Recent Longevity News for the week ending 6/21/17

Gut bacteria might one day help slow down aging process - Science Daily, 6/15/17 - "Scientists at Baylor College of Medicine and the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston have identified bacterial genes and compounds that extend the life of and also slow down the progression of tumors and the accumulation of amyloid-beta, a compound associated with Alzheimer's disease, in the laboratory worm C. elegans ... Our finding suggests that products from bacteria today can still chime in the communication between mitochondria in our cells. We think that this type of communication is very important and here we have provided the first evidence of this"

Kids with low vitamin K2 status at greater risk of fracture: new study - Nutraceutical Business Review, 6/13/17 - "Bone fractures are very common in children and their number is growing every year. Vitamin D has a proven role in the prevention of fractures… [but the] past decade has seen increased interest in the role of Vitamin K, especially K2 menaquinone-7, in bone health and prevention of bone fractures" - [Nutra USA] - See MK-7 at Amazon.com.

Pre-clinical study suggests Parkinson's could start in gut endocrine cells - Science Daily, 6/15/17 - "Recent research on Parkinson's disease has focused on the gut-brain connection, examining patients' gut bacteria, and even how severing the vagus nerve connecting the stomach and brain might protect some people from the debilitating disease ... Rather than using hormones to communicate indirectly with the nervous system, these gut endocrine cells physically connect to nerves, providing a pathway to communicate with the brain ... This suggests they are able to communicate directly with the nervous system and brain" - Note:  It's another reason not to kill your gut bacteria with antibiotics and possible advantages of probiotics if you've taken antibiotics.  See probiotic products at Amazon.com.

Could broccoli be a secret weapon against diabetes? - Science Daily, 6/14/17 - "The researchers constructed a signature for type 2 diabetes based on 50 genes, then used publically available expression datasets to screen 3,852 compounds for drugs that potentially reverse disease. The most promising chemical -- sulforaphane, a naturally occurring compound found in cruciferous vegetables -- tamped down glucose production by liver cells growing in culture, and shifted liver gene expression away from a diseased state in diabetic rats ... When the researchers gave concentrated broccoli sprout extracts to 97 human type 2 diabetes patients in a 12-week randomized placebo-controlled trial, obese participants who entered the study with dysregulated disease demonstrated significantly decreased fasting blood glucose levels compared to controls" - See sulforaphane at Amazon.com.

Vitamin C and antibiotics: A new one-two 'punch' for knocking-out cancer stem cells - Science Daily, 5/12/17 - "The Salford team recently showed Vitamin C to be up to ten times more effective at stopping cancer cell growth than pharmaceuticals such as 2-DG, but they say that when Vitamin C is combined with an antibiotic, it is up to ten times more effective, making it nearly 100 times more effective than 2-DG ... As Doxycycline and Vitamin C are both relatively non-toxic, this could dramatically reduce the possible side-effects of anti-cancer therapy ... The Salford team also identified eight other drugs that could be used as a "second-punch" after the antibiotic regime, including berberine (a natural product) -- and a number of cheap non-toxic FDA approved drugs" - See American Health Products - Ester C W/Citrus Bioflavonoids, 1000 mg, 180 veg tablets at Amazon.com.

Abstracts from this week:

Leucine Differentially Regulates Gene-Specific Translation in Mouse Skeletal Muscle - J Nutr. 2017 Jun 14 - "These results clarify the translation program acutely stimulated by leucine in mouse skeletal muscle and establish new methodologies for use in future studies of skeletal muscle disease or aging and further examination of downstream effects of leucine on gene expression" - See BulkSupplements Pure L-Leucine Powder (1 Kilogram).

Yogurt Is a Low-Glycemic Index Food - J Nutr. 2017 Jun 14 - "Because the GI of yogurt is lower than that of most other carbohydrate foods, exchanging yogurt for other protein and carbohydrate sources can reduce the GI and GL of the diet, and is in line with recommended dietary patterns, which include whole grains, fruits, vegetables, nuts, legumes, fish, vegetable oils, and yogurt" - See my yogurt recipe on my yogurt page.

Yogurt and Diabetes: Overview of Recent Observational Studies - J Nutr. 2017 Jun 14 - "We found that 13 prospective studies evaluated the association between yogurt intake and type 2 diabetes, most of which showed an inverse association between the frequency of yogurt consumption and the risk of diabetes. In addition to the scientific evidence accumulated from individual prospective studies, several meta-analyses have shown that yogurt consumption has a potential role in diabetes prevention. The most recent analysis shows a 14% lower risk of type 2 diabetes when yogurt consumption was 80-125 g/d compared with no yogurt consumption"

Effect of Astaxanthin Supplementation on Cardiorespiratory Function in Runners - Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, May 2017 - "Astaxanthin (AX) is a naturally occurring carotenoid ... supplemented for 8 wks w/12mg/day of AX ... There was no improvement in maximal oxygen uptake (running VO2max) or maximal power output (cycling watts) with AX supplementation. Interestingly, subjects in the AX group showed a significant ~10% lower average heart rate at submaximal running intensities (aerobic threshold, AeT; AX 130+17 v. PL 145+14; and anaerobic threshold, AT; AX 139+20 v. PL 154+11, p<0.05) compared to placebo" - [Nutra USA] - See BioAstin at Amazon.com.  Here are just a few more recent studies on astaxanthin:

• Astaxanthin compound found to switch on the FOX03 'Longevity Gene' in mice - Science Daily, 3/28/17 -"The Astaxanthin compound CDX-085 (developed by Cardax) showed the ability to significantly increase the expression of the FOXO3 gene, which plays a proven role in longevity ... We found a nearly 90% increase in the activation of the FOXO3 "Longevity Gene" in the mice fed the higher dose of the Astaxanthin compound CDX-085" - See BioAstin at Amazon.com.
• Benefits of taking the natural pigment astaxanthin - Science Daily, 2/22/16 - "ASX has a powerful antioxidant effect, and it holds promise as a next-generation natural supplement. ASX is capable of penetrating the blood-brain barrier, entering the brain, where it acts directly on nerve cells. ASX is also known to have a neuroprotective effect in neurological animal disease model ... A research group led by University of Tsukuba Faculty of Health and Sport Sciences Professor Hideaki Soya and Professor Randeep Rakwal has investigated the effect on hippocampal function of the naturally-derived pigment ASX, which is believed to have the most powerful antioxidant activity among carotenoids. Their results showed for the first time that giving ASX to mice for four weeks promoted neurogenesis in the hippocampus in a concentration-dependent manner, and elevated the learning and memory capacity of the hippocampus" - See astaxanthin at Amazon.com.
• Preventive effect of dietary astaxanthin on UVA-induced skin photoaging in hairless mice - PLoS One. 2017 Feb 7;12(2):e0171178 - "Our results indicate that dietary astaxanthin accumulates in the skin and appears to prevent the effects of UVA irradiation on filaggrin metabolism and desquamation in the epidermis and the extracellular matrix in the dermis" - [Nutra USA] - See BioAstin at Amazon.com.
• Zinc-rich oysters as well as zinc yeast- and astaxanthin-enriched food improved sleep efficiency and sleep onset in a randomized controlled trial of healthy individuals - Mol Nutr Food Res. 2016 Dec 25 - "These subjects were divided into 4 groups: placebo, zinc-rich food, zinc- and astaxanthin-rich food, and placebo supplemented with zinc-enriched yeast and astaxanthin oil. Compared with the placebo group, the zinc-rich food group efficiently decreased the time necessary to fall asleep and improved sleep efficiency, whereas the group that ingested zinc-enriched yeast and astaxanthin oil significantly improved the sleep onset latency"

Vitamin D supplement ameliorates hippocampal metabolism in diabetic rats - Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 2017 Jun 9 - "These results suggest that 1,25-dihydroxy vitamin D3 treatment can ameliorate hyperglycemia-induced damage on hippocampal metabolism, possibly through alleviating the aberrant activation of ER stress" - See vitamin D at Amazon.com.

Dietary calcium intake and rate of bone loss in men - Br J Nutr. 2017 Jun 13:1-7 - "Baseline BMD was not related to dietary Ca intake at any site, before or after adjustment for covariables. Similarly, bone loss over 2 years was not related to Ca intake at any site, before or after adjustment. Dietary Ca intake was inversely correlated with PTH at baseline (r -0·19, P=0·02), but was not associated with the markers of bone turnover. BMD and rates of bone loss were unrelated to Ca intake in these men. This suggests that strategies to increase Ca intake are unlikely to impact on the prevalence of and morbidity from male osteoporosis" - Note:  That doesn't surprise me.  There's a lot more to it than just calcium and vitamin D.  See my osteoporosis page to get a feel for the other nutrients involved.

Fried potato consumption is associated with elevated mortality: an 8-y longitudinal cohort study - Am J Clin Nutr. 2017 Jun 7 - "participants with the highest consumption of potatoes did not show an increased risk of overall mortality (HR: 1.11; 95% CI: 0.65, 1.91). However, subgroup analyses indicated that participants who consumed fried potatoes 2-3 times/wk (HR: 1.95; 95% CI: 1.11, 3.41) and ≥3 times/wk (HR: 2.26; 95% CI: 1.15, 4.47) were at an increased risk of mortality. The consumption of unfried potatoes was not associated with an increased mortality risk"

Consumption of Dairy Yogurt Containing Lactobacillus paracasei ssp. paracasei, Bifidobacterium animalis ssp. lactis and Heat-Treated Lactobacillus plantarum Improves Immune Function Including Natural Killer Cell Activity - Nutrients. 2017 May 31;9(6) - "Over a twelve-week period, the test group consumed dairy yogurt containing probiotics each day, whereas the placebo group consumed milk. Natural killer (NK) cell activity, interleukin (IL)-12 and immunoglobulin (Ig) G1 levels were significantly increased in the test group at twelve weeks compared to baseline. Additionally, the test group had significantly greater increases in serum NK cell activity and interferon (IFN)-γ and IgG1 than placebo group" - [Nutra USA]

Fructose replacement of glucose or sucrose in food or beverages lowers postprandial glucose and insulin without raising triglycerides: a systematic review and meta-analysis - Am J Clin Nutr. 2017 Jun 7 - "Strong evidence exists that substituting fructose for glucose or sucrose in food or beverages lowers peak postprandial blood glucose and insulin concentrations. Isoenergetic replacement does not result in a substantial increase in blood triglyceride concentrations" 

Health Focus (Sytrinol):