Longevity
LP7 Against Dementia
LP7 is a specific blend of essential amino acids that can protect the brain from dementia and Alzheimer's disease. New research reveals how these amino acids protect nerve cells and improve brain function.
Longevity
LP7 is a specific blend of essential amino acids that can protect the brain from dementia and Alzheimer's disease. New research reveals how these amino acids protect nerve cells and improve brain function.
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Nobody wants dementia. It is certainly one of the most challenging diseases of old age – both for those affected, who eventually lose themselves in the truest sense of the word, and for their relatives. At the same time, dementia is becoming increasingly common.
On one hand – as always – this is due to unfavorable environmental influences and poor lifestyle choices. On the other hand, it is simply because societies are aging, which naturally increases the number of people with dementia – since dementia is primarily a disease of old age.
Estimates suggest that dementia prevalence will roughly triple by 2050. That is, society will inevitably encounter this disease more frequently and intensively. This is also why research is working so intensively on solutions. Here, a remarkable study comes into play that was published in 2021 in the prestigious journal Science Advances ([source no longer available]).
This was preceded by a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled human study that showed a specific blend of essential amino acids – called LP7 – "led to an improvement in attention, cognitive flexibility, and psychosocial functioning, which should prevent cognitive decline." (cf. [source no longer available])
This is where the new findings come in. In a mouse model of Alzheimer's disease – a well-known form of dementia – the effectiveness of LP7 was tested. To understand this, one must know that it has been established for years that a low-protein diet significantly accelerates brain degeneration. The lead researcher – Dr. Makoto Higuchi – explained the study's objective as follows:
"In older adults, a low-protein diet is associated with poor maintenance of brain function. Amino acids are the building blocks of proteins. We therefore wanted to find out whether supplementation with essential amino acids can protect the brains of older people from dementia, and if so, what mechanisms contribute to this protective effect."
Thus, the scientists first studied how a low-protein diet worsens Alzheimer's disease – the mice showed not only accelerated brain degeneration, but also signs of poor neuronal connectivity. Supplementation with the specific blend of essential amino acids reversed these effects, suggesting that the amino acids can prevent brain damage.
The researchers showed that LP7 counteracts nerve cell death and thus slows brain degeneration – and this despite the fact that the characteristic tau protein complexes that cause Alzheimer's remained unchanged. The authors write that it appears possible to bridge the effects of tau deposits and prevent brain atrophy through LP7 supplementation.
At the molecular level, the amino acids suppressed inflammation in the brain and also prevented kynurenine, an inflammation-promoting substance in the brain, from accumulating. In this way, the amino acids could reduce nerve cell death, increase neuronal connectivity, and improve brain function in this Alzheimer's animal model.
The authors concluded:
"These results suggest that essential amino acids can help maintain brain balance and prevent brain decline. Our study is the first to show that certain amino acids can prevent the development of dementia."
But the real secret – the quintessence – comes at the very end. Because: anyone can take essential amino acids. What is different about LP7? LP7 is particularly rich in the amino acids leucine, phenylalanine, and lysine and is designed to directly match the influx rates of the various essential amino acids into the brain – in other words, LP7 is formulated so that the blend can ideally supply the brain with the amino acids it needs.
It is well known that many neurotransmitters are synthesized directly from amino acids. Glutamic acid (glutamate) is synthesized in the brain, among other things, from leucine, and up to 50% of the amino groups from glutamate and glutamine in the brain come from leucine. Glutamate, in turn, is known to stimulate the formation of dendritic spines on nerve cells, which improves communication between nerve cells, which is why amino acids are involved in learning and memory performance.
The authors also speculate that saturation of the brain's amino acid transporters results in fewer toxic substances – such as kynurenine – crossing into the brain via the same transporters – in this way, LP7 could directly protect the brain.
We found these insights so remarkable that we absolutely wanted to offer the LP7 blend. Because: who knows how much longer this will be possible? After all, the researchers are working to patent the blend. While we do not expect them to succeed, we now have with LP7 a new way to nourish the brain. Especially in old age.
