Aging “Cocktail” Could Maintain Youth
Reported February 15, 2010
(Ivanhoe Newswire) — An experimental dietary supplement shows promise in delaying major aspects of the aging process.
Researchers at McMaster University in Ontario are testing a complex cocktail of supplements — all commercially available — that has successfully offset a key symptom of aging in mice.
“As we all eventually learn, aging diminishes our mind, fades our perception of the world and compromises our physical capacity,” David Rollo, associate professor of biology at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, was quoted as saying. “Declining physical activity — think of grandparents versus toddlers — is one of the most reliable expressions of aging and is also a good indicator of obesity and general mortality risk.”
Results show the cocktail — which includes vitamins B1, C, D, E, acetylsalicylic acid, beta carotene, folic acid, garlic, ginger root, ginkgo biloba, ginseng, green tea extract, magnesium, melatonin, potassium, cod liver oil and flax seed oil — increased activity of mitochondria, which supply energy to the body, and reduced output of free radicals. Free radicals are thought to be the basic cause of aging.
While mice not given the supplement showed a 50 percent loss in daily movement in old age, treated mice maintained “youthful levels of locomotor activity.” The untreated mice also showed dramatic losses in cellular energy production and declines in brain chemicals involved in locomotion.
Source: Experimental Biology and Medicine, February 2010