Autophagy, Spermidine, and COVID-19 - Don Moxley

Don Moxley is the Director of Applied Science and Brand Development at Longevity Labs. His message statement is, “Understanding and directing individual changes that alleviate suffering and contribute to the betterment of well people.” He was Captain of The Ohio State University Wrestling Team, where he earned a Big 10 Championship in 1985. 

What is Don’s background? (1:27)

• Don is an exercise physiologist by training. He spent 25 out of the last 35 years as an adjunct or assistant professor at some academic preparation level or universities. Don has always had one foot in the fitness industry, whether in sales, marketing or education roles or even applied sciences. 
• His last job in the human performance section was as a sports scientist for Ohio State, working closely with the wrestling program. He was there from 2015-2018. The coach at Ohio wanted Don there, but the athletic department did not care much for his presence.
• Don made the athletic department make decisions they did not want to, so he exited when he received an offer to enter the cannabis industry. While working in exercise science, particularly in the recovered space, they worked with heart rate variability, which is used to measure athlete readiness. 
• In the process of doing this, a couple of the pro guys in the industry asked Don what he thinks about cannabis. Don did not know much about cannabis at the time, but if his NCAA athletes tested positive, they would get kicked off the program. 
• Cannabis has been stigmatized so much that it is hard to find excellent and accurate information on the subject. However, with some push and resources from friends of his and an incredible offer, Don decided to enter the cannabis industry. 

What does Spermedine do, and what is it responsible for? (8:24)

• Spermidine triggers an interesting intracellular process called Autophagy. It is a word seen in the health and fitness community. It is associated with fasting and intermittent fasting that triggers autophagy.
• Looking at Spermidine’s experimental models for extending longevity, the one universal model is calorie restriction. If you want increased longevity across the board, calorie restriction is the critical factor to do that.
• But it is a challenge in itself, and you cannot starve yourself to immortality. Autophagy ends up being the critical process so that when there is a calorie restriction in your environment, your cells recognize this and they begin a process called intracellular cleaning, 
• That cell could have a protein that misformed and is no longer functional, but it is sitting there, gumming up the rest of the process. During autophagy and intracellular cleaning, that non-functioning cell gets used up and makes space for new functional cells. 
• Spermidine acts as a trigger for autophagy and intracellular cleaning, therefore helping people live healthier, longer lives with the simplicity of a product they can readily purchase. 

How has COVID affected Spermidine? (21:18)

• Looking into Spermidine and the research that is out there already, Autophagy's process contributes to immunity drastically. Don has a paper that had been accepted and is in final edits right now for a world-renowned journal that shows spermidine supplementation to human sells stops COVID transmissions by 85-92%
• Immunity is a big deal, especially in these times. Dirty cells do not promote immunity, so when we start to look at the process of autophagy, its relationship to immunity becomes more significant. 
• We live in extremely energy toxic environments where the process of autophagy is rarely allowed to happen within our bodies. With the pandemic, people realize they have realized they have to look after their metabolic health.
• The relation between poverty and COVID is high. People in populations that are heavily crowded within inner cities are not crystal clear and clean suburb classes. Even COVID has also affected them; they have not been hit as hard as the already lower class populations have been. 
• Metabolic health could, however, be a problem found within both populations. People need to start paying attention to all the intracellular activators they have to help them fix and improve their immune systems' metabolisms in the process. 

Spermidine 

SpermidineLIFE® is the world's first naturally extracted and clinically tested dietary supplement to promote cellular renewal. The active ingredient, spermidine, is considered key to slowing down the cellular aging process. As the body ages, spermidine levels decrease, along with the self-renewing power of its cells.

Resources

Connect with Don: LinkedIn

Spermidine: Website

Connect with Eric: LinkedIn