The following article was published today by the BBC. I have included a short introduction to help highlight the significance of this article.

The research described in this article is directly impacted by our work as the targets of this destructive free radical activity are the proteins.

What is particularly significant is that historically there have been only 2 known methods for prolonging maximum lifespan in mammals: mild hypothermia & stringent caloric restriction.

Sustaining a slightly lowered basal temperature is not feasible, so that one is out.

Stringent caloric restriction has been repeatedly PROVEN to prolong lifespan in ALL mammalian species, including humans. Dr. Walford of UCLA is the pioneer researcher in this area. Unfortunately this has not been too useful either, as not too many people are willing to eat like church mice for their entire lives in the hope that it will extend THEIR particular lifespan.

NOTE: Please understand that “extending lifespan” is a statistical term which applies to differences between groups, not specific individuals.

As this article points out, this research has now thrown in a new possibility. We are not talking anymore about only using specific antioxidants to help prevent specific diseases, such as lutein to prevent macular degeneration.

The thrust of this research is that scientists MAY have found a way to increase the level of specific antioxidants – the result of which is a statistically significant increase in the maximum age span in the experimental group (those subjects who actually received the treatment) vs. the control group (the normal, untreated population).

To suggest that it is now possible that we may be able to extend HEALTHY maximum lifespan by nutritional modifications/intervention is spectacular – especially since it is feasible for the average person to actually apply and benefit from this knowledge.

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Antioxidants a key to 'long life'
Boosting the body's levels of natural antioxidants could be the key to a long life, according to US scientists.

Mice engineered to produce high levels of an antioxidant enzyme lived 20% longer and had less heart and other age-related diseases, they found.

If the same is true in humans, people could live beyond 100 years.

The University of Washington work in Science Express backs the idea that high reactive oxygen molecules, called free-radicals, cause ageing.

Long life

Free-radicals have been linked with heart disease, cancer and other age-related diseases.

Dr Peter Rabinovitch and colleagues bred mice that over-expressed the enzyme catalase.

Catalase acts as an antioxidant by removing damaging hydrogen peroxide, which is a waste product of metabolism and is a source of free-radicals.

Free radical damage can lead to more flaws in the cell's chemical processes and more free radicals, making a vicious cycle.

Dr Rabinovitch said: "This study is very supportive of the free-radical theory of ageing.

Free radicals

"It shows the significance of free radicals and of reactive oxygen species in particular, in the ageing process."

Dr Rabinovitch said the discovery could help could pave the way for future development of drugs or other treatments that protect the body from free radicals, and possibly some age-related conditions.

"People used to only focus on specific age-related diseases, because it was believed that the ageing process itself could not be affected.

"What we're realising now is that by intervening in the underlying ageing process, we may be able to produce very significant increases in health span, or healthy lifespan," he said.

Professor Pat Monaghan from the University of Glasgow said: "This is certainly a very interesting study.

"Making the leap from what is going on in the cell to what happens to the animal is difficult and often controversial since there are so many intervening steps.

"However, this study does seem to point to a direct link between mopping up free radicals at the cellular sites where they are generated, and consequences for the lifespan of the whole animal.

But she added: "We are obviously a long way from downing catalase to gain eternal youth, and we need to know much more about what the consequences of high catalase levels would be for other aspects of the animal's life history.

"You rarely get something for nothing."