Study says semen & cheese have anti-aging benefits, good for cardiovascular health

Experts have suggested a lot of things how to combat aging, from young blood transfusion to chocolates and popular diabetes medicine Metformin. A new study by Medical University of Graz in Austria says the keys to long life are possibly cheese and sperm.

The study, published in Nature Medicine, says the experiment made by researchers discovered anti-aging benefits of eating a compound called spermidine found in cheese and semen. The compound naturally occurs in aged cheese, such as those in the bleu family, Gothamist reports.

In the experiment, mice were given spermidine which improved the rodents’ cardiovascular health even when combined with a high salt diet. Dr Frank Madeo, co-author of the study, says the university is planning to trial by administering spermidine to humans and measuring the cardiac function.

Spermidine “induces autophagy, which causes heart cells to disable parts of themselves that are dysfunctional or no longer necessary,” Madeo explains. When investigators looked into the blood serum of centenarians, they found high levels of spermidine compared to younger men which suggested a diet higher in the compound could lead to a longer life.

Unfortunately, some women are allergic to semen, another review study from the University of Cincinnati found. In the US, around 40,000 women have hypersensitivity to one or more of the proteins found in human semen, Time reports.

Michael Carroll, senior lecturer in reproductive and clinical science at Manchester Metropolitan University in UK, says the culprit could be a protein in the prostate gland, although he does not discount the possibility more than one allergen is responsible.

Among the symptoms of hypersensitivity to semen are itching, redness, burning and welling in the vagina and vulva area, plus hives, breathing problems and eczema. These women often experience the symptoms, which usually last more than 24 hours, after unprotected sex or contact with semen.