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Study: Fisetin Improved Health, Lengthened Lifespan Of Mice

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Aging is a fact of life many of us would like to ignore.

"One of the major challenges to our society right now is the increase of the aging population," said chemistry professor Edgar Arriaga.

The anti-aging market is a $250-billion industry, according to Reuters. Now, new research suggests a product found in many fruits in vegetables can slow aging by reducing the level of damaged cells that cause chronic inflammation in the body.

"It can cause kidney disease, liver disease, skin wrinkling, dementia, heart disease," said biochemistry professor Paul Robbins.

Robbins, co-director of the Institute on Biology of Aging and Metabolism, was one of the researchers that treated mice with the natural product Fisetin. They found it extended lifespan and improved their health.

Fisetin Study
(credit: CBS)

Right now, you can actually buy Fisetin on Amazon or at a natural foods store. But it is not approved by the FDA as an anti-aging drug.

"I'm not advising people to start taking the compound because we don't know how much to take, how often to take it or if there's any long-term side effects in humans," Robbins said.

Human trials are the next step.

"We are probably about 80-percent environment and 20-percent genes, so I'm not surprised even a small molecule can actually have a significant effect on how we age," Arriaga said.

You can find Fisetin naturally in some produce like apples, but you would not be able to eat enough of them to reap the benefits.

The research showed even when older mice were given the Fisetin, it still helped improve their health.

Older women will be the first human test subjects in trials through the Mayo Clinic.

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