Certain key nutrients and plants have the potential to increase life span, according to newly published research in mice.

Mice were divided into two groups: one was fed a normal diet, while the other was supplemented with a cocktail of dietary supplement ingredients. The experiment was conducted with normal mice and transgenic growth hormone mice (these mice experience accelerated aging).

The supplement was designed to target the five key mechanisms of aging (oxidative stress, inflammation, decline in mitochondrial function, insulin resistance and cell membrane damage); it was composed of vitamins B1, B3 (niacin), B6, B12, C, D, E, folic acid, beta-carotene, CoQ10, rutin, bioflavonoids, ginkgo biloba, ginseng, green tea extract, ginger root extract, garlic, L-Glutathione, magnesium, selenium, potassium, manganese, chromium picolinate, acetyl L-carnitine, melatonin, alpha-lipoic acid, N-acetyl cysteine, acetylsalicylic acid, cod liver oil, and flax seed oil. The appropriate dosages were calculated by taking recommended human doses and adjusting them to account for the body size and the 10-fold higher metabolic rate of mice.

The most dramatic impacts were seen among the normal mice. Bradykinesis (the slowing of movement) is evident in 1-year-old mice and 20-year-old humans. In this study declines in untreated normal mice began in youth and progressed to 50% loss of activity by 24 months (amounting to 3 h/day less movement), in contrast supplemented normal mice showed no decline even at 24 months. In the untreated mice the decline in locomotion was paralleled by loss of mitochondrial complex III activity (the mitrochondria of cells are the site of energy generation) and elevated protein carbonylation (a recognized biomarker of free radical stress). In contrast, supplemented normal mice showed a linear 56% gain in complex III activity from 2 to 24 months of age; in addition the treated normal mice were found to have 28% less protein carbonyls in brain homogenates than untreated normal mice.

Calorie restriction is currently the only non-medical intervention known to consistently prolong life-span and delay the onset of age-related chronic disease; these results are therefore especially exciting, offering as they do the hope that supplementing with a combination of specific nutrients and plants may be equally as effective as severe dietary restriction, which is infamously hard to sustain. As the authors note that: “Our results approach dietary restriction for functional biomarkers of behaviour, neurochemistry, mitochondria and oxidative stress. The [supplement] strongly ameliorated normal functional aging and is likely to benefit age-associated pathologies.”

To read the study in full click here.