Pure Quercetin

Biohacker Review: This yellow anti-aging agent makes coffee MORE coffee - what's NOT to love?

Quercetin first came on my RADAR back in the COVID era, I kept hearing about how it helped the immune system stand up to the coronavirus - as we called it those days. Stacked with Zinc, it did help my wife and I power through our bout with COVID. But Quercetin does a lot more than treat COVID infection, it's an impressive full-spectrum anti-aging Nutriceutical.

Great news, it potentiates caffeine

Or to be more accurate, it elongates the effect of caffeine. This is why I take it in the midmorning about 30-45 minutes after I've had the one strong coffee I take daily.

I did take an HRV measurement and tried brain training about 30 minutes after taking 800 milligrams. I fired up the HeartMath app (and got angry the way I always do because their stupid app demands I turn on location services), paired it with my Inner Balance device, and got a very average 1.3 coherence score on Quercetin.

I got a very average score of 3.9 in my Dual N-Back brain training so it's not really a Nootropic in my book.

Other than that there's not a lot of subjective effect to report.

I take it every other day or every third day

Here is why, Biohacker Siim Land makes a compelling case here against taking a senolytic anti-aging compound like Quercetin daily. What senolytics do is clear out your older "zombie" cells which is important BUT not all senescent cells are bad or not pulling their weight in our biology.
I'll make a terrible metaphor: imagine that you are the power-hungry, psychopathic politician in a socialist country. You got a problem: old people. You've got a bunch of entitled, old, retired people who expect a bunch of services, benefits, and free stuff - which is very expensive (eating up a lot of tax revenues that you'd rather be embezzling and spending on your cocaine habit and mistress!) What an inconvenience these demanding old people are! Here's a good idea; maybe we could find some scientists to cook up a virus that kills off older people. You order the release of the virus and... Problem solved! This is sort of what you're doing to your body if you take senolytic supplements daily. Morals aside, not all of these old cells are "useless eaters" and I don't feel the need to drastically accelerate the natural senolytic process.
Also, I get a lot of Quercetin in my diet from blueberries, almonds, pistachios, black tea, green tea, and my nearly-every-night glass of red wine.

Scientific overview

Let's delve into some of the recent research on Quercetin. In this young and turbulent decade alone there have been over 2000 items of human research published in scientific journals, including 31 clinical trials. That's a statistically significant amount of science! I'll synopsize a few interesting findings that jumped out at me...

It's sort of a Nootropic according to a 2022 trial, that gave 80 otherwise healthy Japanese men and women a (tasty and yellow, I assume) Quercetin-rich beverage. This resulted in an uptick in cerebral blood flow and measured reaction times, classic Nootropic effects. Better reaction times could enhance your performance in multiple domains of human endeavor. It could make you more "Johnny on the spot" in the business world, it could be a lifesaver when an errant SUV swerves into your lane on the freeway, or it could give you an edge in more trivial pursuits like playing sports or video games with friends.

Do you struggle with seasonal allergies to pollen? Good news, in a placebo-controlled 2022 Japanese trial of 66 sufferers, 200 milligrams of Quercetin a day helped quite a bit after 4 weeks of dosing.

allergic symptoms, such as eye itching, sneezing, nasal discharge, and sleep disorder, were significantly improved in the quercetin-containing supplement... The results indicated that oral intake of quercetin-containing supplements might effectively reduce some allergy symptoms derived from pollinosis.

To quote from a recent paper looking at Quercetin as an essential in the anti-autoimmune condition armamentarium 

In several recent studies quercetin has reportedly attenuated rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease, multiple sclerosis, and systemic lupus erythematosus in humans or animal models.

It's an anabolic hack for eccentric exercise recovery according to a 2021 Italian study at a dose of 1 gram daily.

Our data are encouraging about the use of quercetin as dietary supplementation strategy to adopt in order to mitigate and promote a faster recovery after eccentric exercise as suggested by the increase in plasma levels of the anabolic factors IGF-I and IGF-II.

However, the study was a bit underpowered with just 12 athletes, so I'll reach for more proven exercise recovery hacks like my red light therapy devices, Creatine, or HMB before Quercetin. The same Italian research group did an earlier 16-man study in 2020 and they concluded in the abstract...

[Quercetin] supplementation for 14 days seems able to ameliorate the recovery of eccentric exercise-induced weakness

An Iranian hospital study gave 1000 milligrams to patients stricken with severe COVID alongside the antiviral drugs remdesivir and favipiravir. This did result in a significant increase in hemoglobin level and respiratory rate and improved overall mortality.

Another 72-woman Iranian study found it helpful in treating polycystic ovary syndrome; inflammation, hormonal parameters and pregnancy outcome.

A third Iranian study of 88 patients evidenced its limited value to those recovering from Myocardial infarction in the insecurity dimension of [Quality of life].

There are 18 items of published research (including one recent human clinical trial) on the Senolytic Dasatinib and Quercetin stack, which we discussed in my interview with Justin of Longecity.org. The clinical trial, published in 2023, evaluated the two as a pulmonary fibrosis treatment but the combination did not beat the placebo. But this virgin trial of the two provides some daily dosage recommendations for self-experimenters: Dasatinib: 100 milligrams and Quercetin: 1250 milligrams.

An upcoming American pilot study will evaluate Dasatinib and Quercetin as a Senolytic Therapy to Modulate the Progression of Alzheimer's Disease.

Finally, you might be curious about what's the high end of the safe dosage range. A recent American study gave 2000-milligram (that's a lot of yellow powder!) doses to patients suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). 

Powdered vs capsule

Quercetin is one supplement that I am not a big fan of in powdered form (which is the most economical form). It doesn't taste bad powdered (doesn't taste like much at all actually). But I managed to spill just a speck of it nearly every time I took a dose, leaving a little yellow stain on my desk. Next time I'll just go with the capsuled stuff! Although, it goes well in my Bulgarian goat yogurt with freshly baba-picked-blueberries...

About Quercetin

Quercetin is present in many foods and the FDA granted it GRAS (generally recognized as safe) status (22). Typical doses do not cause side effects, but studies using larger doses up to 1g may cause a tingling sensation, mild headache, or mild stomach aches (23). However, it’s important to note that quercetin may interact with some medications. Always consult your doctor before starting any new supplement.