Researchers Discover Food Compound That May Enhance Vaccine Response in Older Adults - Video

A natural compound called spermidine, found in foods like mushrooms, wheat germ, parmesan, and cheddar cheese, may help older adults develop a stronger immune response to vaccines, according to a new study published in Aging Cell.

As people get older, their immune system becomes weaker. This makes it harder for the body to fight infections and respond well to vaccines. Because of this, some older adults do not develop enough protection even after getting vaccinated.

To see if spermidine could help, researchers studied 40 healthy adults aged 65 and older. After receiving their third COVID-19 vaccine dose, participants took either 6 mg of spermidine or a placebo (dummy pill) every day for 13 weeks.

Researchers found that about one in four participants had very weak antibody responses even after three vaccine doses. Their immune cells also showed signs of aging and damage.

Among these low responders, those who took spermidine developed higher levels of COVID-19 antibodies and showed a stronger ability to fight different coronavirus variants compared with those who took the placebo.

The study also found that spermidine reduced signs of immune system aging and increased autophagy, a natural process that helps cells remove damaged parts and stay healthy.

Importantly, the supplement was safe and well tolerated, with no serious side effects reported during the study.

However, the researchers say this was only a small pilot study, so the results should be interpreted with caution.

Overall, the findings suggest that spermidine may help improve vaccine responses in some older adults by supporting healthier immune cells, but larger studies are needed to confirm whether it works for COVID-19 vaccines as well as other vaccines, such as the flu vaccine.

REFERENCE: Ghada Alsaleh, Mohammad Ali, et al.; Spermidine Mitigates Immune Cell Senescence and Boosts Vaccine Responses in Healthy Older Adults—A Pilot Study. Aging Cell, 2026; 25 (6) DOI: 10.1111/acel.70545