Psyllium is the powder of the husk of the seed of the plant Plantago ovata.

It can be taken as a supplement, and/or used in cooking.

What’s special about it?

It is fibrous, and the fiber is largely soluble fiber. It’s a “bulk-forming laxative”, which means that (dosed correctly) it is good against both constipation (because it’s a laxative) and diarrhea (because it’s bulk-forming).

See also, because this is Research Review Monday and we provide papers for everything:

Fiber supplements and clinically proven health benefits: How to recognize and recommend an effective fiber therapy

In other words, it will tend things towards being a 3 or 4 on the Bristol Stool Scale ← _{^{this is not pretty, but it is informative.}}

Before the bowels

Because of how it increases the viscosity of substances it finds itself in, psyllium slows stomach-emptying, and thus improves feelings of satiety.

Here’s a study in which taking psyllium before breakfast and lunch resulted in increased satiety between meals, and reduction in food-related cravings:

Satiety effects of psyllium in healthy volunteers

Prebiotic benefits

We can’t digest psyllium, but our gut bacteria can—somewhat! Because they can only digest some of the psyllium fibers, that means the rest will have the stool-softening effect, while we also get the usual in-gut benefits from prebiotic fiber first too:

The Effect of Psyllium Husk on Intestinal Microbiota in Constipated Patients and Healthy Controls

Cholesterol-binding

Psyllium can bind to cholesterol during the digestive process. Why only “can”? Well, if you don’t consume cholesterol (for example, if you are vegan), then there won’t be cholesterol in the digestive tract to bind to (yes, we do need some cholesterol to live, but like most animals, we can synthesize it ourselves).

What this cholesterol-binding action means is that the dietary cholesterol thus bound cannot enter the bloodstream, and is simply excreted instead:

Plantago consumption significantly reduces total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol in adults: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Heart health beyond cholesterol

Psyllium supplementation can also help lower high blood pressure but does not significantly lower already-healthy blood pressure, so it can be particularly good for keeping things in safe ranges:

❝Given the overarching benefits and lack of reported side effects, particularly for hypertensive patients, health care providers and clinicians should consider the use of psyllium supplementation for the treatment or abatement of hypertension, or hypertensive symptoms.❞

~ Dr. Mina Salek et al.

Read in full: The effect of psyllium supplementation on blood pressure: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials _{^{← you can see the concrete numbers here}}

Is it safe?

Psyllium is first and foremost a foodstuff, and is considered very safe unless you have an allergy (which is rare, but possible).

However, it is still recommended to start at a low dose and work up, because anything that changes your gut microbiota, even if it changes it for the better, will be easiest if done slowly (or else, you will hear about it from your gut).

Want to try some?

We don’t sell it, but here for your convenience is an example product on Amazon

Enjoy!

Out With The Old…

Fisetin is a flavonoid (specifically, a flavonol), but it’s a little different than most. While it has the usual antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-cancer properties you might reasonably expect from flavonoids, it has an extra anti-aging trick up its sleeve that most don’t.

❝Fisetin is a flavonol that shares distinct antioxidant properties with a plethora of other plant polyphenols. Additionally, it exhibits a specific biological activity of considerable interest as regards the protection of functional macromolecules against stress which results in the sustenance of normal cells cytoprotection. Moreover, it shows potential as an anti-inflammatory, chemopreventive, chemotherapeutic and recently also senotherapeutic agent❞

~ Dr. Grynkiewicz & Dr. Demchuk

Let’s briefly do some due diligence on its expected properties, and then we’ll take a look at its bonus anti-aging effects.

The flavonol that does-it-ol

Because of the similar mechanisms involved, there are three things that often come together, which are:

• Antioxidant
• Anti-inflammatory
• Anticancer

This list often gets expanded to also include:

• Anti-aging

…although that is usually the last thing to get tested out of that list.

In today’s case, let’s kick it off with…

❝Fisetin (3,3′,4′,7-tetrahydroxyflavone) is a dietary flavonoid found in various fruits (strawberries, apples, mangoes, persimmons, kiwis, and grapes), vegetables (tomatoes, onions, and cucumbers), nuts, and wine that has shown strong anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant, anti-tumorigenic, anti-invasive, anti-angiogenic, anti-diabetic, neuroprotective, and cardioprotective effects❞

~ Dr. Harish Pal et al.

Read more: Fisetin and Its Role in Chronic Diseases

Understanding its anticancer mechanisms

The way that fisetin fights cancer is basically “all the ways”, and this will be important when we get to its special abilities shortly:

❝Being a potent anticancer agent, fisetin has been used to inhibit stages in the cancer cells (proliferation, invasion),prevent cell cycle progression, inhibit cell growth, induce apoptosis, cause polymerase (PARP) cleavage, and modulate the expressions of Bcl‐2 family proteins in different cancer cell lines (HT‐29, U266, MDA‐MB‐231, BT549, and PC‐3M‐luc‐6), respectively. Further, fisetin also suppresses the activation of the PKCα/ROS/ERK1/2 and p38 MAPK signaling pathways, reduces the NF‐κB activation, and down‐regulates the level of the oncoprotein securin. Fisetin also inhibited cell division and proliferation and invasion as well as lowered the TET1 expression levels. ❞

~ Dr. Muhammad Imran et al.

Read more: Fisetin: An anticancer perspective

There’s also more about it than we even have room to quote, here:

Fisetin, a Potent Anticancer Flavonol Exhibiting Cytotoxic Activity against Neoplastic Malignant Cells and Cancerous Conditions: A Scoping, Comprehensive Review

Now For What’s New And Exciting: Senolysis

All that selectivity that fisetin exhibits when it comes to “this cell gets to live, and this one doesn’t” actions?

It makes a difference when it comes to aging, too. Because aging and cancer happen by quite similar mechanisms; they’re both DNA-copying errors that get copied forward, to our detriment.

• In the case of cancer, it’s a cell line that accidentally became immortal and so we end up with too many of them multiplying in one place (a tumor)
• In the case of aging, it’s the cellular equivalent of “a photocopy of a photocopy of a photocopy” gradually losing information as it goes

In both cases…

The cell must die if we want to live

Critically, and which quality differentiates it from a lot of other flavonoids, fisetin has the ability to selectively kill senescent cells.

To labor the photocopying metaphor, this means there’s an office worker whose job it is to say “this photocopy is barely legible, I’m going to toss this, and then copy directly from the clearest copy we have instead”, thus keeping the documents (your DNA) in pristine condition.

In fisetin’s case, this was first tested in mouse (in vivo) studies, and in human tissue (in vitro) studies, before moving to human clinical studies:

❝Of the 10 flavonoids tested, fisetin was the most potent senolytic.

The natural product fisetin has senotherapeutic activity in mice and in human tissues. Late life intervention was sufficient to yield a potent health benefit.❞

~ Dr. Matthew Yousefzadeh et al.

Read in full: Fisetin is a senotherapeutic that extends health and lifespan

There’s lots more science that’s been done to it since that first groundbreaking study though; here’s a more recent example:

Fisetin as a Senotherapeutic Agent: Biopharmaceutical Properties and Crosstalk between Cell Senescence and Neuroprotection

Want some?

We don’t sell it, but here for your convenience is an example product on Amazon

Enjoy!