The New Geritol
January 28, 2009
Wait a minute.There it is again. Listen. It’s the faint plunk of yet another anti-aging miracle discovery plopping into the Science of Anti-Aging bucket. Scientists are discovering more ways every day to use substances that help us stay younger for longer.
Did anyone see 60 Minutes on CBS Sunday evening? Back in 1991 60 Minutes did a story about red wine and the French paradox. This segment featured the irony of how the French drink more red wine yet live an average of 30%longer than their American counterparts. Intriguing evidence for unusual longevity attributed to red wine molecules is provided by researchers from Princeton University who show France has by far the greatest percentage of centenarians in its population than any other country. According to The Wine Institute, the French drink 56 liters of wine per person per year, about 6.5 times more than in the U.S. And they live 30% longer! So, the question for the past decade has been, why? Watch the segment here.
I was a bit smug as I listened Sunday night because my Canyon Ranch doctors, Drs. Mark Liponis and Mark Hyman (They are not truly my doctors- I’ve never actually met either of them but their teachings have preceded them) they have been speaking of Resveratrol as a fountain of youth compound for several years now.
And on my office well, cubicle, wall from last July is a New York Times article from last July quoting Dr.David Sinclair, a Harvard doctor who’s astounding research showed that supplementing with Resveratrol, mice showed a reversal in the aging process as well as possible decrease of age related diseases like diabetes. The wink-wink angle of the NewYork Times article was that researchers at Harvard only found this anti-aging effect if the mice were given the amount of Resveratrol that would equal drinking 1000 bottles of red wine per day, which might cancel out the benefits of, as well as the desire to, live longer.
As soon as this research came out, the mega pharmaceutical company,Glaxo Smith Kline purchased the rights to Resveratrol development for $720 million. That’s how sure they were of the future of Resveratrol as an anti-aging supplement.
Resveratrol is a molecule found in red wine as well as peanuts and some Japanese herbs and has been identified as a molecular mimic of a calorie restricted diet, something that has been proven to almost double our lifespan. That means we could all live longer (but not happier I’m guessing) if caloric intake is cut in half. Food deprivation is not going to be the next big fitness fad,I’d say, but a pill that we could take that may stave off aging would be an easy pill to swallow.
On 60 Minutes, they concluded by saying Resveratrol would be available in five years but since I am a good student, I did a bit of research and found that what is available today is Resveratrol as it is fond in the Japanese herb, Japanese Knotweed.
Many highly respected scientisits studying longevity are already taking Resveratrol in this form and are convinced that this microscopic compound will allow us to stay younger for longer and to offset age-related illnesses indefinitely.
Clinical trials are being done right now and probably will only be conclusive after another 90 years or so since the only true proof that this will do what we think it will do is to witness people aging slower and living longer. So if you are the type that needs more proof, sit back and get your rocking chair ready because it may be a long wait. Otherwise, get online and do some research and decide for yourself if you want to be younger next year, or next decade.
My advice is to memorize this word RESVERATROL (rez-var-eh-TROL) which will surely be more popular and immeasurably more effective than Geritol and unlike Geritol, which became popular as a sponsor of HeeHaw and The Lawrence Welk show, Resveratrol promises to do much more than make you feel good.
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