Extract of Rhodiola rosea, a yellow-flowered mountain plant, was found to increase the lifespan of fruit fly populations. The extract has long been used as an herbal supplement for its stress-relief and antioxidant effects.
Flies that ate a diet rich in the extract lived an average of 10 percent longer than fly groups that didn’t eat the herb.
Soviet researchers have been studying Rhodiola since the 1940’s, and have found that the herb boosts the body’s response to stress. Earlier this year, a showed that depressed patients taking a Rhodiola extract reported fewer symptoms.