FoundMyFitness

Rhonda Patrick, Ph.D.

A podcast about health, science, nutrition, aging, and fitness.

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#055 COVID-19 Q&A #2 - Antibody-Dependent Enhancement, Cross-Immunity, Immunity Duration & More

FoundMyFitness

06/10/20 • 55 min

This is a continuation of the last episode where Dr. Patrick took questions from newsletter subscribers around the ongoing pandemic and tried to add value by talking about some of the recent research, among other things.

In this episode, you'll discover:

(00:00) Introduction
(04:06) Data surrounding SARS-CoV-2 duration
(06:30) SARS-CoV-2 and long-lasting immunity
(11:27) Genetic causes of immune variation
(14:27) Previous viral exposure and cross-immunity to SARS-CoV-2
(18:57) Antibody-dependent enhancement and SARS-CoV-2 relevance
(21:50) Sleep deprivation impairs immunity & vaccine efficacy
(23:42) Microbiome composition and immune function
(28:22) The differential effects of exercise intensity and duration on immune regulation
(34:10) Micronutrient inadequacies promote immune dysregulation
(46:32) Effects of sex and age in immune regulation
(48:59) Controversy surrounding hypertension drugs such as ACE inhibitors and COVID-19
(52:28) ARDS and long-term lung damage

If you’re interested in learning more, you can read the full show notes here.

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Exercise as a Treatment for Depression

FoundMyFitness

08/03/19 • 17 min

In this short episode, Dr. Patrick discusses some of the compelling science including observational studies, randomized controlled trials, and human mechanistic studies that suggests exercise is a powerful tool for preventing or managing the symptoms of depression and mental illness. Moreover, she talks about the specific types of exercise and exercise parameters that evidence suggests might be the most helpful for depression.

This podcast started its life as a video, so make sure to check out the full video or the references and episode notes on the episode page.

Click here to get this episode's show notes and video.

Click here to visit the in-depth depression topic page.

See the full interview with Dr. Charles Raison.

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Dr. Valter Longo on Resetting Autoimmunity and Rejuvenating Systems with Prolonged Fasting & the FMD

FoundMyFitness

07/09/18 • 77 min

This podcast is a spectacular round two podcast with Dr. Valter Longo. Dr. Longo is the current director of the longevity institute at the University of Southern California and also director of the Oncology and Longevity Program at the Institute of Molecular Oncology Foundation in Milan, Italy. Dr. Longo’s research focuses understanding the biological mechanisms that regulate the aging process, the role of fasting and diet in longevity and healthspan in humans as well as metabolic fasting therapies for the treatment of human diseases.
In this episode, we discuss...

What two seminal studies on chronic caloric restriction in primates from the 80s teach us about caloric restriction as a preventer of age-related disease, and how the effects of caloric restriction may actually be stronger when the diet that is being restricted is an unhealthy one – similar, in some ways, to the typical western diet.
How certain macronutrients influence the insulin/IGF-1/growth hormone axis interact to modulate aging in many cell types.
How mice and humans who have growth hormone receptor deficiencies have low circulating IGF-1 – as little as 10% of normal levels – and have reduced risk of diseases like cancer, diabetes, and age-related cognitive decline, hinting at what future research might reveal about the beneficial effects of prolonged fasting and fasting-mimicking diets through the downstream effects of periodic deprival of growth-related factors.
How the growth hormone / IGF-1 axis got a big boost early on in scientific interest when it was revealed that mice that have either deficiency in growth hormone itself or the growth hormone receptor live up to 40% longer and how this is accomplished through what is essentially a delaying of the decrepitudes of old age.
The origins of what Dr. Longo calls the fasting-mimicking diet – a 5-day diet focused on recapitulating some of the benefits of prolonged fasting, like dramatic changes in metabolic biomarkers, but without some of the drawbacks like reduced compliance and other risks that can come with multiple days of grueling strict water fasting in large, heterogeneous populations.
How periodic prolonged fasting or the fasting-mimicking diet may be able to render cancer cells more vulnerable while conferring stress resistance to healthy cells, a quality known as differential stress resistance. This can happen because of the way fasting interferes with what is known as oncogenic signaling.
The mixed results associated with the use of the ketogenic diet in treatment of cancer and how some cancers seem to be hurt by the metabolic switch of utilizing ketone bodies, which creates oxidative stress from the use of mitochondria, while other cancers seem to be able to use ketones effectively as an energy source, potentially accelerating their growth.
Some of the early but promising pre-trial clinical anecdata suggesting potential complementary roles for the ketogenic diet and the fasting-mimicking diet (FMD) used in conjunction with conventional treatments like chemotherapy or radiotherapy for certain cancers like gliomas.
In the context of aging, how the fasting mimicking diet has been shown to “reset” metabolism, driving down biomarkers associated with poor metabolic health, inflammation, and cardiovascular health.
How fasting, through the shrinking and then re-expansion of whole systems like the liver, kidneys, heart, and immune cells may represent a type of whole-system renewal that originated as a three-billion-year-old self-repair mode that was only activated during periods of famine or inconsistent food availability, but might now be dormant in people living in a modern world of regular food intake.
How Dr. Longo’s group has shown that, in animal models of multiple sclerosis and pharmacologically-induced type 1 diabetes, several cycles of the fasting-mimicking diet is able to reverse disease and restore healthful function. This mechanism also may generalize to erasing other diseases of autoimmunity through the destruction of autoimmune immune cells that are essentially reset through fresh differentiation from progenitors untainted by autoimmunity. A very exciting area of continued inquiry!
How shorter fasts may fail to approach some of the effects of periodic fasting and the fasting-mimicking diet by failing to achieve adequate glycogen depletion and ketogenesis.
Dr. Longo’s “top picks” for assessing biological age – markers a person can ask their doctor to measure to gauge how well they’re aging.
A sneak peek at what’s covered in Dr. Longo’s new book, The Longevity Diet.

... and so much more. Go to the timeline on the episode...

Dr. Matthew Walker on Sleep for Enhancing Learning, Creativity, Immunity, and Glymphatic System

FoundMyFitness

02/28/19 • 167 min

Matthew Walker, Ph.D., is a professor of neuroscience and psychology at the University of California, Berkeley, and serves as the Director of the Center for Human Sleep Science. Formerly, Dr. Walker served as a professor of psychiatry at the Harvard Medical School.
Walker's research examines the impact of sleep on human health and disease. One area of interest focuses on identifying "vulnerability windows" during a person's life that make them more susceptible to amyloid-beta deposition from loss of slow wave sleep and, subsequently, Alzheimer's disease later in life.
Dr. Walker earned his undergraduate degree in neuroscience from the University of Nottingham, UK, and his Ph.D. in neurophysiology from the Medical Research Council, London, UK. He is the author of the New York Times best-selling book Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams.

Click here to get this episode's show notes and transcript.
Watch nearly twenty-seven episode highlights on the new FMF Clips channel.

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Fasting Q&A with Dr. Rhonda Patrick and Mike Maser

FoundMyFitness

01/09/19 • 49 min

This episode features a Q&A session with Dr. Rhonda Patrick. The questions were sourced from social media followers of both FoundMyFitness and also Zero Fasting Tracker, a convenient mobile app used widely in the fasting community for logging.

In this 45-minute podcast, Dr. Patrick answers some of the most popular questions related to fasting, including:

What effects coffee, supplements, and amino acids have on fasting
Whether one method of fasting is more beneficial than others
What effect the consumption of exogenous ketones have on fasting
Whether it is good to exercise while fasting
The ideal way to break a fast
How fasting affects muscle mass
How fasting plays a role in the growth-longevity tradeoff

... and more!

Watch the video of the conversion or get the timeline here.

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Dr. Dale Bredesen on Preventing and Reversing Alzheimer's Disease

FoundMyFitness

10/01/18 • 74 min

Dale E. Bredesen, M.D., is a professor of neurology at the Easton Laboratories for Neurodegenerative Disease Research at the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).

Dr. Bredesen's laboratory focuses on identifying and understanding basic mechanisms underlying the neurodegenerative process and the translation of this knowledge into effective treatments for Alzheimer's disease and other neurodegenerative conditions. He has collaborated on the publication of more than 220 academic research papers.

His work has culminated in the development of a protocol called ReCODE – reversal of cognitive decline – currently used by over 3,000 patients with the goal of not just preventing, but reversing Alzheimer's disease and mild cognitive impairment.

Click here to get the episode's show notes and transcript.

Did you enjoy this podcast? It was brought to you by people like you!
Click here to visit our crowdsponsor page where you can learn more about how you can support the podcast for as little or as much as you like.

Submit your raw genetic data.
You can find the APOE report at foundmyfitness.com/genetics.

Dr. Elissa Epel on Telomeres and the Role of Stress Biology in Cellular Aging

FoundMyFitness

06/10/19 • 73 min

Elissa Epel, PhD, is a Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of California, San Francisco where she serves as the director of the Aging, Metabolism, and Emotions Center. Her research centers on the mechanisms of healthy aging and the associations between stress, telomere length, addiction, eating, and metabolic health.

In this episode, we dive deep into the world of telomeres, the length of which is one of the useful biomarkers scientists have for getting a sense of the differences between how individuals or groups of individuals age. Telomere shortening is both a cause and a symptom of aging and plays key roles in not only how long we live, but in how well. Lifestyle factors such as poor nutrition and smoking can accelerate telomere shortening by generating oxidative stress and inflammation.

Click here to get this episode's show notes and transcript.
Watch this episode's highlights on the FMF Clips channel.

Submit your raw genetic data. You can find the Telomere report at foundmyfitness.com/genetics.

Dr. Charles Raison on Depression, the Immune-Brain Interface & Whole-Body Hyperthermia

FoundMyFitness

03/19/18 • 118 min

Charles Raison, M.D. is a professor at the School of Human Ecology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Founding Director of the Center for Compassion Studies in the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Arizona. Dr. Raison’s research focuses on inflammation and the development of depression in response to illness and stress. He also examines the physical and behavioral effects of compassion training on the brain, inflammatory processes, and behavior as well as the effect of heat stress as a potentially therapeutic intervention major depressive disorder.

In this nearly 2-hour episode, we discuss the extremely dynamic interaction that the immune system has with mood, behavior, and the brain, as well as the potential that whole-body hyperthermia, a research technique mostly indistinguishable from sauna use, may have for the treatment of clinical depression.

Additionally, we also talk about....

How depression as a disease may be subdivided based on whether or not there is involvement of chronic inflammation and how this could influence how it should be treated.
The changes in functional brain connectivity that are associated with the high inflammation subtype of depression.
The physiological similarities a sauna, hot bath, steam shower, and hot yoga have with whole-body hyperthermia from the standpoint of potentially therapeutically boosting body temperature.
Preliminary evidence that increased expression of a certain heat shock protein in the brain may influence behavior by protecting against stress-induced depression.

... and so much more. Go to the timeline on the episode page to see a full breakdown.

Click here to visit the episode page and show notes now.

Dr. Eric Verdin on Ketogenic Diet Longevity, Beta-Hydroxybutyrate & HDAC Inhibitors

FoundMyFitness

12/13/17 • 63 min

Eric M. Verdin, M.D. is the fifth president and chief executive officer of the Buck Institute for Research on Aging and is a professor of Medicine at UCSF. Dr. Verdin's laboratory focuses on the role of epigenetic regulators in the aging process, the role of metabolism and diet in aging and on the chronic diseases of aging, including Alzheimer’s, proteins that play a central role in linking caloric restriction to increased healthspan, and more recently a topic near and dear to many of you, ketogenesis. He's held faculty positions at the University of Brussels, the NIH and the Picower Institute for Medical Research.

In this episode, we discuss...

The effects of a low protein, cyclic ketogenic diet beginning in midlife (12 months of age) in male mice. The result? Increased healthspan and improved memory. Dr. Verdin explains how the cyclic ketogenic diet decreased insulin, IGF-1, and mTOR signaling and decreased fatty acid synthesis, and increased PPAR-alpha (which promotes beta-oxidation and mitochondrial biogenesis in muscle).
How this diet is somewhat qualitatively similar to fasting.
Some of the possible reasons why the cyclic ketogenic diet created such a striking improvement in memory even when compared to younger mice.
How beta-hydroxybutyrate, which is the major circulating ketone body during fasting and nutritional ketosis, may, in addition to being an energy source, regulate inflammation and gene expression by acting as a signaling molecule by inhibiting what are known as class 1 histone deacetylases (HDACs).
How this inhibition of class 1 HDACs leads to the increased expression of notorious longevity gene Foxo3, which may help explain why mice given an exogenous beta-hydroxybutyrate ester had lower markers of inflammation and oxidative damage, which are physiological contributors to the aging process.
The role of the nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+) in the aging process and how replacing declining levels (or preventing them from declining in the first place) may prove to be an important anti-aging strategy.
Some of the reasons why NAD+ might be declining with age, its role in DNA damage repair via an enzyme known as PARP, and what the literature says about the NAD+ precursor nicotinamide riboside.
How a special class of enzymes called sirtuins, also known to be activated by caloric restriction and caloric restriction mimetic resveratrol, is tightly correlated with the level of NAD+ and how this "energetic currency" rises in response to fasting.
The role of the sirtuin enzymes in regulating mitochondrial function, neuronal functions, stem cell rejuvenation and why they may be important in delaying the aging process.

Grab the full show notes, timeline & glossary from the episode page now.

Did you enjoy this podcast? It was brought to you by people like you!
Click here to visit our crowdsponsor page where you can learn more about how you can support the podcast for as little or as much as you like.

Sauna Use as an Exercise Mimetic for Heart and Healthspan

FoundMyFitness

09/16/19 • 46 min

This podcast is the audio from a presentation Dr. Rhonda Patrick gave on how the sauna may be an exercise mimetic for heat health and healthspan. Sauna use has emerged as a means to increase lifespan and improve overall health, based on compelling data from observational, interventional, and mechanistic studies. Listen in to find out more.

Click here to get the episode show notes and video.

Watch the episode with cardiologist and sauna scientist Dr. Jari Laukkanen.

Did you enjoy this podcast? It was brought to you by people like you!
Click here to visit our crowdsponsor page where you can learn more about how to support the podcast.