The king of all exercise

I’d like to welcome you to the 1st edition of the Longevity for Life newsletter which I’m hoping will be a twice a month publication.

Who knows as the weeks go on it could turn into a weekly read, but I don’t want to get ahead of myself.

So what is LFL about you ask? Well basically I am going to scour the net for all the latest scientific data related to living healthier and longer and try to break it down into easily digestible chunks for you to consume and hopefully reap the benefits.

I have yet to hear of anyone that wouldn’t want to be physically capable of doing any activity they want to for a longer period of their life.

Basically this newsletter is for those of you that want to thrive not just survive!

Also living longer along with those you love and not feel as though your age is holding you back.

I’m going to try and make the emails a quick read as I know how busy your life is. So rest assured, within 3-4 min. you will receive several knowledge bombs that will not only be relatable, but also actionable.

So once again, welcome and thanks for the opportunity!

In today’s email:

• Exercise, Exercise: Exercise is king or queen, but what kind specifically.

• Booze and its effects: Red wine, beer, whiskey, the good, bad, and ugly.

• Low Carbs Increased Memory: Can Lowering carbs improve memory.

TOP STORY

What exercise reigns supreme for longevity ?

Is it walking, weight training, yoga, or meditation to name a few? Turns out it’s improving your VO2 Max! World renowned Physician, Dr. Peter Attia, author of Outlive claims in his opinion that hands down improving your cardiovascular health, specifically your VO2 Max will give you the most bang for your buck when it comes to living longer.

Dr. Attia states “VO2 Max by the numbers is the highest predictor of reduced all Cause mortality. The second would be high muscle strength followed shortly by high muscle mass. The association between high VO2 Max and low VO2 max is staggering. When you take somebody and this is for all sexes ages like if this is across the board right, if you say What is the difference in the risk of death between someone at the top 2% versus the bottom 25% for VO2 Max it’s a 400% difference in all cause mortality. Meaning at any point in time the person in the bottom 25% has a 400% greater chance of dying of any cause in the following year relative to the person in the top 2%  Why does VO2 Max matter that much? And the reason is what you need to do to have that much of a VO2 Max is what is making the difference”.

Do you have to be in the top 2% to reap the benefits? I don’t think so, however striving to get above that bottom 25% of people and you’re definitely going to be headed in the right direction.

Great VO2 Max Exercise

Try the Norwegian 4×4 if you’re looking for an exercise to boost your VO2 Max. It can definitely be a challenge, but you can always ease yourself into this type of training. Give it a shot!

Alcohol and brain function

I came upon this great resource from Dr. Rhonda Patrick, The Truth About Alcohol: Risks, Benefits, and Everything In-between. There is so much good info in this pdf that I’ll definitely be sharing more of its contents in future emails!

the good: “Research indicates that light to moderate alcohol consumption in middle to late adulthood is associated with a reduced risk of cognitive impairment and dementia, while heavy alcohol use and alcohol use disorder increase the risk for these diseases”.

• “The risk reduction associated with light to moderate drinking may be as high as 26%–28% for dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.

• A more modest 10% reduction in the risk of dementia may occur at four drinks per week

• Consuming one to 14 drinks per week is associated with a 47% lower risk of dementia compared to abstinence, but above 14 units per week, each seven-unit increase elevates dementia risk by 17%.

• Once alcohol intake surpasses 23 drinks per week (about three standard drinks per day), there’s a significant increase in the risk for dementia”.

The bad and ugly: “Alcohol has been implicated as a cause of cancer. Alcohol consumption is associated with a higher risk for oropharyngeal, laryngeal, esophageal, liver, colon, rectal, and breast cancer. Importantly, risk increases in a dose-response fashion, and there’s no apparent evidence of a threshold effect. In other words, the more alcohol you drink, the greater your risk for these cancers.

Here’s how different levels of drinking have been shown to impact cancer risk:

Light drinking (~seven drinks per week or one drink per day)

• 4%–9% increase in the risk of breast and colorectal cancer.

• 13%–17% increase in the risk of oral and pharyngeal cancer.

• 26%–44% greater risk of esophageal cancer and malignant melanoma.

Moderate drinking (one to three drinks per day)

• 12%–123% increase in the risk of oropharyngeal, laryngeal, colorectal, breast, and liver cancer.

Heavy drinking (three or more drinks per day)

• 15%–21% increase in the risk of stomach cancer.

• 300%–400% increase in the risk of esophageal, pharyngeal, and oral cancers”.

Low Carbohydrate Diet and Improved Memory in Aging Mice

When it comes to studies, the gold standard is obviously the ones performed using human subjects however, studies on mice have shown to be of great benefit in learning how certain mechanisms could affect humans without having to subject anyone directly.

In particular, there was a study looking at the affect of a Ketogenic diet and improved memory of aging mice.

A brief summary of the study by Acuna-Catalan. and team explains;

"A Ketogenic Diet (KD) helps improve memory in older mice, but we don't know exactly how it works on the brain. Acuna-Catalan and team found that a KD improves both short-term and long-term memory in older mice and makes their brain connections stronger. The diet also increases certain signals in the brain that help produce a protein called BDNF, which is important for brain health."

I know there is some controversy over a KD diet (not to be confused with Kraft Dinner :), however it might definitely be worth performing more studies on its affects and hopefully some of these studies can be performed on humans in the near future.

Well there you have it, the first ever Longevity for Life newsletter. I hope you enjoyed it as much I did writing it!

If you have any family or friends that you think would benefit from this longevity info, feel free you forward it.

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