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Food Supplements; need or nonsense?
Anti Aging food supplements seems to be a new field in the battle against aging. Why can well designed supplements be of great interest in those seeking for the best health, even on higher or very high ages? The answer is simple; no side effects, affordable, easy to use, effective if well designed, no prescription needed and safe.
The elderly, but actually all of us, have a higher need for nutrients to keep our body fit and to fight free radical damage. But at the same time the absorption in the gut is less effective as it used to be. So if we, for example, need extra collagen to fight aging, sagging skin, but we cannot digest collagen fibers, sooner or later we will run short in them. Supplements can offer collagen peptides, "pre-digested" collagen fibers where enzymes broke down the complex molecule until such small parts, they became collagen peptides. Those are water soluble, and so easy to be absorbed by anyone.
If the supplement can activate the fibroblast and at the same time offer the right building blocks, the anti aging supplement is doing the right job. Although food will always be of great importance for our health, some new technology cannot be missed in modern anti aging technology.
Here is a list of samples where studies show the need and the efficacy of well designed natural supplements. Synthetic supplements have a far lower absorption capacity and so are not the ideal choice for those searching the best for health and anti aging.
A role for food supplements in optimizing health: the metabolic tune-up for living in optimum health.
Ames BN. Arch Biochem Biophys. 2004 Mar 1;423(1):227-34.
Children's Hospital Oakland Research Institute, CA 94609, USA. bruceames@chori.org
An optimum intake of micronutrients and metabolites, which varies with age and genetic constitution, would tune up metabolism and give a marked increase in health, particularly for the poor, young, obese, and elderly, at little cost.
(1) DNA damage. Deficiency of vitamins B-12, folic acid, B-6, C or E, iron or zinc appears to mimic radiation in damaging DNA by causing single- and double-strand breaks, oxidative lesions or both. Half of the population may be deficient in at least one of these micronutrients.
(2) The Km concept. Approximately 50 different human genetic diseases that are due to a poorer binding affinity (Km) of the mutant enzyme for its coenzyme can be remedied by feeding high-dose B vitamins, which raise levels of the corresponding coenzyme. Many polymorphisms also result in a lowered affinity of enzyme for coenzyme.
(3) Mitochondrial oxidative decay. This decay, which is a major contributor to aging, can be ameliorated by feeding old rats the normal mitochondrial metabolites acetyl-l-carnitine and lipoic acid at high levels. Many common micronutrient deficiencies, such as iron or biotin, cause mitochondrial decay with oxidant leakage leading to accelerated aging and neural decay.
Vitamin D and anti-aging medicine
Mitsuo T, Nakao M.
Mitsuo Clinic. Clin Calcium. 2008 Jul;18(7):980-5
Vitamin D has many important roles in calcium and phosphorus metabolisms, the prevention of the cancer, therapeutic effects of autoimmune disease, and the protective effects on the atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease and diabetes. These functions are quite essential factors for the treatment of anti-aging medicine. We had given 1,000 IU/day vitamin D(3) to the patients who had low vitamin D levels in their blood and confirmed the increased vitamin D levels into the optimal range after the treatment. To keep the normal functions of the bone mineral metabolisms and the immune function, it is clinically relevant to detect the vitamin D levels in the blood and support these levels using supplements in the vitamin D deficient patients. Vitamin D is now one of the most essential vitamins in the anti-aging medicine.
Effects of antioxidant supplementation on the aging process.
Fusco D, Colloca G, Lo Monaco MR, Cesari M.
Department of Gerontology, Geriatrics and Physiatry, Catholic University of Sacred Heart, Rome, Italy. Clin Interv Aging. 2007;2(3):377-87.
The free radical theory of aging hypothesizes that oxygen-derived free radicals are responsible for the age-related damage at the cellular and tissue levels. In a normal situation, a balanced-equilibrium exists among oxidants, antioxidants and biomolecules. Excess generation of free radicals may overwhelm natural cellular antioxidant defences leading to oxidation and further contributing to cellular functional impairment.
The identification of free radical reactions as promoters of the aging process implies that interventions aimed at limiting or inhibiting them should be able to reduce the rate of formation of aging changes with a consequent reduction of the aging rate and disease pathogenesis. Even if antioxidant supplementation is receiving growing attention and is increasingly adopted in Western countries, supporting evidence is still scarce and equivocal. Major limitations in literature are still needed to be addressed to better evaluate the potential benefits from antioxidant supplementation:
1) an improved understanding of oxidation mechanisms possibly at the basis of the aging process, 2) the determination of reliable markers of oxidative damage and antioxidant status, 3) the identification of a therapeutic window in which an eventual antioxidant supplementation may be beneficial, 4) a deeper knowledge of the antioxidant molecules which in several conditions act as pro-oxidants.
In the present paper, after a preliminary introduction to the free radical theory of aging and the rationale of antioxidant supplementation as an anti-aging intervention, we will present an overview of evidence relating antioxidant supplementations with clinical conditions typical of older age (ie, cardiovascular disease, Alzheimer's disease, cancer).
We will also discuss studies that have evaluated whether antioxidant supplementation might improve major outcomes of interest in older persons (ie, physical performance, muscle strength, longevity). Given the large amount of data available on the antioxidant supplementation topic, this overview is not intended to be exhaustive. The aim of this paper is to provide the main basis from which future studies should start and indicate which the main limitations that need to be addressed are.
Serum zinc and pneumonia in nursing home elderly.
Meydani SN, Barnett JB, Dallal GE, Fine BC, Jacques PF, Leka LS, Hamer DH.
Nutritional Immunology Laboratory, Jean Mayer US Department of Agriculture Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University, Boston, MA 02111, USA. simin.meydani@tufts.edu Am J Clin Nutr. 2008 Apr;87(4):1071.
BACKGROUND: Zinc plays an important role in immune function. The association between serum zinc and pneumonia in the elderly has not been studied.
OBJECTIVE: The objective was to determine whether serum zinc concentrations in nursing home elderly are associated with the incidence and duration of pneumonia, total and duration of antibiotic use, and pneumonia-associated and all-cause mortality.
DESIGN: This observational study was conducted in residents from 33 nursing homes in Boston, MA, who participated in a 1-y randomized, double-blind, and placebo-controlled vitamin E supplementation trial; all were given daily doses of 50% of the recommended dietary allowance of essential vitamins and minerals, including zinc. Participants with baseline (n = 578) or final (n = 420) serum zinc concentrations were categorized as having low (<70 microg/dL) or normal (>or=70 microg/dL) serum zinc concentrations. Outcome measures included the incidence and number of days with pneumonia, number of new antibiotic prescriptions, days of antibiotic use, death due to pneumonia, and all-cause mortality.
RESULTS: Compared with subjects with low zinc concentrations, subjects with normal final serum zinc concentrations had a lower incidence of pneumonia, fewer (by almost 50%) new antibiotic prescriptions, a shorter duration of pneumonia, and fewer days of antibiotic use (3.9 d compared with 2.6 d) (P <or= 0.004 for all). Normal baseline serum zinc concentrations were associated with a reduction in all-cause mortality (P = 0.049).
CONCLUSION: Normal serum zinc concentrations in nursing home elderly are associated with a decreased incidence and duration of pneumonia, a decreased number of new antibiotic prescriptions, and a decrease in the days of antibiotic use. Zinc supplementation to maintain normal serum zinc concentrations in the elderly may help reduce the incidence of pneumonia and associated morbidity.
Vitamins and HIV therapy: a naturopathic perspective.
Culp TM. STEP Perspect. 1995 Spring;7(1):1, 7.
AIDS: During the early 1900s, scientists learned that "accessory nutrients" were needed in diets to maintain health; hence, during World War II the government developed the Recommended Daily Dietary Allowances (RDAs). Although intended to prevent nutritional deficiency diseases, the RDA is often used, incorrectly, as the optimum nutrient recommendation for a particular individual. RDAs do not take into account the effects of lifestyle (stress, smoking, etc.), nor do they consider nutritional needs associated with other disease processes (AIDS, cancer, etc.). The question of what the optimal dosages are for various vitamins and minerals boils down to the individual. Many nutrition studies research the specific effects of individual nutrients. However, nutrition study results often do not look at long term effects, nor at effects on other nutrients or other systems in the body. Nutritional studies should, therefore, be read with caution. Keep in mind that nutrient supplementation cannot take the place of a well-rounded diet.