Living Longer, Better, Maybe

By Tom Furman

Living longer is something that has always interested us. However, the pessimist, will always point towards the waning years as bed bound and immobile. Why live longer if the quality of life is massively compromised? Therefore, any plan or idea about extending life should also consider the quality of life. More vital years are needed.

No such thing as spare time, no such thing as free time, no such thing as down time. All you got is lifetime. Go. — Henry Rollins

There are many theories of aging. Confirmation bias will have researchers running down one rabbit hole or another. Aging is multifactorial. There are many causes. Do you have great genetics? Well an accident can change that. Do you consume thousands of dollars in exotic food supplements? Lacking the strength to climb out of a burning building may cut your life short.

Two currently popular and unsubstantiated shortcuts to the aging process are the consumption of pharmaceuticals and more exotic supplements. Namely Metformin and nicotinamide riboside. I’ll keep this short, but based on evidence presented by Dr. Peter Attia, we can possibly make a decision by weighing these bullet points.

Lastly, I read a paper (behind a paywall, unfortunately) in Cell by Josh Rabinowitz and colleagues on NAD (nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide) flux that was well-done and revealing (and freakin’ long — took a few hours to read). This is 100% going to be a future podcast topic for folks interested in NAD, NR (nicotinamide riboside), and the supplements they show up in (Basis, Tru Niagen). Spoiler alert: Not sure taking NAD precursors orally is doing much beyond enriching the companies that make them. https://peterattiamd.com/ama-alzheimers-podcast-rec-and-nad-rec/

I stopped taking metformin this year (after doing so for 9 years) based on entirely different data and rationale. — Dr. Peter Attia https://peterattiamd.com/191013/

Living longer and better may be way simpler and cheaper. It is still a crap shoot. We can’t ignore genetics, but patterning ourselves after Grandma who lived to 107, while smoking 3 packs a day is hardly a good idea. It’s anecdote and not evidence. As well, looking at long lived cultures seems to be compelling, but may be smoke and mirrors. https://youtu.be/e1xG_LpjDlc

The focus for living longer should be on activity. EXERCISE. As well, some dietary adjustments MAY have an effect, as well as cheaper supplements that can be bought anywhere. Most importantly avoiding accidents. Realize that as you age and become weaker, accidents become more severe. A 14 year old falling will bounce and bruise. A 74 year old will get pneumonia and possibly die. Indeed, exercise gives us the biggest bang per buck. FAR more than ingesting supplements based on rat studies. https://blog.lifeextension.com/2016/11/how-movement-extends-life.html

There cannot be peace without first, a great suffering. The greater the suffering, the greater the peace. — Solomon Lane

These two bullet points from a study stood out to me. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4321783/

• Mitochondrial dysfunction is widely implicated in ageing and its diseases.
• Mitochondria are well understood; one paper in every 154 indexed in PubMed since 1998 has studied mitochondrial function.

As well, this statement shows tremendous confidence —

A study published March 7 in Cell Metabolism found that exercise — and in particular high-intensity interval training in aerobic exercises such as biking and walking — caused cells to make more proteins for their energy-producing mitochondria and their protein-building ribosomes, effectively stopping aging at the cellular level.

“Based on everything we know, there’s no substitute for these exercise programs when it comes to delaying the aging process,” said study senior author Sreekumaran Nair, a medical doctor and diabetes researcher at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. “These things we are seeing cannot be done by any medicine.”

With the understanding that exercise is advantageous to avoid mitochondrial aging, the next question is, “What kind?”. This, according to Kenneth Jay, is clear. Aerobic exercise. It simply trumps any weight training protocol. That includes, lifting weights fast or any other protocol. However that does not mean that strength training is useless. Given limited time, weight training is incredibly productive and de-aging. Strengthening bones, connective tissue and muscles essentially turns back the clock. Increased strength is protective against accidents and allows better movement and certainly makes you look better. Nothing wrong with looking good. This article, by Ken Jay https://www.cardiocodesportsscience.com/post/training-your-mitochondria clearly shows the superiority of aerobics.

However life is not black and white. “Either-Or” is a logical fallacy. Why not do both? Is there a protocol of weight training that flirts with the idea of increasing mitochondria? Yes. Pavel Tsatsouline has a methodology called, “The Quick and The Dead”. It’s subtitled, “Total Training for the Advanced Minimalist.” Basically Pavel’s research led him to a protocol of two movements, primarily a push and a hinge, that are alternated for some very specific time periods, durations and styles. The training program is in the book. I’d suggest you do your research there. LINK . One thing I’d like to add to the program in the book is some muscular balancing by some exercise variety. I’ll include this below.

Some dietary intervention can support mitochondria. First, the inexpensive supplement of magnesium. “If your magnesium levels are inadequate, then your ability to boost mitochondrial number during HIIT will be dampened…” — Dr. Rhonda Patrick, https://www.foundmyfitness.com/episodes/maximizing-mitochondria-with-magnesium

The second, inexpensive, supplement is creatine. This supplement is perhaps the most studied and has a broad range of application.

[ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11356982 ]

There is a current study that it increases mitochondria as well, but it is a rat study so let’s discard it until human studies show up.

While strategies such as fasting, ketogenic diet and intermittent fasting hold promise, the largest amount of studies is in mice. Human studies would provide far more hope.

With the above data in mind, what would be a possible protocol to stimulate the mitochondria and hopefully get younger? Here are some ideas.

1. Do aerobics for 30–60 minutes. This can be running, rowing, walking, swimming, biking, stepping or any indoor aerobic machine. This should be done at, “ 70% VO2 max (80% HR max)” — Kenneth Jay. Alternatively you may build up by doing the Maffetone estimate for training heart rate. https://philmaffetone.com/method-step-5/
2. If you are not bodybuilding, powerlifting, Olympic Lifting or training Strongman and have minimal gear, try the Quick & Dead protocol. It’s insanely simple and takes little space. Let me say, that the use of only the push up and swing ignores two primary movements of squatting and pulling. Therefore you can alternate the push up/swing [hinging] with a horizontal pull on a bar or suspension apparatus and doing step ups, squats or reverse lunges.
3. Use a sauna. Again, not a ton of evidence, but it feels good. https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/jpfsm/6/3/6_151/_article/-char/ja/
4. Add Creatine and Magnesium to your diet. Cheap and effective. Any creatine by a reputable manufacturer is OK. Magnesium should be chelated for best absorption.
5. Types of Fasting and Ketogenesis, “MAY”, help. This is not proven. Your mileage may vary.

These are general ideas. Nothing is yet cut in stone other than exercise being far more important that consuming unproven supplements that some vitamin pushing messiah in a silk suit is touting.

“There’s only one God, ma’am, and I’m pretty sure he doesn’t dress like that.” — Steve Rogers

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