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Nutrition

A large body of evidence supports the notion that incorrect or insufficient nutrition contributes to disease development. 

A pivotal goal is thus to understand what exactly is appropriate and what is inappropriate in food ingestion and the consequent nutritional status and health. 

The effective application of these concepts requires the translation of scientific information into practical approaches that have a tangible and measurable impact at both individual and population levels. 

The agenda for the future is expected to support available methodology in nutrition research to personalize guideline recommendations, properly grading the quality of the available evidence, promoting adherence to the wellestablished evidence hierarchy in nutrition, and enhancing strategies for appropriate vetting and transparent reporting that will solidify the recommendations for health promotion. 

The final goal is to build a constructive coalition among scientists, policy makers, and communication professionals for sustainable health and nutritional policies. Currently, a strong rationale and available data support a personalized dietary approach according to personal variables, including sex and age, circulating metabolic biomarkers, food quality and intake frequency, lifestyle variables such as physical activity, and environmental variables including one’s microbiome profile. 

There is a strong and urgent need to develop a successful commitment among all the stakeholders to define novel and sustainable approaches toward the management of the health value of nutrition at individual and population levels. Moving forward requires adherence to well-established principles of evidence evaluation as well as identification of effective tools to obtain better quality evidence. Much remains to be done in the near future. 

Adv Nutr 2017;8:532–45.

Diet and stroke

Background:

Stroke is one of the leading causes of death and certainly the major cause of disability in the world. Diet and nutrient has an effective role in prevention and control of the risk of stroke. The aim of this study was to review the studies on the relationship between dietary intake and stroke incidence.

Methods:

In this study, the terms of “Fat”, “cholesterol”, “antioxidant”, “vitamins”, “salt”, “potassium”, “calcium”, “carbohydrate”, “vegetables”, “fruits”, “meat”, “tea”, “whole grains”, “sugar-sweetened beverages”, “Mediterranean diet”, “dietary approaches to stop hypertension diet (DASH diet)”, “Western diet”, and “stroke” were searched in Pubmed search engine. The observational studies, cohort studies, clinical trial studies, systemic review, and meta-analysis reviews are also included in this study.

Results:

The study revealed that adherence to theimprovements in nutrition and diet canreducethe incidence ofstroke. Higher antioxidant, vitamins, potassium, calcium, vegetables, fruits, whole grain intake, and adherence to the Mediterranean dietor DASH diet can lower stroke incidence.

Conclusions:

Adherence to Mediterranean diet or DASH diet and increasing the consumption of antioxidant, vitamins, potassium, calcium food sources, vegetables, fruits, and whole grains intake can lower the risk of stroke. Healthy diet is effective in reducing risk of stroke, however, more studies need to be carried out in this area.

Source: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3678213/

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Adjust your diet to reduce risk of stroke

A healthy diet can reduce your risk for acquiring medical conditions such as hypertension (high blood pressure), diabetes, high lipid levels, coronary artery disease and obesity. All of these conditions can increase your chance of getting a stroke. Your age, sex, current weight, distribution of body fat, eating habits and fitness level also influence your risk.

Factors that tend to increase blood pressure

• Being overweight
• Lack of exercise
• Stress
• Smoking
• Low intake of some minerals, such as calcium and potassium
• High intake of sodium

To lower your risk of stroke, follow these guidelines:

• Eat a variety of foods.
• Maintain a healthy weight by balancing the calories you eat with physical activity.
• Choose more whole grains, vegetables and fruits.
• Choose foods low in fat, saturated fat and cholesterol.
• Choose foods with moderate amounts of added sugar.
• Choose foods with moderate amounts of salt and sodium.
• If you drink alcoholic beverages, do so in moderation.

Practical tips for getting started on a healthier diet and lifestyle:

• Be realistic: Make one or two small changes every month and stick to them.
• Be adventurous: Expand your tastes and try a greater variety of foods.
• Be flexible: Balance what you eat and your physical activity over several days.
• Be sensible: Enjoy all foods; just don't overdo it.
• Be active: Walk the dog; don't just watch the dog walk!

Seek assistance from a registered dietitian (R.D.) to help guide you in making these significant lifestyle changes toward healthier eating.

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Healthy diet

• Eat a diet rich in vegetables and fruits.
• Choose whole-grain, high-fiber foods.
• Eat fish at least twice a week.
• Limit saturated fat and trans fat. Avoiding partially hydrogenated oils will reduce trans fats.
• Choose lean meats and poultry, and prepare them without using saturated or trans fats.
• Select low-fat dairy products.
• Cut back on drinks and foods with added sugars. The AHA recommends that no more than half of your discretionary calories should come from added sugars. For most American women, the discretionary calorie allowance is no more than 100 calories and no more than 150 calories for men.
• Choose and prepare foods with little salt (sodium).The AHA recommends consuming less than 1500 mg of sodium a day.
• If you drink alcohol, do so in moderation. Limit yourself to one drink per day if you’re a non-pregnant woman or two drinks if you’re a man.
• Read our full dietary guidelines for more information.
• Get tips for dining out.
• Prepare healthy recipes at home — try one of our free recipes tonight.
• Find more nutrition resources including how to read food labels in our nutrition center.

o Get the Nutrition You Need

Some stroke survivors have a loss of appetite. For others, eating may be difficult due to swallowing problems or limited hand or arm movement. In any case, talk to your healthcare team to make sure you’re getting the nutrition you need. To make eating a little easier again, try these steps:

• Choose healthy foods with stronger flavors, such as broiled fish and citrus fruits. Also, spices add flavor to food and serve as a good substitute for salt.
• Choose colorful, visually appealing foods, such as salmon, carrots and dark green vegetables.
• Cut foods into small pieces to make them easier to chew.
• Pick softer, easier-to-chew foods, such as yogurt, bananas, whole-grain hot cereals and low sodium soups.
• If you have trouble swallowing, talk to your speech therapist or doctor. This condition can be treated.
• If weakness in arms or hands is a problem, you might try adaptive eating utensils. Some types of flatware have thicker handles that are easier to hold, and “rocker knives” make it possible to cut food using one hand.

Making Mealtime Easier

When stroke survivors have lost their appetites, caregivers can help by:

• Sharing meals with the survivor at regular times during the day.
• Setting a leisurely pace for the meal.
• Serving foods that the survivor wants.
• Encouraging healthy snacks or small meals throughout the day.
• Reducing distractions during meals.
• Watching for any problems the survivor may have with chewing or swallowing.

Food For ThoughtA heart-healthy diet is also good for your brain. Learn why.

Cooking for Health What you eat and how you prepare it can help reduce your risk of stroke and heart disease. The right diet can help improve your cholesterol levels and blood pressure and can help you feel better and have more energy.

Nourishing Good Eating Habits (PDF)
For many stroke survivors, loss of appetite is a common problem. Even when appetite isn't affected, other challenges can make getting the proper nutrition seem like a chore. But a healthy diet is an important part of recovery, and it helps reduce the risk of another stroke.

Heart-Healthy Grocery Shopping Made Simple
Look for the Heart-Check mark to find heart-healthy foods in the grocery store or when dining out. Products bearing the Heart-Check mark have been certified to meet program nutrition requirements and can be part of an overall healthy eating pattern.

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Healthy diet after stroke

Eating a healthy diet can reduce your risk of having another stroke. Eating a diet low in fat and salt and high in fruits and vegetables reduces the risk factors for another stroke like high cholesterol, high blood pressure, being overweight and diabetes. There may also be foods that interact with new medications you are taking after a stroke requiring you to avoid them.

After a stroke, there is a higher risk of poor nutrition (not getting enough nutrients through eating or drinking). This can mean you lose weight which may slow down your recovery. Poor nutrition can be due to:

• Swallowing problems (called dysphagia).
• Problems with arm/hand movements (for example, using a knife and fork).
• Problems with memory and thinking (for example, forgetting to eat).
• Loss of appetite (not feeling hungry).

Because no one food can provide your body with all the nutrients you need for good health, it is important to eat a variety of healthy foods every day.

• Fruits and Vegetables. You should eat plenty of fruits and vegetable, between 5-7 servings per day.
• Grains. Whole grain breads and cereals contain fiber and vitamins. They may reduce the risk of stroke. It is recommended that 2-4 small servings of whole grain daily.
• Lean protein. Limiting the amount of cholesterol you eat is another important step in reducing the risk of another stroke. Choose low-fat meats or other protein sources for 2 small servings per day.
• Limit salt. Eating too much salt/sodium may cause you to retain water and raise your blood pressure. Cut down on sodium by: using herbs and spices for flavoring; limiting processed and snack foods; not adding extra salt at the table; and reading labels and avoiding foods with high sodium content.

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Myths

1. Eggs Are Unhealthy

There’s one thing that nutrition professionals have had remarkable success with… and that is demonizing incredibly healthy foods. The worst example of that is eggs, which happen to contain a large amount of cholesterol and were therefore considered to increase the risk of heart disease.

But recently it has been proven that the cholesterol in the diet doesn’t really raise the cholesterol in blood. In fact, eggs primarily raise the “good” cholesterol and are NOT associated with increased risk of heart disease (1, 2).

What we’re left with is one of the most nutritious foods on the planet. They’re high in all sorts of nutrients along with unique antioxidants that protect our eyes (3). To top it all of, despite being a “high fat” food, eating eggs for breakfast is proven to cause significant weight loss compared to bagels for breakfast (4,5).

Bottom Line: Eggs do not cause heart disease and are among the most nutritious foods on the planet. Eggs for breakfast can help you lose weight.

2. Saturated Fat is Bad For You

A few decades ago it was decided that the epidemic of heart disease was caused by eating too much fat, in particular saturated fat. This was based on highly flawed studies and political decisions that have now been proven to be completely wrong.

A massive review article published in 2010 looked at 21 prospective epidemiological studies with a total of 347.747 subjects. Their results: absolutely no association between saturated fat and heart disease (6).

The idea that saturated fat raised the risk of heart disease was an unproven theory that somehow became conventional wisdom (7). Eating saturated fat raises the amount of HDL (the “good”) cholesterol in the blood and changes the LDL from small, dense LDL (very bad) to Large LDL, which is benign (8, 9).

Meat, coconut oil, cheese, butter… there is absolutely no reason to fear these foods.

Bottom Line: Newer studies have proven that saturated fat does not cause heart disease. Natural foods that are high in saturated fat are good for you.

3. Everybody Should be Eating Grains

The idea that humans should be basing their diets on grains has never made sense to me. The agricultural revolution happened fairly recently in human evolutionary history and our genes haven’t changed that much.

Grains are fairly low in nutrients compared to other real foods like vegetables. They are also rich in a substance called phytic acid which binds essential minerals in the intestine and prevents them from being absorbed (10).

The most common grain in the western diet, by far, is wheat… and wheat can cause a host of health problems, both minor and serious. Modern wheat contains a large amount of a protein called gluten, but there is evidence that a significant portion of the population may be sensitive to it (11, 12, 13).

Eating gluten can damage the intestinal lining, cause pain, bloating, stool inconsistency and tiredness (14, 15). Gluten consumption has also been associated with schizophrenia and cerebellar ataxia, both serious disorders of the brain (16, 17).

Bottom Line: Grains are relatively low in nutrients compared to other real foods like vegetables. The gluten grains in particular may lead to a variety of health problems.

4. Eating a Lot of Protein is Bad For Your Bones and Kidneys

A high protein diet has been claimed to cause both osteoporosis and kidney disease.

It is true that eating protein increases calcium excretion from the bones in the short term, but the long term studies actually show the opposite effect.

In the long term, protein has a strong association with improved bone health and a lower risk of fracture (18, 19). Additionally, studies don’t show any association of high protein with kidney disease in otherwise healthy people (20, 21).

In fact, two of the main risk factors for kidney failure are diabetes and high blood pressure. Eating a high protein diet improves both (22, 23). If anything, a high protein diet should be protective against osteoporosis and kidney failure!

Bottom Line: Eating a high protein diet is associated with improved bone health and a lower risk of fracture. High protein also lowers blood pressure and improves diabetes symptoms, which should lower the risk of kidney failure.

5. Low-Fat Foods Are Good For You

Do you know what regular food tastes like when all the fat has been taken out of it? Well, it tastes like cardboard. No one would want to eat it.

The food manufacturers know this and therefore they add other things to compensate for the lack of fat. Usually these are sweeteners… sugar, high fructose corn syrup or artificial sweeteners like aspartame.

We’ll get to the sugar in a moment, but I’d like to point out that even though artificial sweeteners don’t have calories, the evidence does NOT suggest that they are better for you than sugar.

In fact, many observational studies show a consistent, highly significant association with various diseases like obesity, metabolic syndrome, diabetes, heart disease, premature delivery and depression (24, 25, 26).

In these low-fat products, healthy natural fats are being replaced with substances that are extremely harmful.

Bottom Line: Low-fat foods are usually highly processed products loaded with sugar, corn syrup or artificial sweeteners. They are extremely unhealthy.

6. You Should Eat Many Small Meals Throughout The Day

The idea that you should eat many small meals throughout the day in order to “keep metabolism high” is a persistent myth that doesn’t make any sense.

It is true that eating raises your metabolism slightly while you’re digesting the meal, but it’s the total amount of food that determines the energy used, NOT the number of meals.

This has actually been put to the test and refuted multiple times. Controlled studies where one group eats many small meals and the other the same amount of food in fewer meals show that there is literally no difference between the two (27, 28). In fact, one study in obese men revealed that eating 6 meals per day led to less feelings of fullness compared to 3 meals (29).

Not only is eating so often practically useless for most of the people out there, it may even be harmful. It is not natural for the human body to be constantly in the fed state. In nature, we used to fast from time to time and we didn’t eat nearly as often as we do today.

When we don’t eat for a while, a cellular process called autophagy cleans waste products out of our cells (30). Fasting or not eating from time to time is good for you. Several observational studies show a drastically increased risk of colon cancer (4th most common cause of cancer death), numbers going as high as a 90% increase for those who eat 4 meals per day compared to 2 (31, 32, 33).

Bottom Line: There is no evidence that eating many small meals throughout the day is better than fewer, bigger meals. Not eating from time to time is good for you. Increased meal frequency is associated with colon cancer.

7. Carbs Should Be Your Biggest Source of Calories

The mainstream view is that everyone should eat a low-fat diet, with carbs being around 50-60% of total calories. This sort of diet contains a lot of grains and sugars, with very small amounts of fatty foods like meat and eggs. This type of diet may work well for some people, especially those who are naturally lean.

But for those who are obese, have the metabolic syndrome or diabetes, this amount of carbohydrates is downright dangerous. This has actually been studied extensively. A low-fat, high-carb diet has been compared to a low-carb, high-fat diet in multiple randomized controlled trials.

The results are consistently in favor of low-carb, high-fat diets (34, 35, 36).

Bottom Line: The low-fat, high-carb diet is a miserable failure and has been proven repeatedly to be vastly inferior to lower-carb, higher-fat diets.

8. High Omega-6 Seed and Vegetable Oils Are Good For You

Polyunsaturated fats are considered healthy because some studies show that they lower your risk of heart disease.

But there are many types of polyunsaturated fats and they are not all the same. Most importantly, we have both Omega-3 fatty acids and Omega-6 fatty acids.

Omega-3s are anti-inflammatory and lower your risk of many diseases related to inflammation (37). Humans actually need to get Omega-6s and Omega-3s in a certain ratio. If the ratio is too high in favor of Omega-6, it can cause problems (38).

By far the biggest sources of Omega-6 in the modern diet are processed seed and vegetable oils like soybean, corn and sunflower oils. Throughout evolution, humans never had access to such an abundance of Omega-6 fats. It is unnatural for the human body.

Research that specifically looks at Omega-6 fatty acids instead of polyunsaturated fats in general shows that they actually increase the risk of heart disease (39, 40). Eat your Omega-3s and consider supplementing with cod fish liver oil, but avoid the industrial seed and vegetable oils.

Bottom Line: Humans need to get Omega-6 and Omega-3 fats in a certain ratio. Eating excess Omega-6 from seed oils raises your risk of disease.

9. Low Carb Diets Are Dangerous

I personally believe low-carb diets to be a potential cure for many of the most common health problems in western nations.

The low-fat diet peddled all around the world is fairly useless against many of these diseases. It simply does not work.

However, low-carb diets (demonized by nutritionists and the media) have repeatedly been shown to lead to much better outcomes.

Every randomized controlled trial on low-carb diets shows that they:

1. Reduce body fat more than calorie-restricted low-fat diets, even though the low-carb dieters are allowed to eat as much as they want (41, 42).
2. Lower blood pressure significantly (43, 44).
3. Lower blood sugar and improve symptoms of diabetes much more than low-fat diets (45, 46, 47, 48).
4. Increase HDL (the good) cholesterol much more (49, 50).
5. Lower triglycerides much more than low-fat diets (51, 52, 53).
6. Change the pattern of LDL (bad) cholesterol from small, dense (very bad) to Large LDL, which is benign (54, 55).
7. Low carb diets are also easier to stick to, probably because they don’t require you to restrict calories and be hungry all the time. More people in the low-carb groups make it to the end of the studies (56, 57).

Many of the health professionals that are supposed to have our best interest in mind have the audacity to claim that these diets are dangerous, then continue to peddle their failed low-fat dogma that is hurting more people than it helps.

Bottom Line: Low-carb diets are the healthiest, easiest and most effective way to lose weight and reverse metabolic disease. It is a scientific fact.

10. Sugar is Unhealthy Because it Contains “Empty” Calories

It is commonly believed that sugar is bad for you because it contains empty calories. It’s true, sugar has a lot of calories with no essential nutrients. But that is just the tip of the iceberg.

Sugar, primarily because of its high fructose content, affects metabolism in a way that sets us up for rapid fat gain and metabolic disease. Fructose gets metabolized by the liver and turned into fat which is secreted into the blood as VLDL particles. This leads to elevated triglycerides and cholesterol (58, 59).

It also causes resistance to the hormones insulin and leptin, which is a stepping stone towards obesity, metabolic syndrome and diabetes (60, 61).

This is just to name a few. Sugar causes a relentless biochemical drive for humans to eat more and get fat. It is probably the single worst ingredient in the standard western diet.

Bottom Line: The harmful effects of sugar go way beyond empty calories. Sugar wreaks havoc on our metabolism and sets us up for weight gain and many serious diseases.

11. High Fat Foods Will Make You Fat

It seems kind of intuitive that eating fat would make you get fat. The stuff that is gathering under our skin and making us look soft and puffy is fat. So… eating fat should give our bodies even more of it.

But it isn’t that simple. Despite fat having more calories per gram than carbohydrate or protein, high-fat diets do not make people fat. As with anything, this depends on the context. A diet that is high in fat AND high in carbs will make you fat, but it’s NOT because of the fat.

In fact, diets that are high in fat (and low in carbs) cause much greater fat loss than diets that are low in fat (62, 63, 64).

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Nutrition and Longevity

One Way Nutrition Affects Longevity

For example, in one recent studyi, scientists found that the B vitamin folate plays an important part in maintenance of DNA integrity and DNA methylation, which in turn influences telomere length.

Researchers also found that women who use vitamin B12 supplements have longer telomeres than those who don't. Vitamin D3, zinc, iron, omega-3 fatty acids, and vitamins C and E also influence telomere length. This supports the findings of an earlier study from 2009, which provided the first epidemiologic evidence that the use of multivitamins by women is associated with longer telomeres.ii According to the authors:

"Compared with nonusers, the relative telomere length of leukocyte DNA was on average 5.1% longer among daily multivitamin users. In the analysis of micronutrients, higher intakes of vitamins C and E from foods were each associated with longer telomeres, even after adjustment for multivitamin use."

The mechanism by which nutrients appear to affect telomere length is by influencing the activity of telomerase, an enzyme that adds the telomeric repeats to the ends of your DNA. Thousands of studies have been published on telomerase, and they are well-known to maintain genomic stability, prevent the inappropriate activation of DNA damage pathways, and regulate cellular aging.

In 1984, Elizabeth Blackburn PhD, professor of biochemistry and biophysics at UCSF, discovered that the enzyme telomerase actually has the ability to lengthen the telomere by synthesizing DNA from an RNA primer. She, along with Carol Greider and Jack Szostak were jointly awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2009 "for the discovery of how chromosomes are protected by telomeres and the enzyme telomerase."

The Science of Growing Younger

I believe the science of telomeres offers the most exciting and viable possibility for extreme life extension—the kind of anti-aging strategy that can actually allow you to regenerate and in effect "grow younger." Naturally, researchers are hard at work devising pharmaceutical strategies to accomplish this, but there's solid evidence that simple lifestyle strategies and nutritional intervention can do this too. This is great news, as short telomeres are a risk factor not just for death itself, but for many diseases as well.

For example, telomere shortening has been linked to the diseases listed below. But animal studies have also shown that these types of health problems can be reversed by restoring telomerase functioning:

Decreased immune response against infections	Type 2 diabetes	Atherosclerotic lesions
Neurodegenerative diseases	Testicular, splenic, intestinal atrophy	DNA damage

Top 12 Key Nutrients for Life Extension

The featured study found the following nutrients to have a beneficial impact on telomere length:

Vitamin B12	Zinc	Vitamin D
Omega-3	Vitamin C	Vitamin E

Below, I will review a few of those, plus several additional recommendations for what I believe are among the most important nutrients to maintain and promote telomere lengthening.

Naturally, any attempt at a list like this is bound to fail to some degree as we really need a balance of a wide variety of nutrients. However, I believe it's possible to make some general recommendations based on the fact that most people are sorely deficient in many of these key nutrients that we know are important for optimal health. Others, such as astaxanthin and curcumin, just have such robust scientific support that it would seem foolish to ignore them when the benefits are so profound. With that said, here are my recommendations for the top 12 anti-aging nutrients, followed by two bonus strategies that do not involve taking supplements that can also help radically increase your lifespan by protecting your telomeres.

I have listed the 12 nutrients below in the order that I believe they have in importance. I personally take the first six every day but the vitamin D is through sun exposure, not through an oral supplement.

1. Vitamin D

In one study of more than 2,000 women, those with higher vitamin D levels were found to have fewer aging-related changes in their DNA, as well as lowered inflammatory responsesiii. Women with higher levels of vitamin D are more likely to have longer telomeres, and vice versa. This means that people with higher levels of vitamin D may actually age more slowly than people with lower levels of vitamin D.

Your leukocyte telomere length (LTL) is a predictor for aging related diseases. As you age, your LTL's become shorter, but, if you suffer from chronic inflammation, your telomeres decrease in length much faster, because your body's inflammatory response accelerates leukocyte turnover. Your vitamin D concentrations also decrease with age, whereas your C-reactive protein (a mediator of inflammation) increases. This inverse double-whammy increases your overall risk of developing autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis, and rheumatoid arthritis.

The good news is that vitamin D is a potent inhibitor of your body's inflammatory response, and by reducing inflammation, you diminish your turnover of leukocytes, effectively creating a positive chain reaction that can help protect you against a variety of diseases. In essence, it protects your body from the deterioration of aging. Researchers have found that subsets of leukocytes have receptors for the active form of vitamin D (D3), which allows the vitamin to have a direct effect on these cells. This may also explain the specific connection between vitamin D and autoimmune disease.

The absolute best way to optimize your vitamin D levels would be through safe sun exposure. I am fully aware that many will not be able to implement this recommendation due to lifestyle constraints, but I feel I would be reprehensibly negligent if I did not emphasize how superior photo vitamin D is compared to oral. So for those who are able to, I have provided the following video that helps you find the times exposing your skin to the sun will actually produce vitamin D in your location.

2. Astaxanthin (derived from the microalgae Haematococcus pluvialis)

In the 2009 study on multivitamin use and telomere length, longer telomeres were also associated with the use of antioxidant formulasiv. According to the authors, telomeres are particularly vulnerable to oxidative stress. Additionally, inflammation induces oxidative stress and lowers the activity of telomerase (again, that's the enzyme responsible for maintaining your telomeres).

Astaxanthin has emerged as one of the most potent and beneficial antioxidants currently known, with potent anti-inflammatory and DNA-protective capabilities. Research has even shown that it can protect against DNA damage induced by gamma radiationv. It has a number of unique features that make it stand out from the crowd.

For example, it is by far the most powerful carotenoid antioxidant when it comes to free radical scavenging: astaxanthin is 65 times more powerful than vitamin C, 54 times more powerful than beta-carotene, and 14 times more powerful than vitamin Evi. It's also far more effective than other carotenoids at "singlet oxygen quenching," which is a particular type of oxidation. It is 550 times more powerful than vitamin E, and 11 times more powerful than beta-carotene at neutralizing singlet oxygen.

Astaxanthin crosses both your blood-brain barrier AND your blood-retinal barrier (beta carotene and lycopene do not), which brings antioxidant and anti-inflammatory protection to your eyes, brain and central nervous system.

Another feature that separates astaxanthin from other carotenoids is that it cannot function as a pro-oxidant. Many antioxidants will act as pro-oxidants (meaning they start to cause rather than combat oxidation) when present in your tissues in sufficient concentrations. This is why you don't want to go overboard taking too many antioxidant supplements like beta-carotene, for example. Astaxanthin, on the other hand, does not function as a pro-oxidant, even when present in high amounts, which makes it highly beneficial.

Lastly, one of its most profound features is its unique ability to protect the entire cell from damage—both the water-soluble part and the fat-soluble portion of the cell. Other antioxidants affect just one or the other. This is due to astaxanthin's unique physical characteristics that allow it to reside within the cell membrane will also protecting the inside of the cell. To learn more about astaxanthin, please listen to the following interview with Dr. Robert Corish.

3. Ubiquinol (CoQ10)

Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) is the fifth most popular supplement in the United States, taken by about 53 percent of Americans, according to a 2010 survey by ConsumerLab.comvii. This is a good thing as one in every four Americans over 45 is taking a statin and every single one of these individuals needs to be taking it.

CoQ10 is used by every cell in your body. In fact, it is so important for your body's daily functions that it is also known as "ubiquinone" because it's 'ubiquitous' in the human body.

What you may not know, however, is that to benefit from the form of the nutrient needed to produce cellular energy and help you reduce the typical signs of aging, your body must convert the ubiquinone to the reduced form, called ubiquinol -- and research is showing that this reduced form may actually be superior for your health in a number of ways. If you're under 25 years old your body is capable of converting CoQ10 from the oxidized to the reduced form. However, if you're older, your body becomes more and more challenged to convert the oxidized CoQ10 to ubiquinol.

Premature aging is one primary side effect of having too little CoQ10 because this essential vitamin recycles other antioxidants, such as vitamin C and E. CoQ10 deficiency also accelerates DNA damage, and because CoQ10 is beneficial to heart health and muscle function this depletion leads to fatigue, muscle weakness, soreness and eventually heart failure.

In a previous interview with Dr. Stephen Sinatra, he recounts an experiment from the mid-90's on aging rats. The average lifespan of a rat is two years. Rats given CoQ10, at the end of their life, had more energy, better coats, and better appetites, compared to the rats that did not get CoQ10. The supplement basically had a potent anti-aging effect, in the sense it maintained youthfulness until the very end of their life. In terms of life extension, the effect was minimal.

Dr. Sinatra also conducted his own research and found that CoQ10 given to both younger and older mice resulted in increased energy and vigor. Older mice traveled through mazes quicker, they had better memory, and had more locomotor activity than those who did not get CoQ10. So CoQ10 definitely appears to improve the quality of life, even if it may not significantly increase longevity per say. For more information and dosage recommendations, please see this previous CoQ10 article.

4. Fermented Foods / Probiotics

It's quite clear that eating a diet consisting of high amounts of processed foods will shorten your life, yet 90 percent of the money Americans spend on food is spent on processed food, and the number one source of calories in the US comes from high fructose corn syrup – a staple ingredient in nearly all processed foods, from frozen dinners, to condiments, snacks, and soda. Researchers have even discovered that genetic mutations and malfunctions that cause disease are created in future generations when highly processed and artificial foods are consumed!

Part of the problem is that these processed, sugar- and chemical-laden foods effectively destroy your intestinal microflora. Your gut flora has incredible power over your immune system, which, of course, is your body's natural defense system. Antibiotics, stress, artificial sweeteners, chlorinated water and many other factors can also reduce the amount of probiotics (beneficial bacteria) in your gut, which can predispose you to illness and premature aging. Ideally, you'll want to make traditionally cultured and fermented foods a staple in your daily diet.

You can use a probiotic supplement, but getting your probiotics from food is definitely better as you can consume far more beneficial bacteria, in many cases up to 100X more. Fermented vegetables are an excellent alternative as they are both delicious and simple to make. In the following video, Caroline Barringer discusses the process of fermenting your own vegetables in some detail, so if you're up for fermenting some of your own foods, please listen to this interview.

5. Krill Oil

According to Dr. William Harris, an expert on omega-3 fats, those who have an omega-3 index of less than four percent age much faster than those with indexes above eight percent. Therefore, your omega-3 index may also be an effective marker of your rate of aging. According to Dr. Harris' research, omega-3 fats appear to play a role in activating telomerase, which, again, has been shown to be able to actually reverse telomere shortening.

Although this research is preliminary, I would suggest that optimizing your omega-3 levels above eight percent would be a good strategy if you're interested in delaying aging. (Your doctor can order the omega-3 index test from a lab called Health Diagnostic Laboratory in Richmond, Virginia.) After all, you have nothing to lose and a lot to gain by doing so, since omega-3 has proven to be extremely important for your health in so many respects.

My favorite animal-based omega-3 is krill oil, as it has a number of benefits not found in other omega-3 supplements such as fish oil. Aside from higher potential for contamination, fish oil supplements also have a higher risk of suffering oxidation damage and becoming rancid. Dr. Rudi Moerck has discussed these risks at great length in a previous interview. Krill oil also contains naturally-occurring astaxanthin, which makes it nearly 200 times more resistant to oxidative damage compared to fish oil.

Additionally, according to Dr. Harris' research, krill oil is also more potent gram for gram, as its absorption rate is much higher than fish oil. You get somewhere between 25 to 50 percent more omega-3 per milligram when you take krill oil compared to fish oil, hence you don't need to take as much.

6. Vitamin K2

Vitamin K may very well be "the next vitamin D" as research continues to illuminate a growing number of benefits to your health. While most people get enough vitamin K from their diets to maintain adequate blood clotting, they're NOT enough to offer protection against more serious health problems. For example, research over the past few years suggest that vitamin K2 can provide substantial protection from prostate cancerviii, which is one of the leading causes of cancer among men in the United States. And research results are similarly encouraging for the benefits of vitamin K to your cardiac health:

In 2004, the Rotterdam Study, which was the first study demonstrating the beneficial effect of vitamin K2, showed that people who consume 45 mcg of K2 daily live seven years longer than people getting 12 mcg per dayix.

In a subsequent study called the Prospect Studyx, 16,000 people were followed for 10 years. Researchers found that each additional 10 mcg of K2 in the diet results in 9 percent fewer cardiac events.

K2 is present in fermented foods, particularly cheese and the Japanese food natto, which is by far the richest source of K2.

7. Magnesium

According to the featured researchxi, magnesium also plays an important role in DNA replication, repair, and RNA synthesis, and dietary magnesium has been shown to positively correlate with increased telomere length in women. Other research has shown that long term deficiency leads to telomere shortening in rats and cell cultures. It appears the lack of magnesium ions has a negative influence on genome integrity. Insufficient amounts of magnesium also reduce your body's ability to repair damaged DNA, and can induce chromosomal abnormalities. According to the authors, it's reasonable to hypothesize that "magnesium influences telomere length by affecting DNA integrity and repair, in addition to its potential role in oxidative stress and inflammation."

8. Polyphenols

Polyphenols are potent antioxidant compounds in plant foods, many of which have been linked to anti-aging benefits and disease reduction. Here are but a few examples of these potent antioxidant compounds:

• Grapes (resveratrol) — Resveratrol deeply penetrates the center of your cell's nucleus, giving your DNA time to repair free radical damage. Research dating back to 2003 showed that resveratrol, a powerful polyphenol and anti-fungal chemical, was able to increase the lifespan of yeast cells.xii
The findings showed that resveratrol could activate a gene called sirtuin1, which is also activated during calorie restriction in various species. Since then studies in nematode worms, fruit flies, fish, mice, and human cells have linked resveratrol to longer lives.
Resveratrol is found in grapes, and there are numerous products on the market containing resveratrol. I recommend looking for one made from Muscadine grapes, and that uses WHOLE grape skins and seeds, as this is where many of the benefits are concentrated.
• Cacao — Quite a few studies have confirmed the potent antioxidant properties, and subsequent health benefits, of raw cocoa powder. Dark, organic, unprocessed chocolate has been found to benefit your glucose metabolism (diabetic control), blood pressure, and cardiovascular health.
• Green tea — Polyphenols in tea, which include EGCG (epigallocatechin gallate) and many others, have been found to offer protection against many types of cancer. The polyphenols in green tea may constitute up to 30 percent of the dry leaf weight, so, when you drink a cup of green tea, you're drinking a fairly potent solution of healthy tea polyphenols.
Green tea is the least processed kind of tea, so it also contains the highest amounts of EGCG of all tea varieties. Keep in mind, however, that many green teas have been oxidized, and this process may take away many of its valuable properties. The easiest sign to look for when evaluating a green tea's quality is its color: if your green tea is brown rather than green, it's likely been oxidized.
My personal favorite is matcha green tea because it contains the entire ground tea leaf, and can contain over 100 times the EGCG provided from regular brewed green tea.

9. Folate (aka Vitamin B9, or Folic Acid)

According to the featured study in the Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry, plasma concentrations of the B vitamin folate correspond to telomere length in both men and women. Folate plays an important role in the maintenance of DNA integrity and DNA methylation, both of which influence the length of your telomeresxiii.

It is useful for preventing depression, seizure disorders and brain atrophy. In fact, folate deficiency can lead to elevated homocysteine levels, which can be a major contributor to heart disease and Alzheimer's disease. One unfortunate and preventable reason why some believe folate numbers are slipping is the increased prevalence of obesity, which negatively affects the way most people metabolize this important vitamin. The ideal way to raise your folate levels is to eat plenty of fresh, raw, organic leafy green vegetables, and beans.

Please note that it is the natural folate from food that has been found to be beneficial. This may not be true for the supplement folic acid.

10. Vitamin B12

Vitamin B12 is fittingly known as "the energy vitamin," and your body requires it for a number of vital functions. Among them: energy production, blood formation, DNA synthesis, and myelin formation. (Myelin is insulation that protects your nerve endings and allows them to communicate with one another.) Unfortunately, research suggests about 25 percent of American adults are deficient in this vitally important nutrient, and nearly half the population has suboptimal blood levels.

Vitamin B12 is found almost exclusively in animal tissues, including foods like beef and beef liver, lamb, snapper, venison, salmon, shrimp, scallops, poultry and eggs. It's not readily available in plants, so if you do not eat meat or animal products you are at risk of deficiency. The few plant foods that are sources of B12 are actually B12 analogs. An analog is a substance that blocks the uptake of true B12, so your body's need for the nutrient actually increases.

If you aren't getting sufficient B12 in your diet, I recommend you begin supplementation immediately with this vital nutrient with either an under-the-tongue fine mist spray or vitamin B12 injections. Ensuring your body has adequate B12 can vastly improve the quality of your life and prevent debilitating, even life-threatening diseases which result from a deficiency of this all-important nutrient.

11. Curcumin (Turmeric)

Curcumin — the active ingredient in the spice turmeric—acts both as an immune booster and potent anti-inflammatory. But perhaps its greatest value lies in its anti-cancer potential, and it has the most evidence based literature backing up its anti-cancer claims of any other nutrient. It affects over 100 different pathways once it gets into a cell—among them, a key biological pathway needed for development of melanoma and other cancers.

The spice actually stops laboratory strains of melanoma from proliferating and pushes the cancer cells to commit suicide by shutting down nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-kB), a powerful protein known to induce abnormal inflammatory response that leads to an assortment of disorders such as arthritis and cancer.

To get the full benefits that curcumin has to offer, you will want to look for a turmeric extract with at least 95 percent curcuminoids that contains only 100 percent certified organic ingredients. The formula should be free of fillers, additives and excipients (a substance added to the supplement as a processing or stability aid), and the manufacturer should use safe production practices at all stages: planting, cultivation, selective harvesting, and then producing and packaging the final product. This previous article can provide you further details on how to use curcumin.

12. Vitamin A

According to the featured study in the Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry, telomere length is positively associated with dietary intake of vitamin A in women who do not take multivitaminsxiv. It plays an important role in your immune response, and if you're deficient, you become predisposed to infections that can promote telomere shortening. However, vitamin A does not appear to have a dose-dependent effect on telomere length, so you don't need high amounts.

Two Additional Lifestyle Strategies that Affect Telomere Length

While a nutritious diet accounts for about 80 percent of the benefits derived from a healthy lifestyle, exercise cannot be ignored, and there's evidence suggesting that exercise protects against telomere shortening as well. Yet another lifestyle strategy that can have a beneficial impact is intermittent fasting.

• Exercise — One recent study on post-menopausal women suffering from chronic stress found that "vigorous physical activity appears to protect those experiencing high stress by buffering its relationship with telomere length (TL)." xv In fact, among the women who did not exercise, each unit increase in the Perceived Stress Scale was related to a 15-fold increase in the odds of having short telomeres. Those who did exercise regularly showed no correlation between telomere length and perceived stress!
High-intensity exercise appears to be the most effective all-natural approach to slow down the aging process by reducing telomere shortening. In fact, research has shown there's a direct association between reduced telomere shortening in your later years and high-intensity-type exercisesxvi: Greta Blackburn's book The Immortality Edge: Realize the Secrets of Your Telomeres for a Longer, Healthier Lifexvii further details the importance of high-intensity exercise to prevent telomere shortening.
• Intermittent Fasting — Previous research has shown that you can extend your lifespan by reducing your caloric intake, and I've written about this technique in the past. The problem is that most people do not understand how to properly cut calories, because in order to remain healthy, you have to cut out the right kind of calories—namely carbohydrates. Research by Professor Cynthia Kenyon has shown that avoiding carbs will activate genes that govern youthfulness and longevity.
But the health benefits of calorie restriction can also be achieved by intermittent fasting (keep in mind you still need to cut out sugars and grains). For more detailed recommendations and guidance on intermittent fasting, or scheduled eating, please see this recent article that greatly expands on this complex topic, and highlights the precautions, as it certainly isn't for everyone.

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