Issue #297: Two Longevity Vitamins You've Never Heard Of
Good morning. It’s Tuesday, January 30th.
In today’s email:
Learn: Longevity Vitamins You’ve Never Heard Of
Try: Eat Mushrooms
Measure: Vitamin D
In the News: Slow Living
Stat of the Day
The minimum number of vitamins, minerals, and biochemicals our body needs for optimal health and successful aging. (source)
Learn
Longevity Vitamins
We’re looking for the fountain of youth - we want to slow down aging and we want it to be simple.
Is it rapamycin? Is it creatine? Is it a peptide?
The reality is that there’s never (at least in the foreseeable future) going to be a single supplement, drug, or vitamin that is a cure-all. Our body is immensely complex - what with 40 trillion cells all working together to coordinate millions of essential processes everyday.
So we should be thinking about it more as a team sport than a solo act.
That’s why it’s so much healthier to eat, say a kiwi with its many many benefits, rather than just to take a Vitamin C pill. Nearly every vitamin, mineral and biochemical needs another vitamin or biochemical to be fully activated, absorbed and deliver all of its potential benefits.
A name you probably haven’t heard in the world of longevity - 95-yr old Dr. Bruce Ames - believes there are many vitamins, minerals and other biochemicals to support healthy aging. If we’re short on any of them - we might be in trouble.
He calls this “triage theory.”
Basically eating the standard American (remember SAD 😔) diet means we lack many of these nutrients. So the body has to decide how to ration them - fix an immediate issue or save them for long-term health, like DNA repair?
We’re wired to focus on survival and to address immediate problems - leaving us without enough nutrients for long-term health.
We’ve covered some of these deficiencies in the past - Magnesium, Omega-3, plus many more.
But here are two “longevity vitamins” you’ve probably never heard of and should be getting more of so your body has enough nutrients for long-term health:
1. Ergothioneine (ESH) - a potent antioxidant and derivative of the amino acid, histidine - which is key for our kidneys, immune system and nervous system. Basically it protects our mitochondria - the power plants in all of our cells.
We can only get it from our diet and studies suggest people that eat less of this have a higher probability of neurological disease or cognitive decline and even increased mortality rates.
While it’s present in foods like kidney beans, the real source is mushrooms! Try eating more king oyster, maitake and shiitake mushrooms.
2. Pyrroloquinoline quinone (PQQ) - no idea how to pronounce that. But this antioxidant is potentially a valuable partner to Vitamin C and linked to reduced inflammation and efficient energy production (again - helping the mitochondria).
Here are the top food sources - again, there’s no magic food to eat, it’s about eating all of these healthy fruits and vegetables to keep the team working together because no one star is enough.
Try
Eat Mushrooms
I don’t love mushrooms - but I had ‘em this week, almost as a way to prove to my kids that I try new things and eat healthy food even if it’s not my favorite. Spoiler alert - I don’t think the life lesson worked.
But another way to get more mushroom is to add a powder to your daily smoothie or coffee - my go-to is Om Superfood (no affiliation).
Thrive25 Partner Spotlight
Max has been upping his smoothie game with the Momentous Essential Protein (Vanilla). He’s getting 40% of his RDA and it tastes great with his banana-blueberry-strawberry mix.
Momentous brings scientific backing and expert credibility to the supplement space. The Essential Plant-Based Protein is sourced from a 70:30 blend of pea and rice proteins, which yields a complete amino acid profile. Best of all, Momentous goes through regular NSF testing to ensure you get the highest quality product.
Thrive25 subscribers get 15% off the entire product portfolio using code Thrive at checkout. Click HERE!
Measure
Vitamin D ☀️
Referred to as the sunshine vitamin, Vitamin D is actually a hormone with more benefits than we can count. It turns on over 900 genes to support our health, plus it helps us:
Stay Strong: Vitamin D promotes strong bones and muscle strength 💪 (both key for longevity). It helps us absorb calcium - otherwise, our body will steal calcium from our bones to maintain the right blood calcium level (leads to osteoporosis).
Better Sex: A 2010 study cited in Super Human, shows that healthy Vitamin D levels are associated with more testosterone and that low Vitamin D levels are connected to ED.
Stop Disease: Still not sold? Vitamin D prevents cellular growth and is associated with lower cancer rates - specifically colon cancer - as well as lower heart disease, and even depression.
Reverse Aging: There are even recent studies that show Vitamin D as the only intervention that reduces your “biological age” by over 2.5 years!
What’s the right number?
Vitamin D is included in a standard blood panel with your annual physical, but always double-check with your doctor. The expert consensus is for your level of Vitamin D to be at least 50 ng/ml (nanograms per milliliter) and maybe slightly higher for most of us. Optimal Range = 50-80 ng/ml.
The challenge
Vitamin D just isn’t in that many foods. The average daily suggested amount is about 5,000 IU. Check out how much you'd have to eat everyday to get there without sunshine or a supplement:
How to supplement
Sunlight is a major source of Vitamin D, but it’s not available year-round. Consider a supplement from a reputable brand, say Momentous! After you get your Vitamin D results:
Subtract your current level (say 20 ng/ml) from your optimal level (say 50 ng/ml) and multiple by 100
So in this example 50-20 = 30 * 100 = 3,000 IU
Always check with your doctor for recommended dosage!!
In the News
Slow Living: Tired of fast food…or fast everything? Check out these 12 ideas to find a slow life, or at least pockets of intention throughout your day. (Inside Hook)
Fountain of Youth?: If you’re into genetics, a chimera is a single organism from multiple genotypes - if you know Greek mythology (or watched MI:2), you run away when you see one. In genetics, researchers found CAR (chimeric antigen receptor) T cells can be manipulated to eliminate senescent cells in mice - a major finding in longevity. (Source)
The Real Tea Party: A new study revealed you should drink 2-3 cups of tea daily to slow down the effects of aging. Results also indicated tea drinkers are less likely to suffer from anxiety and depression, or have insomnia. (Source)
Thanks for joining us today!
Check out the latest workout videos on our YouTube channel
Got feedback, recommendations or stories to share? Tell us what’s on your mind here
Want this direct to your inbox? Sign up here
Why Thrive25
We’re 40-something dads that felt our bodies and minds start to slow down and we’re not ready for that. We found too much information on every subject. So we started Thrive25 to transform what we’ve learned into something useful for the rest of us to spend just 3-5 min a day to optimize our health & longevity.
This newsletter is for you and we truly value your feedback. Never hesitate to reach out to us at team@thrive25.com.
To health!
Sign up for free:
The information in this newsletter is for informational purposes only and may not be appropriate or applicable based on your individual circumstances. Thrive25, Inc. does not provide medical, professional, or licensed advice. Please connect with your healthcare professional for medical advice specific to your health needs.