Multiplying Cell Life with Multivitamins
Study: Multivitamin Users Have Younger ‘Biological Age’
A recent study suggests that multivitamins assist in the anti aging process.
Have you noticed the onslaught of negative press regarding traditional takes on health lately? From the notion that exercise doesn’t rev metabolism, to antioxidants doing nothing for the body, to the benefits of fish oil being nothing more than a figment of the imagination (I’ll address this in a future article), it’s enough to drive a natural health nut, well, nuts!
Propaganda like this is a real shame. It confuses and disappoints the average person who has been striving to get healthy, leaving them skeptical of their methods and wondering whether it’s all been worth it.
I know of many people, for instance, who have taken a multivitamin for years, but decided to stop after it was reported that they bring no benefits to the body. Sure, there’s some legitimacy to the notion that some multivitamins aren’t as good as others, but I flatly reject the notion that they’re nothing more than water pills.
And the National Institute of Environmental Health agrees with me, as a study of theirs indicates that those who supplement with a multivitamin tend to live longer, or have what they call a younger “biological age.”
You’ve probably heard of the body having a biological clock, but we also have a biological age, which is basically a fancy way of describing the age of a body’s cells. Scientists are able to determine a body’s biological age by looking at things called telomeres.
Telomeres are DNA strands found at the end of chromosomes that progressively shorten as the body’s cells age. The shorter they are, the more advanced in age the body’s cells are. Cells are constantly multiplying, so it’s natural for the body’s cells to eventually die (called apoptosis), but ideally, you want the body’s healthy cells to stay that way for as long as possible.
So when researchers compared the telomeres of those who supplemented with a multivitamin regularly with those who did not, they found that those who supplemented had telomeres that were more about five percent longer than the non-multi users. In other words, those that supplement with a multivitamin have a cellular structure that’s in a younger state.
To be fair, there were some aspects to the study that require further review. For instance, it was a study that only included women, and since males and females have different cellular structures, the findings might be different in men. But among women, the researchers were able to make the appropriate adjustments to their findings based on what nutrients the women were high or low in (via food frequency questionnaires).
The study is published in The American Journal of Nutrition.
It’s estimated that 35 percent of the population supplement with a multivitamin. That’s great, but it could be higher – much higher.
That doesn’t mean those that don’t supplement should go out and get any old multivitamin. A recent ConsumerLabs.com report found that 30 percent of the multi-vitamins tested in their labs had ingredients that were above or below their dosage listed on the bottle. For instance, one multivitamin had half the amount of folic acid it claimed to have, and 30 percent of the calcium.
Personally, I use the multivitamin made by Nature’s Way. It’s called “Alive! Whole Food Energizer.” You can get a complete breakdown of its benefits and ingredient listings here. I also use Ola Loa, which is a drinkable multi vitamin. I have no financial ties to Nature’s Way or Ola Loa, LLC. I simply use these brands because I believe in the products and believe them to be among the best multivitamins on the market today.
To keep your body’s cells alive, go out and grab a bottle of Alive! today.
Source:
nutraingredients.com
calgaryherald.com
Related Posts
- More ‘Multi-’ Mumbo Jumbo
- Eat Your Way to a Diabetes-Free Life
- Benefits of Exercise and your Life Expectancy
- Prevent Premature Aging with Daily Vitamins
 
|
Enjoy this article? We guarantee your privacy. Your email address will NEVER be rented, traded or sold. |
Visit my new site: Self Help On The Web
 |
 |
Posted: June 1st, 2009 under Anti Aging, Multi-Vitamin.
Tags: alive, best multivitamin, multivitamin, multivitamin benefits, natures way, ola loa, telomeres
Comments
Comment from ksmall1998
Time June 2, 2009 at 4:09 am
You state that some multi-vites are better nutritional than others. Can you say what some of those brands are?