Spermidine benefits
Health benefits of spermidine
What is spermidine?
Spermidine is a polyamine, meaning that it’s a natural compound which exists of two different amino groups. It’s most commonly found in wheat germs and soybeans and is best known for the incredible benefits it gives your cells and their means of survival. It affects various cellular processes like cell regeneration, cell growth, and autophagy. Because it boosts your cells specifically and does it so effectively, it can be taken to protect and benefit many different parts and processes in your body. Still, it’s most commonly used to help your longevity and allows for ageing with less risk of developing age-related troubles and illnesses. It can be naturally gained from eating plenty of wheat germs, soy beans, but also cheddar cheese, broccoli, green peas, and mangoes1. It’s also sold as a supplement to grant you a more reliable and consistent dose of spermidine, giving you a well-deserved boost every day.
The way spermidine protects your cells allows it to help you in ageing, but also provides boosts to, among others, your immune system, your cognitive function, and your cardio-vascular health. The rest of this article will explain just how it can help you achieve the healthy lifestyle you’re after.
Spermidine for your longevity
One of the ways in which spermidine positively affects your longevity and your ability to age in a healthy and vital way is through its effect on autophagy. Autophagy is a process in which damaged cells are degraded and then recycled to provide energy for the remaining and healthy cells around them. It both cleans up your cells to ensure that the available nutrients and energy are only taken up by healthy and active cells, and it reuses damaged cells to provide even more of it, making it a vital part of your cells’ ability to survive2. Spermidine induces autophagy more effectively than other polyamines, which means that your cells are more actively being recycled and your body’s survival mechanism works more efficiently than before.
Additionally, spermidine has a positive effect on the mitochondria of your cells. The mitochondria regulates the cell’s energy, which allows it to function at all, and spermidine boosts your mitochondrial respiration3. This refers to the process in the mitochondria that converts nutrients you receive into ATP (adenosine triphosphate) which your cells use as energy. By increasing your mitochondrial respiration, spermidine gives your cells more energy to function to the best of their ability.
While it might sound complicated, what it amounts to is that your cells function better when you provide them with a healthy amount of spermidine to increase the effectiveness of their autophagy and mitochondrial respiration. Healthy cells that stay healthy for a longer amount of time have many more positive effects which will be explained below, but one of them is that prolonged active cells let the rest of your body stay healthy and active for longer, too. Your cells are a working force behind nearly everything that happens in your body; take care of them, and you’re setting your body up for success when battling anything age might throw your way.
Spermidine’s effect on your immune system
Spermidine doesn’t only increase your longevity, it also gives your immune system a boost it could really use as you get older. The previously explained process of autophagy also comes into play here! Your immune system includes various immune cells which provide it with an innate defence mechanism against attacks from outside and inside the body. These, for example, include neutrophils which respond to bacteria and fungi, basophils which are involved in your allergic reactions, and dendritic cells which activate your body’s adaptive immune responses4. Through autophagy, spermidine encourages the degradation and recycling of old and damaged immune cells and boosts the energy levels of the healthy immune cells, making them more equipped to fight any infection or virus that might try to compromise your health5.
In addition to this, spermidine is also known for its anti-inflammatory properties, which in its many beneficial effects include that it’s good for your immune system to have something fighting against chronic inflammation that might compromise your body’s ability to fight disease6. Inflammation damages cells and makes it easier for viruses to infiltrate your body; spermidine is a great asset in helping you avoid this.
Spermidine’s neuroprotective abilities
Spermidine can increase your cognitive function and help to protect your brain from developing neurodegenerative diseases. It can lessen your chances of one day developing Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s, for example. One way in which it improves your brain function is by improving your memory: a daily dose of spermidine can improve the function of your memory7, making you less likely to forget important information in old age and contributing to the way spermidine protects you from developing cognitive diseases like Alzheimer’s and dementia.
Beyond memory, we return to the aforementioned autophagy and anti-inflammatory properties that spermidine possesses. Your brain cells might be among the most important cells we possess, regulating everything else that happens in our bodies, and to protect them from age-related damage and inflammation and letting them thrive. Spermidine induces autophagy and lets your brain function better than it did before because your cells are constantly being recycled and the available energy is put to better use. This protects your brain from the diseases that might affect it as you get older by rejuvenating the cells that keep it running8.
Spermidine protects your cardio-vascular health
Spermidine can have a wonderful effect on your heart health as well. Once again, your cardio-vascular system benefits from spermidine’s effect on autophagy, on the mitochondria, and its anti-inflammatory properties. The recycling and boosting of your cells’ energy levels are good for your entire body, and your heart is absolutely no exception to that rule. It keeps your heart in good shape and lessens the risks of heart attacks and other cardiac events that may increase with old age. Inflammation may increase your risk for heart disease9; though we still don’t quite understand how our hearts respond to chronic inflammation in detail, we know that cardiac events like heart attacks but also strokes occur more frequently when our veins and cells are already damaged from inflammation. By fighting that inflammation, spermidine helps to protect your heart.
Aside from those established benefits of spermidine, spermidine also lessens the development of arterial stiffness. Arterial stiffness refers to the way our veins tend to become more rigid and less flexible as we age, lowering the elasticity present in younger people’s arteries. When your arteries become more rigid like that, the pressure on them increases much more than it would on younger and more flexible veins when blood is transported through them10. Your blood pressure can significantly increase when your veins aren’t able to accommodate your blood as easily. Spermidine increases your body’s production of nitric oxide11, which enhances your endothelial function. This means that it allows the cells in your blood vessels to remain healthier and to remove extra stress from the linings of your arteries that might otherwise build up.
Safe spermidine dosage and side effects
Spermidine can naturally be gained from including large quantities of legumes, mangoes, or wheat germs in your diet, but the more convenient route to take is to try to incorporate one spermidine supplement a day into your routine. While it’s considered safe for adults to take up to 20mg of spermidine a day, the recommended dosage of spermidine supplements ranges from 1mg to 10mg each day12. One capsule of 1 to 10mg a day and you’ll conveniently benefit from the many health improvements that spermidine has to offer!
Spermidine is a natural polyamine found in fruits and vegetables we consume on a daily basis; therefore it’s considered a perfectly safe supplement to take. Side effects are possible, most commonly mild gastrointestinal issues such as nausea or bloating as your body absorbs the supplement. It’s also possible that spermidine triggers an allergic reaction in some people, though that’s a rare occurrence. These side effects stay mild, and can be alleviated by taking the spermidine supplement alongside a meal to lessen the irritation to your stomach. While you can also take these supplements on an empty stomach without real problems, it can be easier on your body and the absorption to incorporate them into a meal. Attaching the spermidine to a regular meal also makes it easier to stick to the daily routine of taking the supplement.
You should always consult your GP or another healthcare provider before beginning to take a new supplement or medication to make sure you and your doctor both know what to expect.
Conclusion: spermidine for healthy cells and a healthy body [h2]
Spermidine is a versatile and convenient supplement that derives most of its strength from its formidable effects on your cells. It allows your cells to be recycled when they stop functioning as they should, providing more and better divided energy to your healthy and active cells. Through this process it keeps your body younger: your heart, your brain, your arteries, and your immune system remain vital and active even when your body gets older. This way, spermidine lessens your risks at strokes and heart attacks through boosting your heart as well as the flexibility of your arteries, it helps your system to fight against any virus or infection that might try to attack it, and it even decreases your risk of developing neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. Overall, it increases your vitality and gives your longevity a well-earned boost. You can be more active and are less prone to diseases and cardiac events associated with old age, allowing you to live a life that is both longer and more fulfilling.
References
1: “Benefits of Spermidine.” Medical Advocacy and Outreach, https://maoi.org/health/spermidine-benefits/.
2: “Autophagy.” Osmosis, https://www.osmosis.org/answers/autophagy.
3: Li, Xianzhi, et al. “Spermidine-mediated Autophagy Alleviates Intestinal Injury by Improving Mitochondrial Biogenesis and Function in a Rat Model of Sepsis.” Molecular Medicine, vol. 28, no. 1, article no. 24, 2022. https://molmed.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s10020-022-00533-1.
4: “Overview of the Immune System.” National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, https://www.niaid.nih.gov/research/immune-system-overview.
5: Jiang, Guan-Min, et al. “The relationship between autophagy and the immune system and its applications for tumor immunotherapy.” Molecular Cancer, vol. 18, no. 1, article no. 122, 2019. https://molecular-cancer.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12943-019-0944-z.
6, 8: “Spermidine Benefits.” HealthNews, https://healthnews.com/longevity/longevity-supplements/spermidine-benefits/.
7: Wirth, Miranka, et al. “Effects of spermidine supplementation on cognition and biomarkers in older adults with subjective cognitive decline (SmartAge)—study protocol for a randomized controlled trial.” Alzheimer’s Research & Therapy, vol. 11, no. 1, article no. 58, 2019. https://alzres.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13195-019-0484-1.
9: “Inflammation and Heart Disease.” American Heart Association, https://www.heart.org/en/health-topics/consumer-healthcare/what-is-cardiovascular-disease/inflammation-and-heart-disease.
10: “What is Arterial Stiffness?” News Medical, https://www.news-medical.net/health/What-is-Arterial-Stiffness.aspx.
11: “Spermidine: Benefits, Dosage, and Side Effects.” Vitality Pro, https://vitality-pro.com/spermidine/benefits-dosage-side-effects-spe/.
12: “Spermidine Dosage.” Neurogan Health, https://neuroganhealth.com/blogs/news/spermidine-dosage.