This Vitamin And Tea Combo May Quickly Rejuvenate Aging Brain Cells

Lab-dish study using brain cells from elderly mice yields promising results for a potential anti-aging recipe, but more research is necessary.

* Aging brain cells in mice restored youthful energy balance (GTP levels) within 16 hours using vitamin B3 and green tea extract

* The treatment cleared toxic protein buildup and improved survival by 22% in Alzheimer’s-model neurons

* It also restored waste-clearing vesicle function by reducing the buildup of Rab7- and Arl8b-tagged vesicles

* Findings are based on in vitro studies and will require confirmation in living animals and humans

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IRVINE, Calif. — Can brain cells really bounce back in a day? In an exciting lab-dish experiment, brain cells from elderly mice regained their youthful energy balance in just 16 hours using a combination of nicotinamide (vitamin B3) and EGCG, the main antioxidant in green tea.

As brain cells age, they lose their ability to produce adequate levels of GTP, a molecular energy source essential for cleaning up waste. Without it, neurons struggle to remove damaged proteins and debris, which can build up and disrupt brain function.

Published in GeroScience, the research shows that aged brain cells, including those from mice with Alzheimer’s-like symptoms, restored their GTP levels after a single treatment. The combination also cleared toxic protein clumps linked to Alzheimer’s and improved cell survival by 22% in aged Alzheimer’s-model neurons.

How Vitamin B3 and Green Tea Compound Restore Brain Cell Function Researchers from the University of California, Irvine, discovered that combining nicotinamide with EGCG could rapidly restore lost cellular energy. Nicotinamide boosts levels of NAD+, a molecule that supports cellular metabolism and serves as a precursor in GTP production. EGCG activates Nrf2, a cellular defense switch that turns on protective antioxidant genes.

Within 30 minutes of treatment, Nrf2 began moving into the nucleus of neurons, where it activated known target genes like NQO1. This response suggests the treatment provides both immediate antioxidant protection and a boost in cellular energy balance.

The research team used brain cells from young (2–6 months), middle-aged (8–11 months), and old (17–28 months) mice. Half came from healthy mice, while the other half came from genetically modified mice that develop Alzheimer’s-like symptoms with age.

Using a fluorescent biosensor called GEVAL, scientists measured real-time GTP levels inside the neurons. They then treated the older neurons with nicotinamide, EGCG, or both together for 16 hours.

Happy senior: Older woman has strong brain health Though follow-up studies are in order, the findings are great news for older adults, particularly those who drink green tea. (Photo by Krakenimages.com on Shutterstock) Brain Cells Regain Youthful Energy Levels After Treatment Energy levels followed different trajectories depending on age and disease. In healthy neurons, GTP levels rose in middle age before falling in old age. In Alzheimer’s-model neurons, the decline happened earlier and remained low.

After 16 hours of combination treatment, neurons from both groups regained GTP levels comparable to those of young cells. This energy restoration had visible effects: neurons resumed clearing cellular waste, including amyloid-beta protein clumps often seen in Alzheimer’s disease.

The treatment also reduced the buildup of vesicles involved in waste processing. These vesicles, marked by the GTPases Rab7 and Arl8b, tend to accumulate in aging neurons when energy is low. After treatment, the number and size of these vesicles returned to youthful levels, suggesting that cellular cleanup pathways were functioning more normally again.

While promising, the study has limitations. It was conducted on neurons in petri dishes (not in living animals) and only measured short-term effects. It’s unknown whether the benefits would persist over time or in full organisms.

The Alzheimer’s mouse model also produces higher-than-natural levels of disease proteins. Further research will need to test these results in live animals and eventually in humans to determine dosing, delivery, and safety.

“More work is going to be required to find the best way to administer this treatment, since a recent clinical trial involving UC Irvine researchers showed that oral nicotinamide was not very effective because of inactivation in the bloodstream,” said lead author Gregory Brewer, adjunct professor of biomedical engineering at UC Irvine, in a statement.

Still, the findings suggest brain cell aging may be more reversible than previously believed. Simple compounds like vitamin B3 and green tea extract could one day help protect brain health and support cleanup processes that falter with age.

Disclaimer: This article summarizes findings from a preclinical study conducted on isolated mouse brain cells in laboratory conditions. The results, while promising, have not yet been tested in living animals or humans. Dosage estimates and potential implications for human health are extrapolations based on standard scientific methods and are provided for informational purposes only.

This content is not intended as medical advice and should not be used to diagnose, treat, or prevent any disease. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional before making changes to your supplement or healthcare routine, especially when considering high doses of vitamins or antioxidants.

There is considerable evidence that Alzheimer's, other forms of dementia, and many other diseases are essentially nutritional disorders. This helps to explain why the development of pharmaceutical drugs fails so often, working on well-fed rodents and healthy people but failing on the nutritional deficient patients they are supposed to help.

In addition to anti-inflammatory effects, magnesium also facilitates hundreds of enzymatic processes with wide effects in the body. In any event, inflammation is not always bad in that, properly directed, it helps to destroy pathogens and police aberrant and damaged cells.

Exactly, except when inflammation is driven by poor nutrition and/or exposure to toxins (all the regular bad things).

“Adequate doses of niacin taken long-term can help to prevent atherosclerosis, hyperlipidemia, and related coronary disease.”
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That really makes me wonder why my cardiologist told me not to take niacin right after my heart attack last summer, when I inquired about using it instead of a statin. On top of those benefits, Niacin won’t reduce my coenzyme Q10 levels, as any statin will.

By the way, everyone on this thread should be aware that heat destroys B vitamins. So having some Niacin along with a hot cup of green tea is going to destroy the niacin, or at least most of it. Either have the tea at a much lower temperature, or space the two out a little bit.

Do the research. On Niacin, niacinamide, nicotinic acid, all forms of B3, the research goes back to the 40s, and the 50s for applications to heart disease.

Follow the money.

Niacin is a vitamin, and as such, cannot be patented.

Heat also destroys Vitamin C. Check research of Dr. Linus Pauling re cardio benefits of Vitamin C.

Also suggest look up Vitamin C and Lysine protocols.

Best, N.

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