The Science of "Youngevity"

I recently finished recording a new course called "The Seven Pillars of Youngevity" which will be available later this year on DVD. I'm also scheduled to write a book on the subject of healthy aging for 2010. And I'm turning 62 this month, so I have more than a little interest in how to stay vital, healthy, sharp and happy no matter what the calendar says!

There's a ton of stuff to say about the subject of "youngevity" but here are two simple things that seem to work consistently to extend life, at least in every species studied so far:

1. Calorie restriction
2. Resveratrol

Scientists aren't 100 percent sure what the life-extending mechanism involved in calorie restriction is, but several are suspected. One has to do with insulin- when you eat less, you produce less insulin (low fasting insulin has been a feature of the blood tests of healthy centurians). A second theory has to do with oxidative stress (the damage to cells and DNA by rogue molecules known as free radicals).

The last theory got some backing recently when researchers tested two types of calorie-restricted diets on mice. Two groups of mice got a calorie-restricted diet, but one group's diet was high in compounds known as "AGEs" (advanced glycolated end products) which are known to be associated with oxidative stress, organ dysfunction and decreased life span.

If it was just the calorie restriction that works to extends life, both groups of mice should have done equally well, but that's not what happened. The mice fed the diet laced with AGEs developed insulin resistance, heart and kidney damage and died earlier. So the benefit of a calorie-restricted diet may be partly contingent on what's in those calories- you want them to come from good stuff, not junk! (You'd still probably be better off eating 1200-1800 calories of junk than 7,000 calories of junk, but better still if you ate 1200-1800 calories of actual real whole food!)

Resveratrol- found in red wine, the skins of dark grapes and to some extent peanuts- has also been found to extend life in the lab. It appears to give many of the same benefits of calorie restricted diets.

A recent study treated mice with three kinds of diets: high calorie, standard or calorie restricted. Each group of mice got their diet with or without resveratrol supplementation (creating six subgroups). Regardless of the diet, the mice given resveratrol supplementation for one year had significantly less symptoms of cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis, cataracts, and decline in motor coordination. The resveratrol-treated mice also had liver and muscle tissues resembling much younger animals.

Researchers are still sorting out the mechanisms by which resveratrol works, but one theory has to do with its significant antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects.

While they're figuring it all out, I'm taking resveratrol every day and also eating less calories than the average American. (Some research shows that just reducing calories by 1/3 can be really beneficial. How hard can that be? Divide everything you eat into thirds, and put one of those thirds away for later).

As my grandmother used to say, "Couldn't hurt!"

Red Wine, Resveratrol and Cancer

New research suggests that drinking the occasional glass of red wine may help men to reduce their risk of developing lung cancer.

Research scientist Chun Chao investigated the relationship between lung cancer risk and beer, red wine, white wine, and liquor consumption in men. Adjustments were made for factors affecting lung cancer risk, such as age, race/ethnicity, education, income, body mass index, history of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or emphysema, and smoking history.

The results showed that lung cancer risk dropped by approximately 2% for every glass of red wine a man drunk each month. Results also revealed that drinking red wine dramatically reduced the risk of lung cancer in smokers - male smokers who drank one to two glasses of red wine each day were found to be 60% less likely to develop lung cancer than other smokers who did not drink red wine. However, Chao warns that male smokers who drink one to two glasses of red wine each day are still more likely to develop lung cancer than non-smokers.

Interestingly, when I wrote my latest book, The Healthiest Meals on Earth I based all the meals and recipes on the concept of the Polymeal- a notion first explored in the British Medical Journal by researchers who calculated that you could reduce heart disease by over 75% and give people an extra 9 good years of life if everyone ate a meal of 7 basic ingredients on a regular basis. One of those ingredients was red wine.

Consumption of white wine, beer, or liquor, was not found to have a significant effect upon lung cancer risk.

Although the reasons why red wine should reduce lung cancer risk are unconfirmed. Chao believes that "an antioxidant component" may well be responsible. "Red wine is known to contain high levels of antioxidants. There is a compound called resveratrol that is very rich in red wine because it is derived from the grape skin. This compound has shown significant health benefits in preclinical studies," Chao said in a news release issued by the American Association for Cancer Research.

I've long believed resveratrol- one of the most powerful antioxidants found in red wine and the skins of dark grapes- is one of the best anti-aging supplements you can take (I take resveratrol every day). We know resveratrol seems to have life extending properties from lab experiments- perhaps it also has cancer fighting ones as well.

The study is due to be published in the October Issue of the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention.

Resveratrol for Weight Loss?

I got an interesting comment on my blog post about Resveratrol. She wrote that she was obese, and had begun taking Resveratrol and had noticed an improvement in her energy and digestion. She also told me that a number of people she knew had reported weight loss and a loss in body fat just from taking 600mg of Resveratrol supplement without changing anything else.

I'm delighted that she felt better, and I'm a huge fan of Resveratrol, but frankly, I was surprised. I've never heard of Resveratrol having any effect on weight loss and honestly, am not sure why it would. Then I came across a new research study that may shed some light on the connection.

In this study, research collaboration between scientists from Massey University in New Zealand and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, rats fed extracts of blueberries gained up to 10 percent less body weight than their counterparts not fed the blueberry extract.

The mechanism by which this happened may shed some light on the Resveratrol mystery.

"Antioxidants may trigger receptors in your upper intestine that tell your brain you're full", said lead researcher Abdul Molan, PhD. Lab animals fed the extracts also decreased their food intake by about 8%.

If the antioxidant hypothesis turns out to be true, this could explain why Resveratrol- a powerful antioxidant- might have produced a weight loss effect in my reader's experience.

Interestingly, though I've always been a fan of eating the whole food (and taking supplements as well!), a previous study at the USDA Arkansas Childrens Nutrition Center and the University of Arkansas reported that purified forms of extracted anthocyanins from berries may decrease obesity- but oddly, the whole food doesn't produce the same benefits. (That doesn't mean the whole food doesn't have a ton of other benefits, just that the concentrated extract of anthocyanins was able to produce a result in these lab mice that the whole fruit was unable to produce.)

Bottom line: The nutritional components of whole foods- including Resveratrol from grapes, antioxidants from blueberries, and thousands of other plant compounds- work in mysterious ways.

But while science continues to elucidate the ways that whole foods, antioxidants, fiber, phytochemicals and omegas benefit your health and life, it makes an awful lot of sense to keep taking them!