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Healthy aging is directly connected to energy. But it’s important to distinguish between the caffeine buzz you get from your favorite coffee, and the energy that’s natural and vital to keeping your systems functioning at their best. The body needs superfuel – power to the brain, the cardiovascular system, the respiratory system, the muscular system,
the sensory system, and the immune system – our LIFE systems. The human body doesn’t thrive without nutrients that drive this vital internal energy.
Key energy drivers include Vitamin B3, OKG, and a special form of Vitamin B6 called P5P. These nutrients are often deficient or sub-optimal in our diets, and that's why nutritional experts are urging people to take supplements. The chart below illustrates the vital importance of Vitamin B3 as Niacin, P5P, and OKG in fueling the body’s energy supply. |
| ENERGY DRIVERS |
DESCRIPTION |
BENEFIT |
| Niacin, Niacinamide |
Vitamin B3, necessary for thousands of biochemical reactions in the body, essential for cell respiration. |
Releases energy from carbohydrates, fats and proteins. |
| Pyridoxal-5-Phosphate (P5P) |
Activated coenzyme form of Vitamin B6. Easier to absorb than B6. A lack of B6 impairs energy metabolism, increases stress, and increases brain degeneration. |
Necessary for metabolizing foods, energy production, and immunity.
P5P may also contribute to lowering risk of heart disease. |
| Ornithine alpha-ketogluterate (OKG) |
Contributes to the body’s cellular repair and restore capability, and plays a significant role in bioenergetic activity in human metabolism. |
Clinical trials with oral supplements resulted in higher human performance, and less fatigue during and after exercise. | |
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Energy for the Brain – the role of nutrition in Brain Function
There’s been a great deal of recent scientific focus on energy for the brain. Experts are only now starting to understand the important role nutrition can play in keeping your mind sharp and active. There are ‘brain foods’ that help with memory and learning, as well as brain foods that seem to reduce stress. |
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Studies show that 40% of those reaching age 85 will suffer from significant brain degeneration or senility.
So what can you do about it? The good news is that much of the degeneration that was considered normal for centuries may now be considered treatable. Break-through research conducted by scientists from Tufts University has shattered old assumptions regarding the age-related decline in brain health. Did they do it with a high-tech treatment or a new drug? No. The agent they used to accomplish this feat was blueberries.
A study conducted by James Joseph, Ph.D., Chief of the Neuroscience Laboratory at Tufts University, showed that a diet rich in blueberry extract reversed some existing brain dysfunction in aging rats. There were dramatic improvements in balance, coordination, and short-term memory in the rodents receiving blueberry supplements. This particular USDA study was the first to actually demonstrate a reversal of brain degeneration. Earlier studies linked high-antioxidant fruits and vegetables to prevention of function loss, but not to correcting it.
“The anthocyanins which give blueberries their color may be very powerful and very influential in their health punch,” says Dr. Joseph. The rats that were fed blueberries showed about twice the balance and coordination capability over the rats that didn't receive supplements. Overall, tests showed a reversal of the usual age-related dysfunctions in motor behavior, balance and coordination. Source:Journal of Neuroscience, September 15, 1999 |
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| It might be called the body’s most astounding paradox. Oxygen, part of the air we breathe – the agent which makes life possible – is also responsible for some of the most relentless damage we face as we age.
It’s called oxidation. Perhaps the most visible oxidation is getting a sun tan. Tanned skin is really billions of dead skin cells darkened by oxidation. Oxidation damages and destroys cells. It’s a simple fact. You can’t maintain a youthful state if your cells are being blown up everyday. Aside from tanned skin, oxygen is damaging your blood vessels, the neurons in your brain, your heart muscle, and your liver. |
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| Enough of the downside. Scientists have an arsenal of information about how to counterattack oxidation. The solution has a totally logical name: antioxidants, natural substances found in fruits and vegetables.
The Mayo Clinic advises that eating a diet rich in fruits and vegetables not only protects and nourishes the brain, but may protect against disease. “These foods may reduce your risk of cancer, high blood pressure, coronary artery disease, diabetes, and osteoporosis.”
The average person eats about three servings of fruits and vegetables per day. Most nutritional scientists recommend at least nine to achieve adequate antioxidant power.
To help improve our chances and build our arsenal for cell protection, food scientists have created extracts from the most nutrient-dense fruits and vegetables.
What’s now understood by scientists is that some of the benefits in fruits are related to the pigment. Anthocyanins found in blueberries, grapes and tart dark cherries are among the most potent healthy aging antioxidants in commonly eaten foods. |
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Green Tea
Energy and antioxidant power make green tea the new ‘must have’ for healthy aging. Double-blind human studies link the polyphenols in green tea with helping to prevent several types of cancer – lung, breast, stomach, and small intestine. At a conference sponsored by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the American Cancer Society, scientists called for the Food and Drug Administration to add tea to the official list of fruits and vegetables we should eat daily. Reuters |
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Rhodiola
Manuscripts dating back to 760 AD show that Rhodiola was used in Tibetan medicine to support vital energy, help the body resist stress, strengthen the brain, and provide nourishment to preserve health. Today researchers are focused on Rhodiola’s potential as an aid for endurance, as a way to relieve tiredness and muscle weakness, and as a method to improve efficiency of physical and mental work.
Rhodiola and Stress
A highly uniform population of 19-21 year-old cadets participated in a study to determine the effects of Rhodiola on mental fatigue. All the cadets had similar baseline data for performance capability. Then they were tested under stressful conditions. Some had received Rhodiola. Others had not. There was a significant difference in the fatigue levels of cadets who took the Rhodiola extract.
Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-group trial using standardized Rhodiola rosea extract. Shevtsov VA, Zholus BI, Shervarly VI, Vol'skij VB, Korovin YP, Khristich MP, Roslyakova NA, Wikman G. Center of Sanitary and Epidemiological Inspection of the R.F. Ministry of Health, Moscow, Russia. |
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