Natural fountain of youth With this nutritional variant, it has been proven that the youth can last longer

Spermine-rich diet keeps people young longer

For centuries, people have been searching for ways to preserve eternal youth. Last but not least, the cosmetics industry has taken up this desire and promises using various methods, at least the appearance longer to keep young. However, the key to prolonged "youth" might be nutrition. Thus, a recent study concludes that a diet rich in spermidine keeps people young longer.

In the international research project under the leadership of the Medical University of Innsbruck, the anti-aging effect of spermidine has now been demonstrated for humans for the first time. "Anyone who consumes a lot of spermidine with their food will probably extend their healthy lifespan," according to the MedUni Innsbruck. Their results have been published in the journal "American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (AJCN)".

Ripened cheese is one of the most spermine-rich foods that, according to a recent study, has a life-prolonging effect. (Image: gkrphoto / fotolia.com)

In search of life-prolonging mechanisms

For many years, medical research has sought to uncover health-enhancing and life-prolonging mechanisms. Almost two years ago, scientists from the University of Graz had already discovered that special types of cheese prolong their relative lifetime and attributed this effect to the spermidine they contain. The natural polyamine "spermidine" showed life-prolonging effects in cell culture and in animals, the authors of the current study explain.

Spermidine intake correlates with life expectancy

To what extent a life-prolonging effect with high intake of spermidine also occurs in humans, the researchers have now examined using the data of 829 volunteers from the prospective Bruneck study. In addition, the food intake of the participants was determined on the basis of specific diet questionnaires. The scientists calculated to what extent the amount of spermidine absorbed through food correlated with life span. They found that high intake of spermidine (at least 80 micromoles of spermidine per day) was associated with a significantly lower risk of dying during the 20-year observation period.

Braking the inflammation and aging processes

The survival benefit of spermidine-rich versus spermidine-deficient diet (below 60 micromol per day) was around five years, according to the study authors. In the current investigations "we could confirm the already known effect of spermidine on age-related processes from different model organisms and underpin its role as an independent influencing factor on the life span for the first time in humans," explains neurologist Stefan Kiechl of the MedUni Innsbruck in a press release to the study results. The effect is based on the systemic influence of spermidine on inflammation and aging processes.

Balance loss of spermidine through food

Of course, the content of spermidine in our body decreases with increasing age. Spermidine is found in high concentrations in the seminal fluid, but in low concentrations also in other body cells. Certain intestinal bacteria also produce spermidine. According to the researchers, the decline in spermidine in the body can be counteracted "by a diet with spermine-rich foods such as greens, peas, whole grains, apples, lettuce, mushrooms, nuts, potatoes or aged cheese." Already by the daily consumption of two portions of wholegrain bread , two salad portions and an apple would be in the upper third of the spermidine intake, the experts continue.

Autophagy is stimulated

According to the scientists, the life-prolonging effect of spermidine is mainly due to the ability to stimulate autophagy. This serves to reduce or recycle defective or no longer required cell components, so that they do not accumulate in the organism. Because autophagy loses efficiency in old age, it leads to disease-related deposits in the cells, which in turn can lead to dementia, diabetes, tumors and atherosclerosis, the researchers report. By spermidine intake - as well as by fasting for several hours - the self-cleaning process of autophagy is initiated. "The increased intake of spermidine signals the cell to start the self-cleaning process and thus protects against deposits and premature aging," emphasizes Stefan Kiechl. (Fp)