Friends,
I cannot stress enough the importance of reading, and always bearing in mind, Stephen Spindler's important article about how to conduct lifespan studies in animals:
"Review of the literature and suggestions for the design of rodent survival studies for the identification of compounds that increase health and life span"
Stephen Richard Spindler
(
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3260350/)
The pomegranates, figs and dates study fails to rule out a calorie restriction effect (or did I miss it?), so it is, alas, pretty worthless. It's a shame, since I love figs!
And while we're at it, it might be worthwhile to look at this:
"Lifespan effects of simple and complex nutraceutical combinations fed isocalorically to mice"
(
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4039264/)
Off-line for a week or so starting shortly. STay well, everyone!
GB