Day: 12/26/2022

Intermittent Fasting Completely Reverses Type 2 Diabetes in Study

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Intermittent Fasting Meal Planning Concept

According to a new study, patients achieved complete diabetes remission using an intermittent fasting diet intervention.

People with diabetes who fast intermittently may no longer need medication, according to a new study.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), more than 37 million Americans have diabetes, with around 90-95% having type 2 diabetes. There are effective medications, such as metformin (which goes under numerous brand names including Glucophage, Fortamet, Glumetza, and Riomet). It is also known that a healthy diet and regular exercise are essential for diabetes control. Now, a new study reveals that an intermittent fasting diet may reverse type 2 diabetes without the need for medication.

Patients achieved complete diabetes remission after an intermittent fasting diet intervention, according to a new research study. Complete diabetes remission is defined as an HbA1c (average blood sugar) level of less than 6.5% at least one year after stopping diabetes medication. The details were published on December 14 in the Endocrine Society’s Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.

In recent years intermittent fasting diets have become popular as an effective weight loss method. Studies have also found that these diets can help fight inflammation and lead to a longer, healthier life. With intermittent fasting, you only eat during a specific window of time. Fasting for a certain number of hours each day or eating just one meal a couple of days a week can help your body burn fat. Research shows intermittent fasting can lower your risk of diabetes and heart disease.

Intermittent Fasting Heart Health Diet

Studies have found that intermittent fasting can lower your risk of heart disease and diabetes. Other research has found that these diets can be effective for weight loss and can help fight inflammation.

“Type 2 diabetes is not necessarily a permanent, lifelong disease. Diabetes remission is possible if patients lose weight by changing their diet and exercise habits,” said Dongbo Liu, Ph.D., of Hunan Agricultural University in Changsha, China. “Our research shows an intermittent fasting, Chinese Medical Nutrition Therapy (CMNT), can lead to diabetes remission in people with type 2 diabetes, and these findings could have a major impact on the over 537 million adults worldwide who suffer from the disease.”

The scientists conducted a 3-month intermittent fasting diet intervention among 36 people with diabetes and found that nearly 90% of participants, including those who took blood sugar-lowering agents and insulin, reduced their diabetes medication intake after intermittent fasting. Fifty-five percent of these people experienced diabetes remission, discontinued their diabetes medication, and maintained it for at least one year.

Results of the study challenge the conventional view that diabetes remission can only be achieved in those with a shorter diabetes duration (0-6 years). In fact, sixty-five percent of the study participants who achieved diabetes remission had a diabetes duration of more than 6 years (6-11 years).

“Diabetes medications are costly and a barrier for many patients who are trying to effectively manage their diabetes. Our study saw medication costs decrease by 77% in people with diabetes after intermittent fasting,” Liu said.

Reference: “Effect of an Intermittent Calorie-restricted Diet on Type 2 Diabetes Remission: A Randomized Controlled Trial” by Xiao Yang, Jiali Zhou, Huige Shao, Bi Huang, Xincong Kang, Ruiyu Wu, Fangzhou Bian, Minghai Hu and Dongbo Liu, 14 December 2022, The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.
DOI: 10.1210/clinem/dgac661

The other authors of this study are Xiao Yang of Hunan Agricultural University, the State Key Laboratory of Subhealth Intervention Technology and Changsha and Tourism College in Changsha, China; Jiali Zhou of Hunan Agricultural University and the Department of Shizi Mountain Primary Care in Changsha, China; Huige Shao and Bi Huang of Changsha Central Hospital in Changsha, China; Xincong Kang of Hunan Agricultural University, the National Research Center of Engineering Technology for Utilization Ingredients From Botanicals and the Hunan Provincial Engineering Research Center of Medical Nutrition Intervention Technology for Metabolic Diseases in Changsha, China; Ruiyu Wu of Hunan Agricultural University and the State Key Laboratory of Subhealth Intervention Technology Achievement Application Center in Changsha, China; Fangzhou Bian of the University of California Irvine in Irvine, Calif.; and Minghai Hu of Central South University in Changsha, China.

The study received funding from the National Natural Science Foundation of China.

Lead and Cadmium Could Be in Your Dark Chocolate

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Consumer Reports found dangerous heavy metals in chocolate from Hershey’s, Theo, Trader Joe’s and other popular brands. Here are the ones that had the most, and some that are safer.

Lead and Cadmium element symbols on pieces of dark chocolate.

December 15, 2022

By Kevin Loria

Data visualizations by Andy Bergmann

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For many of us, chocolate is more than just a tasty treat. It’s a mood lifter, an energy booster, a reward after a tough day, a favorite holiday gift. 

People also choose dark chocolate in particular for its potential health benefits, thanks to studies that suggest its rich supply of antioxidants may improve heart health and other conditions, and for its relatively low levels of sugar. In fact, more than half of people in a recent survey from the National Confectioners Association described dark chocolate as a “better for you” candy.

But there’s a dark side to this “healthier” chocolate. Research has found that some dark chocolate bars contain cadmium and lead—two heavy metals linked to a host of health problems in children and adults. 

The chocolate industry has been grappling with ways to lower those levels. To see how much of a risk these favorite treats pose, Consumer Reports scientists recently measured the amount of heavy metals in 28 dark chocolate bars. They detected cadmium and lead in all of them.

Heavy Metals in Dark Chocolate

CR tested a mix of brands, including smaller ones, such as Alter Eco and Mast, and more familiar ones, like Dove and Ghirardelli. 

For 23 of the bars, eating just an ounce a day would put an adult over a level that public health authorities and CR’s experts say may be harmful for at least one of those heavy metals. Five of the bars were above those levels for both cadmium and lead.

That’s risky stuff: Consistent, long-term exposure to even small amounts of heavy metals can lead to a variety of health problems. The danger is greatest for pregnant people and young children because the metals can cause developmental problems, affect brain development, and lead to lower IQ, says Tunde Akinleye, the CR food safety researcher who led this testing project. 

“But there are risks for people of any age,” he says. Frequent exposure to lead in adults, for example, can lead to nervous system problems, hypertension, immune system suppression, kidney damage, and reproductive issues. While most people don’t eat chocolate every day, 15 percent do, according to the market research firm Mintel. Even if you aren’t a frequent consumer of chocolate, lead and cadmium can still be a concern. It can be found in many other foods—such as sweet potatoes, spinach, and carrots—and small amounts from multiple sources can add up to dangerous levels. That’s why it’s important to limit exposure when you can.

Still, you don’t need to swear off chocolate entirely, Akinleye says. He adds that while most of the chocolate bars in CR’s tests had concerning levels of lead, cadmium, or both, five of them were relatively low in both. “That shows it’s possible for companies to make products with lower amounts of heavy metals—and for consumers to find safer products that they enjoy,” he says.

And in addition to choosing your dark chocolates wisely, there are a number of other steps you can take to continue enjoying chocolate safely.

8 Reasons Why You Need to Focus on Maximizing Omega 3s

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walnuts

When it comes to protecting your health, not all fats are created equal. At the top of the health pinnacle are the omega-3 fatty acids. By now, a lot of my readers have. absorbed the take-away message that it’s an excellent idea to get a regular dose by including couple of weekly servings of fish – preferably wild, pole-caught, responsibly-sourced – into their routines. But beyond that, the latest research is taking a deeper dive into just why the 3s are so good for us. What’s new in the world of omega 3s? Here’s what you need to know:

Omegas in a nutshell.

First, let’s start with the basics. Omega-3s are one member of the omega fatty acid family which also includes the omega-6s. All of them are polyunsaturated fats. All are considered essential fatty acids, that is, we need them to survive but our bodies don’t produce them so we have to consume them in our diet.

Omegas take action.

The omega-3s have an anti-inflammatory effect inside the body and the omega 6s, a pro-inflammatory effect. We need both types. Inflammation is the body’s first response to injury and infection so we can’t do without the 6s to quickly and briefly come to the repair rescue. The 3s then help put on the brakes on inflammation after it’s served its purpose.

But, as you may also know, it’s runaway inflammation that’s the prime driver of most of our serious, chronic diseases, including our biggest killer, heart disease – so too much of the 6s can spell trouble. The problem is that our modern Western diet is packed with omega 6s and deficient in 3s which goes a long way to explaining why our society’s levels of inflammation-driven conditions like heart disease, diabetes and auto-immune diseases are so high.

Tap into the power – and balance – of omega-3s.

So, keep in mind, when you eat wild salmon or sardines, you’re unleashing the power of omega-3s to help the body heal itself. Researchers have identified a class of molecules produced when the 3s are broken down inside the body, so-called specialized pro-resolving mediators, or SPMs. These SPMs help the immune system with its tricky balancing act – killing toxic invading microbes while limiting the damage done to the body itself. We’re just beginning to appreciate the role that omega-3s fats could play in dealing with the immune system overreaction that drives severe cases of COVID. They may well prove helpful in developing the COVID therapies of the future.

Another interesting and fairly recent development? The development of a blood test, the Omega-3 Index, which accurately measures blood levels of omega-3s .  Most often, I recommend these types of tests to my patients with inflammatory diseases, autoimmune disorders, or a family history of heart disease (or other risk factors). The results will help us develop a health supportive plan, which may include eating more omega-3-rich foods, or taking high-quality fish oil supplements or even pharmaceutical grade omega-3 supplements for more serious situations.

Think of omega-3s as your heart-health ally.

Omega-3 supplements are an excellent, health-supportive ally to have on your menu even if the research has not yet proved that fish oil supplements by themselves reduce the risk of heart attack or stroke. Simply put, a good diet, high in omega-3, is still your best heart protection. But in either form, dietary or supplement, the 3s can lower triglycerides (remember, those high tri levels drive bad cardiac outcomes), keep a lid on blood clotting (a high platelet count increases the risk for heart vessel blockage), and reduce blood pressure. Three actions that love up your heart in all the right ways.

Good omega-3 levels correlate with longer life—so get yours.

The big picture is pretty clear. Last year, an analysis of the data from the famous Framingham heart study showed that omega-3 levels were as good, and sometimes better, predictor of mortality as traditional risk factors like smoking and diabetes. In other words, people who had high levels of omega 3s in their blood lived longer than those who didn’t!

Eating for your 3s.

According to some estimates, Americans may be consuming twenty times as muchomega-6 as omega-3. To bring that ratio back into balance (our ancestors likely ate roughly equal amounts of both), the first step is to boost your 3 consumption with fish (again, wild salmon, mackerel, sardines, anchovies) which have the highest concentrations of the types of omega-3 the body uses most efficiently, DHA and EPA. Plant foods like seeds, nuts and avocadoes mostly have the ALA form which the body doesn’t absorb so well so vegans and vegetarians should definitely go the fish oil supplement route.

Cool it with the 6s.

The second, and equally important step is to cut the crap – and by that we mean processed foods, as they’re all 6-heavy. Processed and junk foods are drenched in
industrially-processed oils, loaded full of chemicals, preservatives, pesticides and countless substances that should have no place in a healthy body. Restaurant meals, particularly fast foods, with less than stellar ingredients and industrial oils are common offenders as well – so cook for yourself as much as possible. Meat was traditionally a good source of 3s. Too bad a majority of Americans eat the industrial product which is high in 6s and low in 3s because the animals are grain-fed. Same goes for virtually all farmed salmon. To take in far fewer 6s, shop for the highest quality grass-fed, pasture-raised meats and wild, sustainably-fished, responsibly-sourced, oily fish. Think quality over quantity.

Omega 3s are good from head-to-toe, and in between.

Though omega 3’s are not a cure-all per se, they do offer a multitude of benefits that can help de-fang some of the ailments taking a bite out of your day-to-day, for example:

• Your head: We may not understand why it works, but clinical studies have shown that an omega-3-rich diet can help with symptoms of depression and anxiety. It’s a promising line of research, so we say 3 cheers for the 3s! And, a recent study showed that people with a higher blood DHA level are 49% less likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease vs. those with lower levels,

• Your menstrual belly: Omega-3s can reduce the pain of menstrual cramps considerably, the theory being, by inhibiting the production of the pain-escalating, inflammatory prostaglandins. Many patients tell me they manage menstrual pain quite effectively with omega-3 supplements, an observation borne out by a small study, in which the supplements outperformed ibuprofen, head-to-head.

• Your hot flashes: Managing menopause with omega-3 supplements has been shown to reduce hot flashes as well as the mild depressive symptoms that can sometimes accompany menopause. Not only do the supplements have an anti-inflammatory effect, they may also help regulate sex hormone levels.

• Your eyes: Your eyes are rich in fat, especially DHA, so it stands to reason that upping your healthy fat consumption is good eye health insurance. In one study, people with macular degeneration, a common cause of blindness, had, on average, low levels of omega 3.

17 Ways to Help Your Microbiome and Brain, Boost Mood, Reduce Anxiety and Support Mental Wellness

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mental health

The past few pandemic years have been a merry-go-round of too many stressors to count. Small wonder self-care has taken center stage as people look for ways to soothe their psyches and carry on. While movement, meditation and relaxation are essential for maintaining an even keel, if you’re eating poorly – think sugar, starchy foods, processed and junk foods – you’ll likely still wind up with slipping and dipping moods. That’s because, in part, the trillions of multi-species bacteria that make up your gut microbiome aren’t getting enough of the nourishment they need to do their best work – and that means your brain suffers too. Simply put, food can have a powerful impact on mood and mental health. If, as the pandemic wanes, you’re finding mood swings, anxiety, depression and other emotional disorders are still taking a toll, take a closer look at what you’re putting in your system. Here’s a top line on how the brain and gut are intimately connected and how you can get them to work together better to put you in a better mood: 

It starts with bacteria.

Patients are often surprised when I talk about how important the ‘gut microbiome,’ – the microscopic bacterial community that lives in our gut – is to our health, well-being, weight, and mood. While it may seem fantastic that these trillions of invisible creatures can affect so many aspects of our health, consider that our bodies did not evolve in a hermetically sealed vacuum. Rather, we co-evolved with the bacteria that were on this planet long before we got here. Consequently, there are many functions we can’t perform on our own. Without the bacteria that live within us, we couldn’t absorb much of the nutrients we consume. And, when that bacterial community is out of balance, it can lead to poor immunity, allergies, joint pain, skin problems – and yes, mood disorders too.

Mood isn’t all in your head.

For decades, mood disorders have been treated primarily with some combination of medication and talk therapies. More recently, as scientists learn more about the continuous two-way conversation between the gut and brain, it’s become obvious that we should look at diet as part of the problem and, ideally, part of the solution. Mood and mental health isn’t all in your head, it’s in your belly too. 

In fact, the gut-brain connection is so powerful, that belly troubles can be the cause of mood disorders or the result of them, even for people with more complex psychiatric issues like OCD and PTSD. A healthy, nutrition-driven diet can be an extremely helpful addition to any treatment plan. No matter where you fall on the mental health spectrum, the idea is to think good food to upgrade mood. A lousy diet, well, that just adds insult to injury.

Your microbes help mood management.

We need the microbiome to keep our gut healthy, and the gut, besides being responsible for digestion, helps us process thoughts and emotion. The belly and brain are constantly communicating via the vagus nerve: sending orders, chemical compounds and information back and forth. (The gut nervous system, the enteric nervous system, is often referred to as “the second brain.”) So, what’s that microbiome doing to affect what your brain’s up to? The bacteria help manage hundreds of functions in the body, including neurotransmitter production, which is where mood and brain come into the picture. 

Among the mood-management agents making the vagus nerve trek from gut to brain are serotonin (the happiness neurotransmitter), gamma-aminobutyric acid or GABA (the calming neurotransmitter) and dopamine (the focus and pleasure neurotransmitter). Also along for the ride are helpful microbiome-made compounds like the short-chain fatty acid butyrate, which supports mood, memory and slows neurological decline. 

So, if your microbiome isn’t being fed the foods they thrive on – think prebiotics, probiotics, healthy wholesome foods — then production of all those mood-supporting chemicals slow to a crawl, short-changing your brain of the stuff that keeps it – and you, feeling good.

Gut bacteria can make you hungry – or not.

You should also realize that your belly bacteria may help influence your food choices as well as the production of the hormones that regulate hunger. According to the journal BioEssays, university researchers concluded that the beneficial bacteria in our guts may be steering us towards the healthy foods that enable them to thrive, while the less beneficial ones may be pushing us toward the bad stuff so they can survive. They can influence our food cravings, change our taste receptors, produce toxins to make us feel bad and release chemical rewards to make us feel good. No wonder some scientists call them “mind-altering micro-organisms!” 

The good news is we are by no means powerless against the microbes battling for dominance. Fortunately, through our own diet and lifestyle choices, we can choose which microbes will manipulate us – and give the friendly bacteria the upper hand against the unfriendly bacteria trying to steer us to their favorite sugars and unhealthy fats.

Feeding your gut and your head matters.

When you eat well, not only are you feeding your gut, but you’re also feeding your head, literally. Just as virtually nutrient-free processed foods and sugar can make you feel tired, uninspired, up one minute and down the next, foods that are fresh, whole and nutrient-packed will keep neurotransmitter and chemical-compound production in your gut humming, and your mood in a better place. What are the best mood foods? Here are my good mood do’s – and the foods that can best help you to keep spirits high:

6 Good Mood Do’s (and the links to help you do them):

  1. Get your gut in order: as in, focus on getting it into balance, healthy and strong
  2. Repair your leaky gut: work on rebalancing it, and ‘plugging up the holes’ that let toxins escape, inflaming your body and tanking mood
  3. Protect your microbiome: with foods and behaviors that soothe, strengthen and protect
  4. Slash your stress: too many stress hormones circulating in your body changes the balance in your gut for the worse, causing unfriendly bacteria to flourish at the expense of the beneficial ones 
  5. Try ditching gluten: a gut that’s not bacterially diverse will likely be more sensitive to gluten, giving rise to allergies, leaky gut and inflammation that can trigger symptoms like “brain fog,” depression and anxiety. Ditching gluten entirely can greatly reduce symptoms, and for some, get rid of them completely, so, why not?
  6. Move more, meditate more, de-stress more: all of which will contribute to the health and balance of both of your brains (the gut ‘brain’ and the brain in your head!)

7 Good Mood Foods:

When you think of food as something that can either help improve your mood, or quickly sink it, choices become considerably easier to make. Instead of mindlessly eating foods now that will only bum you out later, get these goodies into your regular rotation, and enjoy the great taste and good vibes:

  1. Fermented foods: to add friendly bacteria to the gut.
  2. Herbs and spices: great for gut health, with anti-inflammatory, anti-microbial and anti-fungal benefits.
  3. Oily fish: think small, cold-water fish like sardines, anchovies, herring and mackerel. These are all rich in omega 3’s.
  4. Nuts, Seeds & Legumes: a handful of nuts and seeds daily, and small servings of legumes a few times a week will do the trick.
  5. Plain, unflavored kefir, miso and unsweetened kombucha: (many bottled kombuchas are sugar bombs, so read labels closely).
  6. Edible sources of vitamin D: mushrooms, egg yolks, and salmon.
  7. Polyphenol-rich foods: like extra virgin olive oil, berries, green tea, dark chocolate, olives, and much more.

4 Mood-Boosting Supplements:

For additional brain and body a little extra support, supplements can also lend a helping hand: 

  1. Vitamin D: Research indicates a link between low mood and low vitamin D levels, so I encourage patients to take at least 2,000 to 5,000 IU/day through the winter to keep brain chemistry, especially neurotransmitter action, humming.
  2. Omega 3s: With their role in the synthesis of mood-elevating serotonin, the more the merrier, literally.
  3. 5-HTP is the precursor in the biosynthesis of mood-boosting serotonin, so I often recommend 200-400mg at bedtime.
  4. Magnesium: Low levels of magnesium can compound mood dips by inhibiting the conversion of tryptophan to 5-HTP, which can decrease the production of mood-stabilizing serotonin and melatonin. 400-600mg of magnesium glycinate taken at bedtime is well tolerated by most people.

7 Ways to Improve Your Skin through Your Gut

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skin care

You know the old saying, the eyes are the windows to the soul. Maybe that’s true. But what researchers know for sure is that the skin is the window to what’s going on inside the body. 

And when people deal with skin problems like acne, psoriasis, eczema by immediately resorting to over-the-counter creams and lotions, or the pharmaceuticals potions dermatologists routinely prescribe, sufferers often wind up just masking the problem, treating symptoms whose causes are more than skin-deep. And sometimes, even making matters worse. So, what to do instead? How about a more enlightened approach that connects the dots? Here’s where to start:

Skin health – or the opposite — starts on the inside.

Instead of high-tailing it to the drug store for relief, with my patients I often recommend looking into the skin-gut connection first, instead of pharma options. What’s going on inside the gut, especially with the trillions of the bacteria that live there, often directly affects the skin. When the gut microbiome is out of synch with the  rest of the body – a case of too few microbial strains or an overabundance of unfriendly strains – it often makes itself know in the form of common skin rashes, irritations and/or eruptions. 

Your gut and skin are allies.

That the skin and the gut share this connection (and interconnection) shouldn’t come as much of a surprise. Both defend the body against foreign invaders, the skin from harmful bacteria and other toxins in the air and the soil, and the gut from any microbial bad news that enters the GI system along with the food we eat, preventing it from getting into the bloodstream. Both the skin and the gut depend on the friendly bacteria, working in tandem with our human cells, to keep these defenses in good working order. 

Your gut and skin talk to each other – a lot.

Even if we don’t always know the exact conversation between gut and skin, we do know they’re talking to each other. Studies which have looked at people with psoriasis have found that they also have a disordered or altered gut microbiome. It’s a similar story with acne. Studies show an overpopulation of unfriendly bacteria on the skin of acne-sufferers, similar to what we see in the guts of people with common problems like IBS. There is the strong suggestion that gut “dysbiosis” contributes to skin “dysbiosis,” which is also a strong indicator that getting your gut in order should be put high on the healing to-do list.

Messed up microbiomes make skin struggle.

For some skin struggles, topical (and possibly toxic) creams may temporarily tame some symptoms, but they don’t deal with root causes, and one of the biggies is an unbalanced gut microbiome. Though there are a number of ways the delicate bacterial balance in your gut can shift to an unwell state, two big ones – which I can all but guarantee your dermatologist won’t check for (but should!) – are SIBO, or small intestinal bacterial overgrowth and SIFO, or small intestinal fungal overgrowth. To help you and your practitioner determine if SIBO or its fungal cousin SIFO may be wreaking havoc, check out my pointers on how to know if either are undermining your gut health and messing with your skin’s health. 

Inflammation is one of their common enemies.

Inflammation is likely the most common link between skin and gut. As generations of teenagers have discovered, a fatty, greasy high-carb diet is a sure way to pump up the over-production of skin oil, or sebum, which can lead to acne. Research suggests that part of the problem is that a low-fiber, high-carb diet starves the good gut bacteria which contributes to toxins escaping into the bloodstream (“leaky gut”), triggering inflammation throughout the body, including the skin. 

Stress is also a major gut and skin health wrecker.

Stress, another source of systemic inflammation, is another place where gut and skin meet. Again, teenagers, and for that matter, the rest of us, have learned that periods of higher-than-usual anxiety, especially when combined with low or poor sleep, often leads to skin break-outs. At the level of the gut, researchers have found that this kind of mega-stress can actually throw off the production of neurochemicals inside the gut which help calm the body, likely further stressing the skin.  

In addition to run-of-the-mill (but serious) stress, doctors in the mental health field have known for years that patients experiencing serious emotional issues often also have gut and skin problems. On the happier side of the coin, I and my integrative health colleagues appreciate that when we work with our patients on diet and stress to address their gut problems, over time, that healing process tends to result in upgraded skin health, as in skin that’s plumper, smoother, and with a healthier glow. Granted, it’s not a snap-your-fingers instant complexion fix – but over a period of weeks and months, the improvements are hard to miss. 

Get your skin and gut in order – so they can shine.

If you’re ready to start turning the ship around, here are a few steps to start taking now, for big benefits in due time. Try them at your own pace, adding one step at a time, or several at once if that’s easier for you to manage: 

1) Eat Smart: Cut back on sugar and high-carb foods and you’ll likely see the difference in a healthier complexion, for some people in just a matter of days. Add lots of fiber rich veggies, and keep the starchy ones to a minimum. Also steer clear of of lousy-for-the-gut, cheap, industrial oils in processed foods. If you do consume them, don’t be surprised by a dermis rife with skin irritations and/or extra-oily skin prone that’s to break-outs. 

2) Two-week elimination diet: What you eat can have a huge impact on how your skin looks. What’s making it misbehave? One of the most common is food sensitivities, with the most common food irritants being dairy and gluten. If you’ve spent a life loading up on either or both, try going cold turkey for two weeks and see if you one of these common food-skin triggers may be causing a lot of the trouble. 

3) Anti-inflammatory allies: Foods high in omega 3 fatty acids have an system-wide anti-inflammatory effects. Hard to beat small, fatty fish like sardines and anchovies for an anti-inflammatory boost. Think calm, healthy gut, equals calm, healthy skin. If you’re way into sugar, start taking steps to kick it – it’s a major inflamer.

4) Prebiotics and probiotics: High-fiber foods like onions, asparagus and radishes are prebiotic, that is, they feed the friendly bacteria that tamp down inflammation. A cruciferous veggie like broccoli does that and more, helping to detoxify environmental toxins in the liver that can negatively affect skin health. Probiotic foods like sauerkraut, kimchi and kombucha help maintain a healthy gut microbiome balance. 

5) Drink up: Yep, good old-fashioned water. One study found, the more you drink, the healthier your skin was likely to be, so get your  6 – 8, 8 oz glasses every day.

6) De-Stress: Yoga and meditation, any form you like, are excellent ways to take the edge of those over-active stress hormones that can stress out your skin. Deep, high-quality sleep, at least seven hours night, is a must. And moving your body, be it a brisk walk or something more vigorous, packs a beneficial one-two punch. Not only does the physical activity have a calming effect on the nervous system but the sweating that goes along with it stimulates the excretions of toxins from the skin. 

7) Do some SIBO sleuthing: Most of the time, conventional medical professionals are happy to ignore the gut. You, however, should not. If your gut is out of balance, or ‘leaky’, focus on healing and sealing your gut to guide it out of dysbiosis and back into balance. If you and practitioner determine that it’s actually SIBO (or SIFO) causing the trouble, then anti-microbials first is the way to go, as prebiotics and probiotics can worsen symptoms at first – making proper diagnosis especially important. 

Hormesis: The Little ‘Good Stress’ Keeps You Young

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Not to put too fine a point on it but, every moment we are alive, we are aging. And some of us are doing it better than others. When you know someone who looks and feels especially well for their age, with vitality to spare, it’s only natural to wonder, hmmm, what’s their secret? Granted, genetics do play a role, but it’s by no means the whole story. In fact, much more of how well you age is under your control, with genetics thought to be responsible for just 25% of your health. What that means is that incorporating healthy behaviors now is an excellent way help slow your aging roll over time, boost longevity and sidestep many of the problems that can take the life out of your lifespan. How to start upgrading your ‘healthspan’? One of the simplest and most effective ways is to harness the health-boosting power of hormesis. What’s it all about and how to reap the benefits for years to come? Here’s my in-a-nutshell guide to aging better by cultivating a few hormesis-triggering habits:

Hormesis helps make you stronger and more resilient.

So what is hormesis? It’s a biological phenomenon in which low-level exposure to small stressors and toxins actually creates an adaptive, beneficial physiological response. It’s a controlled way of pushing your body just a bit beyond its comfort zone, cueing it to recover and repair. These little stresses, or short periods of adversity, stimulate the body’s longevity gene pathways as well, without causing harm. By adopting hormesis-triggering habits, and in effect, pushing you out of your normal comfort zone (aka, homeostasis) you activate and encourage your body to make the most of it’s off-hours by using the time (mostly while you sleep) to go about the business of detoxifying, renewing, and repairing cellular damage (via autophagy). And that just makes you stronger and more resilient during the waking hours, and leads to better health now and down the road.  

Lean into ‘good’ stress.

Though we tend to think of stress – and its adverse impact on health – as something to be avoided at all costs, stress itself is not necessarily a bad thing.  In fact, often, stress can be a very good, resilience-building thing. The stress that has such negative effects on our health is chronic stress—the type of stress that is unremitting and constant.  Whether chronic stress takes the form of, for instance, repeatedly eating an inflammatory food or continually facing an upsetting situation, it is taxing on our bodies. If it continues long enough, it can lead to a range of serious health problems.

Acute stress, however, is actually good for our bodies, minds, and spirits, as long as it’s in proportion to what we can handle. For example, when you challenge your body to hike up a mountain, that is stressful—but it can also be profoundly satisfying.  Your muscles welcome the exertion, while your whole body revels in the chance to move.  When you reach the top, you feel a profound sense of accomplishment and release. And when you wake up the next day, your muscles will have grown stronger from being stressed by the climb and then repaired during sleep.

Make a game of hormesis.

What’s cool about plugging into the power of hormesis is that it helps you think about self-maintenance in a new, more playful way. By intentionally adding in more small, light stresses to your day, you’re taking a more proactive approach to wellness – making more of a game of it – while also nurturing the longevity genes that will help your body age better. All it takes is a little pain for, cumulatively, a lot of gain. 

Start your hormesis engines.

When it comes to kicking hormesis into gear, there are a few simple ways to do it. Simply by varying your approach to temperature, food and/or physical activity, you can take advantage. Here’s where to start: 

  • Get chilly with it: When done in measured doses, exposure to out-of-your-comfort zone temperatures is an easy way to stimulate hormesis, you know, those moments of “what doesn’t kill me makes me stronger.” For example, try swimming or showering in cool water, then dipping into a hot tub or sauna (preferably infrared)– and heading back to a cold shower for a chilly finish. The temperature swings between cold and hot will lightly stress your cells and encourage autophagy, the body’s cleaning system that improves cellular function and repair. You can also do it simply by ending each shower with a 30-second cold blast or, on late fall and winter mornings, dressing lightly and stepping outside into the cold for a few minutes to briefly challenge your body– and trigger hormesis.
  • Get tanked: Taking the idea of cold a bit further, cryotherapyis one of many treatments that fall under the heading “cold thermogenesis” — any treatment that involves the use of extremely cold temperatures for short periods of time. It’s usually done in a special chamber or booth for 2- 4 minutes. This blast of Artic temperatures induces a hormetic response, stimulates your longevity gene pathways, increases the production of mitochondria, and helps with inflammation. Pro athletes routinely use this method, and cryotherapy spas are widely available. But if tanks aren’t your thing, ice baths can be just as effective, and some experts say that ice-cold baths actually yield more benefit. NOTE: Before you embark on your own DIY cold therapy program or step into a cryotherapy chamber, keep in mind, people with conditions like diabetes, heart issues and/or high blood pressure (controlled or not) should be especially careful and first get the all-clear from a medical professional. 
  • Up your physical stress game: Trade time spent zoning out on the treadmill for a routine packed with short bursts of serious effort. And by serious effort, we mean working and breathing so hard that you can’t chat while doing it, be it biking, swimming, rowing or power-walking up a hill (or whatever activity you choose) – for brief periods of time. Working out in a way that alternates between microbursts and recovery is called high-intensity interval training (HIIT) – a deceptively simple format you can apply to pretty much any type of exercise. If you’re new to HIIT, try doing three microburst rounds following this pattern, as part of your normal workout routine. Add more high-intensity intervals over time, as you become more comfortable with the practice. Try following this basic format:
  1. Ramp up for 1 minute.
  2. Go hard for 1 minute.
  3. Drop back down to a comfortable pace for 3 minutes.
  4. Repeat. 
  • Put the fork away once a day: In other words,  make two meals a day rather than three your default. And for most people the easiest meal to skip is breakfast, but if you’d rather pass on dinner, that works too. The point is, just eat less overall, so also keep an eye on portion size. Doing so every day means less work for the body, less processing, less energy devoted to digesting and sorting, which leaves more energy for other things, like repairing and rebuilding. You can also try time-restricted eating or intermittent fasting. Both approaches create those “mild stresses” on the body that makes you stronger, and delivers the beneficial hormetic effects you’re looking for. The important thing is to consume the bulk of your food closer a bit later in the day (instead of first thing) and not very close to bedtime (finishing food for the day 3-4 hours before lights out is a good rule of thumb).
  • Eat stressed-out, organic plants: Yup, you heard that right, plants get stressed too, and for you, that actually means, dig in! What stresses out plants? Toxins, weather, the constant threat of bugs and animals ready to eat them – plants have plenty of stressors to deal with. So, as a defense, they produce certain protective compounds, which, when we eat them delivers health protective benefits or ‘xenohormesis’ to us as well. Among the compound-rich, plants to pile onto your plate: broccoli, broccoli sprouts, cauliflower, cabbage, kale, and Brussels sprouts, all of which contain inflammation-taming, toxin-neutralizing sulforaphane. Also, wherever possible, buy organic or fresh farmers’ market produce for maximum xenohormesis benefit. 
  • Smarter sun exposure: As in no burning please! Sunlight triggers hormesis, but keep in mind, too much of this good thing can do a number on your skin so proceed with care. In small, measured doses sunshine helps strengthen cells and offers protective effects against cancer. To take advantage without doing damage, try my tips on how to do sun exposure responsibly. 

15 Safe, Simple, Smart Bio-Hacks That Work

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Everyone likes a good ‘hack,’ aka those clever ways to do things better, faster, easier than what you’ve been doing before. A lot of hacks focus on automating or simplifying life’s more mundane tasks – like better ways of doing the laundry, working out, cooking, mowing the lawn, cleaning the pool, etc. But you know what else could use a few good hacks? Your health. 

Over the last few years there’s been a lot of talk about ‘biohacking.’ Yes, it sounds a bit Brave New World but, in practice, bio-hacking is really about applying smart, health-enhancing strategies to help us create the best, healthiest versions of ourselves possible. So, how to bio-hack your way to better health? Start here: 

Bio-hacking is life done better.

When we think of the word ‘hack,’ we often think of tech geeks hunched over keyboards, wreaking havoc. Add the word ‘bio’ to it and the idea can sound downright unsettling, particularly amidst headline-grabbing news stories of Silicon Valley types implanting microchips in their bodies to ‘hack’ one bodily function or another. And while that is an aspect of it for a very select few, the biohacking I encourage focuses on working with your own physiology to optimize its functioning, your performance, and your overall well being. Sensible, safe, and good-for-you! 

Bio-hacking has many spokes.

So, what approaches fall under the bio-hack umbrella? A number of healthy lifestyle and dietary habits; some supplementation where needed; plus a few more high-tech items like wearable health tracking devices, biomarker testing, and even genetic testing. To repeat: I’m not talking about highly experimental, riskier techniques like implanted devices or physical alterations like fecal transfers and ‘young blood transfusions.’ Though interesting in theory, the risks are considerable and serious – think infections, auto-immune responses, inflammation, just to mention the ones we know about. Simply put: I’d keep these options firmly in the must-to-avoid column for now (and perhaps for the next decade or so). 

Meet the bio-hacks that have your back.

Rest assured, there are plenty of health-enhancing biohacking options to choose from. With any luck, you may already be doing a few. But the more the merrier, so add some new ones to your daily mix. Among the best to start gifting your mind and body ASAP: 

ESSENTIAL DAILY  BIO-HACKS:

  1. Sleep – Unless you’re among the 1% of ‘short-sleepers’ who are genetically able to function well on as little as 4 hours of shut-eye, you really, really need to get a nightly dose of 7 – 8 hours, to give your body and brain the time it needs to rest, repair and refresh. Though there are dozens of good health reasons to log those restorative hours, if nothing else, let me appeal to your vanity: even just one night of sleep deprivation promotes biological aging, and that includes the youth of your skin.
  2. Movement – Sedentary lifestyles devastate health and shorten lifespans, so, in a word, move – and keep moving throughout the day. Whether you’re working from home or in a conventional office, find ways to weave in movement. Whether it’s doing a few flights of stairs, jumping rope, taking calls standing up or walking around the parking lot a few times a day, it all counts. Even toe-tapping, foot-wagging and fidgeting are beneficial to your blood vessels, and blood sugar levels – so don’t just sit there.
  3. Meditation – Find 5 -10 minutes in the morning or at the end of the day to calm and soothe your brain and body with meditation. If you can go longer, even better. The more time you can find to meditate , the more you will bio-hack your head, improving memory, processing speed, focus and creativity. You’ll also lower blood pressure, stress and anxiety in a simple and natural way, no prescription required.
  4. Cold immersion – Now here’s a chilly bio-hack for you: short exposures to low temperatures. Doing so stimulates longevity gene pathways, increases mitochondria production, and helps tamp down inflammation. It also helps boost immunity, sleep quality and fat-burning, in part because doses of cold cause the body to shiver, which activates reactions inside the brown fat cells, the ones that our bodies burn for fuel to keep our bodies warm (versus the problematic white stuff our bodies store). While some folks do this bio-hack with cryotherapy sessions, you can DIY it to similar effect with cold showers (or a cold rinse at the end of your usual hot shower), ice baths or ice packs. You can also spend a few minutes outdoors in winter lightly dressed to give the body the light stress it needs to help fire up the longevity pathways.

EATING & NUTRITIONAL BIO-HACKS

  1. Low sugar diet – One of the greatest health hacks out there? Ditching sugar. Stick to a diet that’s super low in sugar, free of processed foods and high in organic (or farmers’ market), whole, unprocessed produce and you’ll automatically boost the health and performance of your gut and brain. In the short term, you’ll push down blood pressure and blood pressure levels to a healthier place. In the long term, you’ll lower your risk for obesity, diabetes, and heart disease. Every system and organ in your body will benefit so keep sugar out of it as much as possible – but do indulge in low-sugar berries a few times a week.
  2. Time restricted eating (TRE) – One of the great and easy bio-hacks with a big payoff: a metabolism that runs more efficiently. To do it, simply lengthen the day’s natural fast, the time between dinner and “break-fast.” Allow a minimum of twelve hours between the two, for instance doing dinner at 7 p.m. and breakfast at 7 a.m. Work towards expanding that daily fasting period up to 16 hours, three to four times a week, with an earlier dinner and/or a later breakfast. That smaller ‘eating window’ will encourage your body to do more with less of everything, while lowering blood sugar, insulin levels, reducing fat build-up and curbing inflammation. 
  3. Supportive supplements – Granted, nutritional needs to vary somewhat from person to person, but in addition to eating a diet rich in healthy whole, foods, a few supplements taken daily can add additional support for the good things you’re already doing. Among the basic, daily must-haves most people will benefit from and tolerate well: a good broad-spectrum probiotic, preferably one with at least 20 billion viable organisms; 1 -2 grams of a high-quality fish oil with EPA and DHA, vitamin C and D3. 

MENTAL HEALTH & SELF-CARE BIO-HACKS

  1. Music – Ever notice how the right music can completely alter your mood? That’s bio-hacking in its most basic form, and many of us use music in this way without a second thought. But, to bio-hack into the incredible power of music in a more strategic way, tune into ‘brain entrainment’ music, which is actually designed to create desirable changes in brainwave activity. Depending on the music selected, you can plug into music with imbedded tones (or ‘binaural beats’) that will help boost alertness, awaken or energize, or if preferred, encourage relaxation, meditation, concentration, improved mental state and even sleep.
  2. Social connection – Got relationships? As long as they are healthy and supportive ones, that social connection is also an essential bio-hack. Research has found that strong social connection reduces the likelihood of premature death by 50%. This research concluded that individuals who have healthy and strong relationships live longer. What’s more, genetic research suggests that social connectedness supports immune function, whereas isolation likely reduces immune function.
  3. Time in Nature – Step into green surroundings to access a bio-hack that immediately calms the body, shifts the brain into a state of restful awareness – a fantastic double-health-whammy. It also heightens the senses, especially the olfactory system, which takes in the aromatic chemicals released by pine trees and may power up production of prized the body’s disease-fighting “killer T-cells.” Time in nature also initiates a cascade of beneficial effects, dropping cortisol levels, switching on your parasympathetic nervous system, and giving the brain’s prefrontal cortex—your hard-driving command center time to relax and refresh.
  4. Optimism – It does both your mind and body good, and yes, its impact on both makes it an excellent head-to-toe bio-hack. In fact, numerous studies indicate that optimists generally enjoy healthier hearts, brains, immunity and tend to live longer than their less upbeat counterparts. If perhaps you weren’t born with an innate abundance of optimism, or perhaps life’s challenges have tamped down some of your enthusiasm, remember that this health-supportive turn of mind is learnable. Just like eating well or staying fit, you can grow your skills and the impact of this powerful bio-hack with practice.
  5. Gratitude – Though it’s a bio-hack that can take practice, it’s benefits are legion and fast-acting, so now’s the time to  get into a gratitude groove. Research indicates it can help lower blood pressure and blood sugar, boost heart health and immune function. Gratitude has a positive effect on brains too, stimulating the release of mood-lifting neurochemicals like dopamine, serotonin and oxytocin while curbing the release of cortisol, aka, the stress hormone. Gratitude is associated with lower systolic and diastolic blood pressure, while also boosting feelings of happiness, contentment, generosity, emotional resilience and improved mood – making it the bio-hack that keeps on giving.

TECH & TESTING BIO-HACKS

  1. Genetic testing – Among the most helpful bio-hacks to tap into is health and wellness genetic testing, which provides insights into how your unique body functions, and can lead you to a whole array of actionable insights into optimizing your eating, exercise, lifestyle choices, and more. The intel gleaned from these tests, empowers you to bio-hack your future over time – and downsize risk factors by identifying lifestyle, nutritional, health and wellness adjustments to make now, to reduce risk and help you steer of potential trouble spots. 
  2. Blood analysis/biomarkers testing – You can think of this bio-hack as an actionable, what’s-happening-now companion piece to a more long-view approach of genetic testing. With blood analysis, the process provides evidence about your current state of health, testing levels of biomarkers to reveal what may be contributing to a current illness or exacerbating it. These tests will identify nutrient, mineral and/or vitamin deficiencies; high toxin levels; food allergens; inflammation levels, etc., which in turn, will help guide decisions on how to best treat those conditions based on the data.
  3. Wearable technology – When it comes to biohacking, wearable devices like an Apple Watch or Fitbit, a Continuous Blood Glucose Monitor (CGM) and an Oura Ring, do a simple, fuss-free way of collecting data about yourself, and learning how your body reacts to food, exercise, stress, sleep, etc. Wearable tech gives you real-time feedback on what you’re doing right and where there’s room for improvement. If you are drawn to data and tracking technology, the stream of stats on your steps, tracking heart rate, body temperature, heart rate variability, sleep patterns and more is a great way to keep your health goals top of mind. 

These sorts of bio-hacks and the integration of them into healthcare will become more commonplace. There are now a few companies who integrate all of this into programs tailored to the individual, including one startup I am very excited to be part of, Hearty. Think of it as a sort of a one-stop-shop for your health, guided by a team of healthcare professionals, using best in class technology.

8 Simple Ways to Slow Aging from the Inside Out

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healthy aging

Whether we care to admit or not, preserving youth is something most of us beyond the age of 25 are interested in. And, if you’ve seen what a lifetime of hard living looked like on your grandparents, you’ve probably considered doing things a little differently than they did. Yes, genetics do play a significant role in how well or poorly you age, but how those genes express themselves in the body is very much affected by your lifestyle. Positive lifestyle changes can make a huge difference, especially when it comes to the chronic diseases we fear most – heart disease, diabetes, Alzheimer’s, even cancer. If you want to increase your “healthspan” – the number of healthy years you can enjoy – step away from the Botox needle and towards these highly effective youth-preservers, to stay young on the inside, where it really counts: 

1) Focus on the edible youth-sustainers.

When you look at the behaviors that are either youth-sustaining or youth-draining, what you eat tops the list. The right foods truly are nature’s medicine.  Fresh, organic or farmer’s market produce and proteins are the way to go if you plan on feeling and looking well for as long as possible. They’ll top off your tank with antioxidants, polyphenols and hundreds of nutrients that do nothing but a world of good for your body. Think energy, vibrance, healthy skin, shiny hair, the works. A diet laced with Big Macs, bangers and beer won’t cut it. To eat healthy, organic foods more often without breaking the bank, here are my pro tips.

2) Nix the #1 youth-drainer.

What’s at the top of the youth-draining food chain? It’s sugar. Eliminate it along with honey and agave too. The sweet stuff is a slow, insidious, addictive killer that weakens the immune system and fuels the development of the dreaded “diseases of aging.” In effect, sugar rots you from the inside out, damaging cell membranes and creating deposits that sit like rust on your organs. Got wrinkles? That’s the sugar-born ‘rust’ making itself known on your largest organ, the skin. 

The easiest way to deal with the downsides of sugar? Ditch it – starting with the obvious sources like cereal, cookies, candy, soda, fruit juice. Craving something sweet? Then snack on a small portion of low-sugar berries and if you like, top them with little cinnamon and a small scoop of flax or chia seeds to help slow the absorption of sugar and minimize blood sugar spikes and crashes. Here are 8 tips to help you  radically cut back on sugar.  

3) Ditch the foods that beat up your body.

Coming in a close second in the rapid-aging category: processed foods, of course, including fast foods. They’re lousy for your body for a couple of reasons. For starters, virtually all processed foods are made with loads of man-made ingredients, whose long-term effects are either highly suspect, seriously detrimental to your health or even carcinogenic. Chemical additives, artificial colors, artificial flavorings, fillers, vegetable oils, preservatives and way too much sodium abound. If that weren’t concerning enough, we don’t know the full extent of the damage they may inflict over the long-haul – but I guarantee you vibrant health isn’t one of the outcomes. 

What we do understand is the link between processed food consumption and the increased risk of obesity, diabetes, cancer and heart disease. Unprocessed whole foods? It’s literally all good. No cheap, pesticide-laden, factory-farmed, genetically modified ingredients to worry about. No hidden sugars that only a food scientist would recognize (like disaccharides, galactose, hexitol, inversol, pentose, sucanat, etc.). No downsides, no problem. 

4) Embrace the essential anti-aging behavior that involves your pillow.

Time spent sleeping is anything but wasted. Deep, restful, restorative sleep – particularly REM sleep, when dreaming happens – is a major part of the anti-aging equation – and a total must for youth preservation. Much of what people think of as the signs of aging – aches, pains, low energy – is the body’s way of telling you, it needs more (and better) rest. 

Though it may not seem like all that much is happening after you turn in for the night, that’s actually the body’s time to recover. Sleep keeps all your cells, muscles and organs youthful by promoting autophagy, the overnight cellular recycling program run by your glymphatic system. Instead of tossing out the diseased or sub-par cells, the body strips out the salvageable parts and recycles them to use for energy and to create new cells. Pretty cool, eh?

So, when you make a habit of shortchanging yourself on sleep, the glymphatic system can’t do its job. No time to ‘take out the garbage.’ Cellular trash builds up in the brain, leaving you feeling foggy and out of it. Give your body the down time it needs to get the cleaning job done and you’re helping to help slow the development of neurological decline and disease.  To brush up on your sleep skills starting tonight, here are 9 ways to do it.

5) Don’t just stand (or sit) there.

A lack of movement is the express track to aging badly, so the time to move is now, and don’t stop! Over the past two pandemic years, fitness has taken something of a backseat. Now’s the time to get physical again. No need to sign up for boot camp tomorrow (unless that’s your thing), but do get back into a regular and frequent movement groove. It’s about moving as much as you can every single day, all day long, during regular everyday life vs. the one-and-done gym session wedged between a day at the desk and a night on the couch.

Be active every chance you get. As you age, pushing beyond 40 or so, it’s OK for exercise to be less about heavy exertion and pushing to physical extremes and a lot more about movement, motion and mobility. Avoiding injury (as in, if it hurts, don’t do it), keeping the joints lubricated and the muscles flexible and ready to fire is the key to physically aging well. 

Besides keeping the body and mind vital and sharp, physical activity fends off stress and depression, improves circulation, promotes higher-quality sleep, builds immune resilience, and reduces the risk of chronic diseases. So, how about a nice long walk after dinner?

6) Decelerate the aging process every day.

Gifting your mind and body with frequent time-outs is essential to slowing the aging process, and while a week by the sea isn’t always feasible, a relaxing break – in the form of a meditation practice – always is. Time spent in meditation helps slow the aging of the brain and lowers blood pressure. It also lengthens your telomeres, the protective end caps on your DNA strands, which a lot to do with how well you age (i.e., the longer they are, more youthful you’ll be). 

To tap into meditation’s anti-aging benefits – not to mention it’s better concentration, mood and sleep benefits  – all that’s needed is a quiet spot, plus 10 -20 minutes a day. What do to if you’re not a “sitter,”? Then engage in a peaceful practice that suits you: something quiet and calming that you enjoy, unplugged, without interruption, like knitting, coloring, walking in the woods, and so on. 

7) Phase out the toxins that age you.

When it comes to slowing the aging process, never hurts to look at purging toxins in your life –  be they chemical physical or emotional. If you’re still smoking or just like to sneak one in from time to time, I urge you to stop. Cigarettes, in any amount, bring with them increased risk of heart disease, lung cancer, cataracts and a litany of other life-altering conditions. Just say no.

Same holds true for alcohol use – it does you no favors. A glass of wine once or twice a week to accompany a special meal is one thing, but more than that and you’re on the way to overconsumption, compromising your health. Your organs will suffer, as will your face (the stuff is lousy for your skin) and over time, you brain function will take a hit too, thanks to alcohol’s ability to actually shrink your grey matter. 

Another rapid ager you can do without? The toxic people and unhealthy relationships in your life. The stress they add to your life can take a tremendous toll, so work on finding (if possible) a gentle way to phase those ‘toxins’ out – is an essential step to take to preserve your health now and in the future. 

8) Age less with a serious case of the giggles.

One more anti-aging behavior I highly recommend: a case of the giggles, at least once a day. Laughter helps boost the immune system, increasing T-cell activity, those “killer cells” that help our bodies fight viruses and tumors. It also helps lower blood pressure and cortisol levels, decreases pain and can also help stabilize blood sugar – all good things no matter where you are on the aging journey.

Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF) Role in Cannabinoid-Mediated Neurogenesis

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The adult mammalian brain can produce new neurons in a process called adult neurogenesis, which occurs mainly in the subventricular zone (SVZ) and in the hippocampal dentate gyrus (DG). Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) signaling and cannabinoid type 1 and 2 receptors (CB1R and CB2R) have been shown to independently modulate neurogenesis, but how they may interact is unknown. We now used SVZ and DG neurosphere cultures from early (P1-3) postnatal rats to study the CB1R and CB2R crosstalk with BDNF in modulating neurogenesis. BDNF promoted an increase in SVZ and DG stemness and cell proliferation, an effect blocked by a CB2R selective antagonist. CB2R selective activation promoted an increase in DG multipotency, which was inhibited by the presence of a BDNF scavenger. CB1R activation induced an increase in SVZ and DG cell proliferation, being both effects dependent on BDNF. Furthermore, SVZ and DG neuronal differentiation was facilitated by CB1R and/or CB2R activation and this effect was blocked by sequestering endogenous BDNF. Conversely, BDNF promoted neuronal differentiation, an effect abrogated in SVZ cells by CB1R or CB2R blockade while in DG cells was inhibited by CB2R blockade. We conclude that endogenous BDNF is crucial for the cannabinoid-mediated effects on SVZ and DG neurogenesis. On the other hand, cannabinoid receptor signaling is also determinant for BDNF actions upon neurogenesis. These findings provide support for an interaction between BDNF and endocannabinoid signaling to control neurogenesis at distinct levels, further contributing to highlight novel mechanisms in the emerging field of brain repair.

Introduction

Constitutive neurogenesis occurs in the adult mammalian brain where NSPC are able to differentiate into three neural lineages, neurons, astrocytes and oligodendrocytes (Gage, 2000; Gross, 2000). These multipotent cells exhibit properties of self-renewal and cell proliferation that allow the maintenance of their own pool (Ma et al., 2009). Neurogenesis occurs mainly in two brain areas, the subventricular zone (SVZ) and the subgranular zone (SGZ) within the DG of the hippocampus. These regions are packed with NSPC that originate neuroblasts which migrate toward their final destinations, where they differentiate into mature neurons and are integrated into the neuronal circuitry (Lledo et al., 2006; Zhao et al., 2008; Ming and Song, 2011).

Adult neurogenesis and the neurogenic niches are highly regulated by several factors (intrinsic and extrinsic factors) that control the NSPC rates of proliferation, lineage differentiation, migration, maturation and survival (Ming and Song, 2011). Knowing and understanding the actions of these factors will further contribute to develop new therapeutic strategies useful for brain repair and regeneration. However, there is still a lack of knowledge regarding the key factors that regulate each step of postnatal neurogenesis.

The role of neurotrophins and, in particular, brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in adult neurogenesis has been the subject of many studies (Henry et al., 2007; Chan et al., 2008; Vilar and Mira, 2016). BDNF is expressed in both SVZ and SGZ neurogenic niches (Galvão et al., 2008; Li et al., 2008) but its precise role in adult neurogenesis is still not consensual. In fact, some studies suggest that BDNF is important to positively regulate DG cell proliferation and survival (Chan et al., 2008; Li et al., 2008) while others report no BDNF-induced changes in DG neurogenesis (Choi et al., 2009). In SVZ, most studies depict that BDNF does not promote any significant changes in cell proliferation and survival (Henry et al., 2007; Galvão et al., 2008), despite having a role in the migration of SVZ-derived cells (Snapyan et al., 2009; Bagley and Belluscio, 2010). Despite the available contradictory data, BDNF, through TrkB signaling, was shown to have an essential role in the regulation of dendritic complexity as well as synaptic formation, maturation and plasticity of newborn neurons (Chan et al., 2008; Gao et al., 2009; Wang et al., 2015).

Besides expressing BDNF, NSPC present in the neurogenic niches were shown to express all the elements of the endocannabinoid system (Aguado et al., 2005; Arévalo-Martín et al., 2007), including the main cannabinoid receptors type 1 (CB1R) and type 2 (CB2R) receptors (Rodrigues et al., 2017). They are both present in the CNS, although CB2R expression is relatively higher in the immune system (Galve-Roperh et al., 2007). In recent years, the role of cannabinoids in neurogenesis has been of particular interest given their multiplicity of neuromodulatory functions (Mechoulam and Parker, 2013). Cannabinoid receptors modulate adult neurogenesis by acting at distinct neurogenic phases (Prenderville et al., 2015). Importantly, activation of type 1 (Xapelli et al., 2013) or type 2 cannabinoid receptors (Palazuelos et al., 2006) by selective agonists was found to regulate cell proliferation, neuronal differentiation and maturation (Rodrigues et al., 2017).

Several studies have provided molecular and functional evidence for a crosstalk between BDNF and endocannabinoid signaling (Maison et al., 2009; Zhao et al., 2015). Synergism between BDNF and CB1R has been observed both in vitro and in vivo (De Chiara et al., 2010; Galve-Roperh et al., 2013). In particular, BDNF was shown to regulate striatal CB1R actions (De Chiara et al., 2010). Moreover, evidence for BDNF-TrkB signaling interplay with CB1R has been shown to trigger endocannabinoid release at cortical excitatory synapses (Yeh et al., 2017). Importantly, genetic deletion of CB1R was shown to promote a decrease in BDNF expression (Aso et al., 2008) while induction of BDNF expression contributed to the protective effect of CB1R activity against excitotoxicity (Marsicano, 2003; Khaspekov et al., 2004). Moreover, CB1R activity can enhance TrkB signaling partly by activating MAP kinase/ERK kinase pathways (Derkinderen et al., 2003) but also by directly transactivating the TrkB receptors (Berghuis et al., 2005). Δ9-THC, the principal active component of cannabis, was shown to promote upregulation of BDNF expression (Butovsky et al., 2005) whereas increased levels of BDNF were shown to rescue the cognitive deficits promoted by Δ9-THC administration (Segal-Gavish et al., 2017). Interestingly, clinical data suggests that acute and chronic intermittent exposure to Δ9-THC alters BDNF serum levels in humans (D’Souza et al., 2009).

Given the evidence that BDNF and cannabinoid signaling can affect neurogenesis as well as the fact that BDNF may interact with cannabinoid receptors, we hypothesized that cannabinoid receptors could act together with BDNF signaling to fine-tune neurogenesis. We show for the first time that endogenous BDNF is crucial for the cannabinoid-mediated effects on SVZ and DG neurogenesis to happen. Moreover, we demonstrate that CB2R has a preponderant role in regulating some of the BDNF actions on neurogenesis. Taken together, our results suggest an important crosstalk between BDNF and cannabinoid signaling to modulate postnatal neurogenesis.

Discussion

The present work reveals a yet not described interaction between BDNF and cannabinoid receptors (CB1R and CB2R) responsible to modulate several aspects of SVZ and DG postnatal neurogenesis. BDNF was shown to be an important modulator of SVZ and DG postnatal neurogenesis, its actions being under control of cannabinoid receptors. The relevance of each cannabinoid receptor to control the action of BDNF upon neurogenesis is different in the two neurogenic niches. While CB2R has a preponderant role in modulating BDNF actions on DG, BDNF-mediated SVZ postnatal neurogenesis is modulated by both CB1R and CB2R. A constant and clear finding in both neurogenic niches is that BDNF is required for cannabinoid actions to occur. It thus appears that a reciprocal cross-talk between cannabinoids and BDNF exist to modulate postnatal neurogenesis.

BDNF is a neurotrophin important in the regulation of several neuronal processes such as neuronal branching, dendrite formation and synaptic plasticity (Dijkhuizen and Ghosh, 2005; Gómez-Palacio-Schjetnan and Escobar, 2013). In line with this evidence, several studies have shed light on the actions of BDNF in the survival and differentiation of newborn neurons (Benraiss et al., 2001; Henry et al., 2007; Chan et al., 2008; Snapyan et al., 2009). Our findings now demonstrate that BDNF is able to affect early steps of postnatal neurogenesis, such as cell-fate, cell proliferation and neuronal differentiation of SVZ and DG cultures. We observed that BDNF promoted self-renewal of SVZ- and DG-derived cells as observed by an increase in self-renewal divisions, i.e., an increase in the percentage of Sox2+/+ cell-pairs. BDNF-CBR crosstalk has been reported to control several processes at the synaptic level (Zhao and Levine, 2014; Zhong et al., 2015) and we now extended these findings toward very early stages of postnatal neurogenesis. Interestingly, the increase in the SVZ and DG pool of stem/progenitor cells mediated by BDNF was fully abolished in the presence of CB2R antagonist but not CB1R antagonist. An exception is the influence of BDNF upon SVZ cell proliferation, which is not affected by CB1R or CB2R selective antagonism. In what concerns neuronal differentiation, both CB1R and CB2R are required for BDNF actions on SVZ whereas at the DG, only CB2R seem to affect BDNF-promoted neuronal differentiation. Overall, cannabinoid receptor blockade appears to influence more BDNF-induced actions upon early stages of DG neurogenesis in comparison to SVZ, highlighting the fact that cannabinoids distinctly modulate the effects promoted by BDNF in SVZ and DG neurogenesis.

It was previously known that the endocannabinoid system and cannabinoid receptors are important modulators of several stages of neurogenesis (Palazuelos et al., 2012; Xapelli et al., 2013; Prenderville et al., 2015; Rodrigues et al., 2017). In accordance with our previous data, SVZ and DG cells were differently affected by the same cannabinoid pharmacological treatments (Rodrigues et al., 2017). Considering cell fate, we observed that selective activation of CB2R activation promotes self-renewal of DG cells, but not of SVZ cells. This is consistent with several pieces of evidence showing a regulation of cell fate promoted by the activation of several signaling pathways [such as mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) family (ERK, JNK and p38) and the phosphoinositide-3 kinase (PI3K)/AKT pathways] triggered by CBR activation (Molina-Holgado et al., 2007; Gomez et al., 2010; Soltys et al., 2010; Compagnucci et al., 2013).

On the other hand, our results reveal, for the first time, a role of cannabinoid receptors (CB1R and CB2R) in regulating DG cell commitment.

Considering cell proliferation, it is promoted by CB1R but not CB2 at SVZ, while at DG cell proliferation was only induced by co-activation of CB1R and CB2R. These results are in accordance with previous reports that have shown an increase in SVZ cell proliferation promoted by CB1R selective activation (Trazzi et al., 2010; Xapelli et al., 2013) and an increase in DG cell proliferation triggered by CB1R/CB2R non-selective activation (Aguado et al., 2005; Rodrigues et al., 2017). Importantly, while we also detected an effect with the non-selective CB1R/CB2R agonists, none of the selective agonists when applied in the absence of the other agonist were effective to promote cell proliferation in the DG, highlighting the need of caution while interpreting negative results with each of those agonists separately.

Regarding neuronal differentiation, our data indicate that in SVZ and DG neurogenic niches both subtypes of cannabinoid receptors are able to promote neuronal differentiation. These data are in accordance with previous reports in which cannabinoid receptor activation enhanced neuronal differentiation of NSPC by CB1R- (Compagnucci et al., 2013) or CB2R-dependent (Avraham et al., 2014) mechanisms.

The most important finding in the present work is that most of the cannabinoid-induced effects upon cell proliferation and neuronal differentiation depend on the presence of BDNF, suggesting the existence of a BDNF-endocannabinoid feedback loop responsible for regulating these processes. Previous reports have shed light on the existence of a putative interaction between BDNF and cannabinoid receptors (Howlett et al., 2010), but none focused upon neurogenesis. De Chiara et al. (2010) have identified a novel mechanism by which BDNF mediates the regulation of striatal CB1R function. Moreover, others have suggested that BDNF can regulate neuronal sensitivity to endocannabinoids through a positive feedback loop important for the regulation of neuronal survival (Maison et al., 2009). Evidence also shows the involvement of BDNF in the actions mediated by cannabinoids against excitotoxicity (Khaspekov et al., 2004), in synaptic transmission and plasticity (Klug and van den Buuse, 2013; Zhao et al., 2015; Yeh et al., 2017) and in several behavioral outputs (Aso et al., 2008; Bennett et al., 2017). Previous animal studies have shown that acute (Derkinderen et al., 2003) and chronic (Butovsky et al., 2005) Δ9-THC (major psychoactive constituent of cannabis; CB1R and CB2R agonist) administration is associated with an increase in BDNF gene expression. Moreover, it was shown that overexpression of BDNF is able to rescue cognitive deficits promoted by Δ9-THC administration in a mouse model of schizophrenia (Segal-Gavish et al., 2017). In human studies it was found that Δ9-THC increased serum BDNF levels in healthy controls, but not in chronic cannabis users (D’Souza et al., 2009). In fact, cyclic AMP response element-binding protein (CREB) may be the common linking element because it is an important regulator of BDNF-induced gene expression (Finkbeiner et al., 1997), and has been reported to control several steps of the neurogenic process in the adult hippocampus (Nakagawa et al., 2002) and SVZ (Giachino et al., 2005). Consistently, cannabinoids have been shown to induce CREB phosphorylation (Isokawa, 2009) and also to promote changes in BDNF and CREB gene expression (Grigorenko et al., 2002). In addition, the work done by Berghuis et al. (2005) showed that endocannabinoids stimulate TrkB receptor phosphorylation during interneuron morphogenesis. Most importantly, in the same study, the authors observed by co-immunoprecipitation the formation of heteromeric complexes in PC12 cells expressing TrkB receptors and CB1R (Berghuis et al., 2005). Our study brings new and relevant information on the interaction between cannabinoid receptors and BDNF in controlling SVZ and DG neurogenesis, and clearly highlights that this interaction is reciprocal. In fact, neurogenesis promoted by cannabinoid receptor activation depends on the presence of endogenous BDNF, while the effects mediated by BDNF upon neurogenesis are directly regulated by modulation of CB1R or CB2R.

Although our study is based on an in vitro approach, the neurosphere assay, it represents a highly relevant model. In vitro systems of NSPC allow an easier access and better control of experimental variables as well as a thorough analysis of mechanisms happening at cellular and molecular level providing useful information to be further validated in vivo (Singec et al., 2006). Moreover, the heterogeneous composition of the NSPC grown in neurospheres is extremely relevant because it holds some of the features, such as close contact with neighboring cells (newly generated neuroblasts, astrocytes and oligodendrocytes), that resemble those of the physiological niche (Casarosa et al., 2014). These well-established advantages (Aguado et al., 2007; Agasse et al., 2008; Azari et al., 2010) are the reason why we have used this in vitro approach to study the intrinsic properties of NSPC and to understand the interaction between BDNF and cannabinoids in modulating neurogenesis. It is, however, important to mention that the mechanisms governing the regulation of neurosphere dynamics might be different from the ones regulating in vivo adult neurogenesis (Casarosa et al., 2014). Indeed, further in vivo studies will be required to comprehensively understand the role of BDNF in regulating the actions of cannabinoid receptors on postnatal neurogenesis.

Taken together, our data highlight a novel level of complexity for the regulatory mechanisms involved in NSPC dynamics, which involve the interplay of multiple signaling cues, and where BDNF and cannabinoids may play a relevant role. Further in vitro studies are required to detail the molecular mechanisms involved, as well as in vivo studies to determine the functional consequences of the BDNF/cannabinoid crosstalk to control neurogenesis. Nevertheless, our study provides evidence for the need of integrative strategies whenever focusing on NSPC for brain repair.

How BDNF Keeps Your Brain Healthy and How To Boost Yours

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brain support

Forgetting your car keys or not remembering where you parked the car. Blanking on a name when making introductions. We all experience these forgetful moments. They unnerve us and maybe they even strike fear in our hearts as we wonder if something sinister could be responsible. For most people, these blips are just that. For others, the news may be less reassuring. But the positive message for all of us is that there are things we can do right now to help lower the risk of neurological problems down the road. One of the most important may be to increase our brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), to help improve brain function and lower the risk of neurodegenerative disease. How to boost yours? Start here:

What is BDNF?

A relatively new discovery, BDNF is a naturally occurring protein in the brain that helps keeps your billions of brain cells thriving and healthy. It helps grow new cells and cell pathways, while strengthening the brain and nerve cells you already have, protecting them from damage caused by stress.

Why does BDNF matter?

If you care about your healthspan – the amount of healthy life you pack into your years, BDNF matters – a lot! Maintaining high levels helps your brain age more slowly, improves learning and memory, protects you from Alzheimer’s disease, and works as a natural antidepressant with the ability to reverse chronic anxiety and depression. By keeping your BDNF levels high, you’ll help your brain stave off age-related shrinkage, fight off neurological problems – Alzheimer’s sufferers tend to have extremely low levels – and even improve your sleep. The more of it you have working for you over the course of your life, the better your brain will work for longer. 

So, what robs your body of BDNF?

On the food front, BDNF-robbers include the classic dietary demons of sugar and processed foods, just in case you needed one more reason to strenuously avoid both. Sugar has long been linked with cognitive decline in humans, and animal studies have shown a direct connection with sugar consumption and reduced BDNF production – not a lot of good news there. My advice? Ditch the stuff, no exceptions. And, if you must sweeten, use a very light hand and opt for healthier alternatives like raw stevia or monkfruit. 

When it comes to lifestyle habits, you can tank your BDNF levels simply by not watching out for the classic, all-too-common health-eroders: chronic stress, exhaustion, and social isolation will all take bites out of your BDNF. Unwinding with cannabis or cocktails? You might want to dial those two down a good bit too. Though THC can boost BDNF levels in occasional cannabis users, low BDNF levels are common in both habitual cannabis smokers and heavy drinkers. 

Got inflammation? Wrestling with obesity and metabolic issues? They’re all associated not only with poor overall health but also with lower BDNF levels, so get to work on turning those around too – preferably, as soon as possible.

What can I do to increase BDNF? 

BDNF is stimulated by any number of the positive habits and lifestyle tweaks I recommend to my patients every day, including:

  • Frequent movement – throughout the day, even just a few minutes at a time if that’s all you can spare, but shoot for at least 30 minutes a day, and check out my 10 move more tips for easy ways to weave more movement into your day 
  • A regular meditation practice – while stress decreases BDNF, meditation helps increase it, while helping you center and calm your mind
  • A simple yoga practice – making time to de-stress regularly is essential to keeping BDNF levels high –  and yoga is an excellent stress-busting way to top off your BDNF tank
  • Plenty of quality rest – better sleep, particularly deep sleep, equals more BDNF release, so work on getting your sleep habits into a restful, 7-8 hours nightly, restorative groove. To re-train yourself to sleep like a baby, try my 11 ways to win at sleep
  • Intermittent fasting – or shortening your daily eating window – as in, eating breakfast late and dinner early, vs. all-day grazing – helps give your body time to rest and repair, as well as tame inflammation which left untamed can decrease BDNF levels big time. To begin an intermittent fasting or time-restricted eating routine, try these how-to tips
  • Social connection – social isolation is a sure-fire route to loneliness, depression, and anxiety, all of which suppress BDNF. Challenging as it may be to connect with others these days, making the effort pays big BDNF dividends for your brain. To re-socialize yourself, check out my tips on how to engage and deepen bonds with others in spite of the current limitations – your long-term brain health depends on it! 
  • Responsible sun exposure – as in, a little regular time in the sun, exposing your skin but stopping before you turn pink, and absolutely no burning. To do it right, try these sensible sunshine exposuretips

Another no-brainer, super easy-to-incorporate way to boost your BDNF? Drink a daily cup or two of green tea, ideally, one that’s certified organic, non-GMO, and third party tested for heavy metals like lead. Though China is among the world’s largest producers, in general, many of the best, healthiest green teas hail from Japan and Sri Lanka.

Are there foods that can help increase BDNF?

You can also help stimulate BDNF with a number of tasty foods, beverages, and spices. Among my favorite, always-in-the-pantry BDNF-boosting big guns that everyone should stock the larder with:

  1. Almonds – raw, unroasted, unblanched organic almonds are rich in polyphenols, which are great for BDNF levels
  2. Avocados –rich in antioxidants and polyphenols, creamy and delicious too!
  3. Berries –organic red raspberries, strawberries, and blackberries
  4. Blueberries – particularly wild blueberries, and always organic
  5. Coffee – but to increase BDNF, be sure to choose your brew wisely, looking for certified organic, non-GMO, sustainably farmed, and/or shade grown, Fair Trade and free of toxins, pesticides, and heavy metals
  6. Eggs – look for pasture-raised eggs from healthy animals for the most omega-3 and the biggest BDNF boost 
  7. Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO) – ideally, cold pressed and stored in dark bottles. (For EVOO buying tips, click here.)
  8. Extra Dark Chocolate – while 70% or above is great, going even higher to 90 or 100% is even better when it comes to boosting benefits
  9. Fish – particularly the ones known as wild caught ‘fatty fish,’ as in anchovies, herring, salmon and sardines, which are loaded with omega-3s which helps boost BDNF
  10. Green tea – as mentioned above
  11. Olives – a pretty close-to-perfect food that’s rich in polyphenols, which is good news for your BDNF levels. To buy the best, check out my buy-like-a-pro  tips
  12. Turmeric – loaded with BDNF-boosting polyphenols, and even more powerful when teamed with a bit of fat and black pepper.

In short, whole, unprocessed foods that are rich in polyphenols will help keep your BDNF levels high. If you’re paying attention to eating right, you’re already getting a fair number of them. My advice, keep up the good work, but expand your repertoire and don’t get stuck eating the same five things all the time. Keep changing it up, branching out to get the widest variety of polys on your plate to amp up your BDNF game.

Can supplements boost BDNF?

You can also stimulate BDNF with certain supplements. One is coffee fruit extract, which is made from the berry of the coffee plant. It delivers not only polyphenols (antioxidant-rich micronutrients) but also a brain-supporting chemical called procyanidin. Other supplements, such as curcumin, omega-3 fatty acids (which you can get by taking fish oil), resveratrol and magnesium will also help boost BDNF.  

Boost BDNF right now – with your feet.

If you do nothing else, remember this: you can make your brain bigger and stronger, and lower the risk of memory loss simply by walking more. Turns out, when we walk, our brains actually release BDNF – often referred to as Miracle Gro for the brain. So, lace up your walking shoes and reap the benefits! When you’re ready to take things a step further, add some resistance training and high-intensity interval training for an extra BDNF boost.