Regular exercise reduces the likelihood of plaque accumulation in the arteries

However, many long-term exercisers appear to have coronary artery calcification, indicating atherosclerosis progression

The fascinating thing is that despite the higher plaque, those people still have lower rates of cardiovascular disease events and mortality

Full video youtu.be/S-NKPZSkbXg

Graph: academic.oup.com/eurheartj/adva… Middle-aged and older athletes, especially those who exercise for over 2000 MET-min/week, have significantly higher coronary artery calcification scores than controls (PMID: 28465287; PMID: 28450347)

You hear that you need to sleep 7-8 hours, but the majority of studies indicate that 7 hours per night is associated with the lowest mortality risk

In fact, 8 hours per night is often associated with a higher risk than 6 hours per night

Full video about how much sleep you need:

PMID: 26900147 Last week, I posted that the Japanese, on average, sleep 5.9 hours a night, but they're the 2nd longest living people in the world (85.27 years)

This is probably due to their very healthy lifestyle and low obesity rates

Microplastics have been found to accumulate in the brain and other organs, and the amount has increased since 2016 (PMID: 38765967)

That's because microplastics are everywhere -in the water, food, and even the air

Besides swapping for plastic-free products, there are some ways to reduce them: First, how do the microplastics get into the brain given the brain is protected by the blood-brain barrier?

1. Nanoplastics from the blood infiltrate the blood-brain barrier (PMID: 37110989)
2. Through the olfactory bulb (PMID: 39283733)

So, the way to reduce the buildup of microplastics in the brain is to remove them from the blood

The soleus muscle underneath the calves is called the second heart because it helps with blood circulation back up to the heart

A 2022 study also found that stimulating the soleus can have significant benefits on your glucose metabolism⬇️⬇️

Blood flow from the feet back up is difficult because it has to fight against gravity

The soleus muscle helps to return deoxygenated blood back to the heart and prevents it from pooling in the legs

That's one of the reasons why sitting or standing for too long can be harmful

Just took 183 bloodmarkers and all came back green

Bookmark this to see optimal ranges for the major bloodmarkers below⬇️⬇️ Glucose and insulin markers

Optimal goals:
HbA1c <5.5%
Fasting glucose: <95 mg/dL
Insulin: <7
HOMA-IR: <1

Height and longevity thread⬇️⬇️

Growth hormone and IGF-1 during developmental years affect body size, but also longevity

You can see it in genetic conditions of excessive growth hormone production - Andre the Giant

As well as insufficient IGF-1 production - Laron's syndrome Andre the Giant had acromegaly - excessive growth hormone and IGF-1 production, resulting in massive growth

Acromegaly is associated with a higher risk of cancer, heart disease, and overall mortality (PMID: 30197531)

People with acromegaly have a 2-fold higher mortality risk compared to the general population

Andre died at 46, but he also drank a lot of alcohol. Regardless, acromegaly is thought to be the reason he died so young

1. Physical fitness is the single best predictor of life expectancy and healthspan. No increased risk was observed with extreme fitness (PMID: 35926933)

8 other key insights on training strategies for optimizing lifespan and cardiovascular health⬇️⬇️

From a 2023 review (PMID: 37091937) 2. Both moderate physical activity (MPA) and vigorous physical activity (VPA) are associated with reduced cardiovascular and all-cause mortality (PMID: 35876019)

More is better for moderate-intensity exercise with respect to cardiovascular health and life expectancy.

Vigorous exercise is also beneficial for optimizing life expectancy and healthspan, but maximal benefits are achieved at 150 minutes/week.

Thiamine deficiency causes rapid insulin resistance and prediabetic symptoms.

Without thiamine, you're on the road to getting type 2 diabetes

Check out this thread to learn how to optimize your thiamine intake to improve resistance and blood sugar levels⬇️⬇️ What happens if you don't get thiamine

In 1939, four young healthy 21-29-year-old women were put on a thiamine-deficient diet (< 0.1 mg per day)(Williams et al 1939).

They all saw progressive impairment in glucose tolerance.

Injecting 1 mg of thiamine chloride subcutaneously for 4 days reversed that phenomenon.

Another 1940 study, on six healthy white women aged 21 to 46 saw that a low thiamine intake of 0.15 mg/day or less also caused diabetic blood sugar curves (Williams 1940).

In this case, as well, thiamine injections at doses of 1 mg reversed these symptoms

Some conclusions from the authors of the studies:

1. thiamine deficiency in as little as 15 days, but especially after 2-3 months, leads to impaired carbohydrate tolerance

2. thiamine supplementation improves glucose tolerance in those who are deficient

3. symptoms of thiamine deficiency are vague (lack of appetite and fatigue)

4. electrocardiogram changes can occur with thiamine deficiency

Exercise is known to be good for us, but how much exercise and is there something like too much exercise?

Exercise is often seen to have a J-shaped curve with mortality risk - not enough is bad but too much is also harmful (PMID: 26187713)

How much is optimal then?⬇️⬇️ The guidelines recommend adults get 150-300 min/week of moderate exercise or 75-150 min/week of vigorous exercise

Meeting that vs not is linked to a 36% lower odds of being overweight and 48% lower odds of being obese (PMID: 37773071)

However, exercising more than that is linked to a reduced risk of mortality

Regular exercise reduces the likelihood of plaque accumulation in the arteries

However, many long-term exercisers appear to have coronary artery calcification, indicating atherosclerosis progression

The fascinating thing is that despite the higher plaque, those people still have lower rates of cardiovascular disease events and mortality

Full video youtu.be/S-NKPZSkbXg

Graph: academic.oup.com/eurheartj/adva… Middle-aged and older athletes, especially those who exercise for over 2000 MET-min/week, have significantly higher coronary artery calcification scores than controls (PMID: 28465287; PMID: 28450347)

Chronically high phosphate intake nukes your kidneys:
- faster decline in kidney function
- heart disease
- higher risk of mortality

In both healthy people and kidney disease patients (PMID: 35511366)

How to avoid⬇️⬇️
Higher phosphorus intake is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease mortality even among people with normal kidney function (PMID: 24225358)

Taurine has become one of the most popular longevity supplements

It mostly started after a study from last year that found that taurine supplementation extended the lifespan of mice by up to 25%

Here's everything you need to know about taurine⬇️⬇️ You do see that taurine levels decrease with age in mice, monkeys, and humans as well

Taurine deficiency is associated with many age-related health problems and poor health like diabetes, liver disease, hypertension, and obesity.

Potassium is the most abundant intracellular cation that helps to maintain intracellular fluid volume.

Without potassium, you'll greatly increase your risk of hypertension, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and stroke

What you need to know about potassium⬇️⬇️ The concentration of potassium in the cell is 30x higher than outside the cell

This difference is regulated by the sodium-potassium ATPase pump

Once activated, the Na-K-ATPase exchanges 2 extracellular potassium ions for 3 intracellular sodium ions

Microneedling is crazily effective for skin aging

The small needles cause microtrauma, triggering collagen synthesis and skin repair - up to 400% increase in collagen synthesis

Full video: youtu.be/n7xjmLa7TR4

Paper: mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/1… In this study, microneedling + topical vitamin A and C resulted in 658% higher epidermal thickness compared to no treatment

Study: pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24513133/

Chromium is the mineral you didn't know you need more of:

- lower blood sugar and Hba1c
- lower cholesterol
- better insulin sensitivity
- better body composition

Deficient chromium can promote insulin resistance and dyslipidemia

Here's how to get your chromium (THREAD⬇️⬇️) In 1959, a novel protein was discovered in Brewer’s yeast that was termed ‘glucose tolerance factor’ (GTF)

GTF's main component was identified to be trivalent chromium

GTF enhances insulin action, thus lowering blood sugar. Chromium is needed for insulin to bind to the cell

Alpha-Ketoglutarate (AKG) is a key metabolite in producing energy

AKG has been seen to extend lifespan and healthspan in mice (PMID: 32877690)

Here's what you need to know about AKG⬇️⬇️ AKG is involved in the metabolism, specifically the Krebs cycle that generates energy (PMID: 32877686)

AKG levels decline with age and AKG regulates certain hallmarks of aging, such as mitochondrial function, genomic stability, and stem cell pluripotency (PMID: 36934991)

NAD depletion promotes many age-related diseases

Aging is a common reason for declining NAD levels, but it's not the root cause

Here's a thread on the things that deplete your NAD pool⬇️⬇️

PMID: 33609766 CD38 is the main consumer of NAD and the primary reason NAD declines with age

CD38 is a glycoprotein that rises during inflammation

CD38 levels increase 2-3-fold during aging, which is paralleled by a decrease in NAD

PMID: 27304511

Glutathione is called the body's master antioxidant:
- protects against oxidative stress
- has anti-inflammatory effects
- supports liver detoxification

Deficient glutathione underlies the oxidative stress in aging

Here's how to make enough glutathione⬇️⬇️

PMID: 34439468 Glutathione is made of primarily glutamine, cysteine, and glycine, which are amino acids

Glutathione synthesis is rate-limited by glycine (PMID: 29559876)

Taking N-acetylcysteine (NAC) and glycine has been shown to increase glutathione levels (PMID: 17602868; PMID: 21795440)

Sauna use is one of the oldest biohacks that can promote your longevity:

- 63% lower risk of sudden cardiac death
- 63% reduced heart disease mortality
- 46% lower risk of hypertension
- 40% reduced all-cause mortality

And much more (THREAD) Sauna use has many preventive effects on cardiovascular disease, hypertension, diabetes, neurodegeneration, and other chronic diseases (Patrick et al 2021)

Sauna mimics a lot of the benefits of exercise through hyperthermia and heat shock proteins

There's a proverb that you only have a certain amount of heartbeats in your life

Low resting heart rate (RHR) and high heart rate variability (HRV) is a good sign of good heart health and fitness

Low RHR and high HRV also linked to lower risk of all-cause mortality (THREAD⬇️) A meta-analysis that included 1,2 million people found that

- compared to 45 beats/min, every 10 beats/min increment was linked to a 9% higher risk of all-cause mortality and 8% for cardiovascular mortality

PMID: 26598376

Glycine has many cardioprotective effects:

- increased antioxidant defense through glutathione
- reduction in inflammation and oxidative stress
- lowering of blood pressure
- lowering of blood sugar
- lowering of homocysteine
- reduction in platelet aggregation

PMID: 23615880 Glutathione is the master antioxidant that protects the body against oxidative stress and inflammation

Low glutathione levels contribute to aging and age-related diseases (PMID: 21795440)

Glutathione synthesis is rate-limited by glycine (PMID: 29559876)