Longer Life With Isotope Enriched Meat ??

Summary:
OLD = Caloric Restriction for longer life
NEW = Natural Isotope Enriched Meats for longer life, 10% longer

Limits = Only shown in worms so far.

Unproven Potential = lots of good things COULD result.

Theory = Isotope enriched foods make stronger atomic bonds which degrade
less under free radical attack or other degradation. More stable
biostructures result. Unproven theory ? ?

Independent expert says:
'But it remains to be seen whether it can be the source of
practicable therapies, but it is a prospect that certainly cannot be
ruled out.'



http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releas...-mat032207.php
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Meat and two neutrons -- the key to a longer life
Long-life isotopes of a different variety

Indulging in an isotope-enhanced steak or chicken fillet every now and
again could add as much as 10 years to your life. Scientists have shown
for the first time that food enriched with natural isotopes builds
bodily components that are more resistant to the processes of ageing.
The concept has been demonstrated in worms and researchers hope that the
same concept can help extend human life and reduce the risk of cancer
and other diseases of ageing, reports Marina Murphy in Chemistry &
Industry, the magazine of the SCI.

A team led by Mikhail Shchepinov, formerly of Oxford University, fed
nematode worms nutrients reinforced with natural isotopes (naturally
occurring atomic variations of elements). In initial experiments, worms'
life spans were extended by 10%, which, with humans expected to
routinely coast close to the centenary, could add a further 10 years to
human life.

Food enhanced with isotopes is thought to produce bodily constituents
and DNA more resistant to detrimental processes, like free radical
attack. The isotopes replace atoms in susceptible bonds making these
bonds stronger. 'Because these bonds are so much more stable, it should
be possible to slow down the process of oxidation and ageing,'
Shchepinov says.

The isotopes could be used in animal feed so that humans could get the
"age-defying" isotopes indirectly in steaks or chicken fillets, for
example, rather than eating chemically enhanced products themselves.
Shchepinov says an occasional top-up would be sufficient to have a
beneficial effect.

Ageing experts are impressed with the isotopic approach. Aubrey de Grey,
the Cambridge-based gerontologist, says it could be very relevant to the
rates of several chemical and enzymatic processes relevant to ageing 'It
is a highly novel idea,' he says. 'But it remains to be seen whether it
can be the source of practicable therapies, but it is a prospect that
certainly cannot be ruled out.'

Charles Cantor, a professor of biomechanical engineering at Boston
University, said: 'Preliminary data indicates that this approach can
potentially increase lifespan without adverse side effects. If this is
borne out by further experiments the implications are profound.'

Isotopes could also be used in pet food or as a means to protect workers
or soldiers from radiation. Deuterium, a natural isotope of hydrogen
(with 2 protons rather than one) could be used routinely.

Previous successes in extending lifespan have involved withdrawing food
to the point of near starvation, a process called caloric restriction.

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