Age Scanner
Your Biological age in 12 seconds!
How does that work?
The Discovery
About 20 years ago, Dutch doctors from University Medical Center Groningen (UMCG) made an accidental discovery that had major consequences for identifying health risks. The doctors conducted research into blood vessels. They wanted to inject a fluorescent liquid and measure how fast it travels through the veins. But even before injecting this liquid, they already measured a fluorescent signal. This could not be coming from the liquid. So what was it? After thorough research, they discovered that it is due to advanced glycation end products, or AGEs – a difficult name for what are actually glycated proteins.
Sugar in your blood reacts with proteins and ultimately forms substances that only slowly disappear from your body. These substances accumulate in the skin, blood vessels, heart, kidneys and other tissues, where they can cause major long-term damage. Research shows that people who have more AGEs in their bodies are more likely to develop all kinds of diseases. The doctors got to work on their discovery and developed advanced and unique devices with which we can now easily measure health risk. We make use of the fluorescent properties of AGEs. By shining a tiny bit of light into the skin, the AGE Scanner can pick up this fluorescent signal.
AGEs are dangerous and predictive of many diseases
After this accidental discovery, more and more researchers around the world are studying these AGEs, proving that these substances are linked to diabetes, cardiovascular disease, kidney dysfunction and even dementia. AGEs arise in your body because sugar reacts with proteins and fats, but you also get them from food. Fried or grilled meat, roasted nuts and aged cheese, for example, are rich in AGEs. AGEs accumulate in tissues like the eyes, kidneys, liver, blood vessel walls, heart and brain.
AGEs actually damage bodily tissues. Blood vessels lose part of their function and become less elastic, which means that they respond less well to things like changes in blood pressure. It was discovered that AGEs also affect skin elasticity, causing wrinkles and a yellower complexion. Everyone produces AGEs naturally, but people who have higher-than-average values in their bodies are demonstrably more at risk of serious diseases and often look older than their peers.Attention psychologists, coaches and youth care workers! Nowadays we see increasing numbers of young people with psychological problems. The Maastricht study shows that AGEs are even associated with a higher risk of depression. It may be worthwhile to also test people with depression complaints for their AGE value.
The medical world is diving into AGEs
AGEs are of great interest to medical science. Just look at the number of studies conducted annually into AGEs. These studies continue to confirm the harmfulness of AGEs and the diseases they are associated with. We also understand better how we can protect ourselves against these dangerous substances.
Fivefold risk of dying within five years
Good news: you can lower your health risk!
Thanks to all this scientific research, we increasingly understand how AGEs are formed in the body and what damage they cause, as well as what we can do to reduce their formation. Research shows that lowering AGEs does not happen very fast. And here too, preventing is better than curing.
A healthier lifestyle
You hear it all the time, of course, but science has conclusively shown that a healthier lifestyle helps keep us from producing too many AGEs, and that introducing a healthier lifestyle can reduce health risks in the long term. By living a healthier lifestyle, AGE values slowly move toward healthier levels.
Exercise: More exercise is good for you in many ways. And now we also know that people who exercise more on average have fewer AGEs in their bodies and therefore have a lower risk of all kinds of serious diseases.
Smoking: It isn’t news that smoking is bad for your health. Smokers have more AGEs in their bodies, but quitting can bring AGE values to an average level. So stopping or cutting down really makes sense.
Weight: Everyone knows how difficult it is to lose weight, but a dietary adjustment will reduce your risk of developing serious diseases. A diet with low amounts of AGEs and carbohydrates not only makes you feel fitter, it also lowers your risk of becoming seriously ill.
Eat and drink healthily
Diet: We’ve all heard the stories about people who live in quiet villages in the Mediterranean where everyone lives to be 100. Research shows that the Mediterranean diet actually leads to fewer AGEs in the body. Eating well and sensibly really works! We also know that, for example, drinking a lot of sodas and eating red meat produce more AGEs in the body.
Nutrition tips
- Be moderate with “AGE bombs” such as cheese,meat, roasted nuts and bacon.
- Be careful with heated fat. Many AGEs are formed as soon as fat is processed or heated. This happens even faster if proteins are also involved
- Fish and vegetable proteins form fewer
- AGEs during preparation than animal proteins.
- Avoid high temperatures when preparing meat,poultry and fish.
- Avoid baking or roasting for long periods of time.
- Steaming is better than baking or roasting.
- Marinate! Acids inhibit the formation of AGEs in food.
- Consume soft drinks in moderation.These are full of sugar.
- If you add sugars, avoid fructose as much as possible. Fructose forms AGEs ten times faster than glucose.
Nutritional supplements: Extensive research has been conducted on all kinds of nutritional supplements. The evidence that certain substances can reduce the amount of AGEs is growing. These are mainly substances that we also know as antioxidants, and occur naturally in vegetables, fruit, tea and certain medicinal plants. Then there is vitamin B, which is naturally found in grains, salmon, leafy vegetables and eggs; polyphenols, mainly found in turmeric, red wine, grapes, citrus fruits, green tea and broccoli; rutin, mainly found in capers, olives, buckwheat and asparagus; and resveratrol, which is naturally found in peanuts and nuts, blueberries, dark grapes and red wine. In addition to natural sources, these AGE-lowering substances are also available as supplements.
Keep your skin young
Strong antioxidants incorporated into skin products
Ingredients like jujube seed and olive leaves are processed into skin products. Under the brand name PROTOLEA, the manufacturer has conducted research into the formation of AGEs in the skin. Not only were the test subjects much more positive about how their skin looked, but the AGE values were also significantly lower after two months. Other research into the effect of a strong antioxidant, oligomeric proanthocyanidins (OPCs), clearly shows greatly reduced formation of AGEs. These OPCs can be found in grape seeds, so it is actually a shame that we mainly eat seedless grapes these days.
The major cosmetic brands are now paying full attention to AGEs. They develop products that ensure AGEs are less likely to form in the skin or are even broken down. For example, SkinCeuticals, part of L’Oreal, has already conducted more than 40 scientific studies in the search for healthier skin. SkinCeuticals products also target the role that AGEs play in skin health and appearance.
The AGE Scanner
The AGE Scanner at work – anyone can do it
AGE Reader and AGE Scanner in use all over the world
The AGE Reader is the big brother of the AGE Scanner, and is used in hospitals and laboratories. Leaving nothing to chance, medical specialists all over the world use the AGE Reader to assess the risks of conditions like cardiovascular disease in their patients.
In addition, there is a growing group of therapists and consultants who provide health and cosmetic advice in a broad sense – think dieticians, weight consultants and beauticians. But orthomolecular doctors, physiotherapists and gyms are also increasingly using the AGE Scanner to provide their clients with even better advice.