The same chemical reaction that gives toasted bread its golden-brown crust also happens inside our bodies—but with much less pleasant effects.
This process is called glycation. It happens when sugar reacts with proteins, forming sticky, harmful molecules known as advanced glycation end-products, or AGEs. These substances build up over time and are believed to play a key role in aging, obesity, diabetes, and other chronic health problems.
Researchers in the Kapahi Lab have found a promising way to fight glycation using a special mix of compounds. In a new study published in Cell Reports, they showed that this compound blend, called Gly-Low, helped mice eat less, improve insulin sensitivity, reduce fat buildup, and even live longer.
The Gly-Low mix includes five ingredients: nicotinamide, alpha-lipoic acid, thiamine, pyridoxamine, and piperine. These are all known to help with metabolism or reduce glycation, and together they seem to work even better.
The researchers found that this combination reduced the amount of AGEs in mice. AGEs are like sticky rust that gums up the body’s machinery, making it harder for cells and organs to function. Once formed, AGEs are difficult to remove, and our ability to fight them weakens with age.
Professor Pankaj Kapahi, the senior author of the study, explained that AGEs likely speed up the aging process and contribute to diseases such as Alzheimer’s and kidney disease. He believes Gly-Low could offer a new way to protect against these conditions.
One of the most exciting parts of the study was how Gly-Low changed hunger signals in the brain. Mice that were given the Gly-Low mix voluntarily ate less without losing muscle.
The researchers discovered that the compounds affected how the brain responds to ghrelin, a hormone that makes us feel hungry. Instead of simply making food unappealing, Gly-Low actually rewired how the brain thinks about hunger.
The treated mice also had better control of blood sugar and less fat in their livers. This was true for both normal mice and diabetic mice with a genetic condition that causes obesity. Gly-Low not only helped them eat less, it also reversed some of the problems linked to obesity.
But perhaps the most surprising result came from tests on older mice. The scientists started treating mice that were the equivalent of 70-year-old humans.
These aging mice showed better blood sugar control, improved movement, and lived nearly 60% longer than expected. This is especially impressive because other proven methods, like calorie restriction, usually don’t work if started late in life.
Researchers believe that Gly-Low is doing more than just helping mice eat less. It may actually slow down or reverse aging changes in the brain. In fact, the brain cells of treated mice looked more like those in younger animals.
The study’s results are still early, and more research is needed before Gly-Low can be tested in humans. But the findings are hopeful. By targeting glycation—a process happening inside all of us—we might one day slow aging and reduce the risk of many age-related diseases.
Gly-Low’s five ingredients are each known to offer small benefits. But together, they appear to work in harmony, like a team, reducing the damage caused by excess sugar and helping the brain and body function better. This new approach could be especially helpful for people with diabetes, obesity, or age-related health problems.
Of course, the researchers caution that what works in mice may not work the same way in people. Human trials will be necessary to see if Gly-Low has similar effects.
But the possibility of reversing some of the internal damage caused by sugar is an exciting one, and this study opens the door to future treatments that could help people live healthier, longer lives.
If you care about diabetes, please read studies that MIND diet may reduce risk of vision loss disease, and Vitamin D could benefit people with diabetic neuropathic pain.
For more information about diabetes, please see recent studies that Vitamin E could help reduce blood sugar and insulin resistance in diabetes, and results showing eating eggs in a healthy diet may reduce risks of diabetes, high blood pressure.
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