With that said, I equally enjoy the thought that we have discovered a compound that is the medical equivalent of the fountain of youth. It is exciting to think about, but the professional side of me realizes that biology is the most unforgiving science out there. What is more likely is that this mythical compound will help us manage aging ailments better, and hopefully will gain us a extra 5 to 7 year or something similar. Meaning, what you can deduce in mice in no way means that it applies to us...
...which is all we have left to cling to, since resveratrol did not extend the maximal life spans of lean mice. I'm not sure what compound you are alluding to as a fountain of youth, since so far for mice, resveratrol is not it...
In my opinion, the "maximal life spans" of your comment ultimately is where the real debate lies... Yes, I read the same source(s) you have, but your logic would seem to be somewhat flawed. Meaning, most agree that the CR mechanism does not appear to be an all or nothing type mechanism, but rather appears to have a linear type distribution. Also, considering that even individuals such as Ben Franklin in the 1700's noticed that periodic fasting seemed to increase "normal" life span, it would appear that there exists real world anecdotal evidence to back this out theory. If this CR linear distribution approach is taken into consideration, then the next logical question to ask would be what level of "activation" of CR did these lean mice have?? There does not appear to data to help answer this question, but I suspect at least some CR activation did occur....
