Man-made ball vs. nature’s chain: Which is a better age defier?

Healthy Aging

Shedding light on the
anti-aging Achilles heel of C60

Over the past couple of months, we have had a good number of people ask us about how C15:0 compares to C60. To be honest, we didn’t know anything about this molecule, except an educated guess that it had 60 carbons. So, let’s dive into the science behind C60, including how it compares to C15:0.

Okay, what is C60?

We were right! C60 is a molecule with 60 carbons. These carbons are connected together in the shape of a hollow soccer ball, called a fullerene. Fullerenes are not natural molecules – they are created. In fact, the discovered ability to make this unique “buckyball” molecule back in 1985 led to Nobel Prizes for Drs. Harold Kroto, Robert Curl, and Richard Smalley.

Given the uniqueness of C60’s shape, it has excitedly opened up new avenues in structural materials. Move over graphite, here comes the new mithril (a shout out to our Lord of the Rings fans).

Early studies showed promise for C60 health benefits…

As described by Castro et al., numerous potential health benefits of this new molecule have been explored. For example, C60 can be effective in killing harmful bacteria and viruses. Galvan et al. show how C60 can be a powerful sink for damaging free radicals, sharing its promise as an anti-aging antioxidant. In studies reviewed by Dhiman et al., C60 has been shown to stop the proliferation of cancer cells. While these studies have been promising, they have all been very early.

…just don’t expose it to light.

Here’s the thing. C60 is a photodynamic molecule, which means that it is activated by light. And when exposed to light, C60 goes from a free-radical sucker to free-radical spewer. This is great for killing cancer cells and bacteria, but less great for our body and brain. In their extensive series of studies published in GeroScience, Grohn et al. concluded the following:

• C60 supplements have substantial inconsistencies in quality, impurities, concentrations and activities
• C60 forms toxic species associated with significant morbidity and mortality in mice when exposed to ambient light, in under 2 weeks
• C60 did not result in lifespan or healthspan benefits in mouse models

Further, in a separate round of mouse studies, Durasevic et al. similarly found that C60 supplementation had deteriorative effects, including:

• Significantly increasing insulin resistance
• Significantly increasing damaging oxidation levels in the blood and brain

In summary, because of these critical studies and the lack of knowledge on how this novel buckyball molecule impacts our health, we strongly caution against hopping on the C60 supplement train.