Newsletter #106: The Gut-Immune Axis, Flavonoids, & Spearmint Extract 🧠✨
Hello Friends!
Welcome to the latest edition of the humanOS newsletter! 🤓 Below is our work, plus a roundup of the various studies and media that we stumbled upon this week. 👇
This Week’s Research Highlights
🍇 Higher consumption of flavonoid-rich food may be protective against Alzheimer’s disease.
Researchers analyzed data from 2800 participants in the Offspring Cohort from the Framingham Heart Study. At the start of the study, subjects were free of Alzheimer’s. Researchers categorized flavonoid intake of the subjects into percentiles. Participants with low intake of foods rich in flavonoids were found to be 2-4 times more likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease over the course of 20 years, compared to subjects whose intake was higher. Low intake of anthocyanins specifically (pigments found in blueberries, strawberries, and red wine) was associated with a four-fold higher risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias. The level defined as high intake (60th percentile or higher) was equal to roughly 7.5 cups of blueberries or strawberries (anthocyanins) per month, 8 apples and pears per month (flavonols), and 19 cups of tea per month (flavonoid polymers).
🦠 Gathering in groups for prolonged periods of time presents very high risk of contracting COVID-19.
Sixty-one individuals attended a 2.5-hour long choir practice in Skagit County, Washington, with a symptomatic individual among them. During the event, the people in attendance sat close to one another, shared snacks, and stacked chairs, all of which provided opportunities for transmission of the disease. Afterward, 53 out of 61 (87%) participants developed COVID-19 (33 confirmed, 20 probable). Three patients were hospitalized and two died. Accounts like this (obviously) illustrate the importance of physical distancing and covering one’s face if you are striving to avoid being infected.
🐄 Intensive farming increases risk of epidemics.
An international team of researchers investigated the genetic evolution of Campylobacter jejuni, a bacterium carried by cattle which is the leading cause of gastroenteritis in high-income countries. They found that cattle-specific strains of the bacterium emerged at the same time as a dramatic rise in cattle numbers in the twentieth century. The researchers suggest that factors associated with modern intensive farming - overuse of antibiotics, high animal numbers, and low genetic diversity - helped the bacterium cross the species barrier and infect humans. More responsible farming methods might help reduce risk of outbreaks of pathogens in the future.
🧠 Spearmint extract may improve measures of cognitive performance in healthy adults.
Researchers randomly assigned 142 healthy, recreationally active men and women to either take 900 mg of proprietary spearmint extract (Neumentix Phenolic Complex K110-42, containing a minimum 14.5% rosmarinic acid and a minimum 24% total phenolic content) or a placebo daily for 90 days. Cognition was assessed via cognitive test battery (CNS Vital Signs) that resulted in 10 cognitive domains. Chronic supplementation with the spearmint was shown to result in significant improvements in measures of sustained and complex attention. Polyphenol molecules contained in spearmint have been shown to increase neurotransmitter levels in the brain related to attention, which may explain this finding.
Podcasts We Loved This Week
- Zach Moore: How to Strength Train Without a Gym. Via Nourish Balance Thrive.
- Beata Jarosiewicz: As You Snooze, Your Brain Reviews. Via Science Friday.
- Sam McConkey: COVID-19 - Public Health Response, Clinical Presentation & Socioeconomics. Via Sigma Nutrition.
Products We Are Enjoying
GEZEE 10W Edison Style Vintage LED Filament Light Bulb.
We know that exposure to bright light (especially short wavelengths) during the day promotes alertness, cognition, and other benefits. One study, for instance, found that people who were exposed to more sunlight during their work day were more physically active and got an additional 46 minutes of sleep per night. But if your workspace lacks windows, intense full-spectrum light might be kind of hard to come by.
That is where these bulbs can save the day. They are very bright (1000 lumens) and emit a white light rather akin to sunlight (6000K). The bulbs themselves even have a fun retro design. Just make sure not to use them at night, or for taking selfies (that cool bluish-white is not the most flattering illumination for your skin).
New humanOS Features
New How-to Guides: The How-to Guide to Polarized Endurance Training, and the How-to Guide to Ergogenic Aids and Endurance Performance, are both live and available to humanOS Pro Users! If you are looking for a quick reference sheet on structuring your training so you get more bang for your buck, as well as some evidence-based guidance on supplements to maximize your performance and adaptations, check them out. 👀
New humanOS Content
On this episode of humanOS Radio, Dan speaks with Lucy Mailing. Lucy has a Phd in Nutritional Sciences from the University of Illinois. Her research focused on the effects of diet and exercise on the gut microbiome and gut barrier function in states of health and disease.
She recently wrote a broad overview on what we know - and what we don’t know - about the role of the gut in the immune system, as well as some ideas of what we can do to support the gut-immune axis. The gut plays a surprisingly crucial role in modulating immunity, and this may have significant implications for our ability to resist invading pathogens. For example, one remarkable study found that feeding mice a high-fiber diet increased their probability of survival when the rodents were infected with influenza. This appeared to be due to increased production of short-chain fatty acids, which are thought to help modulate the immune system, in response to the dietary fiber.
This is, obviously, a very important and painfully relevant topic, so we knew we had to have her on to discuss it. To learn more about how gut health affects resistance to infections, check out the interview!