The goal of Senior Fitness

First we have to admit that we will eventually wear down, wear out and die – that is a given. What is not given is the rate at which it happens and the amount of pain and distress we must endure in the process. It is reasonable to try to optimize our health, fitness, longevity and enjoyment of living for as long as possible, and push pain, suffering and physical decline as far into the future as we can. Supplements and supplementation is an important tool to further that goal.

Supplement Categories

One way to categorize supplements is by purpose. Consider the following:

• Nutritional Supplements – these make up for the deficiencies in foods available today and eating patterns that limit nutrient intake.
• Anti-aging Supplements – these are products that specifically target the major aging mechanisms of Free radical damage, Glycation, Inflammation and Senescence.
• Functional Supplements – these make up for declining metabolic functions and hormone production.
• Performance Supplements – help make up for athletic, sexual and lifestyle decline.

This is some overlap in these categories; for example, nutritional supplements often improve your tennis game and slow aging processes, while correcting hormone imbalances will usually boost sexual capacity.

The best place to start at any age is nutritional supplementation.

Without offering volumes of proof, understand that our commercial food supply chain is highly compromised by methods of farming, exhaustion of soils, food processing and the use of detrimental ingredients. In past articles I laid out the basics of eating well and avoiding the harmful pseudo-foods that are seen isle after isle in our grocery stores. Beyond this, using a comprehensive multi-vitamin/mineral/food-complex product on a daily basis for the rest of your life will make up for a great deal of what is lacking from the commercial food supply system. My choice, the result of years of personal evaluation, is Life Extension Foundation’s Life Extension Mix – nothing in the market place come close to this one product as a baseline for complete nutrition (my opinion).

The next most significant supplement is omega-3 fats. Specifically, try to correct your dietary sources of fats to bring the ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 fats close to 1:1. This ratio impacts the operation of every cell in the body. The average American diet results in a ratio of about 20:1, contributing to chronic inflammation, mental disorders, autoimmune disorders, cancer, metabolic syndrome and heart/circulatory disease. Restoring this ratio frequently relieves these symptoms in a matter of weeks or months.

This requires cutting way down on sources of omega-6 fats: most grain-based products cooked in (or with) refined seed oils (safflower, corn, canola, etc.) or partially hydrogenated oils, as well as most commercial meats fattened in feedlots. It also means using extra-virgin olive and coconut oils, along with real butter for cooking. Then you need to add sources of omega-3 fats: grass-fed meats, wild cold water fish and fish, krill or Cod Liver oils, flax or hemp oils taken in capsules or by the spoon-full. Cut back on starch-based foods and add several serving per day of deeply colored vegetables; make your snacks a variety of fruits and nuts. Doing this also eliminates most sources of the worst of all fats, trans-omega-6 fats. This one change will improve overall health more than any other single nutritional strategy.

Anti-aging Supplements

This is a broad category, requiring considerable space to cover. First, consider antioxidants, naturally found in fruits and vegetables where they serve as protection from solar radiation and other oxidative processes. They reach peak concentrations when the plant or fruit is ripe and are often associated with deep colors. Since most fruits and vegetables are picked before optimally ripened, levels in commercial foods are reduced, therefore supplements become a good idea.

Our bodies make a vast assortment of antioxidants as protection against free radicals generated by metabolic processes. Production generally decreases as we age, and so encouraging increased production throughout the aging process is one of the goals supplementation.

This then is the two-fold strategy: eat as many antioxidant-rich foods as is reasonable while supplementing antioxidant vitamins, minerals and food concentrates.

Antioxidants are classified into two broad divisions, depending on whether they are soluble in water (hydrophilic) or in lipids (hydrophobic). In general, water-soluble antioxidants react with oxidants in the cell cytoplasm and the blood plasma, while lipid-soluble antioxidants protect cell membranes from lipid peroxidation. These compounds may be synthesized in the body or obtained from the diet. The different antioxidants are present at a wide range of concentrations in body fluids and tissues, with some such as glutathione or ubiquinone (CoQ10) mostly present within cells, while others such as uric acid are more evenly distributed throughout the body. Some are capable of operating as hydrophilic and hydrophobic antioxidants, the best known of which is alpha-lipoic acid.

The relative importance and interactions between these different antioxidants is complex, with the various metabolites and enzyme systems having synergistic and interdependent effects on one another. The action of one antioxidant may depend on the proper function of other members of the antioxidant system. The amount of protection provided by any one antioxidant therefore depends on its concentration, its reactivity towards the particular reactive oxygen species being considered, and the status of the antioxidants with which it interacts. In simpler words, antioxidants work in a chain of reactions to de-energize destructive free radicals by passing electrons from one antioxidant to the next until it can be absorbed in a harmless molecule. If a required antioxidant for that chain is in short supply then the odds of that electron causing damage to something important increases. So, it is important to take supplement that provide a bouquet of antioxidants – taking vitamin C or E alone will do very little good.

Some compounds contribute to antioxidant defense by chelating metals and preventing them from catalyzing the production of free radicals in the cell. Particularly important is the ability to sequester iron, which is the function of iron-binding proteins such as transferrin and ferritin. Selenium and zinc are often referred to as antioxidant nutrients, but these minerals are significant because they form part of an antioxidant molecule or enzyme involved and have no antioxidant action by themselves. The most effective antioxidant formulations are those from whole food complexes or extracts. They contain the trace minerals and co-enzymes required to work in harmony with the body’s own antioxidant processes.

In addition to supplementing the antioxidants missing from our diets, there are supplements that boost our own production of endogenous (made in the body) antioxidants. The three primary endogenous antioxidants are glutathione (and glutathione peroxidase), super-oxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase, and production of these important enzymes declines with age. There are supplements on the market that enhance our ability to produce them significantly, and so should be a part of our anti-aging strategy. Life Extension Foundation has several products worth considering:

• Mitochondrial Energy Optimizer with SODzyme – aimed at preventing damage to, and optimizing the function of, the mitochondria, the energy factories of the body.
• SODzyme with GliSODin & Wolfberry – aimed specifically at raising SOD and catalase levels
• Mega L-glutathione – raises plasma and cellular levels of this selenium-based antioxidant.

I use their Mitochondrial Energy Optimizer, and I take an ounce of Wolfberry (Goji) concentrate daily. I’ve used Life Extension Mix for about 10 years. They improve the formula whenever a new discovery to retard aging and promote health becomes known – it is my baseline core supplement. In Part-2 of this article we will continue with the anti-aging supplements, then take up functional and performance supplements that can help us maintain physical prowess into old age.

Good Living - Frank