We are led to believe that genetic engineering is the key to the future of health care.  Although genetic engineering has made producing injectable proteins and monoclonal antibodies possible, it hasn’t made these new drugs significantly more effective than previous drugs.  However, the most significant impact of genetic engineering has been to unravel the mysteries of metabolism. 

Metabolism is complex.  It is how we convert food to energy, but it also controls our immune system, inflammation, the expression of our genes, and our rate of aging.  This happens on a second-by-second basis in each of our 30 trillion cells.  The more efficient our metabolism, the slower we age, and the less likely we are to develop chronic disease.

Aging and chronic disease are the consequences of an inefficient metabolism.  An inefficient metabolism is unable to reduce inflammation, thereby increasing tissue damage.  Furthermore, an inefficient metabolism minimizes the ability of a damaged cell to repair itself from the damage caused by increasing inflammation. The result is the acceleration of aging and the earlier development of chronic disease. 

Although cellular senescence is a natural process, it can be a two-edged sword.  It helps prevent cancer by preventing genetically damaged cells from dividing and potentially becoming cancerous.   However, this damaged cell must be eliminated from the body.  It does this by sending out inflammatory signals calling for the immune system to destroy the damaged cell and replace it with a new, healthy one.  An inefficient metabolism doesn’t recognize these signals for elimination.  The result is the senescent cell doesn’t die and becomes a new source of inflammation in the organ.  The fact that senescent cells are immortal is why they are also called “zombie cells.”  For a short video on zombie cells, click here.

Although metabolism is complex, the master regulator of metabolism in each of your 30 trillion cells is a protein called AMP-activated Protein Kinase or AMPK.  AMPK is the key to metabolic efficacy in every cell in each organ in your body.   If AMPK activity is low, your metabolism is becoming less efficient, thus accelerating aging and promoting the early development of chronic disease. Therefore, increasing AMPK activity is the key to slowing aging and developing chronic diseases associated with aging.  Decreasing AMPK activity occurs many years earlier than the appearance of the signs of aging and the symptoms related to chronic disease.  Hence, the earlier you can restore AMPK activity, the longer and better you will live.

Insulin resistance is a catch-all term for decreased metabolic activity.   About half of a cell’s ability to remove glucose from the blood is controlled by AMPK activity.  If AMPK activity is low, insulin resistance increases. You can easily measure insulin resistance using a blood test called the Homeostatic Assessment of Insulin Resistance or HOMA-IR.  If HOMA-IR is greater than two, then you have the beginnings of insulin resistance, and your rate of aging and early development of chronic disease is higher.  If HOMA-IR is less than one, then your metabolism is optimal, and your rate of aging and developing a chronic disease is dramatically lower.

AMPK is under robust dietary control.  A pro-inflammatory diet decreases AMPK activity in every one of your 30 trillion cells.  A pro-inflammatory diet can be caused by one of three nutritional factors:

1. Excess nutrient intake. This includes excess intake of calories, omega-6 and saturated fats (primarily palmitic acid), simple sugars (glucose and fructose), and white carbohydrates such as white bread, white pasta, white rice, and white potatoes.
2. Deficit nutrient intake. This includes insufficient dietary intake of omega-3 fatty acids and polyphenols (the chemicals that give fruits and vegetables their color).
3. An unbalanced protein-to-carbohydrate intake in the diet.

The more these three factors are in your current diet, the more insulin resistance you will likely have, and the more depressed AMPK activity will be in your 30 trillion cells.

If a pro-inflammatory diet causes insulin resistance, then what can reverse it?  The answer is Metabolic Engineering®.  Metabolic Engineering® is a highly defined dietary program clinically shown to reverse long-standing insulin resistance within four days.  Unfortunately, it takes only four days for insulin resistance to reappear once you revert to a pro-inflammatory diet.  This means you must follow Metabolic Engineering® for a lifetime to slow down aging and treat the symptoms of chronic diseases associated with insulin resistance.  Furthermore, Metabolic Engineering™ is personalized to the individual based on simple blood testing. 

Metabolic Engineering® controls the efficiency of your metabolism in each of your 30 trillion cells.  Genetic engineering in cell culture and animal studies has dramatically expanded our knowledge of the mysteries of metabolism and how the diet can improve its efficiency.  The more you use the concepts of Metabolic Engineering® in your diet, the more you slow down the rate of aging because you are improving the body’s ability to remove zombie cells.  In addition, the more you use Metabolic Engineering® in your diet,  the fewer drugs you need to treat the symptoms of chronic disease.  This is because drugs only treat the symptoms of chronic disease, not the cause.  The underlying cause of aging and chronic disease is an inefficient metabolism that Metabolic Engineering® can improve.