Nutrients for Anti-Aging and Longevity

The Kidneys

We don’t generally give much thought to our kidneys, unless there is something wrong with them, but they are more important than we give them credit for. The kidney’s main responsibility is the disposal of waste material from the blood. But these little organs affect many of our other systems, including the cardiovascular system, our metabolism and hormonal balance.

The kidneys help to regulate blood pressure, as erythropoietin, the hormone which controls the formation of red blood cells, is produced in the kidneys. Your kidneys also monitor the quality of your blood so that your body isn’t poisoned by the end products of its own metabolism and the proper volume and composition of its body fluids is maintained.

Approximately 25 percent of the blood pumped by the heart each minute is filtered by the kidneys, and toxins are excreted from the body via this filtration mechanism. Natural creatine is manufactured by your kidneys, from arginine, methionine and glycine as well as the active form of vitamin D, from its precursor calcidol.

Your kidneys are also the primary organ responsible for maintaining your body’s water balance.

Important nutrients your kidneys need to maintain health and starve off illness include potassium and sodium:

• Potassium (which is found in all animal and plant foods, but in particular, whole foods that are not processed) is important in maintaining water and electrolyte balance.
• Sodium (found in table salt, soy sauce, meat, milk products and bread) regulates the water and electrolyte balance, while maintaining regular acid-base balance. However this doesn’t give you free reign to liberally salt your food. You shouldn’t be consuming more than a teaspoon of salt a day, Naude cautions.

Look after your amino acids for optimum kidney health. Amino acids (produced naturally in your body, and also found in food sources) are you body’s building blocks. Arginine may improve the function of your kidneys, and help prevent age-related degeneration, while glutamine is essential for optimal health. If your body is lacking in these amino acids, it is advisable to supplement.

Supplemental melatonin may help to prevent kidney damage caused by doxorubicin and mercury. Mercury can potentially be present in some of the fish you eat, which can potentially inhibit kidney function.

One of the most important anti-ageing nutrients that you can take is water. Water irrigates and cleanses the kidneys, and acts as a carrier vehicle for the excretion of toxins from the kidneys via urine. Too little water in your diet, and your kidneys cannot functions correctly. Ideally, you should be drinking two to three litres of water a day, but this can also be taken in the form of herbal and green teas. Green tea itself is known to enhance the function of your kidneys, and you can give yourself some extra protection by adding lemongrass to your tea, as this too has health benefits.

The supplement spirulina can help prevent damage to the kidneys caused by kidney stones, while watermelon has been claimed to ‘clean’ the kidneys.

How do you know if you have a kidney malfunction? Check your feet as excessive food odour is a good indicator of kidney problems.

The Liver

According to the British Liver Trust, your liver has more than 500 functions – quite impressive for such a small organ. Because of this, it is vital to ensure that the organ is maintained and kept at an optimum health level. By protecting this organ, you are helping to prevent anti-ageing. Naude believes that the nutrients vitamin B3 or niacin will assist in keeping the blood flow healthy. However, she adds, diets with adequate protein intake will not likely be lacking in niacin, which is commonly found in meat, liver, poultry, fish, beans, nuts, whole and enriched grains, peas, mushrooms, asparagus and green leafy veggies.

• Vitamin K also plays an important role in blood clotting, and  is found in leafy vegetables, cabbage, liver and to a lesser degree, in eggs, meats, cereals and other fruit and vegetables.
• Calcium: Another vital mineral is calcium as it helps blood vessel contraction and dilation.
• Resveratrol, a polyphenol that is found in blueberries, grapes and some nuts, is also important for the liver. Research shows that grapes grown in wet areas tend to have more resveratrol. This antioxidant is quickly absorbed, reaching your blood stream in less than 30 minutes, and is metabolised rapidly by your liver.

All in all, the experts agree, that it is what you take into your body now that will help protect you against rapid or early ageing later on. It’s not that we want to delay death, or increase our longevity substantially, but rather to ensure that the years we do have are of high quality. Who wants to be 90 and infirm?