The catch: SSRIs worsened every metabolic marker measured
Running improved them all 🧵1/8
The MOTAR trial setup: 45 patients took escitalopram 10-20mg daily, 96 chose supervised running (45min outdoor sessions 2-3x/week)
Both groups allowed psychotherapy
After 16 weeks, mental health outcomes were identical, but metabolic health diverged dramatically /2
The pills that fixed mood were harming metabolism /3
Running group lost weight (-0.6kg), trimmed waist circumference (-1.6cm), dropped BP (-2.5/-2.9 mmHg)
Heart rate variability improved, resting pulse dropped -3.4bpm
Among adherent runners: VO₂max increased 2.9 ml/kg/min /4
The protocol:
Weeks 1-4 at 50-70% heart rate reserve (can speak full sentences)
Weeks 5-16 at 70-85% HRR (only short phrases possible) 10min warmup + 30min main effort + 5min cooldown /5
Only 52% of runners completed ≥22 sessions vs 82% medication compliance
15% assigned to running never even started
Yet running STILL matched SSRI effectiveness despite low adherence
Imagine if we solved the adherence and motivation puzzle /6
In summary, running therapy had similar remission rates for depression and anxiety while every metabolic marker improved in the opposite direction of SSRIs, adding to a growing body of research about the benefits of exercise on mental health /7
Full analysis + weekly protocols and research breakdowns here /8 brandonluumd.com
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Could restricting carbs for one day lead to the same benefits as fasting?
A new study suggests yes: carb restriction alone (same calories) produces similar fat-burning shifts and reduced triglycerides as calorie restriction… but there is a catch.
Let's break it down 🧵1/9
Intermittent fasting and keto promise similar metabolic benefits: enhanced fat burning, weight loss, better blood lipids (in some cases)
But fasting days are brutal. Keto requires constant vigilance
Researchers asked: What if it's the carb restriction, not calorie restriction, driving the benefits? /2
The study: 12 healthy adults (avg age 27) tested 3 interventions in random order:
-Normal diet: 55% carbs, normal calories
-Low-carb normal calories: 50g carbs, same total calories
-Low-carb restricted: 50g carbs, 75% fewer calories
Then tracked metabolic response to high-fat meal /3
I was too, until medical school forced me to examine what the research actually says about learning.
These 8 evidence-based protocols helped me learn twice as much in half the time 🧵 1/8
Stop rereading your notes. Start testing yourself.
Students who tested themselves retained 21% more after one week vs those who reread 4x in the same amount of time.
After longer periods: testers forgot 14% while re-readers forgot 52% /2
Watch everything at 2x speed.
Study of 231 students: No difference in retention between 1x and 2x speed. Threshold is 2.5x.
Better yet: Watching at 2x twice (week apart) beats watching 1x once. Same time, better retention. /3
Misaligned clocks = higher infection rates and impaired cancer protection.
Here's how to use temperature, meal timing, and exercise to optimize your cellular timekeepers 🧵1/8
Morning eating amplifies your natural temperature rise through diet-induced thermogenesis. Evening fasting lets it drop naturally. Plus, timing glucose spikes when baseline glucose is already high (daytime) helps keep your immune cell clocks aligned /2
Cortisol isn't just stress, it's a critical immune timekeeper. Natural pattern: sharp rise before waking, peak within an hour, gradual decline to bedtime. This rhythm controls T cell migration and viral response. Morning exercise stacks perfectly onto this natural cortisol spike /3
What if you could cut ~300 calories daily without changing your diet?
A landmark RCT found extending sleep by just 1.2 hours did exactly that: participants spontaneously ate less without trying.
Here's how sleep is a powerful weight loss tool 🧵 1/8
1/3 of adults get <7 hours of sleep while spending billions on diet programs. This University of Chicago trial on people sleeping less than 6.5h/night changed how I think about weight loss in people with sleep deprivation. No diets, no exercise, just sleep /2
A single sleep counseling session → 1.2 hours more sleep → spontaneous weight loss. The sleep group lost 0.87 kg in just 2 weeks. Energy expenditure didn't change: they simply ate less without trying /3