The Livelong Newsletter

Hi Livelongers,

Today is International Bath Day 🛁, and it is the perfect reminder to relax and take some time for yourself. Whether it’s for stress relief, better sleep, or well-deserved you-time, taking a bath is simple and powerful addition to your longevity routine (and try adding some lavender-scented epsom salt for an additional feel-good boost).

The week is June 10. In today’s issue:

• Apple rolls out new fitness features on Apple Watch.

• Food pics are not just for social media…they can improve your health.

• Ancient Egyptians accurately tested for pregnancy.

• Living drugs: pioneering the future of bioelectronics.

• And more…

We love to hear from you—our community. Please share your feedback, stories, questions, testimonials, ideas and more with us at [email protected].

SPOTLIGHT

Food pics aren’t just for your social media

Photographing food can incentivize healthy eating habits, according to a recent study published by researchers with Curtin University, in Australia, in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 

What is the study? For 24 hours, study participants either tracked three meals by taking photos of the food (using the Food Record app) or simply recalled what they ate. A dietician analyzed the nutritional intake of both groups.

What did researchers find? Photos allowed the dieticians to evaluate nutritional intake with much more accuracy compared with evaluating it from memory.

Big picture:

• Taking pictures of food is an easier and more accurate way to track nutritional intake compared with trying to remember the meal in hindsight. Researchers anticipate that developments in AI will soon make it possible to automate food analysis based on photos, according to study lead Deborah Kerr of Curtin University. 

• Accurate data can optimize public health, said first author Clare Whitton. AI will only improve the abilities of these technology-assisted dietary assessments, and it may help to inform decision-making.

Poll

⌚Wellness watch

Apple Watch introduces new Vitals app

The upcoming watchOS 11 update will give Apple Watch users more features to improve their health, fitness, and performance. We think the most exciting update is the introduction of the Vitals app, which will use the watch’s sensor to collect key health data and help you interpret it so you have better performance.

The Vitals app: 

• Measures heart rate, blood oxygen levels, and respiratory rate during sleep with the watch’s sensor.

• Measures training load.

• Readily displays daily health metrics for quick viewing.

• Notifies the user when 2+ metrics are not in normal range.

🍒The cherry on top: The app will contextualize these metrics changes and general health data, which will help users to make “informed day-to-day decisions,” wrote Apple in a recent press release.

Additional health features:

• Track workout intensity using an algorithm that assesses user data and workout data.

• Get longer workout data storage (28 days) to use as a barometer for tracking progress.

• Customizable activity rings.

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HAIR, SKIN, AND NAILS

A ‘living drug’ that heals the skin

Researchers created a ‘living bioelectronic’ device that may treat psoriasis and other inflammatory skin conditions. 

What is the device? The device is a skin patch which uses the ABLE platform (Active Biointegrated Living Electronics). It was created by Bozhi Tian, a researcher and professor at the University of Chicago, and combines:

• Electronic circuit with sensors

• Gelatin- and tapioca starch-based gel

• S. epidermidis microbes (living)

Why it matters: It is the first bioelectronic to use a living microbe (S. epidermidis), which naturally secretes anti-inflammatory compounds to calm irritation.

The living microbes essentially transform the skin patch into a “living drug [that] you don’t have to refill…” said PhD student Saehyun Kim, co-first author and member of the lab. 

It also avoids common drawbacks associated with current bioelectronics (i.e., pacemaker), such as irritation and blockiness.

Big picture: In experiments, the patch significantly reduced symptoms in mice with psoriasis-like symptoms, and researchers hope that the model for this device can extend to other cells and tissue types. The study is published in the journal Science.

📰 In other news

Top Story

• The FDA reversed a 2022 marketing ban on Juul Labs for the sale of e-cigarettes and vaping products; the company claims that the product can help to stop cigarette use, however the American Lung Association says that Juul products were largely responsible for the youth e-cigarette epidemic. Read more.

Noteworthy

• Ancient Egyptians tested for pregnancy by having the expectant women urinate on bags of wheat and barley seeds. Pregnancy = shorter sprouting period. Read more. (Guess what? It worked!)

• Researchers suggest that a father’s body weight prior to conception can influence his child’s risk of developing metabolic disease. Read more.

• Eating a Planetary Health Diet (PHD) can reduce your risk of premature death and slow the impact of climate change, according to Harvard scientists. Read more. 

• Ultra-processed foods (UPFs) are linked to chronic insomnia, according to a recent study.*

*UPFs explained

• UPFs are a huge culprit of poor diet, which may be contributing to 1 in 5 deaths worldwide.

• UPFs are not healthy because most are limited in fiber and essential vitamins, high in sugar and fat, contain potentially dangerous additives and chemicals, and are highly palatable, making it easier to feel unsatiated and overindulge.

• During the UPF study, approximately 16% of participants’ calories came from UPF sources (average) and nearly 1 in 5 reported symptoms of chronic insomnia.

• Given the ubiquity of UPFs in the standard American diet, it’s easy to image that many peoples’ sleep is suffering.

Long-Levity

Families who squat together

🐕🏋 A video of a dog doing squats alongside its owner recently captured our hearts, and maybe benefited the health of its heart (I could not find any science on doing squats for cardiac health in dogs, although doing squats has heart health benefits for people, as it is a form of body-resistance exercise).

You know the saying: “Families that squat together stay together.”

Coming next week →

An extensive look into a product that you probably know, maybe love, and costs a lot. Is it worth it?

Did you see last week’s feature newsletter? We dig into the root of chronic disease with acclaimed author Dr. Robert Lufkin.

Look good, feel better, live long,
Erin Hunter, head editor

About Livelong

Longevity science can feel a bit like Alice in Wonderland at times—it is a rabbit hole of intrigue, but laden with misinformation: where one magic pill claims to make you bigger, another makes you smaller. Our goal at Livelong is to provide you with credible and actionable information about health and longevity so you can live a longer and healthier life and guide you toward making insightful decisions that support you during your health and longevity journey. 

Always seek the advice of a physician or other qualified health care professional before starting any exercise, wellness, or health program. Nothing in our content, products or services should be considered, or used as a substitute for medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Livelong is a media company and not a medical provider. We try to give the most accurate possible, but sometimes information is subject to change.