Nutrients and Nutraceuticals in Aging

Abstract

Aging is accompanied with the incidence of wide range of disease. The best strategy to combat aging and related deteriorative pathologic conditions is nutraceutical interventions. Several dietary compounds and nutraceuticals (dietary fibre, probiotics, fatty acids, antioxidant vitamins, polyphenols, spices, and essential trace elements, etc.) have proven to be beneficial in abating age-related diseases and decelerating aging process. The protective mechanism of these compounds are related to their activities in improving intestinal microbial balance, reducing blood cholesterol, increasing defence systems against oxidative damage in living cells, as well as their role in normal cellular structure and function regulated by enzymes, transporters, sensors and metal-binding molecules.In this chapter, we will discuss the most abundant researches focused on the effect of nutrients and nutraceuticals in prevention or ameliorating the progression of selected age-related disease including cardiovascular disease, diabetes, neurodegenerative disease, ocular aging, cancer, skin aging, respiratory disorders, immune restoration disease and tooth aging. We attempted to elucidate mechanistic information on the molecular targets of each dietary compound in contracting aging disease.