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Abby's Magazine - Volume 4 Issue 4 | Page 45 responses. Women with higher levels of vitamin D are more likely to have longer telomeres, and vice versa. This means that people with higher levels of vitamin D may actually age more slowly than people with lower levels of vitamin D. Your leukocyte telomere length (LTL) is a predictor for aging related diseases. As you age, your LTL's become shorter, but, if you suffer from chronic inflamma on, your telomeres decrease in length much faster, because your body's inflammatory response accelerates leukocyte turnover. Your vitamin D concentra ons also decrease with age, whereas your C-reac ve protein (a mediator of inflamma on) increases. This inverse double-whammy increases your overall risk of developing autoimmune diseases such as mul ple sclerosis, and rheumatoid arthri s. The good news is that vitamin D is a potent inhibitor of your body's inflammatory response, and by reducing inflamma on, you diminish your turnover of leukocytes, effec vely crea ng a posi ve chain reac on that can help protect you against a variety of diseases. In essence, it protects your body from the deteriora on of aging. Researchers have found that subsets of leukocytes have receptors for the ac ve form of vitamin D (D3), which allows the vitamin to have a direct effect on these cells. This may also explain the specific connec on between vitamin D and autoimmune disease. 2. ASTAXANTHIN (DERIVED FROM THE MICROALGAE HAEMATOCOCCUS PLUVIALIS) In the 2009 study on mul vitamin use and telomere length, longer telomeres were also associated with the use of an oxidant formulas. According to the authors, telomeres are par cularly vulnerable to oxida ve stress. Addi onally, inflamma on induces oxida ve stress and lowers the ac vity of telomerase (again, that's the enzyme responsible for maintaining your telomeres). Astaxanthin has emerged as one of the most potent and beneficial an oxidants currently known, with potent an -inflammatory and DNA-protec ve capabili es. Research has even shown that it can protect against DNA damage induced by gamma radia on. It has a number of unique features that make it stand out from the crowd. For example, it is by far the most powerful carotenoid an oxidant when it comes to free radical scavenging: astaxanthin is 65 mes more powerful than vitamin C, 54 mes more powerful than beta-carotene, and 14 mes more powerful than vitamin E. It's also far more effec ve than other carotenoids at "singlet oxygen quenching," which is a par cular type of oxida on. It is 550 mes more powerful than vitamin E, and 11 mes more powerful than beta-carotene at neutralizing singlet oxygen. Astaxanthin crosses both your blood- brain barrier AND your blood-re nal barrier (beta carotene and lycopene do not), which brings an oxidant and an -inflammatory protec on to your eyes, brain and central nervous system. Another feature that separates astaxanthin from other carotenoids is that it cannot func on as a pro-oxidant. Many an oxidants will act as pro-oxidants (meaning they start to cause rather than combat oxida on) when present in your ssues in sufficient concentra ons. This is why you don't want to go overboard taking too many an oxidant supplements like beta-carotene, for example. Astaxanthin, on the other hand, does not func on as a pro-oxidant, even when present in high amounts, which makes it highly beneficial. Lastly, one of its most profound features is its unique ability to protect the en re cell from damage—both the water-soluble part and the fat-soluble por on of the cell. Other an oxidants affect just one or the other. This is due to astaxanthin's unique physical characteris cs that allow it to reside within the cell membrane will also protec ng the inside of the cell. 3. UBIQUINOL (COQ10) Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) is the fi h most popular supplement in the United States, taken by about 53 percent of Americans, according to a 2010 survey by ConsumerLab.com. This is a good thing as one in every four Americans over 45 is taking a sta n and every single one of these individuals needs to be taking it. CoQ10 is used by every cell in your body. In fact, it is so important for your body's daily func ons that it is also known as "ubiquinone" because it's 'ubiquitous' in the human body. What you may not know, however, is that to benefit from the form of the nutrient needed to produce cellular energy and help you reduce the typical signs of aging, your body must convert