I haven’t written a blog entry in over a year since I had seen little new material.

The scientific literature keeps publishing more articles about diet which show that whole plant foods, the less processed the better, are healthy; animal foods and dairy are unhealthy. The government and non-scientific newspapers, magazines and other media keep saying that olive oil, meat in moderation, diary and eggs are healthy foods. There is zero chance that this is true unless you are starving, in which case any calories are good, and high calorie density foods like these are wonderful.

My wife, Deb, bought HOW NOT TO AGE by Greger, and I am reading it. This book does have some interesting new material worthy of multiple blogs. It is not for the fainthearted: 600 dense pages and 995 pages of online citation plus hundreds, perhaps over a thousand, references to online material that Greger has previously written or videoed.

Greger decided to write this book after a group of the world’s top academic scientists compiled a document entitled “Interventions to Slow Aging in Humans.” These scientists list known methods to extend life, discussing complicated biochemical pathways which control or modify cellular viability and function. Many of these authors are searching for magic drugs. Modern researchers can become wealthy from patentable discoveries. Pharmaceutical companies have labs with many scientist employees, but now academic scientists have been co-opted by offering them funds for research and a share of profits. I’d guess it’s more cost effective than building laboratories and hiring your own people. 

Coffee

As Greger went through each age-extending metabolic pathway he realized that every one of them had been scientifically shown to be regulated by what you ate. 

One of his first topics was coffee which is very good for health. The principle identified healthy substance in coffee is chlorogenic acid. Three cups a day of coffee or decaf seems to be optimal. Dark roasts and de-acidification take away most health benefits. Paper filtered is the optimal technique, but other methods still make healthy coffee, as do pods. Unfortunately, my go-to brand, Starbucks, tested poorly, perhaps due to  a predominance of dark roasts in the coffees they sell. 

As I mentioned in an earlier blog, milk in coffee, but not plant milks, takes away most of the health benefits. More and more studies have confirmed that animal milk is unhealthy and plant milks are healthy, with soymilk leading the way for healthy benefits. Until I changed my eating habits, I drank lots of dairy milk. I forced myself to try soymilk which I didn’t like. Now I enjoy a couple of glasses of soymilk most days and find dairy milk distasteful. Our taste preferences are amazingly flexible. 

Epigenetic Age

“The epigenome is a multitude of chemical compounds that can tell the genome what to do. The human genome is the complete assembly of DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) – about 3 billion base pairs – that makes each individual unique. DNA holds the instructions for building the proteins that carry out a variety of functions in a cell. The epigenome is made up of chemical compounds and proteins that can attach to DNA and direct such actions as turning genes on or off, controlling the production of proteins in particular cells. When epigenomic compounds attach to DNA and modify its function, they are said to have “marked” the genome. These marks do not change the sequence of the DNA. Rather, they change the way cells use the DNA’s instructions. The marks are sometimes passed on from cell to cell as cells divide. They also can be passed down from one generation to the next.” (NIH website)

An epigenetic clock is a blood test to measure epigenetic age which is now considered more accurate than chronologic age in determining likelihood of death and chronic disease. Epigenetic age is modifiable by diet, calorie restriction, exercise, cigarette smoke and certain chemicals. Specific genes can be turned off and on within hours after appropriate exposures. 

Interestingly, neither weight loss from bariatric surgery nor meditation affects epigenetic age.

Skin Lotion

Most chronic diseases are promoted by chronic systemic inflammation which is a characteristic of a diet high in animal products. Aging by itself is also associated with increasing chronic inflammation as measured by serum C-reactive protein (CRP). 

With aging, the skin dries and loses some of its protective barrier. Bacteria and toxic materials can penetrate and incite inflammatory responses. The skin’s barrier function starts to drop when you reach your 40’s.

In 2019, an amazing experiment was conducted. Elderly men and women (average age 78) were randomized to either have no skin lotion or to have twice daily application of small amount of lotion over reachable surfaces. After a month using lotion, blood inflammatory markers dropped to levels of people 45 years younger. 

Another proven cause of chronic systemic inflammation is obesity. Bariatric surgery decreases levels of CRP proportional to weight loss but weight loss from a decrease in calorie consumption is four times as effective. 

Regular exercise has also been shown to lead to a 30% decrease in inflammatory markers.

Systemic chronic inflammation is a big deal, shown to have a high correlation with early death and  dreaded diseases – dementia, cancer, mood disorders, arthritis, heart attack and stroke.

Healthy diet, exercise and weight loss are anti-inflammatory. The surprise for me was the value of skin lotion. I look forward to confirmatory studies but have increased my usage to twice a day.