The reviewed literature indicates that, even in industrialised countries, the nutrition of mature and aged subjects is often inadequate (because of deficiency or excess), which may lead to premature or pathological senescence. Recent nutritional research on ageing laboratory animals shows that
dietary restriction may be the most effective procedure to achieve a long and disease-free life span, probably owing to a better protection against mitochondria-linked
oxygen stress. Likewise, the experimental and clinical work from many laboratories, including our own, indicates that age-dependent changes in the cardiovascular and immune systems are linked to
oxygen stress and that an adequate intake of dietary
antioxidants may protect those systems against chronic degenerative syndromes in the physiopathology of which
reactive oxygen species (ROS) play a key role. The extant data indicate that the
antioxidant vitamins C and E are centrally involved in defending the above two systems against ROS attack. Moreover, recent research suggests that the
glutathione-related thiolic
antioxidants,
thiazolidine carboxylic acid (
thioproline) and
N-acetylcysteine, as well as the phenolic liposoluble 'co-
antioxidants' of Curcuma longa, may have a significant protective effect against age-related
atherogenesis and immune dysfunction. Key messages from this paper are the following. (1) It is generally accepted that
oxygen free radicals released in metabolic reactions play a key role in the physiopathology of 'normal ageing' and of many age-related degenerative diseases. (2) Consumption of adequate levels of
antioxidants in the diet is essential in order to preserve health in old age. (3) A certain degree of protection against
atherogenesis and immune dysfunction may be achieved by preventing
vitamin E deficiency and an excessive oxidation of the
glutathione-supported
thiol pool.