If there’s one thing that’s true of human beings, it’s that aging is impossible to avoid (unless you die young, which doesn’t seem like a better option).

That said, most of us would also rather not appear to have aged – at least not before we’re ready to just throw in the towel.

Science has had our backs in this quest for some time, and now there’s a new supplement that could help keep us healthy and looking younger than our years.

It’s development is based in a combination of glycine and N-acetylcysteine called GlyNAC. Scientists say it wards of several key indicators of aging while keeping older people fitter, stronger, and sporting slimmer waistlines as well.

Researchers from Baylor College of Medicine published their findings in the Journals of Gerontology Series A after studying the effects of GlyNAC on 24 older adults and 12 younger people. The 16-week trial was a double-blind and unequivocally found a host of benefits associated with the supplement.

The benefits as far as the reversed signs of aging included oxidative stress, glutathione deficiency, mitochondrial dysfunction, mitophagy, inflammation, insulin resistance, endothelial dysfunction, genomic damage, stem cell fatigue, and cellular senescence.

No corresponding improvements were seen in the placebo group.

The older participants who received the supplement also acquired stronger muscles, saw lowered blood pressure, and smaller waist measurements. They were also able to exercise harder and walk faster, which are both indicators of good health as we age.

The paper details their belief that the benefits lie in the supplement’s ability to restore mitochondrial health and the correction of oxidative stress.

Mitochondria generate most of the energy we need to fuel our cell’s biochemical reactions, and as we age they become less efficient. Research like this sets out to find ways to lift the mitochondrial function in older people.

Oxidative stress describes the process in which the body takes damage from high levels of toxic waste products, known as reactive oxygen species or free radicals, resulting in the breakdown of cells and DNA damage.

The anti-oxidant glutathione is produced by our bodies as a natural way to counteract this, but it’s levels also fall off as we age. GlyNAC supplements are remedying this deficiency as well.

Dr. Rajagopal Sekhar, one of the study’s authors, issued a statement.

“One of the intriguing questions from this trial is why so many improvements occur toward promoting health. We believe that this is due to the combined effort of three separate components – glycine, cysteine, and glutathione, and not just due to glutathione itself. Glycine and cysteine are both very important for cellular health on their own, and GlyNAC provides both.”

“…Glycine and cysteine are building blocks to form glutathione, which also has health benefits. We believe that the improvements in this trial and in our previous studies are the result of the combined effects of glycine and NAC and glutathione, and we refer to this combination as the ‘Power of 3.'”

Scientists and others hope that trials like these will help all humans lead happier and healthy lives as they inevitably grow older and have more physical struggles.

“It is believed that correcting aging hallmarks could help people age in a healthier way. However, we do not fully understand why these aging hallmarks occur in the first place, and therefore there have been no proven solutions via human randomized clinical trials to improve or correct aging hallmarks in aging humans.”

Here’s to the future. If studies like these continue to pan out, it could be a great time to be older.