Anti-Aging Secrets and Your Longer Healthier Life

Anti-Aging Secrets, Resveratrol, and Your Longer Healthier Life

“Anti-aging secrets” was the quest of Ponce de Leon in his lifetime search for the fountain of youth. Today you can grasp just some of these anti-aging secrets and be on your way to living more and healthier years for yourself.  If you have visited the 60 Minutes segment entitled “Wine Rx” (available on the internet), you will find the antioxidant resveratrol at the center of their discussions.  And it will be the center of many discussions on anti-aging secrets for a long time to come.

Resveratrol’s introduction into the picture came in about 1993 when it was shown to reduce plaque in arteries of people who develop hardening of the arteries.   When  Science in 1997 reported that topical resveratrol applications prevented the development of skin cancer in mice that had been treated with a carcinogen, this substance was not yet known to have anti-aging properties. Then in 2003 Dr.  David Sinclair at Harvard Medical School (along with other researchers) reported in the periodical,  Nature, that resveratrol significantly extended the lifespan of a certain yeast.  Since then there have been 2,000 studies referencing resveratrol in scientific publications.

In a recent interview with Barbara Walters, Dr. Sinclair talked about his discovery of the “sirtuin” gene which scientists believe actually controls the aging process and which plays a key role in the speed at which your body ages.   These genes are proteins that every cell manufactures, and they act like secret silencing agents (“ SIR” stands for “Silent Information Regulators” ).  The sirtuins are “quiet”—as long as everything is fine.  But as soon as you are put under stress, they activate and jump in to try to slow down the aging process.

Certainly “sirtuin” and “resveratrol” had become the buzz words in the health and wellness industry.

It was in the process of his searching for the chemical that would activate the sirtuin genes that Dr. Sinclair stumbled upon resveratrol.  Between 2003 and 2006 Dr. Sinclair made a number of important discoveries about resveratrol.  First of all, resveratrol’s chemical structure gives it the ability to activate the Sirtuin gene.  And then it has the power to reverse the aging process, to literally reset the human biological clock–which has been called the most important breakthrough in health in the last 100 years.  He learned that resveratrol restores the stability of a gene after the gene has been damaged and put under stress; so it brings the gene back into balance.  He also observed that reseveratrol is found and manufactured in all cells of all living creatures–that is, the cells manufacture resveratrol and then they recycle it when they are put under stress.  He also put his finger on its role in effecting one of the genetic factors in aging.  So Dr. Sinclair has uncovered some very valuable anti-aging secrets, and in the opinion of this author, is a candidate for a Nobel Prize.  The significance of all this can be seen in the 2008 purchase by pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline of Dr. Sinclair’s and Dr. Christoph Westphal’s Cambridge-based research company, Sirtris, for three quarters of a  billion dollars.

NOTE:  To delve more deeply, you are referred to a 10-page article entitled “Unlocking the Secrets of Longevity Genes” by David Sinclair and Lenny Guarente, appearing in the February 2006 Scientific American and available on the internet.  Here in 2006 Dr. Sinclair stated that we will not know definitely and exactly how resveratrol holds the key to our health and longevity for decades.

Lottie Jenvey is an octogenarian, a former medical technologist and still a research subject in Women’s Health Initiative.  She has had a long-time passion for living in harmony with Nature and in helping people on issues to find  a healthier life.  With considerable internet exposure, she has developed a keen interest  in using the internet to this end.  She plans to expand this blog, http://lottiejenvey.com with further articles following her passions–A-1 nutrition, the environment, and wildflowers.