"Anti-aging"? We wish!

Of course “Nancy the Nurse” and “Bob the Banker” don’t really believe that a food, supplement or cream will magically make them younger. They know that the “Bottle of Youth” is still a myth.

So who’s going to tell that to the marketing team?

Natural Products Expo West was filled with “anti-aging” claims. Granted, skin creams, lotions, serums and scrubs (cosmetics) – along with plenty of sleep, good sunscreen and proper hydration - can provide a youthful glow to worn faces.

But what about the internal (ingestible) supplements and foods that suggest we can all look like teenagers again?

Acai, goji berries, pomegranates and other so-called super fruits - if you believe the marketing – are your body’s first line of defense against aging. Eat these potent berries and their off-the-chart antioxidant levels will destroy the evil free-radical merchants of death.

Guess again, marketers. A thorough meta-analysis of non-biased, placebo-controlled, clinical human studies on the effects of antioxidants on mortality concludes: "We found no evidence to support antioxidant supplements from primary or secondary prevention."

In other words: We’re all going to age and then die no matter how many bottles of super juice we drink.

But we all know that. It just feels good to buy a bottle of youth – and hope.