A few months ago I was talking to my friend Dan Pardi (founder of Human OS) at the 111 Minna 20th anniversary party. Despite the loud techno music, Dan and I got into a conversation about health, nutrition, and supplements (as we usually do). Dan told me about some interesting research on the compound fisetin (found in many foods, but especially high in strawberries). Just a few high doses of fistetin, fed to mice, improved health and significantly extended lifespan, even when given to older (middle-aged) animals.
Tag: Dan Pardi
I saw two dead bodies in the same week, and I stopped sleeping.
The first body was my father-in-law, at his viewing. He looked natural, as if peacefully asleep. But his total stillness betrayed this illusion.
My uncle died a week later, at an assisted living facility in Concord. He’d been estranged from our family for more than twenty years, but he’d reached out recently, and we were all getting to know each other again. He’d been ill for a long time, with COPD, but that week he had a stroke, and died a few days later. The morning he died, my mom and I drove to Concord, and waited in his room for the mortician. My uncle was emaciated, and pale, and obviously dead, but still warm. I helped move his body from his bed to the gurney. He weighed almost nothing.
Battle of the straw men.
Watching the paleo vs. vegan blog battles is entertaining, but frustrating. Each side likes to make well-reasoned arguments against positions the other side isn’t really taking. The proponents of veganism like to pretend that paleo-eaters only eat meat and cheese (in other words, paleo = zero-carb = extreme Atkins), while some paleo advocates lump vegans and fruitarians together, or imagine that vegans eat soy products every single meal.
For example, Dan Pardi of Dan’s Plan recently forwarded me this series of videos from Don Matesz of the Primal Wisdom blog. Don, a formerly enthusiastic proponent of the paleolithic diet, has switched to veganism and is now condemning the paleolithic way of eating. I’ve watched about half the series so far and I haven’t found it very convincing. Most of it seems to be an attack on low-carb, high saturated fat, low fiber diets, which is not necessarily the same as a paleo diet. Most variations of the paleo diet are medium-to-high fiber (from vegetables and fruits), medium carb (from fresh fruit and starchy tubers), and some “seafood only” variations of the paleo diet are extremely low in saturated fats.
The truth is, there is a great deal of consensus on many health topic among paleo-eaters and vegans. Both sides agree that:
Actor/power-lifter/wrestler Nathan Jones (from Troy)
Most of us would like to be leaner and stronger. The hormones that have the biggest effect on body composition are growth hormone (GH) and insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1). After the age of 25, most people will experience some negative effects from declining levels of both these hormones, including:
- weaker bones
- poorer sleep quality
- increased body fat, especially in the abdominal area
- older looking skin
- less physical strength and slower recovery time
Anything we can do to keep GH and IGF-1 levels up will help us look and feel younger. So what can we do?