Like me, you’ve probably been replacing incandescent light bulbs with compact fluorescents to save energy.   You can tweak that choice a bit by choosing bulbs marked “daylight,” which have a higher “K” value that is closer to natural sunlight.   Eco friendly daylight compact fluorescent light bulbs show colors more accurately and boost mood by triggering serotonin, a chemical that fights depression.  I found them in wattages from 9 to 23 (equivalent 25-100) at Home Depot, where you can also dispose of them later in special recycling bins.  Dimmable versions are found on many internet sites.

Most of the stuff you see on the internet about fountain-of-youth supplements is bunk, but I trust the Nutrition Action Newsletter.  They highlighted two supplements that affect mitochondria, the structures at Ground Zero of your cells.  They like the quercetin in Lance Armstrong’s FRS energy drinks, chews, and mixes, available at GNC, GNC’s at Rite Aids, and Vitamin Shoppes.  Quercetin boosts muscles, brains, and immunity in mice and is being tested in humans.  Old rats given carnitine and lipoic acid in a 2002 study “got up and did the Macarena.”  The rest of us old rats can get that combination in Dr. Weil’s Juvenon, reported to boost energy, memory, and learning and available online.  GNC has a version called Alcar & ALA that’s less expensive.  Of course, a proven way to make mito’s mightier is regular aerobic and strength training.