Highlights

  • In an interview, Dr. Bland discusses how a diet based on functional medicine research can detoxify the liver and lower gut permeability (linked to inflammation).
  • The diet involves removing ultra-processed foods, sugar, and gluten and adding whole foods, plant-derived compound-rich foods, lots of fiber, quality fats, and protein to detoxify the body.
  • Dr. Bland also discusses evidence accumulated over the last five years that a diet high in compounds found in plants (polyphenols) activates pro-longevity genes and rejuvenates immunity.

Dr. Jeff Bland claims to have an astounding medical profile based on assessments of his blood work, which include the testosterone levels of a 30-year-old and low markers of inflammation. The 79-year-old nutritional biochemist, who has been hailed as the father of functional medicine, has applied his research on optimizing how people age to make his overall physiological profile an aging research experiment of sorts. In a YouTube interview with Dr. Mark Hyman, Dr. Bland unveiled some of his findings and what people can do to optimize their genetic expression profile to display their full human potential.

“I think that this thing that we call our life is a really fascinating opportunity…of exploration,” said Dr. Bland. “We’re all kind of the explorers to figure out what our genes might be able to give us in terms of our ability to perform in the years that we call our life. As I’ve thought about this over the years, it’s always been my belief that our genomic potential, for most people, and I would include myself in this, is probably greater than what we are doing in terms of our phenotype—how we look, act, and feel.”

Aging May Start with the Mitochondria—the Cell’s Powerhouse

Dr. Bland revealed what he has learned by being in the functional medicine field for some 40 years to maximize the genetic potential within each person so that we can all be the best we can be. In that regard, he shared that when someone is ill and the immune system is activated, the immune system is consuming a high percentage (about 25% to 30%) of the body’s metabolic energy produced by mitochondria (the cell’s powerhouse). In that sense, if mitochondrial function is impaired, the immune system is tired and worn out, causing reduced immune function. In this way, mitochondrial health is tightly linked to immunological health, which is crucial for counteracting infections and some conditions associated with aging, like cancer and inflammation.

(A mitochondria | Pixabay)

The Immune System Changes Quickly, for Better or Worse

Dr. Bland added that there are only three places in the body in continuous communication with the outside world—the nervous system, the mucosal surfaces of the body (like the gut lining), and the immune system. In response to their continuous communication with the outside world, these three places in the body, also referred to as interfaces, tell the inside of the body how to function, according to Dr. Bland.

To address how we respond to the outside world through its chemical messages, Dr. Bland questioned which of these interfaces is capable of changing most quickly. He realized that the immune system was the answer to his question due to having a completely new composition of cells once every approximately 120 days. In that sense, every 120 days, immune cells are completely different cells than those present 120 days ago. Moreover, each person makes over 2 million new white blood cells per minute, constantly reproducing and updating the immune system.

The question then, according to Dr. Bland, becomes whether the updated immune system is as good as, better than, or worse than the previous immune cell composition. The answer to this question, for most people, is that with age, the immune system gets worse—a concept known as immunosenescence.

As an example, Dr. Bland discusses how during the COVID pandemic, Americans did more poorly than most other developed countries as far as hospitalization and death, because our immune systems were more aged (immunosenesced) than those of other countries. Due to this evidence for immunosenescence in American society, Dr. Bland began thinking more deeply and researching immunosenescence and ways to rejuvenate the immune system—a concept called immunorejuvenation.

Polyphenol- and Fiber-Rich Foods with Low Sugar and Dairy Intake

To rejuvenate the immune system and potentially promote longevity, Dr. Bland and Dr. Hyman discuss evidence behind the aging intervention effects of a dietary regimen. For background, the dietary intervention entails eating lots of polyphenol-rich foods, whole foods rich in fiber, and foods low in sugar, dairy, and gluten. Interestingly, in a foundational study from Dr. Bland, published in 1991, this diet, meant to cleanse or detoxify the body of harmful molecules, was associated with liver detoxification, reduced gut permeability, and about a 60% reduction in clinical symptoms of metabolic disease. According to Dr. Bland, this study’s data laid the foundation for the beginning of functional medicine, whereby clinicians attempt to attack the root causes of age-related illnesses with dietary interventions.

“If I had one drug to use as a doctor, and I was on a deserted island somewhere, and I had only one therapeutic agent, it would be this diet,” said Dr. Mark Hyman in the interview.

As for some of the effects of the dietary intervention, Dr. Hyman says that it modulates numerous pathways at once, in some ways that are not yet fully understood, by modifying gene expression and hormone regulation. Anecdotally, a diabetic patient who underwent the dietary intervention got off of insulin therapy after three days of adhering to the diet, according to Dr. Hyman.

Plant-Derived Compounds that May Rejuvenate Immunity

Plant-derived compounds called polyphenols, such as quercetin and fisetin, which are a key part of the dietary intervention strategy mentioned, may have a significant effect on longevity. In the interview, Dr. Bland emphasized the importance of eating a diet rich in polyphenols.

Along those lines, some research suggests that polyphenol-rich foods enhance immunity. Some data also suggest that polyphenols enhance immunity by changing the molecular tagging patterns on DNA, through epigenetics, priming the immune system and enhancing its responsiveness and adaptability to pathogens. Research in this area has only just begun, according to Dr. Bland, and most of it has only come out in the last five years or so. For this reason, only future research developments can unravel how exactly consuming a polyphenol-rich diet can enhance immunity and potentially promote longevity.

(Polyphenol-rich foods include foods like spinach, apples, olives, and dark chocolate. | Fullscript)

Dietary Interventions for Systemic Detoxification and Immune Rejuvenation

The interesting field of functional medicine focuses on personalized approaches, such as dietary interventions, to enhance physiological functions, like immunity, to prevent aging and age-related conditions. The underlying contributor to age-related diseases, according to Dr. Bland, could be mitochondrial dysfunction, which leads to immunosenescence and an inhibited ability of the body to fight pathogens, as well as age-related conditions like inflammation and cancer. To address immunosenescence and improve immunity, detoxifying the body by avoiding processed foods, sugar, gluten, and other starches, as well as consuming lots of polyphenol-rich foods, may rejuvenate the immune system.

Perhaps the most interesting aspect of what Dr. Bland mentioned is the burgeoning research on polyphenols and how they can activate genes associated with immunity and overall longevity. Since research on polyphenols has only picked up in the last five years or so, further discoveries related to the effects of polyphenols could accumulate in the next decade. Further research developments on this topic may expose not only the importance of polyphenols from foods but also ways to supplement with polyphenols at doses that optimize physiological function.