The Fountain of Youth

An old woman watched her elderly husband waste away before her eyes. She loved him very much and dreaded having to live without him. Then one day a genie appeared to her, saying he'd grant her a wish.

"Oh, make him immortal," she cried before she thought, thereby assuring her husband would linger on forever in his decrepit condition.

We'd all like to live longer than our allotted life span. "You can never be too rich, too thin or too healthy," the saying goes. If we could be young and healthy indefinitely, we'd no doubt wish to live forever! That, of course, is not possible in this life. But is it possible to at least slow the aging process? How? And by how much?

How close are we to the Fountain of Youth?

Scientists at this very moment are working feverishly to lengthen our life span. One researcher said "All we need is another 200 years of added life, and we're within reach of that now. That will give us 200 years to figure out the rest of it."

In the meantime, is there anything we can do to add years to our lifetime? It appears there are several remedies. Next time your mortality rises up and butts you in the head, consider these:

BEER

A new beer - Bathbeer, from Neuzelle, Germany, vows it contains anti-aging properties. Besides vitamins and minerals aimed at keeping beer-drinkers healthy, Bathbeer contains spirulina, an algae that according to the National Research Development Corporation, is 71% protein, making it the "only single, natural source [of the] highest amount of protein ever known to man."

The NRDC also had this to say:

"The protein content in spirulina is three times that of soybean, five times that of meat, and the protein quality is among the best with a good degree of aminogram. The protein yield per unit area per year is the highest compared to other protein yielding crops.