Issue #185: Protect Your Heart
Good morning. It’s Thursday, May 11th.
Today’s Quick Win
From the Lab: Protect Your Heart
Speed Read: 10 Surprising Foods That Raise Glucose Levels
Thursday Night In: Oyakadon??
“Prevention really is the most powerful medicine, but we as a species consistently lack the political or psychological will to act preventively in our own best interests.”
The amount of blood your heart pumps every day. (Source)
From the Lab
So we’re apparently now a breaking news outlet - after talking about cancer screenings on Tuesday (Issue #184), it was widely reported yesterday (see WSJ) about the change in mammogram screenings to start at age 40, not 50.
PRO TIP: Just remember with any test - you’ll get false-positives. Make sure to go into any screening knowing what the results mean, and if something is abnormal go through all the follow-up steps before thinking the worst!
What’s the other chronic disease we need to prevent? Heart Disease.
Over 1 out of 5 people die from heart disease and it actually causes 10x more deaths than breast cancer among women in the U.S. This is one thing they don’t see often in Blue Zones.
Our heart is amazing - pumping blood (see Stat of the Day) to 60,000 miles of vessels throughout our body 24/7. These vessels are able to expand/contract 12x per minute and really open the floodgates when we exercise and slow down when we sleep.
As with any highway that long there’s bound to be some potholes and traffic jams.
This is what happens when we have too many tiny molecules carrying around LDL cholesterol. They get stuck in the walls of the blood vessel and build up over time - causing roadblocks.
Three very important points here:
Cholesterol is essential for our body - it makes up the membrane (outer wall) of every cell in our body and performs many important tasks
LDL cholesterol is carried around by Apo-B molecules. The problem isn’t so much from the quantity of LDL cholesterol - it’s the number of molecules
What we eat matters - it affects our metabolism, our weight, our glucose/insulin levels. But as we said in Issue #173 - it does not, I repeat - it does NOT effect the cholesterol in our body (please enjoy the egg yolk, not just the whites)
“There’s no connection whatsoever between cholesterol in food and cholesterol in blood.”
So what should we TEST?
Waist Circumference - a better test than BMI, this is a proxy for visceral fat (around your organs) and puts added stress to your heart. Should be under 37 inches for men and 31.5 inches for women and a waist-to-height ratio of 0.5 or less. (see Issue #36)
Regularly Test Blood Pressure - the goal is to get systolic (top number) <120 and diastolic (bottom number) <80
Test Apo B - this is much more accurate than just an LDL test and something you can request from your doctor
BONUS: Get a Calcium Scan or Test - it measures the plaque on your vessels (basically previous/existing damage). Find a reputable doctor willing to do this for a couple hundred bucks (don’t get gouged).
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Speed Read
Health & Longevity in the News
Long Telomeres ≠ Long Life: The press was all over this after a famous (2.5M views) TED Talk by Elizabeth Blackburn. As cells divide, telomeres shorten until the cell eventually dies. So maintain long telomeres for longer life? A recent study countered this theory with evidence that long telomeres cause cancer and a blood disorder known as CHIP. So yet another dead end for the fountain of youth. (NYTimes)
It Works in Mice: Anxiety is the most common mental health condition in the world. Medications can relieve symptoms, but to date we’ve been flying blind to what’s actually happening in the brain. In mice, researchers found increased levels of five microRNAs (miRNAs) in the amygdala related to stress. (Big Think)
10 Surprising Foods That Raise Glucose: All foods impact your blood glucose, it’s just a matter of how much and how well your body can process. Based on member data, Levels Health shares some surprising culprits - healthy foods that can spike your blood glucose levels. (Click to Find Out)
Thursday Night In | Oyakadon
All those eggs in the fridge! This is described as pure bliss - lightly poached chicken with the “velvety richness of eggs and onions.” In Japanese, “oya” means parent and “ko” translates to child. So if you have them - get some help in the kitchen from the young ones.
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The information in this newsletter is for informational purposes only and may not be appropriate or applicable based on your individual circumstances. Thrive25 Labs LLC does not provide medical, professional, or licensed advice. Please connect with your healthcare professional for medical advice specific to your health needs.