Study: Glucosamine Promotes Longevity
09 Apr 2014 --- Glucosamine has been found to promote longevity, according to a new study. In tests carried out on ageing mice, the food supplement was found to promote longevity by approximately 10% due to improved glucose metabolism. Researchers discovered that the compound did this by “mimicking a low-carb diet”.
The study’s lead researcher, ETH Zurich professor, MD Michael Ristow, said that while such an association with mice is no definite proof of the effectiveness of glucosamine in humans, “the chances are good”. As a result of this, it could be a good idea for people to start taking glucosamine supplements, he said, and he has started taking it himself. “Unlike most other potentially lifespan-extending drugs there are no known relevant side effects of glucosamine supplementation, so I would tend to recommend this supplement.”
The study used mice which were 100 weeks of age, reflecting a comparative human age of around 65 years. A control group of mice received no glucosamine while otherwise receiving an identical diet. Feeding the supplement to mice extended their lifespan by almost 10%, reflecting around eight additional years of human lifespan. Moreover, glucosamine improved glucose metabolism in elderly mice indicating protection from diabetes, a life-threatening disease most prevalent amongst the elderly. Ristow pointed out that diabetics taking glucosamine supplements should perform tight blood glucose control.
Additional analyses revealed that glucosamine feeding promotes the breakdown of amino acids, which are key components of proteins. As Ristow pointed out, “this reflects the metabolic state of a low-carb diet due to glucosamine supplementation alone – while these mice ingested the same amount of carbohydrates as their unsupplemented counterparts.” This implies that glucosamine would mimic a low-carb diet in humans as well – without the necessity of reducing the uptake of carbohydrates in our daily diet.
Glucosamine has been freely available in drugstores for many decades. It is widely used to treat arthritis and to prevent joint degeneration. Moreover, glucosamine is known to delay cancer growth. In addition, glucosamine reduces metabolism of nutritive sugars, as was already shown some 50 years ago.
