Bruce Ames: Vitamin & Mineral Inadequacy Accelerates Aging-associated Disease

Most of the world’s population, even in developed countries, has inadequate intake of one or more of the 30 essential vitamins and minerals. An unbalanced diet with too much refined food provides calories, but not enough vitamins and minerals. Triage theory posits that, as a result of recurrent shortages of vitamins and minerals during evolution, natural selection developed a strategic rationing response to moderate shortages so that the scarce vitamins and minerals are preferentially retained by vitamin and mineral-dependent proteins that are essential for short-term survival and reproduction. In contrast, proteins needed for long-term health, which I term “longevity proteins” because they defend against the diseases associated with aging, are starved for the vitamins and minerals and thus are disabled. Moreover, since the damage from moderate deficiency is insidious, its importance for long-term health is not clinically apparent. Strong support for triage theory comes from our analyses of published data on