseases, metabolic diseases, obesity and gut problems, and even cancer (lymphoma).