Newsletter #73: Sunlight and Loose Leaf Tea for Health and Wellness 🌞
Hello Friends!
Welcome to the latest edition of the humanOS newsletter! Here is where we share our work, plus the various studies and media that caught our attention this week. 🤓
This Week’s Research Highlights
🍵 Teabags that are made with plastic fibers release billions of tiny particles of plastic into the brewed beverages.
Researchers randomly selected four brands of plastic-based tea bags - two made with nylon, and two made with polyethylene terephthalate. The bags were steeped for five minutes at 95 degrees Celsius (about 203 degrees Fahrenheit). They found that the teabags had released about 11.6 billion microplastics and 3.1 billion nanoplastics into the water. Levels of nylon and PET released from the teabag packaging was several orders of magnitude greater than plastic loads reported in other foods. If you want to minimize this, try to avoid the “silken” pyramid-shaped teabags (they’re usually sealed with plastic) and stick to flat paper teabags, or use loose-leaf tea instead.
🍿 Eating while reading or using a smartphone may increase caloric intake.
Researchers recruited 62 adults for a series of experimental snack tests. In three different sessions, participants ate while either using a smartphone, reading a magazine, or with no distractions. Food was weighed before and after each session, and total caloric intake was measured at the end of each snack test. Subjects ate, on average, 15% more calories when they were provided a distractor while eating (there was no statistically significant difference between smartphone versus printed materials).
🧠 Weight gain is associated with changes in neural responses to palatable food tastes and cues.
Researchers compared changes in neural activity between initially healthy-weight adolescents who had gained weight against counterparts who remained weight stable. Subjects completed fMRI scans at baseline and at annual follow-ups over the course of three years. During these scans, participants were given milkshakes that varied in amounts of fat and sugar content, and were shown pictures of foods they had identified as being highly appetizing or unappetizing. Adolescents who gained weight showed decreased responsivity in brain regions linked with taste and reward processing in response to milkshakes that were high in fat or high in both sugar and fat, and distinct differences in their responses to delicious looking food cues. Researchers suggest that weight gain may decrease taste sensitivity and impair satiety response to high fat foods.
🚘 Sleeping less than 7 hours in a 24 hour period is linked to elevated risk of culpable crash involvement.
Researchers analyzed data from 6845 drivers involved in a representative sample of crashes investigated by the US Department of Transportation in years 2005–2007. A modified case–control study design was used to compare self-reported hours of sleep in the 24 hours before crashing between drivers deemed culpable versus non-culpable. Drivers who reported having slept for 6, 5, 4, and less than 4 hours in the 24 hour period before crashing had 1.3, 1.9, 2.9, and 15.1 times the odds, respectively, of having been culpable for their crashes, compared with drivers who reported at least seven hours of sleep. Crash risks for drivers who reported having slept for less than four hours were similar to those estimated in a study by the US Department of Transportation for drivers with BACs of roughly 0.12 g/dL.
New humanOS Content
- humanOS Radio: Sunlight for Weight Control? Podcast with Scott Byrne
It is well understood that ultraviolet light is a powerful carcinogen. But is it possible that inadequate exposure to sunlight also has detrimental effects on our health? A number of studies have suggested that people who receive less UV radiation are at greater risk of a host of different chronic diseases, including multiple sclerosis, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. It has also been suggested that reduced sun exposure may be linked to obesity.
To better understand this relationship, researchers performed a series of experiments in which they exposed mice to realistic doses of ultraviolet light (roughly equivalent to ~30 minutes of bright sunlight weekly). These rodents gained 30% less fat,and developed significantly less atherosclerosis, compared to controls. To learn more, check out our new interview with Scott Byrne, a cellular immunologist and one of the authors of this study!
Podcasts We Loved This Week
- Robert Sapolsky: The pervasive effect of stress – is it killing you? Via The Drive with Peter Attia.
- Michael Ristow: Longevity, Mitochondria, and Free Radicals. Via Sigma Nutrition.
- Ken Rosenberg: A Troubling Decline In North American Birds. Via Science Friday.
Products We Are Enjoying
Cruz de Malta Yerba Malta.
Ginny says: Maté is rich in bioactive compounds - most notably the stimulants caffeine and theobromine, which is probably why most people drink it. However, it is also a good source of antioxidants and is generally a pretty healthy beverage. If you are fasting, it’s good to drink because it tends to dampen appetite and it won’t irritate your stomach. This brand is very affordable if you order the loose leaf rather than the premade bags (also has the added advantage of avoiding the plastic problem I discussed above).