Newsletter #107: Topical Carnosine, Vitamin D & Vitamin K 🏃♀️
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
☀️ Vitamin D is linked to COVID-19 incidence and mortality rate.
Researchers collected data on mean levels of vitamin D in 20 different European countries, as well as cases and fatalities caused by COVID-19 in these nations. They found that lower mean levels of vitamin D was associated with a higher number of COVID-19 cases per one million individuals, as well as higher rates of morbidity and mortality.
☕ Coffee drinking is linked to lower body fat in women.
Researchers examined cross-sectional data from NHANES to determine the relationship between cups of coffee consumed per day and levels of body fat. They found that women aged 20-44 who drank 2-3 cups of coffee daily had 3.4% lower body fat than those who did not drink coffee. Among women aged 45-69, those who drank 4+ cups had an adiposity percentage 4.1% lower. Findings were consistent regardless of whether the coffee was caffeinated or not, and results were independent of smoking status and chronic disease.
🧠 Aerobic exercise makes your brain younger.
Researchers recruited 206 older adults (average age of 66) with no history of cardiovascular or memory problems. Participants were enrolled in a supervised aerobic exercise program held three days per week. After six months of the exercise regimen, participants improved by 5.7% on tests of executive function (including mental flexibility and self-correction). Verbal fluency (how quickly you can retrieve information) improved by 2.4%, an improvement tantamount to being five years younger. These improvements appeared to be linked to a 2.8% average increase in blood flow to the brain following the exercise intervention.
🥬 Low vitamin K status is associated with increased risk of all-cause mortality.
Researchers obtained individual participant-level data from multiple large cohorts with available measures of fasting circulating phylloquinone (vitamin K-1) and confirmed mortality. Among 3891 participants, those with ≤0.5 nmol/L circulating phylloquinone had an adjusted 19% higher risk of all-cause mortality compared with those with >1.0 nmol/L.
Risk of incident cardiovascular disease did not significantly differ according to circulating phylloquinone status, so the mechanism underlying this association remains uncertain. Probably a good idea to eat your greens, in any case.
Podcasts We Loved This Week
- Alan Flanagan: Diet and Immunity. Via Sigma Nutrition Radio.
- Michael Grandner: Screens, Technology, and Sleep - It’s Not All About the Blue Light. Via Sleep Junkies Podcast.
- David Sinclair: Rewind Your Clock. Via the Rich Roll Podcast.
Products We Are Enjoying
Wild Blueberry Juice Concentrate.
Just one tablespoon is equivalent to one cup of wild blueberry fruit juice. We like to mix a 1-to-1 ratio of this product with agave as a topping for snow cones - perfect for hot summer days. Not only are they super tasty, but blueberries are a rich source of polyphenols, particularly anthocyanins, that might make you smarter.
New humanOS Features
- Course Enhancement: We have added Talking Points to the sixth course (Physical Activity & Weight Control) in the Ideal Weight Program, created by Stephan Guyenet. 🙌🏽
FYI: Talking Points is a feature that is unlocked once you complete a course (just click on the achievement badge), and offers a useful recap of key takeaways from the lessons to aid memory retention, and hopefully enhance your ability to use that information and convey it to others. No point in studying something if you can’t use that info later, right?
New humanOS Content
• humanOS Radio: LactiGo – A New Product to Boost Athletic Performance? Podcast with Brad Dieter
🎧 On this week’s episode of humanOS Radio, Dan spoke with Brad Dieter. Brad has a PhD in Exercise Physiology from the University of Idaho, and did further training in biomedical research examining how metabolism and inflammation regulate molecular mechanisms of disease.
🔬 Brad has been leading research behind novel delivery methods of carnosine. Carnosine is a buffer of acidosis in skeletal muscle, and exercise trials have shown that higher levels of carnosine in muscle can help delay the onset of fatigue during exercise associated with acidosis and enable athletes to work longer at a high intensity. But oral supplemental methods of boosting carnosine - such as beta-alanine - can be cumbersome and time-consuming. You have to take relatively large, divided doses every day for up to 4-6 weeks before you see a benefit.
🏃♀️ To that end, he helped with the research and development of LactiGo, the first effective topical carnosine product for humans. LactiGo is a fast-acting gel which delivers carnosine to skeletal muscle through the skin, and tests of this product are pretty persuasive. In one double-blind pilot study, elite soccer players were able to cross the finish line up to 5.9 feet sooner when running the 40 yard dash. And this was just after a single application of the product! To learn more about how carnosine works, and about LactiGo, check out the interview.