11 epigenetic clocks have been published since 2011, but which is best for predicting aging and age-related disease? In this video, I present findings from a recent publication, “Underlying features of epigenetic aging clocks in vitro and in vivo”, that compared data for 11 epigenetic clocks, and derived a new […]
aging
Here’s a podcast that was recorded with WildHealth, enjoy!
Cooking foods at temperatures higher than boiling produces advanced glycation end (AGE) products, which induce insulin resistance and inflammation, and shorten lifespan in mice. Similar data exists in humans for the effect of dietary AGE products on insulin resistance and inflammation, and a higher dietary AGE product intake is associated […]
Germ-free mice (animals don’t have a microbiome) live longer than microbiome-containing mice, but it’s impractical for people to live in a bubble for their entire lifespan. As a more practical approach, which microbiome-derived factors impact lifespan, and can they be modified? Dietary supplementation with acarbose increases lifespan, and one reason […]
The incidence of fungi bloodstream infections increases during aging-is that a potential explanation for the presence of fungi in the brains of Alzheimer’s disease patients? Rapamycin is a known antifungal-is it effective against fungi that are found in the blood and brain?
Maximal lifespan in calorie restricted (CR) mice can range from 45 – 55 months. In this video, I present data for 3 studies on rapamycin-can it beat CR for maximal lifespan?
On my latest blood test (August 2015), my total cholesterol was 127 mg/dL-is that value optimal for health and longevity? Based on data for 1,104,294 men younger than 60y (median age, 40y) that were followed for up to 14 years (Fulks et al. 2009), my 127 mg/dL value (1 – 2.4%) […]
In order to slow aging, it’s important to know how circulating biomarkers change during aging, and how these biomarkers are associated with risk of death for all causes. In this video, I discuss blood test data for the oldest old, including centenarians (100 – 104y), semi-centenarians (105 – 109y), and […]
LPS increases during aging, which may explain the age-related increase for CD38 and decreased NAD+. LPS is decreased on a calorie restricted diet, but what else can reduce it? In this video, I present evidence for intestinal alkaline phosphatase’s (IAP) role on LPS, and posit that interventions that increase IAP […]
My latest blood test results are in-how’s my biological age? In the video I discuss my dietary approach prior to my latest blood test, the blood test results, and my plan to improve them going forward.
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 […]
NR and NMN are popular ways to try to boost levels of NAD+, but that approach hasn’t worked every time in human studies. One reason for that may involve CD38, which degrades both NR and NMN. With the goal of boosting NAD+ levels during aging, why does CD38 increase with […]
Blood urea nitrogen (BUN) is one of the 19 variables found on the biological age calculator, aging.ai. It measures the amount of nitrogen, as contained in urea (i.e., blood urea nitrogen, BUN) in your blood. The reference range for BUN is 5 – 20 mg/dL, but within that range, what’s […]
To determine what’s optimal for resting heart rate and heart rate variability, I review the published literature for how they change during aging, and what’s associated with mortality risk. Also included are my data over the past ~2 years, to see how I compare against the literature.
In an earlier video, I presented data for total cholesterol (TC) levels in blood in terms of changes during aging and all-cause mortality risk. I’ve measured TC 25 times in the past 5 years, and in this video, I present that data, and my approach to optimize it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PBv_hXwUqHM&feature=emb_logo
How much Vitamin C (ascorbic acid) is optimal for health? To answer this question, I’ll examine the association between circulating levels of Vitamin C with all-cause mortality risk. Then, which dietary Vitamin C intake corresponds to optimal plasma levels? Let’s have a look! A variety of studies have investigated associations […]
Many interventions have been reported to increase NAD levels, but dietary components that can impact NAD levels are less discussed. Here, I highlight the ability of two dietary components, apigenin and quercetin to increase NAD, and report the foods that contain these metabolites.
In this video, I discuss data for 6 blood test measurements since 2018 that show a Phenotypic (Biological) Age that is ~14 years than my current age (47y). https://youtu.be/85t8vmIgR6s
- Blood Testing
- Blood urea nitrogen
- BMI and all-cause mortality
- C-Reactive Protein
- Creatinine
- Diet and Mortality
- Dietary Fiber
- Dietary Tracking
- Glucose
- Inflammation
- Kidney function
- Lymphocytes
- Mean Corpuscular Volume (MCV)
- Neutrophil/Lymphocyte Ratio
- Presentations
- quantified self
- RDW%
- Uric Acid
- Video
- White Blood Cells
What are the blood biomarkers of a centenarian, and is there room for improvement? Find out in the video below! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XhCUuxhxmpg
How does the gut microbiome and its metabolic products affect muscle mass, muscle composition, and physical function? In this presentation, I review the evidence, then I present recent data from our group.
Here’s a video clip about my latest Biological Age measurement!
Most often overlooked on a standard blood test are the mean corpuscular volume (MCW) and Red Blood Cell Distribution Width (RDW). How do they change during aging, and what’s associated with all-cause mortality risk? Also, with the goal of optimizing MCV and RDW, how does my diet correlate with these […]
In this relatively short clip, I talk about how serum levels of creatinine change during aging, what levels are associated with risk of death for all causes, and I show my own data for 15+ years! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PK6oBMMasFU
Interestingly, we recorded this as I was recovering from a respiratory infection. Was it SARS-CoV-2, or influenza? I’ll know later this week! https://www.bisu.bio/biohacking-to-100-longevity-lessons-from-15-years-of-self-tracking-ft-michael-lustgarten-phd/
In the first 45 minutes, discuss each of the biomarkers contained within Levine’s Biological Age calculator, Phenotypic Age. After that, I answer questions from the audience and we discuss all things related to aging. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8hs2n7U7J-k&t=30s
Exactly 1 month ago, my first biological age measurement of 2020 was 32.75y (https://michaellustgarten.com/2020/02/14/biological-age-32-75y-chronological-age-47y-first-2020-measurement/). When considering that my chronological age is 47y, that’s a 14 year improvement, but I wasn’t (and still aren’t) satisfied. When I sent my blood for analysis, I was battling a mild upper respiratory infection (cough, […]
In terms of all-cause mortality risk, is the reference range for circulating triglycerides (TG, <150 mg/dL) optimal? A meta-analysis of 38 studies in 360,556 subjects with a median age of 48y and a 12-year follow-up reported lowest all-cause mortality risk for subjects with TG values less than 90 mg/dL (equivalent to ~1 […]
Measurement of biological age with Levine’s Phenotypic Age calculator is strongly correlated with chronological age (r=0.94; see https://michaellustgarten.com/2019/09/09/quantifying-biological-age/). In 2019, I measured all 9 of its analytes 3 times, with biological age readings of 35.39y, 35.58y, and 31.3y, for an average 2019 biological age of 34.09y (see https://michaellustgarten.com/2019/11/01/biological-age-31-3y-chronological-age-46y/). That’s 12 […]
How’s my progress on the road to achieving a resting heart rate (RHR) as close to 40 beats per minute (bpm) as possible? Shown below is my RHR data for August 2018-Jan 2019, which corresponds to the 6-month period after I started tracking RHR. When compared with that period, am […]
Here’s a link to a recent interview, https://biohackstack.com/posts/michael-lustgarten/?fbclid=IwAR059Jf6eT4SyvsqTxHaSir2hQuXKjV5R6kLg-7Df1Kc4c7ZKM6Tw-0qRwY Including: How (and why) did you get involved in research in aging and the human microbiome? How did you get started in health optimization / quantified-self? What are your thoughts on biological age testing? Which tests (epigenetic, blood biomarkers, telomere, etc) and […]
In an earlier post (https://michaellustgarten.com/2019/09/15/drink-green-tea-reduce-and-all-cause-mortality-risk/), I reported that green tea consumption is associated with reduced risk of death for all causes. Now, there’s more recent data! Drinking more than 1 cup of green tea per day is associated with reduced all-cause mortality risk in a pooled analysis of 8 studies […]
The reference range for uric acid is 4.0 – 8 mg/dL for men, and 2.5 – 7 mg/dL for women. Are these values optimal for health? To answer that question, let’s have a look at how circulating levels of uric acid change during aging, and their association with risk of […]
Here’s my latest academic paper! mdpi.com/2072-6643/12/1/106
Having a faster rate of epigenetic aging, as measured by the epigenetic age metric, AgeAccelGrim, is associated with a significantly increased risk of death for all causes in a variety of cohorts, including the Framingham Heart Study (FHS), the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) study, the InChianti study, the Jackson Heart […]
Three studies have investigated the ability of blood test analytes to predict biological age. First, when considering the top 20 variables that were associated with biological age in aging.ai, albumin contributed most to this prediction, almost 2x more than circulating levels of glucose (Mamoshina et al. 2018): Second, albumin was […]
To make it easier to review the aging and all-cause mortality data for the circulating biomarkers that are contained within the biological age calculator, Phenotypic Age (see https://michaellustgarten.com/2019/09/09/quantifying-biological-age/), here’s a checklist! 1. Albumin: https://michaellustgarten.com/2019/09/22/optimizing-serum-levels-of-albumin-data-from-20-blood-tests/ 2. Creatinine: https://michaellustgarten.com/2019/11/18/optimizing-biologic-age-creatinine/ 3. Glucose: https://michaellustgarten.com/2019/10/04/blood-glucose-whats-optimal/ 4. C-reactive protein: https://michaellustgarten.com/2019/10/19/optimizing-biological-age-crp/ 5. Lymphocyte %: https://michaellustgarten.com/2019/11/16/lympho-mortal/ 6. Mean […]
Creatinine is one of the 9 blood test variables included on the biological age calculator, Phenotypic Age (https://michaellustgarten.com/2019/09/09/quantifying-biological-age/). The reference range for women and men is 0.5 – 1.1, and 0.6 – 1.2 mg/dL respectively, but within that range, what’s optimal for health and longevity? To answer that question, it’s […]
The percentage of lymphocytes is one of the 9 blood test variables included in the biological age calculator, Phenotypic Age (https://michaellustgarten.com/2019/09/09/quantifying-biological-age/). The reference range for lymphocyte % is 20 – 40% of the total amount of white blood cells (WBCs), but are higher or lower values optimal for health and […]
My average biological age in 2019 is 12 years younger than my chronological age (46y) based on the Phenotypic Age calculator (https://michaellustgarten.com/2019/11/01/biological-age-31-3y-chronological-age-46y/), and 16y younger based on aging.ai (https://michaellustgarten.com/2019/11/04/years-of-biological-aging-in-the-past-4-years/). One factor that likely contributes to my relatively youthful biological age is my diet. Shown below is my average daily dietary […]
In an earlier post (https://michaellustgarten.com/2018/06/26/maximizing-health-and-lifespan-is-calorie-restriction-essential/), I documented my aging.ai biologic age for 13 blood test measurements from 2016 – 2019. If you missed that post, here are those data: Note that note my average biologic age has slowly increased from 2016 to 2019, from 28y in 2016 (2 measurements), to […]
On June 10, 2019 (for the first time) I measured all of the blood test variables that are included in the biologic age calculator, Phenotypic Age, and ended up with a biological age = 35.39y (https://michaellustgarten.com/2019/09/09/quantifying-biological-age/). While that value is 23% younger than my chronological age (46y), I knew that […]
High sensitivity C-Reactive Protein (CRP) is one of the 10 variables included in the biological age calculator, PhenoAge (https://michaellustgarten.com/2019/09/09/quantifying-biological-age/). The reference range for CRP is 0 – 3 mg/L, but within that range, what’s optimal? To answer that question, it’s important to know how CRP changes during aging, and what […]
Mean corpuscular volume (MCV) is one of the 10 variables included in the biological age calculator, PhenoAge (see https://michaellustgarten.com/2019/09/09/quantifying-biological-age/). It’s calculated by dividing the fraction of the blood that contains RBCs (hematocrit) by RBCs (MCV = hematocrit/RBC), thereby identifying the average volume contained within red blood cells. Although the MCV reference […]
Circulating levels of white blood cells (WBCs) are one of the 10 variables used to quantify biological age with PhenoAge (https://michaellustgarten.com/2019/09/09/quantifying-biological-age). The reference range for WBCs is 4.5 – 11 *10^9 cells/L, but within that range, what’s optimal? Several studies have reported that WBCs greater than 5 are associated with […]
In an earlier post, based on data from the Baltimore Longitidunal Study on Aging (BLSA), I suggested that total white blood cell (WBCs) counts between 3500 to 6000 cells per microliter of blood may be optimal for reducing disease risk and for maximizing longevity (https://michaellustgarten.com/2015/08/13/blood-testing-whats-optimal-for-wbc-levels/). However, within WBCs, neutrophils increase, […]