How do I eat ~100 grams of fiber, on average, every day? Here’s my full dietary breakdown from December 30, 2015: Green tea is associated with reduced all-cause mortality risk (https://michaellustgarten.com/2015/10/20/drink-green-tea-reduce-and-all-cause-mortality-risk/), so I start every day with green tea + lemon. Then, I ate a giant salad (https://michaellustgarten.com/2015/10/09/what-i-eat-giant-salad/), consisting of pickles, […]
With the goal of improving health and extending lifespan, Roy Walford was a pioneer in terms of studying (and implementing) a diet that is calorie restricted but that also contains optimal nutrition (CRON). Unfortunately, Walford died at age 80 from complications related to Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). Were there any […]
Linoleic acid (C18:2, n-6) is an essential fatty acid that must be obtained from the diet, because our body can’t make it. How much linoleic acid should we eat every day for optimal health? To answer this question, I’ll investigate the association between circulating levels of linoleic acid with all-cause […]
I’d like to keep my teeth healthy for as long as possible. I brush my teeth in the morning and at night, and floss every night, because daily flossing is associated with reduced mortality risk (https://michaellustgarten.com/2014/07/23/dental-floss-cancer-and-mortality-is-there-an-association/). Is there anything else that I can do to optimize my oral health? To answer that […]
Another meal that I eat 1-2x per week is a giant (delicious!) salad. What’s in it? Approximately 1 pound of romaine lettuce, 1 pint of cherry tomates, 6-8 ounces of purple cabbage, ~3 ounces of pickles, and occasionally, 2-4 ounces of corn. To top it off, I make a spicy-sesame dressing […]
What do I eat? Here’s a picture of one of my delicious “mixes” that I eat a couple of times per week. What’s in it? As shown below, barley, collards, celery, cauliflower, olive oil, corn, onion, and tomatoes. The barley is boiled for 20-30 minutes before I add all the veggies, […]
How much Vitamin D is optimal for health? To answer this question, today I’ll examine the association between a circulating marker of Vitamin D, 25-hydroxyvitamin D, with all-cause mortality risk. Then, I’ll examine the literature to estimate a dietary intake that can achieve an optimal circulating 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentration. Circulating […]
I recently heard centenarian Bernando Lapallo say that he boils his drinking water (http://www.abc15.com/news/local-news/water-cooler/valley-man-celebrates-114th-birthday-shares-his-longevity-secrets). Whether this is a contributor to or is merely associated with his longevity is debatable. What will boiling your water do, prior to drinking it, and is it worth the effort? The ability of our immune […]
The stereotype about the Paleo diet is that it is meat heavy. How much meat Paleo era-eaters ate is debatable, but that they consumed large amounts of potassium rich, plant-based foods is not! When examining 159 Stone Age diets, the average daily potassium intake has been reported to be 400 […]
My approach to optimizing health and lifespan includes daily nutrient tracking and yearly blood testing. Once you get your blood test results back from the doctor, are your values optimal if you’re within the reference range? This article will examine the “optimal range” for 1 of these measurements, serum bicarbonate. What does […]
If your goal is optimal nutrition, which orange root vegetable would you choose, carrots or sweet potatoes? 100 calories from carrots vs. 100 calories from sweet potatoes, let’s have a look! First, to get 100 calories you can eat almost double the amount of carrots, 245g compared with 111g of […]
Two blood markers of liver health are aspartate aminotransaminase (AST) and alanine aminotransaminase (ALT). AST and ALT are proteins that are usually found inside liver cells, but when there is liver cell damage, they’re released into the blood. It’s important to note that these proteins can also be elevated in the […]
Shown below is what my daily beet-berry smoothie looks like, and the recipe! Recipe: 1 lb of mixed frozen berries (strawberries, blueberries, cherries, raspberries, cranberries) 1 large beet (8-13 oz.) 1 vanilla bean (2-3 grams) Put it all in the blender with ~10 oz. of water, blend, and drink! For […]
In a previous post, with the goal of reducing all-cause mortality risk I wrote about obtaining (at least) 1000 micrograms of Vitamin K per day. To do that, I’ve begun making pineapple-spinach smoothies! To make it, I used 8 oz of fresh pineapple, which I put in the freezer for […]
If you’re interested, please have a look at my book!
Do you think Paleo diets involve eating mostly meat? While how much meat was eaten in that era is debatable, what is known is that they ate a lot of high-fiber fruits and vegetables. Shown below are the estimated daily fiber and energy intake (Eaton et al. 1997). On a 3000 calorie […]
In previous articles I’ve written about the heath benefits of eating whole grains, which have been shown in large epidemiological studies to be associated with reduced all-cause mortality risk. Based on this data, the USDA’s MyPlate recommends a minimum of 3.5 oz, up to 7 oz. of whole grains on […]
How much selenium is optimal for health? To address this question, I’ll examine the association between circulating levels of selenium with all-cause mortality risk. Then, I’ll identify a dietary selenium intake that corresponds to optimal plasma selenium levels. Let’s have a look! A variety of studies have investigated associations between plasma (or serum) selenium with […]
Is there a BMI that is associated with maximally reduced risk of death from all causes? Let’s have a look at the data! In a meta-analysis of 19 studies that included 1,460,000 adults (median age, 58 years) a BMI between 20-25 kg/m2 was associated with maximally reduced all-cause mortality risk (Berrington […]
Billy Beane has great success in finding under-valued talent. However, why is Jesse Hahn being used as a starting pitcher? Shown below are his pitching data, including college, the minors and majors. What we see is that Hahn has been a starter for almost his entire career. However, his career high […]
Vitamin K is found in 2 predominant forms, Vitamin K1 (phylloquinone), found almost exclusively in green leafy vegetables, and Vitamin K2 (Menaquinone), found in fermented foods, organ meats, meat, butter and eggs. In the data below (Juanola-Falgarona et al. 2014), we see that Vitamin K1 (phylloquinone) is negatively associated with […]
Data from large epidemiological studies can be used to guide decisions about health. There’s a lot of confusion about coffee consumption in terms of health…What does the epidemiological data say? Crippa et al. (2014) pooled the results from 21 studies that included almost 1 million subjects (997,464 to be exact). As shown […]
In a previous article I wrote about the effect of epicatechin on reducing myostatin, which may increase muscle mass (https://michaellustgarten.com/2015/02/02/inhibit-myostatin-with-chocolate-increase-muscle-mass/). Are there any other ways to inhibit myostatin with the goal of increasing muscle mass? 10 grams of essential amino acids have been shown to reduce myostatin levels in skeletal […]
Mice that don’t have myostatin have dramatically increased muscle mass: Myostatin levels increase during aging, a finding that may (at least partially) explain age-related decreases in muscle mass (Basaria and Bhasin 2012). Is there anything that we can do besides strength-training (Snijders et. al 2014) to decrease myostatin levels? To address […]
In an earlier post I reported that dietary fiber from whole grains is associated with reduced mortality risk for all causes, cardiovascular disease, cancer, respiratory and infectious disease in both men and women (https://michaellustgarten.com/2014/08/02/is-dietary-fiber-associated-with-reduced-mortality/). More specifically, which whole grains are highest in fiber? Shown below are grams of dietary fiber per 100 […]
In an earlier article I wrote about which grain is the best source for total protein, essential amino acids, branched chain amino acids (leucine, isoleucine and valine; BCAA) and arginine, from a list of grains that included oats, quinoa, corn, brown rice, potato, barley and millet (http://michaellustgarten.com/2014/07/30/which-grain-is-the-best-source-for-protein-essential-amino-acids-bcaa-and-arginine). However, I have […]
Involved in the Will Myers trade is Steven Souza. His 2014 stats at AAA, .350/.432/1.032, 75 RBI’s in 90 games are impressive. But, what I’d like to point out is that Souza was a terrible hitter from 2007-2011. In 444 games during that time, Souza hit .226 (347 hits in 1538 […]
Homemade chocolate recipe: 1 oz raw, organic cacao beans 1-3 oz. Medjool dates, depending on your desired level of sweetness Put both into the food processor until smooth (~2 min). Then, take it out and enjoy! If you’re interested, please have a look at my book!
One of the benefits that comes from eating cruciferous vegetables like broccoli and purple cabbage is consumption of sulforaphane, a naturally occurring anticancer compound. However, do you know that boiling these vegetables for longer than 4 minutes destroys most of their sulforaphane? Besides eating these vegetables raw (I like purple […]
In an earlier I post I hypothesized that gut bacteria may be involved in mechanisms that affect lifespan. Because gut bacteria ferment dietary fiber to make short chain fatty acids such as butyrate, which may be involved in processes that mediate lifespan, investigation of large-scale epidemiological studies about the association between […]
Listed below are total protein, essential amino acids, branched chain amino acids, and arginine content for quinoa, oats, corn, millet, barley, brown rice and potato. The values provided are for 100 calories, for each respective grain. Let’s ask some questions: 1. Is there a difference in protein content among these […]
If your goal is optimal nutrition, would you choose grapes or raisins? To most, the obvious answer would be grapes, because they’re less calorie dense than raisins. Grapes contain 20 calories per ounce, whereas raisins contain 85 calories/ounce. But, what if I asked the same question, and you had 100 […]
The media often tells us that dark chocolate is “healthier” than milk chocolate because of its high antioxidant content. Yes, this is true: dark chocolate contains more than four times the amount of antioxidants than milk chocolate (~200 Units/gram vs. ~45 Units/gram; Miller et al. 2006): However, as shown below, what […]
Consumption of high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) has been linked to a variety of adverse health conditions, including non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, type II diabetes, increased blood pressure, dislipidemia (i.e. decreased good cholesterol, HDL), and obesity (Nseir et al. 2010). So, consumption HFCS is not good for health. But, I’d […]
In a previous article I wrote about how vegans have been shown to have decreased risk of heart disease, cancer, and all-cause mortality. In addition, in 3 separate articles I’ve written about how cooking food at high temperature (above boiling, 212ºF), whether it is roasting, baking, frying or grilling produces […]
War on drugs? Where is the government war on obesity? The government sponsored war on drugs, at a cost $15.5 billion/year has as its goal to reduce drug use and its consequences in the US (Ref. 1, 2011 FY Budget Summary). Sadly, in 2007 (the most recent year for which […]
To answer the question proposed in the title, today I’ll look at the results of the Oxford Vegetarian study, in which risk for all-cause mortality, ischemic heart disease and malignant neoplasms was determined (Appelby et al. 1999). 6000 vegetarians and 5000 non-vegetarians were recruited, and, all participants were further divided […]
Humans can’t synthesize Vitamin E and therefore, must obtain it from the diet. Vitamin E exists in 8 different forms: alpha (α), beta (β), gamma (γ) delta (δ)-tocopherol, and α, β, γ, and δ-tocotrienol. The importance of Vitamin E during aging is illustrated by the finding that high blood levels […]
Crispy, brown toast and grill marks on your chicken, fish or beef both contain elevated amounts of Advanced Glycation End (AGE) Products, a group of molecules formed during high temperature cooking (greater than 250ºF; i.e. frying, grilling, roasting, baking). In a previous article (http://michaellustgarten.com/2014/07/25/advanced-glycation-end-products-theres-more-to-health-than-counting-calories-protein-fat-and-carbs/) I wrote about the adverse health […]
How much aluminum is in your food, or in products (which would allow for aluminum to be absorbed through the skin) such as deodorant? When most people think about aluminum, food sources are most likely not to come to mind, but rather, aluminum foil or aluminum pots. However, up to […]
Calorie restriction is well documented as the gold standard in terms of minimizing disease risk and maximizing longevity in almost every organism tested-worms, flies, mice, rats, dogs and monkeys. However, eating 10-30% less calories than usual is a difficult task for most people, as evidenced by the continuous rise in […]
Dietary advanced glycation end products (AGEs) are formed as a result of the heat-induced (greater than 100C) binding of sugar to protein, fat or nucleic acids (DNA or RNA). The common way to identify AGE products in food is the browning effect: deep-frying, broiling, roasting, and grilling each produce a […]
Usually, my focus on optimal health involves proper diet and exercise. But, are there other factors that can reduce mortality risk? More specifically, does how often I brush my teeth or floss have an impact on cancer and all-cause mortality? Tooth brushing at night before bed and using dental floss […]
In an earlier article I wrote about how cooking foods at a high temperature (greater than 250ºF, including frying, baking, roasting and grilling) produces the neurotoxic and carcinogenic compound, acrylamide (http://voices.yahoo.com/acrylamide-chocolate-another-10217911.html?cat=5). However, the adverse effects acrylamide that I discussed were solely based on rodent studies. In this follow-up article, I’ll […]
The main drawback to optimal health if you eat store-bought chocolate is that cacao beans are roasted, thereby increasing the concentration of the carcinogen, acrylamide (https://michaellustgarten.com/2014/07/27/acrylamide-is-in-chocolate-another-reason-why-cooking-food-at-high-temperature-is-not-good-for-you/). Besides eating homemade chocolate made from raw cacao beans (https://michaellustgarten.com/2014/09/21/homemade-chocolate-in-2-minutes/), are there any health benefits to drinking raw cacao? The answer is yes, and it comes […]
Dietary calcium is easily obtained from dairy, green leafy vegetables (i.e. kale) or, nuts/seeds (chia, amonds). What about other sources? Do you know that unhulled sesame seeds are a great source of calcium? One ounce of sesame seeds has 270 mg calcium…But, sesame seeds are important for other reasons, too. […]
Our story begins with Michael Rose, who used an experimental evolution approach to breed flies that live more than 2-fold longer than controls (Rose 1999). In contrast with the one gene at a time knockout or overexpression strategy that is ubiquitous in modern biology, Rose separated initially genetically homogeneous flies into […]
