166. Carolina Reis de Oliveira: The Missing Link Between Skin and Longevity

If you think your skincare routine is protecting your skin, this conversation may make you look at your bathroom shelf differently. You've been taught to treat your skin like something cosmetic, something you maintain for how it looks. But your skin is your largest organ, it has its own biological age, and if you are not supporting it properly, it can become a constant source of inflammation and damage that goes far beyond appearance. We dive deeper into this in Extend with Carolina Reis de Oliveira, PhD. We also break down why most skincare products are not built to target the biology of aging, how senescent cells drive visible and invisible skin aging, and how OS-01, discovered through machine learning, is designed to slow the spread of these dysfunctional cells so you can actually support your skin as part of your longevity strategy. Carolina Reis de Oliveira, PhD, is a stem cell biologist, tissue engineer, and co-founder and CEO of OneSkin. She has spent over a decade researching cellular aging, building human skin models in the lab, and developing epigenetic clocks to measure biological skin age, with her work on OS-01 validated through peer-reviewed research, making her one of the leading voices translating longevity science into real-world applications for skin. For a limited time, you can try OneSkin for 15% off with code EXTEND at oneskin.co/EXTEND http://oneskin.co/EXTEND That's 15% off oneskin.co http://oneskin.co with code EXTEND What's Discussed: (2:02) Why OneSkin started by asking what actually targets skin aging at the cellular level. (4:02) How popular anti-aging products can cause inflammation and damage. (9:25) The three main drivers of skin aging: senescence, inflammation, and collagen breakdown. (11:24) Why UV exposure is responsible for most visible skin aging. (21:33) How OS-01 was discovered through machine learning and peptide screening. (26:33) Why too many actives can overwhelm the skin instead of helping it. (32:58) How aging skin can contribute to inflammation inside the body. (37:12) How skin biological age can be measured with epigenetic clocks. Listen to this episode of Extend with Darshan Shah, MD on Apple Podcasts or Spotify to understand why skin is not just cosmetic, what actually drives skin aging at the cellular level, and how to start treating your skin like the longevity organ it really is. Thank You to Our Sponsors: Timeline: Timeline powered by Mitopure just dropped the price. Check it out at timeline.com/drshah http://timeline.com/drshah and get an additional 20% off your first month with code DRSHAH. IM8: Try IM8 today with a 30-day money back guarantee. You can get 10% off your first order with code DRSHAH at im8health.com/discount/DRSHAH https://im8health.com/discount/DRSHAH. Learn more about Dr. Darshan Shah: Website: drshah.com https://www.drshah.com/ Clinic: next-health.com https://www.next-health.com/ Instagram: darshanshahmd https://www.instagram.com/darshanshahmd Learn more about OneSkin: Website: www.oneskin.co/ https://www.oneskin.co/ Instagram: @oneskin.co https://www.instagram.com/oneskin.co/ TikTok: @oneskin.co https://www.tiktok.com/@oneskin.co

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:03Dr. Darshan Shah?

  Welcome to Extend with me, Dr. Darshan Shah, a podcast dedicated to cutting-edge science, research, tools, and protocols designed to help you extend your health span. Having become one of the youngest doctors in the country at the age of 21, and trained and board-certified at the Mayo Clinic, I've accumulated three decades of practice as a board-certified surgeon and longevity expert. Over that time, I've discovered that a mere 20% of health knowledge yields 80% of the results when it comes to your health span. We're living in a new era where we are creating a new healthcare system, no longer focused on disease management, but achieving optimal health and vitality. Join me as I interview world-renowned experts, offering you a step-by-step guide to proactively avoid disease, and most importantly, extend your health span.

• 0:48Dr. Darshan Shah?

  Are you treating the symptoms of skin aging? Or are you addressing its root cause at a cellular level? This episode with Dr. Carolyn Race, CEO and co-founder of OneSkin, reveals how her team of scientists revolutionized skincare by focusing in on cellular senescence. We discover how the groundbreaking peptide is the first scientifically validated ingredient to specifically target and reverse biological age by clearing out senescent skin cells. Dr. Race shares the fascinating journey from growing mini-organs to meticulously testing thousands of compounds on skin samples that were grown in the lab. How uncovering most anti-aging products are ineffective

• 1:32Dr. Darshan Shah?

  or even harmful to the skin at a cellular level. We're going to learn about the critical role of the skin barrier, the surprising impact of UV exposure, and why choosing the right sunscreen is paramount, not just for aesthetics, but your overall health. This conversation really challenges conventional wisdom about skincare, offers a new paradigm for maintaining youthful, resilient skin from within. Tune in to understand the science behind true skin longevity, how inflammation accelerates aging, and practical steps that you can take to protect your skin, which is your body's largest organ. And it's a vital part of your overall health and wellness strategy.

• 2:16Dr. Darshan Shah?

  Carolina is so fantastic. And finally have you on. I've been trying to get you on the podcast for a year now.

• 2:21Speaker 01

  I know. Thank you so much for having me, Dr. Shah. Such a pleasure.

• 2:25Dr. Darshan Shah?

  Yes, you're amazing because you have such a depth of longevity science and cellular science. And you've turned that into a truly revolutionary product. And I just would love to dive in with you on, I just can't wait to pick your brain on everything in longevity science, but also your journey. Like, you know, you're a scientist and to then find a product that actually works for people is, is, it's a long way to go. Not a lot of scientists do that, right?

• 2:53Speaker 01

  Yeah. And that, this is actually what drove me to be a scientist in the first place. I always wanna research something that would eventually be translated to, you know, create something that would impact and change people's lives. And interesting enough, I didn't expect that I would be in skincare. I was always, I was never necessarily obsessed about beauty, but I was always obsessed about health. And now it's interesting to see how, you know, through skin, we can actually impact our health as well.

• 3:27Dr. Darshan Shah?

  Wow.

• 3:27Speaker 01

  But my PhD was actually in stem cell biology and tissue engineering. So that's the area that I got, you know, first really fascinated about because there are so many potential applications. And how I actually started was initially growing human tissues out of the stem cells.

• 3:45Dr. Darshan Shah?

  Wow.

• 3:45Speaker 01

  So initially we're growing, you know, skins, we're growing like mini hearts and mini brains in the lab. And we're using this as a model to test like new products or new drugs that were being developed to test like efficacy and safety. And eventually we started to get more traction from the cosmetic industry because the cosmetic industry needs models that are not based on animals. They can't use animals. And the skins that we were growing was actually a good option. And, and as we started to test these products that were in the market, primarily anti-aging products, we were seeing that they were not developed to target aging itself. They're always trying to. Mask the symptoms of aging, you know, minimize the fine lines and wrinkles,

• 4:29Speaker 01

  but they are not going at the cellular level where aging is happening. And that's when we saw an opportunity to do something about it.

• 4:37Dr. Darshan Shah?

  Wow. So first of all, you were growing like human skin. So you're actually testing products in a lab on human skin, which is very difficult to do, right? Unless you actually grow the skin. So now you've created a new model for testing these products.

• 4:50Speaker 01

  Exactly. We created this platform that we basically understand how the skin ages. And then we can test any product or any active or any new ingredient, any new molecule. And we can measure how such a product is changing, what we call like the skin's biological age. But also we measure like the skin's structure, if the skin gets thinner or thicker. So we can visually see how products impacted the skin. And it's very interesting, sometimes shocking to see that a lot of the, you know, best sellers, anti-aging products are actually damaging our skin.

• 5:26Dr. Darshan Shah?

  Oh, my gosh.

• 5:27Speaker 01

  They are causing inflammation, they are causing toxicity. Because unfortunately, they are, you know, they contain some good actives, but they also have some like not so good ingredients that eventually cause that inflammation. So it's really, really important to know what we're putting in our skin. Because eventually we can, you know, end up like, you know, causing more harm than good.

• 5:50Dr. Darshan Shah?

  Yeah. And so this is a big topic of interest for me because, you know, a lot of these chemicals that we put on our skin, they're endocrine disrupting chemicals, they're immune system disrupting chemicals. And the part of this that's really, really bad is that we do this every single day, sometimes twice a day with these products. And so I always recommend to my patients to scan their skincare products with some of these apps like Yucca or Think Dirty. So they know how toxic the products are. And to your point, I would say the majority of the skincare products out there are very toxic, right, to our biology.

• 6:22Speaker 01

  Yeah, I it's uh yeah, I would say that a lot of them are. So I think it's really important, as you said, like just, you know, look at the ingredients and look at some of these websites that help you screen. And look for the science behind, right? Because I think in the end, it's testing like the final formulation and very few companies do that. And understand what that final formulation, how that formulation impacts the skin. Because in the end, it's not only the presence of a certain ingredient, because the dose can make a huge difference. So a certain ingredient, a higher dose can be very toxic, a very small dose can be totally fine. And so testing the full formula and understanding what that causing the skin, that's when we

• 7:07Speaker 01

  actually see, you know, the final, you know, impact.

• 7:10Dr. Darshan Shah?

  Got it, got it. And so this skin model that you develop through stem cells and growing new skin, I mean, obviously there's different types of skins out there, right? Are you able to grow different types of skin, different colors, different thickness, all of this, yes?

• 7:23Speaker 01

  Yeah, so we partner with clinics that do plastic surgeries and we get like leftover of like abdomen skin, sometimes like facial skin. And then we can, sometimes we get skins from like thirty years old, forty years, sixty up to ninety years old. So we can really see how the skin, as we regrow the cells, you know, the skin of those donors, we can see how their skins grow in the lab, like and they have like different morphologies based on their age.

• 7:53Dr. Darshan Shah?

  Yes.

• 7:53Speaker 01

  And then we can also receive some different ethnicities, like Afro-American, Hispanic and Caucasian, Asian skin. And then very interesting, we measure like some genes that are very commonly associated with aging. So for example, P sixteen, they are usually lower in Asian, while they are very high in Caucasians.

• 8:13Dr. Darshan Shah?

  What is this now?

• 8:14Speaker 01

  So the P sixteen gene.

• 8:15Dr. Darshan Shah?

  P sixteen gene, okay, so it's higher in Caucasians?

• 8:19Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 8:19Dr. Darshan Shah?

  Okay.

• 8:20Speaker 01

  So it's so they genetically, they are more, they age faster than the Asian, you know, so yeah, so that's.

• 8:27Dr. Darshan Shah?

  So you've pinpointed the gene that actually causes Caucasians to see. Like they're aging faster than Asians.

• 8:35Speaker 01

  Yeah, they are very classic like gene markers that we evaluate. So P sixteen, P twenty one. These are like senescent, you know, markers. And then we evaluate inflammation. We also evaluate proteins or enzymes that break down collagen. And then we can see how they vary in terms of like, is this gene more active? Or like suppressing different like ethnicities. And we see this different variations and it's very interesting.

• 9:02Dr. Darshan Shah?

  Wow. So if we're comparing Caucasian skin to like Asian skin or. What is besides the P sixteen gene, which is a gene that regulates cellular senescence, right?

• 9:14Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 9:14Dr. Darshan Shah?

  What are some of the other factors that lead to rapid aging of skin?

• 9:19Speaker 01

  Uh, there are several factors. One is inflammation, right? The one, another one is, so for example, for inflammation, we look like IL six, IL eight, those interleukins.

• 9:30Dr. Darshan Shah?

  Got it.

• 9:31Speaker 01

  We also look at proteins that produce collagen or degrade collagen. These are metalloproteinases or just collagen enzymes.

• 9:41Dr. Darshan Shah?

  Okay.

• 9:42Speaker 01

  Hyaluronic acid synthesis, elastin, you know, enzymes. So we evaluate all of those genes that basically control like the skin biology and in how the aging process works.

• 9:55Dr. Darshan Shah?

  Got it. So if we do hone in on three main reasons that you're seeing when you evaluate these skin models.

• 10:01Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 10:01Dr. Darshan Shah?

  Cellular senescence, which is basically like clearing of old dead skin cells, right?

• 10:06Speaker 01

  Yeah, so cellular senescence are essentially these damaged cells that accumulate in our skin, also in our body. And this is actually a mechanism of defense from our body. Because if the cells that are already damaged, they continue to divide, they could potentially become a cancer.

• 10:22Dr. Darshan Shah?

  Sure.

• 10:23Speaker 01

  And when we are young, our body is able to clear out those senescent cells in our skin. But then as we get old, our immune system also gets deficient. And then these cells start to build up. And the problem is that they don't only sit around. They are like start secreting inflammation and they basically induce. The cells around it to become senescent and to age faster. So in the lab, when we see, for example, a skin that is like a thirty year old skin. If we add more senescent cells in that skin. The skin is gonna look like a fifty, a sixty year old skin, just because the presence of the senescent cells is inducing more inflammation, is inducing more collagen breakdown.

• 11:06Speaker 01

  And then we see that this is one of the key drivers of skin aging. And that's one of the areas that we got really interested. And we thought, can we prevent the accumulation of this senescent cells? And that's, you know, the research that led us to study peptides. And eventually, you know, get to OS one.

• 11:26Dr. Darshan Shah?

  Amazing. So cellulose senescence is one. Inflammation is another one, which is kind of related to senescence as well. But there's other reasons inflammation can develop in the skin as well. Like we were mentioning earlier, using toxic skincare products could be another reason. Even being exposed to pollution can be another reason.

• 11:43Speaker 01

  Yes, yes.

• 11:44Dr. Darshan Shah?

  And then lastly, you were saying either the formation or the breakdown of collagen, right?

• 11:50Speaker 01

  Yes, and this can be, you know, induced by several factors. For example, UV exposure is, is a basically UV exposure accounts for like eighty percent of like the visible signs of skin aging.

• 12:03Dr. Darshan Shah?

  Wow, eighty percent of the visible is UV skin exposure.

• 12:07Speaker 01

  Eighty percent is like environmental stressors in general. And UV exposure is like the main one, yeah. And so you said pollution and other, you know, types of radiation. This can all count as like environmental stresses, but UV exposure is the main one. And basically, UV exposure really causes this collagen degradation. We have a UV simulator at our lab. And we expose the skin and we see that the collagen degradation really increases. And actually, when we apply some of our peptide or even the SPF, including the peptide. We completely protect against that collagen degradation. And we actually boost the collagen production with the peptide.

• 12:51Dr. Darshan Shah?

  Wow, so.

• 12:53Dr. Darshan Shah?

  Is there, I have so many questions on this. So your peptide actually prevents UV light from degrading the collagen. So is that what you're saying?

• 13:02Speaker 01

  So our peptide basically empowers the cells to be more efficient in repairing the DNA damage.

• 13:09Dr. Darshan Shah?

  I see.

• 13:09Speaker 01

  So the DNA doesn't accumulate in the cells because the machinery of the cells in repairing damage is more efficient. And it is what what happens when we are young, right? Like we are able to repair damage and then as we grow older, we decrease that, we lose that efficiency. So that's what our peptide is doing. It helps preventing the accumulation of damage from UV and then prevents the collagen degradation as a consequence.

• 13:34Dr. Darshan Shah?

  Got it. Makes total sense. So, you know, there's always a lot of controversy around how much sun exposure is the right amount of sun exposure, right? And so I'd love for you to answer that question because you need sun, right?

• 13:45Speaker 01

  Yes, yes. And I love sun. I, I think for us is, you can enjoy sun as long as you are protecting your skin and it doesn't mean even that you are gonna prevent vitamin D production. If you have sunscreen and if you're out there, eventually you're gonna even potentially get a little more tend. But if you're not getting sunburn, if you're, you know, have that layer of protection that's preventing that really strong damage that can come from like direct sun exposure, you, you can still harness, you know, the benefits of the sun and not like damage your skin.

• 14:20Dr. Darshan Shah?

  Got it. So what is the minimum amount of time someone should be spending in the sun every day?

• 14:25Speaker 01

  Wow, that's a very tricky question. Yeah, I think this is more from a longevity standpoint. You know, personally, I love like, you know, fifteen, twenty minutes early morning, sometimes even, you know, if, if the UV index is not too high, even with, with my bare face, I don't mind.

• 14:42Dr. Darshan Shah?

  Yeah.

• 14:43Speaker 01

  But then I think if the UV index is higher, obviously, you know, you needed to be more mindful of how, how much you're exposed. And then you can be exposed and obviously wearing like UV protectant clothes and, you know, hats and et cetera, so.

• 15:01Dr. Darshan Shah?

  Yeah, I think what you said, early morning is better than. Like when the sun is in full

• 15:05Speaker 01

  Yes.

• 15:05Dr. Darshan Shah?

  Um, in, in full blast on you is better as well. Okay, got it. And then what is the best type of sunscreen that people should buy? This is a question that comes up a lot.

• 15:15Speaker 01

  Yeah, that's a great one. So there is a lot of discussion about, you know, chemical versus mineral sunscreen. The chemical sunscreens, they can get into your bloodstream. So this can be a little bit more risky depending on the amount of sunscreen that you apply. So to be extra safe, we recommend the mineral sunscreen. And I think in the past, this was a challenge because mineral had not a great, you know, texture, it was very like a paste. But now they can be like a beautiful, nice texture. They can blend well. And in our case, like we developed this mineral sunscreen that contains the peptide, contains like six other antioxidants,

• 15:58Speaker 01

  including a very stable form of vitamin C. So it's, it's kind of a trifecta product in a way that you are protecting. You are enhancing, you know, the cellular activity with the peptide. And the antioxidants are like neutralizing the free radicals that are also causing damage in our cells, in our proteins. And, you know, preventing the acceleration of the aging process.

• 16:22Dr. Darshan Shah?

  Got it. And is there zinc in your sunscreen?

• 16:24Speaker 01

  Yeah, it's basically made, made of like zinc oxide.

• 16:28Dr. Darshan Shah?

  Great, great. And how does zinc work to protect your skin?

• 16:31Speaker 01

  It creates a layer, kind of a mineral layer. And so very simply put, like it kind of doesn't allow the UV to penetrate. So it doesn't go inside the cells. It's basically like reflects. It's not, yeah, it's not necessary, but you know, that's a simple, simply put, like it reflects the, the UV.

• 16:49Dr. Darshan Shah?

  Yes, yes. And I believe your sunscreen is SPF thirty, right? Or is it fifty?

• 16:53Speaker 01

  It's thirty, yeah.

• 16:54Dr. Darshan Shah?

  Thirty, got it.

• 16:54Speaker 01

  It's thirty, yeah.

• 16:56Dr. Darshan Shah?

  Is there a reason to go higher on the SPF ever?

• 16:59Speaker 01

  So the difference of thirty to fifty is not very significant. You go from like ninety seven percent protection to ninety nine. And the problem going from thirty to fifty, then you needed to add so much more zinc that then the texture becomes a huge challenge. And if you have a product that people won't use, then it's not helpful, right? So we needed to have something in between. But this protection is already like really, really good to prevent, you know, the majority of the damage that you would get.

• 17:30Dr. Darshan Shah?

  Amazing. So, you know, I want to go back to stem cells again, because I think it's a really important topic that people have a lot of questions about. When you're growing stem cells into skin, and you said even hearts and things like that, how does that process work? What is, what are you actually doing in a laboratory?

• 17:46Speaker 01

  Yeah, so right now we are only researching skins. So hearts was like, you know, back in Brazil when I was still in Brazil. But basically, from the skins, as I said, we get the tissue from, you know, leftover of plastic surgeries. So we can separate the derms from the epiderms. These are the two main layers of the skin. Like the dermal layer is the layer that contain the fibroblasts. These are the cells that produce collagen that will, you know, give like the firmness and the structure of the skin. And the epidermal layer contains like the keratin sites and the melanocytes. So this will form basically the skin barrier.

• 18:27Speaker 01

  You know, the keratin sites will create this keratin layer that will, you know, isolate the skin. And so basically, these cells are able to replicate in the lab. And then we put them together. We have a system that we put the cells on top of a grid. So the skin becomes exposed to air. And the exposure basically induces the cells to differentiate like our human skin, right? Because the human skin is exposed to air. So we're able just to mix these cells together. First, the layer of the derms. And then we put the epiderms on top. And then we created this 3D model

• 19:08Speaker 01

  that when we put side by side to a human skin is exactly, is very similar. So now we have like this model that's really similar to a human skin that we can test everything. And then we have a beautiful ability to predict how the skin will behave when we bring a product to, you know, to market. Because basically, I evaluated, again, the ingredient, the combination of different, you know, ingredients together. And that basically allows us to be more successful with. Like anything that we bring out.

• 19:42Dr. Darshan Shah?

  And how how big is a skin that you're growing? Is it like a one inch patch?

• 19:46Speaker 01

  Yeah, it's yeah, it's kind of a one inch. Uh, it's a small, but then we can grow like a hundred different pieces, you know? Yeah, and we can test like different variations depending what we want to test.

• 19:58Dr. Darshan Shah?

  Got it. And and I I assume it's in some sort of specialized culture material or something? Because there's no blood flow to this, right?

• 20:05Speaker 01

  So there is like, um, uh, we call like culture media. Like it's a liquid that's underneath the skin that's providing all the nutrients.

• 20:14Dr. Darshan Shah?

  Right, got it, got it. So fascinating. I'd love to visit a lab.

• 20:17Speaker 01

  I know, it would be so great to have you.

• 20:19Dr. Darshan Shah?

  Do you still have this lab?

• 20:20Speaker 01

  We have, yeah, we have the lab in San Francisco.

• 20:23Dr. Darshan Shah?

  Amazing.

• 20:24Speaker 01

  We grow, we test, you know, in skins like every week. So if you have a chance to come, it would be such a pleasure.

• 20:30Dr. Darshan Shah?

  Yes, I would love to come and visit. I mean, it's just, maybe I'll do like a YouTube video or something from your lab. Because this is just fascinating.

• 20:37Speaker 01

  Yes.

• 20:38Dr. Darshan Shah?

  This technology has not been around for a long time, right? You you guys, how long has this been around?

• 20:43Speaker 01

  Well, uh, the this skin growing ability, it's been around for maybe a few decades, like twenty to thirty years. I think the main innovation of one skin is really on finding new peptides that can actually target senescent cells. So this research about senescent cells and the impact in our skin is very recent. It's been like ten fifteen years and this is mainly in academia. So we've been researching this for the past ten years. And we are the first ones to actually target senescent cells in the skin.

• 21:17Dr. Darshan Shah?

  Got it.

• 21:17Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 21:21Dr. Darshan Shah?

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• 22:04Dr. Darshan Shah?

  So if you are looking to support your body and want to feel younger from the inside out, my friends at Timeline are offering you a 10% discount on your first order. Go to timeline.com/drsaha to get started. That's timeline.com/drsaha. Your future self will thank you.

• 22:26Dr. Darshan Shah?

  So this peptide is called OS1, right? And can you describe that peptide? Is it similar to other peptides that are out there? And how does it target the senescent cell? Because senescent cells are not only in your skin. I mean, we have senescent cells all throughout our bodies. So why not inject the OS1 peptide?

• 22:43Speaker 01

  Yes, yes. Great question. So how we found OS1 in the first places? So we collaborated with an university in Brazil. They had a library of 200 microbial peptides initially. And we, our hypothesis was, are any of these peptides able to reduce senescent cells? So basically, we tested these 200. We got to four peptides. Then they worked, but we, we thought it could work even better. So we used machine learning and we generated like another 800 peptides. And we did another round of testing.

• 23:15Dr. Darshan Shah?

  This is just incredible that to use machine learning to generate 800 new pep versions of the four that you found that work in senescent cells. And I don't know if a lot of people know this, but this is how they found the GLP-1 peptide, right? Because they had, they knew we had GLP-1, but it would just only last a few minutes. How do you make it last a week? And then they tested it with machine learning and they found the Hila monster peptide lasts a week in humans.

• 23:42Speaker 01

  Yes.

• 23:43Dr. Darshan Shah?

  And without machine learning, none of this would be possible. Machine learning slash AI, right?

• 23:47Speaker 01

  Yeah, exactly. Because what it allows us to do, we know from the peptides that worked compared from the ones that didn't. You know, let's maintain what worked and let's change what didn't. And then, you know, machine learning can create a lot. Like hundreds of iterations. And then we tested this in the cells again. We tested this in senescent cells in the lab, skin cells. And then we measured the ability of those peptides to reduce the total amount of senescent cells. And that's when we found OS1. So OS1 is a completely novel peptide. It's a peptide that has ten amino acids. And we found that it works by basically getting inside the cells, as I said, increases the DNA repair.

• 24:30Speaker 01

  And for the cells that are already in the senescent states and they are secreting inflammation, it basically shuts off the inflammation pathways. Because if the senescent cells are not releasing the inflammation, they are not causing damage. They are just there. And so the peptide helps doing that. And then what happens when there is less inflammation, the surrounding tissue, our own body can go there and clear those senescent cells. Because our immune system is not overwhelmed by the inflammation. So basically, this peptide has this ability to reduce. In our models, we saw up to forty percent of the load of senescent cells in the skin. And to your point, like if it could reduce senescent cells throughout our body, it could.

• 25:14Speaker 01

  It's a very difficult process to test, like, you know, in a model, then we would need to test in animals. And because we are mostly focused in the skin.

• 25:24Dr. Darshan Shah?

  Sure.

• 25:25Speaker 01

  It's not our priority right now, but in the future, potentially, there is an opportunity to see what, you know, how this can be, you know, applied systemically and help us, you know, clear senescent cells systemically. But there are other ways, even like natural extracts or even, you know, things like fasting that can also help our own body clear senescent cells.

• 25:45Dr. Darshan Shah?

  Sure.

• 25:46Speaker 01

  Internally. So we are primarily focused on the skin for now.

• 25:50Dr. Darshan Shah?

  Yeah, no, I mean, it's always easier to start with skin, just because of, um, you know, once you get past skin, then there's a whole different set of regulations.

• 25:58Speaker 01

  Exactly, yeah.

• 25:59Dr. Darshan Shah?

  Costs hundreds of millions of dollars at that point in time.

• 26:01Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 26:02Dr. Darshan Shah?

  But, you know, there are a lot of people that are suffering from a lot of inflammation, that we may measure some biomarkers of senescence, right? So just systemically from. Blood.

• 26:10Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 26:11Dr. Darshan Shah?

  And then they're always like, now what do I do? Like I have these markers of of high levels of senescence. And we recommend obviously fasting and some of these more natural supplements and extracts. But and I think there is one or two peptides that people use for senescence. But nothing that's been adequately tested in humans.

• 26:29Speaker 01

  Yeah, yeah. Most of the clinical studies targeting senescence, they are either using that are ongoing right now, they're using folicin or fisetin. Or the disatiny plus curcetin.

• 26:42Dr. Darshan Shah?

  Right.

• 26:42Speaker 01

  But again, yeah, with peptides, they're still only in preclinical stage. They're not like in human stage for senescent cells as far as I know.

• 26:51Dr. Darshan Shah?

  Yeah, so so the OS one peptide goes into the cell. It then shuts off the inflammatory pathways in the cell. So then the immune system has an easier time getting to these senescent cells to clear them out of your skin.

• 27:03Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 27:03Dr. Darshan Shah?

  And then this leads to less damage buildup over time because it's just less inflammation. Inflammation causes damage to the surrounding skin cells. That's how it works.

• 27:12Speaker 01

  Exactly.

• 27:13Dr. Darshan Shah?

  Amazing.

• 27:14Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 27:14Dr. Darshan Shah?

  And so, you know, there's other skincare products out there that have different effects on skin.

• 27:19Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 27:19Dr. Darshan Shah?

  You've mentioned vitamin C.

• 27:20Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 27:20Dr. Darshan Shah?

  In some of these free radical scavengers, right?

• 27:23Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 27:23Dr. Darshan Shah?

  So are those also important to be using like simultaneously with something like this that clears senescence?

• 27:29Speaker 01

  Yes, definitely. So if you think about the antioxidants and the role of like protecting against the free radicals. This is one way that you can prevent even the accumulation of senescent cells as well. So in our products, we will always combine OS one with other antioxidants. And even other ingredients that will help with moisture like hyaluronic acid or glycerine. Because the skin needs that moisture to maintain also the barrier is strong. So we always combine OS one with those ingredients that are supporting the activity of the skin as a whole. And we think that's it's it's possible to reduce the amount of products.

• 28:12Speaker 01

  If you combine these ingredients in one product and simplify the skincare routine. Because you also don't want to overwhelm your skin. With like too many actives, a lot of times it's so interesting because in the lab we clearly see that this. When we combine too many peptides, we think that we are gonna deliver better benefits. And no, like the skin responds like in a in a worse way. Because it gets like overwhelmed by too many actives at the same time. So I think it's important, as I said, like to know what the final formula is delivering in terms of benefits. And you can only know if you test the full formula.

• 28:53Speaker 01

  But as you know, antioxidants, vitamin C, uh, we actually have vitamins, as I said, in our sunscreen. And then, you know, ingredients that could support the barrier of the skin like ceramides, fatty acids, uh, glycerines.

• 29:09Dr. Darshan Shah?

  Got it. And so you have all those combined in the same product? Got it. So if we're using, and I've been using the OS1 product for a while now, what should I be using with that? Or is that all I need?

• 29:19Speaker 01

  Well, we try to simplify for those that want a very simple and effective skincare routine. So you could only focus on OS1. And in our line, we have like a face moisturizer, we have a night cream that actually has a little bit of a higher concentration of the peptide. And has other ingredients that support the the skin around our eyes. Because the skin is thinner.

• 29:44Dr. Darshan Shah?

  Yeah.

• 29:44Speaker 01

  And accumulates more senescence. And it's actually, there is data showing that the biological age of the skin under or above your eyes can be twenty to thirty years older than the skin around your temples. So this formula is actually more potent in terms of like actives. So for for me, what I do is like, you know, wash my face with a cleanser, apply the face moisturizer, apply the eye cream, I'm done.

• 30:13Dr. Darshan Shah?

  Amazing.

• 30:13Speaker 01

  And then in the morning, I will, I skip the washing phase because my face is already clean. You know, from the last, from the night uh before. And then I just apply the moisturize and the sunscreen. And as I said, like the sunscreen has the vitamin C, so I don't need another vitamin C. The only product that is not included and is very common in a skincare routine is like retinol or retinoids.

• 30:37Dr. Darshan Shah?

  Yes.

• 30:37Speaker 01

  So you could add this to your routine, you know, mostly at night. You could apply it first if your goal is really to target like the fine lines and wrinkles. But if your skin is a little bit more sensitive and you wanna create like a layer of protection. Sometimes I alternate, so I apply O S one first and then I apply the retinol. Because I feel that my skin is more protected when I have the one skin first.

• 31:03Dr. Darshan Shah?

  Got it, got it. And how does a retinol work?

• 31:05Speaker 01

  Yeah, retinol basically activates this cell renew capacity. So the upper layers of your skin will basically peel off and you are gonna grow a newer, fresher skin. So it's really good to smoothing the lines or or giving you a better texture because it's inducing that cell renew effect. Some people are more sensitive and they cannot necessarily tolerate. Because retinol can also cause inflammation and irritation. And the other thing, well, retinol also induces collagen production. But in in the way that it pairs well with O S one, it's because it's not targeting the senescent cells. So we wanna be able to do both, right?

• 31:46Speaker 01

  You wanna be able to support the collagen production, you wanna be able to induce the cell renew. Try to minimize the inflammation and, you know, combat the senescent cells accumulation. And that would be like a really well-rounded routine.

• 32:01Dr. Darshan Shah?

  Got it, got it. Yes, I mean, just, you know, skincare routines are tough. Because I see, you know, people with like thirty products on their bathroom, on their sink, you know. And they go through this and it takes a long time. But it sounds like you're trying to simplify this as much as possible. And the only thing maybe to add is a retinoid at nighttime, right? To help with if you have fine lines and wrinkles, which most people have.

• 32:24Speaker 01

  Yeah, and for women that, and this is actually, you know, a product that we are working right now. That are going maybe through menopause and have like a little bit of a drier skin. There obviously we know that as estrogen declines, uh, your skin. We'll lose moisture, we'll lose collagen. So a heavier moisturizer on top of a W S one could also be beneficial. And that's something that we are working on. So that's to come up soon. Yeah.

• 32:53Dr. Darshan Shah?

  Like a heavier moisturizer?

• 32:54Speaker 01

  Yeah, exactly. Like a richer cream to really lock in moisture. Because when your skin, you know, is dry, then, you know, the berry will be compromised. And then the signs of age will even look worse because your skin is so like dehydrated. So really enhancing like that barrier protection, the function of the skin is really, really important.

• 33:19Dr. Darshan Shah?

  And is this also protecting people from, obviously, everyone wants to have a good looking skin. But is it also protecting people from like the toxins in the environment, et cetera, that can be absorbed through our skin?

• 33:30Speaker 01

  Yeah, because the main function of the skin is to be a barrier, right? And the barriers to prevent from these environmental stresses and pathogens to get into our skin. So when our barriers compromise, they can get in easier, your skin can get more irritated and can get more sensitive. So by strengthening your barrier, you're actually enhancing like your immune function, right? Because you're like protecting against those pathogens. And I think another interesting study that we did was with the body lotion. Because what we didn't realize when we started, you know, one skin is that because the skin is our largest organ.

• 34:11Speaker 01

  As the skin degenerates and accumulates sense and cells, the barrier breaks. It becomes more susceptible to, you know, these pathogens. And there is an increase in inflammation that's coming from our skin that eventually elevates our internal levels of inflammation. So we did a study that we recruited participants that were like sixty years plus. We measured their blood at baseline, we measured the inflammation level in their blood at baseline. And they used our body lotion and their face product for three months. And after three months, we measured again.

• 34:50Speaker 01

  Inflammation and we could see a decrease in inflammatory markers in their blood by basically restoring their skin.

• 34:57Dr. Darshan Shah?

  Oh wow, okay. So people dealing with inflammation too, getting their skin restored.

• 35:03Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 35:03Dr. Darshan Shah?

  Could be another way of reducing some of that.

• 35:05Speaker 01

  Yeah, because what we don't realize that only the fact that skin is aging, there is an inflammation that's being accumulated from that aging process. So for example, people that have psoriasis, you probably know that they have like fifty percent more chances to develop cardiovascular disease.

• 35:22Dr. Darshan Shah?

  I did not know that.

• 35:23Speaker 01

  Yes.

• 35:23Dr. Darshan Shah?

  Fifty percent?

• 35:24Speaker 01

  Fifty percent.

• 35:25Dr. Darshan Shah?

  If you have psoriasis, you have fifty percent more.

• 35:27Speaker 01

  If you have the lesions that are not like treated, if they are constantly, you know.

• 35:31Dr. Darshan Shah?

  Yes.

• 35:31Speaker 01

  Flaring.

• 35:32Dr. Darshan Shah?

  Yeah.

• 35:32Speaker 01

  That inflammation that's coming from your skin impacts your internal health and you know, increases your chance to have cardiovascular disease. So skin aging is similar, but it's very low, a low level of inflammation, but it's happening like in this incremental process that we don't realize. But if we don't treat our skin, we are actually allowing, you know, the skin to also, you know, introduce inflammation in our body. So that's why at one skin, we think of skin as a longevity, you know, part of, yeah, of your protocol, right? Like it's also, you're thinking about, you know, nutrition, sleep. And we are thinking, okay, how I should address my skin in a way that can support my longevity?

• 36:16Speaker 01

  And, and the focus is like, I'm gonna improve the barrier of the skin. I'm gonna keep my skin as healthy and resilient as possible. And this is the way that I'm supporting my health. And the, you know, good part is that the consequence you're gonna look better because you know, a healthy, stronger skin, you know, is also a better looking skin.

• 36:36Dr. Darshan Shah?

  Yeah, I think it's just kind of a new concept for me because, you know, I worked with people on getting their skin looking better. But it's always more of a thought, the thought is almost more around like how young can I look? But the reality is your skin is actually a very functional organ.

• 36:52Speaker 01

  Yes.

• 36:52Dr. Darshan Shah?

  And you need it to be.

• 36:53Speaker 01

  Yes.

• 36:54Dr. Darshan Shah?

  As healthy as possible because it's protecting you from the outside environment. And the more you're protected from the outside environment, the less. Inflammation you have, the less toxins get absorbed through your skin. So it is an organ of longevity. It's a protective organ, right?

• 37:07Speaker 01

  A hundred percent.

• 37:08Dr. Darshan Shah?

  We focus so much on gut health.

• 37:09Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 37:10Dr. Darshan Shah?

  But you know, your skin has a large amount of surface area as well that protects you from the outside environment. I think it's like if you took your skin and you laid it out, it's like the size of a tennis court, right?

• 37:21Speaker 01

  Yeah, I don't know exactly, but I know that is it is the largest organ in our body. Yeah.

• 37:25Dr. Darshan Shah?

  That's what people say. You lay down one cell at a time, it's a lot of cells in our skin.

• 37:30Speaker 01

  That is, yeah, that is amazing.

• 37:31Dr. Darshan Shah?

  Wow.

• 37:36Dr. Darshan Shah?

  Hi, Dr. Shaw here. I want to take a minute to talk to you about cellular health. So in my clinics, I've actually seen thirty year old people with cells that look like they're pushing retirement. And I've also seen sixty year olds with cells that look like they're forty years old. So what's the difference? It's really about how fast their telomeres are breaking down. Your cells you see are like phones and they have limited cell phone battery. Poor sleep, stress, processed foods, all of these things can drain that battery way faster than it should. So this is the reason why I partnered with IMA. IMA powers that cellular battery. It's not just another multivitamin, it's a comprehensive ninety-two ingredient formula designed specifically for cellular health and longevity.

• 38:21Dr. Darshan Shah?

  I'm talking nine hundred milligrams of vitamin C. That's like twenty oranges worth of DNA protection. The clinical dose of CoQ ten that you need to power your cellular engine. You also get zinc, selenium, vitamin E, alpha lipoic acid. All of these work synergistically for cellular repair and protecting your telomeres. So instead of taking a handful of pills every day and all these supplements, IMA actually gives you everything that you need in one scientifically formulated system. And this isn't just a theory anymore. IMA had partnered with Oxford University, the International Space Station, San Francisco Research Institute, and they've done studies and they've gotten this NSF certified to truly power your health.

• 39:03Dr. Darshan Shah?

  Most people are aging twice as fast as they should, unfortunately. You don't have to be one of them. Try IMA. I actually have a discount secured for you if you go to drshah.com/ima or go to imathhealth.com/discount/drschah and you can get twenty percent off with my discount code, Dr. Shaw. You can also find the link below.

• 39:27Dr. Darshan Shah?

  You know, one of the things that we talked about earlier was a concept of these aging clocks. Is there like an aging clock for the skin that you can actually measure how aged your skin is?

• 39:36Speaker 01

  Yeah, so we actually developed one.

• 39:38Dr. Darshan Shah?

  Oh, okay.

• 39:39Speaker 01

  Yeah, back in 2018. When we started this research, we wanted to measure how the skin ages changing through the epigenetics. And at that time, there was no specific clock for skin. The best clock available was the skin and blood from harvest, but it was not specific for skin yet. So we did build one, only trained with skin samples. And that's the clock that when we developed the peptide and we measured how the peptide would impact the skin's biological age, we saw 2.5 years decrease in the skin's age in the skins that we treated in the lab with the peptide. Yeah. So we developed this clock,

• 40:21Speaker 01

  but we also tested our peptide against other clocks that are available and we see consistent decrease in the biological age. More recently, there is another company working on a non-invasive type of clock. So basically, they collect like tape strip, like the biological sample with tape strip of your skin.

• 40:40Dr. Darshan Shah?

  Okay.

• 40:40Speaker 01

  And then they built a clock that they're using more like this the surface layers of the skin. And that we are collaborating with them because our clock still needs a biopsy, which is like very invasive. And then if we can get something that's non-invasive, that would work better.

• 40:56Dr. Darshan Shah?

  That would be amazing. I mean, so basically, you take a piece of tape, you put it on your skin, you send that tape in and they do the genetic sequencing, the methylation.

• 41:05Speaker 01

  Yes.

• 41:06Dr. Darshan Shah?

  And then you can...

• 41:06Speaker 01

  And they run their own, they develop their own clock and then they can measure the biological age of the skin.

• 41:12Dr. Darshan Shah?

  That's, when is that coming out?

• 41:14Speaker 01

  So that clock is already available. It's from Mitra Bio, it's a different company.

• 41:19Dr. Darshan Shah?

  Okay.

• 41:19Speaker 01

  But we are doing a study with them to see how our products now, you know, that's using their technology, how we can measure the changing in the age of the skin using our products, yeah.

• 41:31Dr. Darshan Shah?

  And does it give you like a skin age?

• 41:33Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 41:34Dr. Darshan Shah?

  It does? I could send my skin in as like... Like your skin is aged as much as a fifty year old or forty five year old.

• 41:39Speaker 01

  Exactly.

• 41:40Dr. Darshan Shah?

  And this is commercially available for people?

• 41:42Speaker 01

  Uh, not direct to consumers yet. They are still working more with uh um clinical research. So I think they are more like focused on B two B and clinical studies for now. Yeah.

• 41:54Dr. Darshan Shah?

  Wow, amazing.

• 41:55Speaker 01

  Very exciting.

• 41:56Dr. Darshan Shah?

  Exciting stuff, because now you can really, it's another way of just testing the efficacy on a human on an N of one basis, right? So if you're doing a skincare routine and you measure, you know, your skin age before and after your skincare routine, and it's working, why would you stop doing that skincare routine, right?

• 42:13Speaker 01

  Exactly.

• 42:14Dr. Darshan Shah?

  I think this is, this is really powerful for patients to get in their hands too. So hopefully they go direct to consumer.

• 42:20Speaker 01

  Soon, yeah. Uh, it's still very expensive, so hopefully they will decrease, be able to decrease the cost with scale.

• 42:27Dr. Darshan Shah?

  Yeah, that's fantastic. And then so with this product, OS one, do you think there's other peptides that can be potentially helpful in the future for skin aging and, and just aging in general?

• 42:38Speaker 01

  Yeah, totally. That's one of the lines of research at OneSkin. We are not only developing novel products, we are also developing, we continue to research peptides and find ways that either other peptides could complement OS one, or we could find a more effective OS one that could reduce even more, you know, the load of senescent cells, or that could like penetrate, you know, easier. So that's something that we have ongoing with our team of scientists and we have some promising, you know, candidates. So hopefully in the future, our goal is to not only necessarily add the new products to the line, but bring like a two point O version of our product, like a more effective, you know, version.

• 43:23Speaker 01

  Because this is our mission, like it's really to continue to understand the science and develop better products and bring this to, you know, to our customers, to our community. Because we are on top of everything that's going on on the science and we are able to translate that faster, you know, to, to our consumers.

• 43:42Dr. Darshan Shah?

  Yeah, I mean, it's such an incredible new world where, you know, now You have grown skin in the laboratory. You can test many products that you develop. Use AI to create peptides that you're testing directly on skin. And then you can see which ones work and then you can launch it to people. It's a whole new way of doing things. And I think, you know, your lab is a perfect example of the future of medicine, really. Because just like what you're doing with skin, like we said earlier, skin is like the least amount of regulatory barriers, but hopefully we can get there with cardiovascular health. We can get there with liver health, et cetera, where we're growing little organoids that we're testing.

• 44:17Speaker 01

  Yes.

• 44:18Dr. Darshan Shah?

  Thousands of molecules developed by AI on them and before we even introduce into human. And you're using methylation clocks as well. So now we're actually testing like, you know, at a genetic level, what genes are turned on and off. And so you really can understand what's working and what's not working.

• 44:34Speaker 01

  The full picture, yeah. And what you said is already happening. So I think we are representing the skin in that kind of innovation. But, you know, there are many other companies and organizations working on this organ on a chip or organ in the lab and doing those tests. And AI is accelerating everything, so it's a really exciting time.

• 44:53Dr. Darshan Shah?

  It's an exciting time to be alive, for sure. So I'm going to ask you some tough questions about that. Where do you think skin health is going in the next five years?

• 45:01Speaker 01

  I think it's going to this direction of, again, understanding how we can maintain the skin functioning at the, this young, healthy state in a way that we continue to reduce inflammation. We continue to maintain the cells functioning well in order to prevent them to age. So I think this preventative, you know, approach is getting stronger and stronger because the goal is that if we can maintain the skin at that, you know, youthful, healthy, functioning state, you don't, you don't need it to reverse, right?

• 45:40Dr. Darshan Shah?

  You don't need a facelift, do you?

• 45:41Speaker 01

  Exactly, yeah.

• 45:44Speaker 01

  But in terms of like other exciting, you know, obviously, you know, peptides is an exciting area. Another area there is studying as well is exosomes, you know.

• 45:56Speaker 01

  There's a huge potential there. There is also, you know, a lot of uncertainty. So there there needs to be a lot of testing to understand uh which exosomes are actually delivering, you know, the molecules or the growth factors that you expect. But I think just being able again to understand in vitro, in the lab, what's going on in the biology of the skin as it ages and be able to test different interventions. I think this is helping us to really come up with like better and better solutions.

• 46:30Dr. Darshan Shah?

  Yeah, yeah. You know, going back to um exosomes as well, you know, one of the things that I see a lot of places doing is they'll do microneedling.

• 46:38Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 46:39Dr. Darshan Shah?

  First, and then they'll put exosomes um in in those microneedling tracks to get better delivery of exosomes into the skin. And to your point, like, what is what is the active compound in an exosome? We really don't know. You're just going shotgun, like everything in an exosome is going to be delivered to your skin, right?

• 46:56Speaker 01

  Yeah, yeah.

• 46:56Dr. Darshan Shah?

  I think I think, like you said, like, if we can hone in on what the compounds are and find a better delivery mechanism that's not having to require you to go for microneedling.

• 47:05Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 47:05Dr. Darshan Shah?

  That might become a another treatment modality, right?

• 47:08Speaker 01

  Yeah, yeah. And now there are different, you know, delivery systems that we're even testing, like, you know, different types of encapsulation. And and depending on the on the exosomes, they can, you know, penetrate the skin. So it's more about testing like the content, right? Like how the what the exosome is delivering is consistent, you know, throughout, you know, different batches of production.

• 47:34Dr. Darshan Shah?

  Sure.

• 47:35Speaker 01

  And the stability as well.

• 47:37Dr. Darshan Shah?

  Got it. Is this something you could test in your lab too with your skin?

• 47:40Speaker 01

  Yeah, yeah.

• 47:41Dr. Darshan Shah?

  So, yeah, that's that's really interesting because you're right. When you get exosomes, they're coming from different samples. So you don't know what is one compared to the other.

• 47:49Speaker 01

  Exactly, exactly. And making sure that that's consistent is super important. And I think in terms of like, I think how people are, you know, looking at their skin. I think before we were always trying to pursue that, like, you know, youthful or like young skin. And I think now people are. Thinking more how I can optimize my skin for the age that I am. Like, I don't necessarily wanna look like I'm twenty years old again.

• 48:13Dr. Darshan Shah?

  Yeah.

• 48:13Speaker 01

  I wanna like look at my best now. I wanna look vibrant. I wanna look like healthy. And I wanna look confident. So I think it's changing the perception, like the the way that we thought about that skin age is something that we need to fight, right? Like, I think we we needed to understand how our biology is changing and really work with it, like how we can optimize, how we can, you know, give the the skin the ingredients that it needs throughout the different phases of our lives.

• 48:43Dr. Darshan Shah?

  Right.

• 48:43Speaker 01

  And then I think we will be able to get both, like we'll be able to get like, you know, a good appearance and but also, you know, support the health of our skin that I think in the end it's more important.

• 48:57Dr. Darshan Shah?

  Yes, yeah. And you mentioned something earlier. You said that, you know, a lot of this is really prevention. So the sooner you get started, the better, right? I I think that's that's critical, because trying to reverse the damage, you know, is very difficult.

• 49:09Speaker 01

  It is.

• 49:10Dr. Darshan Shah?

  You have to have more aggressive treatments.

• 49:11Speaker 01

  It is, but it's possible. It's so interesting. Like, yesterday I was at an event and this young like influencer said like, I don't know if your product, I it's hard for me to know if your product works for me because I don't have many lines. So I I brought like my mom and I tested my mom and she took like amazing before and afters. And it was very clear to see how the product worked for her mom. But now that she knows that the product works, so like it's gonna work for me too. It's gonna be harder for me to see. But I know that, you know, in in is the work in the biology is making my skin, you know, even younger, healthier. So it gives more confidence for people that even if they're not seeing the results, like to have other people that their results are very clear. Uh, so I thought was a very.

• 49:56Dr. Darshan Shah?

  Good way to think about that.

• 49:57Speaker 01

  Yeah, exactly. Yeah.

• 49:59Dr. Darshan Shah?

  But I also think that like, you know, just like with anything that we do around our health routines, you don't necessarily see something right away, especially if it's something internal, you know? So I think, um, you know, at some point you have to trust the science.

• 50:12Speaker 01

  Yes.

• 50:12Dr. Darshan Shah?

  You are being preventative, you are creating better barrier, you are creating.

• 50:15Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 50:16Dr. Darshan Shah?

  Slower aging of the skin as well. So I really like that concept of prevention with with the skin.

• 50:22Speaker 01

  Yeah. And I think it's another important point that in order to change the biology of the skin, this takes time. It's not something that's gonna happen in two weeks. And so with our clinical studies, we usually run studies for six weeks, twelve weeks, six months, one year. And we can see a compounding effect, you know, from six to twelve to six months to twelve months. So the more consistent that you are, you can, you know, allow your skin to build up those benefits. And it's only gonna, you know, get better. So it's very important that people have this understanding because a lot of people get too anxious and wanna see results like, you know,

• 51:07Speaker 01

  in weeks and then they they give up. But you needed to give time to your biology.

• 51:12Dr. Darshan Shah?

  Yeah, absolutely. I think it's also important to highlight that facial aging is skin aging, plus also the effects of gravity, plus there's also, you know, damage has been done by sunlight. There's also, you know, wrinkles that are deeper that accumulate due to muscle movement as well, which is also a problem that can be addressed with things like neurotoxins like Botox. So it's it's a multifactorial problem. It's not just the skin.

• 51:41Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 51:41Dr. Darshan Shah?

  There's other reasons that you that your facial age that can be addressed now minimally invasively, I think.

• 51:47Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 51:47Dr. Darshan Shah?

  For the most part.

• 51:48Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 51:48Dr. Darshan Shah?

  And so it's a really incredible time that we live in too, as we learn more about through like plastic surgery, about doing procedures like fat injections and Botox and fillers and fillers that are not just like injecting hyaluronic acid, but also fillers that are like actually building up structure in the face as well. So all of these things come together, right?

• 52:09Speaker 01

  A hundred percent. Yeah. I think it's very interesting. Some of those fillers, you know, collagen boosters, right? And that will induce your skin cells to produce collagen. I'm a big fan of like how we can activate our own cells to produce more collagen, what they already should do, right?

• 54:35Dr. Darshan Shah?

  Driver of visible skin aging. Environmental stress, especially UV exposure, accounts for 80% of visible signs of aging by decreasing the amount of collagen you have. Protecting your skin from the sun is crucial for maintaining its youthful appearance and health. Number three, sunscreen doesn't inhibit vitamin D absorption. You can actually enjoy the sun and protect your skin at the same time without compromising your vitamin D levels. Focus in on safe sun practices and having the appropriate SPF. Number four, we now have the technology to grow skin cells of all ages, thickness and color to test cellular aging and our products on.

• 55:16Dr. Darshan Shah?

  So through stem cell research, Carolina can measure the exact effects of skincare ingredients at a cellular level. Meaning we can now not only treat the symptoms of aging, but treat the aging cells themselves. Number five, a healthy skin barrier is the key to overall health. A compromised skin barrier allows more toxins to enter the body. Protecting and maintaining the integrity of your skin barrier is not vital just for your skin health, but also for your overall well-being. This was a great episode of Dr. Carolina Reese. You can download a podcast guide, which dives deep into everything that you learn in this podcast and the best practices and what you can do right now in a protocol form

• 56:00Dr. Darshan Shah?

  to protect your skin and maintain incredible skin health, not just for longevity, but also for the appearance of your skin. Just go to my website at drshah.com/skin to find the link.

• 56:16Dr. Darshan Shah?

  Thank you so much for listening to the podcast today. Please remember to subscribe if you like this episode and give us a good review and share a link with your friends. It really helps to support all of our efforts. I also want to remind you that the information shared on this podcast is for educational purposes only and is not intended to replace professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Please consult with your healthcare provider or physician before making any decisions or taking any action based on what you hear today, especially if you Have any underlying health conditions or on any medications? Your doctor knows your personal health situation the best, and it's always important to seek their guidance.