Newsletter #056: Smart Light Patterns & the Epigenetic Clock ⌛
Hello Friends!
Welcome to the latest edition of the humanOS newsletter! Here is where we share our work, and the various studies and media that captured our attention this week. 🤓
New humanOS Feature
How-to Guide - Smart Daily Light
This week, we’d like to highlight our How-to Guide for Smart Daily Light. We evolved in the presence of natural daily cycles of light and darkness. But obviously, the invention of artificial lighting means that we can now fully control when and how much light we’re exposed to, which has altered this relationship. Today, most of us spend the majority of the day indoors, under comparatively dim artificial lights. Then, after sundown, we are exposed to more bright light, and importantly more blue light due to our digital devices. Consequently, we are getting less bright light during the day and less darkness at night.
This is important because light sends crucial signals to the body, and the intensity and timing of this light matters for your health as well as your performance. But fortunately, there is a lot you can do about it. In this guide, we discuss how you can achieve a pattern of natural light and darkness in the modern world by adjusting behavior, modifying your indoor spaces, configuring your devices, and more.
New humanOS Content
humanOS Radio: The Epigenetic Clock: Are You Biologically Older or Younger Than Your Chronological Age? Podcast with Ken Raj.
We tend to think of age in terms of the number of years we have been alive. Which makes sense, of course. But your chronological age is not necessarily a wholly accurate measure of your health or your life expectancy. We are coming to realize that a better predictor may be your biological age - and that can be quite different. So how do you learn your biological age? And what can we do with this information?
In this week’s episode of humanOS Radio, Dan speaks with Ken Raj. Ken has worked extensively with Dr. Steve Horvath of UCLA in developing and interpreting genomic biomarkers of aging. They are best known for developing the “epigenetic clock,” which you may already be familiar with. It is a tool that predicts life expectancy by examining age-related changes to DNA methylation, then using that information to calculate biological age in relation to chronological age. The epigenetic clock is able to predict life expectancy with remarkable accuracy - with a margin of error of plus or minus three years.
In this podcast, Dan and Ken discuss:
⏳ Whether DNA methylation changes are the “drivers” or the “passengers” of biological aging, and how direct a role they play in the aging process.
⏳ Whether or not epigenetic changes can be passed down from generation to generation.
⏳ Whether or not someone with a biological age greater than their chronological age is more likely to develop certain pathologies.
⏳ What diet and lifestyle factors have been researched to show an impact on epigenetic aging.
⏳ And much more!
humanOS Live
Dan Pardi: The International Evolutionary Health Conference (Speaker, June 8).
This Week’s Research Highlights
😟 Probiotics may help alleviate anxiety and biomarkers of stress.
Researchers recruited 111 adults suffering from stress and anxiety, and randomly assigned them to either a placebo or Lactobacillus plantarum DR7 (1×109 cfu/day). After 12 weeks, the probiotic group showed reduced symptoms of stress and anxiety, and improved performance in cognitive and memory functions. In addition, plasma cortisol and pro-inflammatory cytokines were also reduced in the group taking the probiotic. Results seemed to be associated with enhancement of the serotonin pathway and stabilization of the dopamine pathway.
🥗 Fasting-mimicking diets modulate the gut microbiota and promote intestinal regeneration in a rodent model of inflammatory bowel disease.
Researchers assigned mice to a fasting-mimicking diet, wherein they consumed about 50% of their normal caloric intake on the first day, then 10% of their normal intake in three subsequent days. After two cycles of this regimen, the mice showed reduced intestinal inflammation, increased stem cell number, and higher numbers of protective microbes in the gut. Interestingly, water fasting did not show the same impact, suggesting that some nutrients may be needed to feed the beneficial bacteria and fuel some of the other observed effects.
🚶♂️ Walking and strength training may protect against liver disease.
Researchers prospectively followed 68449 women from the Nurses' Health Study and 48748 men from the Health Professionals Follow-up Study, none of whom had known liver disease at baseline. Participants provided highly accurate data on physical activity, including type and intensity, every two years (1986-2012). Adults in the highest quintile of weekly walking activity had 73% lower risk for cirrhosis-related death than those in the lowest quintile. Further risk reduction was observed with combined walking and resistance exercises.
🦠 Westernized diet and lifestyle are associated with insulin resistance, and the gut microbiota may play a key role.
Researchers examined 14 native Japanese men living in Hiroshima, and 14 Japanese-American men living in Los Angeles. All participants were given an oral glucose tolerance test, and the composition of the gut microbiota was also assessed. Unsurprisingly, Japanese-American men showed signs of being more insulin resistant, compared to native Japanese counterparts. Notably, they also showed differences in the composition of the gut microbiota. The Japanese men showed higher abundance of Odoribacter, and this difference correlated with the measures of insulin sensitivity.
🤰 Eating a diet that is too rich in omega-6 may be harmful in pregnancy.
Pregnant rats were fed a diet high in linoleic acid (6.21% of energy). Compared to counterparts eating a diet low in linoleic acid, the experimental group shows altered levels of inflammatory proteins in the liver, lower levels of leptin, and higher levels of prostaglandin E. In addition, rats consuming the high linoleic acid diet produced substantially fewer male offspring - perhaps due to inflammation associated with higher levels of prostaglandins.
Podcasts We Loved This Week
- David Sinclair: Extending human lifespan and the science behind aging. Via the Rich Roll Podcast.
- Nick Gant: Neurometabolism - Brain Function, Fatigue & Nutrient Interventions. Via Sigma Nutrition Radio.
- David. O. Carpenter: Environmental intolerance. Via Metagenics Clinical Podcast.
Products We Are Enjoying
French Press
Ginny says: You can, of course, use this for making coffee (and I have, with good success). But I actually use this primarily for making teas. It seems to be the easiest and most cost-effective way to prepare yerba mate in particular, which tends to be a lot cheaper when purchased loose.