Anti Aging and Human Immortality News » Age reversal

Will Human Live Forever In The Future?

Jimmy Eriksson — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 23:02:17 +0000

Woody Allen, an American Director said, “I don’t want to achieve immortality through my work. I want to achieve it by not dying.” In this world that we live in death is considered to be inevitable. It is a spin-off and mindset that must be forgotten. Yet, what would really happen if people had an unlimited time to pursue their work and also be immortals?

Human immortality is currently only a science fiction, and if you were born in the 17th century, than it would be just a fairy tale, as the average life expectancy at that time was only 35 years. Now, the average life-expectancy for a U.S citizen is 78.6 years. In two centuries, the life expectancy has increased more than 100 percent. If this happened concurrently, people would live indefinitely in the near future.

There are different groups of scientists and gerontologists who believe that there is a limit to the potential extension of human lifespan. They say that it is somewhere around 125 years. However, others see the future quite optimistic – a world where centenarians will be walking around with people who are 500 to 1,000 years old The main hinder for an indefinite human lifespan is aging diseases such as cancer, heart disease and dementia. So currently, scientists are focusing on comprehending how to stop the aging process, and how to repair the typical wear and tear occurring in our body.

Scientists have already discovered some proven methods to increase lifespan. For instance, calorie-restriction has successfully increased the lifespan of a few creatures. The calorie restricted diet, consist of lowering calorie consumption by 30 percent and thereafter increasing intake of nutrients. For humans, this diet and eating pattern seem to be very difficult to maintain. So scientists are now trying to properly comprehend the underlining reason why calorie restriction really helps to increase lifespan. Conceiving the pathways could give rise to a potential pill to mimic the effect of the calorie restricted diet.

The advent of new generation of anti-aging pills could help to reduce free radicals; molecules causing accumulative damage to the body. Amidst other potential solutions, resveratrol, which can be found in red wine, acts an ingredient to delay aging through a genetic pathway. Other scientists believe that telomerase, an enzyme which provides protective caps (telomere) to our DNA, holds the secret to human longevity.

There are also thousands of people injecting human growth hormones to try to counteract against the fatal aging process. A train people try their best to miss.

Yet, the challenge of realizing an anti-aging pill is enormous, an experiment that takes a few decades on mice and other animals take roughly 80 years on humans. So any drug to cure aging is decades away from now

Ray Kurzweil, doesn’t want to wait for a 100 years to live longer. According to his so called ‘Singularity’ theory humans and machine will merge together and become one by 2045. Blood and flesh aren’t the strongest material for longevity. If the singularity isn’t going to be realized than other futurists are suggesting the computer back0up system where our brain can be saved into a computer system.

There is a whole legacy of longevity theories and researches conducted, so that we can one day life forever. If we are unable to live until technology permits us to live forever, we can always freeze (cryonize) our body, for future use.

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Reports Show That American’s Life Expectancy Has Prolonged

Jimmy Eriksson — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 13:01:22 +0000

According to a recent report, American is currently living a longer life than previously. Their lifespan has increased from an average of 78.6 years during the year 2009 while as upon 2010, Americans live to 78.7 years.

At the same time the death rate of Americans has experienced a drop of 0.5% in one single year; from 2009 to 2010. The United States death rate has witnessed its lowest rate that it has ever known. In accordance to the recent set of information received from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics, there are 746.2 deaths for every 100,000 persons, which is an extremely low figure.

America has been able to see a decline in its death rate as the nation’s principal killers, cancer and heart diseases, which accounted for 47% of the country’s mortality in the year 2010, have also experienced a decrease. Death due to heart disease decreased by 2.4%, and those linked with cancer went down by 0.6%.

The report has based itself on 98% of death certificates that have been made accessible to the NCHS. Certificates were obtained from the District of Columbia as well as from fifty other states.

Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine’s acting regional chair, Dr. David McClellan, stated that all these statistic is leading to the fact the there is an improvement in the nation’s health; people’s life expectancy has increased and this is great news. However, on the other hand, age-related illnesses are beginning to become more significant.

For example, pneumonitis, also known as aspiration pneumonia usually occurs when a person becomes so old and incapacitated that they are not able to swallow. Dr. David McClellan explained that this could be a result of dementia or even the after effects usually associated with stroke.

He furthermore stated that there is still much to be done regarding the fight against the obesity, smoking epidemic and unbalanced diet as well as insufficient exercise. He is of view that if the outbreak of smoking could at least be brought under control, America death rates would drop even more.

The hematology/oncology’s chairman of Ochsner Health System, located in Baton Rouge, Brooks, is even more optimistic; in his point of view, this is excellent new. Americans are being able to have a better grip on heart diseases and cancer by bringing a decrease in smoking.

Additionally, Brooks said that statins also have a significant role to play in the reduction of mortality toll due to heart disease, whereas cancer screening is proving to be beneficial in saving lives as well.

Minor changes in the positions of other grounds of mortality have also been observed.
Pneumonitis has replaced homicide, which was positioned in the first 15 category since the year 1965.

Influenza/ pneumonia and kidney disease exchanged places. The former is ranked 9th while the latter is in the 8th position.

A serious drop has been seen in influenza and pneumonia. Winthrop University Hospital’s, located in Mineola, New York, chairman of medicine, Dr. Michael Niederman, explained that some time back, they were ranked among the top six most important causes of death.

He views this being truly encouraging as according to him America is currently dealing with an older population which comprises of patients who suffer from pneumonia regularly. However, this confirms the national precedence on vaccination; pneumococcal as well as influenza.

Parkinson’s, hypertension, liver disease, septicemia, suicide, kidney disease, diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease, accidents, stroke and chronic lower respiratory diseases are among the other principal reasons of mortality.

According to Brooks, it is noteworthy that the majority of these illnesses are directly linked to the ageing population.

That is not all, mortality rates also went down for accidents (by 1.1%), respiratory diseases (by 1.4%), stroke (by 1.5%), septicemia (by 3.6%) and pneumonia and influenza (by 8.5 %) .

On the contrary, Parkinson’s disease has increased by 4.6%, cirrhosis and liver disease by 3.3%, pneumonitis by 4.1%, kidney disease by 1.3% and Alzheimer’s disease by 3.3%.
These diseases remain among the five top causes of death.

Between the year 2009 and the year 2010, a decline of 13.3% in the mortality rate of HIV/AIDS was seen. Even though the latter was not found among the fifteen principal killers, it was treated as being a considerable concern, in particular for persons aged between 15 and 64.

Infant death rate also witnessed a decline; it went down by 3.9% as from the year 2009.

Nevertheless, it should be noted that Lenox Hill Hospital’s, preventive cardiologist, Dr. Suzanne Steinbaum, put in a word of caution against being too enthusiastic regarding the findings.

She expressed that while this remains good news, there is no reason to be overjoyed. The high rate in diabetes, obesity, cholesterol, blood pressure, is leading people to start getting sick much younger.

Source: Your Life USA Today

Read: Poor American Longevity Raises Questions

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Paleo diet – One Way To Avoid Diseases

Jimmy Eriksson — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 20:48:23 +0000

People have abandoned the Paleo diet for mass produced food and a sedentary lifestyle. The Paleo diet is also called the caveman diet or Paleolithic diet. In the Hunter-gatherers society, some 2 million years ago, humans consumed natural foods; fish, meat, vegetables, fruits, nuts and eggs. It was a diet low in carbohydrates and high in proteins and animal fats. In such a society, diabetes, cancer and heart disease is believed to have been rare. The modern diet and lifestyle give people exposure to modern diseases.

In fact, it is possible to avoid the usual aging-related disease by simply adopting a healthy lifestyle and diet. Yet, the modern society tempts us to consume junk food and beverages, which are unhealthy. In addition, unhealthy food seems to be cheaper due to the mass production approach used, involving even GM foods. For the economy mass production of food is a good thing, but the real price is being paid by downgraded human health.

Government intervention on the subject of healthy food is highly subjective and distorted. It seems that the state is more interested in poisoning us than curing the food industry.

Facts: Government Promote Unhealthy Food

If we look at the Modern American society, we see more people becoming obese, year on year. Diseases are also distressing younger adults and even in some cases affecting children. This applies to illness such as heart disease and diabetes, not to mention cancer. This is the real case scenario despite that people have more awareness on health than ever before.

In economic terms, it makes sense to subsidize unhealthy food. It will bring profit in various ways; first food becomes cheap, secondly people start falling sick and this is followed by a win-gain position for the medical industry.

Some Examples:

In the past FDA had considered walnuts as being an effective drug, but when Diamond food, Inc provided scientific evidence of the benefits of walnuts on their webpage. The company was forced to remove the information from their webpage, and if they didn’t they would be faced with risk of being out of business. At the same time, FDA permitted Frito Lay to post claims that deep fried carbohydrate-laden chips were healthy. In other words, the stronger your lobbyist is the more likely are you to promote your products.

On Life Extension Legislation, we can find some interesting facts on the support of these FDA legislation.

But we always have choice, Dr. Michael Rose suggests that a hunter-gatherer lifestyle can actually end aging. It helps to prevent most health predicaments; cancer, diabetes and heart disease.

Source: Newsletter – Maximum Life Foundation

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Animals Living Longer Than Expected – The world’s Oldest Dog Died

Jimmy Eriksson — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 00:39:44 +0000

In the end of 2011, the world’s oldest dog, Pusuke died. According to the Guinness Book of records Pusuke was 26 years and 9 months old. For a senior citizen dog, the dog seemed to very health. Living to the age of 26 years is a great achievement, based on statistics only 8 percent of dogs live beyond 15 years. Commonly, it is said that one human calendar year is tantamount to seven dog years. So in other words, Pusuke was 182 dog years.

Is it really possible – Dog 182 years old?

We all know that one human year is equivalent to seven dog years but is it really possible to live to 182 years. Based on reasonable evaluation of gerontology research, we could estimate the real lifespan of Pusuke to have been 100 to 110 years old

for dogs, the physiological and chronological age doesn’t follow a linear relationship. Apparently, young dogs tend to age very fast, while the rate of aging does thereafter slow down in middle age. In late life, the aging process re-accelerates, as for instant:

- A Miniature Poodle is after one calendar year equivalent to 11 dog years old
- A Miniature Poodle is 42 dogs years at middle age, while 14 human years is equivalent to 67 years
- For Great Danes – with shorter lifespan – after one calendar year the dog is 27 years
- Great Danes at 7 years is equivalent to 59 dog years and at 14 years, 98 dog years.

Longevity of Dogs

For mammals such as dogs, their longevity is influenced by various factors such as body weight and breed. Small dogs tend to outlive bigger dogs. This shows that there is an inverse relation between longevity and body weight. This is something that applies uniquely for dogs, as for other mammals the contrary applies.

Researchers Forgot the Cat!

There is less research available on cat age in association to human age. But a Siamese cat is believed to have lived up to 23 years.

Related Articles:

1. Your Dog’s Lifespan Is Determined by Its Personality
2. What Can Human Beings Learn From Dogs Regarding Longevity?

Source: WEB MD

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Telomere a Biomarker That Predicts Longevity of Birds

Jimmy Eriksson — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 18:59:55 +0000

Earlier researches on humans have shown that the length of telomeres determines the potential lifespan of people. The same as has been proven for young zebra Finches (Taeniopygia Guttata). The telomeres are the protective caps (ends) of chromosomes, and the longer the telomere the stronger is the protection of the chromosomes.

Telomeres gives DNA sequences present at the end of chromosomes a protection to sustain cell viability, and also to avoid different chromosomes to mess-up. Several studies have been carried out to comprehend the relation between typical aging and telomere decline. However, no clear evidence has been revealed on humans.

Longevity studies relying on telomere length has commonly been scrutinized only against one to two hallmarks being the lifespan itself of an individual. From University of Glasgow, in UK, ecologist Pat Monaghan and his team found that continuous evaluation of telomere length of zebra Finch’s lifespan clearly showed that the length of telomere were a strong indicator of the lifespan of the bird. The most accurate measures were revealed as per those taken on birds being only 25 days old. The study was recently published in: Proceeding of the National Academy of Sciences.

At the Spanish, national Cancer Research Centre in Madrid, María Blasco says that understanding the importance of telomere length as an indicator of longevity is very important. Basco wasn’t involved in the study but as a Chief Scientific Adviser for a Madrid-based company, life length which advertises for their products; measuring telomere lengths as to find an individual’s ‘biological age’

According to Monaghan, the study doesn’t say that you should go and have your telomeres measured. It will take quite some time makes sure that it has the same effect on long-lived species such as humans.

Early Studies, have constantly linked telomere shortening to accelerated ageing as well as diseases such as Dyskeratosis Congenita. However, researchers have been unable to fully link how telomere length affects normal aging. According to Monaghan, previous studies had the weakness that samples were mainly taken from only one individual rather than periodical samples.

Monaghan selected the Zebra finch which is a small Australian bird with a lifespan in captivity of nine years. The relatively short lifespan of the bird made it possible to have astounding results within a single decade. As for human, a similar study would take decades to complete. Although that mouse has an even shorter lifespan, they aren’t really comparable to humans as species with shorter lifespan doesn’t have sophisticated body maintenance mechanisms.

In the study of the Australian birds, a total of 99 zebra finches was included. The finding concluded that longer telomeres were associated with longer lifespan. Apparently, the link was the strongest for birds who were only 25 days – at 25 days a Zebra Finch is almost fully grown – but reliant on their parents for food. However, for humans, it is difficult to find the comparative age.

Monaghan’s team is now trying to determine the reason why the longest telomere at only 25 days does show a more accurate indication of longevity. Is it inheritance or environmental factors, which influence the length of the telomeres? It has been noted that stress tend to fasten the shortening of telomeres.

According to Baird, the fact that telomere length is linked to longevity doesn’t mean that telomeres are the drivers for the aging process. Telomere might simply be a marketer for cellular aging. There are other factors such as weight of the birds that need to be analyzed, to comprehend how other determinants are also influencing lifespan.

Sources: Nature, PNAS PDF and PNAS

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Studies Suggest – Good Sex Can Increase Your Longevity

Jimmy Eriksson — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 20:22:15 +0000

According to a new research, sex seems to be an important determinant of longevity. In other words, Good Sex Can Increase your Life Expectancy.

A group of research from University of California, San Diego found that good sex can add up to a decade of life expectancy. Satisfying sex can help people in their 80’s to enjoy a high quality of life.

From Stein Institute for Research on Aging at the University of California, San Diego the researchers found that sexual satisfaction for elderly women was highly correlated to successful aging as well as highly quality of life.

This study was released online in the Journal of the American Geriatric Society. The report indicates that quality of life; successful aging and sexual satisfaction were strongly related even in age of 60 to 89 were women experience a decline in physical health.

In the research, 1,235 women who were involved in the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) was scrutinized. WHI has been a major research program sponsored by the National Institute of health since 2003, focusing on finding causes of disability, death, and levels of quality of life for above 160 thousands vigorous post-menopausal women.

In research, groups were stratified into various age groups:

- 60 to 69 years
- 70 to 79 years
- 80 to 89 years

The researchers found at the end of the study that 61 percent of the group aged 80 and above said they had a satisfied sex life.

This same study was given emphasis when published in Indian News, giving various indicators of how sexual life contributes to longevity.

A recent TNN report suggests that regular sex enhance the brain power as well as positive hormone levels of an individual. In addition, orgasm has positive effects to the immune system as well. It strengthens the infection-fighting cells by approximately 20 percent.

Surprisingly, when couple experience orgasms they should hug each other as it facilitate the excretion of oxytocin hormone, which is directly linked to life expectancy.

It is really fascinating, cuddling increase’s people’s longevity, and in addition, being in relation reduces the risk of depression and chronic diseases.

According to the research, cuddling can increase life expectancy by as much as seven years.

Besides, satisfied sex keeps you physically and mentally healthy. It enhances your heart, brain and several hormones.

Men who are involved in at least three or more times of physical relationship in a week have 50 percent less risk of stroke and heart attack.

At any age, sex induces endorphins, which make you feel good and therefore lower stress significantly.

So simply by establishing planned sex a couple can increase their longevity by 2 to more years. Generally, sex is restricted to only night hours, but this need not necessary be so. Couples should enjoy sex whenever they feel the moment is right.

In addition, healthy food is essential for an individual to be able to have an enhanced sexual performance, and therefore, healthy food is directly and indirectly linked to longevity.

If you aren’t used to practice exercise, than sex can help you to boost the blood circulation and to burn some calories. Good sex can provide the same benefit as regular exercises.

So the prescription for planned sex provides the same benefits as regular exercises; 20 minutes of active sex can augment your metabolism and burn 30 calories.

For the case, of women sex does also reduce the risk of osteoporosis problems. Apparently, middle-aged women who have sex weekly have as much as 100 percent stronger protection to bones (Oestrogen levels) in contrast to women who do not have regular sex.

So a balance diet can boost the endurance, and thereafter help to promote satisfied sex experienced, which are pleasurable and at the same time fun.

It is a great strategy to add another decade to your life expectancy; satisfied sex life.

Source: India blooms

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Longevity Research On Fruit Flies Providing Promising Hope For Longevity

Jimmy Eriksson — Sun, 25 Dec 2011 19:47:21 +0000

In a wide range of mammals, caloric restriction has shown significant benefits in delaying or even preventing age-related diseases and aging. Yet, biologists have been struggling to provide a comprehensive explanation behind this magical formula. In a recent study conducted in Sweden, the one enzyme responsible for the health benefit of caloric restriction was revealed – details in Forum or Gizmag. However, an American research group has provided another insight into how calorie restriction works by altering the genes of fruit flies and thereby achieving a 50 percent increase in their lifespan.

Results conducted on fruit flies have been positive. However, whether these results are applicable to long lived species such as humans is still under scrutiny. Let’s first have a better understanding of the fruit flies. It is specie, which has a tremendously short lifespan; from being an egg to become an adult takes only 7 days. The short lifespan of fruit flies have made them a standard prototype of longevity research both for physiology and genetics studies.

A dedicated research team from The University of California, Los Angeles and Salk Institute for Biological studies altered the genes of the intestinal stem cells of the fruit fly (Drosophila Melanogaster). These cells are called dPGC-1, a cell structure present in human’s DNA under the name of PGC-1. The change induced the fruit flies’ intestine with slower aging, and therefore, they enjoyed a 50 percent longer lifespan.

For both mammals and flies, PGC-1 gene cells are responsible for the control of various mitochondria presents in animal’s cells. The mitochondria is considered as being the power plant, as it is where fats and sugar from food are turned into energy used for cellular performance. Earlier studies had shown that calorie-restriction provided animals with more mitochondria. So the scientists made a test to understand what would happen if PGC-1 were given an even higher excess of mitochondria.

Genetic engineering methods were used to make the Fruit flies’ PGC-1 gene alike to organisms that were under calorie restriction diets. In other words, the volume of mitochondria and energy in cells were increased. The effect after increasing the speed of the stem and progenitor cells of the fruit flies’ intestine was that the intestinal tissues experienced a better response mechanism and therefore, cells became healthier as well as the fruit flies lived longer.

In correlation to the level of genetic engineering induced to the fruit flies, their lifespan was extended by 20 to 50 percent in comparison to a normal fruit fly.

The scientists suggest that the PGC-1 can act as a potential biological tool to delay aging, and it would be possible to develop drug and therapies targeting this age-brake. According to, the team, the theory is that when dPGC-1 was boosted with mitochondria, the stem cell was stimulated to energize intestinal tissues and therefore, ensuring healthier intestines for the fruit flies.

According to Leanne Jones who is an associate professor at Salk’s laboratory of Genetics as well as the lead researcher of the project, delaying aging of crucial single organ such as for the current experiment the intestine can have significant benefits on overall longevity and health. For example, in case of disease, it might be essential to emphasis on having particular organs healthy and in this case, PGC-1 might be the pathway.

The complete research is available in November’s Cell Metabolism and at University of California, Los Angles and Salk Institute for Biological Studies.

Source: Gizmag, Salk Institute, Cell Metabolism and University of California.

Bioscience, Health And Aging, Stem cells

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Research Estimates Suggest That U.S Presidents Live Longer Than Other Men

Jimmy Eriksson — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 17:36:40 +0000

Is it true that U.S. President experiences an accelerated aging while occupying the white house?

According to Dr. Michael Roizen, U.S President age twice as fast as typical American men. Roizen is sure about his finding, as a top graduated student in his UC San Francisco Medical School class as well at Harvard Hospital. He has also edited six medical journals and do actually occupy the post as chairmen at the Well Institute at the prestigious Cleveland Clinic.

Most of his calculations are explained on the site he founded together with Dr. Mehmet Oz; RealAge (www.realage.com). ndar year isn’t always tantamount to the annual wear and tear of all human bodies. For example, Dr. Roizen is currently 65 years based on the calendar year. However, RealAge estimates his age to be 43.8 (Dec, 2011)

Roizen applied the same mental models used to estimate his age to that of the 20th century presidents (Including George W. Bush as well as President Obama’s Inauguration). In an interview with ‘CNN’, he said that an individual does in generally age one year in a calendar year. Yet, a president tends to age two years for every single year that they occupy the office.

The fact that presidents are faced with an accelerated aging process was mentioned again in CBS News on Obama’s 50th birthday in August 2011..

Professor S. Jay Olshansky who is a sociologist from the University of Illinois at Chicago’s school of Public Health as well as well-known research from the University of Chicago’s Center of Aging found these publications interesting. Olshansky is currently researching limits of human longevity, in line with policy as well as health consequences.

So Olshansky reviewed the information provided by Roizen and provided a new evaluation of how fast presidents really age in America.

In order to establish an accurate set of date, he found the age of the presidents on the day of inauguration to the office. Then evaluate the aging schedule up to the cause of death. Of course, presidents who were killed were not taking into consideration in the study. On the basis of the age at inauguration to the office, the ‘life tables provided from the Social Security Administration’ was used to estimate the remaining life expectancy of presidents. Example for president, who served the office in the period 1700 as well as 1800s, the French Human Mortality Database was used as no particular records were available for U.S at that time. However, he altered the life expectancy figures for presidents by removing two days of the potential remaining lifespan of the presidents as per every one day spent in the White House.

There were 34 presidents who actually deceased from natural causes. Out of the 34, 23 of the presidents lived longer than the altered life expectancy (alteration accounting for accelerated aging). The average age at death was 67 years base on calculation while, in reality, the average lifespan was 78 years. Yet 11 presidents died earlier than the average life-expectancy of 67.8 years they died at the age of 62.1 years.

The whole study was published in the Journal of the American Medical Associate

Olshansky noted that 60 percent of the U.S presidents lived longer than was expected. In addition, most of the presidents alive today had already or were likely to live beyond the predicted lifespan.

According to Olshansky, there are two particular reasons, which can explain why U.S presidents live longer than their estimated longevity:

1. To become president, all the men in the study had already lived the most dangerous years of life.

2. All except 10 presidents have other factors contributing longevity such as wealth, college education and access to quality medical care.

As a conclusion, Orshansky said that the greying of hair and the appearance of wrinkles on the skin of Presidents is simply something that comes with aging. This study suggests that presidents do only appear to age faster as they do not necessary experience a shorter life.

Source: La Times

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Cacao Positive Effect on Human Longevity – No Known Side Effect

Jimmy Eriksson — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 14:35:21 +0000

Typical antioxidants and dark chocolate are found in raw cacao. Consuming this source of fresh chocolate source of antioxidant contains:

1. Oligomeric Procynanidins
2. Resveratrol
3. Polyphenols
4. Catechin
5. Epicatechin
6. Vitamin C
7. Omega 6 fatty acids – if heated it will turn into rancid and become a source of inflammation
8. Phenethylamine – PEA a the neurotransimitter associated to love
9. Serotonin
10. Tryptophan – A amino acid which people who consume cooked food usually lack.

Typical chocolate bars have some rather negative attirubtes such as causing diabetes, weight gain and cavities. These side-effects are commonly linked with the fillers used in the mixture of dark chocolate like sugar and diary. On the other hand, when chocolate is in its initial form (raw cocao beans, nibs and beans) the health benefits are weight loss ( coumarin and chromium initiate this effect), avoids cavities (Theobromine eliminates streptococci mutans one of the bacteria that produces tooth decay) as well as control blood sugar (done by chromium) which is is positive for diabetics. It should be noted that raw cacao has positive benefits to the the cardiovascular system as well.

One of the best sources of magnesium is cacao, and this is also known to be the mineral that is insufficient in modern diets. Magnesium has several benefits. It enhances peristalsis in the bowels, relaxes muscles and softens the cardiovascular system. In a series of studies, it has been proven that dark chocolate does dissolve plaques that are formed in the arteries. This process does literally help to avoid heart disease and does naturally regulate the blood pressure.

Dark chocolate does still have several health benefits but the intensity of antioxidants like chatechins, epichatehins, procyanidins and resveratrol are much higher in raw chocolate nibs.

Raw chocolate is the highest source of antioxidant amidst food available. In the list of other foods that are rich in antioxidants we have red wine, blueberries, and green tea. There are also spices and herbs such as cinnamon and chaga mushrooms that have a high level of antioxidant as well. Consuming varied type of antioxidants targets specific parts of the body.

Based on a phyto-chemical analysis of typical cacao beans; it is found that raw chocolate might be the most chemically complex food components on the planet. Unfortunately, in the cooking process antioxidants are degraded.

For Longevity in each diet the below component should be present:
1. Anandamide – a neurotransmitter which activates feeling of ‘bliss’
2. Serontonin – protects one against stress by inducing good feelings
3. Dopamine – a neurotransmitter good for pleasure and motivation
4. MAO Inhibitors – avoids side-effects of dopamine and serotonin
5. Coumarin – regulates blood, acts as an appetite suppressant and contains anti-tumor properties.
6. Asparaginase – An enzyme containing anti-leukemia attributes
7. Ergosterol – a product of Vitamin D
8. Sitosterol – Reduces LDL cholesterol

The compact intensity of nutrients in raw cacao supports proper functioning of the body. In addition, it is the best source of chromium and magnesium. Most human suffer from magnesium deficiency so raw cacao is an important ingredient to consume.

The list below shows other antioxidants in cacao:

1. Vitamin A
2. Vitamin B (1, 2, 3, 5 and 6)
3. Vitamin C
4. Magnesium
5. Vitamin E
6. Copper
7. Manganese
8. Calcium
9. Zinc
10. Iron
11. Sulphur
12. Phosphorus
13. Chromium
14. Omega 6 Fatty Acids
15. Amino Acids
16. Saturated Fats
17. Carbohydrates
18. Enzymes – such as lipase, catalyse and amylase
19. Soluble fiber
20. Phytonutrients

Source: Secret Of Longevity -

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Does Vitamins Promise A Longer Life or Only an Empty Purse?

Jimmy Eriksson — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 22:57:04 +0000

A study carried out by University of Minnesota suggests that multi-vitamins don’t increase longevity of women. The Iowa Women Health study which began in 1986 was conducted over a period of 19 years involving above 38,000 women aged on average 62. This study said that multi-vitamins increase the risk of death. Yet another study financed by the National Cancer Institute found that frequent intake of Vitamin E will heighten the risk of prostate cancer for men.

So does multi-vitamin really increase longevity? This is a still a debatable area and various studies produce different results.

In a review published in, ‘The New York Times’ in 2009 found after comparing various researches that supplement or vitamins did neither prevent chronic disease nor extend human lifespan.

A ‘Copenhagen University study’ which reviewed 815 different clinical trials related to the advantages of Vitamins A, E, and C, selenium and beta-carotene found no real benefits of taking such supplements. The research revealed that consuming these vitamins tended to raise the risk of death rather than longevity.

In addition, on a site called ‘Insider-medicine’ a study of a meta-analysis of 67 randomly selected clinical trials with above 200,000 participants suggested that consuming vitamins had no conclusive benefit to longevity.

Fascinating as it is, studies that are financed by pharmaceutical companies tend to reveal only the positive side of supplements and vitamins. In other words, those studies are or only good for the readers and not the users.

The fact that several studies report the same conclusion; supplements do not necessary promote longevity, gives us a doubtful trust on vitamins. Furthermore, there is a wide range of recognised institution that claims that supplements have only a minor positive effect. This makes us confused as it is contrary to our common belief.

So Does Vitamin Only Deplete Our Bank Balance?

On general people spend $75 a month of supplements and vitamins. However, this might end up being a waste of money. So why not reduce spending to $50 and the accumulative cash saving will be as much as $22k in 25 years. Instead of having consuming vitamin to live longer, save some of the money, and you will have a nice retirement pension.

There is a general belief that poor diets can be replaced with high intake of vitamins. However, the only solution to poor diets seems to be a good diet. People should consume vegetables, lean protein, fats and fresh fruits.

Nevertheless, the fact that some studies say that vitamins and supplements aren’t good for longevity doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t consume them for medical conditions. For instance, men suffering from prostate cancer should consume various vitamins. A generalist is likely going to suggest some vitamins with some new lifestyle activities.

In America, the annual expenditure on vitamins and supplements is $23 billion.

Source: CBS News

Anti Aging, Longevity

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