Biohacking Weekly: Keto, Centenarians and Mitochondria

Welcome to another edition of Biohacking Weekly - A curated news roundup that helps you increase your longevity & improve healthspan.

In this edition of Biohacking Weekly:

Sleep optimization hacks from Bryan Johnson
Physical exercise and a keto diet will increase muscle mitochondria
Dr Rhonda Patrick: All centenarians have one thing in common: low inflammation
A new medication may help beat the obesity epidemic
Berberine - Ayurvedic medicine with an antidiabetic effect

1. Sleep is the New Coffee?

Bryan Johnson created Braintree and is now founder and CEO of Kernel. The extreme biohacker, shares his insights about the importance of high-quality sleep.

"I’m shocked that sleep hygiene is not a global priority, and even more irate that my three children are expected to maintain school schedules that hinder adolescent development and contribute to mental illness. The science is sound."

Systematically working on his sleep hygiene, Bryan was able to increase his deep sleep from 40% to 157%. The deep phase of sleep is considered the most restorative stage of sleep, playing an important role in physical and mental restoration, hormonal regulation, and energy conservation.

Read this post to learn Bryan's methods and hacks for sleep optimization.

2. Keto and Mitochondria

As people age, their muscle mass and endurance decrease. This is due to the loss of mitochondria, the cell's energy producers, in older muscles. In addition to generating energy, mitochondria aid in the breakdown of harmful metabolites.

By engaging in physical exercise and adopting a keto diet, muscle mitochondria count can increase. The greater the number of muscle mitochondria we have, the more efficiently our muscles can convert fat into energy and break down potentially harmful neurotoxins that lead to nerve tissue damage and nervous system harm.

Research indicates that a ketogenic diet sustains muscle strength and endurance in animals throughout their senescence (loss of a cell's power of division and growth), preventing muscle deterioration and restoring muscle function.

Source: University of California Davis

3. Dr. Rhonda Patrick's Supplement Protocol for Longevity

Dr. Rhonda Patrick, host of the popular youtube channel FoundmyFitness and leading healthspan researcher, advocates that suppression of chronic inflammation appears to be the single most important driver of successful healthspan (not just living longer but living a healthy life).

Unlike other markers of longevity like telomere length, insulin sensitivity, and blood glucose levels, studies have found that the one thing supercentenarians appear to have in common is low inflammation.

Here are just a few supplements that Dr Patrick uses to reach her own longevity goals:

Vitamin D - helps regulate the immune system, improve blood pressure, bone strength and reduce inflammation. You can often find it paired with Vitamin K2 (another recommended vitamin from Dr Patrick).
Omega-3 - offers neuroprotective effects.
Collagen powder - helps improve blood circulation in the skin, reduce skin dryness and wrinkles.
Sulforaphane - a potent natural compound found in cruciferous vegetables shows remarkable antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and detoxification properties. It supports cellular health, bolsters immune function, and protects against age-related diseases.
Magnesium - with its synergistic effect on Vitamin D3, magnesium helps lower cardiovascular risks and stroke risks.

4. A New Medication That Slims the World's Expanding Waistline

In 2020 two-fifths of the world’s population were overweight or obese and this tendency is nowhere near slowing down.

There could not have been a better time for a new type of medication to arrive and potentially spell an end to this alarming trend.

Semaglutide has been shown in clinical trials to lead to a weight loss of about 15%.

Semaglutide mimics the release of hormones that stimulate a feeling of fullness and reduce the appetite. They also switch off the powerful urge to eat that lurks inside the brain, waiting to ambush even the keenest dieter.

Read the full article on The Economist.

5. Berberine Slows the Progression of Prediabetes

Berberine is an alkaloid found in various plants like barberry, Oregon grape, and tree turmeric. With a long history of being used as an Ayurvedic and traditional Chinese medicine, berberine is now being investigated as being potentially useful in the prevention of type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Evidence from clinical trials suggest that berberine may slow the progression of prediabetes to type 2 diabetes mellitus. Treatment with berberine was associated with reductions in food intake, fasting blood glucose level, insulin resistance and even improved structure of the gut microbiota.

Read the full study here.