The curious case of Bryan Johnson
That is, how a tech millionaire wants to rejuvenate himself.

The term "longevity" has been on everyone's lips for a few years now. Millionaires in the tech industry and Silicon Valley CEOs in particular have focused not only on healthy living, but also on living as long as possible. Sometimes they invest a lot of money in this effort. Such is the case with Tech CEO Bryan Johnson (45), for example, he has a goal of returning to a second youth by regressing to a biological age of 18. To achieve this goal, suspended between ambition and utopia, he employs 30 doctors and experts in the field. Each of Johnson's organs must be optimized for maximum health through diet, training, and a steady daily rhythm. Daily tests document progress (see  Bryan Johnson's Blueprint Protocol). The project, which costs two million dollars a year, is called "Project Blueprint." His doctors are convinced they have already rejuvenated him by five years. How? By, among other things, following a vegan diet, exercising for an hour a day, and taking 13.5 milligrams of spermidine every morning in his smoothie "The Green Giant," as well as other dietary supplements (see Bryan Johnson's Blueprint Protocol). He also takes 60 vitamin capsules and three tablespoons of pure olive oil. He chews two chewing gums - to stimulate saliva production. He then chews two chewing gums to stimulate saliva production and, after exactly 60 seconds, spits them out. Half a million followers are watching him on YouTube, Tiktok and Instagram. Bryan Johnson is the role model for so-called biohackers. These are people who try to halt the aging process of their bodies with alleged hacks (see, for example, Live Longer World for a simplified 80/20 version).

Spermidine: a molecule with some potential
There are always interesting developments to be discovered in the world of dietary supplements. One of these is spermidine, a naturally occurring polyamine.
But what makes spermidine so interesting to science and perhaps to our diet? Spermidine is an interesting substance for science because it can "turn on" (induce) cellular autophagy. Autophagy is a cell recycling and self-cleansing program involving a complex network of signals and proteins. If you would like to learn more about autophagy, this article from the Max Planck Institute of Biophysics explains the details of this extremely exciting and fascinating process that the cells in our bodies carry out.

What is spermidine?
Spermidine is a so-called biogenic polyamine present as a messenger substance in every cell of the body. If the name rings a bell, you are right: spermidine was in fact first discovered in male seminal fluid. But of course the one found in the market and in supplements today comes from other sources.

Spermidine is usually measured in µmol, or one millionth of a mole, the unit in which the concentration of PHE value in blood is expressed. The amount of spermidine in the body increases as a result of sports, fasting, pregnancy, and acute infections. Unfortunately, the concentration of spermidine in the body decreases with age or from about age 35.

What foods contain spermidine?

Polyamide spermidine is found in many healthy foods that you can safely incorporate into your diet in large amounts. These are, for example

Wheat germ: 254 mg/kg
Pumpkin seeds: 104 mg/kg
Mushrooms: 88.6 mg/kg
Peas: 46 mg/kg
Hazelnuts: 21 mg/kg

but also aged cheese, soybeans, and other legumes.

Spermidine supplementation
It can be difficult to take in adequate amounts of spermidine through diet alone, even though spermidine is present in many everyday foods. This is where spermidine supplements come in, which aim to facilitate daily intake through supplementation.

Longlife Spermidine 6 mg from EnergyBalance®
Longlife Spermidine 6 mg, with 6 mg of spermidine per serving, combines ideally with magnesium and selenium, also known for their anti-aging properties. The high-quality vegan dietary supplement, with 98 percent purity, is allergen-free-unlike wheat spermidine, it is gluten-free.