More Research Is Needed to Confirm Metformin's Anti-Aging Benefits. Based on the data that is currently available, it's very difficult to separate the beneficial effects of metformin in reducing type 2 diabetes from all the other health benefits, including anti-aging, says Triggle.
What are the potential anti-aging benefits of metformin? Researchers think some ways metformin potentially slows aging include the following: Regulating metabolism and insulin sensitivity: Metformin activates the enzyme AMP-kinase, an energy sensor and regulator of glucose, fat, and protein metabolism.
Metformin and Looking Younger
Some people with diabetes experience skin thickening or discoloration. Metformin can counter this build-up of skin by improving insulin sensitivity in skin cells and lowering levels of a hormone called insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1R), which is associated with skin wrinkling (17).
Conclusion. In addition to its therapeutic role in metabolic, vascular and reproductive disorders, metformin appears to have a beneficial effect in various skin diseases, especially those associated with hyperinsulinaemia and hyperandrogenism.
Safe Approaches to Use Metformin For Anti Aging
Co-Supplementation: Particularly Vitamin B12. Having B12 supplements taken along with Metformin is helpful to avoid nutrient deficiency. Intervals & Doses: Starting with reduced doses of Metformin is advisable while adding longer intervals between daily doses.
Metformin Increases Dermal Collagen Deposition and Arrangement.
Bodybuilders have long been fans of the drug because it makes muscle cells more sensitive to insulin so that more nutrients can be shuttled towards muscle cells. While it's doing its magic on muscle cells, metformin simultaneously de-sensitizes fat cells to insulin's effect so fat cells can't store nutrients as easily.
A meta-analysis published in 2017 that included 53 different studies concluded that metformin reduces all-cause mortality and diseases of aging, independent of its effect on diabetes. The analysis found that the use of metformin lowers the risk of cancer, cardiovascular disease, stroke, and death, says Justice.
INTRODUCTION. Metformin, a widely used antidiabetic and antiobesity drug, exerts multiple effects on the skin, and could potentially induce a variety of dermatoses. Among others, the most commonly described drug-induced skin reactions include rash, urticaria, and lichenoid eruption.
Combining this with new research demonstrating a local effect when applied topically for hyperpigmentation, it's possible that applying metformin topically may inhibit and reduce terminal hair growth. Similar thinking is used for some commercial products.
Someone who is nondiabetic might notice decreases in inflammation, anti-aging benefits, and some weight loss, says Acebedo. A review of research (12) published last year in Frontiers in Endocrinology concluded that “metformin can improve healthspan … extending the period of life spent in good health.”
Is Metformin an Effective Weight Loss Pill? No. The amount of weight you're likely to lose is low. In one diabetes prevention study, 29% of people lost 5% or more of their body weight and just 8% lost around 10%.
Some studies have noted less cognitive decline and a lower rate of dementia, as well as a lower rate of stroke, among people with diabetes taking metformin compared with those who were not taking it. Slow aging, prevent age-related disease, and increase lifespan.
Metformin decreased skin pigmentation in vivo with minimal side effects, suggesting a potential application of metformin in the treatment of hyperpigmentation disorders. Where the metformin was applied topically onto a mouse tail, whitening of the tail was observed.
Metformin treatment may alter gut microbiota, in part, by boosting the production of short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs). SCFAs appear to have metabolic health benefits, including increasing evidence that they may make us more insulin sensitive, improve appetite regulation, and more (10, 11).
Fabbrocini et al. investigated the effects of a low-sugar diet and metformin on treating men with acne resistant to common treatment, revealing a significant improvement in acne after 6 months.
Vitamin B12 deficiency
A lack of this B vitamin can happen to anyone, but the risk is higher on metformin, especially over time. When you don't get enough, it can cause peripheral neuropathy, the numbness or tingling in your feet and legs that's already a risk with diabetes.
Serious allergic reactions may occur with this medicine. Check with your doctor right away if you have a skin rash, hives or welts, itching, redness of the skin, trouble breathing, or large, hive-like swelling on the face, eyelids, lips, tongue, throat, hands, legs, feet, or genitals.
High-Fiber Foods
Researchers posit that exceeding 30 grams of fiber in a day may lower metformin levels in the body due to the fact that fiber binds to the drug and reduces its efficacy. (9) So it may be best to avoid high-fiber foods like oatmeal, chickpeas, avocado, berries, peas, beans, and chia seeds.
“Because the metformin helps your cells absorb sugar like they should, I've noticed an increase in energy and the ability to actually feel satisfied and not want to snack so much because my body's utilizing sugar like it should,” Steve says. Another unintended benefit: He's more apt to do yard work and walk the dogs.
Under certain conditions, too much metformin can cause lactic acidosis. The symptoms of lactic acidosis are severe and quick to appear, and usually occur when other health problems not related to the medicine are present and are very severe, such as a heart attack or kidney failure.
Metformin also has anti-inflammatory effects, which may contribute to its ability to slow aging. Since chronic inflammation is one hallmark of aging and age-related diseases, reducing inflammation can improve health and life span. “It takes an old cell or an old organ and fixes a lot of things.
Back to basics with active lifestyles: exercise is more effective than metformin to reduce cardiovascular risk in older adults with type 2 diabetes - PMC.