Thanks for the replies everyone, I enjoy reading your recommendations :-)
Ty - thank you for your very extended response, I definitely learned some new info, a couple of questions
Hey Fabien,
Nice... a fellow Aussie...
Here's a few pointers to help answer your questions. At your age you have a unique opportunity to avoid some of life's slings and arrows... but also, remember that any approach has to be holistic in that it encompasses your life. I've seen plenty who eat like crap, never exercise and then believe a multivitamin a day will "fix things". Equally, I've seen people who jogged every day of their life, then were surprised that they got skin cancer and arthritis of the knees at age 40. And I've seen plenty of the most common kind, those that believe that "not taking pills" and "living a natural life" will give them the best bang for the buck - these guys tend to lead shorter active lives than either of the other two groups.
The consequence of life is death. There is no "best" way, and it's the journey that counts. I try to eat well; exercise; I have an excellent knowledge of medicine and nutrition. I also trash my body skateboarding; enjoy the occasional cigarette, and sometimes attend three-day wild parties. Like a good car, I wax and polish it - then take it for a burnout on the course. There's no point in having a long life, if you never took the time to enjoy living it. THIS APPLIES ESPECIALLY TO YOUR YOUTH, OK?
I agree wholeheartedly with the above, I think the best approach is to do what you feel comfortable with, avoiding the absolute extremes i.e. the runner and the junk consumer, maintaining balance.
That said, here's a couple of tips on how to keep that machinery oiled and polished well:
a) Be wary of things like zinc, selenium, copper and iron. Unless you have a specific deficiency, you'll get enough from (even a bad) diet and a daily multivitamin. Trust me, you do NOT want to mess with the effects of metal poisonings. You are especially sensitive to this since you are growing.
Point taken.
b) One of the best way to keep your skin in good shape is to minimise (but not exclude) ultraviolet light exposure. As an Australian, and in Perth no less, you'll get a hell of a lot of UV exposure. This is the primary cause of skin ageing. However, restricting UV light altogether is a great way to promote unhealthy bacterial growth which is no good for your sikin either. So - go out in the sun, unprotected, for 5 minutes every day. Use sunscreen and cover up the rest of the time. This is a good balance.Before 9:00am and after 4:00pm is the usual recommendation I hear for minimal UV exposure. Some people suggest 30 minutes a day during those times. Counter-arguments?
Exfoliate your skin with a loofah or glove once a week; no more than twice a week or you'll do damage. Don't scrub too hard, either... firm pressure but not scraping. Avoid exfoliating the face with a loofah; scrub using lotions made for that purpose and NEVER rub under your eyes as this the thinnest skin on your body.
Avoid perfumes and additives in cosmetics and soaps which are irritants or in other ways toxic. A great unbiased site that compares the relative toxicity of all yoru favourite brands is at the Skin Deep Cosmetic Safety Institute at http://www.cosmetics....php?nothanks=1Yeah, this is one of the more controllable areas of my life which I monitor closely. I may soon move to using glutathione bar or a skin-friendly product from the health food shop.
Other than that, keep your skin properly hydrated. I find a great way to do this is to use a sorbolene or other moisturising lotion in the shower - i put it on, stand out of the water while i shave for 2-5 minutes to let it absorb, then briefly rinse before getting out of the shower. I find this lets my skin feels correctly moisturised without being greasy; also in the shower is a great place since the hot water stresses and dries skin by removing its protective oil layers. Whether this works for you is going to depend on your skin type and shower habits.
I avoid soaps; quite frankly there are many reasons for this but mostly because the pH balance of soaps disturbs the skin's own; also most shower gels use sodium laureth sulfate which makes great bubbles but is, ironically, a major skin irritant. I find that the lotion thing above works really well, and because the skin's own defences are left in place I also don't smell at all. I'll use an antibacterial shower gel in armpits and crotch once or twice a week, but I find I don't really ever need it. Again, may or may not work for you depending on your own body.This information is useful because my brother has a history of skin irritation and had to move to using Sorbolene and the like. Perhaps I shall introduce this at home. The issue lies in the fact that it is hard to find a product that is actually free of harmful substances, a lot of them tout themselves as ‘skin friendly’ but then you check the back and there’s a cocktail of disgust, so off to do some hunting!
Aspirin is great at reducing skin cancer rates, so a low-dose, slow-release aspirin is good for people in their mid 20's and up. But DO NOT take this - teenagers who take aspirin have a small but real chance of dying from Reye's Syndrome as a result. This just goes to show how your body is different from an adult's, and so what's good for an adult may not necessarily be good for you.Yeah, I’ve checked it out, but I do believe it is targeted towards an older aged population as you say. Thanks for confirming this.
c) Avoid soy products; sorry but as a guy, these are your enemy. Example - http://www.menshealt...ood_for_Men.phpThere is much debate over this, but I have never been a consumer of many soy products in general, so things are fine in this department. Thanks for the link.
d) You can take Vitamin D if you want, but as an Australian your sun exposure is probably OK. Here in Canada, it's more of an issue especially during the winter. Your multivitamin probably already contains around 400IU of vitamin D3, which is fine. Don't mega-dose; you can have too much of this thing too and while 1000-2000IU are safe and probably positive, you're getting most of this through sunlight + milk anyway. 20,000 IU and up for prolonged periods has been known to cause some very nasty and permanent problems.
Point taken.
e) 1,000mg Vitamin C is probably a waste; your body can metabolise less than half of that in one go, and the rest gets excreted. But it's your dollar
I have heard this previously, and I've seen people recommend two to three 250mg supps spaced throughout the day.
f) Preventing mitochrondrial damage is mostly environmental at your age. Resveratrol is to be AVOIDED in your case since a recent study showed resveratrol supplementation in young mice increased the risk of cancer. This makes a certain amount of sense when you think about what SIR-2 genes do. The biggest ally at this point in your life is not so much a pill, as preventing mitochondrial stress in the first place by eating a diet rich in a wide range of vegetables, low in processed carbohydrates, and rich in berries. If you like green tea, go for that too. At this point your body is growing and needs a wide variety of nutrients, a bunch of varied antioxidants, and some anti-inflammatory compounds to keep that sporting-and-exercise wear and tear down. This will pay off big as you go through life.
I consume strawberries and blueberries when available, as well as other fruits, green veg and green tea, quite regularly.
g) Two powerful nootropics you can have on your side are, ironically, bought not in a pill but at the local shop. Turmeric is great in all kinds of ways - look it up - but must be taken with at least 20mg piperine to make it absorb. Piperine is the active compound of black pepper, responsible for that "sharp" smell. It's also volatile which means that pre-ground pepper is useless. So take a teaspoon of tumeric, put it in a cup, freshly grind a few pinches of black pepper into it, add water, and slug it down each day. Tastes not good, but not bad either. Earthy. And good for you in all kinds of amazing ways.
BTW, turmeric intake has been linked to decrease scarring, especially purple acne scarring, so that answers another one of your questions.Fortunately, I am often consume turmeric as it is used generously in curries and other dishes from my native country. I will incorporate more of this, as I have already started to do so due to prior knowledge. Thanks for the tip regarding the scarring, I was unaware of this. I also supplement with Ginkgo biloba daily.
Amd pinch of cinnamon has incredible blood-sugar levelling properties. Glycation caused by excessive blood sugars is one of the mainstay causes of ageing (this is why diabetics have an accelerated rate of ageing) and this helps nicely. Don't take TOO much cinnamon; common "cassia" cinnamon also contains a compound called coumarin which damages the liver in high doses (high doses being 2 grams, which is a lot). FYI the rarer "ceylon" cinnamon has no coumarin but it's almost impossible to find outside of Asia.
Ok, I shall incorporate this into my diet, I will also attempt to find Ceylon if possible. Thanks
This is especially important for me because I have a sweet tooth, which I am slowly overcoming, as best as I can, given the fact that it may even be genetic.
g) I see no problem with alpha-lipoic acid, but taken alone it's like using one person in a three-person team. The "magic trio" of ALA, ALC and NAC (alpha lipoic acid, acetyl-l-carnitine, and n-acetyl-cystein) has some major effects in combination. Ditch the other supplements in favour of this.
h) CoQ10... yeah, maybe in 8 years or so, but not really needed 'til you crest your maximum production of this. Other things will give you more bang for the buck.
Yep, and some studies have shown that 150mg+ is not good for cognitive function.
i) The best thing you can take to protect your liver (apart from NAC) is milk thistle. This contains a compound called silymarin which protects against alcohol, viral and other toxin-related damage and is hugely effective at doing so. Silymarin is used in hospitals for poisonings, for example. That and a good B-complex vitamin should be all you need in this regard.
I have been taking Silybum Marianium (Milk Thistle) on and off, a major reason for this is the fact that someone mentioned it is an IGF-1 inhibitor, as a result, this would not be good given the fact that I'm 17 and may still be growing. Can you confirm this?
The same goes for g) The point about ALA, ALC and NAC in unison, I believe ALC is an IGF-1 inhibitor, any adverse reaction/contraindications given that I’m still growing?
TO 1KGCOFFEE:
Why the lecithin?
I want to help promote cell membrane health, and the phosphatidylcholine from soya lecithin may help to keep the cells intact and maintain strong cellular signalling function. This is my understanding and one of which I've experienced results with, please feel free to share any further knowledge on this matter. I may be moving to a liquid form as it is much better absorbed than capsules.
I would cut out the calcium, bilberry, lecithin and add in vitamin K. I might consider adding astaxanthin, MSM, n-acetyl-cysteine, cacao and green tea.The green tea is covered as I drink it frequently. Bilberry is to help prevent ARMD (Age Related Macular Degeneration) because I wear glasses, perhaps I should add Lutein and Zeaxanthin. I firmly believe that N-Acetyl-Cysteine can help me, but I am unsure whether it is an IGF-1 inhibitor (if it is, it may interrupt with my growth and development as I am 17) Please share further insight on this matter, thank you.
I will look into Methylsulfonylmethane, as it is the first time I hear of it. Vitamin K has been recommended multiple times and I will definitely look at incorporating it into the regimen.
Get a softgel D3 instead of capsules. D3 softgels are way more absorbable.I have been using softgels for some time now. Ty recommended however that I not take 1000 IU daily because of the climate here in Perth. I think 1000 IU is still relatively low though, so perhaps I can still take it.
Thanks again all, your advice is greatly appreciated.
Edited by Fabien, 20 October 2009 - 12:22 PM.
