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Eternal youth may not be in your grasp, but international research highlights the real keys to more and better quality years on this earth, writes MARIKA SBOROS
YOU can't stop growing older, much as you might like to. The years pass by for us all, and there is an inevitability about the ageing process and the changes it wreaks on organ function and body strength.
However, the passing of the years doesn't have to mean a descent into weakness, sickness, disability and cognitive decline before death finally claims you. And you don't have to look far for the keys to ageing well.
There is a big difference between total life expectancy and healthy life expectancy - around eight years, say the experts. And there are easy ways to modulate the inevitable changes that accompany ageing, and maintain health, strength and energy for as long as possible.
If you doubt that, ask visiting UK specialist consultant in nutrition and food science Prof David Richardson. He is scientific adviser to the UK Council for Responsible Nutrition, the European Federation of Health Product Manufacturers and the International Alliance of Dietary/Food Supplement Associations (IADSA), a scientific forum of independent leading nutrition scientists and health professionals. He also holds visiting professorships at Newcastle and Reading Universities.
Richardson is in SA on a lecture tour this month. He intends the tour to be a wake-up call for all stakeholders to recognise what can be done through lifestyle, diet and nutritional interventions to extend not just years on this earth but their quality.
" The ageing of whole populations and societies is unprecedented and has wide-ranging implications for employment, taxation, pensions, education and public health," he says.
His message isn't nutritional rocket science, or even all that new. But clearly many are not heeding it, and there's compelling new scientific evidence to back it all up. It revolves around easy ways to reduce the risk of degenerative diseases, such as heart disease, cancer and diabetes, that are common in ageing people, he says.
One way is through the cardiovascular benefits of Omega 3 fish oils. The scientific evidence of fish oils for heart health is "absolutely convincing", Richardson says. So too is evidence on calcium and vitamin D for bone health and reduced risk of osteoporosis, iron for healthy blood, and B vitamins linked to cognitive performance and brain health.
When it comes to reducing cancer risk, things are a little more complex. Richardson is a member of the EU-funded Health Grain Project, looking at health claims and benefits of wholegrain cereals in preventing cancer. He says epidemiological studies show the benefits of certain foods or food categories - especially high quantities of fruits and vegetables and whole- grain, high fibre foods - in reducing the risk of certain cancers. The research is ongoing, and scientists can't say they know enough about any one component to prevent cancer.
"It's likely to be an interaction between many different foods and food components," he says.
A factor in declining health as you age is that food intake tends to decline, says Richardson. You also tend to "cover up", he says: You wear more clothes and tend not to expose yourself to sun as much as when you were younger. This coupled with a lower food and energy intake makes it much more difficult to maintain micronutrient sufficiency for optimum health. (Micronutrients are vitamins and minerals like folic acid, calcium, iron and vitamin D. Macronutrients are the energy providers, fats, proteins and carbohydrates.)
International surveys show older people are particularly vulnerable to micronutrient deficiencies. This doesn't mean younger people don't also suffer deficiencies. UK government surveys show that significant proportions of the population exhibit a gap between actual micronutrient intake and recommended daily amounts. Government surveys in SA show a similar situation.
The solution lies in increasing the nutrient density of the diet. This can be done through conventional and fortified foods, but research suggests an important role for supplements, Richardson says.
This is a controversial area, with studies suggesting not just little benefit, but that vitamin and mineral supplementation could be harmful, even lethal. The most recent research appears particularly damning : A review of 67 studies by researchers at Copenhagen University Hospital in Denmark, published by The Cochrane Collaboration, involved trials of more than 230000 people on anti-oxidants beta-carotene, vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin E, and selenium. The authors said the antioxidant supplements, excluding selenium, "significantly increased mortality (death)".
Like other independent scientists, Richardson is scathing of the research. He says it was limited, flawed and the researchers effectively "used statistics like a drunken man uses a lamppost for support rather than illumination". They used statistical procedures that were "robotic in process", and "compared apples with pears and came to conclusions about bananas".
A scientific forum organised by IADSA held in Verona last month, found that the conclusions of the Danish review were "questionable" at best, and were already being challenged by leading European scientists, he says. The review did not interrogate data correctly or make sure that the statistical procedures were applied properly and consistently. As one scientist at the Verona forum put it: "If you torture data sufficiently, they will surely confess."
Another critical weakness, says Richardson, is that the review was of participants in studies taking anti-oxidants who were already at the end of their lives, with a host of chronic diseases from 30 or 40 years or more of unhealthy living.
"It's unlikely any substance will help at that stage, to prevent or reverse advanced disease conditions," Richardson says. "It's not enough to pop a few pills at the end of your life and expect miracles. You need a healthy diet and micronutrient sufficiency throughout life to hold the risk of chronic disease at bay."
And popping pills is not the only thing to do to stay healthy for longer. You need to maintain a healthy weight and avoid overweight and obesity as you age, because all that fat "masks the loss of muscle mass", says Richardson.
One of the most dramatic - and normal - changes in people over 50 is loss of lean body mass (muscle mass). Men tend to lose around 12kg in muscle mass over the last few decades of their lives, and women around 5kg (they have less to start with).
You can modulate the weight and lean muscle mass factors through regular exercise and a healthy diet.
"Health is our most precious asset and international research highlights the lasting impact poor nutritional status has on the health, well-being and life expectancy," says Richardson. "Safe nutritional interventions, including the greater use of food supplements, effectively provide micronutrients and other substances with beneficial physiological effects, to maximise the span of good health and improve the quality of life of older people."