Ergothioneine

Specific molecules

A sulfur amino acid the human body cannot make, but for which it has a dedicated transporter — which is rare, and says it values it.

Almost only in mushrooms, and very unevenly: oyster mushrooms and shiitake far ahead of button mushrooms. It withstands cooking.

Effects and benefits

An amino acid we cannot make, but for which the body has carved its own door: it captures it, concentrates it where oxidation threatens, and keeps it for weeks. Mushrooms are its near-exclusive source.

In 2005, researchers discovered a transporter, OCTN1, so specialized that it serves almost only to let ergothioneine into cells (Gründemann et al., 2005). A body that invests in a dedicated door cares about what goes through it.

It accumulates in red blood cells, the liver, the kidneys, the lens of the eye, the bone marrow and the brain, the tissues most exposed to oxidative stress. Once taken up, its half-life in the blood approaches a month (Cheah et al., 2017).

By age: its blood level falls over the years, and observational studies associate a low level with memory decline in older people (Cheah et al., 2016); an association that has made it one of the most studied molecules around aging.

Sources: Gründemann et al., PNAS, 2005 · Cheah et al., BBRC, 2016 · Cheah et al., 2017

Ergothioneine

Effects and benefits

Where to find it (9)

Also, in smaller amounts (118)