Does vitamin C cause cataracts?

Finding solutions to difficult problems sometimes requires tossing aside assumptions and looking at things from a new perspective. Plastic surgery, at is best, consists of this type of creative problem-solving. In fact, the word plastic implies flexibility and changeability. But sometimes our assumptions are so ingrained that challenging them risks being seen as imprudent, if not reckless. The wisdom of taking vitamin supplements is one such sacred cow, though evidence consistently leads us in the other direction.

Albert Szent-Györyi, who won a Nobel prize for his discovery of vitamin C in 1937, said “Discovery consists of seeing what everyone else has seen and thinking what no one else has thought.” He would have been surprised to see how much attention vitamin C would attain as an anti-oxidant supplement, a theory in its infancy during his time. It’s something we take as gospel. I was giving a lecture recently on wine and health, and as I sometimes do I noted that studies have consistently found no anti-aging benefit to use of vitamins. Afterward, one of the attendees said she appreciated the points about wine but disagreed with my statements about vitamins. I gently replied that I am only the reporter on this, is just what the science shows regardless of what we have been told.

What makes it particularly difficult to grasp is that not only do antioxidant vitamins fail to show any benefits in terms of age-related diseases, they actually appear to be harmful. For example, vitamin E users have a higher mortality than those who don’t take supplements. And now vitamin C is implicated in causing cataracts, according to a recently published study from Sweden. But try Googling “vitamin C +cataracts” and all you will find is sites touting the benefits of C in cataract prevention.

Ultimately, it isn’t really complicated. Those who enjoy the best health are those who eat a sensible diet where the vitamins come from natural sources, in their natural context. And wine is a part of this diet; wine drinkers live an average of 5 years longer than teetotalers, and have better health overall.

Anti-aging: a "Nobel" cause

Mark Twain famously said “Age is an issue of mind over matter. If you don’t mind, it doesn’t matter.” Great advice to be sure, and there is ample evidence to support the notion of a healthy attitude as an anti-aging strategy. But of course how the body ages is important too.
I spend much of my time practicing what is called anti-aging, but the term has lost some of its meaning in recent years. What we call anti-aging these days has more to do with restoring the appearance of youth more than with slowing the aging process itself, or at least steering it in a healthy direction. Recognition of that fact is one of the things that motivated my book Age Gets Better with Wine, out next week. But the science of anti-aging is regaining credibility, as evidenced by last week’s announcement of the Nobel Prize in physiology and medicine. Three Americans-Elizabeth Blackburn, Carol Greider and Jack Szostak-were named winners for their chromosome research that has profound implications for cancer and aging.
Here’s what they found: whenever a cell divides, which it must do in order to heal a wound, refresh the skin, and rebuild organs to maintain their function, it must replicate the chromosomes that hold the DNA programming code. This is accomplished by a sort of unzipping of the DNA strands, but at the end of each one is a sort of cap like on a shoelace called the telomere. These normally limit the number of times the DNA (and therefore the cell) can replicate, but an enzyme called telomerase rebuilds the telomere. In cancer cells, this goes on continuously and out of control, but for anti-aging it may hold the key to extending the cell’s replicative lifespan. This in turn translates to healthier organs, glowing skin, and a sharper mind.
A lot remains to be learned about this process, but the promise is more than enticing. In the meantime, focus on that positive attitude and healthy lifestyle.

Julia Child's anti-aging strategy

The success of the new movie "Julia and Julia" has gotten me thinking about putting up my own certificate from the Cordon Bleu cooking school in Paris, where Julia Child trained. It's true! Even though it was only one day, they still give you a certificate. It would look good on the wall with all of my other certificates (I wonder if anyone would notice).
Seriously though, the good news about the movie is that it has rekindled an interest in cooking, and a healthy way of living that Julia Child personified. The trend in recent years has been more toward fast food, processed almost beyond recognition and certainly beyond any real nutritional value. It's hard to believe that only recently margarine loaded with trans-fats was offerred as a healthier alternative to butter. We need to get back to what author Michael Pollan calls "real food"--things your grandmother would recognize. Anti-aging is of course more than Botox, skin creams, and a few nips and tucks (though they have their place); it's about whole foods in the diet. This includes fruits and/or vegetables with every meal, whole grains, that sort of thing. It just isn't that complicated. The hard part is finding foods not laced with high-fructose corn syrup and the like. Here's a simple rule: if it has artificial coloring added, then that means the good nutrients were removed and so it's probably not something to waste calories on.