Newsletter #105: Microwaving Broccoli, Hourly Sprints, & Pantyhose Masks 🥦
Hello Friends!
Welcome to the latest edition of the humanOS newsletter! 🤓 Below is our work, plus a roundup of the various studies and media that we stumbled upon this week. 👇
This Week’s Research Highlights
😷 Adding a layer of pantyhose to homemade masks may significantly boost its ability to filter out small particles.
Researchers collected ten homemade fabric masks with different designs, as well as three commercially produced surgical masks. They used an instrument called a PortaCount - which is normally used to fit-test the filtering capabilities of medical-grade masks like N95 respirators - to measure the ability to block out particles ranging from 20-1000 nanometers. The device measured the number of particles immediately outside and inside each mask while someone was wearing it. Then, the researchers added a nylon stocking overlayer made by cutting a ring of material, about 8 to 10 inches top to bottom, from one leg on a pair of pantyhose. When worn alone, the homemade masks' abilities to filter varied widely, with some blocking fewer than 30% of particles. But adding the pantyhose layer boosted all the masks' performance by anywhere from 15% to 50%.
🍟 Consumption of ultra-processed food is linked to greater adiposity in the UK population.
Researchers studied data from 6143 participants sampled by the UK National Diet and Nutrition Survey to determine associations between dietary contribution of ultra-processed foods and various measures of adiposity. In multivariable analyses, the highest consumption of ultra-processed food was associated with 90% higher odds for being obese, compared to the lowest consumption. A similar dose-response relationship was observed in both sexes, with a 10% increase in the consumption of ultra-processed foods being associated with a 18% increase in the prevalence of obesity in men and a 17% increase in women.
🚴 Very short sprint intervals throughout the day can prevent impairment in postprandial fat metabolism associated with inactivity.
Four men and four women participated in two trials. These interventions consisted of an 8-hour period of sitting (kind of like a typical workday for most of us 😬), or a trial with equal sitting time interrupted with five 4-second sprints using an inertial load ergometer every hour. Compared to when they sat the whole time the sprint trial resulted in a 31% decrease in plasma triglyceride incremental AUC and a 43% increase in whole-body fat oxidation.
🥦 Microwave cooking increases levels of sulforaphane in broccoli.
Researchers took broccoli samples and exposed them to either conventional low-temperature cooking (in water in a covered pot), or immersed in water and cooked in a microwave oven at various settings and power levels. After cooking, samples were freeze-dried and analyzed for bioactive compounds. Both microwave treatment and mild heating increased glucoraphanin and sulforaphane levels compared to raw samples, but the microwave cooking produced the best results.
Compared to conventional cooking, the microwave heating increased GLR and SFR yield by about 80% at 50 and 60°C. Microwave power level also influenced sulforaphane contents. High‐power microwave (950 W) produced over 40% more sulforaphane than low‐power microwave treatment (475 W).
Podcasts We Loved This Week
- Josh Turknett: How to Protect Your Brain from Decline. Via Nourish Balance Thrive Podcast.
- Eric Trexler: Antioxidants, Oxidative Stress, & Exercise Adaptations. Sigma Nutrition Radio.
- Mark Blagrove and Julia Lockheart: Do Dreams Have a Social Function? COVID-19 Special Report. Via Sleep Junkies.
Products We Are Enjoying
Seaweed snacks.
These add a rich, savory flavor to soups, salads, and whatever else you like to eat, while adding very little salt or fat. They are also pretty nutritious (well, at least for something with only 25 calories). They contain a decent amount of vitamin C, iron, and about 50 mcg of iodine (31% of daily value). We like this brand because they’re pretty easy to find at grocery stores and Amazon, and they have an assortment of interesting flavors, but there are plenty of different options out there. You might also try heading to an Asian grocery.
New humanOS Content
- humanOS Blog: The Complicated Relationship Between Sleep and Mood. Podcast with Dr. Jennifer Goldschmied
In this episode of humanOS Radio, Dan speaks with Jennifer Goldschmied. Jennifer has a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Michigan, and is currently faculty at the University of Pennsylvania.
Her research explores how altering aspects of sleep can produce changes in mood and emotional regulation, particularly in those with major depression. Jennifer’s work has led her to investigate a long-recognized but poorly understood clinical paradox: Certain individuals actually experience mood improvement in response to sleep loss. You read that right - total sleep deprivation has been shown to have antidepressant effects. Remarkably, an estimated 40-60% of people with major depression may experience significant improvements in symptoms.
Of course, these benefits dissipate once the patient’s sleep is restored, which is probably why interest in this as a therapy has lagged. But Jennifer and her colleagues are starting to figure out why precisely sleep deprivation seems to improve mood, and which individuals might stand to benefit from sleep manipulation. You can imagine that gaining insight into this strange phenomenon may eventually lead to new treatments for depression and other mental disorders. To learn more about her fascinating research, and what is on the horizon for this work, check out the interview!
