Dr. Greger’s Anti-Aging Eight
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Dr. Greger’s Anti-Aging Eight
This is Dr. Michael Greger. We’ve featured him before: Brain Food? The Eyes Have It!
This time, we’re working from his latest book, the excellent “How Not To Age”, which we reviewed all so recently. It is very information-dense, but we’re going to be focussing on one part, his “anti-aging eight”, that is to say, eight interventions he rates the most highly to slow aging in general (other parts of the book pertained to slowing eleven specific pathways of aging, or preserving specific bodily functions against aging, for example).
Without further ado, his “anti-aging eight” are…
- Nuts
- Greens
- Berries
- Xenohormesis & microRNA manipulation
- Prebiotics & postbiotics
- Caloric restriction / IF
- Protein restriction
- NAD+
As you may have noticed, some of these are things might appear already on your grocery shopping list; others don’t seem so “household”. Let’s break them down:
Nuts, greens, berries
These are amongst the most nutrient-dense and phytochemical-useful parts of the diet that Dr. Greger advocates for in his already-famous “Dr. Greger’s Daily Dozen”.
For brevity, we’ll not go into the science of these here, but will advise you: eat a daily portion of nuts, a daily portion of berries, and a couple of daily portions of greens.
Xenohormesis & microRNA manipulation
You might, actually, have these on your grocery shopping list too!
Hormesis, you may recall from previous editions of 10almonds, is about engaging in a small amount of eustress to trigger the body’s self-strengthening response, for example:
Xenohormesis is about getting similar benefits, second-hand.
For example, plants that have been grown to “organic” standards (i.e. without artificial pesticides, herbicides, fertilizers) have had to adapt to their relatively harsher environment by upping their levels of protective polyphenols and other phytochemicals that, as it turns out, are as beneficial to us as they are to the plants:
Hormetic Effects of Phytochemicals on Health and Longevity
Additionally, the flip side of xenohormesis is that some plant compounds can themselves act as a source of hormetic stress that end up bolstering us. For example:
In essence, it’s not just that it has anti-oxidant effect; it also provides a tiny oxidative-stress immunization against serious sources of oxidative stress—and thus, aging.
MicroRNA manipulation is, alas, too complex to truly summarize an entire chapter in a line or two, but it has to do with genetic information from the food that we eat having a beneficial or deleterious effect to our own health:
Diet-derived microRNAs: unicorn or silver bullet?
A couple of quick takeaways (out of very many) from Dr. Greger’s chapter on this is to spring for the better quality olive oil, and skip the cow’s milk:
- Impact of Phenol-Enriched Virgin Olive Oils on the Postprandial Levels of Circulating microRNAs Related to Cardiovascular Disease
- MicroRNA exosomes of pasteurized milk: potential pathogens of Western diseases
Prebiotics & Postbiotics
We’re short on space, so we’ll link you to a previous article, and tell you that it’s important against aging too:
Making Friends With Your Gut (You Can Thank Us Later)
An example of how one of Dr. Greger’s most-recommended postbiotics helps against aging, by the way:
- The mitophagy activator urolithin A is safe and induces a molecular signature of improved mitochondrial and cellular health in humans
- Urolithin A improves muscle strength, exercise performance, and biomarkers of mitochondrial health in a randomized trial in middle-aged adults
(Urolithin can be found in many plants, and especially those containing tannins)
See also: How to Make Urolithin Postbiotics from Tannins
Caloric restriction / Intermittent fasting
This is about lowering metabolic load and promoting cellular apoptosis (programmed cell death; sounds bad; is good) and autophagy (self-consumption; again, sounds bad; is good).
For example, he cites the intermittent fasters’ 46% lower risk of dying in the subsequent years of follow-up in this longitudinal study:
For brevity we’ll link to our previous IF article, but we’ll revisit caloric restriction in a main feature on of these days:
Fasting Without Crashing? We sort the science from the hype!
Dr. Greger favours caloric restriction over intermittent fasting, arguing that it is easier to adhere to and harder to get wrong if one has some confounding factor (e.g. diabetes, or a medication that requires food at certain times, etc). If adhered to healthily, the benefits appear to be comparable for each, though.
Protein restriction
In contrast to our recent main feature Protein vs Sarcopenia, in which that week’s featured expert argued for high protein consumption levels, protein restriction can, on the other hand, have anti-aging effects. A reminder that our body is a complex organism, and sometimes what’s good for one thing is bad for another!
Dr. Greger offers protein restriction as a way to get many of the benefits of caloric restriction, without caloric restriction. He further notes that caloric restriction without protein restriction doesn’t decrease IGF-1 levels (a marker of aging).
However, for FGF21 levels (these are good and we want them higher to stay younger), what matters more than lowering proteins in general is lowering levels of the amino acid methionine—found mostly in animal products, not plants—so the source of the protein matters:
For example, legumes deliver only 5–10% of the methionine that meat does, for the same amount of protein, so that’s a factor to bear in mind.
NAD+
This is about nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide, or NAD+ to its friends.
NAD+ levels decline with age, and that decline is a causal factor in aging, and boosting the levels can slow aging:
Therapeutic Potential of NAD-Boosting Molecules: The In Vivo Evidence
Can we get NAD+ from food? We can, but not in useful quantities or with sufficient bioavailability.
Supplements, then? Dr. Greger finds the evidence for their usefulness lacking, in interventional trials.
How to boost NAD+, then? Dr. Greger prescribes…
Exercise! It boosts levels by 127% (i.e., it more than doubles the levels), based on a modest three-week exercise bike regimen:
Skeletal muscle NAMPT is induced by exercise in humans
Another study on resistance training found the same 127% boost:
Take care!
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How can I get water out of my ear after swimming?
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Swimming is one of the best parts of summer. But long after you’ve cooled down and dried off, you might be left with a niggling feeling – there is still water in your ear.
Your ear may feel full or blocked and sounds may be muffled. You may even hear some gurgling or rustling noises.
While water usually drains naturally, a few tips can help speed things up and prevent swimmer’s ear, a common infection after swimming.
Rhett Noonan/Unsplash Why water gets stuck
You might think your ear canal is a straight tube, but it’s not. It bends twice, and some people’s canals are naturally narrower than others.
The ear canal is lined with hair and wax for protection. It can also develop extra bone growth (exostoses) from years of cold-water swimming, sometimes known as “surfer’s ear”, which can make it even narrower.
When you swim, water can easily get past all these curves and barriers when you dip your head under water or get splashed. But getting it out afterwards can be tricky.
The ear canal bends twice and is naturally narrower in some people. Leonello Calvetti/Stocktreck Images/Getty Try the simplest things first
Wiggle and tilt
Gently tug your earlobe up and down while tipping the blocked ear towards your shoulder. This straightens the ear canal and lets gravity help drain water out.
Lie on your side
Lay on your side on a towel for a few minutes, then roll over to the other side. Gravity will help again. In summer, warmth from the sun and towel can also help water in the ear dry faster.
Cup and pump
Press your slightly cupped palm over your ear to form a seal, then gently push and release to create a vacuum effect. You can also press the tragus (the firm skin in front of your ear canal) over the opening of your ear canal several times to encourage movement and drainage.
The tragus is the small cartilage flap covering the ear canal’s opening. Kindel Media/Pexels Do I need ear drops?
If none of these tips have worked so far, you might need some ear drops designed to dry out your ears.
Typically, these contain alcohol, which helps water evaporate faster. You can get these over the counter from a pharmacy.
But be sure to read the instructions, and don’t use them if you have any ear pain, discharge, an ear infection or a hole in your eardrum (or grommets, which are tiny tubes surgically inserted in the eardrum).
Some people make their own drops, using a solution of rubbing alcohol and white vinegar in equal proportions. This makes the ear canal more acidic, which can help prevent bacteria and fungal growth.
Be cautious when you use your own drops (again, don’t use them if you think you have a hole in your eardrum) and only use a few drops in each ear.
What not to do
Never put anything in your ears – even fingers or the tip of a towel can push water, wax and anything else trapped in your ear deeper and worsen the problem.
You might also scratch the delicate canal skin, increasing infection risk.
Avoid cotton buds and stick to the tips above.
Is trapped water dangerous?
Many people find the feeling annoying. But warm, moist places are also ideal for bacteria and fungi, so water trapped in the ear canal can lead to swimmer’s ear (otitis externa).
Symptoms include pain when moving the outer ear (the bit you can see), itchiness, discharge, redness or swelling, and sometimes fever.
Around one in ten people experience it at some point in their lives, most often during summer, and kids aged 7–14 are at higher risk.
If you suspect you have swimmer’s ear, it is important to see a medical professional as you will likely need treatment (typically antibiotic drops and pain relief).
Avoid swimming after storms or in polluted water, which carries more bacteria.
Freshwater sources such as rivers and lakes pose greater risk than salty ocean water, while properly chlorinated pools are generally pretty safe.
How to avoid it and when to seek help
If you don’t like the feeling after swimming – or you frequently get water trapped in your ears – invest in a swim cap or some ear plugs. Audiologists can help you find or customise earplugs to fit your ears.
Prioritise drying out ears once you are finished swimming, and use some of the tips above. For kids, making it into a game can help.
If an ear feels painful, inflamed or looks swollen, there might be an ear infection and it’s best to seek advice and attention from your GP.
If you still feel like you have water in your ears after two to three days, it’s best to also get it checked out.
Peter Carew, Senior Lecturer in Audiology, The University of Melbourne; Murdoch Children’s Research Institute
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
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Papaya vs Passion Fruit – Which is Healthier?
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Our Verdict
When comparing papaya to passion fruit, we picked the passion fruit.
Why?
In terms of macros, passion fruit wins against most contenders with its very high fiber content, and that’s true here too; passion fruit has more than 6x the fiber, as well as about 2x the carbs and more than 4x the protein, giving it an easy win in the macros category.
In the category of vitamins, papaya has more of vitamins B9, C, E, and K, while passion fruit has more of vitamins A, B2, B3, B6, and choline. Thus, a marginal win for passion fruit, or perhaps a tie if we want to take into consideration that papaya has 15x the vitamin E content, which is rather more of a margin of different than the rest of the vitamins being compared here.
When it comes to minerals, things are less balanced again; papaya has more calcium, while passion fruit has more copper, iron, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, potassium, and zinc. An easy win for passion fruit.
Adding up the sections makes for a clear overall win for passion fruit, but by all means enjoy either or both; diversity is good!
Want to learn more?
You might like:
What’s Your Plant Diversity Score?
Enjoy!
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How To Get Rid Of A Sebaceous Cyst
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Any pimple-poppers in the house? If so, we’re going to have to ask you to desist if you want to de-cyst!
Dr. Andrea Suarez explains:
If you want it to not come back…
First let’s examine what it actually is: these are cysts formed from the pore (but not the sebaceous gland, despite the misleading term “sebaceous cyst”, to which many medical professionals have objected but it is still the term in widest use in English); they’re sacs lined with epidermis (skin) that fill with keratin (not sebum).
Not to be mistaken for:
- pilar (trichilemmal) cysts: usually on the scalp (but can also occur where there is facial hair), no central pore, firmer
- acne pseudocysts: occur with other acne lesions, not in isolation, and don’t have a central pore
- lipomas: rubbery, fatty lumps with no pore or keratin inside
Back to epidermal, “sebaceous” cysts: they’re often painless and medically harmless, but if ruptured (especially by squeezing), they invariably become inflamed, painful, and vulnerable to infection.
They can go away by themselves, but most people don’t love the appearance, and often they grow larger with time, which can be a reason you might want to take action.
The bad news: the only effective treatment is surgical excision, including complete removal of the cyst sac; if any of the wall is left, the cyst can return. That’s why you shouldn’t try to do it at home.
Another thing to be aware of is that excision is easier and leaves a smaller scar if done before rupture; ruptured cysts create more scar tissue, making surgery harder and scarring worse.
For more on all of this, enjoy:
Click Here If The Embedded Video Doesn’t Load Automatically!
Want to learn more?
You might also like:
Why Do We Have Pores, And Could We Not?
Take care!
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What Your Mucus Says About Your Health
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It’s not a sexy topic (unless perhaps you have a fetish), but it is a useful topic to know about.
So, let’s get down to business with this much-maligned bodily fluid:
What is mucus? And why?
Sometimes, it can seem that mucus only exists to be an inconvenience, and to convey disease.
And… Actually, that’s mostly true.
While some kinds of mucus have other jobs beyond the scope of today’s article (did you know semen is mostly mucus? If not, now you do), the primary job of most of our mucus is to stop things (especially pathogens) going where they shouldn’t.
So, in essence, it really does exist to be an inconvenience—to pathogens. And to convey those pathogens to where they can be disposed of safely, either outside of the body, or to be an easy meal (what with being stuck in mucus, and thus at least moderately immobilized) for our various active immune cells. To make matters worse for the pathogens, there are (usually) enzymes in our mucus that have antimicrobial properties, too.
Some of mucus’s protective role can be in other ways too, such as by lining our stomach. You know, the stomach that contains the acid that can dissolve meat, despite us also being made of meat.
The slimiest rainbow
Ok, maybe not the slimiest rainbow—there’s probably a YouTube slime channel producing more colors. But, our noses are capable of dispensing astonishing quantities of mucus sometimes, and the color can vary widely, so here’s what we can know from that:
Clear
This is as it should be, in good health. If you’re getting lots of it but it’s clear, then it’s usually allergies, but watch out in case it changes color, heralding an infection. This “clear is how it looks when in ideal health”, by the way, is why when someone is sobbing in abject grief, any mucus that shows up to add to that picture will generally be clear.
White
As above, but now inflamed. Inflammation is usually something we don’t want, but in the case of a threat from a pathogen, we actually do want acute inflammation like this—the body is assembling its armies, of which, the most visible (when they appear in mass) are white blood cells. Because of their abundant presence at this stage, the mucus will also become thicker.
Yellow
As above, but the battle is now truly underway, and the yellow color comes from dead white blood cells. This does not, however, mean the battle is necessarily going badly—the body treats its white blood cells as very disposable fighters, and their deaths in large numbers are expected and normal when doing battle.
Green
As above, but neutrophils (a specific kind of white blood cell) have joined the party. They release an enzyme that colors the mucus green—and kills a lot of pathogens. Popular lore says that green mucus means a bacterial infection, but it’s not always so; these can be deployed against viruses too, depending on various factors beyond the scope of this article (but generally pertaining to severity). In any case, this too does not mean the battle is necessarily going badly, but it does express that your body is taking it very seriously—and you should, too.
Red
Nothing to do with infections, usually—it’s just a little blood (the red kind, this time). Usually it got into the mucus because the mucus membrane got damaged, usually due to some kind of physical trauma (e.g. very vigorous nose-blowing, poking things up the nose, etc) or sometimes if the air is very dry (then the mucus itself can dry out, and become stabby inside the nose; when more mucus is produced, it gets infused with blood from the injury).
Pink
As above, but combined with the “white” stage of infection response.
Orange
As above, but combined with the “yellow” stage of infection response.
Brown
As above, but the blood has oxidized—or, as a completely alterative possibility, it could mean you have been breathing a lot of pollutants. Smoke of various kinds (from fires, from smoking, etc) can cause this.
Black
There are various possible explanations here and all of them are bad. Get thee to a doctor. Superficial examples include:
- Fungal infection (you thought toxic black mold was bad when it was on the wall of the house, wait until it’s on the walls of your respiratory system)
- Blood, in abundance, oxidized (which begs the question of what caused that, but certainly: something wrong is not right)
- Pollutants again, but this time at absurd levels of exposure
That last one might sound very transient and self-correcting, but it’s not, and it comes with many increased short- and long-term health risks.
Want to know more?
Knowledge is power, so read up, and stay well:
- Beyond Supplements: The Real Immune-Boosters!
- The Cold Truth About Respiratory Infections
- Why Some People Get Sick More (And How To Not Be One Of Them)
Take care!
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Kettlebell Sport & Fitness Basics – by Audrey Burgio
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Professional athlete & coach Audrey Burgio covers how to get a full-body workout that will make you stronger and more flexible (there are stretches here too, and many exercises are about strength and suppleness), as well as building stability and balance. In short, more robust and with better mobility.
Which is one of the best things about kettlebell training—unlike dumbbells and barbells, a kettlebell requires the kind of strength that one has to use when doing many routine tasks, from carrying the groceries to moving a big pan in the kitchen.
Because it is otherwise absolutely possible to look like Arnold Schwarzenegger in the gym, and then still pull a muscle moving something at home because the angle was awkward or somesuch!
However, making one’s body so robust does require training safely, and the clear instructions in this book will help the reader avoid injuries that might otherwise be incurred by just picking up some kettlebells and guessing.
Bottom line: if you’d like to get strong and supple from the comfort of your own home, this book can definitely lead the way!
Click here to check out Kettlebell Sport & Fitness Basics, and see the difference in your body!
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The Insomnia Breakthrough – by Katherine Coleman
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The author, a massage therapist, knows plenty about relaxation. But how to put that to use when it comes to getting good quality sleep?
She takes a holistic approach, and yes, does start by covering all the things you’d expect to find in any guide to better sleep (aim for regular schedule, have darkness when you sleep, cool room, clean sheets, no alcohol or caffeine before bed, etc).
What she offers in particular beyond that, is the integration of calming routines, building in mindfulness for sleep (when very often people will go for the opposite!), and small cumulative lifestyle adjustments that are conducive to getting a better night’s rest every night.
The style is very light pop-science (as one might expect from someone who is not, in fact, a scientist), and while we do get a bibliography at the back, it’s a meagre 4 pages. Nevertheless, there’s a lot of interdisciplinary knowledge here, explained well.
Bottom line: if improving your sleep is something you’d like to do, this book can almost certainly get you on the right track.
Click here to check out The Insomnia Breakthrough, and don’t stay up too late reading it!
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