Blue California’s “longevity vitamin” reduces signs of oxidative stress, clinical trial shows

06 Feb 2024 --- Despite extensive preclinical research into the anti-aging benefits of dietary ergothioneine intake from mushroom consumption, supplementation remains untested and rigorous clinical studies need to be included.

Ingredient developer Blue California has, however, advanced this area of research with the completion of its double-blinded, placebo-controlled human clinical trial, which observed the cognitive function, memory and sleep benefits of ErgoActive, its ergothioneine-based supplement.

“Oxidative stress is widely recognized as a key factor in age-related conditions. Although many products aimed to mitigate oxidative stress, the clinical evidence supporting their effectiveness in addressing specific age-related concerns, such as cognitive function, remains limited,” Dr. Linda May-Zhang, vice president of science and innovation at Blue California, tells Nutrition Insight. 

“Blue California’s ErgoActive ergothioneine distinguishes itself for several reasons. Termed a ‘longevity vitamin,’ ergothioneine is a diet-derived molecule important for combating aging. It is a distinctive antioxidant that enters cells through a specific cellular transporter for ergothioneine to fight oxidative stress.”

Longevity nutritional supplements
The trial was sponsored by Blue California and conducted at a national research institution, which has not been disclosed. It demonstrated that ErgoActive ergothioneine supports cognitive function, memory and sleep in healthy elderly subjects with subjective memory complaints.

“Healthy longevity represents an emerging category in the nutritional supplement space, driven by the development of innovative solutions that cater to the needs of the expanding aging population,” says May-Zhang.

Ergothioneine’s antioxidative properties are attributed to its distinctive molecular structure. ErgoActive ergothioneine promotes cellular and mitochondrial vitality, supports telomere shortening and supports cognitive function related to aging. It also enhances sleep and boosts immune function.

Formulating nutritional supplements
ErgoActive ergothioneine demonstrated high bioavailability and provided significant and sustained elevations of plasma ergothioneine levels. ErgoActive intervention significantly reduced liver enzymes, alanine aminotransferase and aspartate aminotransferase, showing positive effects on its function. 

“Conducting nutritional intervention trials to demonstrate cognitive support in older adults free from neurodegenerative diseases has traditionally been challenging. The observation that we see positive changes in cognitive function indicators within four months of ErgoActive supplementation is significant,” May-Zhang explains.Linda May-Zhang is the VP of science and innovation at Blue California. 

“It supports the potential of this ingredient as a cognitive function support supplement for aging populations. We observed improvements in sleep initiation among the study participants with ErgoActive supplementation. Given the prevalence of sleep disturbances in older adults, these findings, alongside those of another recent human trial, underline ErgoActive ergothioneine’s role in supporting sleep.”  

Ergothioneine levels
Research has suggested that inadequate levels of ergothioneine are associated with a range of health problems, including cardiovascular disease, frailty, age-related cognitive decline, neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s disease and dementias such as Alzheimer’s disease. 

“This first-of-kind human study also serves to build the bridge between the vast literature of previous preclinical, association and smaller human trials examining bioavailability or mushroom products and the need to assess direct effects of ergothioneine in healthy subjects,” May-Zhang explains. 

“We believe these results will spark considerable interest in future studies on ergothioneine, exploring its impact on healthy aging and its mechanisms or effects across different populations. These results are a major step toward building clinical evidence for the health benefits of ergothioneine supplementation.”

ErgoActive ergothioneine is made by precision fermentation with FDA-reviewed safety of GRAS. This ingredient is easy to formulate for dietary supplements, functional food and beverages, pet supplements and cosmetics.

“The results of this study provide important clinical evidence supporting the idea that ergothioneine is a ‘longevity vitamin’ that can help mitigate cognitive decline and sleep issues commonly associated with aging,” says Dr. Robert Beelman, professor emeritus of food science and director of the Center for Plant and Mushroom Foods for Health at Pennsylvania State University.

Blue California is a gold sponsor for the National University of Singapore’s Center of Healthy Longevity global conference on Supplements for Healthy Longevity, held from February 29 to March 2.

By Inga de Jong