#1

Based on another thread discussing arginine and citrulline, I thought it would be best to have a topic to discuss amino acids that are both good and bad for longevity. For instance, I take:

  1. 20 g of glycine (10 g in collagen)
  2. 2.6 g of cysteine (NAC)
  3. 6 g of taurine daily

Based on this research:

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#2

Other amino acids that I don’t take, but have heard of for longevity are

  1. Carnosine
  2. Arginine
  3. Ornithine
  4. Citrulline
  5. Beta-alanine (which unfortunately I am allergic to)

This is the place to make your arguments for or against different amino acids that may help or hinder longevity.

For instance, serine seems to be inferior to glycine in that it does the same thing as glycine but can also be used as a fuel for cancer which is bad.

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2211124714003477

Here is an article about Paul Kiesow and the amino acids he takes:

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#3

I remember reading an article about how they were trying to use glycine as a treatment for mental health issues, at very high doses (like 40grams to 60grams a day). That caused gastro issues at that dosing level, but it turned out another glycine-like compound is called n-methyl-glycine (sarcosine) that gets turned into glycine in the body. In studies they only had to use a small amount of n-methyl glycine (e.g. 1gram to 2 grams) vs. 40 grams to 60 grams glycine, for the same effect.

So - I’m wondering if sarcosine may be a more effective way to get higher dosing levels of glycine (and thus more potential benefit).

Sarcosine is metabolized to glycine by the enzyme sarcosine dehydrogenase, while glycine-N-methyl transferase generates sarcosine from glycine.

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#4

Check out Tyrosine. I started taking 1 gram a day since 2 weeks ago. Have made a big difference on my mood and overall good feeling. Not sure if this has been tested for longevity, but it is worth a try just to feel awesome every day.

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#5

A compendium of amino acids and their effects on longevity.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2468501119300082

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#6

Nice paper. Thanks. I want to understand why the body doesn’t make enough of these non-essential AA that seem to have a beneficial effect when supplemented.

As an example, creatine is: methionine-glycine-arginine (doesn’t get broken down in digestion). Our bodies also make a lot but also dispose of a lot. Whether an individual would benefit from supplemental creatine is based on whether they (1) already eat a lot in red meat or fish and (2) have a low rate of disposal of creatine. If you eat a lot of meat / fish and don’t seem to benefit from supplemental creatine, you might not be able to get a benefit. “Responders vs non-responders”

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#7

The amino acids I am seriously considering adding are Arginine, Citrulline and Carnosine. Unfortunately I don’t have enough information at this time to make a final decision on these.

Carnosine

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#8

It is a powerful study. The kind where one feels this is almost too good to be true.

They use a high dosage, 7g of each for a 70 kg person. What made you go for the doses you use?

The one drawback I have seen is a possible increased cancer risk for NAC, primarily for those with preexisting cancer.

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#9

Carnosine is included in Sandra Kaufmann’s PANACEA; a mnemonic for

Pterostilbene, astaxanthin, nicotinamide, curcumin, carnosine.

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#10

I decided on the doses I use due to

  1. Dr. Brad Stanfield recommends 10 g of collagen daily. My skin has gotten noticeably thicker and stronger, probably due to this.
  2. The GLYNAC study recommends about 7 g of glycine and cysteine. I have found no downside to glycine, so I take an additional 8-10 g of glycine daily (1 tbsp in the morning and 1 tbsp at night)
  3. NAC (Cysteine) has a potential lung cancer risk (it protects lung cells which is great before cancer but not so great if you have it), so I take a bit lower at 2.6 g daily. It has helped with my mood and lung health. It also helps prevent colon polyps.

GLYNAC is necessary for glutathione (GSH) production which decreases as we age. My father takes a similar regimen, and his GSH levels are quite high although not quite ideal yet. He has a GSH level of about 950 uM where 1100 uM is ideal. Most Americans are around 450 uM and this declines with age (the normal range is 373-838 uM). So he is way above the average 77-year-old. High GSH is a hallmark of long-lived individuals.

I haven’t measured my glutathione yet, but I probably should at my next hospital body checkup (re-scheduled for next summer so I can test bempedoic acid).

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#11

I found it interesting that Citrulline increases circulating NO but not arginine.

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#12

Is it a normal blood test, you know if reliable like eg a vit d or all over the place like a bit b12 or so?

#13

He’s only done it once, but we’ll see after he tests again next time. Hard to tell from one test result.

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#14

Just a normal blood test via a quest / lab corp?

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#15

Yes. A normal test through his GP.

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#16

I took carnosine for a while because I heard Greg Fahy say he took it as it prevented senescence. Thing is my stack just kept growing and growing.

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#17

Could you tell any difference after taking it?

#18

It’s smart to think about a downside of too many simultaneous chemicals. Otherwise the thinking is only $0.30 per day vs external youth….who could resist?

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#19

You also need selenium as a glutathione cofactor so I make sure to eat enough Brazil nuts

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#20

V interested in Sarcosine - it is involved in autophagy and may be one of the reasons glycine is +ve for longevity.

‘Finally, we show that sarcosine can activate autophagy in cultured cells and enhances autophagic flux in vivo, suggesting a potential role in autophagy induction by DR. Thus, these data identify circulating sarcosine as a biomarker of aging and DR in mammalians and may contribute to age-related alterations in the metabolome and in proteostasis.’

Full, Open access Paper:

https://www.cell.com/cell-reports/fulltext/S2211-1247(18)31525-0

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