Newsletter #71: Interpersonal Neurobiology and Fermented Chili Paste 🌶️
Hello Friends!
Welcome to the latest edition of the humanOS newsletter. Here, as always, is where we share our work, plus the various studies and media that caught our attention this week. 🤓
This Week’s Research Highlights
♥️ Lifelong low blood pressure and low LDL cholesterol appears to be protective against heart disease.
Researchers calculated genetic scores for LDL cholesterol and systolic blood pressure in 438952 participants in the UK Biobank, and divided them into groups based on lifetime exposure to lower LDL-C levels, lower blood pressure, or both. Differences in plasma LDL-C, blood pressure, and cardiovascular event rates between the groups were compared to estimate associations with lifetime risk of cardiovascular disease. Lifelong genetic exposure to lower levels of LDL and lower systolic blood pressure was shown to be associated with substantially lower cardiovascular risk. For example, a lifetime reduction in LDL of just ~38 mg/dl, combined with a 10 mmHg reduction in blood pressure, produced an 80% lower lifetime risk of developing heart and circulatory disease.
🥔 Chilling potatoes before eating (to generate resistant starch) improves glycemic response.
Researchers recruited 30 women with elevated fasting blood glucose and insulin levels. In a randomized crossover design, the subjects consumed 250 grams of boiled russet potatoes and baked then chilled russet potatoes on two separate occasions. The chilled potato meal elicited significant reductions at 15 and 30 minutes in glucose (4.8% and 9.2%), insulin (25.8% and 22.6%), and glucose-dependent insulinotropic peptide (GIP) (41.1% and 37.6%) respectively, compared to potatoes that had been boiled.
🧘 Hot yoga may lower blood pressure.
Researchers recruited ten sedentary subjects with elevated blood pressure who were not taking antihypertensive medications. Half of the participants were randomly assigned to take three hour-long hot yoga classes per week. After 12 weeks, systolic blood pressure dropped from an average of 126 mmHg to 121 mmHG in the subjects doing the yoga class. Blood pressure did not change in controls.
🧠 Increasing physical fitness may improve brain power, even in young people.
Researchers analyzed a database of 1206 MRI brain scans from young adults (30 years old on average), who had also performed a walking test and a series of cognitive exams. Better physical fitness was found to be associated with better cognitive performance and with greater structural integrity of white matter in the brain.
⚕️ Abdominal fat is a major risk factor for cardiometabolic disease, especially in women.
Researchers performed a genome-wide association study for predicted visceral adipose tissue mass in a cohort of more than 325000 subjects from the UK Biobank. Higher predicted visceral fat mass, based on this model, was associated with increased risk of hypertension, heart attack/angina, type 2 diabetes, and high blood lipids. Additionally, Mendelian randomization analysis revealed that visceral fat was a causal risk factor for all four maladies. Importantly, the increased risk was much greater for women. Adding an extra kilogram of visceral fat increased risk about 2.5 times in men, but more than seven fold in women.
New humanOS Content
humanOS Radio: Interpersonal Neurobiology and the Power of Mindsight. Podcast with Dan Siegel.
On this episode of humanOS Radio, Dan talks with Dan Siegel. Dr. Siegel is a clinical professor of psychiatry at the UCLA School of Medicine, and is the founding co-director of the Mindful Awareness Research Center at UCLA. He is a pioneer in a field known as interpersonal neurobiology (sometimes referred to as relational neuroscience). Interpersonal neurobiology characterizes human development and function as a product of interactions between the body, the mind, and relationships with one another.
Dan is also the executive director of the Mindsight Institute, a unique educational organization that provides online learning and in-person lectures that examines the interface of human relationships and basic biological processes, with the goal of cultivating mind sight in individuals, families, and communities. So what exactly is mindsight? Mindsight is a theoretical construct that is related to theory of mind. However, mindsight goes beyond merely being able to conceive of one’s own mind and that of others. Mindsight refers to the capacity to sense patterns of shared communication of energy and information change within relationships. It also captures the ability to look inside ourselves, recognizing our own emotions, without being consumed by them. To learn more about Dr. Siegel’s work, check out the interview!
Podcasts We Loved This Week
- David Zeevi: Genes of gut microbes and inter-individual variation in glucose response. Via Sigma Nutrition Radio.
- John Newman: How the ketogenic diet and fasting regulate the genes and pathways that control aging. Via STEM-Talk (also check out our own interview with Dr. Newman!).
- Stephan Guyenet: Why we overeat and gain weight (and what to do about it). Via Momlight.
Products We Are Enjoying
Gochujang fermented chili paste. 🌶️
Ginny says: You can use this stuff on almost anything - it is really good in stir fries, as a spread for sandwiches/wraps, or as a dipping sauce for veggies. I like to slather it on sweet potatoes and other starches. It’s spicy but not too spicy, and it has that indescribable tangy fermented flavor. Highly recommend.
humanOS Catalog Feature of the Week
Want to watch this course with us this week? First lesson is just 46 seconds. Not yet a Pro user of humanOS? No sweat, this initial module is available for everyone, so give it a shot.