"Demographical facts seem to be driving the anti-aging medicine trend. In 1999 1 in 8 Americans were age 65 or older. By 2010, it is estimated that that number will rise to 1 in 5 (13). This trend is also prevalent in advertisements for foods that display the changing concepts of what constitutes "healthy aging". Having started in the 1980s with oat bran, it seems that there is no foreseeable end to the onslaught of seemingly weekly announcements about foods that battle heart disease, fight cancer, and even boost the immune system - all degenerative conditions associated with aging. "Functional foods" are a $100 billion dollar-a-year industry. Even candy companies like Mars, Inc. are funding research to prove that chocolate is healthy. "Companies are more than happy to promote the healthiness of their products, even if scientists don't understand how they work" (11). This, it seems, is the large scale problem behind research into anti-aging and antioxidants."
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