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New Validated Theory: How Micronutrient Inadequacy Accelerates Degenerative Diseases of Aging by UH Staff
Editor's note: This is a groundbreaking theory very much worth familiarizing yourself with. While the scientific community has successfully studied the consequences of gross vitamin and mineral deficiencies, little attention has been paid to the long-term insidious influence of suboptimal micronutrient intakes.
Dr. Bruce Ames, professor and researcher at the University of California, Berkeley, is one of the most distinguished and most cited scientists of our time. His career includes over 450 publications, including his most recent “triage theory” explaining the long-term consequences of micronutrient inadequacy. Originally published in 2006, and recently validated in his 2009 study of vitamin K, Ames notes that his triage theory rests on a key evolutionary tenet of natural selection, that short-term survival always takes precedent over long-term health when both are in conflict.
In his 2006 presentation of his triage theory, Ames writes “I hypothesize that as the scarcity of a micronutrient increases, and after homeostatic adjustments, such as induction of transport proteins (109), a triage mechanism for allocating scarce micronutrients is activated that favors short-term survival at the expense of long-term health, in part through an adjustment of the binding affinity of each protein for its required micronutrient.”
Ames notes that much like other well-known physiologic triage mechanisms favor blood flow and oxygen delivery to vital organs such as the brain and heart, his triage theory presents mechanisms explaining how organs and cells are deprived of nutrient resources under long-term micronutrient deficiencies. The consequences, asserts Ames, “would be evident at all levels.” In an exhaustive review of the literature, Ames outlines how suboptimal consumption of many micronutrients is associated with degenerative diseases, mitochondrial decay, DNA damage and cancer, among other deleterious health consequences that grow worse over time.
Ames asserts that his triage theory applies to the many functions of almost all essential micronutrients, including vitamins, minerals, fatty acids, and amino acids.
If micronutrient intake is restricted, short-term survival functions take precedent, which in turn has insidious, long-termconsequences.
In his recent study testing his hypothesis, Ames is confident his theory applies to almost all micronutrients. In other words, if vitamin C intake is suboptimal, the prevention of scurvy may be accomplished at the expense of other functions, just as a modest deficiency of vitamin D intake may be sufficient to prevent rickets, yet insufficient to adequately meet other long-term needs.
Ames notes that the American diet is abundant in energy dense carbohydrates and fats yet micronutrient poor. “A solution,” writes Ames “is to encourage MVM supplementation, particularly in those groups with widespread deficiencies such as the poor, teenagers, the obese, African Americans, and the elderly, in addition to urging people to eat a more balanced diet.”
Study: Ames, B. N., PNAS, 47: 17589-17594 (2006) Study: Ames, B. N., Am J Clin Nutr, 90: 889-907 (2009) Return to HOME From Bruce Ames Triage Theory on Low Micronutrient Intake |
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