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Anti-Aging Activity and Modes of Action of Compounds from Natural Food Sources

Summary

This research reviews how natural compounds found in everyday foods can help slow down aging and promote healthy longevity. These compounds, found in various foods like fruits, vegetables, mushrooms, and marine products, work through multiple mechanisms to protect our bodies from aging-related damage. Impacts on everyday life: – Eating foods rich in these natural compounds may help maintain health during aging – Understanding which foods contain beneficial compounds can help make better dietary choices – Natural food sources provide safer alternatives to synthetic anti-aging supplements – Regular consumption of these foods may help prevent age-related diseases – The findings support the importance of a varied, natural food-based diet for healthy aging

Background

Aging is a natural and inescapable phenomenon characterized by progressive deterioration of physiological functions, leading to increased vulnerability to chronic diseases and death. With economic and medical development, the elderly population is gradually increasing, which poses a great burden to society, the economy and the medical field. By 2023, there will be more than 795 million people aged 65 years or over globally, reaching 994 million by 2030 and 1.6 billion by 2050. Healthy aging has become a common aspiration worldwide.

Objective

To summarize the current understanding of the anti-aging activities of compounds (polysaccharides, polyphenols, carotenoids, sterols, terpenoids and vitamins) from natural food sources, and their modes of action in delaying aging and improving aging-associated diseases.

Results

The review found that bioactive compounds from natural food sources including polysaccharides, polyphenols, carotenoids, sterols, terpenoids and vitamins demonstrate significant anti-aging effects through multiple mechanisms. These compounds can delay aging and improve aging-associated diseases by: suppressing oxidative stress, regulating age-related genes and pathways, modulating immune function, regulating apoptosis, regulating intestinal flora, controlling autophagy, and suppressing cellular senescence. The compounds are abundant in edible plants, algae, animals and fungi, showing potential for maintaining elderly health and prolonging healthy lifespan.

Conclusion

Natural food-derived bioactive compounds show great potential for maintaining elderly health and prolonging healthy lifespan. However, several challenges remain including: need for further purification of compound mixtures, better understanding of specific modes of action, identification of suitable anti-aging indicators for humans, and requirement for long-term clinical trials. These issues need to be addressed before widespread application.
  • Published in:Biomolecules,
  • Study Type:Review,
  • Source: 10.3390/biom13111600
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