At last, we’ve got solid proof: You can renew and revitalize the DNA embedded in your cells to make improvements in your own health and live a longer and healthier life. And you don’t have to take questionable supplements (some good ones are mentioned later) or make a late-night agreement with someone who smells like sulfur to get it done. By adopting a handful of beneficial lifestyle habits, you’ll actually be practicing cutting-edge gene therapy!

So let us introduce you to telomeres. They’re the caps on the ends of your genetic material (like the plastic tips on shoelaces) designed to keep each cell’s strings of DNA from fraying. Telomeres start out fresh and long, shrinking a bit every time one of the cells they’re attached to divides. That’s normal. But health missteps also shrink your telomeres. They shrivel further and faster when your system is assaulted by inflammation, toxins and negative stress. For example, obesity seems to accelerate telomere shortening (or aging) by 30 per cent or more. Smoking speeds it up by 18 per cent! When telomeres are super-short, cells die prematurely or become what one telomere researcher calls “zombie cells” — weak, ineffective, but still living. And bringing short, skimpy telomeres to the party is associated with an ever-growing list of health problems: heart disease, high blood pressure and clogged arteries, diabetes, breathing problems like emphysema, arthritis, brittle bones and dementia.

But the big news, out of the University of California San Francisco and California’s Preventive Medicine Research Institute, is you can do more than protect these essential tips on your genetic material; you can reverse telomere shrinkage and make them longer! Longer telomeres can help you avoid those health hazards by helping cells duplicate and repair previous damage.

In a new case study of 35 guys with early-stage prostate cancer, 10 upgraded their diet, got regular physical activity, practiced stress management every day and spent more time with friends and loved ones. Twenty-five other men stuck with their usual habits. After five years, the first group’s telomeres were 10 per cent longer on average. And the guys’ telomeres were even longer if they were super-conscientious about making healthy lifestyle changes. The men who didn’t make any lifestyle changes saw their telomeres shrink 3 per cent.

Ready to do a little at-home gene therapy? Start here:

No. 1: Remove the Five Food Felons from your diet: added sugars and sugar syrups, saturated fat, trans fats and any grains that aren’t 100 per cent whole. Replace with plant-based edibles such as vegetables, fruit and plant-based proteins like walnuts, beans and tofu. And we do believe that supplements like DHA, lutein, zeaxanthin, vitamin D-3, calcium and half a multivitamin twice a day are a good insurance policy against an imperfect diet.

No. 2: Move for at least 30 minutes daily, heading for a goal of 10,000 steps or more! If it’s too hot, too cold or too dark outside, whether you’re at the gym, home or office, take a spin on a stationary bike, march in place or stride on a treadmill. To cement this habit, make it an everyday activity, maybe while you watch your favorite (recorded?) TV show. And we know what that is.

No. 3: Take time to relax daily. Guys in this study devoted an hour a day to managing stress. Don’t have 60 minutes to spare? There’s good evidence that even five minutes of tension-melting meditation can make a big difference. Find a quiet spot, sit comfortably, shut your eyes and pay attention to your breathing. Add progressive muscle relaxation, tensing and releasing muscle groups from your toes up to your head.

No. 4: Minimize exposure to harmful toxins such as first- and secondhand smoke and BPA-laced receipts. You can learn more about telomere-saving techniques at www.sharecare.com .

Ask health questions at doctoroz.com. Drs. Oz and Roizen are authors of YOU(R) Teen: Losing Weight. Order it at StarStore.ca