Dear Healthy Friend,

When I think of jellyfish, I think of the kiddies movie Finding Nemo - which my daughter has made me watch countless times. There's a particular scene from the movie where the forgetful little blue fish comes across a smack of jellyfish (I kid you not, this is the scientific term) and says "I shall call him Squishy and he shall be mine and he shall be my Squishy. Come on, Squishy Come on, little Squishy".

What does this have to do with you, you may ask? Well, it appears that "squishy" may actually hold the key to you never ageing...

In the name of good health,

Taryn Strugnell
Managing Editor of Nutrition & Healing

P.S. If your diet follows the food adverts you see on TV... Well... Let's just say you're an overachiever. Keep reading to find out why...

Could the world's only immortal creature be the answer for never ageing?
Jenny Thompson
Director, Health Sciences Insitute

I don't want to alarm anyone, but "We are looking at a worldwide silent invasion," according to a research scientist at the Smithsonian.

That's the bad news.

The good news: This invasion might actually teach us how to reverse the ageing process.

A species of jellyfish known as Turritopsis nutricula can do something no other animal can pull off: It can regenerate its body. And it can do this over and over again, apparently sustaining its life indefinitely.

Researchers, such as Dr Maria Miglietta of the Smithsonian Tropical Marine Institute, are studying this jellyfish species in hopes of uncovering the secret to unlimited transdifferentiation - a process that transfers cells into other types of cells.

Time will tell if this research might actually reveal a process to keep the human body young and strong for an extended lifespan. If they can figure it out, and if they can make it happen with a pill, they'll obviously have the mother of all blockbuster drugs.

THAT list of adverse events should be interesting!

Meanwhile, Turritopsis nutricula populations are growing. And growing and growing...

In fact, this jellyfish was once found only in the Caribbean, but today its populations live in temperate ocean waters all over the world.

That's what Dr Miglietta calls the silent invasion and it reads like the first scene in a sci-fi thriller: While the scientist ponders longevity secrets, millions of mutant jellyfish come ashore during the night.

That might not be so bad if they help us live longer. But in the mean time, while scientists are trying to figure this anti-ageing formula out... We've got something that could help reduce the signs ageing. Keep reading below...

The new age diet...

In a new study (which can be filed under "Why did you bother to study that?" or more simply "Uh...duh"), researchers compared the nutritional content of food in TV ads to nutritional guidelines.

Results? Take a wild guess...

A "TV ad diet" would provide more than 2,500% of the recommended daily allowance (RDA) of sugars, more than 2,000% of the RDA for fat, but only 40% of the RDA for vegetables and less than 30% of the RDA for fruits.

The researchers conclude that TV ad food choices encourage nutritional imbalance. (Not to mention long lines in fast food drive-through lanes).

It does make me wonder, though - if someone were to invest hundreds of thousands of rands advertising apples on TV, would apples become wildly popular?

I doubt it. Unless they were salted, sugared, deep fried and dipped in chocolate.

Hmmm... Maybe I'm on to something.