(tranquil music playing) - This is a production of W E D U PBS, Tampa, St. Petersburg, Sarasota.

- Want to look younger?

Many people do and surgery or invasive treatments may come to mind as a means of getting there.

But there are other options.

Facial plastic surgeon, Dr. Francis Palmer, shows how patients can look and feel younger without going under the knife.

Learn from experts, how to reduce your biological age, coming up next.

(upbeat music playing) - Welcome to "up Close."

I'm Cathy Unruh.

In 2020, the year the pandemic hit, and many of us started spending a lot of time online, the top five cosmetic surgery procedures were those that could freshen appearances on a computer screen, including eyelid surgery, facelifts, nose reshaping.

Today, we discuss ways that you can look and feel younger without surgery, by lowering your biological age.

We are joined by Dr. Francis Palmer.

He is a Board Certified Facial Plastic Surgeon, an author of, "What's Your Number?

The Whole You Approach to Personal Transformation."

Also with us is Marina Bourantonis.

She is the owner of Thavma Yoga Studios, proponent, and teacher, of health and wellness.

Welcome, both of you.

Thank you for joining us on a zoom screen.

And Marina, I'm not sure I pronounced your last name correctly.

So say that for us, if you would - Bourantonis, you did great.

- Okay.

Thank you.

Let's get a little background on plastic surgery and where we stand today.

Dr. Palmer, I think the popularity of plastic surgery increased as more of us were doing this, is that correct?

- Yeah.

You know, that's exactly right.

It always was increasing, has been increasing for the last three decades, as we become more and more connected worldwide.

But during the pandemic, when we're right here, up close and personal, yeah, it really exploded because everybody wants to put their best foot forward.

And that includes their appearance.

- And selfies contributed to that too, right?

We're spending so much time in doing.

- Selfie generation.

- Absolutely, you know, there's the whole generation that just blew up with selfies and, and spent a lot of time and effort and, you know, whether I agree with that or not, surgical procedures to make themselves more, you know, more attractive or whatever they want, on selfies.

- How long were you a practicing plastic surgeon?

- Over 30 years.

- And then you retired and you moved into anti-aging in another way.

What prompted that?

- Actually, I never changed.

I've always been involved in discovery.

I'm a discoverer at heart.

So I love to look at very difficult problems and try to find meaningful solutions and then educate the public or, or my patients and consumers.

I remember as, as a biology major in San Diego State, looking at research papers on the antiaging effects of vitamin C by Dr. Pauling.

And then for 20 years, I've been involved in discovering novel sort of products or procedures in the medical device, nutraceutical, biopharmaceutical, cosmeceutical industries, and have multiple patents on different procedures.

You know, a lot of products became commercially available.

So this wasn't a real jump for me.

I didn't wake up one day and say, "Oh, I think I want to do this."

I mean, I always did.

If you think about it, I, my book talks about a holistic approach to personal identification, evaluation, and then transformation, because we cannot, cannot make any meaningful changes unless we know a couple things: one, where are we, and where are we trying to go?

- And where we're trying to go.

And this conversation is going to be about the lowering your biological age or anti-aging.

And we're gonna get, drill down on that in just a moment.

And Marina, the slogan for your yoga studios is "Reignite Your Flame."

What's the meaning of that?

- Well, first of all, we have a heated yoga studio, but we also do a functional movement.

I'm all about functional movement and training your body to basically you get yourself into adversity, and so that you can get rid of some kind of the free radicals in your body.

So through health and fitness and wellness, and I do it in multiple approaches.

I'm all about IV therapy.

I'm all about doing yoga, but aligning so that you're not just hanging out in your joints, you're actually engaging your muscles and strengthening around the joints so that you're strengthening your tissues.

But at the same time, the heat raises your blood plasma and it raises your blood oxygen levels.

And it helps, basically your body be at its optimal levels and at the same time, get rid of free radicals.

- And the purpose of all this, is, of course, to feel stronger and healthier and more flexible, and does that equal younger?

- Yes, of course it does.

Because when you move your body, when you stop moving your body, your testosterone levels lower, you have, your muscles just stop working properly, you start creating all of this scar tissues and your, your spine health deteriorates, and then your pain, your back hurts, your hips hurt and when have pain, you don't feel young at all.

You, you feel very old, the more pain you have, the older you feel.

- And quickly, you have personal experience with that because you were, you had some pain going on, which is what brought you to yoga.

- Correct.

I've had three car accidents and through those three car accidents, I was able to see how I can move my body functionally and get it so that it doesn't hurt.

- So we're gonna talk more about that, but we're gonna move to biological age right now Dr. Palmer, because science is starting to show us that our biological age may be more important than our chronological age.

So it's not the number of birthdays we had, but it's how our cells are behaving.

Can you tell us more about that?

- Yeah, I know a longevity experts say, living longer by itself is meaningless.

It's living longer in an optimal state of health.

And that that's what our other guest was talking about.

And I agree with that wholeheartedly.

So chronological age is, how many birthdays have you had, right?

You take today's date, you subtract your age and you find out exactly how old you are.

Biological age is, how old are you functioning, right?

That's the, we hear it all the time, 60 is the new 40, 40 is the new 20, but you know, what does that really mean?

Well, it means that a 60 year old who's chronologically 60, is acting and functioning at a 40 year old level, which is what we all want.

So that's, there's multiple ways to impact biological age.

- And let's talk about how you determine your biological age.

And there is now a saliva test, which you can take, to tell you.

- Yeah, biological age has been shown by researchers to be a good indication of health and longevity because you can't follow patients for their entire life; it's just too long.

But I think there's a multiple ways to test biological age.

Most of it's blood tests, there is a simple saliva test that looks at the amount of DNA methylation.

Now I don't wanna get too complicated, but DNA methylation basically has the ability to turn off gene expression.

And as we age, you may want certain genes expressed or non-expressed.

And so measuring the DNA methylation is a reasonable way to look at your biological age.

- And we're going to get into a little bit, the supplements and so forth that we can use, but one tool in your arsenal of antiaging, is nutraceuticals.

They are- - Yeah, that's correct.

And you can imagine that, this part of the research has exploded in recent years.

And it was specifically around some things that are proven.

There's animal studies and then human studies, human studies are either clinical trials or what we call real world data.

You know, people take something for a certain indication.

You measure it, in this case, biological age, and is shown to make an improvement, which I think is the primary type of studies consumers should look for.

- And not everyone knows what nutraceuticals are.

- Yeah.

They're basically what we, we know as supplements, right?

They're vitamin C, D, the one we're gonna talk about is Alpha-Ketoglutarate, a long name for a different supplement, but there's many, many out there.

And what the research has shown is taking handfuls, randomly, doesn't work.

And so you really need a targeted approach.

What are you trying to accomplish?

Make sure that the supplement really has studies that prove it, and then go ahead and take that.

- So AKG, tell us a about that.

- So AKG is Alpha-Ketoglutarate, a long name.

So it's a chemical in our body that's essential for production of every cell in the body.

So it's a little bit important.

The problem is we lose it as we get older.

Between 40 and 80, we can lose up to 10 times, not 10%, 10 times.

So you may have 10% the level you had when you were younger, which adds credence to this, why I turn 40 and I don't have the same energy?

You may not have as much AKG.

Sadly, we can't get it from food.

It has to be a supplement.

And all supplements aren't created equal.

Research shows that it has to be absorbed primarily in the small intestines, not the stomach, which means that you have to modulate the amount of AKG that's around.

It's been around for four decades.

Bodybuilders have taken it for many years.

They found that it helped them regenerate their muscles.

And this is a compound that has exploded in the amount of research that's being done.

There's all sorts of bodily improvements in biologic, biology that are being looked at with AKG.

- And I'm glad you put some caveats in there about supplements.

You don't wanna just go take a supplement.

You need to really study what's in it and what it means to you and your body, but some of the benefits that you are seeing from taking the calcium plus AKG, how does that show up in a person?

- Yeah.

So it's interesting.

It's a two part, I'll real quickly go over two studies that were recently published in "Aging."

One is our typical way that we would work on it: lifestyle.

It's what are other guest is talking about.

You do exercise.

You have, make sure you get enough sleep.

You have a reasonable diet.

You reduce stress.

So some people signed up for a 12 month comprehensive program to do all of that.

Their biological age dropped two years on average.

AKG, another study was just published with this calcium and AKG formula.

People didn't make any lifestyle changes, and they took the supplements for seven months, their biological age dropped by eight years.

You're talking about a 400% increase.

Now, am I saying you shouldn't do any of the lifestyle changes?

Of course not.

You wanna do those as well.

But this is as close to take two pills and you're gonna be, you know, younger, more attractive, feel healthier.

And I know that's the golden ring, but there are some things that seem to indicate that you can take it, if you do it properly.

- And we wanna say that science is debating this now.

It's been a relatively small study so far, but the results are promising, but there'll be a lot more research to come on that I would imagine.

- Absolutely, like I said, AKG is gonna be looked at, over and over and over, by many, many different ways, because biological age is just a reflection of what's going on inside, but there's many, many studies that still need to be done and say exactly what it's doing inside.

The body's incredibly complex.

And so just looking at the biological age isn't the whole answer.

- Marina, now, we're gonna it into some other compounds that you're familiar with and are an advocate of.

N A D N M N. Can you decode that for us please?

- Well, so this is also a, it's a molecule in our body.

N A D is it's one of, it's a very important molecule.

And, by no means, am I a biologist or, I'm just, I've always been fascinated by the way the body works.

So I'm always researching.

And wellness is something that I am passionate about.

Our yoga studios and yoga retreats are gonna be yoga and wellness.

And so I started looking into N A D and N M N. These are molecules in your body, that every cell in your body needs these molecules.

And it also helps get rid of damaged cells.

And from it helps your brain.

It helps your skin.

And, it's a very long word.

So N M N is easier to say for me.

So this molecule is in your body and when supplement with it, I like to take it orally, but I also do IV therapy.

It helps the, another molecule on your body, called curcuin, which are also responsible for aging.

Those two together, even when I did, it was a long process.

The first IV, I'm kind of a Guinea pig before I do things at my studio.

And I immediately, after a few hours of doing it, my, my mind was just firing properly.

I had all of this energy, my brain had energy, but I had physical energy.

And that whole week people were telling me my skin looked amazing.

So it is something worth looking into.

There are multiple books and, and people that talk about it.

And, and I love us utilizing it for myself, first and foremost.

- So I think we should point out that everything we're talking about here, these molecules in the body, they begin to decrease as we age, correct Dr. Palmer?

- Yeah.

And there's, and there's a lot of research that's recently been done on N A D and N M N. So I think the educated consumer can go out and look and see what there are.

I mean, I'd like to add, don't do any of these things if you have any question, without the consent of your health provider or your physician, whether it's IV therapy or supplements, because at the end of the day, these are still interventions with your body and you need to make sure that you're doing it on under the right circumstances.

- And Marina you're nodding your head.

You agree with that?

- Oh, 100%, 100%.

I have my functional medicine doctor.

And I talk about everything before I start doing anything, on myself.

- Let's move on then to some other things that are part of the lifestyle, diet, and exercise regimen, which can help, but as we're learning, there are other things internally that can also a be of tremendous benefit.

But intermittent fasting is very popular right now.

What do you think of that, Dr. Palmer?

- I think it's fine.

I think it's, I did it myself for a while.

I personally thought I lost a little too much skeletal muscle and I quit doing it.

Now that could just be my particular indication.

I took up golf at 68.

That's a rather strenuous activity.

And so I didn't wanna lose the muscle mass.

You know, our body as it wants the glucose is what the brain primarily wants and it's gonna get it from anywhere it can.

And when you fast, it starts to break down the skeletal muscle because glucose is way easier to get quickly from skeletal muscle than it is from dissolving fat.

I know it's a great way.

I know some people have great success with it.

This is one of those things that I would include in my cautions that if you're gonna do these things, go to, to go talk to a clinical nutritionist and your physician and figure out what you want to do, how you want to do it, for how long you want to do it, what are the cautionary endpoints, or what are the successful endpoints?

But certainly I think it's something people can consider.

- And Marina, yoga is not just a physical practice.

It helps the mind and body work together.

And we all know that mental health impacts physical health.

What is the role of yoga in that?

- Personally, I believe yoga as the physical aspect is unbelievable, but also the mental part is the meditation.

We're overstimulated.

We have way too much information going on, all day long, being bombarded with.

And it's always good to silence the mind.

And it's a moving meditation, because for some people, like myself, sitting for 20 minutes, it's really hard to meditate just sitting.

Yoga gives me a focal point, my breath, and then I move, but I can also clear my mind and just empty it completely.

- Dr. Palmer, the things that we're talking about, the supplements, the diet, the exercise, so on and so forth, can they actually help us to look younger or just to perform as a younger person might because after all it's not plastic surgery.

- Yeah, no, I think that's a great question.

And that's why I actually wrote the book.

I, you know, the, my book, "What's Your Number?"

the Palmer code is not about plastic surgery.

I rewrote it five times.

It started out to be that.

And then what I realized is that there's so many things that people can do to improve the way that they feel, which improves the way that you look.

So I know this is an old adage, but it's a thousand percent true.

You look as good as you feel, you feel as good as you look.

I challenge many people; think of one thing that can happen to you during your normal daily routine, that wouldn't impact the way that you feel and directly impact the way that you look.

So these are endeavors that that can be worked on in parallel and they have accumulative effect.

- And, is there a point in life at which we should start thinking about supplementation, I mean age, or are we ever too old for supplementation?

- Well, look, I think we keep trying until we no longer draw breath.

And I think there's multiple things that we can do.

I think in the grand scheme, probably controlling our emotions and controlling stress over our lifetime is the primary thing that people should concentrate on.

And that I think is finding a higher cause whether it's yoga, which, you know, my wife loves, I think I'm too stiff and beyond that for doing yoga, but I'd love to try.

I think the other things are where I believe medicine is going, so, right now, we look at your saliva and the DNA, and we tell you what your biological age, and I think that's fantastic.

What I believe will happen is you'll get a comprehensive readout of where you're susceptible and what supplements or what exercises, what lifestyle things may improve.

That's what I think is useful.

When we unlocked the human genome, it opened up the potential to tailor-make all these things.

When, when do you start?

I mean, that's a good question.

I would say probably in your 20s, I can't imagine there's too many teenagers that need to take a supplement of anything because there's still forming and developing.

But when, when you start hitting in your 20s, I think is when you start to say to yourself, "Okay, I'm 20.

How long do I wanna look and feel 20?"

And the answer should be: as long as possible.

- Marina, you having, Marina, having experienced your own health issues, you can probably speak to, it's a lot cheaper to be healthier than to pay for medical expenses; also, if you're not healthy, which is an argument for starting young, yes?

- Well 100%.

First and foremost, I, having a surgery, which they've told me I have to have spine surgery is very expensive.

And then that, the after effects and the medications that I would have to take.

So taking all the precautions beforehand keeps you, you know, avoiding the things that will cost a lot of money.

And I was going to also reply to that when we should start, because I agree in your 20s.

And I know as a, as a woman too, that, you know, you don't think about, "Oh, I should put this cream on," or, "I should focus on," you know, and you're probably, I know I was, I was smoking and you know, you're doing things that you're not thinking, your staying up late.

And, and then you realize, afterwards, you spend time to save all of that damage because smoking damages, the sun that we were sitting in for hours damages.

So it is better to do what you can starting in your 20s with the supplements and the, the movement and thinking ahead.

- Because it's vitality, that is going to be our best friend as we age, yes, Dr. Palmer?

- Yeah.

Because again, nobody wants to live forever and be in a frail state.

It's it's how long do you live in an optimal state of health, which is health span.

So all these things we're talking about is to get us into, and prolong the degree of health span.

In medicine the old adage is it's way easier to prevent something than it is to cure it.

- And we do have advances in medical science that now can keep us alive, but we don't have quality of life, which is why we wanna move toward this functional approach.

- Yeah, I think that's right.

I think that's the next big breakthrough.

And I know, I can see it coming, is we will, at some point, be able to make genetic manipulations at any stage of our life and whether it's stem cells, or directly in, in placing damaged DNA, all that stuff is coming.

When I don't know, but it definitely is coming.

That's going to open up the floodgates to increase both longevity and health span and all sorts of wonderful things.

So my answer is, stay tuned.

- Yeah.

And let me see if I can get you to boil this down to one source for viewers who are intrigued by this, and they want to learn more about the science of biological aging and these supplements.

Where is the best source for them to go?

- Well, I think they can go to doctor, so D R Palmer, P A L M E R.com, and from there, they'll be able to see the studies.

They'll be able to look at the specific supplement that was used and all sorts of other educational materials.

- And Marina, tell us where your yoga studio studios are located, the name of them, and where we can visit.

- We're located for the time being in Florida.

We also have yoga retreats in Greece, and you can find us @www.thavmayoga.com.

- And one parting comment for our viewers.

If they're a little bit unhealthy, they're not living healthily, whatever their age is right now, old, young, or in between, how do you motivate them in a sentence or two, Dr. Palmer?

- I would just let them remember that every journey begins with a single step and it's a step forward.

So if you can't do anything else, open up your front door, start walking every day for a small amount of time or go to the mall.

And there's all sorts of positive benefits that you'll see.

- In fact, strolling and walking is one of the best exercises we're learning now, correct?

- Correct.

- Marina, what would you tell people to get them moving?

- I would agree 100%, just getting off the sofa, and getting away from electronics.

For me, I think also too much behind a screen is unhealthy.

And therefore I would say get up off the sofa, get out of anything electronics and go outside.

- Well, that's a fitting last comment for us to say goodbye and get off the screen today.

And we thank both of you for joining us.

You can follow Dr. Francis Palmer on Twitter and Facebook, and learn more about Marina and thavma yoga @thavmayoga.com.

Thanks for watching.

I'm Cathy Unruh and I'll see you next time on "up Close."

(gently energetic music playing).