Longevity Ingredients: Glycine

Summary

Glycine has been shown to extend lifespan in different species.

In humans, higher glycine levels are associated with heart health, combating inflammaging at the cellular level, and supporting glucose metabolism. 

How Glycine Can Slow Down Aging

Glycine is the smallest amino acid in our body. Glycine plays various roles in health and aging.

High levels of glycine levels have been associated with heart health in humans (R).

Glycine supplementation has been shown to combat inflammaging (R) and support a healthy inflammatory response at the cellular level in humans (R,R).

Glycine has also been shown to help in the removal of glucose from blood (R). In young and middle-aged adults, glycine supports healthy cognitive functions such as memory and attention (R).

Glycine can contribute to more restful sleep (R,R) and induce feelings of calmness (R). Some athletes use glycine to improve muscle function, joint health, and recovery (R).

Supplementing with glycine can improve glutathione production, leading to reduced oxidative stress in elderly people (R). Glycine is a building block of glutathione, an important antioxidant and repair protein that each of our cells needs.

Glycine has also been shown to protect muscles against stress in human studies (R). As an important component of collagen, glycine can also improve skin health and reduce the appearance of wrinkles (R). 

Unfortunately, during aging, glycine levels decline (R).

Scientists claim they “reversed aging” in human cell lines by using glycine (R,R). Adding glycine to fibroblasts from 97-year-old people restored their normal mitochondrial function to much younger levels (R). 

Glycine has been shown to extend lifespan in various organisms, including mammals (R,R), fruit flies (R), and the C. elegans worm (R).

Glycine can combat cellular aging in many ways. For example, glycine contributes to healthy mitochondria, which are the power plants of our cells (R).

Glycine also supports a healthy methionine metabolism (R), which is important for proper methylation and healthy aging.

Glycine decreases oxidative stress, which can support healthy aging (R). Furthermore, glycine is a chaperone.

Chaperones are small molecules that protect proteins and support the proper recycling of proteins, which plays an important role in healthy aging. Glycine also helps cells to better withstand the effects of too much glycation (R,R).

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