Broccoli May Be The Key To Looking Young

2024 Author: Steven Freeman | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 08:15

Attention! A group of scientists has found a compound that makes cells act younger than they are, although for now, they have only been proven in mice. According to a study published in Cell Metabolism, researchers at the University of Washington School of Medicine reported that this element is found in various vegetables such as broccoli, cucumber, cabbage, and edamame.

This compound, called Nicotinamide Mononucleotide (NMN), is necessary for the creation of another fundamental compound to give energy to metabolism. When scientists gave older mice infusions of NMN, their bodies generated more of that substance, and some of the biological problems associated with aging disappeared, for example, they did not gain as much fat, they were able to convert food into energy more efficiently and he even improved his eyesight.

So the big question is, if we eat too much broccoli can we extend our lives? "If you do the math, I wouldn't say it's totally impossible, but it would be very difficult to get the amount [you need] simply from natural foods," says Dr. Shin-Ichiro Imai, professor of biology and medicine at the University of Washington. and one of the study authors.

Thanks to the encouraging results, the Tokyo-based team is launching a human study using NMN supplements in pill form. "[With age] we lose the NMN enzyme," says Imai. "But we can avoid that process by adding NMN, we can create energy again. These results provide a fundamental basis for human study."

The hope is that human studies will help us understand how to keep our cells young, and even how to stop the diseases that typically attack cells throughout their lives.