Can Foods Actually Reverse Aging?

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Can Foods Actually Reverse Aging?

 

by the WholeHealthMD Advisor

 

 

Balance, coordination, and short-term memory are some of the things we begin to

lose as we age.

Amazingly, a new study suggests we can not only slow, but perhaps actually

reverse, these signs of aging with a simple food: the blueberry.

 

Although the study was done on rats, these animals are close enough to people in

genetic makeup for scientists to be excited by the results.

 

Anti-Aging Antioxidants

The study, published in the Journal of Neuroscience (9/15/99), was done by

researchers at the U.S. Agriculture Department's Human Nutrition Research Center

on Aging at Tufts University in Boston.

 

The Tufts team separated 40 rats into four groups: those fed blueberry, spinach,

or strawberry extracts and a control group that didn't receive a supplement.

 

Blueberries, spinach, and strawberries were studied because they are high in

antioxidants (some of which give these foods their distinctive colors).

 

Other studies have shown that antioxidant-rich foods may lower your risk of

cancer and heart disease and perhaps slow aging by neutralizing naturally

occurring molecules called free radicals.

 

In excess, free radicals can harm cells. The process, called oxidative stress,

is also implicated in the development of many degenerative diseases, such as

Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.

 

" As you age you either have more free radicals or fewer antioxidants, or a

combination of these, " says study coauthor Dr. Barbara Shukitt-Hale, Ph.D. " So

you need antioxidants to quench these free radicals. "

 

Antioxidants appear to make cell membranes more fluid, which, among other

things, eases the flow of nutrients into and out of cells.

 

Balance Beam-

 

All three foods--blueberries, spinach, and strawberries--improved short-term

memory, as assessed by the animals' ability to navigate a maze. However, only

blueberries enhanced balance and coordination as well.

 

It is known that rats begin to lose motor skills at age 12 months, and by 19

months their ability to maintain their balance on a narrow rod has declined from

a peak of 13 seconds to 5 seconds. In previous studies, antioxidants slowed

aging when rats were fed dietary supplements at age six months.

 

In this most recent study, the rats were fed the blueberries at 19 months, the

equivalent of ages 65 to 70 in humans. After eight weeks, the blueberry-fed

rats' rod balancing skills actually increased--from five to 11 seconds,

suggesting an age-reversing benefit.

 

Better Than Blueberries

The researchers aren't sure which specific compounds in blueberries give them

their punch, but they suspect that other foods may provide age-reversing

benefits.

 

Prunes and kale, for instance, are also extremely high in antioxidants but have

not yet been tested. The Tufts center is also sponsoring studies on vitamin E,

aspirin, and B vitamins.

 

Suggested dose: Further studies in people are needed. Still, according to Dr.

Shukitt-Hale, just half a cup of blueberries may help keep our mental and motor

skills sharp.

 

 

Can I Take a Pill?

Although this study used a specially prepared blueberry extract, no blueberry

supplements or extracts are on the market yet.

 

A suitable alternative may be bilberry (40 mg 3 times a day), a European

relative of the American blueberry.

 

Choose a bilberry extract standardized to contain 25% anthocyanosides--potent

antioxidants found in the fruit.

 

Date Posted: 01/15/2000

_________________

 

JoAnn Guest

mrsjoguest

DietaryTipsForHBP

http://www.geocities.com/mrsjoguest

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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