I am pretty certain that we would all like to extend our longevity by a few years if presented with the opportunity. Guess what? This is going to be your opportunity. For as far back as we can imagine; our human ancestors have been searching high and low for some way to live longer – if not achieving total immortality. That is when they were not trying to kill each other off for one reason or another throughout history.
Ponce de Leon may still be haunting the beaches of Florida and sailing around the Caribbean Sea in a ghostly craft looking for that silly elusive pond. Many have tried and all have failed in their attempts to defeat the aging process with one fantasy or elixir after another.
Even in our modern societies we have tried one thing after another to achieve some kind of anti aging success. I swear that you could talk some desperate folks into swinging a dead chicken over their head while skipping rope on one leg if it meant they could rid themselves of one wrinkle!
Yes, people are desperate and will do what it takes to wring a few more years out of their bodies. Billions are spent annually on every type of cream, lotion, injection and surgery one can imagine in the hope it will at least make people LOOK younger. They also buy health supplements and vitamins to try and whip the problem from the inside out. At least they are on the right track with that gamble.
Despite all the false hope man has bought into over the centuries, it appears our generation and the hard work of several before it, have finally made some practical forward movement in the search for human life extension. For the first time in history there is more than potions and poultry idolatry to aid us in maintaining some youthfulness while living longer. Let’s have a look at what the science community of the day has come up with.
Red Wine Impedes The Aging Process
Unless you have been living in a locked closet you have quite likely heard that red wine has many health advantages connected with it. It can lower blood pressure, aid cardiovascular health and puts up a good battle against numerous other diseases – not to mention making it easier to tolerate just about anything. That being said, recent studies have revealed that not only will it benefit your health but ingesting red wine could actually reduce our risk of mortality while slowing down the advancement of age. I’ll have a nice Chianti thank you with a side of extended life expectancy.
Limiting Caloric Intake
We now understand that there are some simple things we can do to live somewhat longer, or at least elevate the odds in our favor. We can lose weight, quit smoking, get more exercise, watch our cholesterol etc. Doing these things may assist you in achieving the life expectancy you were intended to have in the first place. However, calorie restriction has come to the forefront of actual life extension techniques and practices and it is a fairly rudimentary procedure of limiting the number of calories we eat. There are experts who believe that eventually calorie restriction could increase life expectancy by as much as fifty years!
Ah, if it were so simple. The problems begin with the fact that diets for most of us have not gone very well and with this particular plan you need to cut back your food intake by about one third to see any significant impact. Also, it helps if you are a rhesus monkey or lab rat, since there is no human data yet from some basic trials that have commenced. This is a process that has shown amazing results in the lab on organisms and creatures other than humans because, of course, they can be controlled. Try walking past a hot dog cart when you have lived for a month on twelve hundred calories!
Gene Activation – Sirtuin 1
The process of calorie restriction involves activating the Sirtuin 1 gene that is recognized as having some major impact on the sustained survivability of every living cell. When activated, the cells enter into a form of survival where what matters most to them appears to be longevity. These cells are fighting tooth and nail to live longer.
Scientists now know though that caloric restriction is not the only means of activating this Sirtuin 1 gene. Investigations of late have shown that red wine once again comes into play and also has this ability. Red wine has a special ingredient known as resveratrol, this is a form of antibiotic developed in plant life and it has the capability to activate the Sirtuin 1 gene. Who knew drinking red wine would increase your life expectancy? Every time you have a sip of that merlot you are telling your cells to fight on just a bit longer toward perhaps – immortality! Resveratrol is a potent antioxidant that increases your immunity levels while it obviously has a vigorous effect on your DNA.
Letting The Statistics Talk
When the Harvard team of scientists led by Dr. David Sinclair realized that they could extend the life of worms and fruit flies, they began to test small lab rodents to determine if they could replicate their earlier results. The mice were given the tiniest bits of red wine getting sloshed for the betterment of humankind, while Sinclair and his crew were beginning to be compared to those famous for other major medical breakthroughs such as Jonas Salk and his polio vaccine.
After testing mice for one hundred ten weeks feeding them a diet high in fat, the scientists found that the mice who were consuming resveratrol were outliving the ones who were not taking it. Even though the resveratrol mice had eaten the high fat diet there rate of death was only thirty two percent while those without the added resveratrol suffered a mortality rate of fifty percent.
The team decided that this was due to the fact that resveratrol replicates the process of caloric restriction, meaning those who consumed it had the identical benefits of the test subjects who had restricted diets. They concluded that resveratrol triggers the survival mode in the cells, thereby assisting those who take it in living a somewhat extended life span.
But Does It Work In Humans?
The fact that mice lived on average about two years, this made them perfect contributors for the resveratrol investigation. Doing the study in humans who have a life span forty times that of the mice, just were not well suited for it. Consequently, human study of resveratrol has not been conducted in any viable manner. Experts do believe that the results would be very similar in humans as in the mice. They could draw this conclusion because of what was occurring in France.
The people of France are notorious for their poor dietary habits – ingesting high quantities of fat and overdoing it on calories while not getting enough physical activity to offset it. In spite of this lifestyle that would make a cardiac specialist cringe, heart disease is not at all prevalent in French society. The basis for this is due to the heritage of the French that involves great wine consumption. Red wine has been shown as the major variable that separates the French from cardiac crisis. This means the French also have one of the highest life expectancies of all nations, regardless of their bad habits. The fact is that in regions of France where wine is produced, the local populations outlive other French citizens by thirty five to sixty five percent.
How Much Red Wine For Best Results?
Since this discovery has all the potential for positive life extension, the scientific community does not want to be responsible for a new generation of alcoholics! No need to buy red wine by the caseload. The concept here is to drink red wine within moderate levels.
The suggestion from the experts is for people to drink one or two glasses of red wine daily for their resveratrol fix. Resveratrol is affected by the air so the recommendation is to only drink freshly uncorked wine. Skip the white wine if your intent is to get your daily dose of resveratrol, red wine has ten times the amount of resveratrol than white has. The best wines for resveratrol content are those where grapes are grown in specific locations. Cooler climates are best – New York for one – have higher levels of resveratrol than when it is grown in warmer locales – for instance Australia. The red wine with the best resveratrol content is thought to be Pinot Noir.
This discovery is certainly no Fountain of Youth, however it is as close as humans have come since man first stepped out of the sea and straightened up his back. When we stimulated our cells’ survivability while adding loads of antioxidants to safeguard our health, red wine is actually slowing down the speed at which we age. Humans are literally able to maintain their youth and extend their longevity more than they ever could have imagined. The great thing is that resveratrol can also be found in a health supplement as well for the teetotalers’ out there who have a desire to live longer healthier lives.
Wed, Aug 25, 2010
Anti Aging, Bioscience, Immortality, Longevity