Nature: A compound found naturally in legumes, grains and mature cheese helps rodents to maintain a healthy heart. The
chemical, spermidine, extends the lifespans of yeast, flies and worms
by promoting autophagy, a cellular process that degrades and recycles
old components of the cell and toxic products. Frank Madeo at the
University of Graz in Austria and his collaborators found that aged mice
that regularly drank water containing spermidine had improved heart
function compared to untreated mice of the same age, and that the
compound lowered blood pressure in rats prone to developing heart
failure.
Spermidine reversed various age-related mechanical and
metabolic changes in the heart cells of treated animals.
The
chemical seemed to exert its effects through autophagy, because it did
not benefit mice with a genetic defect that impairs this process in
heart-muscle cells.
