ABOVE: A spoon filled with spermidine-rich wheat germ
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Feeding the organic compound spermidine to mice and fruit flies boosted mitochondrial activity in the animals’ brains and, with it, their cognitive ability, according to a paper in Cell Reports published April 13. The study also intimates a similar spermidine-linked cognition boost applies to humans.
“Overall, I think that spermidine is probably one of the most promising molecules for aging research in general . . . and here they focus on cognition,” says gerontologist Valter Longo of the University of Southern California who was not involved in the work. The most convincing data are from flies and mice, he says, because the human data are only correlative. But, he adds, “the good news is that if you have a spermidine-rich diet, it seems to be a good one. It’s certainly not bad for you” in terms of cognition.
Spermidine is ...
