Happy Friday!
🧴🧠From the brain’s “glue” to the fat-burning effects of green tea and lessons about nature from Indigenous communities, this week we’re exploring new and timeless ways to live longer, better, and more in tune with history.
Speaking of history…on October 13 was Indigenous People’s Day, and archeologists took the occasion to announce the discovery of a human skull estimated to be more than 4,000 years old in Indiana, a reminder of the Indigenous community’s long heritage.
Let’s go! 🚶♀
Spotlight
The Surprising Role of the Brain's ‘Glue’ In Aging
How tweaking the pH of glial cells could significantly extend lifespan.
A recent study from the University of Miami, published in Science Advances, suggests that tweaking the pH of glial cells (our brain’s so-called ‘glue’) might help slow aging, extend lifespan, and protect against neurodegenerative disease.
Less well-known than neuron cells (our brain’s information-processing cells), glial cells account for 50% of brain cells, playing an important role in keeping it balanced, nourished, and protected.
🧪 The study
In a study with C. Elegans worms, scientists made glial cells more alkaline (a higher pH, so less acidic) by removing CLH-1, a protein that regulates the pH of the nervous system.
The results:
🧠 The worms lived longer, had better mobility as they aged, and showed fewer signs of neuron damage (characteristic of what happens in Alzheimer’s).
🔁 Glial cells had more efficient autophagy (a process of recycling dead, inflammatory cells).
🧘 They became more resilient to oxidative stress, which often drives age-related disease.
Why it matters: Glial cells support neurons and block inflammatory oxidative stress. Unfortunately, they shift from “protectors” to harbingers of inflammation and degeneration as we age.
Understanding how to restore the balance could lead to new methods of preventing many devastating neurological conditions, including Alzheimer’s disease and Huntington’s disease, among others.
A quick note on pH
⚖️ Life runs on balance, and pH plays an important role in that. When your body’s pH is within a healthy range, it supports immunity, digestion, metabolism, and sexual well-being. Here’s how you can naturally support these processes:
Eat pH-balancing foods to increase alkalinity (our body’s pH is slightly alkaline, at around 7.35). This includes fresh fruits and vegetables, and some legumes, especially blueberries, apples, avocado, broccoli, and lentils.
Take probiotics that support pH-balancing microbes
Consider pH-balancing skincare to keep skin youthful and hydrated
Wellness Watch
What’s brewing? Green tea’s surprising fat-burning secret
🍵 For centuries, green tea has been a staple of the traditional Okinawan diet, contributing to the remarkable longevity of this Japanese island’s people. New research suggests that it may have more potential as a natural obesity regulator.
In this study, published in Cell Biochemistry & Function, the ‘matrix of flavenoids’ (antioxidants) found in green tea can activate genes that help restore glucose metabolism, the body’s ability to move sugar from the bloodstream into cells for energy, and improve insulin resistance in mice.
The green tea effect
For four weeks, mice were fed a high-calorie ‘Cafeteria diet’ of chocolate, cookies, and cake. 🧁 Then, while keeping the same diet, some mice received a daily dose of standardized green tea extract (500 mg/kg of body weight). Roughly three cups of tea per day in humans. 🍵🍵🍵
The benefits were numerous:
💪 Green tea protected muscle fibers from shrinking, which can reduce inflammation while protecting strength and glucose uptake.
⚖️ It works ‘selectively against excess body fat’ while appearing to keep lean animals at a healthy weight.
🧬 It activated genes linked to glucose uptake and restored an important enzyme for glucose metabolism. This means better insulin resistance and a lower risk of developing diabetes.
But we don’t know if the benefits happen with tea bags: Commercial tea bags vary in quantity or quality, which is why researchers opted for pharmaceutical doses. There should be more research on the fat-burning capabilities of drinking tea versus taking pharmaceutical extracts in humans.
The whole tea
Still, these are promising results and there could still be many merits to drinking from tea bags. In fact, Otton recommends consuming green tea every day, like they do in Japan, where obesity rates are lower than those in the rest of the world.
Quick Poll
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In Other News 📣
The fatty acid injection that treats failing vision
👁️ As we age, our vision declines partly because our eyes “settle” for less than what they need…specifically, that means settling for less-effective ‘short’ fatty acids, says vision researcher Dorota Skowronska-Krawczyk of UC Irvine.
In a recent study she led, older mice who received an injection of a long-chain fatty acid called TPA (tetracosapentaenoic acid), a compound naturally made in the liver and eyes, showed a month-long improvement in vision.
TPA helps produce docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and very long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (VLC-PUFAs), both of which are essential for maintaining healthy retinas. 🧬
👀 💡 Skowronska-Krawczyk describes the results as “shocking,” and says she hopes that a safe, low-dose supplement form of TPA can help prevent vision loss in humans.
Quick Hits
🧠 AI as a therapist: Do AI therapists really ‘coach toward self-destruction?’
💉 So Costco sells Ozempic now? The grocer will sell four-week supplies of Ozempic and Wegovy starting at $499 out of pocket.
⚙️ Speedy sperm, sleep, syringes: The San Francisco Standard breaks down tech bro routines, habits, and tools that are being used to live forever.
LONG-LEVITY
Indigenous Peoples Day was this past Monday. 🍃 Modern medicine is finally catching up to what Indigenous healers have long known: connecting with the land shapes health, longevity, and spiritual well-being.
Indigenous healing systems see nature as sacred and inseparable from wellness.
🌬️ This “bio-psycho-socio-spiritual” approach of mind, body, spirit, and earth includes practices such as steam bathing, canoeing, and plant offerings. While they offer specific spiritual and cultural meanings that cannot be replicated, science supports the wisdom.
Time in nature reduces inflammation, lowers stress, fosters empathy, increases physical fitness, and sharpens focus. Even looking at a picture of nature can improve performance and attention capacity.
🌱 Honoring these teachings is embracing timeless wisdom. Time in nature (and caring for it) sustains well-being and health.
Longevity We’re Loving
Selfie Science. AI can read the hidden signs of face aging. What does it mean for your health?
Your brain on purpose: Purpose can lower risk of dementia by a whopping 28%. How can you tap into this longevity hack?
Poll Response
We asked, you answered:
🍺 What’s your pint personality?
Well I did not see this coming! 🍻 Whether it’s for taste, health, or personal values, the most common pint personality is actually being anti-pint altogether (27%). Among Livelong readers who do indulge, Pale Ale was the top choice.
Thanks for reading!
The information provided about wellness and health is for general informational and educational purposes only. We are not licensed medical professionals, and the content here should not be considered medical advice. Talk to a doctor before trying any of these suggestions.