aging

Berries and Aging

Brigette Bardot: "It's sad to grow old, but nice to ripen."

Goji berries ("wolfberries", Lycium barbarum L.), one of Nature's strongest antioxidant foods

An intriguing theory of human health is that aging occurs when oxidative reactions

("reactive oxygen species" or oxygen radicals) overwhelm the ability of intrinsic and dietary antioxidants to counteract and balance the total effect of oxidants.

Stated another way, aging may be the result of oxygen radicals permanently defeating

the ability of antioxidants to protect cell functions.

If eventually proved true, could that mean that increased dietary intake of antioxidants

-- a relatively simple lifestyle strategy of eating antioxidant-rich foods like berries --

might deter or postpone aging?

A research team of USDA scientists at Tufts University in Boston, led by Dr. Jim Joseph, has been studying this topic and the dietary role of dark berries for over 20 years.

Current status of the theory?

Although the research to date has been on animal models of aging, the science is convincing for dietary factors having a positive role. Below are potential mechanisms through which antioxidant berries may contribute protective effects against aging mechanisms.

This research listed below has not yet been completed on humans to an extent

satisfactory for regulatory approval.

In other words:

There is abundant misinformation on the internet about the anti-aging effects

of certain berries, their juices or their extracts.

None of this has been adequately proved by science or approved by

a regulatory agency such as the FDA .

So....

be skeptical about what you read in marketing literature about berries or any food being an anti-aging remedy!

Here is a list of topics under current study. The research is preliminary and,

in nearly all cases, applies only to laboratory conditions

and experimental animal models