As noted above, many antioxidants are essential nutrients. Natural antioxidants, such as vitamin C and E, work synergistically. Antioxidants may be more effective if obtained from a diet rich in fruits and vegetables. Nutritionists recommend eating 6 or more daily servings of antioxidant-rich fruits and vegetables. Everyone agrees that using antioxidant supplements to combat aging can be helpful, but there is no agreement on what the most effective supplement dosages should be.

Anti-aging medicine recognizes that stress of all kinds causes aging, but has not yet developed an individualized treatment for it. There are countless sources of internal and external stress, and individual stress levels vary greatly. An overlooked cause of internal stress is inadequate hydration. Water is essential for the proper functioning of many internal functions. Too little or too much water causes stress-producing age. When one is older (over 80 years), the perception of thirst decreases and dehydration can easily appear. Other overlooked sources of stress are the antioxidants themselves. High doses (or doses above certain as-yet-unspecified amounts) of supplemental antioxidants are a known cause of stress.

To be useful, antioxidant supplements must prevent other types of stress than the stress they themselves create. Knowing the correct doses of the supplements that can do this is an essential part of antiaging treatment. A healthy young man in his twenties, who is well fed, will have less internal stress than an individual older than sixty. For a young person, lower amounts of antioxidants may be safer than higher amounts. An older person, whose many internal homeostatic mechanisms are less able to deal with internal stress, may benefit more from increased amounts of antioxidants. In theory, a course of antioxidant-based antiaging treatment will slow the rate at which cell damage occurs. Cells will “get sick” more slowly. Over time, as fewer diseased cells are replaced at a slower rate, the number of cells that retain longer telomere chains will be greater. So you can reasonably expect this to result in an increase in life expectancy. For now, the recommended but imprecise approach to slowing the rate at which cell damage occurs is to increase your daily intake of antioxidant-rich fruits and vegetables, slightly increase your antioxidant intake, and take several vitamins and small amounts of antioxidants. -aging supplements on a daily basis. A study has shown that taking a good multivitamin supplement is associated with increased telomere length.

Ideally, antiaging treatment should be tailored for each individual. The key here would be to measure and minimize the cumulative effects of different types of stress on an individual basis. Practical, easily measurable biomarkers for various types of stress do not yet exist or are not in use. When used, it will be easy to customize individual doses of antioxidants so that everyone has “optimal” levels throughout their lives. “Optimal” levels would maintain a safe store of protective antioxidants in the body.

Below I will briefly discuss the most popular nutrients associated with antiaging. The most popular of the antioxidants, vitamins, and nutrients often associated with good health and anti-aging include: beta-carotene (vitamin A), vitamin C, vitamin E, various flavonoids, omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, Coenzyme Q10, Lycopene, Selenium.

There are dozens of supplements known to effectively treat the specific symptoms of old age. Some of the more popular supplements include: DMAE, acetyl-l-carnitine, L-carnosine, alpha lipoic acid, DHEA, L-arginine, and melatonin.

Good food contains some of the antioxidants mentioned above. Some other popular foods associated with antiaging include: green tea, turmeric, and red wine.

All of the above have unique biological properties and are, in my opinion, “good” if taken in small to moderate amounts. Some (for example, vitamin C) may also be “good” for you in large amounts. Various studies on each of these may conflict with each other. You have to carefully research each substance on your own, but researchers have already found several nutrients associated with longer-than-average telomere lengths. These include: green tea, omega-3, vitamins A, C, D, and E.

Vitamin E has been associated with antiaging telomere lengthening properties.

Green tea contains many antioxidants, including vitamin C, E, and flavonoids. Flavonoids form a large class of antioxidants (including catechins and quercetin) that have many anticancer, antihypercholesterolemic, antibacterial (helps prevent tooth decay), and anti-inflammatory properties. The leaves of the tea plant are rich in polyphenols. Consuming 3 cups or more of green tea per day has been associated with longer than average telomere length.

Omega-3s are long-chain essential polyunsaturated fatty acids that are anti-inflammatory and help prevent heart disease, stroke, memory loss, depression, arthritis, cataracts, and cancer. Omega-3s slow down the shortening of telomeres; that is, they can protect against aging at the cellular level.

Vitamin C is a rich, water-soluble internal antioxidant that protects cellular components against free radical formation caused by pollution and cigarette smoke. Many studies have associated high intakes of vitamin C with lower rates of cancer of the mouth, larynx, and esophagus. Vitamin C has shown promise in the treatment of premature aging and possibly aging itself.

Due to limitations on the number of links I can incorporate into this article, I was unable to provide more reference links to support the above paragraphs. If you are interested, please email me at the email address shown at the bottom of this article and I will forward them to you.

The sooner you start some kind of antiaging treatment, the better, but it’s never too late to start. All real treatments will help you maintain a longer than average telomere chain.

The goal of the programmed death theory of aging is to address the root causes of aging. This goal includes attempts to slow down or reverse the process of telomere shortening. Two of these treatments are: TA 65 and human genetic engineering.

TA 65 is a telomerase activator product produced and marketed by Sierra Sciences. The key ingredient in TA 65 is Astragalus, a plant extract known to have telomerase activating properties. The product may work but I do not recommend it for several reasons. TA 65 is too expensive for the average person. Several expensive spas incorporate TA 65 into their programs. Once again, these are financially out of reach for the average person. Many have questioned Sierra Sciences’ marketing tactics and lawsuits are pending against TA 65.

The big problem I have with TA 65 is one of scientific honesty. The company genetically engineered mice that allowed telomerase to be turned on and off at a young age. TA 65 was able to reactivate telomerase in these mice and allowed them to lead normal lives. http://www.nature.com/news/2010/101128/full/news.2010.635.html

Using this to show how effective TA65 treatment is is disingenuous. This is not how telomerase normally works and there was no real extension of lifespan beyond what it would have been without the genetic modification. In normal mice, the effects of TA65 were temporary and little or no prolongation of life was observed. http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2011/04/11/anti-aging-pill-new-study-on-ta-65-sparks-controversy.html

Human genetic engineering is the real answer to fight and beat aging. It can directly address the root causes of aging. Advances in this area (eg CRISPR) make it possible to insert or remove DNA base pairs at a specific location in our DNA. This means that the human genome can now be precisely edited as needed. The life expectancy of old mice has been modestly increased by telomerase gene therapy. In humans, genetic modification therapy has been widely used for various medical problems. On September 15, 2015, Elizabeth Parrish became the first person to undergo anti-aging gene therapy. Anti-aging treatments will advance rapidly as our knowledge of the specifics of the human genome grows.

Current general sociopolitical attitudes appear to be favoring further development of antiaging research. There are no internationally recognized political programs to stop aging or prolong life, but since 2012 some pro-immortality political parties have emerged. Its goal is to support anti-aging and life extension research, and to help provide access to advances in these areas for all. Among the many organizations that support anti-aging research, the organization SENS (Strategies for Engineered Negligible Senescence) has released an anti-aging research blueprint. They want to develop anti-aging therapies to repair most forms of cell damage. SENS is a charity. Any anti-aging breakthroughs that result from the funding you provide will be readily available public knowledge. In addition to normal scientific research, there is the $1,000.00 Palo Alto Longevity Award that is offered to anyone who can devise an effective anti-aging treatment.

As of 2015, all known anti-aging treatments are only partially effective. Depending on when a comprehensive anti-aging program is started, it is likely that life can be extended by between 10 and 25 years. Researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health estimated that an antiaging lifestyle can add 24.6 more productive years to lifespan. Anti-aging knowledge increases at a rate of approximately 10 times every 10 years. This probably means that for many of us there is more than enough time to reap the benefits anticipated in antiaging research. One day soon, aging, like many other diseases, will be cured. While we wait for those anti-aging technological oddities to happen, the name of the game is making sure we stay healthy long enough to repeat its benefits.