How to slow ageing

Fight the barrage of toxicity that comes with modern living

By Dina Gavarieva

In a time obsessed with youth, the conversation is finally shifting away from anti-ageing to slow ageing. This is a welcome diversion from the current obsession with looks, dermal fillers and Botox injections.

Slow ageing is a holistic approach to putting the break on visible signs of ageing by focusing on preventative care and long-term skin health, rather than quick fixes.

It’s about healthy habits, using skincare that supports skin function, and doing all that you can do to help your body cope with the barrage of toxicity that comes with modern living.

Unlike anti-ageing, which implies a battle against time, slow ageing acknowledges the inevitability of getting older while aiming to delay its worst excesses.

A 2020 landmark study from Harvard’s TH Chan School of Public Health revealed that key lifestyle factors – regular exercise, a healthy diet, moderate alcohol intake, no smoking, and maintaining a healthy weight – could extend a person’s disease-free life by more than a decade.

Elsewhere, cutting-edge studies on telomeres – the protective caps on chromosomes that shorten as we age – suggest that certain behaviours, such as meditation, a diet that supports gut health, and physical activity, can slow or even partially reverse cellular ageing.

The bottom line is this: we are all ageing, so why not age well?

The slow ageing movement draws from both ancient wisdom and modern innovation.

On one side we have the world’s Blue Zones – places like Sardinia in Italy, Okinawa in Japan, and Ikaria in Greece – where people routinely live vibrant lives well into their 90s and 100s.

Their longevity secrets are refreshingly simple: a mostly plant-based diet, daily movement, strong social ties, low stress and a deep sense of purpose.

On the other side are the biohackers who embrace advanced technologies like cryotherapy, red light therapy, exosome therapies, and NAD+ infusions to optimise their biology and delay ageing at a cellular level.

Both approaches, though vastly different in execution, share the same goal: to enhance quality of life as we age because slow ageing isn’t about doing one thing perfectly, it’s about doing many small things consistently.

A growing number of wellness clinics also offer therapies that support the body’s innate ability to regenerate, rebalance and rejuvenate over time.

These are not cosmetic fixes, but deep, cellular-level interventions designed to promote resilience from the inside out.

Intravenous Therapy is one option and an increasingly popular method used to deliver vitamins, minerals, amino acids and specific agents – like methylene blue, a powerful mitochondrial enhancer – directly into the bloodstream for maximum absorption.

Methylene blue is currently gaining a lot of attention for its ability to improve cellular energy, reduce oxidative stress and support cognitive function, all of which are critical to healthy ageing.

These drips also help detoxify the body, boost immunity and restore vitality at a cellular level, making them a cornerstone of many slow ageing protocols.

As our hormones naturally decline with age, affecting everything from sleep and skin elasticity to libido and bone density, carefully monitored HRT is also an option, particularly for women in menopause, but also for ageing men. HRT can restore balance and vitality, supporting mood, libido, metabolism and quality of life.

Peptide Therapy is also gaining traction in wellness circles. Peptides are small proteins that act as messengers in the body, stimulating functions like collagen production, fat burning, tissue repair and even sleep. Tailored peptide protocols are now being used to optimise health, slow ageing and enhance overall performance.

Another avenue to look into is comprehensive diagnostic testing to identify deficiencies in essential nutrients, hormones or trace minerals.

These imbalances can then be corrected through targeted supplementation and personalised IV therapy, ensuring that the body has the raw materials it needs to repair and regenerate.

Cellular Detoxification also has slow ageing benefits. Over time, our cells accumulate waste products and toxins that contribute to fatigue, inflammation and accelerated ageing. Therapies such as lymphatic drainage, infrared sauna and targeted IV Therapy and supplementation help flush toxins and rejuvenate cells at a foundational level.

As the Harvard study found, regular, varied movement is also key to slow ageing. Moderate exercise keeps the body supple and strong. Whether it’s resistance training, swimming, yoga or hiking, exercise helps maintain cardiovascular health, hormone balance, bone density and brain function.

As has been said many times before, you are what you eat, but you are also how you move and how you manage stress. Anti-inflammatory diets rich in colourful vegetables, healthy fats, and fibre can reduce oxidative stress and support gut health, while proper sleep and daily routine create the foundation for longevity.

While it’s clear that the body will produce less collagen as we grow older, leading to weaker joints, sagging skin and slower recovery, supplements such as hydrolysed collagen peptides, vitamin C, hyaluronic acid and silica support the body’s natural production and preservation of collagen. So, these are worth looking into.

Mental and emotional health also play a critical role in how we age. Long-term stress can accelerate ageing at the cellular level so incorporating mindfulness, trauma release therapies, breathwork and other emotional tools to help rebalance the nervous system and restore harmony can bring untold benefits.

The slow ageing movement is beginning to reshape how we see ageing in general – a fact of life that can be navigated gracefully and even celebrated.

With the right blend of science, lifestyle and self-awareness, slow ageing offers a path that’s not simply about living longer, but about living better.

Dina Gavarieva is a qualified naturopath practising at Neomed Institute and Medical Centre, Limassol