nikney
#1
An exciting new scientific study. Has anyone used ergothionine? What are your experiences with this?
Ergothioneine Extends Lifespan, Reduces Body Weight, and Increases Physical Activity
The other study examining ergothioneine showed that this mushroom-derived compound not only significantly extended male mouse lifespan but it also reduced body weight and increased physical function. Furthermore, ergothioneine increased new neuron production and diminished neurodegeneration in these mice. These data suggest that, if applicable to humans, ergothioneine may reduce body weight, revitalize physical vigor, and counteract neurodegeneration, along with possibly promoting lifespan extension.
(Katsube et al., 2024 | Geroscience) Aged rats treated with ergothioneine displayed more physical activity. Compared to non-treated rats (Control; white bars), those treated with ergothioneine (ERGO; gray bars) showed more total movement throughout their lives.
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Interesting! Thanks for posting. We think erogothionine is very interesting and have been discussing it for a long time in this thread: Mushrooms on My Mind, Ergothionine , Erinacines, Hericenones, etc
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LukeMV
#3
It seems Shiitake mushrooms are a great source of Ergothioneine, providing 24.4mg per cup! I have been eating a cup a day of shiitake mushrooms for a few years too, which I was doing for the spermidine content. Great to know it has so much Ergothioneine as well
Shiitake Mushroom Nutrients (nutrivore.com)
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Neo
#4
What way do you prepare/eat them?
Bicep
#5
Golden oyster is amazing for ergo and I thought it would not survive our winters here, but here they are on year 2:
I suppose because it’s raining so much here, but I can’t believe the yield I’m getting from cottonwood logs. The first year I got nothing.
My memory is that shiitake is good on ergo, but it depends a lot on the year and growing conditions. It has several very good components. If money was no object I’d get the snak shack one’s with glucose and spice sprayed on. Delicious and nutritious.
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Vlasko
#6
The control mice in this study lived a much shorter lifespan than normal. They weren’t fed standard chow.
Normal lifespan averages about 878 days for this strain. Just looking at the graph, 50% of control mice were dead by roughly 620 days. And they were all dead by 700 days.
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LukeMV
#7
I buy frozen shiitake mushrooms (the brand my Whole Foods sells is Woodstock) and then microwave them. Apparently microwaving them preserves the nutrition the most.
Microwave mushrooms ‘to keep their goodness’, scientists say - BBC News
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I have been taking erogothionine 5 mg./day for three years. Additionally, I love black beans and mushrooms of all kinds and have 3-5 servings a week of each. I take the supplement for theoretical and research-based reasons. I have not experienced any direct effects, positive or negative. Because it meets my minimum standard of conferring potential benefits with no identifiable harms, I will continue to take it and watch as the research develops. Note that erogothionine has a long half life; a small daily dose will build up to a much higher level before it stabilizes. My average total daily intake of erogothionine is perhaps 10 mg.
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Good catch @Vlasko. Any thought on this observation?
According to this calculator 5 mg/day ergothioneine may be an adequate dose. Given its ~30 day half life, levels plateau short of 200 mg. This is misleading, however, as the substance reportedly clears from circulation and, “. . . is then retained in cells and tissues, with high levels found in the liver, whole blood (??), kidney, brain, erythrocytes, bone marrow, and seminal fluid.” I recall a paper a few years ago suggesting that a small, consistent daily intake would build up to plateau levels in a period of months. The study with the 30 mg./day dose may have been given to achieve plateau quickly due to the short duration of the study.
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Thor1
#11
And it seems they only used male mice. Very odd….who knows what happens with female mice….
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Ergothioneine promotes longevity and healthy aging in male mice
(August 2024) Open Access Paper
Healthy aging has emerged as a crucial issue with the increase in the geriatric population worldwide. Food-derived sulfur-containing amino acid ergothioneine (ERGO) is a potential dietary supplement, which exhibits various beneficial effects in experimental animals although the preventive effects of ERGO on aging and/or age-related impairments such as frailty and cognitive impairment are unclear. We investigated the effects of daily oral supplementation of ERGO dissolved in drinking water on lifespan, frailty, and cognitive impairment in male mice from 7 weeks of age to the end of their lives. Ingestion of 4 ~ 5 mg/kg/day of ERGO remarkably extended the lifespan of male mice. The longevity effect of ERGO was further supported by increase in life and non-frailty spans of Caenorhabditis elegans in the presence of ERGO. Compared with the control group, the ERGO group showed significantly lower age-related declines in weight, fat mass, and average and maximum movement velocities at 88 weeks of age. This was compatible with dramatical suppression by ERGO of the age-related increments in plasma biomarkers (BMs) such as the chemokine ligand 9, creatinine, symmetric dimethylarginine, urea, asymmetric dimethylarginine, quinolinic acid, and kynurenine. The oral intake of ERGO also rescued age-related impairments in learning and memory ability, which might be associated with suppression of the age-related decline in hippocampal neurogenesis and TDP43 protein aggregation and promotion of microglial shift to the M2 phenotype by ERGO ingestion.
Ingestion of ERGO may promote longevity and healthy aging in male mice, possibly through multiple biological mechanisms.
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jnorm
#13
I eat mainly shiitake and oyster mushrooms, nice to see they are among the highest in ergothioneine.
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Anyone know of a great yet cost-effective source of ergothioneine supplement?
And, yes, besides mushrooms.
Neo
#16
Think @约瑟夫_拉维尔 may be your man
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My only source was mushrooms (Real Mushrooms brand supplement). I’ve given up on it already due to my supplement limit.
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Only ones I have used are the Life Extension and Real Mushroom brands.
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JuanDaw
#19
I prefer mushrooms to supplements. They are more palatable.
I buy dried oyster mushrooms from Forest Mushrooms in Minnesota.
Grind the mushrooms to a powder with a coffee grinder. Then I use one teaspoon powder on homemade bone broth, with a teaspoon of nutritional yeast. If there is no homemade bone broth, Costco chicken broth will do. One cup of broth serves as a good appetizer before dinner.
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Bicep
#20
They didn’t really prove it was the ergothioneine doing the good. It was associated with eating more vegetables, so could have been the vegetables. Also taking pure ergo would be missing all the other things that come with the mushroom. Too numerous to mention. I take a tablespoon of ground golden oyster powder per day and it has so much more that the ergo. I wish I had a good source for shiitake, they’re amazing.
Eat them daily, just don’t put your face close while they’re cooking and inhale. Several of them put off a significant amount of hydrazine and it could make you sick.
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