Background
Grow old, stay young - who doesn't want that?? While people once harbored the dream of the source of eternal youth, today scientists are conducting intensive research into decoding aging in all its aspects. The investigation of the effects of spermidine on the aging process now attracted attention. With the use of natural pulp, we have come a lot closer to the goal of enabling people to live a healthy life and grow older. First detected in the 1870s, Spermidine owes its name to the place where it was found - the seminal fluid. However, you should not be misled or even deterred by this. We now know that the valuable vital substance is not limited to men, but can be found in all living beings and body cells. In addition, Spermidine is found in plant foods.
Objective
With spermidine, the name doesn't say it all. But what then? The small molecule plays an important role in autophagy, the natural process of cell cleaning. Faulty or no longer needed cell components are broken down and recycled. However, with age, the spermidine concentration decreases and with it the ability of our human cells to clean up. Let's remember what happened back then when you didn't put your Lego pieces together after playing? The painful soles of your feet are still witnesses to the chaos and disorder. Unlike in children's rooms, there are no toys lying around in the cell, but rather pathological deposits of cell parts and proteins, which in turn can lead to various diseases. Vice versa, spermidine administration has been shown in several animal models to be associated with increased survival and even reduce age-related mortality.
In a highly acclaimed study by Kiechl and colleagues the aim was to find a possible connection between spermidine intake through food and to investigate mortality in the general population – with exciting results!
Method
An international team of scientists from the Medical University of Innsbruck conducted a prospective long-term study in the South Tyrolean community of Bruneck. The advantage: Only a few residents move away from the city in the Pustertal. The people are rooted in their South Tyrolean home region and mobility is extremely low. You maintain a healthy lifestyle through a traditional diet and lots of exercise. It's not uncommon to meet extremely fit 80-year-olds here. At the same time, other health parameters are certainly comparable to other populations in Europe. Factors like these make the town the ideal place to monitor age-related health risks over the long term and research their predictability. Said and done. As part of this study, 829 people between the ages of 45 and 84 were systematically examined for age-related diseases over a period of 20 years. The test subjects were examined in detail every five years. Among other things, a specific diet questionnaire was filled out by professional nutritionists to analyze food intake. This made it possible to draw conclusions about the amount of spermidine consumed naturally.
Food and intestinal flora as sources of spermidine and its possible life-extending effect through autophagy in humans
Which foods are rich in spermidine?
This raises the legitimate question of which foods contain particularly high levels of spermidine. In principle, as has already been revealed, spermidine is contained in every cell in the body. The natural substance is not only produced by the cells themselves, but also by certain bacteria in our intestinal flora. Around a third of the spermidine comes from our own production, while the rest - the main part - is taken in through food. Spermidine is found in a variety of foods. Examples include mushrooms, cauliflower, broccoli, legumes, various types of cheese, whole grain products and wheat germ. The valuable substance is particularly abundant in soybean products. However, it is important to note that the amount of spermidine can vary greatly from natural sources.
Results
Let's jump right into the results of the study. In general, a lot could be reported about the participants in advance. Surprisingly, the spermidine content of the diet was higher in women than in men and also decreased steadily with age. The hot favorites among the main food sources of spermidine were whole grain products, apples and pears, salad, vegetable sprouts and potatoes. In order to research further effects of spermidine, the participants were divided into three groups based on their daily intake. Participants with low (less than 9 mg), medium (9-11.6 mg) and high (above 11.6 mg ) Spermidine intake.
These groups were compared in terms of all-cause mortality and mortality risk. There was something groundbreaking here. It was found that the group with the most spermidine-rich diet had significantly lower mortality. In simpler terms, the higher the daily intake of spermidine, the lower the all-cause mortality. Furthermore, the group with high spermidine intake showed a significantly reduced mortality risk compared to the lower third. This reduction corresponded specifically to an age reduction of a full 5.7 years. Almost too good to be true.
Spermidine in high doses from soybean extract and chlorella algae powder.
Discussion and conclusion
Off to Bruneck! – some over-motivated longevity fanatics would hastily suggest. But the revolutionary results are not local, but are most likely transferable to each of us. Anyone who consumes a lot of spermidine through their diet may potentially extend their healthy lifespan.
In summary, this study provides the first evidence of an association between a spermidine-rich diet and increased survival in humans. The current epidemiological data are consistent with preliminary experimental studies indicating longevity and health-promoting effects of spermidine in animal models and human cells. Intervention studies are still needed as definitive proof, some of which have already been started. We look forward to further interesting news!
The study appeared online in July 2018 in the scientific journal American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (AJCN).
