Longevity Is No Accident

by Nicole-Angela Krywult

Foreword

My longevity journey began at a time when the term didn't yet exist in my vocabulary and played hardly any role in public awareness. It began unconventionally and with a good dose of curiosity.

In April 2017, I attended the seminar "Epigenetics in Dogs" by Dr. Udo Gansloßer. A seminar that impressed me profoundly, both professionally and personally. At some point during the fascinating seminar, he briefly diverged from the actual topic and couldn't resist taking a swipe at the cosmetics industry. He said the active ingredients in anti-aging creams were molecularly so large that it was impossible for them to work through the skin. You would have to eat the creams to achieve the desired effect.

I immediately perked up and asked whether it would then make sense to simply take dietary supplements. He ultimately recommended vitamin E, Q10, and omega-3 to me. Since then, these three substances have been part of my routine. Of course, I wouldn't be me if I had simply swallowed them without first questioning everything thoroughly.

I read studies, researched mechanisms of action, learned that vitamin E is not just vitamin E, and that high-dose α-tocopherol alone can do more harm than good. I learned about oxidative processes, lipid protection, and cell membrane stability. And I realized: it's about more than "anti-aging." I had the first quiet inkling of cellular health.

Back then, there were no longevity bestsellers, no million-dollar biohacking protocols, no supplements with designer packaging. Nevertheless, there was something in me that wouldn't let go. Today I know: that was my first step toward longevity – long before I was aware that I was taking this path.

Over the years, my fascination grew for the human body, this finely orchestrated, intelligent system that works for us day after day without expecting recognition. I came across the principles of Blue Zones nutrition. It's simple, largely plant-based, and anti-inflammatory. No hype, no deprivation for deprivation's sake, but lived longevity in its most original form. The more I read, the clearer it became: growing old healthily is possible as soon as we learn to understand our body.

And then, for the first time, a word appeared that brought everything together: longevity. I couldn't stop reading. About autophagy. About cellular protection. About mitochondrial health. About the fragile interplay of progesterone, cortisol, and thyroid hormones. About exercise: strength training against sarcopenia, endurance for heart and mitochondria, short HIIT bursts – intelligently dosed and suitable for everyday life.

I dove into neuroscience, understood how closely our nervous system is connected to hormones, mood, and sleep, and how much we women in particular depend on staying in balance. One topic never quite let me go: dietary supplements. What began with Q10, vitamin E, and omega-3 developed over time into a multifaceted field into which I delved deeper and deeper. What remained was my commitment to understanding which substances truly support – when, how long, in which combination, and what to watch out for. Not as dogma, but as a tool.

What began as curiosity became a path. I experimented, discarded, started anew, celebrated successes, lived through setbacks – and kept going.

Today, many years and hundreds of studies later, I'm ready to share this knowledge. For all women who don't simply want to grow older, but want to preserve their vitality, lightness, and joy of life well into old age – wellderly in the best sense.

Chapter 1: What Is Aging, Anyway?

1.1 Chronological vs. Biological Age

Chronological age (years since birth) ticks at the same rate for all of us. Biological age, on the other hand, describes how young or old our cells, tissues, and organ systems actually are. Two people of the same age can differ by decades in their biological age. What matters is the sum of molecular changes that researchers today describe as the "hallmarks of aging."

1.2 The Twelve Hallmarks of Aging in Brief

Current research defines aging as twelve interconnected processes:

1. Genomic instability (more frequent DNA damage)
2. Telomere attrition (protective caps at chromosome ends shorten)
3. Epigenetic alterations (chemical switches on DNA shift)
4. Loss of proteostasis (proteins misfold)
5. Disabled autophagy (the cell's own waste disposal works more slowly)
6. Deregulated nutrient sensing (cells respond imprecisely to nutrient signals)
7. Mitochondrial dysfunction (cellular power plants falter)
8. Cellular senescence (cells retire but produce inflammatory factors)
9. Stem cell exhaustion (regenerative capacity declines)
10. Altered intercellular communication (cells "talk past" each other)
11. Chronic inflammation (silent, creeping low-grade inflammation, so-called "inflammaging")
12. Dysbiosis (changes in the gut microbiome that affect inflammation and metabolism)

These twelve hallmarks were first described by Carlos López-Otín and colleagues in 2013 (nine at the time) and expanded to twelve in 2023. The three new ones – disabled autophagy, chronic inflammation, and dysbiosis – underscore how central gut health and the immune system are to the aging process (López-Otín et al., Cell 2023).