No @Arhu this is what you were sold, freedoms and public good have nothing to do with capitalism. What you are describing is the epitome of capitalism, as capital has no other intention than to grow regardless of public good or personal freedoms. Idea of free market and personal freedoms originates as propaganda slogan of capital. And we all know that capitalism is based on exploiting the weaker for one owns gains (read profit). In capitalism the only goal is to make profit. And Nestle is doing just that. It is making sure that they will profit (regardless of expense to consumer or competition).
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DoNotAge can talk to UC Berkeley. Their patent is senior (2007) in time to Nestle’s. In fact, the UC Berkeley patent is to expire in 2026.
They can market their product as pomegranate-based generic urolithin precursor - “for use as your healthcare provider determines…”
If Nestle legal moves, they may have to face the entire Berkeley Law School.
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yes, legal strategy is just one part of competitive strategy. Its used frequently by larger companies to crush smaller and more nimble companies.
As disappointing as it may be, Apple Computer is one of the companies that uses it most as can be seen in this current lawsuit below. No companies have the financial/legal strength that Apple has, and they use it to their advantage frequently.
When Apple Comes Calling, ‘It’s the Kiss of Death’
It sounded like a dream partnership when Apple Inc. reached out to Joe Kiani, the founder of a company that makes blood-oxygen measurement devices. He figured his technology was a perfect fit for the Apple Watch.
Soon after meeting him, Apple began hiring employees from his company, Masimo Corp. , including engineers and its chief medical officer. Apple offered to double their salaries, Mr. Kiani said. In 2019, Apple published patents under the name of a former Masimo engineer for sensors similar to Masimo’s, documents show. The following year, Apple launched a watch that could measure blood oxygen levels.
“When Apple takes an interest in a company, it’s the kiss of death,” said Mr. Kiani. “First, you get all excited. Then you realize that the long-term plan is to do it themselves and take it all.”
Aspiring partners accuse tech giant of copying their ideas
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So, before I get too concerned with Nestle having a monopoly on the Urolithin A market, do people here think it is a supplement worth taking?
It looks interesting and seems to have potential based on the few studies done (and mostly sponsored by the company I think)… the counterweights are that not much in the way of 3rd party validation testing, so with a reasonable amount of skepticism I’d say its too early to tell one way or another… and its really expensive.
Info here: Urolithin A Extends Lifespan in Mice
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I agree with Rapadmin. Urolithin sounds interesting, but the cost and the lack of research put it in the “pass” bucket for me. There are a lot of other supplements which are less expensive and more effective… Such as Rapa and Acarbose.
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They only have 3rd party tested the NMN and Resveratrol I believe, at least thats what they show. I prefer others like Lifeextention or NOW, they pretty much 3rd party test all of their hundreds of supplements and they manufacture in the US, some of their compounds might come from China, but they have their own labs that check qualities. And they give their products freely to ConsumerLab for comparison tests.
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Yes, almost all my supplements are from NOW and a few from LifeExtension. My NMN, Spermidine, Fisetin and Resveratrol are from DoNotAge. I also like Doublewood.
I believe that if one has Akermansia in the microbiome then eating pomegranate allows it to produce your own Urolithin A
Probably worth finding out which strain of Akermansia it is and testing to see if you have it.
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I imagine that if one’s diet is high enough in precursor tannins, eventually metabolizers will be selected for. Given that the precursors can be obtained from not too expensive, nutritious foods maybe that would maximize cost/benefit.
Unfortunately, we may need the actual urolithin A supplement to get the benefits as only ~40% of us can convert berries, nuts, etc into urolithin A and this also decreases with age. How are we to know if we are among the fortunate 40%? Reduced C-reactive protein is the biomarker mentioned in several articles, but CRP is an unreliable marker IMO because there are just too many factors that affect CRP on a daily basis.
The other unfortunate thing is that even though are still a few urolithin A supplements on Amazon, including Mitopure. They are quite expensive. Some studies use doses of 1gm/day Which makes the daily cost of the supplement at $4+/day. Other studies found improved results with 500mg/day which at Amazon prices makes it $2.33/day which still makes it an expensive supplement.
This article is fairly recent, July 2021, and disputes other articles I have read that claim that gut bacteria Gordonibacter urolithinfaciens is required to convert ellagic acid-containing foods to urolithin A. Incidentally I cannot find any probiotic supplements that contain Gordonibacter urolithinfaciens. Even if I could find such a probiotic it would have to be taken daily according to studies I have read,
Urolithin A (UA) is a natural compound produced by gut bacteria from ingested ellagitannins (ETs) and ellagic acid (EA), complex polyphenols abundant in foods such as pomegranate, berries, and nuts.
“Urolithin A (UA) is a gut microbiome-derived natural compound that only 40% of people can naturally convert from dietary precursors at meaningful levels.”
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Sold on Amazon;
For 25% off list price
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B3GF96C3?tag=bravesoftwa04-20&linkCode=osi&th=1&psc=1&language=en_US
Suggestion try to grow/ferment this in half & half or light cream from these capsules. To populate your gut
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FWIW
Strategies to promote abundance of Akkermansia muciniphila, an emerging probiotics in the gut, evidence from dietary intervention studies
The potential impact of a probiotic: Akkermansia muciniphila in the regulation of blood pressure—the current facts and evidence
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Unfortunately, we may need the actual urolithin A supplement to get the benefits as only ~40% of us can convert berries, nuts, etc into urolithin A and this also decreases with age.
Acutely, yes. But there’s no suggestion here that the relevant organisms aren’t present through out the population, just in variable quantities. So why shouldn’t feeding them make them more populous? Testing this wouldn’t be too hard, but as far as I can tell no one has.
It turns out proanthocyanidin-rich foods cause a bloom. Here they tested blueberries, cranberries, grapes and a control:
The figures are all at the bottom. I feel like they kinda missed the most exciting proanthocyanidin rich food of all: Aronia Berries.
I wish I was competent enough to upload the table comparing aronia to blackberry, strawberry, and raspberry. Aronia was 4300, next closest was blackberry at 1100, then the other 2 were around 200. You gotta love it. The answer is not to eat the bacteria, it’s to eat Aronia and yellow raspberries.
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Actually, Amazentis did provide testing for a while as part of a trial… I got their package for the blood tests but got busy and didn’t sent it in (so don’t know my results). But yes, testing for something like this seems really cheap. See here: Urolithin A - Virtual Clinical Trial by Timeline Nutrition
Thanks for the reference.
I like Aronia juice, it’s good and not too expensive. Generally speaking I distrust expensive “super” foods – marketing tends to overestimate the benefits.
As speculation, one might propose that what’s happening is not only that relevant polyphenols directly feed bacteria, but also that they stimulate and modify mucus secretion, which further feeds them. Perhaps elderly folks have a reduced mucus response, making things harder?
Further speculation: small amounts of oak leaves (which are free!) should improve gut health and increase UA production for not-too-old people eating a “modern American” diet. Note that too much tannin is toxic, however. I don’t know how many tests would be required to be sure if this works on any one person, but somewhere a PhD student is looking for a project.
This is the line that tells the tale:
In studies investigating45
polyphenol supplementation in mice, administration of isolated PACs at levels representing 1% of the diet46
by weight was shown to increase the relative abundance of A. muciniphila from <2% to >40% within days
So within days of consuming dried blueberries (inferior by far to aronia) A. Muciniphila go from less than 2% to more than 40%. Doesn’t even seem possible. This is a massive bloom. Doesn’t seem healthy even.
I’m slowly working my way through a stash of frozen aronia berries a couple hands full per day, they are bitter and now I know why.
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Decided to take advantage of Donotage’s sale and buy some Urolithin A and give it a trial.