Juan Ponce de León (1474-1521) is known for leading the first European expedition to Florida, and for later becoming the first governor of Puerto Rico. One of the “gentleman volunteers” of Christopher Columbus’s second journey to the New World, de León was actually searching for the fabled “Fountain of Youth” when he discovered the future home of Publix, Walt Disney World and Bath Salts. The fountain, however, was not found and he returned to Puerto Rico.
He wasn’t the first human to search for the fabled waters of everlasting vitality, however. de León is joined by the likes of Alexander the Great and even referenced in the writings of Herodotus for the search of the fabled fountain, within which whoever drinks or bathes from its waters will find themselves restored to their youthful vigor and vitality in physical form. It’s a myth as old as mankind, and at its core lies a simple human truth that with time and wisdom, we sometimes wish we could go back and do it all again.
Flash forward to 2004 inside a newly built, $5 million lab inside Harvard and you’d find Dr. David Sinclair hard at work, seeking to understand the relationship between sirtuins and NAD, or nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide. NAD is a critical coenzyme found in all living cells, and as our own medical director, Dr. Wilks has stated, “Without this molecule, life as we know it would cease to exist.”
Let’s break it down a bit. Up until our mid-30s, our bodies are NAD powerhouses, with the energy we need to recover, repair and restore our cells at an appropriate rate. As we age, however, the amount of NAD our mitochondria within our cells produce begins a steady drop-off and decline which leads to vascular aging and a variety of other ailments. It stems from our most vital resource, energy, being less abundant in our systems to help our cells do what they do best, from repairs to mental cognition and overall function.
Sounds like a great time to visit the ol Fountain for a pick me up if you get my drift.
Sadly, while the myth of the Fountain of Youth remains, we do live in a time when we can potentially mitigate the effects of aging with supplemental boosts (and you don’t have to hike through the dense jungles of Florida to find them either). Dr. Sinclair’s research points to a variety of alternative wellness options available and a number of them can be found at your local iV therapy clinics, including Onus iV in Colorado.
If you’re curious to see if intravenous NAD, combined with supplements like NMN & Resveratrol, can help with common ailments like muscle fatigue, brain fog or chronic pain, the question becomes, “What would you do next?” I’m firmly convinced that Colorado is the best place to enjoy a second childhood, with trips in the mountains to ski, or camping overnight to gaze at the stars near the Great Sand Dunes, it’s part of what makes living here so special. Anything that impedes that joy is exactly what iV clinics like Onus iV exist for; to help maximize the time that we have, living the way we want. Indeed, the “Onus” is on each of us to take care of ourselves with the tools we have available because the fountain of youth will always be out of reach until we adjust our lens to the youth we can nurture from within.