ergo-log.com

Definition: "An ergogenic aid is any substance or phenomenon that enhances performance "

21.08.2022

Hesperetin, the cellular rejuvenator from citrus fruits

Hesperetin, a flavonoid in citrus fruits, may extend life. According to a Taiwanese animal study, hesperetin rejuvenates the mitochondria. By this mechanism, hesperetin stops the aging of muscles, body composition and glucose metabolism.

Hesperetin
Hesperetin is a flavonoid, just like quercetin. Below is a figure that compares hesperetin with a number of other related substances. Bio-organic flavonoid chemistry is all about small differences that are easily overlooked (and forgotten even more quickly).

In the animal study we're going to bore you with today, researchers gave mice hesperetin in its bare form. Scientists have mainly focused on glycated analogues of hesperetin. We get these in quantities of several tens of milligrams through, among other things, citrus fruits. You can probably use these analogues, together with caffeine [Phytother Res. 2015 Feb;29(2):310-6.] or synephrine, as a weight loss supplement.

Study
Taiwanese researchers at Chang Gung University had discovered in previous studies that the flavonoid hesperetin increases the production of the longevity protein cisd2 in cells. Cisd2 is not yet as well known as klotho, PPAR-gamma and Sirt1, but if it is up to the researchers, that will change.

The Taiwanese gave a group of older lab mice a hefty dose of hesperetin via their food for several months. If the mice had been adults weighing 70 kilograms, they would have consumed 700 milligrams of hesperetin daily.

Mice in the two control groups were fed chow without additives. In one control group, the mice were the same age as the animals in the experimental group. In the other control group mice were still young.

Results
Although the administration of hesperetin did not start until the animals were older, the flavonoid extended the average lifespan of the mice [we mean the median] by almost 9 percent.

The researchers discovered that hesperetin slowed the aging of the heart muscle and maintained insulin sensitivity. Hesperetin supplementation also reduced the breakdown of muscle tissue and inhibited the increase of adipose tissue.

The mice also consumed more energy as a result of supplementation.

That is what the figures below tell.

Mechanism
Above you can see how hesperetin could slow down aging. The flavonoid increased the amount of the protein cisd2. Cisd2 plays a role that has not yet been elucidated in the functioning of mitochondria.

Mitochondria are cellular power plants. They convert nutrients into energy. According to a large group of researchers, aging is at least partly the result of increasingly poorer functioning mitochondria.

Human dose
"Hesperetin can be rapidly delivered systematically to multiple organs and tissues in vivo", the researchers write.

"Additionally, it has no detectable in vivo toxicity after long-term oral administration for 6-7 months in mice, specifically when supplemented in food at a dose of 100 mg/kg/day, which has a human equivalent dose of 491 mg/60 kg/day."

"Accordingly, it will be of great interest to develop hesperetin as a medicinally or nutritionally functional food for preventive purposes related to extending healthy lifespan and/or therapeutic purpose related to treating age related diseases."

Source:
J Biomed Sci. 2022 Jul 24;29(1):53.

More:
Hesperetin is an anti-oestrogen 01.07.2013
Hesperidin stimulates formation of new muscle tissue 15.10.2012
Slimming supplement synephrine works fine - with naringin and hesperidin 27.07.2011

Archives:
Hesperidin & hesperetin
Longevity

Half a gram of 2S-hesperidin speeds up your sprint Oranges contain the flavonoid 2S-hesperidin. If cyclists take half a gram of this per day - that equates to 2 capsules - they become significantly faster.	Stim from orange 2S-hesperidin works immediately after intake Cyclists who take 500 milligrams of this substance daily for several weeks sprint faster. According to another study, it is not necessary to use 2S-hesperidin for weeks.	Dutch research | Hesperidin improves sports performance We recently wrote about human studies in which supplementation with hesperidin made athletes faster. In 2018, Dutch researchers published a study with similar results.