Recent Longevity News for the week ending 8/24/16

Vegan Diet, Position of the German Nutrition Society (DGE) - Ernaehrungs Umschau international, 4/2016 - "On the basis of current scientific literature, the German Nutrition Society (DGE) has developed a position on the vegan diet. With a pure plant-based diet, it is difficult or impossible to attain an adequate supply of some nutrients. The most critical nutrient is vitamin B12. Other potentially critical nutrients in a vegan diet include protein resp. indispensable amino acids, long-chain n-3 fatty acids, other vitamins (riboflavin, vitamin D) and minerals (calcium, iron, iodine, zinc and selenium). The DGE does not recommend a vegan diet for pregnant women, lactating women, infants, children or adolescents. Persons who nevertheless wish to follow a vegan diet should permanently take a vitamin B12 supplement, pay attention to an adequate intake of nutrients, especially critical nutrients, and possibly use fortified foods or dietary supplements. They should receive advice from a nutrition counsellor and their supply of critical nutrients should be regularly checked by a physician" - [Nutra USA]

Stroke-like brain damage is reduced in mice injected with omega-3s - Science Daily, 8/23/16 - "At 24 hours, mice treated with DHA, but not EPA, had a significant reduction in brain injury. In the following weeks, the DHA group also had significantly better results in multiple brain functions compared to the EPA-treated mice and untreated (control) mice" - See docosahexaenoic acid at Amazon.com.

Fatty Fish May Curb Eye Risks for Diabetics, Study Finds - WebMD, 8/18/16 - "The team found that those who routinely consumed 500 milligrams (mg) a day of omega-3 fatty acid in their diets (equal to two servings of fatty fish per week) were 48 percent less likely to develop diabetic retinopathy than those who consumed less" - See fish oil supplements at Amazon.com.

Calcium Supplements May Up Women's Dementia Risk - WebMD, 8/17/16 - "The study can't prove cause-and-effect. However, dementia risk was seven times higher in female stroke survivors who took calcium supplements, compared to women with a history of stroke who didn't use the supplements ... The risk of dementia also was three times higher in women with white matter brain lesions who took calcium supplements, compared to women with white matter lesions who didn't take the supplements ... the findings apply only to calcium supplements. Calcium from food appears to affect the brain differently than calcium from supplements, Kern explained, and appears to be safe or even protective"

Higher Serum DHA Linked to Less Amyloid, Better Memory - Medscape, 8/17/16 - "DHA is "the most abundant polyunsaturated fatty acid in the brain, playing an important structural role in synapses while also modulating a number of signaling pathways ... serum DHA levels (percentage of total fatty acids) were 23% lower in those with cerebral amyloidosis relative to those without ... there was a significant association between serum DHA levels and nonverbal memory" - See docosahexaenoic acid at Amazon.com.

Abstracts from this week:

The Effect of Green Tea Ingestion and Interval Sprinting Exercise on the Body Composition of Overweight Males: A Randomized Trial - Nutrients. 2016 Aug 19;8(8) - "Participants were randomly assigned into control (C), green tea (GT), interval sprinting exercise (ISE), and green tea and ISE (GT + ISE) groups. The GT, GT + ISE, and C groups consumed three GT capsules daily ... There was a significant reduction in total and abdominal fat mass for the ISE and GT + ISE groups, p < 0.05, however, total and abdominal fat mass did not significantly change in the GT and C groups. There was a significant increase in total lean mass, p < 0.05, after the intervention for the ISE and GT + ISE groups only. There was a significant increase in fat oxidation during submaximal aerobic exercise, p < 0.05, after the intervention for the ISE, GT + ISE, and GT groups with no change for the C group. Following the 12-week intervention the ISE and GT + ISE groups, compared to C, recorded a significantly greater decrease in body and abdominal fat, and a significant increase in total lean mass" - See green tea extract at Amazon.com.

Effect of magnesium supplementation on glucose metabolism in people with or at risk of diabetes: a systematic review and meta-analysis of double-blind randomized controlled trials - Eur J Clin Nutr. 2016 Aug 17 - "Compared with placebo (n=334), Mg treatment (n=336) reduced fasting plasma glucose (studies=9; SMD=-0.40; 95% CI: -0.80 to -0.00; I2=77%) in people with diabetes. In conditions in people at high risk of diabetes (Mg: 226; placebo=227 participants), Mg supplementation significantly improved plasma glucose levels after a 2 h oral glucose tolerance test (three studies; SMD=-0.35; 95% CI: -0.62 to -0.07; I2=0%) and demonstrated trend level reductions in HOMA-IR (homeostatic model assessment-insulin resistance; five studies; SMD=-0.57; 95% CI: -1.17 to 0.03; I2=88%). Mg supplementation appears to have a beneficial role and improves glucose parameters in people with diabetes and also improves insulin-sensitivity parameters in those at high risk of diabetes" - See Magtein at Amazon.com.

Statin therapy prevents the onset of Parkinson disease in patients with diabetes - Ann Neurol. 2016 Jul 29 - "The PD incidence rate was lower in statin users than in nonusers of statins. The crude hazard ratio of PD incidence in statin users was 0.65 (95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.57-0.74) in females and 0.60 (95% CI = 0.51-0.69) in males compared with nonusers of statins. After Cox regression analysis, all statins except lovastatin exerted protective effects on PD incidence and had a significant dose-dependent trend"

Neat Tech Stuff / "How To's":

LG OLEDB6P series review: The best TV picture money can buy - CNET, 8/23/16 - "LG's high-end 2016 OLED TVs deliver the best picture quality of any TV we've ever reviewed, and the B6 is the best value of the bunch ... with the exception of the E6"

Explore which video baby monitor is right for you - CNET, 8/21/16 - "The iBaby Monitor M6S is a higher-end, $230 monitor from smart-home startup iBaby. While it doesn't have the convenience of a separate base station monitor, it has one of the best monitoring apps around, along with consistent 1080p image resolution"

Health Focus (Telomeres):