David Sinclair (DS)
Lifespan podcast
Notes from last episode:
-Too much iron can accelerate aging
-Typically long lived have low iron levels
-So limit meat intake – red meat high in iron
-Also multivitamins w/ iron
Recs from last episode:
-Plant-based diet
-Low iron levels
-Eat less often
-DS eats one meal / day
Found mutant worm living 2x longer – single gene mutation – was insulin receptor gene
Start of revolution in manipulating genes for health and longevity
It’s related to stress resistance
Modern society is too comfortable
Need to find more of the right stressors
Examples: fasting / IF, exercise
Sitting down is bad for you – muscles atrophy, testosterone decreases
Get moving!
Exercise can slow down and even prevent cancer
Reduces all cause mortality
Walking after meal controls glucose
Both low and high intensity exercise
High intensity = hypoxia = panting and can’t carry on a chat
Turns on helpful genes
Generates free radicals
Mitochondrial hormesis
Aging reduces glucose sensitivity – and exercise increases it
Can measure biological age now (Horvath Clock) – exercise slows down this clock
Insight Tracker blood test to do this test
Standard sex isn’t aerobic / intense enough, and only lasts on average 5 minutes
Recommends 75 minutes of vigorous exercise a week = ~10 minutes / day
Less than 50 resting heart rate is good target
Benefits of weight training
-DS does it every other day or more
-Maintains hormones (eg, testosterone), posture, aesthetic
-Lose muscle mass as you get older – breaking hip is major risk to mortality
-Thighs, butt, back muscles – large muscle groups – most impact on testosterone
Senescent cells – zombie cells, can secrete damaging chemicals and don’t have any benefits
Exercise kills senescent cells
Overall takeaways
1. Low intensity exercise – “get off your butt” – 4K steps / day
2. High intensity exercise – 10 mins / day, lose your breath
3. Muscle building – weights, pushups + situps
Hyperbaric chambers = low oxygen environments, mimicking hypoxia
Study of daily sessions ~90 minutes
Showing cognitive improvements
Improve dementia / Parkinson’s
Seems to work similar to exercise
Impact on telomere length (anti-aging)
Benefits of COLD exposure
Production of brown fat (beige fat) – found in babies, helps them stay warm
Adults have brown fat, mostly on back
When cold, this revs up metabolism, burns white fat, and improves overall health
Reduces free radical load
Dwarf mice living 3x longer than normal mice
They were shivering (didn’t have companion)
With buddy, the life extension went away (!) – because they weren’t shivering (no longer cold)
Old mice don’t make brown fat as well as young mice – why you shouldn’t wait to do it
Ways to get cold therapy
-Cold showers
-Sleep with little or no clothes / covers
-Ice baths
Benefits of HEAT exposure
One of most ancient therapies
Now in Finland, Scandinavia
Men who sauna bathe a few times a week have dramatic reduction in heart attacks and cardio disease
Activates heat shock proteins
Not sure what dosing is right – but no evidence so far you can over do it
DS used to do heat sauna + ice bath cycles multiple times (reader beware)
Some evidence that infrared sauna can have additional benefits (over dry sauna)