Archived News of the Week

December Newsletter 2019

Super Human, The Bulletproof Plan to Age Backward and Maybe Even Live Forever by Dave Asprey, 2019.

"Aging is death by a thousand cuts."

Despite the downer quote above, this guy is a real hoot and I thoroughly enjoyed reading his latest book. He's funny, self-effacing, often very TMI (eg. how his penis grew with his lifestyle changes plus everything you may or may not want to know about his bowel habits) but underneath it all Dave (may I call you Dave?) is quite smart and does his research.

I'm a sucker for numbers, as in "Here are 3 ways to increase your income" or "10 of the cheapest ways to travel to Europe" or in Dave's case, The Four Killers and The Seven Pillars. The Four Killers (of us) are Heart Disease, Diabetes, Alzheimer's, and Cancer. We have a 10% risk of Alzheimer's, a 23% risk of dying from heart disease, a 25% risk of Diabetes and a 40% risk of cancer.

The Seven Pillars (of aging) are: 1) Shrinking Tissues which include muscle wasting or sarcopenia and brain shrinkage or hippocampal atrophy. What can we do? Skip grains altogether, no fried foods, no charred foods, lots of good fats, intermittent fasting and cyclical Keto.

2) Mitochondrial Mutations: Dave thinks this is the biggest reason for aging poorly and dying prematurely and if we can just keep our "girls" happy and healthy, we may just live to 180. (I think this is a lovely pipe dream and fun to think about.) Increased insulin levels, chronic inflammation and heavy metal burden can cause mitochondrial damage. We can deal with all of this with life-style changes and supplements.

3) "Zombie" Cells: These aptly named cells are senescent cells which refuse to go away after they die. They not only sit there doing nothing, but they damage the healthy cells by releasing reactive oxygen species (ROS) which are super-poison to mitochondria. Zombie cells also increase visceral body fat, insulin resistance and arthritis and decrease immunity. I have a product called Senolytic Activator which deals with this, as does a pharmaceutical drug called Metformin. And strawberries, which contain fisetin, are also good for this as is an herb called ashitaba.

4) Cellular Straitjackets: This is when the extracellular matrix, which should be nice and gelatinous, hardens and loses elasticity and thereby loses its ability to cushion and protect all the important stuff within the cells, like organelles and mitochondria Cause? Sugar, foods that inflame and gluten. (Even if I don't find you are blatantly sensitive to gluten, you would be much better off saying sayonara to all gluten, every single bit of it. Avoid it like the poison that it is. Its sticky proteins literally muck up all of your cells, including your brain cells.)

5) ExtracellularJunk: These are misshapen proteins called amyloids, or proteins that stick together. I'm sure you have heard of amyloid proteins in conjunction with Alzheimer's disease. Heavy metal burden can cause this, like excess copper, cadmium, lead and mercury. Also, surprisingly, continuous Keto or low carb diets can also promote this. So, please eat some good carbs, like yams and basmati rice, on your healthy Keto diet and avoid sugar and bad fats. Also work up to a 14-15 hour fast from dinner to breakfast. This long-ish fast is fabulous for your glymphatics.*

6) Junk Buildup Inside Cells: Our waste disposal system is comprised of trillions of lysosomes. They incinerate the junk. So if we want to keep our trash off the streets, then no sugar, bad fats etc; just eat well and healthily.

7) Telomere Shortening: This creates a weakened immune system and opens us wide to the Four Killers and all of the degenerative diseases like heart disease, cancer, diabetes, osteoporosis, Parkinson's and MS. So, to counteract telomere shortening, avoid stress, be sure to exercise religiously, and take some targeted telomere supplements.

*The Glymphatic System is like the lymphatic system except it specializes in power washing the brain while we sleep especially in the first 3-6 hours of deep sleep. It sends CSF through the brain tissue and flushes out cellular waste and neurotoxins. This is huge for maintaining memory as it flushes out amyloid proteins as well. This means you must learn to sleep well or as Dave says, "like a boss." Many of my patients do well with melatonin, "gummies" or a CBD tincture of hemp oil.

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