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- Keto diet may cause cellular aging, unearthing the human brain, and more
Keto diet may cause cellular aging, unearthing the human brain, and more
Sharing knowledge to guide you toward making insightful decisions that support you on your path to health and longevity.
Issue 9 | May 31, 2024
Hello Livelongers,
Welcome to this week’s newsletter. May is recognized as Mental Health Awareness Month, but mental health should be prioritized every day, especially to promote health and longevity. Wild as it may seem, mental health and emotions play a HUGE factor in physical wellbeing.
Think about it this way: if you are always anxious and living in ‘fight or flight’ mode, then your body becomes constantly focused on survival. This means it will not allocate energy to healthy daily living functions like proper digestion, sleep, or a slow and relaxed heart rate. Over time, this can wreak havoc and lead to more serious conditions. Let this be a gentle reminder to do things that promote emotional wellbeing.
The week is May 27. In today’s email:
Researchers create one of the most intricate maps of the human brain.
How you should journal to get maximum benefits.
Keto diet is linked with cellular aging…but not always.
Do we have a dietary off-the-shelf treatment for Alzheimer’s?
And more…
We love to hear from our community. Please share your feedback, stories, questions, testimonials, ideas and more with us at [email protected].
Researchers have created the most detailed map of human brain matter
What is the science: A team of researchers at Harvard and Google used AI to create a digital map of the human brain—this is the largest ever synaptic-resolution and 3D reconstruction of a piece of the human brain. Findings are published in the journal Science.
“In one respect, our data set is miniscule, " said study co-author Jeff Lichtman of Harvard University in an interview with Popular Science cited by Smithsonian Magazine. “But it doesn’t feel small, because when you get in it, you see it’s like a gigantic forest.”
What did researchers find? That ‘forest’ can fit into a grain of rice. The brain sample (collected from a piece of temporal cortex) is only the size of half of a grain of rice, but this sample alone demonstrated the ability to process 1.4 million gigabytes of information.
Among other spectacular findings include the discovery of special places in the brain where neurons had 50 connecting synapses (most neural connections have 3 or fewer synapses). This may represent the process of learning, Lichtman told the Guardian.
The clinically proven way to journal
I first learned about the journaling protocol from Andrew Huberman’s podcast. The protocol, created in the 1990s, packs an emotional punch because you are meant to write about major life stressors and traumas and describe your emotions and the experience in vivid detail. This type of trauma-centric writing may be comparable to exposure therapy, which can have surprising health benefits. Here’s the protocol:
Reach out to us at [email protected] if you give this protocol a try. We would love to hear about your experience.
Live longer, together
Living longer is better with the ones you love. Share this newsletter sign up page with your family, friends, and colleagues to help us grow a community who celebrates good life and good health.
Long-term ketogenic diet can age cells
Researchers urge people who eat a long-term keto-friendly diet to take a ‘keto-break,’ after a study shows that a continuous long-term keto diet can age your cells. This diet is characterized by eating high-fat and low-carbohydrate foods. While it can promote weight loss—and it is often used for such purposes—it may cause inflammation and age cells if done for a long stretch of time.
Why is it a risk? This diet restricts many fiber-rich foods like starchy vegetables, whole grains, and legumes. Fiber is important for the gut microbiome, and it can also curb inflammation and reduce risk of other diseases. Long-term, the keto diet may lead to the consumption of too much saturated fat from dairy and meat products as well. This is linked to high cholesterol, which can eventually lead to heart disease.
But what about an intermittent keto diet? During the study, this diet did NOT increase inflammation. In fact, taking intermittent breaks could boost the benefits of keto. These benefits come in the form of burning fat as fuel instead of glucose. This research was published in Science Advances.
Livelong Summit: Making longevity for you
Get early-bird discounts on the next summit events to discover the latest about diet and nutrition, longevity trends, technologies, and more. See past presenters here.
In other news
An Iowa high school bans the use of cell phones during school hours to promote more mental health and wellbeing. Read more.
A new system may allow patients with leukemia to safely have diseased blood cells removed while being replaced with new, healthy blood cells. Read more.
Amino acid L-serine—commonly found in eggs, meat, tofu, seaweed, and sweet potatoes—could become the first dietary off-the-shelf treatment for Alzheimer’s disease. Read more.
Urolithin A, a postbiotic created when polyphenols (i.e., found in pomegranates and walnuts) are metabolized in the gut, could be a potential therapeutic against Alzheimer’s. Read more.
Male birth control may be on the horizon, as researchers with Baylor College of Medicine test a non-hormonal sperm-specific contraceptive approach in animal models. Read more.
Long-levity
Cuddling a cow can decrease depression and anxiety, according to new study. Read more.
Send us good news and testimonies about how you are living your best life at [email protected].
Livelong community playlist
Submit a song for the shared Spotify workout playlist to [email protected]. We’ve already received some fabulous recommendations that are sure to get you energetic and ready for another rep. We'll send out the link to the playlist next month!
Livelong is launching a second newsletter
The scope of longevity is boundless, which is why we take the time to curate information that we think will provide you with a well-rounded understanding of important science, ideas, and perspectives.
In order to give you more, we have launched a second newsletter, which will feature full articles that dive deep into science, interviews with experts in the field, and provide breakdowns of trending concepts.
There is no action needed on your part: You'll automatically receive the feature issue every Tuesday, along with the longevity weekly highlights on Fridays.
Don’t miss the next feature newsletter, coming this Tuesday: We highlight imagination and memory
And if you didn’t get the chance yet, why don’t you go ahead and check out our last feature newsletter (here).
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.
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