According to legend, the Spanish explorer Ponce de Leon searched Florida for the elusive Fountain of Youth, a source of miraculous water able to cure illness and reverse aging. Although only a myth, researchers have developed a nutritional supplement that may be its real equivalent, capable of reversing aging and preventing and treating devastating diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. 

The supplement, created by scientists at Canada's McMaster University, is a blend of 30 vitamins, minerals and nutrients. All 30 are already available in health food stores and have been safely used by humans for years, some as far back as the ancient Egyptians.

"This formula has all the things I have written about through the years," Dr. Russell Blaylock, author of the Blaylock Wellness Report, told Newsmax Health. "With this many ingredients none can be in very high concentration, yet they act synergistically or additively" in order to get the impressive results, he says.

Since creating the unique formula in 2000, McMaster scientists have conducted several animal studies.

The supplement has shown dramatic benefits in both normal mice and those specifically bred to develop a condition similar to human Alzheimer's disease. The mice age rapidly and undergo dramatic declines in cognitive and motor function in a matter of months.

In the latest study, which was published online in the journal Environmental and Molecular Mutagenesis, the mice had lost more than half of their brain cells and had the human equivalent of severe Alzheimer's disease.

They were then fed the supplement on small pieces of bagel each day over the course of several months. The improvement was amazing. Over time, researchers found that it completely eliminated the severe brain cell loss and cognitive decline.

"The research suggests that there is tremendous potential with this supplement to help people who are suffering from some catastrophic neurological diseases," says Jennifer Lemon, research associate in the Department of Biology and a lead author of the latest study.

In tests on crickets which combined the supplement with dietary restrictions, the crickets, which are expected to have a natural lifespan of about 120 days, lived an average of 257 days — more than twice their normal lifespan.

Earlier studies done on mice have shown impressive improvements in movement in regular mice. Ordinarily, by the time mice are 22 months of age, which is the human equivalent of 70 to 80 human years, the mice undergo a 50 percent reduction in movement and become arthritic and hunchbacked. But when mice given the supplement became elderly, they were as physically active as the equivalent of young mice.

"For aging humans, maintaining zestful living into later years may provide greater social and economic benefits than simply extending years of likely decrepitude," said David Rollo, Ph.D. of McMaster University. Rollo said results were "truly remarkable."

"This holds great promise for extending the quality of life of 'health span' of humans," he said.

The researchers found that the supplements acted on the mitrochondria, the cells' power plants, causing them to produce fewer free radicals, which experts believe are the root cause of aging.

"The findings are dramatic," said Lemon. "Our hope is that this supplement could offset some very serious illnesses and ultimately improve quality of life."

"The research suggests that there is tremendous potential with this supplement to help people who are suffering from some catastrophic neurological diseases," Lemon noted.

"We know this because mice experience the same basic cell mechanisms that contribute to neurodegeneration that humans do. All species, in fact," she added. "There is a commonality among us all."

Researchers hope the supplement will begin human testing within two years.
The supplement consists of:

• 9 vitamins (beta carotene, B1, niacin, B6, folic acid, B12, C, D, and E
• 5 minerals (chromium picolinate, magnesium, manganese, potassium, and selenium
• 2 oils (cod liver oil, flax seed oil)
• 5 herbs (garlic, ginger root extract, Gingko biloba, ginseng, and green tea extract)
• 9 additional nutrients (aspirin, acetyl L-carnitine, alpha-lipoic acid, Coenzyme Q10, L-glutathione, melatonin, N-acetyl cysteine, and rutin)