TWO FEMALE celebrities impress me for looking younger than their age: Cory Quirino, granddaughter of the late President Elpidio Quirino, health-and-fitness TV host, often described as “forever young”; and Alice Dixson, Miss Philippines-International 1986, commercial model and movie actress. The one thing in common about Cory and Alice is that they make heads turn. Both beautiful, they look much younger than their ages of 66 and 49, respectively.
In a dinner party, I noticed an age-alike but younger-looking lady cousin forking fresh vegetable salad, ignoring the savory beef mechado which I could not resist.
I then remembered Cory Quirino recommending on TV fresh fruits and raw vegetables for breakfast.
Is it possible to slow down aging by feasting on fresh fruits and vegetables?
I “googled” the internet yesterday for an answer.
“Yes,” according to renowned American physician Dr. David Rollo, whose study was published in the journal Experimental Biology and Medicine.
Rollo is at work on an age-defying “cocktail” of vitamins, herbs, and nutrients that may prolong healthy living.
He’s tested his formula on lab mice. They lived 10 percent longer and aged 50 percent slower than the mice not taking the formula.
Dr. Rollo is not focusing on a longer lifespan though. He’s interested in living a stronger, “younger” life in old age, arguing that no one wants to live a longer life in a nursing home. But that requires good physical and mental health.
“Declining physical activity is one of the biggest signs of aging,” says Dr. Rollo.
His findings showed that mice who took the cocktail stayed active for twice as long as those who didn’t.
His formula consists of a blend of nutritious fruits and vegetables that interact with one another to slow down the aging process. Taken individually, says Dr. Rollo, the same ingredients have little effect.
His breakthrough comes from understanding how these nutrients work in the body’s mitochondria, the “furnaces within the cells” which give the human body the energy to combat free radicals that hasten aging.
Rollo is so sure of his findings that he’s testing his theory out on himself. He’s in his late 60s but allegedly feels fitter and stronger than before, with fewer aches and pains.
If his concoction works in human trials, he plans to create a time-release capsule, which will release nutrients into the body at the best moment. He believes that the human body ages differently, depending on the time of day.
Dr. Rollo’s work is gaining the approval of other experts in the field. One of them is Dr. Luigi Fontana, the director of the Division of Nutrition and Aging at the Italian National Institute of Health in Rome.
He has reviewed Dr. Rollo’s work and is convinced that diet can promote healthier aging. While the average life expectancy for an Italian woman is about 81 years, he observes, health problems often begin at age 50 or more or less 30 years earlier.
“Thirty years,” says Dr. Fontana, “is more than a third of life spent in pain.”
He’s convinced that correct diet saves healthy lives.
The Internet entry does not reveal the specific vegetables and fruits blended in Dr. Rollo’s formula. But he reveals that his still experimental time-release capsule mixes B vitamins 1, 3, 6, and 12 with vitamins C, D, and E, plus magnesium, selenium, potassium, manganese, cod liver oil, flax seed oil, ginkgo biloba, ginseng, green tea extract, ginger root extract and garlic.
I hope to stumble upon Rollo’s formula by drinking mixed fruit shakes and eating fresh vegetables daily. (hvego31@gmail.com/PN)
