Mind wrote:
I am also skeptical about how far "oral supplementation" can take us. I think it will be a net positive on lifespan but it won't cure aging.
I think it's critical to disentangle the issue of aging intervention from the issue of health and longevity. Of course we want aging intervention because it is the ultimate tool for creating health and longevity. But there is much that can be done to promote health and longevity before it is possible to directly address aging. Just because some supplement, exercise, or dietary regimen is not proven (or is disproven) to affect intrinsic aging doesn't mean that it won't help you live longer or healthier until real anti-aging therapies are developed.
In lamenting the way that the "anti-aging" marketplace has created misleading impressions about certainly supplments and aging, we've got to be careful to not throw out the baby with the bathwater. It's clear that there are many non-patentable substances that are very useful in prevention and treatment of diseases. Because they are non-patentable, they don't get billion-dollar validating studies and primetime advertisements. Omega3s are a classic example.
In my opinion, another really cheap, big benefit supplement is vitamin D3.
http://exchange.heal...00/vitamind.cfmThe toxicity issue is discussed here
http://clltopics.org.....or health.htmand a especially here
http://www.direct-ms.....HAPTER 61.pdfwhich is an extensive referenced book chapter by a vitamin D expert. It says
The official safety limit for vitamin D intake
without supervision by a physician is referred to as the
“upper limit” (UL) (114;116). This is the amount of
vitamin D that the general public can take safely on a
long-term basis with no anticipation of harm. Guidelines
in both North America (67) and Europe (76) have
established the UL as 50 µg (2000 IU) /day. This is a very
conservative value that seems to remain the same, even
though the evidence shows that higher intakes are safe.
The author argues that the limit should be raised to at least 4000 I.U.
Elsewhere I've read that submariners need 4000 I.U. per day just to maintain normal blood levels.