The pursuit of eternal youth has been on people's minds for quite some time. The trend surrounding the topic of longevity includes various measures to achieve a life-prolonging effect through sport, mental attitude and healthy nutrition.
AUTOPHAGY - the body's own recycling process
But we are actually naturally able to renew our own cells in the body and keep them young . This process is called autophagy or autophagocytosis, which translated means "self-digesting". Autophagy is a recycling process within the cells in which damaged or incorrectly folded proteins or even entire cell components are broken down and then reused. The accumulated harmful deposits in the cells are enclosed in small vesicles and broken down into their components by enzymes. These components can be reused by the cell or they can be expelled from the cell. In this way, the harmful deposits within the cells are recycled and the cells are cleaned, allowing them to carry out their function again.
Basically, this mechanism helps to keep the breakdown of old and the production of new cell components in balance. Autophagy is therefore considered one of the most important mechanisms for reducing aging processes. Cells stay young and active by simply recycling their harmful substances. New studies show that autophagy activity in the body decreases with age. In a mouse model, life extension through autophagy induction has already been demonstrated. The Japanese Yoshinori Ohsumi was awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 2016 for his discoveries of autophagy mechanisms. His work "has dramatically changed the understanding of this vital process," according to the Nobel Prize Committee.
Reduced autophagy activity can promote disease
Autophagy is an important part of quality control in cells and is important for cell functionality. This reduces the negative effects of deposits on cell processes. Dysregulated or reduced autophagic activity, as has been demonstrated in the human body as we age , can therefore lead to an imbalance and cause disease.
These include cancer, among other things, caused by the failure to eliminate damaged cell components . Cancer can be prevented by autophagy, by digesting non-functional organelles and breaking down proteins into their components, so that degenerated cells (tumor cells) die.
Dementia due to the accumulation of neurodegenerative plaques within the cells can also be caused by reduced autophagy activity. If the nerve cells are unable to break down clumped proteins or defective mitochondria, they degenerate and lose their functionality. Recent studies have shown that the induction of autophagy over a period of 3 months was able to effectively increase the memory performance of elderly patients with early dementia.
Muscle diseases such as heart failure caused by reduced regeneration of muscle cells in the heart can arise from reduced autophagic activity in old age. Scientific studies have shown that an age-related decrease in autophagy can promote harmful processes in the cells. These lead to an unfavorable restructuring of the heart muscle (cardiac aging) with stiffening and loss of function of the heart and the arterial system.
Autophagy and the immune system
Autophagocytosis also enables the intracellular degradation of viruses, bacteria and foreign proteins that have penetrated the cell. By breaking down the invading pathogens, it also serves the immune response, because the antigen presentation then takes place via MHC I and II. This ultimately activates the phagocytes of the immune system. These eliminate infected and dead cells. They also recognize and fight pathogens. Many viruses, including the currently widespread SARS-CoV-2 virus, use the inhibition of autophagy as an effective mechanism to reduce the degradation of their own virus particles within the cells and thus promote their spread in the body.
Increase autophagy with spermidine
Spermidine is one of the strongest natural triggers of autophagy and therefore one of the best anti-aging substances . It is a natural polyamine that can be produced by the body or absorbed through food. Particularly rich sources of spermidine are wheat germ, some dairy products such as hard cheese or fermented soy products. In addition to intake through food or dietary supplements, the body can produce spermidine in the cells or through the microorganisms in the intestine.
As we age, however, our own spermidine synthesis and thus the concentration of spermidine in the blood decreases. Scientific studies have shown that the spermidine concentration in the blood is at its lowest between the ages of 60 and 80. The test subjects aged 90 to 106 showed very high spermidine concentrations in the blood, which may also have been responsible for reaching old age. A supply of natural spermidine via dietary supplements can promote autophagy and have many positive effects on health. In combination with the "sleep hormone" melatonin, which also promotes autophagy, natural high-dose spermidine from wheat germ extract can promote autophagy overnight. In addition to restful sleep, our REVIT NIGHT can also activate the recycling processes within the body. This allows the cells in the body to be cleansed and their functionality is maintained.
In mouse experiments, lifespan was extended by administering spermidine through the induction of autophagy. Various cardioprotective effects were also observed that could reduce cardiac aging. The first studies on humans also showed a positive influence of a spermidine-rich diet on the development of heart failure and high blood pressure.
The first placebo-controlled studies on humans at the Charité Berlin in 2018 showed promising improvements in memory performance after three months of spermidine administration compared to the control group. In 2020, further studies showed an increase in cognitive performance in older people after spermidine supplementation for three months. The strongest effects were seen in patients with mild dementia.
The immune system also benefits from taking spermidine. It has been proven that the reduced immune response in old age is associated with a decrease in spermidine levels in the B cells and T cells of the immune system. Older people therefore have an overall higher risk of infectious diseases and a lower immune response after vaccination.
