The big ageing news in the last week has been polyamines (yes, new to me too!). Thanks to research from the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel, headlines about a new ‘wonder anti-ageing diet’ involving polyamines were splashed across several newspapers last week. I liked the sound of that, but to flesh out these extravagant claims I had to trawl through a panoply of reports, new and old. So let’s starts at the beginning…
Polyamines are naturally-occurring molecules derived from amino acids and found in food and gut microbiota – and they’re vital for the survival and growth of our cells. Polyamines contain chemicals that include the unenticingly-named spermine, spermidine and putrescine, all of which have been linked to longevity and are proven anti-inflammatories. Polyamines are increased by fermentation, which as Susan pointed out here may explain why eating fermented foods reduces wrinkles. The Mediterranean Diet (we first wrote about it here) contains twice the amount of polyamines as the average British diet. Many scientists now think it’s the high-polyamine content of the Med diet that has made it so effective for healthy ageing.
But the Weizmann report looked specifically at spermidine and found that, in mice supplemented with spermidine, their body clocks (or circadian rhythms) were dramatically improved. Why is this important? Because impaired circadian rhythms have been linked to degenerative diseases such as cancer, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. Which is all a long-winded way of saying that polyamines, and specifically spermidine (and yes, it is found in sperm) may help us live longer and healthier lives. Read more here http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2015-10/cp-dsk100215.php
No one’s suggesting we rush out and OD on peas and blue cheese (both of which contain very high levels of spermidine), but if you’re reviewing your diet it may be worth looking at the polyamine content of your food. Several foods long known to have health benefits—such as wheatgerm and fermented soya beans — contain high levels of polyamines. Other foods high in polyamines (incidentally, some of these are high in spermine but low in putrescine, or low in spermine but high in spermidine) are:
Squid, oysters, crab, scallops, liver, garlic, chervil, tarragon, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, parsley, mushrooms, green peas, aubergine/eggplant, tomatoes, bone marrow, oranges, hazelnuts, almonds, pistachios, peanuts, bananas, wheat and wheat germ, mustard, gherkins, green pepper, spinach, lentils, chickpeas, sweet corn and sauerkraut.
But top of the polyamines are soy beans and green tea (particularly matcha – look out for Susan’s Matcha Cookies next week), blue cheese, fermented products like sauerkraut and miso, mushrooms, green pepper, oranges, nuts and seeds. Polyamines are particularly rich in the actively-dividing tissue of a plant (ie the root tip, growing shoot or flower. So plant stems (celery and rhubarb for example) typically contain fewer polyamines than asparagus tips, carrots and broccoli florets.
Spermadine, the polyamine in the Weizmann study, is most plentiful in peas and soybeans, blue cheese, chicken liver and shell fish. Check out our pea and soybean salad (replace the red pepper with crumbled Roquefort for a double whammy) and chicken liver salad.
Before I present my polyamine-rich recipe, I must point out that because of the link between polyamines and cell proliferation, some oncologists advocate a low-polyamine diets for those with certain cancers, particularly prostate cancer. On which note, I should remind our readers that Ms’s Kale & Cocoa are wizzes at research and keeping tabs on advances in the science of ageing (if we say so ourselves) but we are most definitely not doctors…Please do see your doctor if you’re worried about anything.
Moroccan Spinach with Chickpeas and Tomatoes (serves 4)
This is extremely easy and can be rustled up from your store cupboard in less time than it takes to dial a take-away pizza. I serve it with grilled, harissa-smeared salmon for a quick supper with a bit of kick (and plenty of polyamines too).
- 1 red onion, chopped
- 1 tin chickpeas
- 1 tin tomatoes + 1 tbs tomato puree
- 100g spinach (fresh or frozen)
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 2 tsp Ras el Hanout spice mix (I use Barts pre-blended but google a recipe if you’d rather make your own blend)
- Optional: Lemon juice, fresh coriander and yogurt to serve.
Fry the onion in 2 tblsp olive oil. Add the cumin seeds and the Ras el Hanout. Add the tomatoes and puree, chickpeas and spinach. Cook until hot and the spinach has wilted (or fully defrosted and heated if you’re using frozen).
Stir in the juice of a lemon and season to taste. Serve with a dollop of yogurt and some chopped coriander. For the harissa-smeared salmon, spread half a teaspoon of harissa paste over the upper flesh of a salmon fillet, season and drizzle with olive oil. Place under a hot grill for 5 minutes until just cooked. Serve with the Moroccan Spinach and extra lemon wedges.
Spicy, delicious and exceptionally good for you!
Annabel
Really interesting article – thank you for all your hard work doing the research-y leg work. I love your blog posts and recipes – a great mix of yummy, practical recipes underpinned by well researched, intelligent brain food – so I can be confident about the rationale behind the food decisions I’m making. Heaven!!!!
Thank you for your kind words! We’re very glad you’re enjoying the blog…
Are frozen peas as beneficial as fresh for polyamines?
Yes, frozen peas are usually fresher than fresh (sounds odd – but true!) – and a lot more convenient. We’re big fans of frozen peas, soya beans and spinach.
best place to buy Soya beans please
I buy them in Tesco or WholeFoods but you should be able to get them in any large supermarket or health food shop in the frozen food section. You need the shelled ones, not the ones in their pods.
Just found dried soya beans in a local store! How do I use them?
Help please, new to all this. 2016 let solution to eat healthily!
I usually use frozen soya beans these days but you can use dried ones as a bean replacement in almost any of our recipes that use larger pulses. Try them in this cassoulet for example. Or you could make the soya bean salad on the site (picture on the side bar – click straight through). I also love to make dips from cooked, cooled beans. Just wizz them up with lemon juice and zest, garlic, olive oil and a little yogurt, and dip crudites or strips of toasted pitta in it. Let us know how you get on…
Have you been able to figure out which kinds of mushrooms are rich in spermidine?
All mushrooms are good. I generally go for organic chestnut mushrooms as i like the flavour. Apparently raw mushrooms have a little more than cooked. Just keep eating plenty of mushrooms!
Polyamines should be avoided in the case of some cancers. There’s evidence to suggest that they can affect cell adhesion allowing individual cells to break off from tumours and to spread around the body causing metastasis. Additionally this poor cell adhesion can prevent immune cells from attaching to cancer cells and recognising them as cancer cells, thus failing to respond to them. In late stage prostate cancer it has been found that life expectancy can be increased somewhat by removing or reducing foods that are high in polyamines from the diet. However there is a bit of a conflict as many of the foods that one would find in a good anti cancer diet are high in polyamines. This includes broccoli, tomato, some types of nuts, bananas, etc.
I forgot to add that one way of getting around this conflict is to offset it with other dietary cancer fighting strategies – such as a low methionine diet. Many types of cancer cell (but not all) are methionine dependent so if dietary intake of this amino acid is reduced then, in theory, cell adhesion won’t matter as they will be getting deprived of a key nutrient whether or not they break off and spread around the body or the immune system fails to recognise them. I should repeat that’s just a theory. I’m not a doctor or someone with any scientific qualification but in the absence of any clear guidance it’s at least a reasonable approach to take.
That’s a good suggestion, Ian. I’m not familiar with the low-methionine diet but will look into it. Thanks for your comment!
You’re right, Ian. As ever, nothing is as simple as it sounds!
Hi I tried the pea salad you recommended today and replaced the peppers with blue cheese, as you suggested. It was so yum! Do you have any other recipes high in polyamines that you could recommend?
Also wondering if all variety of peas are high in polyamines snow peas, sugar snap etc or just traditional peas?
Thanks so much I found your info very helpful 🙂
Thanks, Amelia. We will be putting up some more polyamine-rich recipes very soon, so stick with us. All peas are good I believe – and great to vary them too.
This interests me, how food can benefit preventing ageing.
I would like to live to 100.
Hello…
Broccoli sprouts are much higher in sulforaphane than grown broccoli and I believe it also contains spermidine.
My question is what about growing green pea and soya been sprouts for the spermidine? Will the sprouts have a higher content than the grown plants?
Thank you for your response.
Dusty
Hi Dusty, we’re not sure but if you like sprouts, eat them! They’re powerhouses of goodness…