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Consumption of ‘Longevity’ Vitamins Could Prolong Healthy Aging, Scientist Says
- clumsysmurf 8y agoThe full list is not in the article, and the paper is behind a paywall, but most of the 'vitamins' seem to be listed in the supplemental materials which are still free: http://www.pnas.org/highwire/filestream/831622/field_highwire_adjunct_files/0/pnas.1809045115.sapp.pdf http://www.pnas.org/highwire/filestream/831622/field_highwir... Some things I thought would be there are missing, like carnosine.
- autojoechen 8y agoIn case anyone else is also going through the article for the list: Vitamin K, Selenium, Vitamin D, Taurine, Ergothioneine, Pyrroloquinoline quinone, Queuine, Carotenoids, Lutein and Zeaxanthin, Lycopene, alpha and beta-Carotene, Astaxanthin
- vimota 8y agoAnd some natural sources: https://twitter.com/foundmyfitness/status/1052981669655965698 https://twitter.com/foundmyfitness/status/105298166965596569...
- nikkwong 8y agoDoes the paper also talk about proper dosages if one wants to supplement with these vitamins? I know it says 4000 UI for vitamin D but don't see any mention for dosages of vitamin K.
- baccheion 8y ago10 IU D3 : 2 mcg+ MK-4. Vitamin K2 MK-4 becomes active at 1.5 milligrams, with some taking 5-9 mg daily: https://examine.com/supplements/vitamin-k/ https://examine.com/supplements/vitamin-k/.
- baccheion 8y agoAOR Ortho-Core has many of these and is especially great when combined with Life Extension D + K and Doctor's Best High Absorption Magnesium.
- WalterSear 8y agoSo does the vegetable section of the grocery store fwiw.
- baccheion 8y agoGetting as much as possible from real food tends to be preferred.
- sytelus 8y agoI have only one question: How did they validated this? For grand claims like this you need to run controlled experiment for many years. The reason I say this is because typically these studies are funded by commercial interests with the goal to cite these studies in their marketing material.
- barry-cotter 8y agoIt’s nutrition. You almost can’t run long term randomised experiments patient compliance is so low. Take it as interesting at best like the rest of the field that told us salt was bad for us, that dietary cholesterol effected serum cholesterol and trans fats were healthier than polyunsaturated (margarine vs butter).
- sizzle 8y agoAlso how do you control for diversity of bacteria in our guts and variation of metabolism on an individual basis?
- jmk343 8y agoIt's more of a hypothesis paper by a retired scientist. Bruce Ames, the author used to do experiments on vitamin and mineral deficiencies in animals 20+ years ago. What he found was things like increased DNA strand breaks. Nothing positive was found in terms of longevity or healthspan when supplementing excess anti-oxidants. It's possible to search Ames B[author] on pubmed to see his old publications. "Maybe some these things would extend healthspan if people have a less than optimal diet." ...or that maybe some novel and expensive things might have small health impacts. Not that they do otherwise, or that there is rigorous experiments demonstrating so. I think some people are eagerly clamoring to supplement based on this list, which is just fueling the 30bn dollar a year supplement industry. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/01/style/wellness-industrial-complex.html https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/01/style/wellness-industrial... Why not fund basic research into age related disease instead? i.e. [ https://www.lifespan.io/the-rejuvenation-roadmap/ https://www.lifespan.io/the-rejuvenation-roadmap/, http://dogagingproject.com http://dogagingproject.com, http://sens.org http://sens.org ]
- RachelF 8y agoBe careful, especially with dosage; meta studies[1] have linked increased consumption of vitamins to a shorter life. [1]https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/vitamins-and-cancer-risk/ https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/vitamins-and-cancer-risk/
- WalterSear 8y agoIncreased consumption of vitamin pills. Consuming more plants, and more of specific plants, is the appropriate way to increase the presence of these micronutrients in one's diet.
- mistrial9 8y agoThe linked cover article has no talk of proportions, timing and cycles.. which are fundamental to real life. The text reads, intentionally or not, as if some pill containing everything, all at once, would be the route to longevity. A closer reading says roughly.. that some crucial nutrients are not on an ordinary "daily requirements" list because their effects have not been sufficiently observed over long time scales, and conversely that the contents of an ordinary "daily requirements" list are there because their absence makes a person ill relatively quickly. The note at the end says that the medical author has more than four decades of research experience, and is well-respected.
- stevenjohns 8y agoSlightly off-topic, but related to a vitamin mentioned in here: For Vitamin D, I read a post on Reddit a while back on a subreddit that was intended for older people. Someone asked a question along the lines of 'what is something you wish you were told earlier' and at least one person mentioned Vitamin D deficiency. They said that for most of their life they were deficient and that it had a significant impact on their life-long depression, and their stress and focus if I recall correctly. Once they began taking Vitamin D supplements it drastically changed everything and completely changed their mood: it turned out that they had Vitamin D absorption issues and never picked up on it. They said they take 12,000 IU/day, now, and it has changed their life. Most Vitamin D supplements seem to come (in Australia at least) at anywhere from 300 IU to 1000 IU. I looked into safe Vitamin D levels and it appears that you can take up to 50,000 IU a day before you start seeing adverse affects, and just being in direct sunlight for an hour or so is about 15,000 IU for my skin type. With this in mind, I've began taking 7,000 IU a day (I get about an hour of direct sunlight a day at least on most days). I can't say for sure that it has an effect on my mood, but on the days where I feel a bit worse than usual it's usually because I haven't taken my supplement stack for a couple of days (i.e ran out and hadn't yet bought supplies).
- adventured 8y agoOn top of its potential benefits, it's also very inexpensive. One of the least expensive supplements you can take. The 360 count of 5000iu D3 that I take costs $11 (about $0.03 per day).
- lultimouomo 8y agoPlease be aware that vitamin D being fat-soluble you can actually overdose on it (while with water-soluble vitamins you simply pee them away). Excessive dosage of vitamin D can have very nasty effect (e.g. severe kidney damage). Your skin stops synthesizing vitamin D when you have enough so you can't overdose by staying in the sun, but you can by taking supplements.
- hinkley 8y agoPeople hear of doctors prescribing 50k UI and don't understand that the liver is supposed to store surplus vitamin D for the winter. If you're deficient it will mop up a great honking dose of it, but that's not the same as already having adequate reserves and then taking a megadose.
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- Havoc 8y agoMeanwhile apparently 80% of diet and weightloss supplements are tainted [1] so as sound as the science no doubt is I'm currently leaning towards the "let's not take pills if we don't have to" mindset. [1] https://www.reddit.com/r/science/comments/9ocr6y/80_of_diet_weight_loss_and_sex_supplements_are/ https://www.reddit.com/r/science/comments/9ocr6y/80_of_diet_...
- tuesdayrain 8y agoSeems that nearly every other comment in that thread is talking about how it's a misleading title.
- WalterSear 8y agoSo get these micronutrients from food rather than pills.
- zaphod4prez 8y agoThat study looked at the weight loss "supplements" they sell in gas stations and delis... not at vitamins that probably the vast vast majority of readers here buy. It's really not applicable here at all. A good source for info on this sort of thing is [Labdoor](https://labdoor.com https://labdoor.com), they're not funded by any vitamin company and they perform rigorous testing on samples taken from consumer outlets.
- dawhizkid 8y agois fasting really not enough?
- trukterious 8y agoFasting is very relevant here because it puts the body deeper into repair and maintenance mode. My guess is is periodic fasting plus a modest regimen of longterm repair supplements would be the optimum strategy.
- baccheion 8y agoThe main thing seems to be ensuring nutrient/hormone sufficiency. For example, keeping everything on a NutrEval + hormone + thyroid panel in range. Diet alone can maintain, but supplements are usually required to achieve sufficiency. A vitamin D (and magnesium) supplement is often needed either way. Aging (rather than longevity) usually refers to vitality and skin quality. Wrinkling/Sagging isn't normal at any stage of development (up to menopause), though it is common. Sagging is usually due to poor lymph movement and muscle tone. Wrinkles are usually due to poor hydration. Both can be made worse by declining collagen/progesterone. Maintaining nutrient sufficiency, following iodine protocol, and applying MSM lotion does a lot to slow "aging."