A senior scientist at Children’s Hospital Oakland Research Institute and professor emeritus of biochemistry and molecular biology at the University of California, Berkeley, Bruce Ames, has identified 41 nutrients that may play an important role in promoting healthy aging
These nutrients include 14 known vitamins, including vitamins A, B-1, B-2, B-6, B-12, C, D, E, K, biotin, choline, folic acid, niacin, and pantothenate.
They also include 16 essential minerals, including calcium, chloride, chromium, cobalt, copper, iodine, iron, manganese, magnesium, molybdenum, phosphorus, potassium, selenium, sodium, sulfur, and zinc.
Additionally, Ames identified 11 other substances that aren’t currently classified as vitamins but should be, according to him. These include two types of omega-3 fatty acids and nine amino acids.
Altogether, Ames calls these nutrients “longevity vitamins” due to the role he believes they play in promoting a long and healthy life.
The idea of longevity vitamins builds on a concept that Ames developed more than a decade ago, known as the triage theory.
According to this theory, the body rations scarce nutrients in a way that privileges short-term survival and reproduction over long-term health.
When the body takes in fewer nutrients than it needs, he said, it directs the available nutrients to biochemical processes that are essential for short-term survival and reproduction.
In comparison, he continued, the body grants lower priority to biochemical processes that are important for long-term maintenance, such as DNA repair. Longevity vitamins help to support those processes.
In order to get the vitamins and minerals that we need, Ames emphasized the importance of eating a varied and nutrient-rich diet instead of popping the right pills.
According to Robin Foroutan, MS, RDN, HHC, a registered dietitian and spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, that means eating a lot of plant-based foods.
“Most of what you’re eating should be coming from plants and not altered too much from how they grow in nature,” she said.
“Think about it like a therapeutic dose of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, sea vegetables, and all of the different goodies that nature has for us,” she added.
Fish is another healthful source of nutrients, she added, including some of the amino acids and omega-3 fatty acids that Ames identified as important for healthy aging.