Patent ID: 7973077

Claim:
A method for maintaining intact, restoring, and/or increasing the number of cellular mitochondria in an elderly subject, said method comprising: chronically administering via oral route to an elderly subject a therapeutically effective amount of a composition comprising, as active ingredients, the following: (i) the branched chain amino acids leucine, isoleucine, and valine, and/or salts thereof; (ii) lysine and threonine, or salts thereof; and (iii) the other essential amino acids histidine, methionine, phenylalanine, and tryptophan, or salts thereof, wherein the amount in moles of threonine is smaller than the individual amounts of lysine and of said branched amino acids, or salts thereof, but greater than the sum of the individual amounts in moles of said other essential amino acids, or salts thereof; and the amount in moles of lysine is smaller than the individual amounts of said branched amino acids, or salts thereof, but greater than the sum of the individual amounts in moles of said other essential amino acids, or salts thereof, whereby the number of cellular mitochondria in the elderly subject is maintained intact, restored, and/or increased.