Saturday, December 29, 2018

Protect Your Brain with Real Food

Energy consumption raises GIP and GLP1 in the proximal and distal intestine respectfully. 
Processed foods  that are nearly completely absorbed in proximal intestine raise GIP and reduce GLP1.
Unprocessed foods and low glycemic foods raise both GIP and GLP1.
Fruit juice (processed) raises GIP but fruit with peel and fiber raises first GIP and later raises GLP1.
 GLP1 is neuroprotective. GIP added to GLP1 is even more protective.

They have developed dual agonist for disease state protection.

A smart strategy is to eat real food that has low glycemic index and fiber to feed gut bacteria primarily and secondarily  via fermentation products to raise GLP1 in the distal ileum.

abstract

In animal models of neurodegenerative disorders, they show superior neuroprotective effects.
Type 2 diabetes is a risk factor for several chronic neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's or Parkinson's disease. The link appears to be insulin de-sensitisation in the brain. Insulin is an important neuroprotective growth factor. GLP-1 and GIP are growth factors that re-sensitise insulin and GLP-1 mimetics are used in the clinic to treat diabetes. GLP-1 and GIP mimetics initially designed to treat diabetes show good protective effects in animal models of Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease. Based on these results, several clinical trials have shown first encouraging effects in patients with Alzheimer's or Parkinson’ disease. Novel dual GLP-1/GIP receptor agonists have been developed to treat diabetes, and they also show good neuroprotective effects that are superior to single GLP-1 analogues. Several newer dual analogues have been tested that have been engineered to cross the blood –brain barrier. They show clear neuroprotective effects by reducing inflammation and oxidative stress and apoptotic signalling and protecting memory formation, synaptic numbers and synaptic activity, motor activity, dopaminergic neurons, cortical activity and energy utilisation in the brain. These results demonstrate the potential of developing disease-modifying treatments for Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease that are superior to current single GLP-1 mimetics.
This article is part of the Special Issue entitled ‘Metabolic Impairment as Risk Factors for Neurodegenerative Disorders.’

Hormones Make Us Lean or Stout- You Can Manage Your Hormonal Portfolio

Everyday  physicians treat metabolic syndrome and their resulting diseases. 2 of every 3 patients are insulin resistant.

This blog post by Amy Berger  in the link below states an uncommon truth.  I highly recommend her blog, books and YouTube talks and especially appreciate her ease of expression and simplicity of approach to better metabolic health.  Hyperinsulinemia or insulin resistance syndrome can only be reversed by lowering chronic insulin levels (and modifying other hormones.) How?

Low carb diet.
12 hours or more of daily fasting.
Tabata  daily exercise to improve insulin resistance by 39%.
Mediterranean diet.
1. Wheat germ.
2. Nuts and olives.
3. Fruit (skins) and broccoli family vegetables.
(The above are young seeds and sprouts that have chemicals that increase Nrf2 activation that raise antioxidant enzymes.  Antioxidant enzymes are directly proportional to mitochondria mass and basal metabolic rate.)
Amendment to Mediterranean diet.
4. Eggs.  (Animal seeds or sprouts) See above remark about young cells effect on older cells metabolism.
Reduce leaky bowel, bacterial translocation, inflammation that increases CORTISOL with homemade yogurt loaded with probiotics, omega 3 fatty acids, butyrate and lactate.
Reduce stress increased CORTISOL with vagal nerve stimulation to stimulate the CAP cholinergic anti inflammatory pathway.  Two minutes of biofeedback cardiopulmonary resonant breathing at rate of 0.1 cps or one breath every six seconds.  One could also use a transcutaneous vagal nerve stimulator 4 minutes daily.
Restorative sleep and optimized circadian rhythm increases intermittent MELATONIN the restorative and neuroprotective hormone. (Also a great supplement)
Adequate sunlight during the day increases intermittent production of VITAMIN D, the sunshine hormone.  (Also Vitamin D3 is a great supplement especially during the winter months without sunshine)
Magnesium rich foods or magnesium chloride. (Magnesium is required by every ATP energy molecule in addition to other enzymes.)
Avoid processed foods which raise GIP/GLP1 ratios and drive appetite hormone.  GIP is in the proximal small intestine and GLP1 is in the stomach and distal small intestine.  Over processing allows absorption and GIP stimulation and decreased distal carbohydrates for GLP1 stimulation.

I speculate that controlling "chronic" elevation of both CORTISOL and INSULIN is required for optimum health.  Bacterial translocation increases with aging  or inflamaging of gut and may be responsible for insulin resistance syndrome and chronic cortisol elevation because of LPS or endotoxin stimulation of neuroimmune system sensors.  

A single exception disproves a rule.  1 of 3 adults (and most children) are metabolically healthy despite the western diet which makes them resilient.  I speculate that strong exterior barrier function of  healthy gut, skin and respiratory linings, and healthy internal barrier linings including the blood brain barrier accounts for their resilience to simulators of inflammation.

In other words, leaky gut allows bacterial translocation and  causes chronic inflammation that manifest as chronic hormonal drivers of insulin resistance syndrome.  I suspect this is the core  or root cause of dysbiosis, a driver of leaky bowel, chronic hormonal dysregulation and insulin resistance syndrome.  Therefore vagal nerve simulation and homemade yogurt and other fermented foods are essential to climb out of the metabolic insulin resistance hole to become whole and resilient.

Obesity is (mostly) a Hormonal Issue: Let's Stop Pretending it's Solely About Calories

Saturday, December 22, 2018

Cortical Nerve Network Plasticity; Build Out then Maintain.

Developing children have basal nerve stem cell formation and therefore basal neurogenesis and repair.  In short, basal cortical plasticity.

Not so the mature adult.  Once the brain is well formed or built, neurogenesis becomes a function of autophagy and stemness maintenance.  

Daily twelve hour or more fasting promotes autophagy and stemness.
Other stemness maintenance agents are spermidine for proteostasis and autophagy, melatonin, hydrogen rich water and Nrf2 activators such as sulforaphane which also increases autophagy.

Separately, both spermidine (wheat germ) and Sulforaphane (broccoli sprout extract) have increased healthspan and lifespan 30% in yeast, c. Elegans worms, fruit flies, mice and human cell cultures.

Except from: On the Role of Basal Autophagy in Adult Neural Stem Cells and Neurogenesis

Adult neurogenesis persists in the adult mammalian brain due to the existence of neural stem cell (NSC) reservoirs in defined niches, where they give rise to new neurons throughout life. Recent research has begun to address the implication of constitutive (basal) autophagy in the regulation of neurogenesis in the mature brain. This review summarizes the current knowledge on the role of autophagy-related genes in modulating adult NSCs, progenitor cells and their differentiation into neurons. The general function of autophagy in neurogenesis in several areas of the embryonic forebrain is also revisited. During development, basal autophagy regulates Wnt and Notch signaling and is mainly required for adequate neuronal differentiation.
The available data in the adult indicate that the autophagy-lysosomal pathway regulates adult NSC maintenance, the activation of quiescent NSCs, the survival of the newly born neurons and the timing of their maturation. 

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6187079/

Wednesday, December 19, 2018

Vagal cardiorespiratory breathing improves fluid intelligence and other organ function

This article is interesting relative to cardiorespiratory resonant breathing.
Buteyko breathing improves asthma because of breathing retaining?
Prayama yoga breathing also improves asthma similarly.
In India diabetes is mitigated by this breathing technique.

In the case below asthma measurably improves.
Stress symptoms are lowered.
Why?

Cardiorespiratory resonant breathing activates a vagal reflex that improves the brain by lowering cortisol and increasing BDNF; it improves organ function by activating the CAP cholinergic anti-inflammatory pathway by releasing acetylcholine into circulation to phenotypicaly shift angry M1 macrophages into M2 status macrophages.  That shift reduces immune stress that degrades cells, tissues and organs.

Vagal nerve stimulation also tunes the ensemble of 5 unique human abilities.
I infer that this "tunes"or connects the human "hive" mind in every individual to improve their fluid intelligence which allows novel problem solving.

Breathing pattern recordings using respiratory inductive plethysmography, before and after a physiotherapy breathing retraining program for asthma: A case report

Breathing retraining (BR) improves symptoms, psychological well-being and quality of life in adults with asthma; but there remains uncertainty as to mechanism of effect. One of the intuitively logical theories is that BR works through altering breathing pattern. There is currently no evidence, however, that BR does result in measurable changes in breathing pattern. In this case report we describe the effects of physiotherapy BR on a 57-year-old female with a 10-year history of asthma. Data were collected before and after a physiotherapy BR program comprising three sessions over 18 weeks: breathing pattern (respiratory inductive plethysmography (RIP); physiology (end tidal carbon dioxide (ETCO2), heart rate, oxygen saturations, spirometric lung function); questionnaires (Asthma Control Questionnaire (ACQ), Hospital Anxiety and Depression Score, Nijmegen Questionnaire); and medication usage. After BR, the patient’s symptoms improved. Her physiology was largely unchanged, although her FEV1 increased by 0.12L, peak flow by 21L/min. The patient reported using less Salbutamol, yet her asthma control improved (ACQ down 1.5). Her Nijmegen score dropped from positive to negative for hyperventilation (from 39 to 7). Her anxiety-depression levels both reduced into ‘normal’ ranges. The patient’s expiratory time increased, with longer respiratory cycles and slower respiratory rate. No changes were seen in relative contributions of ribcage and abdomen. Controlled trials are now needed to determine the generalizability of these findings.


Joseph Thomas (Tony) Liverman, Jr.