X-Message-Number: 32383
Date: Sat, 13 Feb 2010 13:25:06 -0800 (PST)
From: 
Subject: Dietary Formula That Maintains Youthful Function Into Old Age...


[it is interesting that only an 11% increase in mean longevity was obtained, 
despite preservation of youthful vigor. Note that many of the ingrediants used 
in this complex supplement are likely inactive, or even detrimental. To my 
knowledge this is only the second trial which included chromium picolinate. Note
that the free radical theory of aging which is talked up here has already been 
refuted in other research.]

Dietary Formula That Maintains Youthful Function Into Old Age

ScienceDaily (Feb. 12, 2010) - Researchers at McMaster University have developed
a cocktail of ingredients that forestalls major aspects of the aging process.


The findings are published in the current issue of Experimental Biology and 
Medicine.

"As we all eventually learn, ageing diminishes our mind, fades our perception of
the world and compromises our physical capacity," says David Rollo, associate 
professor of biology at McMaster. "Declining physical activity -- think of 
grandparents versus toddlers -- is one of the most reliable expressions of 
ageing and is also a good indicator of obesity and general mortality risk."

The study found that a complex dietary supplement powerfully offsets this key 
symptom of ageing in old mice by increasing the activity of the cellular 
furnaces that supply energy -- or mitochondria -- and by reducing emissions from
these furnaces -- or free radicals -- that are thought to be the basic cause of
ageing itself.

Most of the primary causes of human mortality and decline are strongly 
correlated with age and free-radical processes, including heart disease, stroke,
Type II diabetes, many cancers, neurodegenerative diseases, and inflammatory 
and autoimmune conditions. Successful intervention into the ageing process could
consequently prevent or forestall all of these.

Using bagel bits soaked in the supplement to ensure consistent and accurate 
dosing, the formula maintained youthful levels of locomotor activity into old 
age whereas old mice that were not given the supplement showed a 50 per cent 
loss in daily movement, a similar dramatic loss in the activity of the cellular 
furnaces that make our energy, and declines in brain signaling chemicals 
relevant to locomotion. This builds on the team's findings that the supplement 
extends longevity, prevents cognitive declines, and protects mice from 
radiation.

Ingredients consists of items that were purchased in local stores selling 
vitamin and health supplements for people, including 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. Multiple ingredients were combined based on their 
ability to offset five mechanisms involved in ageing.
For Rollo, the results go beyond simply prolonging the lifespan.

"For ageing humans maintaining zestful living into later years may provide 
greater social and economic benefits than simply extending years of likely 
decrepitude," he says. "This study obtained a truly remarkable extension of 
physical function in old mice, far greater than the respectable extension of 
longevity that we previous documented. This holds great promise for extending 
the quality of life of "health span" of humans."
Development of new and hopefully more effective supplements is ongoing.

Funding for this study was provided by the Natural Sciences and Engineering 
Research Council of Canada.

__________________________
Exp. Biol. Med. 2010;235:66-76
doi:10.1258/ebm.2009.009219
C 2010 Society for Experimental Biology and Medicine

Original Research

Dietary amelioration of locomotor, neurotransmitter and mitochondrial aging

Vadim Aksenov1, Jiangang Long2,, Sonali Lokuge1, Jane A Foster3, Jiankang Liu2 
and C David Rollo1,

1 Department of Biology, McMaster University 1280 Main St W, Hamilton, Ontario, 
Canada L8S 4K1

2 Institute of Mitochondrial Biology and Medicine, Department of Biology and 
Engineering, The Key Laboratory of Biomedical Information Engineering of 
Ministry of Education, Xi'an Jiaotong University School of Life Science and 
Technology, Xi'an 710049, China

3 Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neuroscience, McMaster University and
Brain-Body Institute, St Joseph's Healthcare 50 Charlton Ave. E T3308, 
Hamilton, Ontario, Canada L8N 4A6

Corresponding authors: C David Rollo. Email:  or Jiankang 
Liu. Email: 

Aging degrades motivation, cognition, sensory modalities and physical 
capacities, essentially dimming zestful living. Bradykinesis (declining physical
movement) is a highly reliable biomarker of aging and mortality risk. Mice fed 
a complex dietary supplement (DSP) designed to ameliorate five mechanisms 
associated with aging showed no loss of total daily locomotion compared with 
>50% decrement in old untreated mice. This was associated with boosted striatal 
neuropeptide Y, reversal of age-related declines in mitochondrial complex III 
activity in brain and amelioration of oxidative stress (brain protein 
carbonyls). Supplemented mice expressed 50% fewer mitochondrial protein 
carbonyls per unit of complex III activity. Reduction of free radical production
by mitochondria may explain the exceptional longevity of birds and dietary 
restricted animals and no DSP is known to impact this mechanism. Functional 
benefits greatly exceeded the modest longevity increases documented for 
supplemented normal mice. Regardless, for aging humans maintaining zestful 
health and performance into later years may provide greater social and economic 
benefits than simply prolonging lifespan. Although identifying the role of 
specific ingredients and interactions remains outstanding, results provide proof
of principle that complex dietary cocktails can powerfully ameliorate 
biomarkers of aging and modulate mechanisms considered ultimate goals for aging 
interventions.
Free text>
http://ebm.rsmjournals.com/cgi/reprint/235/1/66

J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci. 2005 Mar;60(3):275-9.
A complex dietary supplement extends longevity of mice.

Lemon JA, Boreham DR, Rollo CD. Department of Biology, McMaster University, 1280
Main Street West, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada L8S 4K1. 

Key factors implicated in aging include reactive oxygen species, inflammatory 
processes, insulin resistance, and mitochondrial dysfunction. All are 
exaggerated in transgenic growth hormone mice (TGM), which display a syndrome 
resembling accelerated aging. We formulated a complex dietary supplement 
containing 31 ingredients known to ameliorate all of the above features. We 
previously showed that this supplement completely abolished the severe 
age-related cognitive decline expressed by untreated TGM. Here we report that 
longevity of both TGM and normal mice is extended by this supplement. Treated 
TGM showed a 28% increase (p < .00008) in mean longevity. An 11% increase in 
mean longevity was also significant (p < .002093) for treated normal mice, 
compared to untreated normal mice. These data support the hypothesis that TGM 
are a model of accelerated aging, and demonstrate that complex dietary 
supplements may be effective in ameliorating aging or age-related pathologies 
where simpler formulations have generally failed.
PMID: 15860460

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