Newsletter #171: The Perils of AGEs - And What to Do About It 🥓
Good morning, humanOS friends! This week, we took a look at advanced glycation end products (also known as AGEs), and how to mitigate their impact on our health.
Advanced glycation end products are compounds that are formed when proteins or lipids become glycated, as a result of being exposed to sugars. One example of this phenomenon, which all of us have experienced personally, is the Maillard reaction. This is a chemical reaction in which amino acids and sugars are exposed to high heat, and what gives browned food its distinctive flavor. Think of fried bacon, freshly baked bread, toasted marshmallows, and a whole lot of other tasty stuff.
So, that’s the thing: we really, really like the flavor of AGEs. Unfortunately, we now know that AGEs are not very good for us. AGEs wreak physiological 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, such as inflammation and oxidative stress. And animal models show that cutting intake of dietary AGEs in half is linked to lower oxidative stress, better insulin sensitivity and kidney function with age, and longer lifespan, suggesting that avoiding AGEs in our diet (and limiting their generation inside the body) is probably a smart move.
How might we achieve that? To learn more, scroll on down 👇🏼
This Week’s Research Highlights
🫀 High circulating levels of AGEs are linked to higher risk of dying from heart disease.
Researchers at Johns Hopkins recruited 559 older women in Baltimore and measured their blood levels of an AGE known as carboxymethyl lysine. Over the course of 4.5 years of follow-up, they found that the women with the highest serum levels of AGEs were about twice as likely to die from cardiovascular disease, compared to those with the lowest levels.
💊 Supplementation with carnosine reduces formation of AGEs in the body and improves markers of glycemic control.
Researchers recruited 54 patients with type 2 diabetes and randomly assigned them to either placebo or intervention (2 capsules daily of l-carnosine, 500 mg each). After 12 weeks, the carnosine group showed significant reductions in fasting blood glucose (−13.1 mg/dL), HbA1c (−0.6%), and serum triglycerides (−29.8 mg/dL). This was accompanied by lower levels of carboxymethyl lysine (−91.8 ng/mL) and serum pentosidine (−2.8 ng/mL), both of which are biomarkers for formation and accumulation of advanced glycation end products.
🥩 Marinating meat in acidic solutions lowers the generation of AGEs when the meat is cooked.
Researchers took 25 gram pieces of beef, and marinated them for one hour in either 10mL of lemon juice or 10 mL of vinegar. They then roasted the meat for 15 minutes at 150°C (or around 302°F). Compared to meat that was not marinated, the pieces that were treated with lemon juice or vinegar formed less than half the amount of AGEs. As an added bonus, research has indicated that consuming meals with acids like vinegar may also improve glycemic responses, so this seems like a smart move overall!
🩸 Eating a diet designed to be low in AGEs decreases urinary AGEs and improves insulin sensitivity.
Researchers recruited 74 overweight women and randomly assigned them to follow either a high- or low-AGE diet for 4 weeks. Importantly, the diets were very similar in composition and nutrients, but primarily differed in cooking methods. For instance, for dinner the high-AGE group would consume breaded cod fillet while the low-AGE group would eat steamed cod; and for breakfast the high-AGE group would eat a crunchy cold cereal while the low-AGE group ate oatmeal. By the end of the study period, mean daily urinary excretion levels of carboxymethyl lysine were significantly lower in the low-AGE group. Furthermore, after adjusting for changes in body mass during the intervention, the subjects consuming the low-AGE diet showed decreased fasting insulin concentrations and reduced markers of insulin resistance, compared to counterparts in the high-AGE group.
Random Trivia Question of the Week
🤔 What vegetable was traditionally thought of as a “fighting food” in ancient antiquity, and administered liberally to Olympic athletes and Roman gladiators?
(Incidentally, it is actually quite healthy but I’m not too sure about its purported effects on combat performance)
💡 ANSWER
Podcasts We Loved This Week
- Barbora de Courten: Effect of carnosine on glucose metabolism and chronic disease risk. Via Sigma Nutrition Radio.
- Sarah Everts: Why sweat is a human superpower. Via NPR.
Products We Are Enjoying
Glylo
So, as I mentioned earlier, we get exposed to AGEs through our diet, but advanced glycation end products are also generated within the body. This is especially true in the context of elevated blood sugar levels (like in diabetes), since autoxidation of circulating sugars is the major source of endogenous AGEs. So what can we do about that?
Dr. Pankaj Kapahi, whom we interviewed on the subject of AGEs some time ago, has been conducting research in this area and has identified specific doses of several key nutrients that appear to reduce glycation, and in turn should limit the formation of AGEs. This all-natural supplement is the result of that careful investigation, and would certainly be an excellent complement to a low-AGE diet.
humanOS Catalog Feature of the Week
Thank you, as always, for reading, and see y'all next week!