The Elixir-of-Youth Effect

For years, food manufacturers have used a chemical called butylated hydroxytoluene, or BHT, to prolong the storage life of fats in a variety of products--from shortening to salad oil to potato chips. Now researchers are beginning to wonder if the preservative cannot also be used to prolong the life of man. That possibility is suggested by Biochemist Denham Harman of the University of Nebraska medical school. With regular feedings of BHT, he was able to lengthen the life span of a strain of laboratory mice by 50%. "In human terms," says Harman, "this is equivalent to increasing life expectancy from 70 years to 105 years."

Harman's theory is that human aging is at least partly due to the action of body chemicals called "free radicals." These oxidizing agents touch off reactions that Harman believes cause bodily changes like hardening of the arteries, a commonly accepted sign of aging. BHT, on the other hand, is an antioxidant, a substance that retards those oxidizing reactions. It works its elixir-of-youth magic in mice, says Harman, by soaking up their free radicals like a powerful chemical sponge.

Some skeptics suggest that BHT merely prevents mice from dying of other diseases, but Harman is "99% certain" that it actually retards aging. Persuasive evidence, he says, is the fact that he got almost identical results from another chemical--a derivative of quinoline--whose only significant similarity to BHT is its antioxidant properties. Harman doubts that his findings can be applied to humans any time soon; for one thing, the chemicals must still be carefully tested on other animals. Yet he is convinced that the addition of similar chemicals to man's diet may eventually be "an acceptable, practical means of significantly increasing his useful life."

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