0:00:04 > 0:00:05Morning, face.
0:00:05 > 0:00:07Gosh, you've aged, haven't you?
0:00:07 > 0:00:12'I'm TV journalist Angela Rippon and I'm now 71 years old.'
0:00:12 > 0:00:16I suppose the first time I really started thinking about my age
0:00:16 > 0:00:21was on my 70th birthday. That doesn't half concentrate the mind.
0:00:23 > 0:00:27'I'm Dr Chris van Tulleken. I'm half Angela's age.'
0:00:28 > 0:00:33I'm 36 and it's perfectly possible to get to my age without ever
0:00:33 > 0:00:36really considering what it's going to be like to be old.
0:00:38 > 0:00:41'We have very different perspectives on ageing
0:00:41 > 0:00:44'but we both want to know how to slow it down.'
0:00:45 > 0:00:47If I'm going to live till I'm 90,
0:00:47 > 0:00:51if you're going to live till you're 90, how can we get there still
0:00:51 > 0:00:55fit and healthy and still getting as much as possible out of life?
0:01:00 > 0:01:04We'd all love to possess the secrets to a long and healthy life.
0:01:06 > 0:01:10Scientists now know more about ageing than ever before.
0:01:10 > 0:01:13It's one of the most exciting frontiers of modern science.
0:01:16 > 0:01:20So we're scouring the world to discover the latest research
0:01:20 > 0:01:24that will keep all of us younger for longer.
0:01:24 > 0:01:28In this series, we'll find out what's best for both our bodies
0:01:28 > 0:01:29and our brains.
0:01:29 > 0:01:31This time, it's the body.
0:01:34 > 0:01:37'I travel to America to meet the scientist who's discovered
0:01:37 > 0:01:40'the unexpected diet that can add years to our lives.'
0:01:41 > 0:01:46I think a lot of people are going to find this really surprising.
0:01:46 > 0:01:49'I visit Germany to join a ground-breaking study that
0:01:49 > 0:01:52'reveals which exercise holds off ageing the most.'
0:01:54 > 0:01:56'I turn 80 for the day...'
0:01:56 > 0:01:59I look like Donald Trump!
0:01:59 > 0:02:00'..to follow the latest advice
0:02:00 > 0:02:03'that can make us all seven years younger.'
0:02:03 > 0:02:04Yay!
0:02:06 > 0:02:11And how this 17-year-old might hold the key to cure ageing.
0:02:13 > 0:02:17'Along the way, Angela and I come under close examination...'
0:02:17 > 0:02:20Ooh! Dear me, eh? Oh, my goodness!
0:02:20 > 0:02:22If we don't look after that, OK?
0:02:22 > 0:02:23It will be a major problem.
0:02:25 > 0:02:28All in the quest to discover how to stay young.
0:02:33 > 0:02:36BRASS BAND PLAYS
0:02:43 > 0:02:46Many of us worry about getting older.
0:02:46 > 0:02:49Scientists have just developed a test that they claim can
0:02:49 > 0:02:55accurately assess how well we're ageing and how long we'll live.
0:02:55 > 0:02:58It's so simple, you can do it anywhere.
0:02:58 > 0:03:01'Professor Janet Lord, an expert in healthy ageing, is going
0:03:01 > 0:03:03'to show me what it's all about.'
0:03:03 > 0:03:06Well, first of all, you need to take your shoes off. Oh, right. OK.
0:03:06 > 0:03:08So you should do this barefoot. Yeah.
0:03:08 > 0:03:10And then, you have to cross your legs. Yeah.
0:03:10 > 0:03:14And then, try to lower yourself to the ground without touching the
0:03:14 > 0:03:17ground with any part of your body - your hand, your knees, your arms.
0:03:17 > 0:03:19Just go down very slowly.
0:03:20 > 0:03:23Like that? Excellent. Now what?
0:03:23 > 0:03:25Now you have to try to stand up, again,
0:03:25 > 0:03:28without using any part of your body to help you stand up.
0:03:28 > 0:03:29SHE LAUGHS
0:03:29 > 0:03:32I'll have a go but I don't think I'm going to be able to do this!
0:03:32 > 0:03:33Just get up the best way you can.
0:03:36 > 0:03:39Aargh! SHE LAUGHS
0:03:39 > 0:03:42It's harder than you think! It is, it is.
0:03:42 > 0:03:45You used a knee but you're still very, very good for your age.
0:03:45 > 0:03:47But, look, why...
0:03:47 > 0:03:50Why does doing that, and what I just did,
0:03:50 > 0:03:53why does that tell you about what's going on with my body?
0:03:53 > 0:03:56You're showing how strong your muscles are and,
0:03:56 > 0:03:59without wobbling at all, you're showing how good your balance is.
0:03:59 > 0:04:03It's really telling us how well you're ageing.
0:04:03 > 0:04:04Very good.
0:04:04 > 0:04:06Let's try it out on a few more people. OK.
0:04:11 > 0:04:14There we go. Right.
0:04:14 > 0:04:18Who is going to be first? Can I? Yes! There you go.
0:04:18 > 0:04:20'The scoring is easy.
0:04:20 > 0:04:22'You start with ten points
0:04:22 > 0:04:26'and then lose one point every time you have to use a hand or a knee.'
0:04:27 > 0:04:29Perfect ten!
0:04:29 > 0:04:31'And if you wobble, you lose half a point.'
0:04:31 > 0:04:34# Fold 'em, let 'em hit me Raise it, baby, stay with me
0:04:34 > 0:04:35# I love it
0:04:35 > 0:04:39# Love game intuition play the cards with spades to start...#
0:04:39 > 0:04:44'This sit-to-rise test came out of a recent Brazilian study.
0:04:44 > 0:04:49'Scientists assessed over 2,000 people aged between 50 and 80
0:04:49 > 0:04:53'and their health was followed up over a number of years.
0:04:53 > 0:04:56'People's initial scores were powerful predictors
0:04:56 > 0:04:58'of later health...'
0:04:58 > 0:04:59Come on!
0:04:59 > 0:05:00'..and how long they'd live.'
0:05:03 > 0:05:04Wow!
0:05:04 > 0:05:06So, all those scores that you were giving,
0:05:06 > 0:05:09what do they actually mean now in terms of a long and healthy life?
0:05:09 > 0:05:13If you score 8-10, you're going to have a long, healthy life. Woohoo!
0:05:13 > 0:05:17We got a ten! The next bracket down is the 6-7.5 group.
0:05:17 > 0:05:20Well done. Yes! Good! Good! Yes!
0:05:20 > 0:05:22Compared to the 8-10 group,
0:05:22 > 0:05:26they've got almost twice as high a chance of having a shorter life.
0:05:26 > 0:05:28It could have been worse. I could have got a five.
0:05:31 > 0:05:34The next group down is the 3.5-5.5.
0:05:34 > 0:05:39They actually have almost a 3.5 times the risk of actually
0:05:39 > 0:05:41not having a particularly long life.
0:05:41 > 0:05:44'If you score low, the good news is you can do
0:05:44 > 0:05:47'something about it by being more physically active.'
0:05:47 > 0:05:49I'm a hopeless case! No, you're not.
0:05:49 > 0:05:53You can improve that score by doing exercises that will help to
0:05:53 > 0:05:55strengthen the body and give you better balance? Exactly.
0:06:00 > 0:06:03'A single point increase in your score can
0:06:03 > 0:06:08'reduce your chances of dying within six years by over 20%.
0:06:08 > 0:06:11'Any exercise that targets strength, agility
0:06:11 > 0:06:13'and balance will help improve your score.'
0:06:14 > 0:06:17'Even just practising the sit-to-rise test itself
0:06:17 > 0:06:19'is a good way to start.'
0:06:19 > 0:06:21# Staying alive, staying alive
0:06:21 > 0:06:23# Ah, ha, ha, ha...#
0:06:25 > 0:06:27SHE LAUGHS
0:06:34 > 0:06:38We all know people who seem young for their age
0:06:38 > 0:06:40but why do some of us age better than others?
0:06:41 > 0:06:44It's long been thought it's mainly to do with our genes.
0:06:48 > 0:06:51But new research on identical twins has overturned this.
0:06:53 > 0:06:57Thanks to twin studies, scientists now know that, for most of us,
0:06:57 > 0:07:00how long we live is 75% down to lifestyle...
0:07:02 > 0:07:05..and only 25% down to our genes.
0:07:08 > 0:07:12Identical twins come from a single sperm and egg.
0:07:12 > 0:07:14This is my identical twin.
0:07:14 > 0:07:17We began life as a single clump of cells that split
0:07:17 > 0:07:21somewhere in the first two weeks to become two separate people.
0:07:21 > 0:07:25We share therefore 100% of our DNA,
0:07:25 > 0:07:29and that is why it is literally impossible to tell us apart.
0:07:29 > 0:07:30What about the beard? Sh!
0:07:33 > 0:07:36The genes of identical twins are the same so they're perfect
0:07:36 > 0:07:40for investigating how lifestyle choices affect ageing.
0:07:46 > 0:07:49To prove it, we've tracked down a pair of twins who live
0:07:49 > 0:07:53really different lives to discover which lifestyle ages you the most.
0:07:56 > 0:07:59This is Patti - a 55-year-old professional
0:07:59 > 0:08:02living and working in the hustle and bustle of Washington DC.
0:08:10 > 0:08:13And this is Terry, her identical twin sister -
0:08:13 > 0:08:16retired and living just yards from where they grew up
0:08:16 > 0:08:19in the small East Coast town of Elkton.
0:08:22 > 0:08:25Patti's hooked on the adrenaline of the city.
0:08:27 > 0:08:29Terry lives slower and accepts she's a bit overweight,
0:08:29 > 0:08:31unlike her slimmer sister.
0:08:33 > 0:08:40We are exactly alike and total opposites at the same time!
0:08:41 > 0:08:43So which lifestyle is ageing them faster?
0:08:48 > 0:08:52The Twin Research centre in London has pioneered a way to answer this -
0:08:52 > 0:08:55a cutting-edge blood test that can reveal,
0:08:55 > 0:08:58at a molecular level, exactly how well a person's ageing.
0:09:02 > 0:09:04Over the years, poor lifestyle choices
0:09:04 > 0:09:09can damage the DNA in our blood and the test detects the damage.
0:09:09 > 0:09:13The less damage to the DNA, the younger you are, biologically.
0:09:18 > 0:09:21# London calling to the faraway towns... #
0:09:22 > 0:09:24Patti and Terry had the blood test
0:09:24 > 0:09:30and have now made the trip to London to find out their results
0:09:30 > 0:09:32and discover how their two different lifestyles
0:09:32 > 0:09:35have affected their actual biological age.
0:09:36 > 0:09:40# London calling See, we ain't got no swing. #
0:09:44 > 0:09:46Oh, there he is! Hi, guys. How you doing?
0:09:46 > 0:09:48It's very nice to meet you. Nice to meet you!
0:09:48 > 0:09:52Hi, Terry. It's great to see you. Oh, wow!
0:09:52 > 0:09:55Biologically, there may be a difference,
0:09:55 > 0:09:57so how do you think you're going to do?
0:09:57 > 0:10:01I think that I'm younger than her.
0:10:01 > 0:10:04I think I'm going to be younger than her.
0:10:04 > 0:10:07So you both think you're going to be younger than the other one? Yup.
0:10:07 > 0:10:11Why? I think stress is the biggest factor.
0:10:11 > 0:10:14She's just sort of a higher stress person
0:10:14 > 0:10:17and I'm a lot more easy-going. Um...
0:10:17 > 0:10:20I'm overweight and she's not, so that's the other factor.
0:10:20 > 0:10:25I kind of try to overcome the stress by having
0:10:25 > 0:10:30as much activity as I possibly can and, um...
0:10:30 > 0:10:33What? Why are you laughing? Because I have a lot of activity, too,
0:10:33 > 0:10:34and I get up first thing in the morning
0:10:34 > 0:10:38and go take care of horses and carry two five-gallon water buckets
0:10:38 > 0:10:41and clean stalls and push wheelbarrows and dump manure,
0:10:41 > 0:10:44so yeah, I think the activity is about to wash.
0:10:44 > 0:10:45I think we're both very active.
0:10:45 > 0:10:50Terry, on a day-to-day basis, do you aggressively kind of pursue
0:10:50 > 0:10:54things to prolong your life with diet, with exercise?
0:10:54 > 0:10:58If I were to be told, for example, that you can extend your life
0:10:58 > 0:11:02by six months if you never eat chocolate again, no way!
0:11:02 > 0:11:04THEY LAUGH
0:11:04 > 0:11:07'To reveal who has aged less, twin specialist
0:11:07 > 0:11:10'Professor Tim Spector has analysed the blood tests.'
0:11:12 > 0:11:14This is the big moment.
0:11:14 > 0:11:17This here gives your chronological age, 55, and you both seem
0:11:17 > 0:11:21fairly sure that you're... Younger! ..on the younger side. LAUGHTER
0:11:21 > 0:11:22OK? Yeah. No doubt about that.
0:11:22 > 0:11:24And the results show, actually,
0:11:24 > 0:11:27you are both biologically younger than average.
0:11:27 > 0:11:28But that's great!
0:11:28 > 0:11:30It's a fantastic result.
0:11:31 > 0:11:35But the biological age of one twin is lower than the other.
0:11:36 > 0:11:38That's me? That's definitely you, is it?
0:11:38 > 0:11:40No, that's me. LAUGHTER
0:11:40 > 0:11:41Yeah?
0:11:42 > 0:11:44Yes! LAUGHTER
0:11:45 > 0:11:47Sorry about that.
0:11:47 > 0:11:49THEY LAUGH
0:11:49 > 0:11:51One to two years' difference between you, all right.
0:11:51 > 0:11:53I'm just kidding, this is great.
0:11:53 > 0:11:56'So Terry is up to two years younger than Patti.'
0:11:56 > 0:11:58But look on the bright side.
0:11:58 > 0:12:00So, you've both done very well, you know?
0:12:00 > 0:12:02One is lower than the other and why is that?
0:12:02 > 0:12:06You've got less stress in your life than you have and clearly
0:12:06 > 0:12:09that stress has played a role here, the difference between you.
0:12:09 > 0:12:11But you're probably a little bit fitter,
0:12:11 > 0:12:14carrying a little less weight... Mm-hm.
0:12:14 > 0:12:16..and that has helped you as well.
0:12:16 > 0:12:18So I think these are important messages,
0:12:18 > 0:12:21that if everybody could be fit, healthy, de-stressed and have
0:12:21 > 0:12:24the perfect diet, who knows how low you could get?
0:12:24 > 0:12:27And I see that as more of an incentive to do even better. Yeah.
0:12:27 > 0:12:31Exactly. Rather than a reason to relax and let things happen.
0:12:31 > 0:12:33This has been really inspiring for us both.
0:12:35 > 0:12:37'After smoking, stress and weight
0:12:37 > 0:12:39'have the biggest influence on how we age.'
0:12:41 > 0:12:45My identical twin Xand and I also took Tim's blood test.
0:12:45 > 0:12:47OK, so you guys have your results.
0:12:47 > 0:12:52Now, Xand and I are actually already part of your research study.
0:12:52 > 0:12:55So I met Tim quite a few years ago and at that point,
0:12:55 > 0:12:59Tim said to Xand that he was "a disgrace to his genes"
0:12:59 > 0:13:02because he was so much heavier than me.
0:13:02 > 0:13:04I think the difference will be bigger. I will be two years
0:13:04 > 0:13:06biologically younger than Xand.
0:13:06 > 0:13:08BUT, he is the more laid-back twin.
0:13:08 > 0:13:10So you had more stress, you think?
0:13:10 > 0:13:14Yeah, I am a classically anxious, neurotic, high-stress individual.
0:13:14 > 0:13:15LAUGHTER
0:13:15 > 0:13:17Now the moment of truth for you and Xand, then.
0:13:20 > 0:13:22Ooh! Dear me, eh?
0:13:22 > 0:13:24Oh, my goodness.
0:13:24 > 0:13:28Biologically, we're both five years older than we should be.
0:13:29 > 0:13:31There's something wrong with your test.
0:13:31 > 0:13:32LAUGHTER
0:13:34 > 0:13:37Both our lifestyles are equally bad for us.
0:13:37 > 0:13:39Tim thinks my problem is stress.
0:13:40 > 0:13:44You do have a stressful job, a stressful life.
0:13:44 > 0:13:48It's possible that these are factors that you ought to be thinking about.
0:13:48 > 0:13:55So this means that I can expect to get the diseases of ageing,
0:13:55 > 0:14:00you know, diabetes, joint aches and pains, arthritis, dementia,
0:14:00 > 0:14:03heart attack, strokes... All that stuff will happen
0:14:03 > 0:14:09five years earlier for me than for the average person of my age?
0:14:09 > 0:14:12Yes. How many jobs do you have?
0:14:12 > 0:14:16There are three jobs. Well, there you go. All of which I struggle at.
0:14:16 > 0:14:20Maybe you need to slow down a little bit and chill out and smell the roses
0:14:20 > 0:14:24along the way and maybe not make it impact you on the inside.
0:14:25 > 0:14:29Stress is literally shortening my life.
0:14:29 > 0:14:32I'm gutted. To you guys... We're 55.
0:14:32 > 0:14:36No, no, but you're not! You're 49, biologically. Well... And I'm 41!
0:14:36 > 0:14:41When I met you this morning there was 18 years between us
0:14:41 > 0:14:44and now there's only eight years between us!
0:14:45 > 0:14:50That was a shock, but I found out in time to still do something about it,
0:14:50 > 0:14:53thanks to this revolutionary test that is helping scientists
0:14:53 > 0:14:56better understand how we age.
0:14:56 > 0:15:00So, do you want your results from Tim Spector? If they're good.
0:15:00 > 0:15:02Well, they could be worse, but not much.
0:15:02 > 0:15:07So you and I are five years older than our chronological age,
0:15:07 > 0:15:10than our actual age. Five years?! 41.
0:15:10 > 0:15:14So we're older than we should be, is that right?
0:15:14 > 0:15:16Yes, I've just said, you're 41. That's a lot!
0:15:16 > 0:15:20Like, I'm not... I'm not that old. That's a decent chunk of my life. Yeah.
0:15:20 > 0:15:21So why?
0:15:21 > 0:15:24Well, probably because I'm quite stressed
0:15:24 > 0:15:27and you've been quite overweight.
0:15:27 > 0:15:30And that has cost me that much time? Yeah.
0:15:30 > 0:15:33I think the really nice thing that Tim's research shows us, though,
0:15:33 > 0:15:36is that we do have the possibility of change,
0:15:36 > 0:15:42we can make decisions in our life about our lifestyle to lose weight, chill out...
0:15:42 > 0:15:44And it will add years to our life.
0:15:44 > 0:15:48And that's quite cool. It's not fate, it's not predetermined. Yeah.
0:15:50 > 0:15:53'The test has driven home to me that if I want to live longer,
0:15:53 > 0:15:55'I need to deal with my stress.
0:15:55 > 0:15:57'And my brother needs to grapple with his diet.
0:15:59 > 0:16:02'Later on, I'll be finding out the best ways for all of us
0:16:02 > 0:16:03'to win years back.'
0:16:16 > 0:16:20Unlike Chris and Xand, I'm not particularly stressed
0:16:20 > 0:16:22and I know I'm not overweight.
0:16:22 > 0:16:25People say I'm ageing pretty well.
0:16:25 > 0:16:28But appearances can be deceptive.
0:16:28 > 0:16:30To fully understand the ageing process,
0:16:30 > 0:16:33scientists say you need to peer under the bonnet.
0:16:39 > 0:16:44So, I'm going to have a full body MRI scan, to look inside me.
0:16:44 > 0:16:48And I have to say, I am just a teeny bit anxious about it.
0:16:50 > 0:16:51This is going to be noisy, isn't it?
0:16:51 > 0:16:54It is a bit noisy, but I will give you headphones.
0:16:54 > 0:16:58You've got music for me? We've got music for you, yeah. Good, right. Classical music.
0:16:58 > 0:17:01Obviously, when I was in my teens, my 20s, my 30s,
0:17:01 > 0:17:04even my 40s, I would have hoped that my brain
0:17:04 > 0:17:08and my body was in a reasonable condition.
0:17:11 > 0:17:15But it's now 71 years old.
0:17:15 > 0:17:17SHE LAUGHS
0:17:17 > 0:17:19It's like a sort of, um...
0:17:19 > 0:17:22I'm not a Ferrari any more.
0:17:22 > 0:17:26I'm a sort of, hopefully, reasonably well-preserved vintage model.
0:17:28 > 0:17:30Here we go.
0:17:44 > 0:17:46Fantastic. Let's start. Right.
0:17:49 > 0:17:52By taking thousands of slice-like images,
0:17:52 > 0:17:57this MRI will reveal exactly how my organs have aged.
0:17:57 > 0:18:01My heart, my liver, my spine and my brain.
0:18:05 > 0:18:07You OK?
0:18:07 > 0:18:09That's the easy bit over.
0:18:09 > 0:18:12The hard part will be receiving the results.
0:18:13 > 0:18:14Ooh. Thank you.
0:18:17 > 0:18:21Professor of medicine Jimmy Bell will interpret the scans for me.
0:18:21 > 0:18:24The first time I've been able to peer inside my own body.
0:18:26 > 0:18:29This is a 3-D rendering of your body
0:18:29 > 0:18:32and we want to see what effect ageing might have had. OK.
0:18:32 > 0:18:36So if we zoom in... So we're just going to click this here.
0:18:36 > 0:18:39And as we zoom in, then we can see your spine here.
0:18:40 > 0:18:45Well, most of me appears to be ageing satisfyingly slowly.
0:18:45 > 0:18:47You have a very young heart.
0:18:47 > 0:18:50Still your heart is very healthy.
0:18:50 > 0:18:53You have got a body composition of a young person
0:18:53 > 0:18:56and your muscle mass is actually substantial,
0:18:56 > 0:18:59in the sense that it's actually very healthy.
0:18:59 > 0:19:04It's actually quite young legs, if you don't mind my saying so.
0:19:04 > 0:19:08'Well, so far, so good. But then we find something rather more sinister.'
0:19:08 > 0:19:12If we actually look around the liver,
0:19:12 > 0:19:16all the white bits here, and that's all what we call visceral fat.
0:19:16 > 0:19:20You have a very significant amount of visceral fat.
0:19:21 > 0:19:25So now we're going to zoom in to the heart.
0:19:25 > 0:19:30If you look at that yellow bit around it, again, surprisingly,
0:19:30 > 0:19:35you have a large amount of fat accumulated around your heart.
0:19:35 > 0:19:39That physical constraint of the heart pumping against that fat
0:19:39 > 0:19:42might be a problem long-term.
0:19:42 > 0:19:44I'm in shock!
0:19:44 > 0:19:45This is all a bit difficult to take in.
0:19:46 > 0:19:50We would expect someone healthy at any age,
0:19:50 > 0:19:53to have less than two litres of visceral fat.
0:19:53 > 0:19:56You have between six and seven litres.
0:19:56 > 0:19:59That is not good news.
0:19:59 > 0:20:01I exercise, I eat well,
0:20:01 > 0:20:05so where the heck has all this internal fat come from?
0:20:05 > 0:20:07Normally, it's to do with lifestyle,
0:20:07 > 0:20:10so we would expect someone who has a poor diet,
0:20:10 > 0:20:14high in sugar or fat,
0:20:14 > 0:20:18or someone who doesn't do lots of physical activity.
0:20:18 > 0:20:21That's not me. But clearly, that's not you at all!
0:20:23 > 0:20:29This field of science is very new so there are still unanswered questions
0:20:29 > 0:20:34and women do seem to be more vulnerable than men to internal fat.
0:20:34 > 0:20:38But whatever the cause, the implications for me are serious.
0:20:38 > 0:20:40Internal fat is quite dangerous.
0:20:40 > 0:20:44It can lead to cardiovascular disease, type two diabetes
0:20:44 > 0:20:48and if we don't look after that, it will be a major problem.
0:20:53 > 0:20:55This is devastating.
0:20:55 > 0:20:58I had no idea that as we age, some of us
0:20:58 > 0:21:03put down lots of internal body fat, so what's the solution?
0:21:03 > 0:21:06Well, thankfully, scientists have recently found something
0:21:06 > 0:21:09we can do to reduce this hidden threat.
0:21:10 > 0:21:13There was a big shock attached to the results
0:21:13 > 0:21:18and that is that I am carrying an awful lot of internal fat
0:21:18 > 0:21:22particularly around my heart and that really is very worrying,
0:21:22 > 0:21:25but I'm told that there is a way, of course,
0:21:25 > 0:21:27of helping to get rid of all of that fat
0:21:27 > 0:21:32and quite simply it is by eating a lot more high-resistance starch.
0:21:32 > 0:21:38And that occurs in pulses like lentils and chickpeas.
0:21:38 > 0:21:42The latest science has revealed that when high resistance starch
0:21:42 > 0:21:45is eaten, it passes through to the large intestine.
0:21:47 > 0:21:50There it releases an acid which enters the body
0:21:50 > 0:21:51to reduce internal fat.
0:21:54 > 0:21:57The trouble is for this to happen you need to eat a ridiculous
0:21:57 > 0:22:00amount of lentils. Kilos a week.
0:22:00 > 0:22:04Fortunately, there is an artificial alternative.
0:22:04 > 0:22:07There is a concentrated form of high-resistance starch
0:22:07 > 0:22:09and it's this stuff, this white powder which is called inulin
0:22:09 > 0:22:13and all you have to do is sprinkle that over your food.
0:22:13 > 0:22:15Now it's obviously going to take quite a while,
0:22:15 > 0:22:18probably round about six months, to see whether or not
0:22:18 > 0:22:21following this kind of diet is going to make any difference to me
0:22:21 > 0:22:24but clearly I'm going to give it a go.
0:22:25 > 0:22:29Scientists are developing a new generation of drugs which they
0:22:29 > 0:22:33expect to be even more effective at reducing internal fat.
0:22:33 > 0:22:38But for now, the inulin food supplement is my best hope.
0:22:41 > 0:22:44What we eat is crucial to how well we age.
0:22:45 > 0:22:47And a surprising discovery about the best diet
0:22:47 > 0:22:50to keep us young has come from an unlikely place.
0:22:51 > 0:22:55The USA, famous for fast food.
0:22:55 > 0:23:00Take downtown LA, a place where fast food has replaced fresh food.
0:23:00 > 0:23:03People living in areas like this are three times more likely
0:23:03 > 0:23:05to die of major age-related diseases.
0:23:08 > 0:23:12Of all the facts and figures, the one I think which is most
0:23:12 > 0:23:17kind of telling, is that of all the meals that are eaten
0:23:17 > 0:23:22in the United States, 20% of them are consumed in people's cars.
0:23:22 > 0:23:27It's like a kind of enjoyable slow suicide, being deliberately
0:23:27 > 0:23:30inactive while you consume vast quantities of calories.
0:23:30 > 0:23:34# Take me down to the Paradise city where the grass is green... #
0:23:34 > 0:23:38But just 60 miles east of LA is somewhere very different.
0:23:45 > 0:23:49Tucked away in the mountains is the quiet town of Loma Linda.
0:23:52 > 0:23:57Here, people live up to ten years longer than your average Californian
0:23:57 > 0:24:01and scientists suspect it is largely to do with what they eat.
0:24:05 > 0:24:07So I'm off to meet one of the town's oldest residents,
0:24:07 > 0:24:10centenarian Dr Ellsworth Wareham,
0:24:10 > 0:24:12to ask him his secret to a long life.
0:24:15 > 0:24:17DOORBELL RINGS
0:24:17 > 0:24:21Hi, Ellsworth. Hi there. Very, very nice to meet you.
0:24:21 > 0:24:22And you.
0:24:27 > 0:24:30Do you do any exercise? No.
0:24:32 > 0:24:35His medical career lasted 67 years.
0:24:38 > 0:24:43When was the last time you put surgical gloves on
0:24:43 > 0:24:48and touched a patient? When I was 95. When you were 95? Yes.
0:24:48 > 0:24:53And you are now...? 100. 100. And I'll be 101 in six weeks.
0:24:53 > 0:24:56And I say I could go right now
0:24:56 > 0:25:00and do any operation I've ever done and I could do it right now.
0:25:00 > 0:25:04You could still put someone on a heart bypass machine. Oh, easily.
0:25:04 > 0:25:07Nothing to it. A lung, for example, I could do in my sleep.
0:25:09 > 0:25:14Why did you decide to stop operating at 95?
0:25:14 > 0:25:17So I could spend a little more time at home.
0:25:18 > 0:25:23What do you think has enabled you to stay that young?
0:25:23 > 0:25:27I am inclined to believe that lifestyle has quite a bit to
0:25:27 > 0:25:29do with your health.
0:25:31 > 0:25:34And I'm a vegan.
0:25:34 > 0:25:39Do you think that veganism, avoiding eating dairy,
0:25:39 > 0:25:43butter, meat, do you think that's the most important
0:25:43 > 0:25:48factor in you being a 100-year-old who looks like you are 30
0:25:48 > 0:25:52years younger, has no pain and could still do heart surgery?
0:25:52 > 0:25:54I think it's important.
0:25:59 > 0:26:02Ellsworth has been a vegan for 50 years.
0:26:02 > 0:26:05He is also a Seventh Day Adventist,
0:26:05 > 0:26:09a religion which encourages vegetarianism
0:26:09 > 0:26:12and the main faith of Loma Linda.
0:26:12 > 0:26:14That's the University Church.
0:26:14 > 0:26:18But could vegetarianism be the key to living longer?
0:26:19 > 0:26:24Most of the community is now part of a world-renowned study on diet
0:26:24 > 0:26:25and ageing.
0:26:27 > 0:26:31As a staunch carnivore, I'm meeting Professor Of Public Health,
0:26:31 > 0:26:33Larry Beeson, to see if it's really worth ditching the meat.
0:26:35 > 0:26:38Hi, Larry. We've been looking forward to meeting you in person.
0:26:38 > 0:26:41Well, that's really nice. Thank you so much for meeting.
0:26:41 > 0:26:44We had 96,000 people filled out a 50-page questionnaire,
0:26:44 > 0:26:46which was a task in itself.
0:26:46 > 0:26:49In that questionnaire, we looked out what foods you ate.
0:26:49 > 0:26:53Dairy and eggs and meat, fruits and vegetables and everything else.
0:26:53 > 0:26:57All their different diets were compared with how well they aged.
0:26:57 > 0:27:00The healthiest diet of all - vegan.
0:27:01 > 0:27:05You can reduce your risk of cancer, reduce your risk of heart attack,
0:27:05 > 0:27:06reduce your risk of stroke
0:27:06 > 0:27:09and everything we've looked at, that's true.
0:27:09 > 0:27:11The results of this study on the Loma Linda
0:27:11 > 0:27:13population are really striking.
0:27:15 > 0:27:18For vegans, overall mortality is reduced by a quarter compared
0:27:18 > 0:27:23to meat eaters and they are half as likely to get heart disease.
0:27:28 > 0:27:31Larry wants to show me around his local supermarket to explain
0:27:31 > 0:27:35how simple changes to the weekly shop can add years to our life.
0:27:35 > 0:27:39Bell peppers. Bell peppers. We want a yellow and orange pepper.
0:27:39 > 0:27:43It's a most unusual supermarket. It doesn't sell any meat.
0:27:45 > 0:27:49If my ambition is to live the longest I can possibly live,
0:27:49 > 0:27:51if we're just talking about diet,
0:27:51 > 0:27:55the best thing I can do is to be a vegan and then
0:27:55 > 0:27:59if you add stuff to that veganism, like you start adding eggs
0:27:59 > 0:28:03and milk, if you add fish, even a small quantity of meat,
0:28:03 > 0:28:05you increase your risk of almost everything.
0:28:05 > 0:28:08That's what the data appears to show. That's remarkable.
0:28:08 > 0:28:12I think a lot of people are going to find this really surprising.
0:28:12 > 0:28:14Animal protein, when eaten,
0:28:14 > 0:28:18stimulates a hormone in our bodies that we all need for growth.
0:28:19 > 0:28:22But as you get older, especially during middle age,
0:28:22 > 0:28:25this same hormone speeds up ageing.
0:28:25 > 0:28:28And so the more you replace meat protein with fruit
0:28:28 > 0:28:31and vegetables, the slower you age.
0:28:31 > 0:28:32Walnuts, walnuts, walnuts.
0:28:33 > 0:28:37The Loma Linda study also found something else that protects us
0:28:37 > 0:28:40against heart attacks - nuts.
0:28:41 > 0:28:46We compared different levels of nut consumption as related to
0:28:46 > 0:28:49coronary heart disease, both fatal and non-fatal,
0:28:49 > 0:28:51and we found out, surprisingly to us,
0:28:51 > 0:28:55at least initially, that those who consumed nuts five times per week,
0:28:55 > 0:28:59that's a handful of nuts, had half the risk of a heart attack
0:28:59 > 0:29:02compared to those who ate nuts infrequently.
0:29:02 > 0:29:05The good fats contained in nuts reduce cholesterol in the body
0:29:05 > 0:29:07and so stop your arteries from furring up.
0:29:10 > 0:29:15All nuts contain these fats but walnuts have the most.
0:29:15 > 0:29:17I'm guessing the butter toffee peanuts are...
0:29:17 > 0:29:20We're going to fly past those. They're off the menu.
0:29:20 > 0:29:22We'll get some of these raw pecans.
0:29:27 > 0:29:30So nuts are an easy fix to live longer.
0:29:34 > 0:29:37But for a committed meat eater like me,
0:29:37 > 0:29:39going vegan is a really big ask...
0:29:41 > 0:29:43..and not one I think I'll be able to stick to.
0:29:45 > 0:29:50Father of us all, for the beautiful food on this table, we thank you.
0:29:50 > 0:29:54Be our guest as we dine tonight, amen. Amen.
0:29:54 > 0:29:56Can you pass the beans?
0:29:57 > 0:30:01The table looks colourful and varied
0:30:01 > 0:30:06and it is a table without any meat on it at all.
0:30:06 > 0:30:09Basically the more colourful your meal is,
0:30:09 > 0:30:11probably the more nutritious.
0:30:11 > 0:30:15The colour is pretty good evidence that there is minerals
0:30:15 > 0:30:18and vitamins behind all those colours.
0:30:18 > 0:30:20I'm a fanatical meat eater
0:30:20 > 0:30:24so I would eat pork every night, given a choice.
0:30:24 > 0:30:27The prospect of a meal without meat is actually quite daunting.
0:30:27 > 0:30:30You know, it's not necessarily easy.
0:30:30 > 0:30:33But Larry explains I don't have to become a full-blown vegan
0:30:33 > 0:30:35to gain extra years.
0:30:35 > 0:30:38Just a small reduction in meat eating will help.
0:30:39 > 0:30:42Slowly, small steps where you say,
0:30:42 > 0:30:45"I'm going to try vegetarianism for one day at a time."
0:30:45 > 0:30:48Right, and we can all do it. And it's probably cheaper.
0:30:53 > 0:30:56The Loma Linda study is part of a whole raft of recent research
0:30:56 > 0:31:00that confirms that eating less meat can slow down the ageing process.
0:31:01 > 0:31:05So as a gentle start, I'm going for meatless Mondays.
0:31:16 > 0:31:18New scientific studies have proved
0:31:18 > 0:31:21that exercise is another major way to stay young.
0:31:25 > 0:31:29As you age, your body naturally becomes more frail.
0:31:29 > 0:31:32Exercise counteracts this by building up muscle
0:31:32 > 0:31:37but recent research into which exercise is best at making us
0:31:37 > 0:31:41stronger as we age has come up with some surprising results.
0:31:46 > 0:31:49To find out more, I've travelled to the centre of Germany.
0:31:54 > 0:31:58Scientists here at Magdeburg University want to discover which
0:31:58 > 0:32:04of two physical activities is more effective at keeping frailty at bay.
0:32:04 > 0:32:08SHE SPEAKS GERMAN
0:32:15 > 0:32:18What they came up was with was a programme that involves
0:32:18 > 0:32:21comparing the kind of things that you do in a gym...
0:32:24 > 0:32:28..with something which is right up my street, and that's dancing.
0:32:31 > 0:32:34SHE SPEAKS GERMAN
0:32:34 > 0:32:39So while 20 elderly Germans danced three times a week,
0:32:39 > 0:32:44another group trained for exactly the same amount of time in the gym,
0:32:44 > 0:32:47doing activities like riding exercise bikes.
0:32:50 > 0:32:53Both groups signed up for the long haul.
0:32:53 > 0:32:56Three hours a week for six months.
0:32:56 > 0:32:59But which activity was best at tackling ageing?
0:33:01 > 0:33:03It was obviously important to get an accurate
0:33:03 > 0:33:07assessment of the benefits of a dance class over a conventional
0:33:07 > 0:33:11fitness regime and so the team came up with a really clever wheeze.
0:33:11 > 0:33:16Both groups have to exercise to the same music.
0:33:16 > 0:33:22MUSIC: Ooh La La by Goldfrapp
0:33:22 > 0:33:27That way they were able to keep the level of exertion roughly equal.
0:33:27 > 0:33:30SHE SPEAKS GERMAN
0:33:35 > 0:33:37Professor Marco Narici is the specialist
0:33:37 > 0:33:40in muscle degeneration for the study.
0:33:41 > 0:33:44Marco, why do we get more frail as we grow old?
0:33:44 > 0:33:47What is actually happening to our muscles?
0:33:47 > 0:33:50Our muscles become smaller and this is a natural process.
0:33:50 > 0:33:54It is almost inevitable. It affects us all.
0:33:54 > 0:33:58These scans are the cross-sections of the upper thigh.
0:33:58 > 0:34:01The outer pink line is the skin.
0:34:01 > 0:34:04The red area is muscle with the bone in the middle.
0:34:04 > 0:34:07All of the white is fat.
0:34:07 > 0:34:10So you can see in a healthy young person there is a lot of muscle,
0:34:10 > 0:34:14very little fat. Hardly any fat at all there. Absolutely.
0:34:14 > 0:34:17As you age, the muscle shrinks.
0:34:17 > 0:34:2055 years. That's a bit different. That is a bit different, yes.
0:34:20 > 0:34:24There is more fat, less muscle and as we move to 80,
0:34:24 > 0:34:30you are almost 40% less muscle than in your 30s.
0:34:30 > 0:34:32So are you saying that it's inevitable that once
0:34:32 > 0:34:36we hit our 30s, that's when our degeneration starts on our muscles?
0:34:36 > 0:34:40Yes. After that, it speeds up quite rapidly
0:34:40 > 0:34:42but we can do something about it.
0:34:42 > 0:34:48MUSIC PLAYS
0:34:48 > 0:34:51So when it came to strengthening the muscles,
0:34:51 > 0:34:56which of the two sets of exercise was better? Gym or dancing?
0:34:57 > 0:35:01In the blood of each participant, they looked for a protein
0:35:01 > 0:35:05which showed whether their muscles were getting weaker or not.
0:35:05 > 0:35:07After six months, the results were clear.
0:35:09 > 0:35:12On average, the gym group had little difference,
0:35:12 > 0:35:18while the dancers had a 15% improvement.
0:35:18 > 0:35:22But why did dancing make the muscles stronger compared to those
0:35:22 > 0:35:23working out in the gym?
0:35:27 > 0:35:29Exercise done in the gym is very repetitive.
0:35:29 > 0:35:33You train one muscle or just a group of muscles.
0:35:33 > 0:35:36If instead you do dancing, it stimulates many more systems.
0:35:36 > 0:35:40Your brain, your muscles, your tendons, your ligaments.
0:35:40 > 0:35:43It is much more holistic as a form of exercise,
0:35:43 > 0:35:44much more comprehensive.
0:35:45 > 0:35:50All logical enough but Marco made another unexpected discovery.
0:35:53 > 0:35:58Each muscle fibre, here in red, is controlled by a nerve.
0:35:58 > 0:35:59They're shown in green.
0:35:59 > 0:36:03There's a crucial junction which connects them.
0:36:03 > 0:36:06Dancing requires more input from nerves
0:36:06 > 0:36:09and so strengthens these junctions and, therefore, the muscles.
0:36:11 > 0:36:16So dancing facilitates the cross between the muscle and the nerve
0:36:16 > 0:36:19and that's the key. So really we should all just keep dancing.
0:36:19 > 0:36:24Yes, we should. Do you dance? Erm, I probably will.
0:36:30 > 0:36:35The gym group did improve, but dancing is the better exercise
0:36:35 > 0:36:39because as well as being aerobic, it requires flexibility and balance.
0:36:39 > 0:36:42MUSIC: Crazy In Love by Beyonce
0:36:43 > 0:36:47And if this group of dancers is anything to go by, well,
0:36:47 > 0:36:50they can't get enough of it because the study actually finished
0:36:50 > 0:36:56after six months but they were so upset that they came back.
0:36:56 > 0:36:59That was a year ago and look at them. They're still dancing.
0:37:01 > 0:37:05So as we get older, we shouldn't take the foot off the gas.
0:37:05 > 0:37:08In fact, if anything, we should be more active from our
0:37:08 > 0:37:1230s onwards and dancing is one of the best exercises
0:37:12 > 0:37:14we can do to help us stay young.
0:37:19 > 0:37:21MUSIC: Eye Of The Tiger by Survivor
0:37:27 > 0:37:29I'm certainly no dancer.
0:37:29 > 0:37:33I've got two left feet but I do love getting up to jog.
0:37:36 > 0:37:39This should go some way to tackling my main problem of stress
0:37:39 > 0:37:43which is ageing me five years faster than I should be.
0:37:45 > 0:37:46And I'm not alone.
0:37:46 > 0:37:48In our modern hectic world,
0:37:48 > 0:37:5130% of us complain of being overly stressed.
0:37:54 > 0:37:56And stress can be very damaging.
0:38:00 > 0:38:02When our body is stressed,
0:38:02 > 0:38:04the adrenal glands, on top of our kidneys,
0:38:04 > 0:38:07release a powerful hormone called cortisol.
0:38:09 > 0:38:11It's essential to have some cortisol
0:38:11 > 0:38:13but too much stress throws the levels out of kilter.
0:38:15 > 0:38:19Over time, an excess weakens muscles, degrades bones
0:38:19 > 0:38:22and can shorten your life by up to five years.
0:38:26 > 0:38:29# Nobody knows me... #
0:38:29 > 0:38:33That's why we should all try to reduce stress.
0:38:33 > 0:38:36I've been forcing myself to work less and switch off when I can.
0:38:38 > 0:38:41Yoga helps me unwind.
0:38:43 > 0:38:45But yoga is not for everyone.
0:38:47 > 0:38:50Some people believe in an unusual to way to relax
0:38:50 > 0:38:55in one of our most stressful environments - where we work.
0:38:57 > 0:39:01The company I'm visiting here near Oxford has a novel way
0:39:01 > 0:39:03of dealing with stress in the workplace.
0:39:03 > 0:39:05In order to keep their workforce calm,
0:39:05 > 0:39:07they allow them to bring their pets into the office.
0:39:07 > 0:39:11# Now I wanna be your dog
0:39:11 > 0:39:15# Now I wanna be your dog... #
0:39:15 > 0:39:17This charity re-homes stray dogs,
0:39:17 > 0:39:20so the employees are already pet lovers.
0:39:21 > 0:39:24But they're also convinced that having their dogs at work
0:39:24 > 0:39:27lowers stress and makes them more productive.
0:39:30 > 0:39:34Some days as many as ten dogs clock in.
0:39:34 > 0:39:37This is Maisie, and Maisie is five years old.
0:39:37 > 0:39:40This is Diddy, and Diddy's a lurcher and he's eight years old.
0:39:40 > 0:39:44This is Pippin, he's seven years old and he's a Red Fox Labrador.
0:39:44 > 0:39:47She's just generally a very happy dog
0:39:47 > 0:39:49so she just makes you feel quite relaxed.
0:39:49 > 0:39:51It's quite relaxing to know that when you are under stress,
0:39:51 > 0:39:53you can look down and have a quick cuddle.
0:39:53 > 0:39:55If I'm in the office all day at my desk,
0:39:55 > 0:39:58it's important you have screen breaks, it's important you get out
0:39:58 > 0:40:03and get some fresh air at lunch and having Diddy there makes me do that.
0:40:03 > 0:40:06But does having their pet with them really reduce stress?
0:40:07 > 0:40:09I want to put this to the test.
0:40:10 > 0:40:14I'm going to deliberately stress the dog owners by making them
0:40:14 > 0:40:16do tough mental arithmetic.
0:40:17 > 0:40:22First without their dog and then again with their dog.
0:40:22 > 0:40:24Stress causes blood pressure to rise
0:40:24 > 0:40:27so we'll monitor how it changes throughout.
0:40:31 > 0:40:38Hi, Francis. Have a seat. Thank you. Hi, Gemma. Hi, Kerry, have a seat.
0:40:38 > 0:40:41So this is a maths test.
0:40:41 > 0:40:45We want you to count backwards from 1,000 in units of seven
0:40:45 > 0:40:48and we want you to do it at a good pace.
0:40:48 > 0:40:50If you hesitate or make a mistake,
0:40:50 > 0:40:56we're going to go back to the beginning. OK? OK. Are you nervous?
0:40:56 > 0:40:58I am nervous, yes.
0:40:58 > 0:41:02Start the stopwatch. Test starts now.
0:41:02 > 0:41:031,000.
0:41:03 > 0:41:06993.
0:41:06 > 0:41:08986.
0:41:08 > 0:41:11They don't know the counting has no other purpose
0:41:11 > 0:41:14than to induce stress.
0:41:14 > 0:41:16I've no interest in their arithmetic.
0:41:16 > 0:41:18900 and...
0:41:19 > 0:41:21So many numbers!
0:41:21 > 0:41:25Sure enough, all three start to show visual signs of stress.
0:41:27 > 0:41:29Can you start again please?
0:41:29 > 0:41:32And their blood pressure rises dramatically.
0:41:32 > 0:41:36It's putting pressure on me. That's horrible.
0:41:36 > 0:41:39All I could think is my dad going,
0:41:39 > 0:41:41"I've paid so much money for your university degree."
0:41:43 > 0:41:47I'm going to ask you to start again. Can you start again? Yeah.
0:41:47 > 0:41:49ALARM RINGS
0:41:49 > 0:41:51You're halfway through. What?
0:41:51 > 0:41:54We've got a second test, very similar test, eight minutes long.
0:41:54 > 0:42:01Oh, no. And this time you've got to count back from 998 in sevens.
0:42:01 > 0:42:03We've one more surprise.
0:42:03 > 0:42:05So now we're going to do the test again.
0:42:05 > 0:42:09Sorry, Maisie is looking for you. Oh. Hello.
0:42:09 > 0:42:13Who's this? This is my maths genius here, Diddy.
0:42:13 > 0:42:15So no conferring with Diddy. OK.
0:42:15 > 0:42:17Pip! Hello.
0:42:17 > 0:42:21They have no idea their dogs are part of the test.
0:42:21 > 0:42:26998, 991, 986.
0:42:29 > 0:42:30The test worked really well.
0:42:30 > 0:42:33Their blood pressure dropped considerably as soon
0:42:33 > 0:42:37as the dogs arrived and overall was 10% lower.
0:42:37 > 0:42:39It even helped their arithmetic.
0:42:39 > 0:42:45907, 900, 893.
0:42:47 > 0:42:51ALARM RINGS
0:42:51 > 0:42:54We can now reveal to them that the test was really about their dogs.
0:42:56 > 0:42:58For me, seeing him come into the room
0:42:58 > 0:43:02when I'm under pressure, I was really quite relieved to see him.
0:43:02 > 0:43:04He could just take some of that stress away
0:43:04 > 0:43:05so it was nice to see him.
0:43:05 > 0:43:08I'm not good at maths and that was really quite tough
0:43:08 > 0:43:11but I did think that when Maisie walked in,
0:43:11 > 0:43:14I remembered the pattern of the numbers better.
0:43:14 > 0:43:16872.
0:43:16 > 0:43:18It's lovely that we got a result
0:43:18 > 0:43:21with my rather casually executed trial of three people
0:43:21 > 0:43:25but of course the important thing is that result mirrors the results
0:43:25 > 0:43:29that much larger studies with many more participants
0:43:29 > 0:43:33run by proper scientists in lab conditions have already shown.
0:43:33 > 0:43:37# Now I wanna be your dog... #
0:43:37 > 0:43:40So to help stay young, you should find your own way to keep
0:43:40 > 0:43:42stress in check.
0:43:42 > 0:43:45Three stress busters doctors recommend are exercise,
0:43:45 > 0:43:48meditation and simply me time.
0:43:54 > 0:43:56MUSIC PLAYS
0:43:58 > 0:44:03It's not just what we do physically that can help us fight ageing.
0:44:03 > 0:44:06Scientists know that mental attitude can have a big effect too.
0:44:09 > 0:44:10To experience it for myself
0:44:10 > 0:44:13I'm going to do something I've never done before.
0:44:19 > 0:44:21With the help of some Hollywood-style make-up,
0:44:21 > 0:44:26I'm going to age from 36 to over 80 years old in just a couple of hours.
0:44:27 > 0:44:32MUSIC PLAYS
0:44:36 > 0:44:39I look old, don't I? It's so convincing.
0:44:39 > 0:44:42I'm sure this is what I'm going to look like.
0:44:42 > 0:44:46I think the nice thing is it's not horrifying, is it?
0:44:46 > 0:44:48Or at least it isn't for me.
0:44:50 > 0:44:51I thought I'd hate it.
0:44:53 > 0:44:56I'm getting ready to go out and about
0:44:56 > 0:44:59to see if people react differently to me now I'm an old man.
0:45:04 > 0:45:06I look like Donald Trump.
0:45:11 > 0:45:14First to test whether my makeover is convincing,
0:45:14 > 0:45:17I'll try to fool someone who should know me well - my dad.
0:45:19 > 0:45:24Yay! Are you Anthony? Yes. Are you Chris' dad? I'm Claire.
0:45:24 > 0:45:26Claire, good to see you. Very nice to meet you. Hello.
0:45:26 > 0:45:28Chris will be here in the next ten minutes.
0:45:28 > 0:45:31Hi, I'm Anthony. Have we met?
0:45:31 > 0:45:37We might have? You're Chris' father? That's it. And what is that like?
0:45:37 > 0:45:41That's great. Good entertainment. And why are you here?
0:45:41 > 0:45:44I'm here to film with Chris.
0:45:44 > 0:45:47He's going to come up like it's sort of spontaneous
0:45:47 > 0:45:52and start talking to us about being old. And what is it like being old?
0:45:52 > 0:45:58I quite like it. Do you? Yeah. Can you not hear my voice? Yes.
0:45:58 > 0:46:02You don't recognise me? Oh, that's fantastic.
0:46:02 > 0:46:06Were you just going along with it? Oh, no, I didn't get it at all.
0:46:06 > 0:46:09Do you get it now? Yeah. That's fantastic.
0:46:11 > 0:46:14I didn't think I'd fool you for a second. No, you absolutely did.
0:46:14 > 0:46:17That is so... Oh!
0:46:17 > 0:46:19Well, my disguise certainly works
0:46:19 > 0:46:24and I'm also heartened by my dad's upbeat approach to old age.
0:46:25 > 0:46:29And that is exactly what I wanted to hear because recent studies
0:46:29 > 0:46:33have found that such optimism can actually add years to your life.
0:46:34 > 0:46:37There is good evidence that if you're an older person with
0:46:37 > 0:46:40a positive attitude about being the age you are, that that may help
0:46:40 > 0:46:42you live up to seven years longer.
0:46:43 > 0:46:47Furthermore, if you are a young person with a positive attitude
0:46:47 > 0:46:50about growing older, that can halve your risk of a heart attack.
0:46:59 > 0:47:03So simply being upbeat can make you age more healthily.
0:47:05 > 0:47:07But how we feel about ourselves
0:47:07 > 0:47:10is hugely affected by how other people treat us.
0:47:13 > 0:47:16Now I want to see how people respond to me as an oldie.
0:47:21 > 0:47:24'People are happily getting out of my way on the stairs...'
0:47:24 > 0:47:25Sorry.
0:47:28 > 0:47:30..and no-one's barging past me on the street.'
0:47:32 > 0:47:35And even when I provoke buses...
0:47:35 > 0:47:38I don't get shouted at.
0:47:42 > 0:47:45I think this guy would have tried to run me over, whatever my age.
0:47:49 > 0:47:51And I've never had it so good on the Tube.
0:48:01 > 0:48:03All in all, my day as an old man has made me
0:48:03 > 0:48:06rather optimistic about my older self.
0:48:08 > 0:48:10And few people I know are more upbeat about ageing
0:48:10 > 0:48:12than a certain 71-year-old.
0:48:14 > 0:48:17ANGELA LAUGHS
0:48:17 > 0:48:21Now you're showing off! Nothing you couldn't do! Look at you!
0:48:21 > 0:48:23What do you think? What do you think? Look at you!
0:48:23 > 0:48:26Well, I have to say... Be gentle, gentle! Hold me gently!
0:48:26 > 0:48:30Oh, goodness! Got to look after you, have I? Age becomes you!
0:48:30 > 0:48:33Do you think so? You have aged handsomely.
0:48:33 > 0:48:40So how do you feel now at 36, heading towards being 80 and 90?
0:48:40 > 0:48:43I'm dreading it a lot less than maybe I... Oh, good!
0:48:43 > 0:48:46..thought I would. Well, my dad was really good.
0:48:46 > 0:48:49He just said he likes being old, and I think most of the people
0:48:49 > 0:48:55I'm close to, who are not old but older, kind of feel the same way.
0:48:55 > 0:48:58I think, if you can be in your 70s or your 80s or even
0:48:58 > 0:49:01your 90s and you've still got cognitive function
0:49:01 > 0:49:06and you're still relatively fit and agile and able,
0:49:06 > 0:49:10then I don't think that there's anything to be afraid of in old age.
0:49:10 > 0:49:13I think it's time to get it off. How do we do this, then? At the back? I don't exactly know.
0:49:16 > 0:49:18Now, is this going to hurt? Yeah, just peel it.
0:49:18 > 0:49:21Well, I think it will a little bit. Gently, gently, gently, gently.
0:49:21 > 0:49:25Gently. How are we doing? Ah! A bit still stuck to you. Solid.
0:49:25 > 0:49:29I think we're starting to peel off bits that are actually me.
0:49:29 > 0:49:32Tiny, tiny, tiny bit there. How's that?
0:49:32 > 0:49:34Oh, that feels good, I must say! I bet it does!
0:49:34 > 0:49:37So every morning, when you look at yourself in the mirror
0:49:37 > 0:49:40and you shave and you know what's in store. What's in store.
0:49:40 > 0:49:43And I'm not dreading it. That's good. That's good.
0:49:49 > 0:49:52So far, we've homed in on just some of the key ways to help
0:49:52 > 0:49:54you stay young.
0:49:54 > 0:49:59There are simple diet changes, like eating less meat and more nuts,
0:49:59 > 0:50:03and for me, extra lentils and inulin.
0:50:03 > 0:50:06Reducing stress is an important goal
0:50:06 > 0:50:10and I was especially pleased to find out that my favourite activity,
0:50:10 > 0:50:14dancing, really does work to hold back muscle decline.
0:50:15 > 0:50:17But on the frontiers of science,
0:50:17 > 0:50:20researchers are exploring more radical ways to tackle ageing.
0:50:27 > 0:50:29For the final stop around the world,
0:50:29 > 0:50:32we've come to a remote part of South America.
0:50:34 > 0:50:36Here, in a small town in Ecuador,
0:50:36 > 0:50:41science might have discovered the cure to ageing itself.
0:50:45 > 0:50:48This young man, Yannick Castillo,
0:50:48 > 0:50:51is ageing far slower than the rest of us.
0:50:53 > 0:50:55Today he's leaving his family to make the seven-hour
0:50:55 > 0:50:57journey to the capital, Quito.
0:51:01 > 0:51:03He may look like a young child,
0:51:03 > 0:51:06but he's actually 17 years old.
0:51:10 > 0:51:13Yannick has Laron Syndrome,
0:51:13 > 0:51:16a rare medical condition caused by a genetic mutation,
0:51:16 > 0:51:18which stops him from growing normally.
0:51:20 > 0:51:22Scientists hope that people like Yannick
0:51:22 > 0:51:26could hold the answer to cure ageing for the rest of us
0:51:26 > 0:51:29and he's keen to help.
0:51:45 > 0:51:49In Quito, he's meeting two pioneering scientists,
0:51:49 > 0:51:51Doctor Jaime Guevara
0:51:51 > 0:51:53and Professor Valter D Longo,
0:51:53 > 0:51:56Director of the Longevity Institute in Los Angeles.
0:51:56 > 0:52:00Between them, they've been studying people with this extremely
0:52:00 > 0:52:03rare condition for over 20 years.
0:52:05 > 0:52:08Laron Syndrome is one of the rarest conditions in the world.
0:52:08 > 0:52:11There is about 350 around the world
0:52:11 > 0:52:14and one-third are located in the south of Ecuador,
0:52:14 > 0:52:16two provinces,
0:52:16 > 0:52:19the province of Loja and the province of El Oro.
0:52:26 > 0:52:30Jaime realised that despite making them very short,
0:52:30 > 0:52:32the syndrome has a remarkable benefit.
0:52:33 > 0:52:38People with Laron never seem to get the major diseases of ageing,
0:52:38 > 0:52:40such as cancer and diabetes.
0:53:11 > 0:53:15Cancer and diabetes are two of the biggest killers in old age.
0:53:15 > 0:53:18Jaime and his collaborator, Valter D Longo,
0:53:18 > 0:53:24want to find out why people with Laron are virtually immune.
0:53:31 > 0:53:36We first established that they were not developing cancer
0:53:36 > 0:53:41and then we needed to have a mechanism for why this happens
0:53:41 > 0:53:45and that is when we started working on their blood.
0:53:46 > 0:53:49Jaime and Valter regularly test the blood of 50 people
0:53:49 > 0:53:54with Laron Syndrome and in it they found something remarkable.
0:53:54 > 0:53:59The blood contains very little of a particular growth factor,
0:53:59 > 0:54:04one that slows down the entire ageing process.
0:54:04 > 0:54:08This is why Yannick looks so much younger than his actual age of 17.
0:54:11 > 0:54:12In the rest of us,
0:54:12 > 0:54:15the presence of this growth factor is what makes US age.
0:54:20 > 0:54:23Scientists like Valter and Jaime now plan to produce
0:54:23 > 0:54:28a medicine that will recreate the age-delaying benefits of Laron.
0:54:30 > 0:54:32If old age itself can be cured,
0:54:32 > 0:54:36then we won't get the diseases that so often come along with it.
0:54:39 > 0:54:41If we can completely cure cancer,
0:54:41 > 0:54:45this only extends the human life span by three or four years.
0:54:45 > 0:54:48And, why? Because right after you don't have cancer,
0:54:48 > 0:54:51you are going to get cardiovascular diseases, or diabetes
0:54:51 > 0:54:53or Alzheimer's etc.
0:54:53 > 0:54:56It's much more effective to go after the ageing process
0:54:56 > 0:55:00because this can have a very wide effect.
0:55:05 > 0:55:09So a goal of modern science is to create a medicine that will
0:55:09 > 0:55:12keep all of us younger and healthier for longer.
0:55:13 > 0:55:16And it's closer than you might think.
0:55:16 > 0:55:20This may sound like science fiction but I have with me,
0:55:20 > 0:55:24dissolved in water, a drug called Rapamycin. Yeah?
0:55:24 > 0:55:29So this is a drug that mimics those effects of Laron Syndrome
0:55:29 > 0:55:30and it's an anti-ageing drug
0:55:30 > 0:55:34and in mice, it extends the life of mice by about 15%.
0:55:34 > 0:55:37So this is the elixir of life?
0:55:37 > 0:55:41Well, if you're a mouse, it is the elixir of life.
0:55:41 > 0:55:42If you're a human being?
0:55:42 > 0:55:46Well, we don't know, we haven't done an ageing trial in humans.
0:55:46 > 0:55:50The ageing scientists would say that diseases of ageing
0:55:50 > 0:55:53all have the same basic root causes
0:55:53 > 0:55:55and that if you target ageing
0:55:55 > 0:55:58you will prevent arthritis, cancer, heart disease.
0:55:58 > 0:56:01So the idea is that you live longer and you will live better.
0:56:01 > 0:56:05My question is, if this gets to the human market,
0:56:05 > 0:56:07is this a pill you'll be taking?
0:56:07 > 0:56:10You're looking really sceptical.
0:56:10 > 0:56:15Because I actually believe that you can't always take
0:56:15 > 0:56:18the pharmaceutical route, you have to, at some point in your life,
0:56:18 > 0:56:21take personal responsibility for your wellbeing
0:56:21 > 0:56:25and your ageing, doing things like eating well, taking exercise.
0:56:25 > 0:56:28This is cutting out the need to do all of that.
0:56:28 > 0:56:32I get fun out of socialising, dancing, playing tennis.
0:56:32 > 0:56:35There's not a lot of fun sitting at home with a telly,
0:56:35 > 0:56:36a cheeseburger and a pill!
0:56:36 > 0:56:40When you class it like that, you know what, it doesn't sound too bad.
0:56:42 > 0:56:43A cheeseburger and a pill.
0:56:43 > 0:56:46Each to his own. Whatever it takes.
0:56:48 > 0:56:52Next time, we investigate how to slow down the effects of ageing on the brain.
0:56:52 > 0:56:55Dementia is our biggest fear about growing old
0:56:55 > 0:56:59so we go to Japan to discover what science can learn
0:56:59 > 0:57:03from the diet of this 100-year-old to stave off mental decline.
0:57:06 > 0:57:08And I'm with the United States Air Force
0:57:08 > 0:57:13to learn their remarkable trick to stay alert for longer.
0:57:13 > 0:57:16Can I apply for a job with the United States Air Force?
0:57:16 > 0:57:18Certainly, yeah.
0:57:18 > 0:57:21And I follow an experiment that sounds outrageous.
0:57:21 > 0:57:24How injecting the elderly with the blood of young people
0:57:24 > 0:57:26might reverse ageing of the brain.
0:57:26 > 0:57:27Is it the fountain of youth?
0:57:27 > 0:57:29It might be.
0:57:29 > 0:57:31# Whether you're a brother or whether you're a mother,
0:57:31 > 0:57:34# You're stayin' alive, stayin' alive.
0:57:34 > 0:57:36# Feel the city breakin' and everybody shakin',
0:57:36 > 0:57:38# And we're stayin' alive, stayin' alive.
0:57:38 > 0:57:43# Ah, ha, ha, ha, stayin' alive, stayin' alive.
0:57:43 > 0:57:48# Ah, ha, ha, ha, stayin' alive... #