Rapid Recognition of Healthy Aging

The Financial Times is a respected business journal based in London.

Earlier this year, the Financial Times published an article recognizing what Life Extension readers long ago understood:

Aging is a disease that can be decelerated!

The Financial Times predicts that:

"Some anti-aging therapies could prove as important in the 21^st century as antibiotics were in the 20^th."¹

In the last century, the advent of antibiotics made the leading causes of death (bacterial diseases) virtually disappear from the top of mortality charts.²

Nowadays, age-related disorders are the main killers.

A similar change may happen this century as it did with antibiotics. Scientists worldwide are making advances to control the causes of pathological aging.

Public interest in this science is not being overlooked by big business.

The Wall Street Journal published an article describing how corporate behemoths like Nestlé and Colgate-Palmolive are launching products aimed at consumers who are:

"increasingly interested in aging well."³

These companies have set up healthy-aging units to accelerate research into how "nutrition impacts cognition and mobility."

Contrast this with recent decades when normal aging was viewed as inevitable.

Ditto for regulatory agencies that claimed nutrition had nothing to do with one’s risk of degenerative illnesses.

While enormous resources are being spent to fortify foods with nutrients, I am pleased that an armada of researchers are spearheading clinical trials aimed at reversing aging in elderly humans.

The key today is to preserve your youth to benefit from advances in healthy longevity that are rapidly nearing fruition.

Nestlé Launches Anti-Aging Functional Food

Swiss-based Nestlé is the largest food and beverage company in the world.

In December 2020, Nestlé announced plans to launch a functional food for middle-aged and elderly consumers in China consisting of:

"A unique combination of ingredients to support bone health, muscle strength, and joint functionality."⁴

The approval of these claims by the Chinese government is based on a human study of a fortified milk powder that has been "clinically proven to enhance mobility during aging."

It is one of the first products with functional food claims allowed in China.

This fortified milk product was developed in collaboration with Beijing University Third Hospital. According to the lead Nestlé researcher:

"The results of the clinical study showed that the product in combination with tailored physical activity led to a significant increase in mobility of Chinese seniors with joint discomfort and thus improved their quality of life."⁵

In addition to this functional milk powder, another product named Yiyang Probiotic Protein Powder to boost immunity also received formal Chinese approval.⁶

It takes a long time to register and apply for "health food" status in China. Compared to the United States, there are far more advertising restrictions in China.

What’s in this Functional Milk Powder?

As our Life Extension group learned nearly 41 years ago, inserting healthy nutrients into flavored powders or liquids is challenging. Most nutrients don’t taste good.

When I first learned of this functional milk powder, I thought it might contain trivial potencies of nutrients that would not confer its purported benefits.

While Nestlé did not reveal the ingredients in their press releases, our investigation of patent office records indicates that this new milk powder provides in two daily servings:

Ingredient	My Comments
Glucosamine, 1,500 mg	This potency improves joint function.
Vitamin D, 800 IU	Confers some, but not optimal benefit.
Vitamin C, 35 mg	Not much, but more would cause bad taste.
Zinc, 6.5 mg	Better than nothing, but higher potencies needed.
Calcium, 850 mg	Good potency for bones.

I was pleasantly surprised to see this milk formula provides sufficient glucosamine to fulfill the claim of improved mobility.

In addition, a study published in 2019 found that people who supplement with 1,500 mg of glucosamine daily have a 22% lower risk of cardiovascular death.⁷

My compliments to Nestlé for validating and delivering a palatable drink mix that will improve healthy longevity of people living in China.

In this Month’s Issue…

The role of dietary choices on human health continues to be validated in large-scale population studies. The article on page 66 of this month’s issue reveals new findings on how what we eat can slash disease risks.

Elevated triglycerides are an independent risk factor for coronary artery disease. Page 56 reminds readers how easy it is to drop triglycerides to optimal safe ranges.

Record numbers of Americans are complaining of stress-related mental issues, yet the Japanese learned long ago how to use an extract from green tea to stay calm all day long. Page 34 of this month’s issue describes this low-cost method.

New findings on the benefits of DHEA continue to appear in the published literature. Life Extension was the first to recommend DHEA as a low-cost supplement back in 1981. Page 51 provides updates on this natural hormone that declines in our bodies with normal aging.

Rapid Recognition of a Disease called "Aging"

In 1977, I incorporated what we now refer to as the Life Extension group of organizations that all seek to extend healthy human lifespans.

I garnered a lot of media coverage in those early days because no one thought it possible to delay biological aging.

I argued back then that published data showed that lifespans could be extended in animals, so why not emulate this for people?

The change in perception about controlling aging that occurred since 1977 is nothing short of astounding.

The FDA is increasingly recognizing aging as a disease and clinical trials are going on now to enable older people to grow biologically younger.

I expect rapid-fire advances, but to personally benefit, we must take steps now to remain healthy and alive.

Most of you are doing that. For those who are falling into the traps of unhealthy diets and lifestyles, I urge you to make a resolution to slowly cease bad habits and initiate actions to reduce degenerative risks.

For longer life,

William Faloon

Life Extension Buyers Club

References

1. Available at: https://www.ft.com/content/d6d3cad8-f6e1-4a3c-b0cb-2b1afdeb95a0. Accessed August 30, 2021.
2. Adedeji WA. THE TREASURE CALLED ANTIBIOTICS. Annals of Ibadan postgraduate medicine. 2016;14(2):56-7.
3. Available at: https://www.wsj.com/articles/older-shoppers-are-the-hot-new-thing-for-consumer-brands-11612002644. Accessed August 31, 2021.
4. Available at: https://www.nestle.com/randd/news/allnews/nestle-launches-functional-food-supporting-mobility-during-aging-yiyang-active. Accessed August 31, 2021.
5. Available at: https://www.dairyreporter.com/Article/2020/12/17/Nestle-launches-milk-product-in-China-to-support-mobility-during-aging. Accessed August 31, 2021.
6. Available at: https://foodtechnews.asia/nestle-to-launch-functional-food-in-china/. Accessed August 31, 2021.
7. Ma H, Li X, Sun D, et al. Association of habitual glucosamine use with risk of cardiovascular disease: prospective study in UK Biobank. BMJ. 2019 May 14;365:l1628.