Resveratrol – A True Anti Aging Antioxidant
July 9, 2008 by GiGi · 20 Comments
Welcome back!
This is part of a continuing series on Anti Aging Supplements and comes from our friends at Health and Wellness Smart Publications.
Resveratrol has gotten a lot of press lately, touted as the latest anti aging antioxidant – and rightly so. There continues to be positive findings from research.
Before we get into the latest findings, let’s cover some of the basics first. Read more
Big Drug Companies Buy Into Anti Aging
April 28, 2008 by GiGi · 4 Comments
We knew it was coming….the anti aging pill.
We knew it was coming….the anti aging pill.GlaxoSmithKline is paying $720 million for Sirtris, a company that deals in sirtuins research.
What are Sirtuins?
According to the National Institute of Health: “sirtuins are a group of proteins linked to aging, metabolism and stress tolerance in several organisms. Among the many genes that have been shown to affect aging in model organisms, sirtuin genes are unique in that their activity level is positively correlated with lifespan (i.e. they are anti-aging genes). Sirtuins are a druggable class of enzymes (i.e. amenable to intervention by small molecules) that could have beneficial effects on a variety of human diseases. In view of the many functions of Sirtuin 1 (SIRT1) in cells, this review focuses on its role in regulating important aspects of mitochondrial biology. Mitochondria have been linked to aging, and also to diseases of aging. Thus, sirtuins might provide a key link between mitochondrial dysfunction, aging and metabolic disease. ”
In actuality, Sirtris is doing research for diabetic therapy, not anti-aging, although from what I’ve read, that won’t be long in coming. They are also researching resveratrol, using it as a drug for a rare muscle disorder. Resveratrol has widely been touted in the news for its life extension properties.
It will take a while, but the anti aging pill is definitely coming.
Good news….or bad?
Live To Be 150 – A Review
April 3, 2008 by GiGi · 6 Comments
If you missed the Barbara Walters Special Live To Be 150 that was on Tuesday night, here’s a recap.
She had a several of the leading scientists on aging and longevity discuss their various research and findings.
Aubrey D.N.J. de Grey, who wrote Ending Aging and works for the Methuselah Foundation,
Dr. David Sinclair, who talked about the benefits of Resveratrol and they even had
Dr. Robert Butler, whose book I just wrote about a few days ago: The Longevity Revolution. Ageism was also discussed.
There was some interesting discussion of research being done on replacing body parts. Apparently human bladders have been grown in the lab and used in transplants.
They talked about Calorie Restriction, which I also covered. Go figure – when I complain about people looking too skinny on the calorie restriction diet, Barbara interviews people that look great! I’ll be honest, though, all that weighing of food and strict diet doesn’t sound like much fun to me. They had a 80 year old guy on there that only eats once a day!
There was some discussion against Human Growth Hormone injections. I’m not a big fan of them either, but you can raise your HGH level more naturally and I discuss that here: Safe Alternatives to Human Growth Hormone.
The last half of the show was spent on human interest stories: Paul Newman, still racing cars at age 82; Carmen, the world’s oldest working model. She also interviewed some interesting 100+ people.
I was happy to see that I’m covering a lot of what was discussed on the show. It’s never been my goal to live to be 100+. My goal is to be healthy, happy and vital to whatever age I live to. There are some downsides to living that long.
They interviewed one woman who was 100 years old taking care of her 82 year old daughter, who had cancer (I think). The daughter ended up dying. Living way past your spouses and children is one of the pitfalls.
One guy talked about the fact that since men die younger than women, we might see more older women turning to lesbianism because of the shortage of men. Oh, come on…..
Pomegranates Point to Prostate Health
New studies have been done that indicate Pomegranates may play an important role in prostate health by increasing sperm health.
Male lab rats given pomegranate juice showed increased sperm quality, testosterone levels and antioxidant activity. The pomegranate juice also decreased abnormal sperm rate.
Pomegranates aren't the only antioxidants shown to help with prostate health. Resveratrol has gotten a lot of press lately and has been touted as the one of the most exciting longevity discoveries in the last decade.
Resveratrol is the antioxidant from red wine and does quite a bit more than just help with sperm function. It's been shown to reduce colon cancer risk, possibly breast cancer risk as well as prostate cancer risk in significant numbers in lab rats. I'll be covering that more in depth in my upcoming series on anti aging supplements.
Now you could drink copious amounts of red wine (not recommended) and pomegranate juice to get these great health benefits, but I think an easier (and safer) option might just be this:
