Primeadine® Original Spermidine Powder -3-Month Supply

The US FDA has not ruled on a safe upper limit for food-derived spermidine, but the European Union's European Food Safety Authority has deemed 6mg of supplemental food-derived spermidine to be the safe upper limit.

To date, most studies have been conducted using a daily dose of 1mg of food-derived spermidine, together with spermine and putrescine. 

Synthetic spermidine has not been tested for safety in humans. 

We take great care to use the highest quality ingredients and to keep out the 'nasties' commonly used in the supplement manufacturing process in our products. We take the same approach that we do when baking a birthday cake for our children: we use the highest quality ingredients - no industrial seed oils such as wheat germ oil that oxidizes rapidly, no magnesium stearate to make the powder flow faster through automated encapsulation equipment (approximately 70% of all magnesium stearate used as 'flow agents' are hydrogenated industrial seed oils), no talc to make the powder denser to fit more compactly into fewer capsules. 

We also do not use synthetic spermidine which is very cheap and often 'cut' into products stating 'wheat germ with spermidine.'  

We choose plant-derived spermidine. Yes, it is more costly, just as the best cake ingredients for your child's birthday cake would be too. It's a choice and philosophy about value for money.

While we can’t speak directly about the formulation of other spermidine products, here are some of the main differentiators of Primeadine®/Oxford Healthspan.

• We source our raw materials from Japan, which is known for their Nobel Prize winning scientific leadership on autophagy. They have the most advanced extraction process, are known worldwide for their rigorous quality control and testing, and they meet the standards of the Japan Health Food and Nutrition Food Association.Our raw materials are manufactured in Japan in an FDA-registered and -inspected facility with ISO22000 standards, the highest in food quality control. Our raw materials are tested for heavy metals, mold, fungi and bacteria at the Japan Food Research Lab (JFRL), a third party independent testing lab. Every single batch must be tested here as food-derived spermidine will have varying quantities of spermidine per batch and we must ensure that every batch contains the minimum effective dose of 1mg stated on our labels. In addition, our spermidine is encapsulated in an FDA cGMP facility in the USA and undergoes purity testing there as well at Eurofins or Delta.
• Our capsules do not contain any synthetic ingredients, whereas other supplements contain magnesium stearate (of which circa 80% will contain hydrogenated fats; the supplement industry is not legally required to get rid of hydrogenated oils the way the processed food industry has been mandated by law to), shellac, talc and glycerin. Our products are all suitable for vegans.
• Our formulation contains a special type of prebiotic fiber, called FructoOligoSaccharide (FOS), that selectively feeds the friendly spermidine-producing bacteria in the gut biome. The idea is to increase both supplemental or 'exogenous' spermidine as well as encourage your own body's natural ability to produce 'endogenous' spermidine.
• We do not use liposomes in Primeadine because this is unnecessary for absorption and would prevent the benefits that happen when spermidine is exposed directly to the gut lining. There is no evidence that spermidine cannot be taken up by the cells on its own. Similar to amino acids, polyamines do not need a liposome to cross into the cell or to be taken up with epithelial cells. The process of creating a liposomal version also creates unnecessary expense.
• We do not synthetically enrich our product with synthetic spermidine.
• We do not use doses beyond what the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has mandated as safe for human consumption, which is 6mg daily. Please note that this is related to food-derived spermidine. Synthetic spermidine and synthetically enriched spermidine have never been tested in humans for safety or efficacy and are being sold without regulatory oversight. 
• We work closely with our scientific and clinical advisers at the University of Oxford, all of whom take our product and share it with their families. We are also the only non-Japanese member of the Japan Autophagy Consortium, whose Senior Adviser is the 2016 Nobel Prize Winner in Medicine or Physiology, Prof Yoshimori Ohsumi, and whose Director is Prof Tamotsu Yoshimori, Osaka University. Prof Yoshimori conducted all of the mammalian research in autophagy that helped underpin Prof Ohsumi's work in yeast cells.

Primeadine® works at a cellular level, so you won't feel any "fireworks" the first time you take it. That said, some of our customers have reported deeper sleep, as measured by the ōura ring, when taken at night. See our Testimonials section for more!

Synthetic spermidine is a 2-dimensional chemical mimic, but we should never forget that molecules are 3-dimensional. Humans have co-evolved with plants over millenia and our bodies recognize the 3-dimensional molecules made by plants. Our bodies can recognize some elements of 2-dimensional mimics, but they are akin to the mirror images of your hands when you put your palms together - 2-dimensionally identical, and yet your right hand cannot wear a left-handed glove. 

We have tested other spermidine products whose labels state they contain 'wheat germ with spermidine' and noticed that they have a small amount of wheat germ 'cut in' with high amounts of synthetic spermidine. Often, these are high dose, low cost options with no guarantee that they will work, or that they are safe. Synthetic spermidine has not been tested for safety or efficacy in humans, only food-derived spermidine has.

Supplementation with food-derived spermidine in humans has been shown to support cognition and heart health, promote hormonal balance, improve hair growth and fullness (including eyelashes), and strengthen nails.Epidemiological studies have correlated higher spermidine levels with longer life. This is because spermidine induces autophagy, the body’s cellular renewal process, and it inhibits 9 of the 12 hallmarks of aging, the paths down which we age.

Spermidine is a polyamine, an organic compound consisting of two or more amino groups, which is positively charged at physiological pH. Spermidine is present in all human tissues, breast milk, sperm and endosperm of plants.

There are three sources of spermidine: endogenous spermidine made from the precursor amino acid ornithine; microbial spermidine, produced from gut microbes, and dietary spermidine, naturally occurring in food.

Endogenous production of spermidine accounts for roughly 1/3 of the body’s spermidine, however the ability to produce spermidine endogenously decreases with age. While microbial and dietary intakes make up 2/3 of the body’s needs, dietary intakes vary greatly between countries, with spermidine intake being higher on the Mediterranean and Japanese diets than on the typical American or Western European diet.

With respect to food sources, spermidine is found in the greatest amounts in concentrated wheat germ and the Japanese fermented soybean dish known as natto. It is also found in the endosperm of all seeds and legumes, so important is it to the survival of the next generation of the plant. A unique sub-strain of the algae chlorella, found in the longevity community of Okinawa, Japan, and what we use in Primeadine GF, is also rich in spermidine. 

Shiitake mushrooms, peas and long matured cheeses, including Cheddar and Parmesan, also contain spermidine, but the amounts will vary from batch to batch and will depend on growing, soil and harvesting conditions. 

Every batch of Primeadine® Original and Primeadine® GF are independently tested by the Japan Food Research Laboratory to ensure the amount of spermidine in each dose is the amount on the label, which is the dose used in human clinical trials.

The concentrated and defatted wheat germ in Primeadine® Original has a beneficial ratio of spermidine to the other polyamines, spermine and putrescine. Together, they form a virtuous polyamine recycling loop, with putrescine a precursor polyamine needed by the body to make more spermine and spermidine should the body need it. 

Concentrated and defatted wheat germ derived spermidine is also well absorbed in the GI tract due to its high molecular mass. Defatting the wheat germ also means that the volatile, oxygen-seeking bonds in the wheat germ oil, which are Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids (PUFAs) like industrial seed oils, are not ingested and made part of your cell membranes. 

Primeadine® GF comes from a sub-strain of chlorella singled out from over 100 others because it alone contains a high level of spermidine and also contains putrescine, the precursor polyamine to both spermine and spermidine. Our chlorella is grown in the nutrient-abundant longevity islands of Okinawa, Japan, and exposed to sunlight to increase the chlorophyll and other nutrient content, such as vitamins D and K, which together help drive calcium to the bones. We combine the chlorella with two other anti-inflammatories and autophagy inducers, Okinawan turmeric and nobiletin (from Okinawan citrus lime peel).