The famous researcher Bruce Ames of UC Berkeley and Children’s Hospital in Oakland, still working away and publishing (he’s now 93 years old).
It is proposed that proteins/enzymes be classified into two classes according to their essentiality for immediate survival/reproduction and their function in long-term health: that is, survival proteins versus longevity proteins.
I also propose that nutrients required for the function of longevity proteins constitute a class of vitamins that are here named “longevity vitamins.” I suggest that many such nutrients play a dual role for both survival and longevity. The evidence for classifying taurine as a conditional vitamin, and the following 10 compounds as putative longevity vitamins, is reviewed: the fungal antioxidant ergothioneine; the bacterial metabolites pyrroloquinoline quinone (PQQ) and queuine; and the plant antioxidant carotenoids lutein, zeaxanthin, lycopene, α- and β-carotene, β-cryptoxanthin, and the marine carotenoid astaxanthin. Because nutrient deficiencies are highly prevalent in the United States (and elsewhere), appropriate supplementation and/or an improved diet could reduce much of the consequent risk of chronic disease and premature aging.
I propose that an optimal level of many of the known 30 vitamins and essential minerals/elements (V/M), plus that of 11 new putative vitamins described herein, is necessary for promoting healthy aging.
Prolonging healthy aging: Longevity vitamins and proteins, by Bruce Ames
Newer evidence on the effect of vitamin D on all-cause mortality supersedes these toxicity studies, concluding that there was no increased risk even when blood levels of 25(OH)D were as high as 100 ng/mL
I had thought serum vitamin D vs. mortality was U-shaped, but apparently not. One given reference for this is:
While acknowledging some health problems from high vitamin D,
there is an inverse correlation between 25(OH)D concentration and mortality rates
As John McEnroe is fond of saying “Surely you jest!” The fact is, supplements are much cheaper and I am not really very fond of fish, except for fresh rainbow trout caught in the icy waters of Idaho streams.
As for caviar, I have tasted several kinds, and of course, only liked the very expensive kinds so I won’t be using it as a supplement
A very large amount of fish oil supplements can be oxidized and possibly harmful with the opposite intended effect. That makes supplements more expensive and possibly harmful.
There’s a reason why the AHA recommends 2 servings of fatty fish per week but not fish oil even though it seems cheaper.
Also if you are the 1 in 4 APOE4 carrier - you’re literally wasting money with fish oil supplements even if you’re 100% sure you’re getting the best quality possible. Certain cold-water fish caviar (the ones not well known and not very popular) ends up being the cheapest, safest, most convenient option because the concentration of the phospholipid form is very high.
To avoid oxidation, I’ve been trying to go to the source, in the sense of likely to be fresh and free from unwanted additives: every day, I have a tablespoon of sockeye salmon oil from Vital Choice (or a portion of salmon or sardines). Based on the nutrition information on their similar capsules, I believe this provides about 2g of omega-3.
and it seems only limited value of anti-oxidant vitamins in specific use cases:
Antioxidants supplementation in exercise
Athletes often take antioxidants supplementation to prevent the harmful effects of exercise-induced oxidative stress and enhance exercise performance. Proper antioxidants supplementation may be beneficial under some circumstances, such as overtraining, overreach, muscle damage, and high-altitude or hypoxic training. Earlier studies suggested that supplementation with vitamin E improved exercise performance in climbers at high altitudes30 and also the athletic performance of sled dogs,31while supplementation with vitamin C improved exercise performance in untrained college students32 and athletes.33Moreover, a combination of vitamins E and C increased aerobic capacity after long-term exercise training.34
However, more recent studies do not support the idea that antioxidant supplementation is beneficial to human health35, 36, 37 and exercise adaptation.38, 39, 40, 41, 42 Furthermore, high doses of exogenous antioxidants disturb the balance between free radicals and endogenous antioxidant mechanisms and alters physiological adaptive responses.43 Supplementation with antioxidants negatively impacts exercise capacity, adaptive gene expression and protein synthesis to alter skeletal muscle and cardiovascular health44 (Table 1).
I’m not convinced about vitamin D beyond say 30-40 ng/mL. Maybe 40 if you’re worried about the specific vitamin D assay quirks in testing. As I’ve mentioned before - I personally take only 1,000 IU Vitamin D3 USP grade (I have some minimal sunlight at sunrise and sunset, and some from diet, non-USP grade supplements have varying amounts - sometimes 10x the label)
Don’t forget - Vitamin D is a steroid hormone. Don’t mess with steroid hormones unless you have strong evidence because hormones are often tightly controlled for a good reason.
This is how I see it - we evolved to get vitamin D from the sun but our bodies literally evolved to produce melanin. Natural vitamin D in food is hard to come by. It doesn’t make sense why humans would evolve to make something so hard to come by extra harder to absorb beyond a certain amount if the benefit/risk ratio is high.
I wanted to share my omega-3 blood test results in order to show, at least for me, the effectiveness of the above salmon oil. I have been taking one tablespoon per day (1/2 T morning, 1/2 T noon), and, about twice a week, I’ll substitute a serving of sardines, salmon, or shrimp for one of those 1/2 T.
Although they are in red, those are all positive, low-risk numbers. In fact, based on these results, I’m planning to reduce the salmon oil consumption to 2 teaspoons. The inflammatory (but useful) arachidonic acid is also at a good low level.
Comments?
Here is a study cited by Quest Diagnostics (paid through ultalabtests.com for $44 on sale) when they gave me the results:
The relative risk of sudden death in apparently healthy middle-aged men (followed for 17 years) in the upper quartile was 0.10 compared to the lowest quartile, though the confidence interval was wide, from 0.02-0.48:
Did you test your genome? APOE4 carriers are 1 in 4 and if you are one (or worse you are homozygous in 1 in 33) - your omega 3 index from serum is inapplicable to the brain omega 3.
Unfortunately, saving the body without the brain isn’t really going to do much. That’s partly why I went so deep in brain stuff first.
I personally used a CLIA-certified lab due to privacy concerns and more validity (although I think 23andme should be right about lack of APOE4 carrier).
Do you worry about 23andme might go bust and then sell your data? Seems like the VC funding and subsidies for cheaper testing are towards a “sell your data” model. Or did you have a workaround for privacy?
Well, so far, not a lot of clinical metric success, but they keep hacking away. Might be non ideal molecule? The turnover of DHA takes a very long time…a DHA researcher told me that eventually it gets in.
Brain delivery of supplemental docosahexaenoic acid (DHA): A randomized placebo-controlled clinical trial (2020)
The type of DHA used in the above study:
“The study drug will be algal-derived DHA (DSM, 6480 Dobbin Road, Columbia, Maryland 21045) administered as capsules, dosed as 0.5 grams/capsule with two capsules twice per day for a total daily dose of 2 grams with meals. Algal DHA contains approximately 45% to 55% of DHA by weight and does not contain eicosapentaenoic acid.”
Algal oil is plant based not animal based:
Rhonda Patrick has a theory that we need to be taking phospholipid form of DHA to cross the BBB
Here’s a Very Brief Summary
DHA is an essential omega-3 fatty acid and plays a vital role in the prevention and reversal of cognitive decline and Alzheimer’s Disease
The form of DHA found in fish, fish roe, and krill oil is primarily in phospholipid form and this form is broken down to DHA-lysoPC
The form of DHA found in DHA/fish oil supplements is not in phospholipid form and is primarily broken down to free DHA
APOE4 carriers have impaired free DHA transport into the brain because of APOE4-mediated degradation of the blood brain barrier, but this degradation does not impair how DHA-lysoPC enters the brain
Dr. Rhonda Patrick proposes that consuming DHA in phospholipid form may be a strategy for APOE4 carriers to get DHA into the brain and prevent APOE4-associated Alzheimer’s Disease, which is found in fish, fish roe, and krill oil but not in fish oil supplements
I added fish roe to my daily 3g DHA/EPA of fish oil.
