Aging is a human experience that everyone on this earth has in common—and though individual approaches toward this shared endeavor can vary drastically, the science behind getting older is of universal interest and use.
Since its inception in 1999, Novato’s own Buck Institute for Research on Aging has established itself at the forefront of biological research on aging and age-related disease. The Buck was the first institute of its kind to open its doors, and to this day is pioneering the field of biological aging research to help combat age-related maladies like Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, heart disease, cancer, frailty and more.
To have such an invaluable facility at Marin County’s fingertips and as a community fixture is truly incredible, as are the people whose hard work makes these scientific discoveries possible. One such person is the lead translational scientist at The Buck, Dr. Brianna Stubbs.
“Everyone here [at The Buck] is focused on the biology of aging, with the ultimate goal being to help people to live healthier and for longer,” explained Stubbs. “The goal is not to live to be 150. But if we’re going to live to 80, 90 or 100, we want to live free of disease and with good physical function. So, at The Buck, we think in terms of healthspan rather than lifespan—that’s kind of our North Star at The Buck.”
For the past 20-plus years and to this very day, the scientists and associates at The Buck have been and still are hard at work conducting research on the science of aging, studying how the passage of time affects living beings and, in the process, learning more about how it can be circumvented. One specific area of interest to The Buck at the moment is ketones.
“At The Buck, my mentors thought to study ketones,” Stubbs explained. “And what they found was that, rather than just behaving as energy, [the ketones] were…binding, not just burning. So, at The Buck, we’re trying to answer the lifespan and healthspan connection, currently through ketone studies, to see if we can trace it down to ketones themselves and, if that is, in fact, the case, see if it applies to humans as well.”
Stubbs is no stranger to the science of ketones, aging and pushing the boundaries of whatever field she’s on. Before leaving her home in the U.K. for America, Stubbs studied at the University of Oxford—while there, she developed an interest in the study of the science of ketones because of her varsity rowing team, where she won several world championships for rowing and was even in consideration for the Olympics.
During this time, Stubbs was also a research subject for ketone drinks herself, which sparked the interest that led her to first her research studies in her Ph.D. program and then, eventually, to The Buck.
Now, Stubbs is situated in Marin County and is among the scientists at the forefront of ketone studies. She has dedicated her considerable understanding of the subject—both as an athlete and a scientist—to the study of aging with grace, which now includes clinical ketone drink studies.
“The first clinical study we ran for this program was testing ketone drinks in older adults,” said Stubbs. “But a lot of the previous work I did with these [ketone] drinks before was done on athletes and top physical performers—they’re still being used by elite athletes and the military, people in peak physical condition, but nobody had looked at its effect in elder adults before our clinical trial, which went well and just wrapped up.”
Though athletes and other high-performing young adults have benefited from studies of ketonic drinks in the past, it is a relatively unexplored field of study in older audiences with more advanced signs of aging. It was only after quite some time studying ketone effects on yeast, flies, worms, mice and other forms of life—including human cell cultures—that The Buck just recently and for the first time moved on to clinical trials in humans with a study that concluded at the end of last year.
Stubbs and her fellow scientists are now eagerly awaiting the results of the ketone drink research. Because of these research advances, the institute recently received a large government grant to extend the ketone drinks in elders study and look further into frailty.
The Buck also plans to research the effects of lifelong athletic performance under a close microscope in the near future: “We’re looking to recruit the Bay Area’s oldest elite athletes to understand how a lifelong habit of exercise can affect us on a detailed, molecular level,” said Stubbs.
If aging well and retaining as many facets of health as possible sounds appealing in the grand scheme of things, then it may be time to take a step back and look at all the little habits that add up day after day, month after month and year after year—because those small decisions eventually come together to create the big picture of what life will look like, not just during the present moment, but down the line as well. And luckily, Marin happens to have a fantastic resource to learn how to do just that.
“The key things are your diet and avoiding processed foods, maintaining a healthy weight in whatever way is good for you,” noted Stubbs. “Exercise is really really important, and it has to be done in a way that is a sustainable habit for you, even if that means just starting to take brisk walks instead of being sedentary. Sleep is really important as well, making sure you sleep. There’s no magic bullet to live to 100, but it’s from the day-to-day little decisions.”
Are all those seemingly inconsequential choices paving the way for a healthy and happy future? If not, it may be time to consider integrating those changes to invest in plenty of exciting and enjoyable years ahead. And who knows what kind of amazing discoveries studies like those happening at this very moment at The Buck will reveal in the meantime.
“We’re really excited to be working on aging right now—it just feels like such an exciting time to be in this space,” Stubbs concluded. “When The Buck was founded in the ’90s, aging was a fringe field, and now…?”
The Buck Institute for Research on Aging is located in Novato at 8001 Redwood Blvd. For more information, resources and more, or to sign up for clinical trials, visit the website at buckinstitute.org or call 415.209.2000.
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If aging well and retaining as many facets of health as possible sounds appealing in the grand scheme of things, then it may be time to take a step back and look at all the little habits that add up day after day, month after month and year after year.
For me my drink was Spiralina Just one 8oz glass a day made my day go better every time
My mantra, “150 is approaching middle age”.