Most of these studies are conducted on nematodes and fruit flies. The short generations are a nice way of seing the effects of a certain treatment (and you won't read about it in the newspaper, because they are not cute and thus no one gives a damn). What do we learn from them? Caloric restriction seems to be the best way to reduce the aging phenotype and promote longevity. Funny, how cheap that would be, if only everyone knew. I am not sure how rigorous the restriction must be to have its highest benfit, but whenever I save around 1000 calories a day, I'm starting to feel a lot better (I usually eat around 2800 calories on a good day). So in the end from studies and personal experience it seems that 30-40% is as low as you can or should go to get the full benefit (read the Sheaffer et al. study to see how TOR and FoxA interact).
A studypublished in the-scientist.com found in animal models that restricting calories led to a increase in beneficial gut microorganism which seem to have an impact on lifespan. If this is applicable to humans remains to see, but is regarded as plausible at the moment.
There are also other substances, which by logic or experiments have shown some effects. The best ones to me still seem to be Melatonin and Pterostilibene (a form of Resveratrol that has a higher bioavailability).
Melatonin
This is a naturally secreted hormone by your brain which is highly sensitive to light. So as soon as it gets darker, your melatonin level start rising. If your having trouble sleeping, one easy thing to do might be turning down the lights. I couldn't find any study that reported on how Melatonin might work in affecting longevity, but it shows time and again to be effective - I assume by influencing or normalizing sleep patterns, a ton of benefits arise from it. I tried doses from 1-6mg. However with 6mg I always still feel a bit numb in the morning if I wake up early, so perhaps use this dose only if you can get enough sleep. It seems to interact with the Telomerase activity as well, so like Cycloastragenol or Astragalosides IV, it might be beneficial for your health and help to promote a youthful phenotype (if Telomer length is causally connected to longevity).
Pterostilibene
This substance is very similar to resveratrol - it actually is a dimethylated derivate of resveratrol. It is more potent mg per mg (in its antioxidative power at least) and is better absorbed than resveratrol. So basically it ticks all the boxes that were problematic right until now. Besides the antioxidative and antiinflammatory effects, to me the most interesting effect of pterostilibene is that it can be quite potent in increasing insulin sensitivity. There has been noted that blood glucose was significantly reduced and insulin increased. Insulin sensitivity is generally speaking how strongly your body reacts to glucose intake. If your insulin peaks high after an elevation in blood glucose, you have a high insulin sensitivity. There are times when your insulin sensitivity is fairly high and you should make use of it, like after exercising. Taking a fair amount of carbs and quickly absorbed proteins will lead to a lot of those nutrients being absorbed by your muscles, as their insulin sensitivity is also increased (one process you want to influence here is the Glut4 translocation). High insulin sensitivity is not always the way to go, but generally you want to keep it high.
Epithalon
I had to bring this one up. This is a peptide, which means you will need to inject it subcutaneously. It seems that this peptide has a strong effect on telomerase production, thus affecting DNA integrity when it's being replicated (http://strongpeptide.com/blog/what-is-epithalon). Evidence suggests that this exciting compound might have strong anti-aging properties. Worth to keep an eye on it.
Sources:
Panowski SH, et al. PHA-4/Foxa mediates diet-restriction-induced longevity of C. elegans. Nature. (2007)
Corton JC, Brown-Borg HM. Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma coactivator 1 in caloric restriction and other models of longevity. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci. (2005)
Sheaffer KL, Updike DL, Mango SE. The Target of Rapamycin pathway antagonizes pha-4/FoxA to control development and aging. Curr Biol. (2008)
Stokkan KA, et al. Endocrine and metabolic effects of life-long food restriction in rats. Acta Endocrinol (Copenh). (1991)
Stokkan KA, et al. Food restriction retards aging of the pineal gland. Brain Res. (1991)
Zakian VA. Telomeres: beginning to understand the end. Science. (1995)
Harley CB, Villeponteau B. Telomeres and telomerase in aging and cancer. Curr Opin Genet Dev. (1995)
Zakian VA. Telomeres: beginning to understand the end. Science. (1995)
Harley CB, Villeponteau B. Telomeres and telomerase in aging and cancer. Curr Opin Genet Dev. (1995)
Leon-Blanco MM, et al. RNA expression of human telomerase subunits TR and TERT is differentially affected by melatonin receptor agonists in the MCF-7 tumor cell line. Cancer Lett. (2004)
Akbulut KG, Gonul B, Akbulut H. The role of melatonin on gastric mucosal cell proliferation and telomerase activity in ageing. J Pineal Res. (2009)
C. Zhang et al., “Structural modulation of gut microbiota in life-long calorie-restricted mice,”Nature Communications. (2013)
Pari L, Satheesh MA. Effect of pterostilbene on hepatic key enzymes of glucose metabolism in streptozotocin- and nicotinamide-induced diabetic rats. Life Sci. (2006)
C. Zhang et al., “Structural modulation of gut microbiota in life-long calorie-restricted mice,”Nature Communications. (2013)
Pari L, Satheesh MA. Effect of pterostilbene on hepatic key enzymes of glucose metabolism in streptozotocin- and nicotinamide-induced diabetic rats. Life Sci. (2006)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caloric_restriction_mimetic [7th August, 2013]
Telomerase Activation
Sources:
Raices M, et al. Uncoupling of longevity and telomere length in C. elegans. PLoS Genet. (2005)
Bernardes de Jesus B, et al. The telomerase activator TA-65 elongates short telomeres and increases health span of adult/old mice without increasing cancer incidence. Aging Cell. (2011)
