A vitamin pill a day could help keep old age at bay, according to a nutritional expert.

Many illnesses of ageing, from cancer to heart disease, are linked to deficiencies in common vitamins and minerals.

Even ageing itself might be accelerated by an unhealthy diet.

But an over-reliance on fast food means not everyone is getting all the nutrients they need.

To address the problem, biochemist Bruce Ames yesterday called for men and women to take a multi-vitamin and mineral pill every day.

Dr Ames told the American Association for Advancement of Science's conference in Boston that studies showed shortages of vitamins and minerals are linked to a host of late-life diseases.

Low magnesium intake has been linked to bowel cancer, high blood pressure, diabetes and osteoporosis, while lack of vitamin D is associated with breast, bowel and prostate cancers.

Calcium deficiency has been associated with diabetes-lack of potassium to heart disease, and low vitamin B12 intake is linked to multiple sclerosis.

Lack of nutrients may also accelerate ageing itself, with Dr Ames's own work showing that over-the-counter dietary supplements can boost both energy and memory in elderly rats.

Dr Ames, of the Children's Hospital Oakland in California, said it was likely our bodies make the best use of vitamins and minerals when they are scarce.

When in short supply due to poor diet, nutrients are ploughed into keeping the body going in the short-term - at the expense of a healthy old age.

But he claimed decades of initiatives to improve people's diets had failed and it might be "easier to convince them" to take cheap vitamin pills instead.

Writing in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, he acknowledged that taking too many vitamins can cause illnesses.

But he said that the benefits to public health far outweighed the risks.

營養專家說，每天一片維生素可以延緩衰老。

從癌癥到心臟病，很多老年病都與普通的維生素和礦物質缺乏有關。

不健康的飲食也會加速衰老。

過度依賴快餐，也不意味著每個人都能獲得他們日常所需的所有營養。

針對這個問題，昨天，生物化學家布魯斯.阿姆斯呼吁人們每天服用一片多維素片和礦物質片。

阿姆斯博士向位于波士頓的美國科學促進協會（AAAS）報告說，研究表明，許多老年疾病都與維生素與礦物質的缺乏有關。

腸癌、高血壓、糖尿病和骨質疏松癥都與鎂元素攝入量不足有關，而乳腺癌、腸癌和前列腺癌都與維生素D的缺乏有關。

缺鈣會引起糖尿病，缺鉀會引起心臟病，維B12攝入量不足會引起多種硬化癥。

阿姆斯博士自己的研究顯示，營養缺乏也會加速衰老，非處方類的飲食補充能夠提高高齡老鼠的體能與記憶力。

加州奧克蘭兒童醫院的阿姆斯博士說，好像是當維生素與礦物質缺乏時，我們的身體能夠最好的利用它們。

當由于劣質飲食造成的維生素與礦物質乏時，身體就會在短時期內投入大量的營養，以維持身體的正常功能，－這是以犧牲老年的健康為代價的。

但是他提出，改善人們飲食的10年方案失敗，有可能“更容易說服他們”用廉價的維生素片代替。

他在《美國國家科學院院刊》(PNAS)上寫文章承認說，過量服用維生素也會引發疾病。

但是他說，從公眾健康的利益來說，還是利大于弊。