Michael Rae - Supplements and CR
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Caveat - he emphasizes that he tries not to be biased, but
"he sells pills for a living"

Important - start with healthy rodents (or people) and see
what extends lifespan. CR is only thing that has been shown
to do this consistently.

Antioxidants dont extend lifespan, when you start w/ healthy
animals - CoQ10, ALA, Vitamin E, ALCAR,

But you might say - it cant hurt.

But it can hurt you!
o     Eg. Retinol increases your fracture risk *a lot*.
o     Too much zinc is very bad for you
o     Too much manganese is bad - we already pretty high from veggies
o     Too much alpha form of Vitamin E depresses gamma form below
        a healthy diet with no supplements - bad news
o     Beta carotene - increased cancer in smokers

Moral - lots of issues, and really need to be careful besides putting 
these things in your body.

Should we take supplements at all? If so, why, what and how much?

Probably yes - to avoid insufficiencies.

New RDAs are really pretty good. You need that much, and probably 
not more.

One exception to new RDAs, you need to be taking 1000IU of vitamin D
- you need a pill. Really need that much to reduce fractures.

On CR, you need some supplements:
o     Diet naturally deficient in some things: calcium, iron, B6, B12
o     CR people need more of some nutrients: Calcium, Protein, Iron,
      Copper
o     Absorption may be an issue as well - our high fiber diet may 
      impair absorption, particularly minerals.

CR diet should have new RDA in them.

Beyond that, you should take ½ to ¾ extra of a multi-vitamin. It is
conservative.

Strontium and vitamin K2 very helpful for bones. Strontium seems to
be the only thing besides very expensive (and injection delivered)
Forteo that builds bone.

Vitamin K2 decreases fracture risk without increasing BMD - seems
to improve bone quality.

Vitamin K2 isnt effectively created in ones gut, contrary to popular
belief. Bacteria dont make the right form, and they dont make it in
a place in the gut where it can be absorbed.

There are supplements that target specific diseases in people with
high risk factors, and are worthwhile.

Nutrient and vitamin lab tests arent useful, because there is no linkage
between the blood levels of vitamins, for example, and health outcomes.

Important points:
o     Dont kill yourself via oversupplementation
o     Dont kill yourself by being deficient in important nutrients
o     *Maybe* you can do better than simply avoiding deficiency by
      supplementing with certain stuff - but very suspect

Curcumin broken down during digestion in humans and are worthless in
humans, despite fact that they help cancer in rodents.

Supplement paradox: Diet rich in fruits and veggies are good, but the
supplements based on the nutrients we think important in those fruits
and veggies dont work.

What this means is we need to make supplement regime look more like
"healthy diet".

So what does epidemiology studies in humans suggest are good for us?

How do good diets and supplements differ
o     Alpha-tocopherol in diet is never more than 1/3 in diet - whereas
      most supplements are all alpha-tocopherol. That is why Vitamin E
      studies have likely failed.
o     Beta-carotene failure - Trials used synthetic BC, which was different
      from dietary BC.
o     Selenium - again, need to supplement w/ the right form
o     Dont need vitamin C supplement on top of a good diet

A good diet contains more important stuff than is in supplements

Stuff without support
o     Ginger, cucurmin, licorice

Stuff w/ good support
o     Lots of support for alum veggies, citrus fruit, cruciferous veggies,
      carrots, tomatoes
o     Chlorophyll may be worth taking

What about supplements that might slow down aging?

Two mechanistic bases for slowing down aging by supplements:
o     Mitochondrial ROS production

Bottom line:
o     First, get new RDAs
o     CR may need more of a few things
o     But dont megasupplement some things and not others. - be proportional
o     If food intake data supports a component, use that *exact* molecule,
      in doses similar to diet.
o     Or alternatively, get it from diet!

Luigi had very good car analogy - A car with 5 (or 10 or 100) wheels or two
steering wheels isnt necessarily better!

Michael, through the company he works for - AOR, is going to come up with
a single multi-vitamin formula he thinks is the right way to get baseline
nutrition in a way that is similar to the way it is in foods.

Long-chain Omega-3s are an example where supplementing may reverse positive
CR effect. He things if youre consuming high fat fish or fish oil, youre
reversing a potentially important aspect of CR (known result of decreased
long chain w3s in longer lived species). Short chain omega-3s (ALA) works as
well or better for avoiding heart disease.

Michael will continue tomorrow, when he will focus on what might
(stress *might*) be done with certain supplements to slow the aging
process.  Can't wait!