Newsletter #72: Fighting AGEs for Aging Gracefully 💁
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
💉 A small trial suggests (for the first time) that it may be possible to reverse the epigenetic clock.
As part of a protocol designed to rejuvenate the thymus, 9 subjects took a cocktail of growth hormone, DHEA, and metformin. After one year, they had shed, on average, 2.5 years from their biological age, measured before and after the intervention by analyzing epigenetic markers on their genome. Effects persisted in participants who provided a final blood sample six months after the end of the trial. (For more information about the epigenetic clock, please check out our interview with Ken Raj, who helped develop this tool)
💪 High-intensity exercise elicits greater changes in sleep architecture and appetite-related hormones than moderate-intensity physical activity.
Eleven men completed two consecutive nights of polysomnography to determine baseline sleep stages. One two separate afternoons, participants completed 30 minute exercise bouts of either moderate intensity continuous exercise (60% peak oxygen) or high intensity interval exercise (60 seconds of work at 100% peak oxygen consumption: 240 seconds of rest at 50% peak oxygen consumption). After the high intensity exercise, slow-wave sleep was greater than baseline, and acetylated ghrelin was lower immediately following the bout.
🧬 Excess body fat is associated with increased risk of depression.
Researchers performed a Mendelian randomization study of the relationship between fat mass, non-fat mass, and depression, using genome-wide association study results from the UK Biobank (n = 332,000), which provides data on the correlation between genetic variants and physical measurements, and the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium (n = 480,000), which offers information on the correlation between genetic variants and depression. They found that carrying ten kilograms of excess body fat increased the risk of depression by 17%. The more fat, the greater the probability of developing depression.
🍞 Gluten intake in infancy is linked to increased risk of developing type 1 diabetes.
Researchers followed 86306 children in The Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study born from 1999 to 2009, followed up until April 2018. Maternal gluten intake in mid-pregnancy was not associated with the development of type 1 diabetes in the child. However, the child's gluten intake at 18 months of age was associated with an increased risk of later developing type 1 diabetes. Risk was increased by 46% for each 10g per day increase in gluten intake.
🎃 Incorporating pumpkin pulp or pumpkin seeds into the diet may help modulate blood pressure.
Rats were fed either a control diet or one from which 4% of calories was derived from pumpkin pulp or pumpkin seeds. The rodents on the experimental diet had blood pressure levels more than 20% lower than controls. Researchers said that the amount that the rats consumed was equivalent to about 1.5 cups of boiled pumpkin or ⅓ cup of seeds. Both contain nutrients that are associated with lower blood pressure: Pumpkin seeds are high in zinc, magnesium, and fiber, while the pulp is relatively high in potassium, fiber, and vitamin C.
New humanOS Feature
- Garmin integration with humanOS: Those of you who use a Garmin can now sync your data on the humanOS tracker. 🙌
New humanOS Content
- humanOS Radio: The Role of Advanced Glycation End Products in Aging and Disease. Podcast with Pankaj Kapahi
🔬 On this episode of humanOS Radio, we welcome Pankaj Kapahi to the show. Pankaj is a professor at the Buck Institute, an independent biomedical research institute that is devoted solely to research on aging. He and his team have also begun to investigate the role of advanced glycation end products (also known as AGEs) in health and disease.
🧁 Advanced glycation end products are compounds that are formed when proteins or lipids become glycated, as a result of being exposed to sugars. This has been carefully studied and exploited by the food industry for decades, because of its appealing effects on sensory qualities of food. However, it was only recognized comparatively recently that AGEs may impair our health and function over time.
💉 Aptly enough, the formation and accumulation of AGEs is a hallmark of age. AGEs wreak havoc by binding with cell surface receptors and cross-linking with body proteins, altering their structure and function. This produces a range of deleterious effects throughout the body. So, how can we reduce our exposure to advanced glycation end products in the food that we eat? And is it possible for us to control the formation of AGEs inside the body? To learn more, check out the interview!
Media Featuring humanOS
- Dan Pardi: Create a Dashboard for Your Life. Via Wellness Mama.
Podcasts We Loved This Week
- Mark Hopkins: Compensatory Eating, Exercise-induced Weight Loss, and Energy Balance Homeostasis. Via Sigma Nutrition Radio.
- Joe Alcock and Melissa Franklin: Evolution Of Dietary Inflammation. Via EvolutionMedicine Podcast.
Products We Are Enjoying
Seaweed snacks.
Ginny says: These add a rich, savory flavor to soups and salads, while adding very little salt or fat. They are also pretty nutritious (well, at least for something that only has 25 calories) - they contain a decent amount of vitamin C, iron, and about 50 mcg of iodine (31% of daily value).