Longevity Molecules: Quercetin
Blasting away Zombie Cells and Rejuvenating the Body
Hello👋 and welcome to Curation for Longevity by Laura Minquini. I am a longevity advocate, entrepreneur and the founder of MYKIGAI.
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Blasting away Zombie Cells and Rejuvenating the Body with Quercetin
By Girish Harinath
Quercetin is one of the most common phytochemicals (flavonoid) found in plants. Plants rely on quercetin as a “first-line” defense response to stressors detected in their environment.
The true potential of quercetin as a longevity molecule was discovered when scientists found that quercetin (in adequate quantities) has a profound effect on a root driver of the process of aging by targeting senescent cells.
Senescent cells - A pervasive type of cell that is death resistant and releases pro-inflammatory factors into its environment that drives inflammaging and makes other nearby cells senescent as well. Due to its role as a driver of the aging process as well as its bizarre characteristics – they have gained the notorious title of Zombie Cells.
Nearly every single organ in the body contains senescent cells. This is because senescent cells play an extremely important role in development, wound repair, the birthing process, and perhaps most importantly – as a cancer prevention mechanism. Keep in mind, senescent cells shut down their ability to replicate – and for a very good reason. Cellular senescence is an evolutionarily enforced program that is initiated when our cells experience stressors that damage DNA. Damaged DNA can make cells cancerous (cells lose the ability to stop dividing). So cellular senescence is an extremely important process for cancer prevention early on in life and into adulthood. The problem arises when senescent cells persist and accumulate over long periods of time – well into old age. The pro-inflammatory environment they create drives chronic inflammation, causes stem cell dysfunction, and (ironically) drives tumorigenesis – the very thing it was evolutionarily designed to prevent.
Quercetin is a powerful senolytic (senescent killing) compound that has the potential to clear excess senescent cells from the body. Senolytics are of such great interest in the longevity field because they have not only been shown to slow down the progression of age-related disease (Alzheimer’s, osteoperosis, cardiovascular disease) in preclinical studies – they also rejuvenate organs to a younger state. Senolytics such as quercetin are one of the few longevity molecules that can rejuvenate tissues even when applied later in life (equivalent to 50 year old mice).
Clinical trials are currently ongoing to assess the potential of quercetin (and other senolytics such as fisetin and dasatinib) in addressing several age related diseases that effect the brain, kidneys, muscle, heart, lungs, you name it! So far, results are showing signs of promise – but there is still optimization to be done. In my opinion, senolytics have even greater potential to show beneficial results (more rapidly) when used as a preventative therapy in individuals that are yet to show clinical pathology.
So how can we engage with supplemental and/or whole food sources of quercetin to blast away our zombie cells and rejuvenate our health?
INTRO
There are a wide variety of phytochemicals that have been shown to have longevity-promoting benefits. Many of them are the molecules (i.e. polyphenols) that give plants their characteristic colour or taste. Notably, there is a rapidly growing industry of longevity supplement companies that are (presumably) extracting and selling these phytochemicals in more potent forms than can be found in the dietary sources they originate from.
For this new addition to the Longevity Toolkit, I will be providing you with a series of protocols on the best ways to access and optimally engage with some of the most impactful and promising longevity molecules that are readily available to us. Incorporating these longevity molecules into your health routine will help you activate the longevity genes necessary to keep your cells healthy as you age.
Continue reading Longevity Molecules Part III: Utilizing Quercetin to Blast Away Zombie Cells”!