Hyaluronic Acid: The Fountain of Youth?

ABC News Special Reporters visited the village of Yuzurihara, Japan, where 10 percent of the population are age 85 or older, which is ten times the number in the U.S.A. The ABC Special reported that "the residents of Yuzurihara are not only living longer, but they are also quite healthy." The secret is hyaluronic acid: The natives live on a diet of sweet potatoes and vegetables that promote the synthesis of HA.

What Causes the Breakdown of HA? The breakdown of collagen in joints is facilitated by an enzyme, hyaluronidase, that specifically attacks HA. Ultraviolet radiation (sunlight) and free radicals of all types stimulate the production of hyaluronidase. This means that the whole family of antioxidants can have a protective effect on HA, by inhibiting the production of excess hyaluronidase.

Bill Sardi, who has recently written a book about HA entitled "How to Live 100 years Without Growing Old", says, "There are so many natural products that lay claim to anti-ageing benefits it is often confusing. There is no argument that the visible signs of ageing - baldness, voice change, skin wrinkling and dryness, shrinkage in height, joint pain and dependency upon eyeglasses - all emanate from the loss of HA and not to direct shortages of any hormones like DHEA, or minerals like coral calcium, or any other widely promoted natural remedies.

"Once the industry sorts all this out, there will be a stampede for these HA products." "Collagen is a side-show. It's the HA that's doing all the healing."

HA is a double molecule, glucosamine combined with glucuronic acid. Glucosamine is only one-half of the HA molecule, which is why glucosamine yields results much slower and much less dramatic than HA. Chondroitin raises the production of HA in the body, and thus for those on large doses, there may be some of the same anti-ageing benefits.

The people of Yuzurihara grow and eat starchy root vegetables, which stimulate the body to produce hyaluronic acid, including a small sweet-potato-like vegetable called "tamaji."

Those taking oral supplements containing hyluronic acid may want to know that it is derived from chicken cartilage. If you are allergic to chicken, consult your physician before taking. Inflammatory reactions have been reported, though rarely, and only as far as we know when using the injectable grade HA.

Arctium Lappa Fruit (aka Burdock Root)

Gi Restorative Anti-Aging Detoxifier and Balancer 60 Tablets

Gi Restorative Natural High Potency Antioxidants. Anti-Aging Detoxifier and Balancer. Root vegetables and herbs have been widely used in China for centuries. Ingredients: Radish Root and Leaf Extract 84mg Corret Root Extract 84mg Burdock Root (Arctium Lappa L.)Extract 45mg Shiitake Fruiting Body Extract 9mg Suggest Use: Take two tablets every day as a dietary supplement, which provides vitamins, minerals and dietary fiber. Health and Nutrition Herb

 

Burdock is effective in treating dry and scaly skin disorders such as psoriasis, dandruff, and eczema, particularly when they are caused by a general systemic imbalance. It stimulates the digestive juices and bile secretion and is therefore useful when treating anorexia nervosa and digestive/appetite problems. Burdock also aids liver function and is used to heal cystitis.

Red Wine

"juice of life" is Copyrighted by Flickr user: AngelsWings (linh tinh) under the Creative Commons Attribution license. 

Resveratrol, found in the skins of grapes and red wine, helps stimulate hyaluronic acid in your body.  In 1997, researchers at Northwestern University Medical School learned that resveratrol in red wine, highly concentrated in grape skin, is a phytoestrogen. Drink red wine or red grape juice to increase estrogen, which produces more hyaluronic acid in your body.

While food supplements cannot claim to prevent or cure any disease, oral hyaluronic acid supplements may make a claim to promote and maintain healthy tissues in the eyes, liver, joints, skin, and leg veins. Peer-reviewed studies have been published on all of these conditions. HA supports youthful appearance, joint movement, and visual response among adults of a wide age range.