The impact of nutrients on the aging rate: A complex interaction of demographic, environmental and genetic factors

Nutrition has a strong influence on the health status of the elderly, with manydietary components associated to either an increased risk of disease or to animprovement of the quality of life and to a delay of age-related pathologies. Adirect effect of a reduced caloric intake on the delay of aging phenotypes isdocumented in several organisms. The role of nutrients in the regulation of humanlifespan is not easy to disentangle, influenced by a complex interaction ofnutrition with environmental and genetic factors. The individual geneticbackground is fundamental for mediating the effects of nutritional components on aging. Classical genetic factors able to influence nutrient metabolism areconsidered those belonging to insulin/insulin growth factor (INS/IGF-1)signaling, TOR signaling and Sirtuins, but also genes involved ininflammatory/immune response and antioxidant activity can have a major role.Considering the worldwide increasing interest in nutrition to prevent age relateddiseases and achieve a healthy aging, in this review we will discuss this complexinteraction, in the light of metabolic changes occurring with aging, with the aimof shedding a light on the enormous complexity of the metabolic scenariounderlying longevity phenotype.