The Longevity Factor by Joseph Maroon

Author:Joseph Maroon
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Atria Paperback
Published: 2009-07-15T00:00:00+00:00

Part IV

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Unlocking the Genetic Secrets to Living Healthier and Longer

Chapter 18

What’s a Person to Do?

One can never put one’s foot into the same river twice.

—HERACLEITUS, 450 BC

Resveratrol-like drugs could have as big an impact as antibiotics in the twentieth century, and it’s just around the corner.

—DAVID SINCLAIR, WORLD SCIENCE FESTIVAL, 2008

Dramatic new scientific discoveries have unlocked the genetic secrets to a longer and healthier life. As so often happens with great discoveries, the answers turn out to be based on an incredibly simple idea: by ingesting natural plant molecules with which we have coexisted for millions of years, we can switch genes on and off to benefit from their anti-inflammatory, anticancer, antibacterial, and blood sugar–normalizing effects—and live longer!

Although most research to date has focused on resveratrol as the primary gene activating compound, with the greatest number of health benefits, thousands of other polyphenol compounds found in plants and plant products have similar health benefits. In fact, many scientists believe it is a combination of these polyphenols found in plants themselves—and not just a single ingredient—that provides the most stable source of healthy gene activating molecules. This is why a daily glass or two of red wine, which contains not just resveratrol but a combination of more than five hundred other polyphenols, provides such scientifically well-documented health benefits.

The resveratrol story is still evolving rapidly. After reviewing thousands of medical articles, books, and scientific studies and visiting David Sinclair’s mouse lab at Harvard Medical School, I believe that we are already beginning to see a tidal wave in the world of gene activating food additives and supplements. As more and more are discovered, they will be added to the foods we eat as supplements, until one day they will be as common as folic acid is now in prenatal vitamins, preventing devastating birth defects. The products available and recommended today may be substantially increased in number or modified in other ways over the next few years—or even months—on the basis of results of ongoing scientific laboratory and human studies.

Recognizing this, we still have remarkable opportunities to make the most of the scientific discoveries to date. What should you do? In accordance with the principles that I have outlined in these pages, there are four ways you can access the secrets of genetics to live longer and healthier.

1. Eat and drink natural foods with the highest polyphenol antioxidant content, such as red wine, grape juice, green tea, dark chocolate, and apples.

2. Take supplements containing superconcentrated polyphenol and resveratrol from natural sources.

3. Take resveratrol, with or without additional polyphenols, as a dietary supplement.

4. Use a prescription resveratrol-like drug.

Let’s look at each of these individually.

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