An Anti-Aging Pill– For Real
No matter how many anti-aging lotions and potions I rub into my skin, it’s unlikely that I’m going to wake up one day soon, glance in the mirror, and see my 30-old-face staring back at me. But the burgeoning nutritional supplement market, estimated at a whopping $20+ billion, consistently promises it can help me live healthier–and feel younger. Although I’d be willing to keep my crow’s feet and laugh lines, in exchange for feeling as tip-top as I did decades ago, so many supplement claims seem downright absurd!
It got my attention, however, when I heard that a Stanford-educated PhD, with his advanced degree in cancer biology, had discovered a vitamin that actually could reduce the effects of aging and rejuvenate energy production in the cell. Was this for real?
I wanted to learn more, so I arranged for an interview with Dr. Charles Brenner, the scientist behind this discovery, and asked him to explain his discovery in non-scientific terms. If a highly educated scientist hoped to teach me anything, he had to make it simple. Biology was my worst subject in high school!
My mother used to call me a “camel” because I could hold in my urine for hours on end. Then, one fine day a few years ago, I was alarmed to feel some leaking while I performed yoga poses in class! I forgot about it, until it happened again a few weeks later, when I sneezed during a walk with Rigby. I was reluctant to tell anyone, including my doctor, but I worried about what was going on.
To be clear, 59-year-old Dr. Colbert isn’t against all medication. He prescribes antibiotics for patients with pneumonia, or medication to decrease the inflammation for someone with “crippling rheumatoid arthritis.” But given that 133 million Americans (45% of the population) are being treated for at least one chronic disease, Dr. Colbert asserts that “we simply cannot continue to slap a bandage on our rising health epidemic, and we must address wounds from the inside out in order to truly fix America’s underlying chronic health issues.” 
“Chronic diseases continue to be responsible for seven out of every 10 deaths in the U.S. every year,” according to the press release that was tucked into my gift copy of Dr. Colbert’s new book. Medications clearly are not addressing the root of the problem. The good doctor believes he has the solution to “increase our chances for longevity by changing the foods that we eat.” 
