Living Longer
Have you noticed a growing trend in people wanting to live longer? Back in 2013, Google co-founder Larry Page helped create Calico Labs, a company dedicated to researching and understanding aging. More recently, the Russian-born billionaire, Yuri Milner, announced the formation of Altos Labs, which has some pretty wealthy investors, including Jeff Bezos, for the same purpose. Are these companies being created actually to help people live longer, healthier lives, or are they really the experimentation grounds of billionaires who want to live forever? I don’t know.  However, some of the technology available to them is awe-inspiring and scary at the same time. If you are interested in this area, you may have heard of CRISPR (1). This tool allows scientists to edit certain parts of a DNA strand. For example, if you are thinking about a ‘test tube’ baby, I don’t think they are called that anymore but you know what I mean conception happens outside the body, and it is possible for the scientist to run a DNA profile of the two parents. Once that is done, they may notice that the mother has a gene that might increase the child’s chances of getting diabetes. They would then use CRISPR to edit out that gene. Or, from a more dystopian view, they could look at the father's genes and notice that he has a gene that may limit the baby’s height. Using CRISPR, it would then be possible to change these characteristics before the baby is born, essentially engineering a baby. The best or worst part of CRISPR is that it is relatively cheap…meaning that it will be accessible to people easily in the future. It has already been used to change the lifespan of mice (1) and also is currently being used in the effort to eradicate malaria by altering the DNA of mosquitoes so they can’t carry the parasite (2). Some claim that CRISPR is so power full that, in theory, it is possible to take the DNA of an elephant, take the DNA of a wooly mammoth and find the differences, then edit the DNA of the elephant, and ‘voila’ you have a wooly mammoth (3), real-life Jurassic Park stuff. The Altos Lab has also hired Shinya Yamanaka, who shared a 2012 Nobel Prize for the discovery of reprogramming cells to grow younger. This ‘reprogramming’ technique has been applied to mice, after which they show clear signs of age reversal. Some scientists call ‘reprogramming’ a potential ‘elixir of life’(4). Supporters of this technique claim it is possible to take a cell from a living 80-year-old and, in the lab, reverse’s its age by 40 years. However, it has not been tested in humans yet. These labs are beginning to experiment with genetic changes and cellular age reversal, but what if you want to add some healthy years to a respectable long-lived life? How do you do that without having access to a super lab? It’s really quite simple.  The answer can be found in Dan Buetner’s book, Blue Zones. These are areas of the world where there are more 100-year-olds than other areas. They also have some things in common. All the areas have a strong community; the older a person becomes, the more important they are in their community. The opposite of what we have in Western culture. They eat various food, but it’s always whole and locally sourced.  Again almost the polar opposite of most cities in the developed world. They exercise daily, not gym workouts but general whole-body movements usually built into their daily routines, like chopping wood or carrying water. They minimize stress. They don’t indulge in ingesting toxic substances into the body. All these things are pillars of lifestyle medicine, are free to access, free to use, and available to you right now! If you want to add healthspan to your lifespan, start implementing small but significant changes to your life using lifestyle medicine. If you want help with that, I’m here for you. Sources:
  1. https://www.newscientist.com/article/2264168-crispr-doubles-lifespan-of-mice-with-rapid-ageing-disease-progeria/
  2. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/why-the-us-plans-to-release-24-billion-genetically-modified-mosquitoes-180979833/
  3. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mFIElM1outQ
  4. https://news.sky.com/story/jeff-bezos-amazon-founder-funds-new-age-reversal-company-opening-in-uk-12400621 
Sleepy Sleepy
Back in the late ’90s and early 2000s, I didn’t think much of staying up all night. Pulling an all-nighter for university or a party was pretty straightforward. I think that a little bit of this mentality has stayed with me, and I see it in my patients as well. Sleep is the first thing to do when there isn't enough time. When we are trying to cram everything into this short time we have on the earth, we tend to turn to caffeine and willpower to grind through the day. With 50% of Americans reporting not getting enough sleep, it's time to ask the question, has this sleep deprivation damaged our health?  Currently, a new wave of doctors is asking their patients to prioritize sleep.  Why are they doing this?   These doctors understand the hierarchy of health. They understand that to be healthy; we need good nutrition, exercise, relationships, stress management, and sleep. The bottom of the pyramid is sleep. Poor sleep cannot be undone by nutrition, exercise, and meditation. Or, as I like to say, you can’t exercise yourself out of chronic sleep deprivation.  How much is enough? Recently I showed a friend some stats from my Whoop, which is a wristband that tracks some metrics like sleep. He noticed that I spent 8 hours in bed and whistled as if to say I was lucky to have that much time. But he did not realize that I planned my day around it. When I have my kids, I work backward from their bedtime, which is similar to mine, so I know when to feed them and get them ready for bed for their optimal health and mine. That means switching off the T.V. and devices, saying no to things that will make me stay up late, and exercising some discipline with my children. Something I’ve noticed that has gone out of fashion with most North American parents nowadays.  What does the science say? A 2019 paper published in Harvard Health concluded that a MINIMUM of seven hours is recommended for good health. The research was based on hundreds of studies that followed peoples’ long-term experiences of heart disease, diabetes, and mental health difficulties. Those who slept between seven and nine hours were typically at lower risk of future ill health.  However, the time you need to spend unconscious varies with age. One journal detailed that 18- to 60-year-olds “need” seven to eight hours, 61- to 64-year-olds “need” seven to nine, and the over-65s drop an hour again (for some unspecified reason). By contrast, however, when I’m working with clients, I’m looking for people who sleep a lot. Some studies have shown a link between oversleeping and bad health. A study published in the journal Sleep looked at 1.4 million people and found a 30 percent rise in the risk of death for people who slept nine hours or more, possibly because they may have underlying medical or social problems. Interestingly, the report concluded that while short sleep may represent a cause of ill health, long sleep is believed to represent more of an indicator of ill health. When it comes to sleep and your health, try using the Goldilocks principle, not too much or too little.
The SAD diet is killing us
One of the worst exports from the US is its food culture. Namely ultra-processed beige foods that contain all manner of addictive chemicals.  This SAD diet (standard American diet) is slowly killing America.  70 percent of the population is overweight or obese, and 40 percent have metabolic syndrome, which means they suffer from obesity, bad cholesterol, or elevated blood sugar. Seventy-three thousand limbs are amputated every year in the US because of diabetes.  This British public look like they are heading in the same direction. According to the journalist Boudicca Fox-Leonard back in 1950, 1 percent of the UK population was obese. Today it’s 28 percent. The corresponding figure is in the teens in Spain, Italy, and France – although they are arguably on the same trajectory, just a little bit behind us. McDonald’s is now France’s biggest restaurant group. The consequences of eating like this aren’t just limited to the physical. A recent study showed a correlation with those consuming more than one serving of fried food per day had a 12% higher risk of anxiety and a 7% higher risk for depression than non-consumers. Although the study didn’t say differentiate between people who ate fried food because they were depressed or if they were depressed because they ate fried food, the conclusion was that things like French fries, hash browns, and bacon should be limited to once a month! But the problem isn’t about willpower. These kinds of food are typically calorie-dense, low in soluble fiber, and high in sugar and fat. The very foods we have evolved to seek out and prize above others because, evolutionary speaking, they were rare. Now they are everywhere, and our physiology hasn’t caught up yet.  I see this with my children. Health influencers say that children will copy their parents and all you have to be is a good role model…err…I'm pretty sure the people who say that don’t have children. My kids will sacrifice their left arms for some sugary treats and a cookie, whereas trying to get them to eat a plate of vegetables is almost impossible. By contrast, all they see me eat is home-prepared whole foods…so what gives? It’s the addictive nature of the food plus our culture. If the kids had never eaten white bread, cookies, and sugary drinks and only stuck with unprocessed, whole foods, I might have had a chance…but birthday cake and grandparents’ treats abound; it’s a losing battle right from the start.  So what can we do about it?  The pharmaceutical companies are positioning themselves as knights in shining armor by creating the first generation of anti-obesity drugs. A pill may help people who are unable to break the addiction by other means, but something doesn’t sit well with me when we have to use a manmade drug to solve a manmade problem when nature already has the answer.  Whole foods, regular exercise, quality sleep, good stress management strategies, and a strong community are all things that will help us keep healthy. They can help us avoid the slippery slope of eating ultra-processed beige foods and ending up another statistic.   Do you struggle with food addictions, let me know in the comments below.  Sources:  https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/fried-foods-french-fries-linked-to-anxiety-depression#Implications https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/12/30/britains-obesity-epidemic-crushing-nhs/
Are You Eating Enough Protein?
I recently attended a course on lifestyle coaching for high performers (#hintsa) and studied a module on nutrition. I had someone analyze what I eat, and they recommended increasing my protein!  We constantly hear in the news about how there is too much protein in the Western diet and how ‘we’ generally overeat it. However, protein is essential for health, and so are fats for that matter but carbs…well…we can live perfectly happily without carbs, so they are not essential for health. But here’s the thing, when a person is trying to lose weight, they generally cut down on portion sizes across the board. I.e., a little less fat, carbs, protein, and smaller meals. This can be a good strategy, but protein should not be considered a percentage of your diet. It’s a set amount. For example, the British Heart Foundation suggests,   “Most adults need around 0.75g of protein per kilo of body weight per day (for the average woman, this is 45g, or 55g for men). That’s about two daily portions of meat, fish, nuts, or tofu. As a guide, a protein portion should fit into the palm of your hand.”  As we age, our ability to absorb protein decreases, so our consumption should go up a little to about 1g per kilo. Interestingly if you are looking to put on muscle, the number goes up again with the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, Dietitians of Canada, and the American College of Sports Medicine: Nutrition and Athletic Performance recommending that:
  • Physically active people take in 1.2 to 2 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight or 0.5 to 0.9 grams per pound of body weight, whether endurance or strength athletes.
This means that if you want to eat a smaller meal, the amount of protein you eat should not change; it’s a set amount. You should just alter the amount of fat or carbs you eat.  If you are one of the large majority of people who eat some cereal in the morning, pasta for lunch, and then a larger meal with a beer or glass of wine in the evening, it’s easy to see how you would be not getting enough protein but overdoing the carbs.   In my case, I was eating only fruit in the mornings, a small portion of fish with a large portion of veggies at lunch, and then in the evenings, a bowl of soup (I’ve found that I sleep better when I don’t have a large meal in the evenings). But I’m also 45 and very active….I was not meeting my protein requirements and was remaining skinny and lightweight.  After working through the Hintsa course, I’ve adopted a two-breakfast approach, my first consists of fruit, and my second usually consists of some carbs, fat, and a good protein source, like eggs, fish, or chicken. I also try and combine vegetable proteins into my evening soups.  Now I know that whether or not I’m doing my endurance-type exercises or strength training, I’ll have enough protein in my diet to cover all my needs.  This becomes all the more important as I age because a loss of lean muscle mass is associated with a shorter life, whereas the opposite is also true, the more muscle you have and the stronger you are has been shown to add healthy years to your life.