We take great care to use the highest quality ingredients and to keep out the 'nasties' commonly used in the supplement manufacturing process in our products. We take the same approach that we do when baking a birthday cake for our children: we use the highest quality ingredients - no industrial seed oils such as wheat germ oil that oxidizes rapidly, no magnesium stearate to make the powder flow faster through automated encapsulation equipment (approximately 70% of all magnesium stearate used as 'flow agents' are hydrogenated industrial seed oils), no talc to make the powder denser to fit more compactly into fewer capsules. 

We also do not use synthetic spermidine, which is very cheap and often 'cut' into products stating 'wheat germ with spermidine'. Nor do we use synthetically enriched rice bran, wheat germ, buckwheat or other grains that have been soaked in water with synthetic chemicals so that the chemical is taken up by the grain, dried and declared high dose naturally occurring rice bran spermidine or similar.  

We choose whole food-derived spermidine because this is the only spermidine that has been tested for safety and efficacy in humans, as opposed to rats. Food derived spermidine comes with the other naturally occurring polyamines, such as spermine for DNA methylation, and putrescine, a precursor to both. Finally, food derived molecules and the prebiotic resistant starch we use with our products interact with the gut biome to selectively feed the bacteria that can make more spermidine for you. Why not take advantage of your body’s own ability to make spermidine and the other polyamines too?

While we can’t speak directly about the formulation of other spermidine products, here are some of the main differentiators of Primeadine®/Oxford Healthspan.

• We source our raw materials from Japan, which is known for their Nobel Prize winning scientific leadership on autophagy. They have the most advanced extraction process and are known worldwide for their rigorous quality control and testing, and they meet the standards of the Japan Health Food and Nutrition Food Association. In Japan, our raw materials are manufactured in an FDA-registered and -inspected facility with ISO22000 standards, the highest in food quality control. Our raw materials are tested for heavy metals, mold, fungi and bacteria at the Japan Food Research Lab (JFRL), a third party independent testing lab. Every single batch must be tested here as food-derived spermidine will have varying quantities of spermidine per batch and we must ensure that every batch contains the minimum effective dose of 1mg stated on our labels. In addition, our spermidine is encapsulated in an FDA cGMP facility in the USA and undergoes purity testing there as well at Eurofins or Delta.
• Our capsules do not have any synthetic ingredients, whereas other supplements contain magnesium stearate (of which circa 80% will contain hydrogenated fats; the supplement industry is not legally required to get rid of hydrogenated oils the way the processed food industry has been mandated by law to), shellac, talc and glycerin. Our products are all suitable for vegans.
• Our formulation contains a special type of FructoOligoSaccharide (FOS) that acts as a prebiotic fiber and resistant starch that will selectively feed the friendly bacteria in the gut biome, that can produce spermidine for you. The idea is to increase both supplemental or 'exogenous' spermidine as well as your own body's natural ability to produce 'endogenous' spermidine, just like it can produce neurotransmitters and some vitamins.
• We do not use liposomes with our product because this is unnecessary for absorption and also would prevent the benefits that happen when spermidine is exposed directly to the gut lining. There is no evidence that spermidine cannot be taken up by the cells on its own. Similar to amino acids, polyamines do not need a liposome to cross into the cell or to be taken up with epithelial cells. The process of creating a liposomal version also creates unnecessary expense.
• We do not synthetically enrich our product with synthetic spermidine.
• We do not use doses beyond what the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has mandated as safe for human consumption, which is 6mg daily. Please note that this is related to food-derived spermidine. Synthetic spermidine and synthetically enriched spermidine has never been tested in humans for safety or efficacy and is being sold without regulatory oversight. 
• We work closely with our scientific advisers at the University of Oxford, all of whom take our product and share it with their families. We are also the only non-Japanese member of the Japan Autophagy Consortium, whose Senior Adviser is the 2016 Nobel Prize Winner in Medicine or Physiology, Prof Yoshimori Ohsumi, and who Director is Prof Tamotsu Yoshimori, Osaka University, who conducted all of the mammalian research in autophagy that helped underpin Prof Ohsumi's work in yeast cells. 

One of the many benefits of spermidine is that it can reduce inflammation in the gut and also seal up the tight junctions of the gut lining, which is only 1 cell thick. But it must pass through the gastrointestinal tract to exert this benefit, repairing as it travels through the gut.

After this, multiple studies have demonstrated that it easily crosses the intestinal lumen into the bloodstream. As it is of similar molecular size to amino acids (it is a 'polyamine' so that should give you a hint), it can easily cross into the cells themselves without needing a liposomal escort.

Liposomal delivery is unnecessary and simply adds to manufacturing cost. But another reason to avoid liposomal spermidine is that it uses the synthetic form of spermidine, which has never been tested for safety or efficacy in humans.

Primeadine® spermidine is wholly food-derived spermidine and not synthetic spermidine because synthetic spermidine has never been tested for safety or efficacy in humans. We are not lab rats and even in larger mammals, there are significant differences in metabolism - think of how your dog is able to produce its own vitamin C, but you are not. Conversely, how humans can metabolize chocolate but this is toxic in animals. This is why human studies are necessary. 

In addition, food-derived spermidine comes with valuable co-enzymes and co-factors that support its efficacy in the body. Notable are the polyamines, spermine, necessary for proper DNA methylation, and putrescine, a precursor to both spermidine and spermine. All three of these polyamines are part of a virtuous recycling loop that provides the body with all the building blocks it needs to flexibly make more spermidine or spermine depending on need. Both spermidine and spermine together have been shown to improve hormonal balance in men and women as well as lower cortisol. 

Primeadine® Original has all three polyamines and Primeadine® GF has spermidine and putrescine, which can be made into the third polyamine, spermine. Primeadine GF also contains two other autophagy activators, nobiliten and curcumin; spermidine, nobiliten and turmeric are all anti-inflammatories.

When you see spermidine coming from wheat germ in high quantities and at cheap prices, usually with the description 'wheat germ with spermidine,' this almost always means that the wheat germ, buckwheat or other grain or seed has been 'sprouted' or soaked in water with synthetic spermidine poured in. The result is that the grains or seeds soak up the spermidine and when these grains or seeds are dehydrated, the synthetic spermidine remains and increases the overall spermidine content in the raw material. What this means is that you have a product with a very small amount of spermidine, spermine and putrescine in the ratios in which they normally occur in nature, and exceedingly high quantities of spermidine itself. Because such a large amount of the product is in fact synthetic, which costs pennies, you do not have the virtuous recycling loop when spermidine, spermine and, at the very least, the precursor polyamine, putrescine are present. 

The process above is akin to the elementary school science project where you take white carnations, stand them in water with blue food dye and watch them 'become blue'. Or similar to processed foods that might previously have contained honey for sweetening being 'cut' with high fructose corn syrup to increase the sweetness cheaply.

Initial effects are typically seen after 2 months, but benefits are cumulative over time with consistent use.

Primeadine® works at a cellular level, so you won't feel any "fireworks" the first time you take it. That said, some of our customers have reported deeper sleep, as measured by the ōura ring, when taken at night. See our Reviews section for more!