Longevity Experts Are Obsessed With This Molecule—And You Can Get It From These 4 Foods

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• A small study published in Nature found that urolithin A supplements have the potential to improve biomarkers associated with age-related immune decline and inflammaging.

• Urolithin A, a bioactive compound, is produced in the gut after consuming certain foods for about 40% of people.

• Experts say more research on urolithin A is needed, and for now, the best way to support longevity is through go-to lifestyle tweaks like exercising and prioritizing sleep.

Longevity tips (both legit and not so much) are everywhere right now, but there’s one buzzy molecule that probably isn’t on your radar yet—and should be.

It’s called urolithin A, and it’s the subject of a new Nature study that linked the supplement with biomarker changes associated with age-related immune decline and inflammaging (low-grade, chronic inflammation linked with aging).

Research into urolithin A is ongoing, and there are a few things to consider before going all in. For one, this molecule is also something you can get from food, which makes it even more intriguing.

Here’s what the latest study found, plus how to get urolithin A from your diet.

Meet the experts: Florian Greten, MD, is a researcher and director of the Georg-Speyer-Haus Institut für Tumorbiologie. Jessica Cording, RD, CDN, is the author of The Little Book of Game-Changers. Keri Gans, RDN, is the author of The Small Change Diet.

What did the study find?

It’s important to note that the funding for the study and the supplements that were tested were supplied by a biotech company that makes the postbiotic urolithin A supplement Mitopure.

That said, researchers had 50 healthy middle-aged adults take 1,000 milligrams of urolithin A or a placebo once a day for four weeks. The researchers found that, in 28 days, people in the urolithin A group had changes in biomarkers associated with age-related immune decline.

“Urolithin A leads to better cell function, but it also has a positive impact on muscle,” says study co-author Florian Greten, MD, researcher and director of the Georg-Speyer-Haus Institut für Tumorbiologie. (Separate early research suggests urolithin A has the potential to enhance muscle health and performance.)

Dr. Greten says it’s “exciting” that he and other researchers were able to detect these positive changes within a month. “We don’t know yet if you can take a lower amount and get a similar impact, but we are studying that,” he says.

What is urolithin A?

Urolithin A is a bioactive compound that’s produced in the gut when certain compounds (mostly ellagitannins and ellagic acid) are broken down by specific gut bacteria, explains Jessica Cording, RD, CDN, author of The Little Book of Game-Changers. Here’s the catch: Not everyone produces urolithin A efficiently.

“We found that only about 40 percent of people have the right gut microbiome for this,” Dr. Greten says. If you don’t have the “right” microbiome, meaning you’re missing certain necessary bacteria, your gut won’t produce this compound efficiently through foods, he says, adding that there’s no publicly available test to see if you have these bacteria or not just yet.

However, urolithin A supplements can theoretically work despite missing certain bacteria since it doesn’t need to be converted, Dr. Greten says. Remember: Always talk to your doctor before trying any new supplement, including urolithin A, especially if you have preexisting medical conditions or are taking any medications.

Outside of Dr. Greten’s study, here’s some additional preliminary research swirling around urolithin A. “Early research indicates urolithin A may support healthy aging by enhancing how your cells produce and recycle energy,” says Keri Gans, RDN, author of The Small Change Diet. “Some small human studies also suggest it could improve muscle endurance and aspects of immune function, but the research is still preliminary.”

What foods contain urolithin A?

A lot of the research surrounding urolithin A involves supplements, but certain foods may spark a process in your body that creates urolithin A. “It’s not found in large amounts in food, but your body creates it after you eat foods that are rich in these precursor compounds,” Cording says. (But Cording stresses that your individual microbiome plays a big role in whether or not your body can do this.)

Those foods include pomegranate, walnuts, raspberries, and blackberries. “Eating these foods regularly may help, but the amount of urolithin A you generate varies from person to person,” she says, even if you do have the “right” bacteria to make it.

“If you have the right microbiome, eating and drinking these foods can lead to the production of urolithin A,” Dr. Greten says. But even then, you’d need to have a lot of these foods—Dr. Greten says you’d need to have 1.5 liters of pomegranate juice a day to mimic the effects of the supplement used in his study.

Ultimately experts say that more research is needed around urolithin A. In the meantime, there are other things you can do to support longevity. “Don’t overlook lifestyle approaches to supporting healthy mitochondrial function, such as eating a well-balanced diet rich in polyphenols, exercising, prioritizing restful sleep, and managing stress,” Cording says.

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