MTOR plays a vital role in human metabolism and is known to influence growth, disease, aging, and longevity in various studies, and can be super beneficial for an increase in vitality, health, and bodily processes.
Balancing the mTOR pathway is an essential strategy to live a radically longer and healthier life, but it can be challenging to figure out where to start. This article will share all the secrets of mTOR, how it impacts aging, and why it is necessary to keep mTOR in balance.
What is MTOR?
MTOR is a kinase enzyme that regulates cell metabolism and growth and is one of four pathways that control metabolism functions.
Whenever there are proteins and nutrition available in the body, the mTOR pathway senses this and activates the many mechanisms required for healthy body function, cell growth, and repair.
However, when the food supply is reduced and the caloric intake is restricted, activation of the mTOR pathway is inhibited.
What Does the MTOR Pathway Do?
The mTOR pathways regulate:
- Cell growth.
- Cell proliferation.
- Cell mortality.
- Cell survival and longevity.
- Protein synthesis.
- Autophagy.
- Transcription.
The mTOR pathway also plays a role in sensing cellular nutrients, oxygen, and energy levels. It acts as a molecular switch to regulate cellular growth in response to the intake of nutrients.
Regarding the mTOR pathway as a longevity pathway, it is essential to keep mTOR balanced so the body mechanism works optimally. This is due to the fact that a fully balanced mTOR leads to excellent body functions and vitality.
The exact reason why a balanced mTOR is so beneficial to the body is unknown, but excess or an unbalanced mTOR can lead to a decreased life span and several chronic health issues. Currently, research is ongoing on the reason behind why an over-stimulated mTOR is so dangerous to the body, however, there are definite links between a high-functioning mTOR and health concerns such as cancer.
Similarly, too low or limited mTOR can lead to health conditions such as delayed healing, liver diseases, altered insulin sensitivity, and muscle atrophy.
Is MTOR Beneficial?
The mTOR pathway is a complex yet significant mechanism for producing energy and promoting growth in your body. It regulates several critical processes in our body and should be seen as a process that, if functioning properly, has the ability to improve the overall health, function, and vitality of the body.
MTOR acts as a central process to program how more cell material is made, it measures the requirements and implements programs to adapt to any given situation in the body.
Below are some ways in which an optimally functioning mTOR pathway benefits the body:
- mTOR slows aging.
- mTOR increases metabolism functions.
- mTOR is known to deter fear memory reconsolidation.
- mTOR also promotes cell growth.
How Does mTOR Slow Aging?
Through research, tests have shown organisms with several results of an increased life span by inhibiting mTOR complex 1 with a pharmacological treatment supplement, such as rapamycin.
The mTOR signaling is studied to slow the aging process. There are shreds of evidence suggesting that mTOR signaling promotes longevity and reduces aging. Dr. David Sabatini, who first discovered mTOR, says that answers to all the medical research about aging might lie in the nutrient pathway controlled by mTOR.
How Does mTOR Increase Metabolism Functions?
MTOR responds to the body according to the nutrition state of the body, whether it is time for repair or growth. When nutrients are in your body, mTOR promotes growth by facilitating an increase in glucose that will incorporate excess nutrients into the new biomass.
The mTOR complex also plays a role in regulating lipid metabolism in the liver through lipid synthesis. First, the lipid synthesis occurs in an inactive form and then moves into cells.
From here, the mTOR regulates ATP production, mitochondrial synthesis, and insulin.
Various anabolic and catabolic metabolic regulations are also coordinated by mTOR.
How Is mTOR Known To Deter Fear Memory Reconsolidation?
The inhibition of mTOR is used in patients for therapeutic memory reactivation due to trauma. In addition, it helps decrease specific phobias, PTSD, and other acquired anxiety disorders.
The regulation of protein translation of mTOR helps balance and reduce emotional strength when taken as an FDA-approved prescribed drug treatment. When testing this theory on patients with severe anxiety and PTSD, researchers found a direct correlation between mTOR inhibition by systemic rapamycin and the decrease of fear associated with traumatic memories.
How Does mTOR Promote Muscle Growth?
Activated mTOR stimulates muscle growth via various hormone activation. Therefore, when you observe your muscle mass is reducing, this can be taken as either a sign of underlying health concerns or a sign of age. If it is age, the proper activation of mTOR can help.
If you activate the mTOR pathway by doing various exercises or by using reliable supplements, you will see an increase in the longevity and health of your body in the long run.
What Activates MTOR?
Since mTOR is an enzyme, its activation depends on the amino acid variety and hormones such as insulin and testosterone, and growth factors. Exercise is the most healthy and effective way of activating mTOR, and it prevents muscle mass loss. It also boasts many cellular processes and helps with repairing tissues.
However, there are other ways of activating mTOR that are not healthy or safe for the body.
The following factors cause over-activation of mTOR:
- Proteins that are rich in leucine.
- Increased intake of calories.
- Excessive intake of carbohydrates.
How Do Proteins Rich In Leucine Activate MTOR?
If you regularly intake excessive amounts of proteins rich in leucine, mTOR levels will be elevated. For example, a diet that includes beans, chicken, milk, cheese, red meat, and eggs has significantly high mTOR levels.
The average recommended amount for daily protein intake is between 45 to 64 grams for adults.
How Does an Increased Intake of Calories Activate MTOR?
Consuming more calories than your body needs will increase weight and cause excessive activation of the mTOR pathway. Regarding this, the NHS recommends 10,000 KJ of calories per day for men and 8 500 KJ of calories for women.
How does Excessive intake of carbohydrates Activate MTOR?
A diet rich in carbohydrates activates excessive mTOR. Even though carbohydrates fuel your body, their increased consumption increases mTOR levels and leads to cancer, weight gain, and other health problems.
Diets are fully transformed if a person switches from mainly eating fresh organic foods to mainly eating commercially prepared foods. All the foods and sweets prepared commercially contain unhealthy carbohydrates and hidden sugar far from the governments' dietary guidelines.
According to American dietary guidelines, the average carbohydrates consumption per day should not exceed 226g to 326g.
Is mTOR Activation Bad?
Not all mTOR activation is bad as mTOR activation is required to perform several functions, such as healing wounds, and growing muscles for more energy, and mTOR is also more critical for grown adults.
Sarcopenia, or the loss of muscle mass, becomes more and more prevalent as a person ages. In order to stop muscle loss, we have to consume more significant amounts of protein, which will then in turn activate the mTOR pathway.
What Shuts Off MTOR?
Various factors shut off mTOR, leading to a poorer aging process from decreased optimal cell function and a reduction in performance in the body.
If your body is working at optimal health and you want to achieve your longevity goals, you should find ways to inhibit mTOR, taking care of the natural balance.
Here are some ways on how to inhibit mTOR:
- Activating AMPK and calories restrictions.
- Exercise.
- Resveratrol.
- Curcumin.
How Activating AMPK and Calories Restrictions Shuts Off MTOR?
If you reduce your daily intake of calories while maintaining your diet to prevent malnutrition, mTOR levels significantly decrease. However, if you successfully inhibit mTOR, you can activate another longevity-associated pathway called AMPK, also called the metabolic master switch.
Moreover, calorie restrictions are often associated with several health benefits and extending lifespan in various studies.
There are a number of ways to go about this, such as setting goals in the form of a calorie restriction diet and following them strictly for your entire life.
But what may be easier is including the help of natural supplements that will reduce calories. One of these great supplements is NMN & Resveratrol, which benefits calorie restriction by inhibiting mTOR.
This product contains properly designed components to inhibit mTOR by increasing AMPK levels. Resveratrol also suppresses the mTOR pathway that inhibits the process of cell proliferation.
How Does Exercise Shut Off MTOR?
Exercise helps inhibit mTOR in our bodies at the right time and place. For instance, exercise induces mTOR in muscles, the brain, and the heart while inhibiting it in liver and fat cells.
To balance AMPK and mTOR, daily exercise is the critical factor because their balanced levels lead to an extension in healthspan and life.
How Resveratrol Shuts Off MTOR?
Resveratrol is a natural polyphenol and is a robust antioxidant with neuroprotective and anti Inflammatory properties. It is naturally found in berries, grapes, and red wine. In addition, various studies have shown the proven effects of resveratrol in inhibiting mTOR.
How Curcumin Shuts Off MTOR?
Curcumin is another effective mTOR pathway inhibitor that has anti-cancer properties. It is found in turmeric and works by blocking mTOR pathways in carcinogenic cells.
Taking it with black pepper (piperine) helps your body inhibit oxidative stress and inflammation. Both oxidative stress and inflammation are the triggering factors for increased mTOR.
How to Regulate MTOR?
Consider the following suggestions to regulate mTOR that does not get inhibited and overstimulated actively:
- Regulating via exercise.
- Decreasing carbohydrates and protein intake.
How Does Exercise Regulate MTOR?
Exercise is one of the most productive and healthy ways to stimulate mTOR. It promises muscle growth without inducing mTOR levels to a higher extent. Instead, exercise keeps the levels of mTOR low, which promotes health and longevity.
To keep your mTOR levels balanced, take protein in any form right after your exercise. This will maximize the growth of muscles, induce mTOR in the muscles and brain, and inhibit the fat and liver cells.
How To Regulate mTOR Activity Via Diet?
If you are constantly eating meat every day, it will activate your mTOR as you are continuously feeding it amino acids. This way, you are not harnessing your body’s defense system properly or the mTOR.
In this case, you have to downplay your amino acid intake because a lower mTOR activity predicts longevity.
So, primarily focusing on plant-based foods and eating meat after every three or four days keeps your mTOR activity balanced.
How Does Decreasing carbohydrates And Protein Intake Regulate MTOR?
If you decrease carbohydrates levels and focus on moderate protein intake, depending on the level of exercise you are performing each day will regulate mTOR levels in the body.
What Supplements Help Regulate MTOR the most?
Fortunately, some supplements help to regulate mTOR with the best-proven results. One such supplement is the Nicotinamide Mononucleotide(NMN) supplement.
Nicotinamide Mononucleotide is a naturally occurring compound found in the human body. It is prepared artificially in the form of powder to provide an anti-aging and longevity effect by regulating enzymatic activities such as mTOR.
NMN Supplements act directly on Nicotinamide Adenine Dinucleotide (NAD+) and increase their levels in your body’s cells. Nicotinamide Adenine Dinucleotide serves as a coenzyme for performing several functions inside the cells. NMN supplements also help maintain NAD+.
Resveratrol is another great supplement and is also known as polyphenol which occurs in nature in a free state. It regulates mTOR and protects from free radicals. Various studies have shown the effects of resveratrol in inhibiting mTOR.
Conclusion
The scientific discovery is that there are three main longevity pathways or mechanisms in our bodies. One of these pathways is mTOR which is activated by amino acids, insulin, and growth factors and impaired by nutrient or energy deficiencies. So the key to longevity is the right balance of mTOR.
MTOR senses the number of amino acids (particular amino acids - leucine, isoleucine, unbranched amino acids) in your body and regulates mechanisms according to the amino acids’ contents via mTOR activation.
In this article, we have looked at how the mTOR pathway impacts aging, why it is essential to keep it in balance, and balancing it in ways such as with exercise, proper diets, and, most importantly, using supplements to aid and enhance mTOR process.