Theories and Mechanism of Aging and Longevity Through Evolutionary Lens: a Coalition of Plant Anti-oxidants

The response to the dilemma behind “why do we age” and “what are major causes of aging” is inexplicable and it is tantamount to answer the most complicated question, what is life? There is a plethora of theories as to why and how we age, but the very concept of aging—senescence—was up for debate until now. To understand aging altogether, there is a need to understand different theories of aging. In this review, we have described different theories of aging with the molecular mechanism and their link with evolution focuses on the mitochondrial theory, telomerase theory, genetic control theory, gene mutation theory, waste accumulation theory, caloric restriction theory, stem cell theory, and antagonistic pleiotropy theory of aging. At present, researchers are giving considerable interest in identifying small, drug-like natural bioactive compounds, especially polyphenolic antioxidants, as exploratory challenging antiaging agents due to their ability to prevent or delay many aging-related pathogeneses through modulation of signaling pathways, reducing inflammatory responses, enhancing proteostasis, or mitochondrial biogenesis. This review aims to highlight historically significant several natural pharmacological leads which could help in delaying age-related disease that can also extend the lifespan by adopting multiple aging-related mechanistic theories. Graphical abstract