Ageless the Naomi Guedea Way

We've talked about what happens inside the cell.

Now let's zoom out. 🫁

Your cells also need oxygen to support aerobic energy production.

Getting that oxygen where it needs to go requires several systems to work together.

Your lungs bring oxygen into the body.
Your heart and blood vessels help transport it.
Your muscles extract and use oxygen during activity.

And this is where VO₂ max enters the conversation.

VO₂ max reflects the maximum rate at which your body can take in, transport, and use oxygen during intense exercise.

So while NAD+ and VO₂ max measure or describe very different things, they help us look at wellness from two fascinating perspectives:

🔬 What's happening at the cellular level
🫁 How effectively the whole body performs as a system

Healthy aging isn't about one number.

It's about understanding how all of these systems work together.

If NAD+ is important to our cells, the next question is pretty natural:

Where does it come from? 🔬

Your body has several pathways it can use to make and recycle NAD+.

And one molecule researchers have been especially interested in is NMN — nicotinamide mononucleotide.

NMN is known as an NAD+ precursor, meaning it can be used along the pathway the body uses to produce NAD+.

That's what makes the NMN conversation so interesting.

Researchers aren't simply studying another nutrient in isolation.

They're studying a molecule connected to a much larger system involving NAD+ metabolism, cellular energy, and aging biology.

There are still important questions being studied, especially when it comes to what changes in NAD+ biology mean for human health over time.

But understanding the pathway gives us a much better foundation for understanding why NMN has received so much attention.

NMN → NAD+ → cellular processes

Sometimes understanding the pathway makes the whole conversation a lot easier to follow. 🧬

The more we learn about the human body, the harder it becomes to look at wellness as one isolated thing. 🔄

NAD+ helps us explore what's happening at the cellular level.

NMN helps us understand one pathway the body can use to make NAD+.

VO₂ max gives us a completely different view—how effectively the body can deliver and use oxygen during intense exercise.

Then there are all the everyday things surrounding those systems.
Movement. 🚶
Nutrition. 🥗
Sleep. 🌙
Recovery. 💪
Hydration. 💧

None of them tells the whole story by itself.

And maybe that's one of the most useful lessons in healthy aging:
There isn't one number, molecule, supplement, or habit that defines how well we're aging.

The body is a collection of systems constantly working together.

The more we understand those connections, the better questions we can start asking about our own wellness.

💬 If your body had a dashboard, what would you want to understand better: cellular energy, oxygen efficiency, strength, sleep/recovery, or hydration?

I’ve been learning more about VO₂ max lately, and I have to admit, I used to think it was basically just a fancy fitness score.

It’s actually much more interesting than that.

VO₂ max is a measure of how much oxygen your body can use during intense exercise.

And getting that oxygen where it needs to go is a team effort.

Your lungs bring it in.
Your heart and blood vessels move it around.
Your muscles use it.

So when you look at VO₂ max, you're really getting a glimpse at how several parts of your body work together.

I love learning about things like this because it makes “being healthy” feel a lot less abstract.

Sometimes a number can tell us a pretty interesting story about what’s happening inside our bodies.

Here’s a VO₂ max fact I found pretty fascinating:
It isn't just something athletes pay attention to.

Researchers have found a strong association between cardiorespiratory fitness and longevity.

In other words, people with higher levels of fitness tend to have lower mortality risk than those with very low fitness.

That doesn't mean your VO₂ max number predicts how long you're going to live, there are obviously a lot of factors involved in that story.

But it does make you think differently about fitness.

Maybe being able to walk farther, climb stairs more easily, or keep up with the activities you enjoy isn't just about “being fit.”

Maybe it's also about building a little more capacity for the life you want to live.

And honestly, that's a much more motivating reason to move than chasing a number on a treadmill.

I always thought of cardio as being mostly about the heart and lungs.

Then I learned more about VO₂ max.

Turns out, there's quite a team involved.

Your lungs have to bring oxygen in.
Your heart and blood vessels have to deliver it.
Your muscles have to receive it.
And your cells have to put that oxygen to work.

So VO₂ max isn't really a measurement of just one part of you.

It's more like a snapshot of how well this whole system works together during demanding activity.

I think that's what makes it so interesting.

Our bodies are doing incredibly complicated things every time we take a brisk walk or climb a flight of stairs and most of the time, we don't even think about it.

Here's something I didn't realize about VO₂ max:
It generally changes as we get older.

Research shows that cardiorespiratory fitness tends to decline with age, and that decline can become more noticeable in later decades.

But I don't think the interesting takeaway is simply, “Well, we're getting older.”

It's what that decline can mean for everyday life.

When your aerobic capacity is lower, things like walking uphill, climbing stairs, carrying groceries, or keeping up during a busy day can require more effort.

Which makes me think about fitness a little differently.

It's not necessarily about trying to perform like we did at 25.

It's about maintaining as much capacity as we reasonably can for the things we still want to do.

That's a goal I can get behind.

Here's my favorite part of learning about VO₂ max:
It's not necessarily a “that's just how I am” number.

Cardiorespiratory fitness can change.

Regular aerobic activity like, walking, cycling, swimming, jogging, and other activities that get your heart and breathing working, can help improve fitness over time.

And you don't have to suddenly become an endurance athlete.

Sometimes it's simply about starting where you are and becoming a little more consistent.

I like that idea.

Instead of asking, “How fit am I?”

Maybe we can ask:
“What could my body be capable of if I gave it a little more practice?”

That feels like a much more fun question.

There’s a molecule inside your body that you may not hear about every day: NAD+.

NAD+ stands for nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide, and it is naturally present in our cells.

One of its important roles is participating in cellular processes involved in energy metabolism. It also participates in other cellular functions, which is one reason NAD+ has become an interesting area of research.

Scientists are studying how NAD+ relates to cellular function and the biology of aging.

But it’s important to keep the bigger picture in mind.
NAD+ isn't a magic “anti-aging switch.”

It is one part of the incredibly complex system that keeps our cells functioning.

And understanding that system gives us a better appreciation for why cellular health is becoming such an important part of the healthy-aging conversation.

We often talk about stress in terms of how busy or overwhelmed we feel.

But there’s another kind of stress happening inside the body: oxidative stress.

Our normal metabolism produces reactive molecules, and our bodies have natural systems that help manage them. When the balance shifts toward too much oxidative stress, cellular components can be affected.

That’s where antioxidants come into the conversation.

Antioxidants help protect against oxidative damage and are found naturally in many foods, particularly fruits and vegetables.

This is also why I think the cellular-health conversation is bigger than any one ingredient.

Our bodies already have sophisticated systems for maintaining balance.

The goal is to understand those systems — and support overall health through the many things that matter.