Antioxidants Proven To Be Key To Long Life
Free radicals cause aging and diseases. Anti oxidants destroying free radicals enable a longer, healthier life.
(PRWEB) August 8, 2005 -- Boosting the body's levels of natural antioxidants
could be the key to a long life, according to US scientists.
Mice
engineered to produce high levels of an antioxidant enzyme lived 20% longer and
had less heart and other age-related diseases. If the same is true in humans,
people could live beyond 100 years. The University of Washington work backs the
idea that highly reactive oxygen molecules, called free radicals, cause ageing.
Free radicals have been linked with heart disease, cancer and other age-related
diseases.
The International Journal of Food Sciences and Nutrition 2004
published results showing that Reishi caused a significant post-ingestion
increase in plasma antioxidant capacity with peak response at 90 min. Increase
in urine antioxidant capacity was seen within 3 hours. Results indicate that
Reishi intake causes an acute increase in plasma antioxidant
capacity.
Reishi is a powerful antioxidant; in a laboratory study Reishi
significantly elevated the free radical scavenging ability of blood and was so
strong that even after the Reishi extract was absorbed and metabolized the
scavenging effect still continued. A compound called GLB 7 actually decreases
the production of oxygen free radicals. Dr. Vladimir Kupin of the Cancer
Research Centre in Moscow discovered that Reishi was more effective as a free
radical scavenger than isolated refined compounds. A laboratory study with fruit
flies that have a very similar genetic make up to humans and are often used in
experiments proved that Reishi significantly lengthened the life span of those
that had been fed Reishi compared to controls.
Cancer and Dietary
Antioxidants
Epidemiological studies show that a high intake of
anti-oxidant-rich foods is inversely related to cancer risk. Animal and cell
cultures confirm the anticancer effects of antioxidants. Selenium and vitamin E
reduced the risk of some forms of cancer, including prostate and colon cancer
and carotenoids have been shown to help reduce breast cancer risk.
Cancer treatment by radiation and anticancer drugs reduces inherent
antioxidants and induces oxidative stress, which increases with disease
progression. While clinical studies on the effect of anti-oxidants in modulating
cancer treatment are limited in number and size, experimental studies show that
antioxidant vitamins and some herbs selectively induce apoptosis (cell death) in
cancer cells but not in normal cells and prevent angiogenesis and metastatic
spread, suggesting a potential role for antioxidants as adjuvants in cancer
therapy. Reishi has been shown to suppress cell adhesion and cell migration of
highly invasive breast and prostate cancer cells, suggesting its potency to
reduce tumor invasiveness.
Accumulation of excess free radicals causing
oxidative damage to cells is one of the contributing factors in ageing and has
been implicated in many diseases, including cancer. The human immune system and
antioxidant activity becomes weaker and less efficient with age; this reduced
effectiveness helps to explain the rising incidence of cancer and life
threatening infections in older people. It is thought antioxidant supplements
could help to maintain bodily processes and prevent a significant number of
degenerative diseases, especially those of the immune, cardiovascular and liver
functions. Indeed, antioxidant supplementation has shown a remarkable ability to
forestall age related changes to the immune system and even reverse many aspects
of immune function in subjects with damaged immune functions.
Extracts
from medicinal mushrooms are classified as nutraceuticals, i.e. dietary
supplements. Functional food science is a rapidly evolving discipline
researching ways to maintain good health and improve homeostasis and thus create
conditions for reducing the risk of disease. It is quite distinct from medical
and pharmaceutical sciences where the objectives are mainly to eliminate, cure
or control diseases rather than to fortify the patient and prevent disease.
Functional foods are poised to play an increasingly important role in developed
nations to curtail spiraling health care budgets.
It is widely
recognized that diet has a critical role in general health and that many types
of cancer can be linked to inappropriate diets. Regular consumption of fruits
and vegetables (functional foods) are now considered essential ingredients in
cancer and coronary disease prevention programs, e.g. the Department Of Health
campaign advocating 5 portions of fruit and vegetables a day. Cancer Research UK
note, ‘Dietary supplements consisting of whole mushroom extracts are becoming
increasingly popular. Unlike most dietary supplements, mushroom dietary
supplements contain a veritable Pandora’s box of
compounds’.
Contact:
Howell Lewis
+44 01296 425744
e-mail
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Source : http://www.prweb.com/releases/2005/8/prweb269729.htm