Section Description
The purpose of taking nutritional supplements is inherent in the standard dictionary meaning of the word supplement - to augment, extend or complete something. Nutritional supplements should never be looked upon as a substitute for the more primary life quality and longevity promoting methods: food, exercise, sleep and fulfillment. This section contains a review of each pure substance or multi-substance extract which it may be useful to ingest, or apply to the exterior of one's body for the purposes of:
The supplements which a healthy person should take at various ages will be described in this section. However, which supplements or other remedies should be taken for any diseases except those that are directly related to aging will not be covered and for that we recommend the Life Extension Foundation's book Disease Prevention and Treatment.
We do not review or personally use any injectables since we considering them to be medications, and at the present time only necessary when a diseased state, which is not the mere result of aging (but we agree that this is not always distinguishable), already exists. We also consider that injections, bypassing the body's natural filters as they do, are too dangerous for continuous use at the present time, again unless rapid ill health would otherwise ensue.
The very first thing of which every health conscious reader should be aware is that supplements, by their very nature, are above and beyond what you could get from a natural food diet (otherwise the natural food method is by far the best). Another way to say this is that we are taking supplements to have a pharmacological effect. This means that there is a certain risk associated with taking most supplements since this is not something that humans have evolved to do, nor is it something that many humans have done for centuries with a clear record of no ill effects (although some herbal extracts are exceptions to this). The second important point about supplements is that the purpose of taking many of them is to inhibit and partially reverse the damaging, and dysfunction causing accumulations with age. Together these two factors imply that healthy adults in the prime of life before age 40 should probably take very few supplements and concentrate on those methods which logically are prior to the use of supplements (see the Description part of this section).
The various supplements considered here may be classified according to their major effects on life quality and longevity. However, as with most categorizations, there will be considerable overlap, and there will be potential for a complete change of classification, or even total removal with the advent of additional scientific information. It will also be made clear that very few supplements have sufficient scientific evidence that their efficacy for any beneficial purpose is well proven. In fact, many of those in the medical establishment maintain adamantly that there is insufficient evidence to justify taking any supplements at all. Therefore, one of our goals will be to compile and describe the scientific evidence in favor of using each supplement that we recommend.
Without attempting to classify them in any fully organized manner and certainly with no thought of priority in mind, here is a list of the supplements which we (Kitty and Paul) personally use (our regimen ingredient breakdown for multi-source items) and recommend to others:
| Category | Item |
|---|---|
| Proteins, peptides, amino acids and derivatives | |
| Fats, lipids, related | GLA, EPA, DHA, extra virgin olive oil, lecithin, phosphatidylserine, phosphatidylcholine (regular and polyunsaturated), oil of oregano |
| Vitamins and vitamers | retinol (Vitamin A), B1, B2, niacin, pantothenate, pantethine, pyridoxamine, methylcobalamin, ascorbate (various forms), |
| Minerals | boron, calcium ( |
| Carotenoids | alpha carotene, astaxanthin, beta carotene, cryptoxanthin, lutein, lycopene, zeaxanthin |
| Bioflavonoids/Polyphenols and Polyphenols | bilberry extract, black cohosh, cinnamon, citrus bioflavonoids, cranberry, DIM (Di-indolyl-methane), dong quai, genistein, grape seed/skin proanthocyanidins, green tea, ginkgo biloba, hesperidin, licorice root, quercetin, resveratrol, rutin, silymarin, soy isoflavones, turmeric, |
| Miscellaneous biotics | R(+) alpha lipoic acid, apolactoferrin, bromelain, chondroitin sulfate, CoQ10, corosolic acid, creatine, DMAE, ellagic acid, gamma-amino butyric acid (GABA), |
| Herbal extracts | 5-Loxin (part of Boswellia), american ginseng (Panax quiquefolius), artichoke leaf, ashwagandha, astragalus, avena sativa, cat's claw, cernitin, damiana, forskolin, garlic (fresh & aged), nettle leaf & root, ginger root, gugulipid, maitake (grifola frondosa), olive leaf, pygeum, rhodiola, saw palmetto berry, rosemary, |
| Hormones | DHEA, melatonin, pregnenolone |
| Xenobiotics | acarbose, aminoguanidine, aspirin, BHA, BHT, deprenyl, dilauryl thiodipropionate, EDTA, ipriflavone, metformin, MnSOD mimetics, piracetam, |