There is a life-extension pill backed by five nobel prize winners
But is it all it's cracked up to be?
Elysium, the company behind the supplement dubbed "Basis," has developed, by many accounts, a pill that will help your cells promote metabolic health like nothing that has come before. It contains two main active ingredients; pterostilbene and nicotinamide riboside.
Pterostilbene is an anti-oxidant, similar to resveratrol, found in blueberries and grapes. It is thought to exhibit anti-cancer properties, as well as the ability to fight off and reverse cognitive decline.
Nicotinamide riboside is a vitamin B3 that is found in small amounts in yeast and some animals. It affects energy generation in mitochondria and gene regulation through the same pathway as resveratrol. Though studies on nicotinamide riboside are fairly new, it has been found to illicit properties that are insulin sensitizing, enhancing to exercise, resisting to negative effects of high-fat diet, and neuroprotecting.
Five Nobel prize-winning scientists have backed the suppliment's ability to repair damaged DNA.
Aaron Ciechanover: Awarded 2004 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for characterizing the method that cells use to degrade and recycle proteins.
Eric Kandel: Awarded 2000 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for research on how memories are stored in the brain.
Martin Karplus: Awarded 2013 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for developing a computer-based model for complex chemical systems.
Tom Südhof: Awarded 2013 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discovery of a major transport system in cells.
Jack Szostak: Awarded 2009 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discovery of how genetic information is protected by telomeres.
So where is the skepticism?
Currently, Basis is made with two food colorings; FD&C Blue #1 and FD&C Red #4. Both are known bronchoconstrictors and Blue #1 has been linked to chromosomal damage. Red #4 is not allowed in food in the United States and Europe (though it is added to maraschino cherries in the US because they are considered mainly decorative and not a foodstuff). Blue #1 is derived from pertroleum.
For a health food supplement to contain these seems a bit counter-intuitive. After reaching out to the company, Founder and CEO Eric Marcotulli responded, saying Elysium is persuing an "all natural/vegetarian version of Basis," and that the new formulation may even be "available in a matter of weeks."
There is no doubt that life expectancy has grown dramatically in the last several hundred years; doubling and even trippling. As technology continues to grow at exponential rates, it seems logical that life expectancy would also continue to grow. It is an exciting time when dreams become reality so readily, as humans' combined focus is aided by technologies like the internet.
Ingredients of Basis
http://motherboard.vice.com/read/there-is-a-longevity-pill-backed-by-five-nobel-prize-winners
http://support.elysiumhealth.com/article/10-basis-by-elysium
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pterostilbene
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24071780
http://www.feingold.org/effects.html
Image credit: https://www.flickr.com/photos/joffi/4491646082/in/photostream/