Cancer

While various factors threaten us with “brain drain” as we age, the good news is that modern science has identified nutrients that can slow or even reverse the progression of this once-inevitable decline. These supplements offer a smart option for maintaining brain health throughout life.

For years, consumers have been learning of the benefits of reducing cardiovascular disease by ingesting omega-3 fatty acids. This message has made its way into the mainstream as cardiologists now prescribe omega-3 supplements to their patients.

Implicated in the onset of 95% of all cancers is a common but under-recognized molecule most people have never heard of: nuclear factor-kappaB or NF-kB. Emerging research is validating the danger it poses to maturing individuals. For example, a landmark study published late last year confirmed, for the first time, NF-kB’s central role in the onset of malignant breast cancer.

As men age, many become trapped in a vicious cycle that leads to life-threatening abdominal obesity. No matter how much they exercise or how little they eat, these men are unable to shed this excess weight that accumulates in their belly. Published studies have shown that low testosterone and obesity reinforce each other, trapping men in a spiral of weight gain and hormonal imbalance.

Scientists have discovered a plant extract related to resveratrol that mimics many of the beneficial effects of caloric restriction. This natural compound favorably regulates genes involved in the development of cancer, atherosclerosis, diabetes, and the system-wide inflammation that underlies a variety of age-related disorders.

Curcumin has long been known to have poor bioavailability, requiring high doses to achieve desired blood levels. A novel curcumin absorption system has been developed that delivers up to seven times more pharmacologically bioactive curcumin to the blood compared with commercial curcumin products.

Among curcumin’s many benefits, protection from neurological damage ranks high on many researchers’ lists. “Curcumin has at least 10 known neuroprotective actions and many of these might be realized in [living subjects]…” wrote American scientists recently, in Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology. “Dietary curcumin is a strong candidate,” they added, “for use in the prevention or treatment of major disabling age-related neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and...

By now most people know that omega-3 fatty acids from fish oil have remarkable health-protecting benefits. In fact, the science behind it is so strong that Big Pharma has jumped on board with expensive fish oil prescription drugs.

If your vitamin E supplement contains only tocopherol forms, you may not be getting all of the benefits this nutrient has to offer. While tocopherols are very important, they lack many of the synergistic benefits offered by their cousins, the tocotrienols. Few people realize that vitamin E is composed of eight different compounds. Half of these are called tocopherols, which is the most common form of vitamin E. The other half are known as tocotrienols.

The majority of men older than 60 years will be affected by benign (noncancerous) enlargement of the prostate gland. An enlarged prostate can be caused by either one of two conditions—benign prostatic hyperplasia or benign prostatic hypertrophy (both abbreviated BPH).

To slow the natural progression of BPH and its symptoms, the Life Extension Foundation suggests that you have annual screenings, including a PSA test and a DRE. Neither of these tests can rule out prostate cancer; however, they can alert a physician to the need for further testing.

An exciting new study published in the New England Journal of Medicine suggests that coffee drinking may add years to your life span. Evidence is rapidly accumulating about the ability of coffee to reduce vascular disease, slash cancer risk, preserve cognition, and mitigate diabetes/obesity.