Biohacking Weekly: Longevity, Plastic Toxicity, "A Fat Lot Of Good" & Grass-Fed Cattle

We see biohacking as the opportunity to elevate life to a higher degree.

Here's some recent perspectives from around the web for you can catch up on previous editions of Biohacking Weekly.

In this post:

1. Why do people live past their reproductive prime & what is the role of physical activity in promoting longevity?
2. Plastic's toxic effects on human cells.
3. A health scare inspired elite sports medico Dr. Peter Brukner’s mission to defeat diabetes.
4. Grass-fed cattle produce 1600x more edible protein than they consume.
   
   

1. Why People Live Past Their Reproductive Prime & the Role of Physical Activity in Promoting Longevity

Evolutionary biologist Daniel Lieberman and colleagues (2021), in an article containing the intriguing lead-in “The active grandparent hypothesis…,” link physical activity with longevity, examining the issue from an evolutionary perspective.

This hypothesis proposes that:

 “selection for increased physical activity (PA) in humans was linked to selection for extended lifespans.”

When people aren’t active, their bodies don’t engage in those healthspan-promoting repair and maintenance activities and they suffer changes such as loss of muscle mass.

Older individuals then become weaker and less able to perform the kinds of exercise that would keep those muscles stressed and toned. Nevertheless, once they begin to engage in PA, there’s ample evidence to show that many previously lost functions can be regained.

Read more in Psychology Today or The Published Study

More on the topic:

• How Exercise Can Improve Your Executive Functions
• The Benefits of Weight Training for Brain Health
  
  

2. First-of-a-kind Study Shows Plastic's Toxic Effects On Human Cell

Image source: New Atlas

New research shows that we are ingesting microplastics at the levels consistent with harmful effects on cells, which are in many cases the initiating event for health effects.

Interestingly, the team found that the damage a microplastic particle can do might depend on its shape. Most of the toxicology studies so far have tested the effects of spherical microplastics, but the team found that those of an irregular form were particularly potent when it came to cell death.

The scientists note there are still unknowns around how microplastics actually behave in the human body, and how the digestive process might alter their effects. The biggest uncertainty at the present time is how ingested microplastics are excreted from the body.

Read at New Atlas

3. Silent Assassin: A Health Scare Inspired Elite Sports Medico Dr. Peter Brukner’s Mission To Defeat Diabetes

We spent the past few decades trimming the fat off our meat and eating low-fat dairy, when there was a good argument that it was "the worst thing we could have done". The food industry simply replaced the fat with sugar.

"We have had the low-fat, high sugar diet for 30, 40 years, yet we have just gotten fatter and sicker ever since."

"I was eating a good, sensible, low-fat diet like I was supposed to do, and exercising regularly."He was functioning fine, but the reality was that the globally-recognised Australian sports physician to elite athletes had a fatty liver, high triglyceride levels, and high insulin levels.

"I was metabolically unwell, and in retrospect, clearly pre-diabetic," he recalled. "I was overweight - borderline obese, and like many middle-aged men, I had probably put on half a kilogram a year for 30 years."
Dr Peter Brukner

Book: A Fat Lot of Good

Read the Canberra Times article

A disclaimer: if you are on prescribed drugs for your diabetes, it is important to discuss diet with your prescriber before making major changes.

4. Grass-fed Cattle Produce X1600 More Edible Protein Than They Consume

The CSIRO research has found the typical Australian grain-fed beef production system contributes almost twice the human-edible protein its cattle consume, while grass-fed systems contribute almost 1600 times.

CSIRO debunks cattle myths

More on the topic:

• Why Grass-Fed (& Grass-Finished) Meat is Better for You
  
• Why Grass-Fed Beef Is Better for You (Infographic)
  
• Ultimate Guide to Buying Australian Grass-Fed Beef in Coles and Woolworths
  
  

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