9 Food supplements to age better and enhance your quality of life

Alfredo Valdés 11 min. of reading Well-being habits Leave a comment

Ageing is an irremediably universal process, through which our cells reach a state of senescence, which is essentially one of the bases of the ageing process that we can observe when we see an elderly person.

Although growing older is something that no one can avoid, there are lifestyle factors that help to maintain a healthy ageing process and a good functional state.

Among them, we can highlight the following:

Regular physical exercise and maintaining a moderate level.
Cognitive stimulation, through study, reasoning, (video-)games, etc.
A diet rich in antioxidants and essential nutrients, varied and complete.
Alternative medicine strategies, among which yoga, mindfulness, meditation, etc. can be considered.
Social relationships. Good personal relationship and social (interpersonal) health is important for healthy ageing.
Stress management and positive attitude.
Use of food supplements.

Among these, we find 9 key compounds not to be missed!

Index

1 Spermidine
2 Magnesium
3 Collagen
4 Selenium
5 Q10
6 Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide
7 Vitamin D and Vitamin D3
8 Vitamin B12
9 Multivitamin
10 Conclusion

Spermidine

You cannot start a list of anti-ageing products without talking about spermidine.

Spermidine is a polyamine whose biological mechanisms related to the ageing process are truly complex. But what is really important to understand is that spermidine, as a key representative of this group of compounds (polyamines), plays a key role in many molecular mechanisms involved in the ageing process and its regulation by dietary supplementation may reduce ageing.

Spermidine induces autophagy, the dysfunction of which is associated with ageing and the onset of age-related diseases.
Spermidine regulates cell growth and acts on chemical message initiation and translation factors in cells, which are adversely affected in their normal function over the years.
Spermidine is implicated in a multitude of metabolomic effects by acting on targets linked to molecular signalling cascades such as Akt/PKB, MAPK, SIRTuin, mTOR, eIF2 initiation factors, etc.

Spermidine by EssentialSeries

Magnesium

Ageing significantly affects magnesium metabolism:

1. Given the loss of appetite in older people, magnesium intake tends to decrease.
2. Intestinal absorption of magnesium is reduced with ageing.
3. Increased renal elimination of magnesium.

All these factors together contribute to the loss of a healthy magnesium status in the body, which, although often asymptomatic (in mild cases), can contribute to common age-related conditions that may go unnoticed, such as asthenia, sleep disturbances, hyperemotionality and cognitive impairment.

Chronic magnesium deficiency increases the depletion of reactive oxygen species, which accelerates the ageing process and increases the risk and predisposition to age-related disorders (such as psychiatric and cognitive disturbances, sleep disorders, osteoporosis, etc.).

Add highly bioavailable magnesium mineral salts to your diet:

Magnesium Citrate by RawSeries

Collagen

Collagen is the most abundant protein in our body, and ageing has negative effects on this structure.
The loss of elastin and collagen fibres causes older people’s skin to age, leading to the appearance of wrinkles, fine lines and other cosmetic defects.

The loss of collagen in the skin can compromise its integrity, causing one of our main defence systems to be negatively affected, which can increase our susceptibility to infection and disease.

But not only that, connective tissue forms part of structures such as joints, and its degeneration is one of the factors that helps older people to have more problems associated with bones and joints, including instability and weakness.

At HSN, we have many products with collagen. We recommend that you don’t miss the specific collagen formula for the care of your joints:

Collagen Joint Health by EssentialSeries

Selenium

Selenium is a trace element that acts as an antioxidant and also plays a key role in ageing.

Selenium deficiency is associated with multiple negative conditions of ageing, such as:

Keshan and Kashin-Beck disorders.
Oxidative stress.
Endocrine disorders.
Immune system disorders.
Predisposition to infections.
Chronic inflammation.
Neurodegeneration.
Cardiovascular diseases.
Oncological events.

A correct selenium status in the body allows for the proper regulation of general metabolism, thyroid function, cellular redox homeostasis and immune response.

Selenium is a key element associated with healthy ageing, with a good quality of life. You can find it in HSN in the organic form of Selenomethionine with better absorption and excellent retention in the body, in concentrations of 100 and 200mcg of elemental selenium.

Selenium 200mcg by EssentialSeries

Q10

Ageing causes a marked loss of efficiency of mitochondria, the organelle in cells where processes related to energy release, metabolic regulation and even cell signalling take place.

Some of this functional loss can be attributed to negatively affected coenzyme Q10 metabolism. This process is also associated with age and, indirectly, with the possible use of statin-type drugs for cholesterol control, which are very common in older people and block the body’s systems for producing coenzyme Q10.

The consumption of coenzyme Q10 is associated with multiple positive effects on the body, helping to protect health during ageing, supporting metabolic disorders such as diabetes or metabolic syndrome, tackling mitochondrial deficiency syndromes and neurodegenerative diseases.

Find Coenzyme Q10 100mg and 200mg, and the reduced form of Ubiquinol Kaneka™.

Coenzyme Q10 200mg by EssentialSeries

Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide

Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide or NADH is a cellular coenzyme, like Q10, that is closely involved in the body’s oxidation-reduction processes, acting as an important antioxidant agent to protect cells from the senescence process.

The usefulness of NADH in age-related neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s is being investigated, in addition to active research into its relationship with enzymes that generate and use NAD+ and NADH, such as oxidoreductases.

NADH is an important coenzyme that contributes to the body’s RedOx balance and positive health effects in the elderly.

Microencapsulated NADH by EssentialSeries

Vitamin D and Vitamin D3

Vitamin D is an extremely important vitamin in older people, as it not only contributes to metabolic and endocrine health, but is a key part of a complex system of calcium metabolism regulation that helps maintain healthy bones.

One of the main consequences of ageing is the loss of bone mineral density, which causes bones to become more brittle as they lose “hardness”; and the loss of this density makes bone fractures in older people a serious problem, especially in bony structures such as the hip, which can increase the risk of morbidity and mortality.

Vitamin D has many benefits, such as increasing muscle strength through its relationship with skeletal muscle function. It can reduce the risk of progression of pre-diabetes conditions caused by impaired glucose metabolism, and can also help restore energy due to lack of sun exposure. Above all, it reduces the risk of falls associated with age-related instability, a key factor in the health of older people.

Find vitamin D in the form of cholecalciferol (D3), which is the most bioavailable form, in different concentrations 1000 – 50000 IU, in standard and vegan versions, at HSN.

Vitamin D3 4000IU by EssentialSeries

Vitamin B12

Vitamin B12 is closely related to haematological (blood) and cognitive health.

It is especially key in older people because of their high predisposition to develop anaemias (both iron deficiency and megaloblastic) due to lower consumption of red meat and foods of animal origin in adequate amounts, which are the only sources of bioavailable vitamin B12.

To maintain good blood health, vitamin B12 intake is a key factor at any age, and especially in the elderly, so dietary supplementation with any form of vitamin B12, whether methylcobalamin or cyanocobalamin, is very important to maintain consistently good general health during ageing.

Vitamin B12 by EssentialSeries

Multivitamin

A simple way to ensure adequate nutritional intake in older people, who do not maintain rich and varied diets, is to use a multivitamin. If you are in doubt as you read this article about which vitamin or nutrient to prioritise, let me recommend that you include a multivitamin in your diet.

A multivitamin provides essential nutrients that are important for the healthy ageing process, with antioxidant properties and multiple positive effects on overall health at any age.

Daily Two Multivitamin by EssentialSeries.

In addition to those listed above, there are other supplements that may have additional positive properties, for example:

Curcuminoids from turmeric, or gingerol from ginger may help reduce the state of chronic low-grade inflammation that older people are exposed to due to their biological ageing.
Evoptogen is a formula with herbal adaptogens that can help to cope with out-of-normal situations that disrupt people’s physical and emotional balance during ageing, increasing resilience.
Many probiotics, such as the formulas in our Biotics line, help to address factors related to depressed immune systems or intestinal permeability.
Nutrients such as calcium salts are important for maintaining bone health, and restoring mineral density, allowing bones to regain strength and resilience.
Compounds such as red yeast rice with standardised monacolin K content are natural supplements for the care of health implications commonly associated with ageing, such as hypercholesterolaemia.

Conclusion

Food supplements play a key role in holistic dietary care, which in turn is key to healthy ageing.

Include a broad spectrum of vitamins and minerals in your diet through the use of multivitamins, and/or specific vitamin/mineral products if you have an increased need for certain nutrients.

Take products such as collagen if your joints are suffering, red yeast rice to maintain your cholesterol levels, and antioxidants such as NADH, PQQ or resveratrol to support the body’s redox balance during the process of loss of efficiency your body faces as it ages.

HSN offers products for all your needs, with all the quality guarantees of the manufacturing process.

Bibliographical references

Al-Atif, H. (2022). Collagen Supplements for Aging and Wrinkles: A Paradigm Shift in the Fields of Dermatology and Cosmetics. Dermatology Practical and Conceptual, 12(1), e2022018. https://doi.org/10.5826/dpc.1201a18
Barbagallo, M., Veronese, N., & Dominguez, L. J. (2021). Magnesium in aging, health and diseases. Nutrients, 13(2), 1–20. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu13020463
Giustina, A., Bouillon, R., Dawson-Hughes, B., Ebeling, P. R., Lazaretti-Castro, M., Lips, P., … Bilezikian, J. P. (2023). Vitamin D in the older population: a consensus statement. Endocrine, 79(1), 31–44. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12020-022-03208-3
Hernández-Camacho, J. D., Bernier, M., López-Lluch, G., & Navas, P. (2018). Coenzyme Q10 supplementation in aging and disease. Frontiers in Physiology, 9(FEB), 44. https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2018.00044
Minois, N. (2014). Molecular basis of the “anti-aging” effect of spermidine and other natural polyamines – A mini-review. Gerontology, 60(4), 319–326. https://doi.org/10.1159/000356748

Related Entries

Quercetin: The natural antioxidant to delay ageing
Cellular Ageing - Tips and natural products
FMD: the diet that simulates fasting and slows ageing
What are the best vitamins to improve memory?