It looks interesting and seems to have potential based on the few studies done (and mostly sponsored by the company I think)… the counterweights are that not much in the way of 3rd party validation testing, so with a reasonable amount of skepticism I’d say its too early to tell one way or another… and its really expensive.
Info here: Urolithin A Extends Lifespan in Mice
I agree with Rapadmin. Urolithin sounds interesting, but the cost and the lack of research put it in the “pass” bucket for me. There are a lot of other supplements which are less expensive and more effective… Such as Rapa and Acarbose.
They only have 3rd party tested the NMN and Resveratrol I believe, at least thats what they show. I prefer others like Lifeextention or NOW, they pretty much 3rd party test all of their hundreds of supplements and they manufacture in the US, some of their compounds might come from China, but they have their own labs that check qualities. And they give their products freely to ConsumerLab for comparison tests.
Yes, almost all my supplements are from NOW and a few from LifeExtension. My NMN, Spermidine, Fisetin and Resveratrol are from DoNotAge. I also like Doublewood.
I believe that if one has Akermansia in the microbiome then eating pomegranate allows it to produce your own Urolithin A
Probably worth finding out which strain of Akermansia it is and testing to see if you have it.
I imagine that if one’s diet is high enough in precursor tannins, eventually metabolizers will be selected for. Given that the precursors can be obtained from not too expensive, nutritious foods maybe that would maximize cost/benefit.
Unfortunately, we may need the actual urolithin A supplement to get the benefits as only ~40% of us can convert berries, nuts, etc into urolithin A and this also decreases with age. How are we to know if we are among the fortunate 40%? Reduced C-reactive protein is the biomarker mentioned in several articles, but CRP is an unreliable marker IMO because there are just too many factors that affect CRP on a daily basis.
The other unfortunate thing is that even though are still a few urolithin A supplements on Amazon, including Mitopure. They are quite expensive. Some studies use doses of 1gm/day Which makes the daily cost of the supplement at $4+/day. Other studies found improved results with 500mg/day which at Amazon prices makes it $2.33/day which still makes it an expensive supplement.
This article is fairly recent, July 2021, and disputes other articles I have read that claim that gut bacteria Gordonibacter urolithinfaciens is required to convert ellagic acid-containing foods to urolithin A. Incidentally I cannot find any probiotic supplements that contain Gordonibacter urolithinfaciens. Even if I could find such a probiotic it would have to be taken daily according to studies I have read,
Urolithin A (UA) is a natural compound produced by gut bacteria from ingested ellagitannins (ETs) and ellagic acid (EA), complex polyphenols abundant in foods such as pomegranate, berries, and nuts.
“Urolithin A (UA) is a gut microbiome-derived natural compound that only 40% of people can naturally convert from dietary precursors at meaningful levels.”
Sold on Amazon;
For 25% off list price
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B3GF96C3?tag=bravesoftwa04-20&linkCode=osi&th=1&psc=1&language=en_US
Suggestion try to grow/ferment this in half & half or light cream from these capsules. To populate your gut
FWIW
Unfortunately, we may need the actual urolithin A supplement to get the benefits as only ~40% of us can convert berries, nuts, etc into urolithin A and this also decreases with age.
Acutely, yes. But there’s no suggestion here that the relevant organisms aren’t present through out the population, just in variable quantities. So why shouldn’t feeding them make them more populous? Testing this wouldn’t be too hard, but as far as I can tell no one has.
It turns out proanthocyanidin-rich foods cause a bloom. Here they tested blueberries, cranberries, grapes and a control:
The figures are all at the bottom. I feel like they kinda missed the most exciting proanthocyanidin rich food of all: Aronia Berries.
I wish I was competent enough to upload the table comparing aronia to blackberry, strawberry, and raspberry. Aronia was 4300, next closest was blackberry at 1100, then the other 2 were around 200. You gotta love it. The answer is not to eat the bacteria, it’s to eat Aronia and yellow raspberries.
Actually, Amazentis did provide testing for a while as part of a trial… I got their package for the blood tests but got busy and didn’t sent it in (so don’t know my results). But yes, testing for something like this seems really cheap. See here: Urolithin A - Virtual Clinical Trial by Timeline Nutrition
Thanks for the reference.
I like Aronia juice, it’s good and not too expensive. Generally speaking I distrust expensive “super” foods – marketing tends to overestimate the benefits.
As speculation, one might propose that what’s happening is not only that relevant polyphenols directly feed bacteria, but also that they stimulate and modify mucus secretion, which further feeds them. Perhaps elderly folks have a reduced mucus response, making things harder?
Further speculation: small amounts of oak leaves (which are free!) should improve gut health and increase UA production for not-too-old people eating a “modern American” diet. Note that too much tannin is toxic, however. I don’t know how many tests would be required to be sure if this works on any one person, but somewhere a PhD student is looking for a project.
This is the line that tells the tale:
In studies investigating45
polyphenol supplementation in mice, administration of isolated PACs at levels representing 1% of the diet46
by weight was shown to increase the relative abundance of A. muciniphila from <2% to >40% within days
So within days of consuming dried blueberries (inferior by far to aronia) A. Muciniphila go from less than 2% to more than 40%. Doesn’t even seem possible. This is a massive bloom. Doesn’t seem healthy even.
I’m slowly working my way through a stash of frozen aronia berries a couple hands full per day, they are bitter and now I know why.
Decided to take advantage of Donotage’s sale and buy some Urolithin A and give it a trial.
Yes you can: method/process patents.
Securing additional patent protection usually entails obtaining claims to methods of treatment, methods of prevention or improvement, methods of maintaining health, and mechanisms of action. These paths diverge depending on whether the compound is being developed as a pharmaceutical (i.e., a drug or biologic) or a dietary supplement.
Patent protection for a pharmaceutical will usually focus on a method of treating a disease or disorder. … In contrast, method of use patent protection for a dietary supplement focuses on methods of maintaining a person’s health. The elements of dosage, timing and formulation of the composition may be included to narrow the patent claims to exactly what the innovator will be manufacturing.
However, unlike pharmaceutical drugs, the FDA will not allow the label of a dietary supplement to state that the product can be used for diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment or prevention of a condition or disorder; such a statement will prompt a warning letter from the FDA. For health claims to be acceptable to the FDA, the innovator must prove, with supporting scientific evidence, that the dietary supplement is intended to affect some structure or function in humans. Acceptable structure/function claims include the following: (1) a statement that claims a benefit related to a classical nutrient deficiency disease and that discloses the prevalence of such disease in the United States; (2) a statement that describes the role of a nutrient or dietary ingredient intended to affect the structure or function in humans, or characterizes the documented mechanism by which a nutrient or dietary ingredient acts to maintain such structure or function; or (3) a statement that describes the general well-being from consumption of a nutrient or dietary ingredient. 21 U.S.C. 343(r)(6).
For example, Bausch & Lomb sells the dietary supplement OCUVITE®. The product label states: “OCUVITE helps replenish essential nutrients to help protect the health of your eyes. Lutein supports macular health by helping filter harmful blue light.” While the Ocuvite label states the product is for replenishing essential nutrients for eye health, the patent marked on the product, U.S. Patent No. 6,660,297, claims:
A method for stabilizing visual acuity loss in persons with early age-related macular degeneration comprising: administering a daily dosage of not less than approximately 420 mg and not more than approximately 600 mg vitamin C, not less than approximately 400 IU and not more than approximately 540 IU vitamin E, approximately 0.04 mg to 40 mg lutein-zeaxanthine combination, not less than approximately 60 mg and not more than approximately 100 mg zinc and at least 1.6 mg and not more than approximately 2.4 mg copper.
Patent Protection for Pharmaceuticals and Dietary Supplements
Here is a recent case of a company successfully suing another company for infringing its patent on the use of beta-alanine to tincrease anaerobic working activity of muscles and other tissues.
As the DNA email notes, Amazentis has a method patent for use of UA for muscle growth; this is why DNA offered to remove all reference to muscles on their product page. Maybe that would have been enough to get them off the hook if it went to court, but DNA apparently didn’t have the budget and/or stomach to fight it out.
The decision of the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit states:
Natural Alternatives International, Inc., appeals a decision of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California granting Creative Compounds, LLC’s motion for judgment on the pleadings that the asserted claims of U.S. Patent Nos. 5,965,596, 7,825,084, 7,504,376, 8,993,610, 8,470,865, and RE45,947 are not patent eligible. Because Creative Compounds has failed to demonstrate under Natural Alternatives’ proposed claim constructions that the claims are not patent eligible, we reverse and remand.
Back at the district court, the parties filed a joint motion to dismiss with prejudice, in view of their settlement.
Plaintiff, Natural Alternatives International, Inc. (“NAI”), and Defendant, Creative Compounds, LLC (“Creative”) (collectively, “the Parties”), hereby move, stipulate, and agree, subject to the approval of the Court, that the present action be dismissed with prejudice pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 41(a)(1)(A)(ii), in consideration of a Confidential Settlement and Release Agreement executed by the Parties. Each party will bear its own attorneys’ fees and costs.
The Court is further requested to retain jurisdiction over the matter for the purposes of enforcing the written Confidential Settlement and Release Agreement entered into between the Parties.
Your citation points to the case of Akamai Tech. v. Limelight Networks
The Federal Circuit’s analysis fundamentally misunderstands what it means to infringe a method patent. A method patent claims a number of steps; under this Court’s case law, the patent is not infringed unless all the steps are carried out. See, e.g., Aro, supra, at 344 (a “pat-ent covers only the totality of the elements in the claim and . . . no element, separately viewed, is within the grant”). This principle follows ineluctably from what a patent is: the conferral of rights in a particular claimed set of elements. “Each element contained in a patent claim is deemed material to defining the scope of the patented invention,” Warner-Jenkinson Co. v. Hilton Davis Chemical Co., 520 U. S. 17, 29 (1997) , and a patentee’s rights extend only to the claimed combination of elements, and no further.
no element, separately viewed, is within the grant So the mere mention of use, is not patent infringing.
If a company mentions the use, but not the dosage, then one element is missing. Similarly, if something is added, then the “method” is not the same. Adding vit C to beta alanine, or some other muscle supporting supplement makes the “copy” not patent infringing.
Similarly, in the Bausch and Lomb supplement, change the vit C to 1.000 mg, and change vit E to tocotrienols.