Anti-aging Diets: Calorie Restriction Diets Pros And Cons Explored

A diet involving eating less, while still getting enough
vitamins and nutrients is of great interest. Researchers find
that calorie restriction diets extend the lives of animals. It
is unknown if the anti-aging diets help people to extend their
lives. Limited studies have been done in people.

Animal studies focused on insects and animals with short life
spans. Researchers found animals on restricted diets live
longer. They also found that calorie restriction diets are more
important to the life span than striving to maintain healthy
weight and exercising regularly. There are studies under way
involving animals with longer life spans and will take years to
finish. There is promise with the preliminary results in
monkeys.

Although scientists have doubts about actual positive effects
of the anti-aging calorie restriction diet, calorie restriction
research may give doctors clues about the aging process and
aging may be slowed.

The way a calorie restriction diet works is to eat less than
your body needs to maintain your normal weight. How much less a
person eats varies. People who follow a calorie restriction diet
hope to slow the aging process and live longer.

The diet involves restricting how much food you eat and
carefully monitoring food intake to ensure getting enough
vitamins and nutrients. Choices consist of foods full of
nutrients, but low in calories, such as vegetables and whole
grains.

The benefits of short trials of calorie restriction diets in
people include:

•Blood pressure
•Blood sugar
•Body fat percentage
•Cholesterol levels
•Heart rate
•Weight
These benefits are healthy changes that may reduce the risk of
chronic disease later in life and therefore create longer life
for humans.
Risks of calorie restriction diets include:
•Reduced bone density
•Loss of muscle mass
•Anemia
•Memory loss
•Dizziness
•Depression

Studies show that getting inadequate amounts of vitamins and
nutrients can lead to serious problems such as heart failure and
death. Studies show that people with the lowest range body mass
index scores have a higher risk of death than do those with
normal scores. The studies do not take into account undiagnosed
cancer or other serious illnesses that may have caused the
weight loss. However, the study results do give us a cause to be
cautious when considering the calorie restriction diets as a
means of prolonging life. They may end up doing just the
opposite for some individuals. There is also very little known
about long-term effects of calorie restriction diets in people
who have a healthy weight.

If you are considering a calorie restricted diet first discuss
it with your doctor. He or she should be able to explore the
possible benefits and risks of a calorie restriction diet for
you in particular. Getting enough vitamins and nutrients can be
difficult when you eat less food, you may also need to consult
with a certified dietary nutritionist. He or she can help you
decide which foods you should eat to provide you with the
nutrition you need.

Calorie restriction diet studies may help researchers
understand the aging process. The studies may also provide
necessary clues for developing new anti-aging drugs. Once
researchers study how calorie restriction diets work on the body
their hope is to create drugs to work in the same way.

It might be just as good an idea to wait to see what kind of
drugs researchers come up with, that is, if you are young enough
to wait for that conclusion. Otherwise, consult with your doctor
first before starting a calorie restriction diet in the hopes of
anti-aging.

Source: Foundation for Health in Aging

Disclaimer: These statements have not been evaluated by the
Food and Drug Administration. The information in this article is
not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.
All health concerns should be addressed by a qualified health
care professional.

This article is FREE to publish with the resource box.

© 2007 Connie Limon All Rights Reserved

About The Author: Connie Limon. Visit
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Creatine For Anti-Aging? A New Study Promises To Change Your Mind About This Supplement

You may have heard of using creatine to help build muscle. But
did you know it can actually protect your DNA from damage and
mutation? Astounding new evidence supports using creatine for
anti-aging benefits!

A recent study shows that not only does creatine fight muscle
loss, but it can improve brain function and may even help with
inflammation, one systemic cause of aging. In fact, it may also
help with fatigue, muscle atrophy, and even such diseases as
Parkinson's disease or Huntington's disease. It may also help
with brain pathology or mitochondrial disorders.

First, let's take a look at the process of aging. Aging is
caused by oxidants (free radicals) in the body. These molecules
are very unstable and cause reactions and damage with every type
of tissue they come into contact with. As time goes on, the free
radicals cause cellular and DNA damage through the entire body.
Eventually the tissues, of skin, eyes, brain, lungs, liver,
kidneys and virtually every other organ become ineffective and
the organs begin to malfunction. Cancers may also develop due to
the DNA damage from free radicals.

The only way to combat the damage caused by these free radicals
is to introduce anti oxidants into your system though
supplementation and eating fresh healthy foods. These anti
oxidants seek out the free radicals and react with them, turning
them into harmless compounds.

DNA damage is associated with a wide variety of disorders
including cardiovascular disease, a wide variety of tumors
affecting the head, neck, breast, kidney, colon and lungs. In
the study, two dishes containing DNA were exposed to oxidizers
that destroy the DNA and break the molecules down. In one of the
dishes the researchers added creatine. After sitting over night,
they found the DNA without creatine added was almost completely
destroyed. In the dish that contained creatine, the DNA was
almost completely preserved!

After doing much more research, it seems that creatine actually
binds to DNA and destroys the oxidizers as they attempt to
destroy the DNA strands. This is especially good news as it is
very difficult to get most antioxidants to bind to the
mitochondrial DNA.

Creatine is a wonderful supplement as is the most widely used
exercise supplement in the world.

As we age, creatine can be an important part of protecting our
tissues from oxidative damage. Creatine is also very good at
preventing muscle wasting as we age.

Of course, this has benefit to younger adults in that as they
get older, they may not have the muscle wasting their older
peers now suffer from. And of course, because sarcopenia (muscle
wasting) can very possibly be forestalled with creatine
supplementation, it's much easier to prevent it from happening
at all than it is to try to correct it after it does.

In fact, supplementation with as little as five grams of
creatine in 28 healthy adults also involved in resistance
training showed significant improvement in the extension
strength, ankle strength, intramuscular creatine levels, and
strength in general. Of course, what this translates to is that
not only is fat loss stimulated, but this in general leads to
greater strength and flexibility; as we age, we do not have to
lose function and in fact can even gain function with proper
exercise and creatine supplementation.

One possible contraindication is its use in those with kidney
disease. Some have suggested that excessive intake of creatine
can increase levels of creatinine, a byproduct of creatine that
is most often present in those with kidney disease. It is not
known whether creatine itself is harmful in those with kidney
disease and actually affects kidney function, or whether it
simply raises creatinine metabolites.

Nonetheless, for healthy adults, supplementation with up to 5 g
of creatine a day has been shown to have no ill effects
whatsoever thus far. Given its significant benefit, healthy
adults can probably supplement very safely with creatine to
prevent a wide range of aging related issues including DNA
damage and muscle wasting. Used along with a healthy diet and an
exercise program, creatine can be a pillar of your program to
promote long-term health.

About The Author: There is so much available health info
available. Cut through to the essential info that you can use
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drawn from the latest studies. Visit now!
http://www.blog.longerlifebetterhealth.com

Anti-Aging Effects and Vital Health Benefits of Coenzyme Q10

Coenzyme Q is an essential natural compound that
facilitates the metabolic process of nutrients in our
bodies, especially that of protein assimilation. 10
indicates the structural components of Coenzyme Q, i.e. Co
Q10. Co Q10 therefore, is essential for helping us feel
energetic and for our cell and tissue repair. Coenzyme Q10
is used by our cells to produce energy needed for cell
growth and maintenance. Co Q10 is used by our bodies as an
antioxidant to protect our cells from chemicals called free
radicals. Co Q10 is found in our body tissues especially
our heart liver, kidneys and pancreas. Our bodies naturally
produce Co Q10 especially in our very early years.
Unfortunately, as we age, our bodies ability to produce Co
Q10 declines rapidly as much as 80 %. Low levels of Co Q10
has been found in people with mycelia, lymphoma and cancers
of the breast, lung, prostate, pancreas, colon, and kidney.

Co Q10 molecules help enzymes that stimulate energy
generation. These molecules act as a shuttle to transport
electrons and protons from one bioenergy enzyme to another.
Every electron and proton from which energy is gathered
must be transported to appropriate enzymes by a molecules
of Co Q10. This process happens repeatedly at a rate of
thousands of times per second.

The longest and most documented use of Co Q10 is to prevent
and treat cardiovascular diseases. Many studies over the
years have shown that Co Q10 can protect our hearts from
damage from reduced blood flow and electrical disturbance.
People suffering from heart pain, heart arrhythmias,
congestive heart failure, heart valve defects,
hypertension, and heart damage caused from toxic drugs have
improved significantly and often dramatically with
supplementation of Co Q10.

After 10 weeks of using Co Q10 supplementation, people have
realized lowered blood pressure. People who have used
prescription drugs to lower cholesterol, i.e. statin, have
been shown to experience the side effect of decreased
levels of natural Co Q10 which can also lead to other
health difficulties. CoQ10 supplements can improve blood
sugar levels and help manage high cholesterol for people
suffering from diabetes. There are studies that have shown
that people with diabetes given supplement CoQ10
experienced no hypoglycemic response. CoQ10 supplementation
has been shown, along with other antioxidants, vitamin C,
E, and Selenium and essential fatty acids, to help shrink
tumors and reduce pain of women suffering from breast
cancer. Periodontal or "gum" disease is accompanied by
swelling, bleeding, pain and redness. These periodontal
symptoms have been shown to decrease as CoQ10 supplements
helped healing and tissue repair. Studies also indicate
that CoQ10 supplements help improve immune function in
cases of immune deficiencies, and yeast and other viral
infections. CoQ10 has also been shown to improve brain
health and functioning which is important in the relief and
prevention of migraine headaches, Alzheimer's disease,
damage from stroke and improve overall cognitive and
emotional functioning. Co Q10 protects the brain from
neurodegenerative disease such as Parkinson's, although it
does not relieve the symptoms. CoQ10 has been shown to
enhance the physical ability and activity of people
suffering from fatigue syndromes and muscular dystrophy, as
well as improve athletic performance and energy for
athletes and people who are engaged in strenuous physical
work. CoQ10 has been shown to protect against the harmful
side effects of toxic drugs.

CoQ10 deficiencies are inevitable due to the normal
process. It becomes evident that our bodies no longer
produces CoQ10 in the amounts that are needed to keep our
bodies functioning properly and in good health. CoQ10
supplements help our body maintain and increase the supply
of energy for cellular production and maintenance as well
as tissue repair. It would be very wise on our part,
especially as we naturally age, to make sure we have
adequate amounts of CoQ10 through supplements.

About the Author:

Jenny has more than twenty years experience with all
natural health care products. More information about the
health benefits of Coenzyme Q10 and other antioxidants is
available at =>
http://www.sweetmedicineessentials.com/anti-aging-antioxidan
ts-c-5.html