Tag Archives: aging

Total Cholesterol: What’s Optimal For Longevity?

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%) puts me relatively close to maximally reduced all-cause mortality risk, which occurs at 146-158 mg/dL (5-9% on the graph below):

c hdl mort

But what about the data for men older than 60?

In a 10-year study of 2,277 older adults (average age, ~77y), total cholesterol levels less than 175 mg/dL were associated with ~2-fold higher risk of all-cause mortality, compared with values greater than 226 mg/dL (Schupf et al. 2005):

tc less 175 acm

Similarly, in a 10-year study of even older adults (median age, 89y; 724 subjects), all-cause mortality risk was significantly increased in subjects with total cholesterol values less than 193 mg/dL (dark black line below), compared with values greater than 251 mg/dL (dashed line; Weverling-Rijnsburger et al. 1997). In addition, subjects with cholesterol values greater than 251 mg/dL lived ~2 years longer than those with values less than 191 mg/dL. So higher cholesterol in very old adults…increased lifespan! Does that mean I should alter my dietary approach to increase my circulating cholesterol levels after I reach 60?

chol 89y mort.png

To address that issue, it’s important to understand why cholesterol increases during aging. One possible mechanism involves the role of cholesterol in immune defense against infectious agents (bacteria, viruses, parasites, etc.). Obviously, our immune system is supposed to eliminate these pathogens, but immune function decreases with age (Targonski et al. 2007). As a compensatory mechanism, cholesterol can protect against infectious agents. For example, LDL cholesterol binds to and partially inactivates Staphylococcus aureus (Bhakdi et al. 1983). Staphylococcus aureus infection increases during aging, as its incidence rate is ~3-fold higher in adults older than 60y, when compared with younger subjects (Laupland et al. 2008). In addition, LDL cholesterol inhibits bacterial endotoxin (Weinstock et al. 1992), whose presence in the blood increases during aging (Ghosh et al. 2015). In support of the link between circulating cholesterol with infectious agents, in the older adults of Weverling-Rijnsburger et al. (1997), cholesterol values greater than 251 mg/dL (solid black line) were associated with significantly decreased infectious disease-related mortality, when compared with values less than 193 mg/dL:

infect mort

So if we’re better able to keep infectious agents out of our blood, that would be expected to reduce the need for elevated circulating cholesterol during aging. How can we do that?

One approach involves increased dietary fiber. Fermentation of dietary fiber by gut bacteria produces short-chain fatty acids, which improve gut barrier function (Chen et al. 2013), and decrease cholesterol synthesis (Wright et al. 1990). However, older adults do not eat high-fiber diets, as values of only ~19g/day have been reported (Lustgarten et al. 2014). In contrast, dietary fiber intakes greater than only 29g/day are associated with less infectious disease (and all-cause mortality) risk (Park et al. 2011). So definitely eating at least 29g fiber/day is important, but is that amount optimal to minimize the need for elevated cholesterol during aging?

In a 2-week study of the role of dietary fiber on circulating cholesterol, subjects that ate only 10g fiber/1000 calories did not significantly reduce their baseline total cholesterol values from ~182 mg/dL (Jenkins et al. 2001). In contrast, a dietary fiber intake of 19g/1000 calories reduced baseline total cholesterol from 185 to 150 mg/dL, and subjects that ate even more fiber than that, 55g/1000 calories reduced their total cholesterol values from ~182 to 142 mg/dL, a drop that was also significantly different compared with the 19g fiber/1000 calorie group.

Collectively, these data suggest that to maximally boost gut barrier function, thereby minimizing circulating infectious agents and the need for elevated circulating cholesterol during aging, a very-high fiber-diet may be important. Accordingly, my average daily fiber intake is ~100 g/day on a 2300 calorie diet, resulting in ~43g fiber/1000 calories. Based on this, I don’t expect for my total cholesterol values to change during aging, as my gut barrier function will be optimal, and infectious agents in my blood will be minimized.

To add some specificity to this approach, 2 additional measurements may be important: serum albumin and HDL cholesterol. In agreement with the studies of Weverling-Rijnsburger et al. and Schupf et al., in a 5-year study of 4,128 older adults (average age, ~79y), those with total cholesterol values less than 160 mg/dL had significantly higher all-cause mortality risk, compared with values greater than 240 mg/dL (Volpato et al. 2001):

low tc mortl

However, when considering subjects’ albumin and HDL cholesterol levels, the differential mortality risk was abolished. Subjects that had low total cholesterol but also high (within-range) albumin and HDL had improved survival compared to the higher cholesterol groups:

adj tc mort for alb hdl

If your total cholesterol values are less than 160 mg/dL, what serum albumin and HDL values should you shoot for? As shown below, albumin levels greater than 38 g/L and HDL values greater than 47 mg/dL were associated with maximally reduced all-cause mortality risk in subjects with total cholesterol values less than 160 mg/dL (Volpato et al. 2001):

volpato

My albumin values are consistently between 46-48 g/L, but during recent measurements my HDL levels have been lower than optimal (35 mg/dL on 8/2015). The good news is that I was able to increase my HDL from 28 (7/2013 measurement) to 35 mg/dL by adding ~4 oz of fish every day! To further increase my HDL, I’ve doubled my fish oil intake (~3.3 g of combined EPA + DHA per day, from 5-9 g of cod liver oil). I’ll test the effect of this on my circulating biomarkers in a couple of months, so stay tuned!

3/23/2016 Update: Because of concerns that the pre-formed Vitamin A (that is found in cod liver oil) may negate the potential health-promoting effects of optimal Vitamin D levels (Schmutz et al. 2016), I stopped taking cod liver oil during the 3-month period that preceded my latest blood test (3/23/2016). However, I was able to increase my HDL from 35 to 53 mg/dL! I attribute this increase to the daily inclusion of ~60g/walnuts per day. In doing that, although I only replaced ~200 calories from carbohydrates with fat, lower carbohydrate diets have been shown to increase HDL (Manor et al. 2016).

Nonetheless, in terms of the all-cause mortality data that includes total cholesterol (137 mg/dL), albumin (51 g/L), and HDL (53 mg/dL), based on my latest blood test results, my risk is now maximally low!

If you’re interested, please have a look at my book!

References

Bhakdi S, Tranum-Jensen J, Utermann G, Füssle R. Binding and partial inactivation of Staphylococcus aureus alpha-toxin by human plasma low density lipoprotein. J Biol Chem. 1983 May 10;258(9):5899-904.

Chen H, Mao X, He J, Yu B, Huang Z, Yu J, Zheng P, Chen D. Dietary fibre affects intestinal mucosal barrier function and regulates intestinal bacteria in weaning piglets. Br J Nutr. 2013 Nov;110(10):1837-48.

Eaton SB, Eaton SB 3rd, Konner MJ. Paleolithic nutrition revisited: A twelve-year retrospective on its nature and implications. Eur J Clin Nutr. 1997 Apr;51(4):207-16.

Fulks M, Stout RL, Dolan VF. Association of cholesterol, LDL, HDL, cholesterol/ HDL and triglyceride with all-cause mortality in life insurance applicants. J Insur Med. 2009;41(4):244-53.

Ghosh S, Lertwattanarak R, Garduño Jde J, Galeana JJ, Li J, Zamarripa F, Lancaster JL, Mohan S, Hussey S, Musi N. Elevated muscle TLR4 expression and metabolic endotoxemia in human aging. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci. 2015 Feb;70(2):232-46.

Jenkins DJ, Kendall CW, Popovich DG, Vidgen E, Mehling CC, Vuksan V, Ransom TP, Rao AV, Rosenberg-Zand R, Tariq N, Corey P, Jones PJ, Raeini M, Story JA, Furumoto EJ, Illingworth DR, Pappu AS, Connelly PW. Effect of a very-high-fiber vegetable, fruit, and nut diet on serum lipids and colonic function. Metabolism. 2001 Apr;50(4):494-503.

Laupland KB, Ross T, Gregson DB. Staphylococcus aureus bloodstream infections: risk factors, outcomes, and the influence of methicillin resistance in Calgary, Canada, 2000-2006. J Infect Dis. 2008 Aug 1;198(3):336-43.

Lustgarten MS, Price LL, Chalé A, Fielding RA. Metabolites related to gut bacterial metabolism, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-alpha activation, and insulin sensitivity are associated with physical function in functionally-limited older adults. Aging Cell. 2014 Oct;13(5):918-25.

Mansoor N, Vinknes KJ, Veierød MB, Retterstøl K. Effects of low-carbohydrate diets v. low-fat diets on body weight and cardiovascular risk factors: a meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials. Br J Nutr. 2016 Feb;115(3):466-79.

Park Y, Subar AF, Hollenbeck A, Schatzkin A. Dietary fiber intake and mortality in the NIH-AARP diet and health study. Arch Intern Med. 2011 Jun 27;171(12):1061-8.

Schmutz EA, Zimmermann MB, Rohrmann S. The inverse association between serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D and mortality may be modified by vitamin A status and use of vitamin A supplements. Eur J Nutr. 2016 Feb;55(1):393-402.

Schupf N, Costa R, Luchsinger J, Tang MX, Lee JH, Mayeux R. Relationship Between Plasma Lipids and All-Cause Mortality in Nondemented Elderly. J Am Geriatr Soc. 2005 Feb;53(2):219-26.

Targonski PV, Jacobson RM, Poland GA. Immunosenescence: role and measurement in influenza vaccine response among the elderly. Vaccine. 2007 Apr 20;25(16):3066-9.

Vasto S, Scapagnini G, Rizzo C, Monastero R, Marchese A, Caruso C. Mediterranean diet and longevity in Sicily: survey in a Sicani Mountains population. Rejuvenation Res. 2012 Apr;15(2):184-8.

Volpato S, Leveille SG, Corti MC, Harris TB, Guralnik JM. The value of serum albumin and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol in defining mortality risk in older persons with low serum cholesterol. J Am Geriatr Soc. 2001 Sep;49(9):1142-7.

Weinstock C, Ullrich H, Hohe R, Berg A, Baumstark MW, Frey I, Northoff H, Flegel WA. Low density lipoproteins inhibit endotoxin activation of monocytes. Arterioscler Thromb. 1992 Mar;12(3):341-7.

Weverling-Rijnsburger AW, Blauw GJ, Lagaay AM, Knook DL, Meinders AE, Westendorp RG. Total cholesterol and risk of mortality in the oldest old. Lancet. 1997 Oct 18;350(9085):1119-23.

Wright RS, Anderson JW, Bridges SR. Propionate inhibits hepatocyte lipid synthesis. Proc Soc Exp Biol Med. 1990 Oct;195(1):26-9.

Calorie Restriction Pioneer Roy Walford: Where Did He Go Wrong?

11 Replies

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 factors in his nutritional approach that increased his risk for developing ALS?

On Walford’s website, http://www.walford.com, he listed 2 sample days of both food intake and his resulting macro- and micronutrient composition:

Although several micronutrients (calcium, sodium, zinc) are below the RDA on day 1, Walford’s 2-day average bring these values close to the RDA. However, his Vitamin E intake on day 1 and day 2 (shown below) are glaringly deficient. On day 1, his Vitamin E intake was only 2.8 mg. On day 2, it was 6.1 mg, for a 2-day average value of 4.5 mg. The RDA for Vitamin E was updated in 2000 (Food and Nutrition Board, 2000) from 8 mg to the current 15 mg-he wasn’t close to either value!

Dietary Vitamin E has been reported to be decreased in patients with ALS, when compared with ALS-free controls, as shown below (Veldink et al. 2007). Although the subjects of Veldink et al. had an increased calorie intake when compared with Walford (2842 and 2938 calories in controls and in ALS patients, respectively), when scaled down to Roy’s 1500 calorie intake, a dietary Vitamin E intake of 9 mg would be found in ALS patients, with 10.8 mg found in the controls. For comparison, Walford’s 2-day Vitamin E intake was only 6.1 mg! Interestingly, the only other dietary nutrient category that was significantly different between ALS patients and controls was polyunsaturated fat (PUFA) intake, which was also low (8.8g) in Walford’s 2-day diet.

I’m not at all saying that Walford’s dietary deficiencies in Vitamin E and PUFA caused his ALS. It’s also unknown whether the 2 days that he posted on his website are representative of his overall CRON approach. But it’s an interesting observation, isn’t it?

If you’re interested, please have a look at my book!
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01G48A88A?ref_=k4w_oembed_omIChDjq2EkggX&tag=kpembed-20&linkCode=kpd

References

Food and Nutrition Board, Institute of Medicine. Vitamin E. Dietary reference intakes for vitamin C, vitamin E, selenium, and carotenoids. Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press; 2000:186-283.

Freedman MD, Kuncl RW, Weinstein SJ, Malila N, Virtamo J, Albanes D. Vitamin E serum levels and controlled supplementation and risk of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Amyotroph Lateral Scler Frontotemporal Degener. 2013 May;14(4):246-51

Veldink JH, Kalmijn S, Groeneveld GJ, Wunderink W, Koster A, de Vries JH, van der Luyt J, Wokke JH, Van den Berg LH. Intake of polyunsaturated fatty acids and vitamin E reduces the risk of developing amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry. 2007 Apr;78(4):367-71.

The Essential Fatty Acid, Linoleic Acid: Dietary Intake And Circulating Values, What’s Optimal For Health?

13 Replies

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 mortality risk, followed by identification of a corresponding dietary intake. Let’s have a look!

First, are circulating levels of linoleic acid associated with all-cause mortality risk? 4 studies have investigated this issue:

In a 15-year study of 1,551 middle-aged men (average age, 52y), increased circulating linoleic acid was associated with significantly reduced all-cause mortality risk in 3 of the 4 multivariable-adjusted models (Laaksonen et al. 2005).
In a 15-year study of 4,232 older adults (60y) elevated circulating linoleic acid was associated with significantly reduced all-cause mortality risk in men, but not women (Marklund et al. 2015).
In a 34-year study of 2,009 middle-aged men (average age, 50y) increased circulating linoleic acid was associated with significantly decreased risk of all-cause mortality (Warensjö et al. 2008). For example, shown below is the association between the risk of death from cardiovascular-related disease with the circulating linoleic acid concentration. At both 20 and 30 years after study onset, subjects that had circulating linoleic values above the median had approximately half of the mortality risk from CVD, when compared with below-median values for linoleic acid.

In a 13-year study that included both older men and women (average age, 74y), and, more subjects (2,792) than the studies of Laaksonen and Warensjöet combined, plasma phospholipid percentages of linoleic acid greater than ~21-24% were associated with significantly reduced all-cause mortality risk:

Colectively, these 4 studies show that increased circulating levels of linoleic acid are associated with reduced all-cause mortality risk. How much linoleic acid should we eat to achieve optimal circulating values? In other words, what dietary intake of linoleic acid corresponds to 21%+ of plasma phospholipid linoleic acid? Based on the data below, dietary intakes of linoleic acid that are greater than 14% of total calories are associated with circulating linoleic acid values of 21% (Wu et al. 2014).

On my ~2300 calorie diet, that translates into 322 calories (36g) from linoleic acid. I get a significant amount of dietary linoleic acid from one of the best linoleic acid food sources, walnuts, which contain 5.8 grams of linoleic acid per 100 calories (see Lipids, C18:2, http://ndb.nal.usda.gov/ndb/foods/show/3690?fg=&man=&lfacet=&count=&max=&qlookup=&offset=&sort=&format=Full&reportfmt=other&rptfrm=&ndbno=&nutrient1=&nutrient2=&nutrient3=&subset=&totCount=&measureby=&_action_show=Apply+Changes&Qv=.152&Q6919=1&Q6920=1&Q6921=1&Q6922=1&Q6923=1&Q6924=1).

Just using walnuts alone, I’d need ~700 calories per day to reach 14% dietary linoleic acid! Although I’m always interested in dietary strategies that may reduce all-cause mortality risk, allocating ~30% of my daily calories to only walnuts is not ideal for my high-fiber approach to health (https://atomic-temporary-71218033.wpcomstaging.com/2015/07/17/on-a-paleo-diet-not-if-you-fiber-intake-is-less-than/), nor would it satiate me, as high-volume vegetable meals are best for that. A more reasonable dietary linoleic acid target (for now) is ~8%, the point at which plasma linoleic acid mostly plateaus (see the plot above). 8% on my 2300 calorie diet translates into 20 grams of linoleic acid per day. I should note that I also get a good amount of linoleic acid (6.4 grams) from the 30 grams of sesame seeds that goes into my giant salad’s dressing, which I eat 2-3x per week. When combined with ~300 calories from walnuts/day, that gets me to at least 8% of my daily calories from linoleic acid.

If you’re interested, please have a look at my book!

References:

Laaksonen DE, Nyyssönen K, Niskanen L, Rissanen TH, Salonen JT. Prediction of cardiovascular mortality in middle-aged men by dietary and serum linoleic and polyunsaturated fatty acids. Arch Intern Med. 2005 Jan 24;165(2):193-9.

Marklund M, Leander K, Vikström M, Laguzzi F, Gigante B, Sjögren P, Cederholm T, de Faire U, Hellénius ML, Risérus U. Polyunsaturated Fat Intake Estimated by Circulating Biomarkers and Risk of Cardiovascular Disease and All-Cause Mortality in a Population-Based Cohort of 60-Year-Old Men and Women. Circulationz 2015 Aug 18;132(7):586-94.

Warensjö E, Sundström J, Vessby B, Cederholm T, Risérus U. Markers of dietary fat quality and fatty acid desaturation as predictors of total and cardiovascular mortality: a population-based prospective study. Am J Clin Nutr. 2008 Jul;88(1):203-9.

Wu JH, Lemaitre RN, King IB, Song X, Psaty BM, Siscovick DS, Mozaffarian D. Circulating omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids and total and cause-specific mortality: the CardiovascularHealth Study. Circulation. 2014 Oct 7;130(15):1245-53

Vitamin C: Dietary Intake And Plasma Values, What’s Optimal For Health?

1 Reply

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 between plasma (or serum) Vitamin C with all-cause mortality risk:

In a 4-year study of 1,115 older adults (average age ~79y), plasma vitamin C values greater than 66 uM (micromolar) were associated with significantly decreased all-cause mortality risk, when compared with values less than 17 uM (Fletcher et al. 2003).
In a 12-year study of 725 older adults (average age, 73y), plasma vitamin C values greater than 52 uM were associated with significantly reduced all-cause mortality risk (Sahyoun et al. 1996). Interestingly, the most reduced mortality risk was found in those with plasma Vitamin C values greater than 89 uM, a value that can only be attained with dietary Vitamin C intakes greater than 1000 mg/day (more on this below!).
In a 16-year study of 8,453 middle-aged adults (average age ~49y), serum Vitamin C values greater than 45 uM were associated with significantly reduced all-cause mortality risk, when compared with values less than 17 uM (Simon et al. 2001).
In a 13-year study of 1,054 older adults (average age ~76y), elevated plasma levels of Vitamin C (risk ratios were reported without the actual Vitamin C concentration) were associated with significantly decreased all-cause mortality risk (Bates et al. 2011).
In a 4-year study of 19,496 older adults (average age ~59y), plasma Vitamin C values greater than 48 uM in men and 59 uM in women (both in quintile 3, shown below) were associated with significantly reduced all-cause mortality risk (Khaw et al. 2001). The most reduced all-cause mortality risk included average Vitamin C values of 73 uM for men and 85 uM for women (shown below in quintile 5), values which require greater than 500 mg of dietary Vitamin C/day (more on this also below!).

Studies that show weaker or no association between the plasma Vitamin C concentration with all-cause mortality risk include Loria et al. (2000) and Jia et al. (2007). In Loria et al. (2000), 9,450 middle aged adults (~48y) were followed for 12-16 years. Men in the highest Vitamin C quartile (> 74 uM) had significantly reduced all-cause mortality risk, when compared with men in the low plasma Vitamin C group (< 28 uM). Although a similar association was identified for women, significance was lost after multivariable adjustment. In Jia et al. (2007), although plasma Vitamin C values less than 61 uM were associated with increased all-cause mortality risk in older adults (median age, ~80y) that were studied for ~7.5 years, these data were not statistically significant (p-value = 0.18). However, the study sample size (398 subjects) may have been too small to detect significant effects.

Collectively these studies show that low circulating levels of Vitamin C may be related to increased mortality risk, whereas plasma values greater than ~50 uM are consistently associated with reduced all-cause mortality risk. How much dietary vitamin C is required to attain 50 uM+?

As shown below, the RDA for dietary Vitamin C is 90 mg for males and 75 mg for females older than 19 years (Institute of Medicine 2000).

If you consume the RDA for Vitamin C, what plasma Vitamin C concentration will that yield? Shown below is how the plasma Vitamin C concentration varies according to ingested dose (Levine et al. 1996). Consuming the RDA value for Vitamin C yields a plasma Vitamin C value of 20-30 uM. From the studies listed above, that would put you in the increased all-cause mortality risk group! How much dietary Vitamin C would be needed to achieve plasma values greater than 50 uM? From the plot, we see that a dietary Vitamin C intake at double the RDA would be necessary. Furthermore, because 2 studies have reported decreased all-cause mortality risk at plasma Vitamin C values greater than 66 uM, dietary intakes intake between 500-1000+ mg/day may be necessary:

Which foods are Vitamin C-rich? As shown below, sweet peppers (yellow, red, and green) are the All-Stars for Vitamin C content per 100 calories:

What’s my average daily Vitamin C intake? Shown below is my average daily Vitamin C intake, 875 mg/day, separated by month. Based on that value, my plasma Vitamin C concentration should be ~ 70 uM, which may be associated with maximally reduced all-cause mortality risk.

With the goal of optimizing plasma Vitamin C, it is also important to monitor dietary sodium intake. Intestinal absorption of Vitamin C requires dietary sodium (Friedman and Zeidel 1999). As shown below, 1 ascorbate ion (asc-) is absorbed from the intestinal lumen into intestinal epithelial cells in the presence of 2 sodium (Na+) ions. Vitamin C can then diffuse into the blood as Asc- or as dehydroascorbate (DHA):

na asc transport

Accordingly, based on my average dietary Vitamin C intake of 875 mg/day, to maximize absorption, a corresponding dietary sodium intake of 1750 mg would also be necessary.

If you’re interested, please have a look at my book!

References

Bates CJ, Hamer M, Mishra GD. Redox-modulatory vitamins and minerals that prospectively predict mortality in older British people:the National Diet and Nutrition Survey of people aged 65 years and over. Br J Nutr. 2011 Jan;105(1):123-32.

Fletcher AE, Breeze E, Shetty PS. Antioxidant vitamins and mortality in older persons: findings from the nutrition add-on study to the Medical Research Council Trial of Assessment and Management of Older People in the Community. Am J Clin Nutr. 2003 Nov;78(5):999-1010.

Friedman PA, Zeidel ML. Victory at C. Nat Med. 1999 Jun;5(6):620-1.

Institute of Medicine. Food and Nutrition Board. Dietary Reference Intakes for Vitamin C, Vitamin E, Selenium, and Carotenoids. Washington, DC: National Academy Press, 2000.

Jia X, Aucott LS, McNeill G. Nutritional status and subsequent all-cause mortality in men and women aged 75 years or over living in the community. Br J Nutr. 2007 Sep;98(3):593-9.

Khaw KT, Bingham S, Welch A, Luben R, Wareham N, Oakes S, Day N. Relation between plasma ascorbic acid and mortality in men and women in EPIC-Norfolk prospective study: a prospective population study. European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition. Lancet. 2001 Mar 3;357(9257):657-63.

Levine M, Conry-Cantilena C, Wang Y, Welch RW, Washko PW, Dhariwal KR, Park JB, Lazarev A, Graumlich JF, King J, Cantilena LR. Vitamin C pharmacokinetics in healthy volunteers: evidence for a recommended dietary allowance. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1996 Apr 16;93(8):3704-9.

Loria CM, Klag MJ, Caulfield LE, Whelton PK. Vitamin C status and mortality in US adults. Am J Clin Nutr. 2000 Jul;72(1):139-45.

Sahyoun NR, Jacques PF, Russell RM. Carotenoids, vitamins C and E, and mortality in an elderly population. Am J Epidemiol. 1996 Sep 1;144(5):501-11.

Simon JA, Hudes ES, Tice JA. Relation of serum ascorbic acid to mortality among US adults. J Am Coll Nutr. 2001 Jun;20(3):255-63.

Drink Green Tea, Reduce All-Cause Mortality Risk?

1 Reply

Is green tea consumption associated with reduced risk of death risk from all causes? To investigate this question, Tang et al. (2015) performed a meta-analysis of 5 studies, including 200,884 subjects. As shown below, drinking 5 cups (40 oz.) or less per day is associated with reduced all-cause mortality risk. Drinking 2-3 cups (16-24 oz.) of green tea per day was associated with maximally decreased all-cause mortality risk, ~10%.

If you’re interested, please have a look at my book!

Reference

Tang J, Zheng JS, Fang L, Jin Y, Cai W, Li D. Tea consumption and mortality of all cancers, CVD and all causes: a meta-analysis of eighteen prospective cohort studies. Br J Nutr. 2015 Jul 23:1-11.

What I eat: Barley-Cauliflower-Collard-Tomato-Celery-Onion-Corn-Mix!

Vitamin D: What’s an optimal daily intake and blood value?

12 Replies

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 25-hydroxyvitamin D is the most commonly measured vitamin D metabolite because of its greater half life (~3 weeks) and up to 1000-fold higher serum levels compared with the physiologically active metabolite of vitamin D, 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D (Zerwekh 2008). So what’s the evidence for the association between circulating 25-hydroxyvitamin D with all-cause mortality risk?

In a meta-analysis of 95 studies including 880,201 subjects, circulating 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels greater than 30 ng/mL (75 nmol/L) are associated with significantly reduced risk of death from all causes when compared with values less than 30 (<10, 20-29; Chowdhury et al. 2014):

Does the meta-analysis data for 25-hydroxyvitamin D mean that any values higher than 30 ng/mL are optimal for health? Maybe not. As shown below, although data from 11,315 subjects in the NHANES III study suggests that values between 30-40 ng/mL (75-99 nmol/L) may be optimal for decreased all-cause mortality risk (Sempos et al. 2013), 25-hydroxyvitamin D values greater than 48 ng/mL (120+ nmol/L) were associated with an increased all-cause mortality risk. Interestingly, in agreement with the Chowdhury meta-analysis data, this graph shows also increased mortality risk at values less than 30-40 ng/mL (75-99 nmol/L):

However, whether increased circulating 25-hydroxyvitamin D is associated with increased all-cause mortality risk is debatable. In another meta-analysis (Garland et al. 2014), although circulating 25-hydroxyvitamin D values less than 30 ng/mL were again associated with increased risk, in contrast, values greater than 48 ng/mL were not. Interestingly, values as high as 70 ng/mL (175 nmoL) were not associated with increased risk, either:

Aside from our skin making Vitamin D from sunlight during the summer months, what dietary intake can achieve the seemingly optimal 30-40 ng/mL (75-99 nmol/L) concentration for 25-hydroxyvitamin D in the winter? The RDA for Vitamin D is 600 IU for everyone older than 1 but younger than 70 (Institute of Medicine, 2010). If you’re over 70, the RDA is 800 IU. My average dietary intake is only ~170 IU-how can I increase this to at least the RDA, to achieve circulating values between 75-99 nmol/L?

Decent dietary sources of vitamin D include fish: salmon, sardines, mackerel, and tuna. Based on the table below (Holick 2007), eating ~3.5 ounces of wild salmon every day would achieve the RDA for vitamin D intake. In contrast, my daily tin of sardines puts me ~300 IU away from the RDA value! I could double my fish intake to ~8 oz./day, but I’d like to limit my animal protein intake, and, the extra ~200 calories would limit other nutrients that I’d like to enrich in my diet, like fiber.

Are there other, less calorie dense dietary sources of vitamin D? It’s important to note that dietary vitamin D can be found in 2 forms, D3, which is shown above, and D2. Which foods are rich in vitamin D2? Shown below is a picture of the best plant-based source of vitamin D2, maitake mushrooms:

The Vitamin D2 content of maitake mushrooms is 36 IU/calorie, whereas wild salmon only has 3.2 IU of vitamin D per calorie! Other “exotic” mushrooms (anything other than white button mushrooms is exotic to me!) like Chanterelle and Morel contain decent amounts of vitamin D2:

Before adding maitake and other “exotic” mushrooms into my nutritional plan for their vitamin D content, it’s important to ask, “does D2 increase circulating 25-hydroxyvitamin D to an equal extent as D3”? Unfortunately, the answer is no: although D2 and D3 both increase circulating 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels, D2-based sources increase 25-hydroxyvitamin D level about half as effectively as D3 (Trang et al. 1998). So, instead of consuming ~35g of maitake mushrooms to add 400 IU of vitamin D into my diet (to achieve the RDA of 600 IU), I’ve added ~70g/day.

12/29/2015 Update: Because of Maitake’s relatively high cost, $5 for only 100g, and the burden of having to eat it every day, for the past ~3 months I switched to Vitamin D supplements to achieve a D intake of ~1100 IU/day. Blood testing showed that this intake yielded a circulating 25-hydroxyvitamin D winter concentration of 31 ng/mL, putting me at low risk for all cause mortality, based on the meta-analysis D data.

8/23/2016 Update: I stopped supplementing with 1000 IU of Vitamin D in June 2016, to explore the effect of 3-4 hours of weekly sun exposure on my circulating Vitamin D levels. My unsupplemented, circulating 25-hydroxyvitamin D level was 41 ng/mL in my 8/2016 blood test. Accordingly, I intend on increasing my Vitamin D intake to 1600 IU (1400 supplemental, ~200 dietary)/day to achieve a circulating winter 25-hydroxyvitamin D level that is similar my the summer value.

11/12/2017 Update: I’ve been supplementing with 2000 IU of D3/day, bringing my average daily total to ~2200 IU/day. Based on that, my latest circulating 25-hydroxyvitamin D level (tested in October, 2017) was 39 ng/mL .

If you’re interested, please have a look at my book!

References

Chowdhury R, Kunutsor S, Vitezova A, Oliver-Williams C, Chowdhury S, Kiefte-de-Jong JC, Khan H, Baena CP, Prabhakaran D, Hoshen MB, Feldman BS, Pan A, Johnson L, Crowe F, Hu FB, Franco OH. Vitamin D and risk of cause specific death: systematic review and meta-analysis of observational cohort and randomised intervention studies. BMJ. 2014 Apr 1;348:g1903.

Garland CF, Kim JJ, Mohr SB, Gorham ED, Grant WB, Giovannucci EL, Baggerly L, Hofflich H, Ramsdell JW, Zeng K, Heaney RP. Meta-analysis of all-cause mortality according to serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D. Am J Public Health. 2014 Aug;104(8):e43-50.

Holick MF. Vitamin D deficiency. N Engl J Med. 2007 Jul 19;357(3):266-81.

Institute of Medicine, Food and Nutrition Board. Dietary Reference Intakes for Calcium and Vitamin D. Washington, DC: National Academy Press, 2010.

Sempos CT, Durazo-Arvizu RA, Dawson-Hughes B, Yetley EA, Looker AC, Schleicher RL, Cao G, Burt V, Kramer H, Bailey RL, Dwyer JT, Zhang X, Gahche J, Coates PM, Picciano MF. Is there a reverse J-shaped association between 25-hydroxyvitamin D and all-cause mortality? Results from the U.S. nationally representative NHANES. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2013 Jul;98(7):3001-9.

Trang HM, Cole DE, Rubin LA, Pierratos A, Siu S, Vieth R. Evidence that vitamin D3 increases serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D more efficiently than does vitamin D2. Am J Clin Nutr. 1998 Oct;68(4):854-8.

Zerwekh JE. Blood biomarkers of vitamin D status. Am J Clin Nutr 2008;87:1087S-91S.

Boiling drinking water for improved health?

3 Replies

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 system to combat infectious agents decreases with age (Ginaldi et al. 2001). Can we counteract this? Reducing intake of infectious agents would reduce the burden that our immune systems would have to deal with. Is it possible to reduce intake of infectious agents, including bacteria, viruses, and protozoa?

Boiling water can inactivate a variety of bacteria, viruses, and protozoa (WHO, 2015) that are increased in older adults. For example, as shown below, a water temperature greater than 60C (water boils at 100C) for 5 minutes will inactivate Escherichia Coli (E. coli). Why are E. coli important? E. Coli are elevated in older adults (70-90y), when compared with young (20-50y; Enck et al. 2009), and are associated with insulin resistance (Vrieze et al. 2012) and frailty (Claesson et al. 2012). Below we see that boiling water for 5 minutes would thermally inactivate E. Coli, potentially resulting in decreased work for our immune system.

Every morning I boil ~40 oz of water for my green tea. Later in the day in drink 10-20 oz of water, but not boiled. So, ~2/3 of my water intake is boiled, potentially reducing the infectious burden that my immune system has to battle. Whether boiling water reduces this burden by 1%, 10%, or more is unknown. However, based on the ability of water boiling to inactivate pathogens that are increased during aging, it may be a low risk (only the time used!), high reward strategy for improving health during aging. I’m actively considering boiling my 10-20 oz. of water at night, too.

7/2017 Update: In addition to boiling my water for green tea, I also use a high-powered water filter, the Big Berkey. I’m not paid to say that, but that’s what I do!

If you’re interested, please have a look at my book!

Reference:

Claesson MJ, Jeffery IB, Conde S, Power SE, O’Connor EM, Cusack S, Harris HM, Coakley M, Lakshminarayanan B, O’Sullivan O, Fitzgerald GF, Deane J, O’Connor M, Harnedy N, O’Connor K, O’Mahony D, van Sinderen D, Wallace M, Brennan L, Stanton C, Marchesi JR, Fitzgerald AP, Shanahan F, Hill C, Ross RP, O’Toole PW. Gut microbiota composition correlates with diet and health in the elderly. Nature, 2012. 488(7410): p. 178‐84.

Ginaldi L, Loreto MF, Corsi MP, Modesti M, De Martinis M. Immunosenescence and infectious diseases. Microbes Infect. 2001 Aug;3(10):851-7.

Enck P, Zimmermann K, Rusch K, Schwiertz A, Klosterhalfen S, Frick JS. The effects of ageing on the colonic bacterial microflora in adults. Z Gastroenterol, 2009. 47(7): p. 653‐8.

Vrieze A, Van Nood E, Holleman F, Salojärvi J, Kootte RS, Bartelsman JF, Dallinga-Thie GM, Ackermans MT, Serlie MJ, Oozeer R, Derrien M, Druesne A, Van Hylckama Vlieg JE, Bloks VW, Groen AK, Heilig HG, Zoetendal EG, Stroes ES, de Vos WM, Hoekstra JB, Nieuwdorp M. Transfer of intestinal microbiota from lean donors increases insulin sensitivity in individuals with metabolic syndrome. Gastroenterology, 2012. 143(4): p. 913‐6 e7.

World Health Organization. Boil Water. January 2015. http://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/dwq/Boiling_water_01_15.pdf

Blood Testing: What’s An Optimal Value For Triglycerides?

Interpreting Blood Test Results (Serum Bicarbonate, Anion Gap): What’s Optimal For Health?

3 Replies

My approach to optimizing health and potentially 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 2 of these measurements, serum bicarbonate and the anion gap.

What does serum bicarbonate measure? The amount of bicarbonate in the blood is indicative of dietary acid load (Adeva and Souto 2011), systemic metabolism, lung and kidney function. First, a diet rich in animal products and grains (acid-forming), and poor in fruits and vegetables (base-forming) can induce a state of metabolic acidosis (Sebastian et al. 2001). Similarly, cellular metabolism produces carbon dioxide (CO2), a gas that is an acid. The lungs and kidneys act to remove systemic increases in acid load: CO2 reacts with water to form bicarbonate (H2CO3-), where it travels to the lung for excretion by exhaling it as CO2. The kidneys decrease acid (whether from the diet or metabolism) by removing protons (H+) from the blood, followed by urinating the acid out of the body, and also by producing bicarbonate. In sum, serum bicarbonate is a measure of acid load: from the diet, by your body’s ability to produce it, by your kidney’s ability to buffer it, and by your lungs ability to remove it.

Low serum bicarbonate is indicative of increased systemic acidity, whereas a high serum bicarbonate indicates systemic alkalinity. If systemic acidity is high, bicarbonate will be consumed to neutralize the acid, thereby decreasing serum bicarbonate. Assuming that bicarbonate is not being consumed in the diet (via fruits and vegetables), the kidney would have to then produce bicarbonate to make up for the increase in bicarbonate consumption.

The anion gap is a second indicator of systemic acid/base balance. It is a measure of the positively and negatively charged ions in blood, and includes serum bicarbonate. It is calculated by adding the serum concentrations of sodium (Na) and potassium (K), while subtracting chloride (Cl-) and bicarbonate (HCO3-):

Anion gap = ( [Na+] + [K+] ) − ( [Cl−] + [HCO3−] )

A high anion gap is indicative of systemic acidity whereas a low value is indicative of alkalinity.

The reference range for serum bicarbonate and the anion gap are 20-30 and 5-18 mEq/L. On my latest blood test (8/2015) my values were 31 and 6, respectively…Are these values optimal for health?

First, as shown below, decreased serum bicarbonate values are associated with increased risk for future physical function limitation (Yenchek et al. 2014). In a study of 1544 overweight (BMI ~27 kg/m2) older adults (average age, ~75 years) with a median follow-up of ~4 years, acidic serum bicarbonate values (less than 25.9) had an increased risk for future functional limitation, when compared with subjects with more alkaline values (greater than 26). It is important to note that age-related decreased kidney function leads to an inability to produce bicarbonate, thereby decreasing serum bicarbonate. However, after adjusting for the presence or absence of subjects with chronic kidney disease (CKD), the association between a more acidic serum bicarbonate value with future functional limitation remained. In other words, poor kidney function was not driving the effect of acidosis on risk for future functional limitation.

In a larger study that included 31,590 subjects with average age of ~50 years, an average BMI <25 kg/m2, and a median follow up ~8 years, a serum bicarbonate value < 26, compared with 31, had a 46% significantly increased all-cause mortality risk (see below; Park et al. 2015). For the anion gap, although mortality risk was increased at values > 11, compared with less than 6, this finding was not statistically significant. Nonetheless a trend for increased mortality risk with a more acidic value for the anion gap was present. In addition, although urine pH is not generally measured when you get a yearly physical, it’s an easy (just pee in a cup!) and inexpensive way to see if you’re peeing out more acid or base. In the figure below, we see that with urinating out more base (pH >8.0) as the reference, peeing out more acid (pH <7.5) is associated with a ~250% increased mortality risk! Assuming you have properly functioning kidneys, urinating more base will happen if your diet is rich in alkaline-rich foods, like vegetables. In contrast, a high meat and grains-based diet will lead to urinating out more acid.

In contrast to these data, shown below are the findings of Raphael et al. 2013, who found no association between serum bicarbonate with mortality risk. In that study, 15,836 overweight (the BMI range average was from 26-29) subjects with an average age ~43 years were followed for ~9 years. Although an acidic serum bicarbonate value (<22, compared with 26-30 as the reference) was associated with a 75% increased all-cause mortality risk, when excluding subjects with CKD from the analysis, that association was no longer statistically significant. However, it is important to note a similar trend (albeit non-significant) of association between acidic serum bicarbonate values with an increased mortality risk was present in those that did not have CKD.

Further support for alkaline values for serum bicarbonate or the anion gap being beneficial for health is shown below. A low anion gap (after adjusting for serum albumin) was associated with better survival with a more alkaline value (<10.5), when compared with acidic values (>10.5) in 862 normal weight (BMI ~24) elderly (average age ~74y), during a 5-year follow up (Ahn et al. 2014). Included in the improved survival rate were decreases in cardiovascular disease and infection-related mortality.

One criticism of this data is that these associations are in older adults, and that age-related decreases in kidney function may lead to an inability to produce bicarbonate, thereby increasing the anion gap. In disagreement with that critique, young subjects (age range, 20-49 years) with low serum bicarbonate and an elevated anion gap (which together suggest systemic acidosis) were significantly more likely to have decreased cardiorespiratory fitness (VO2 max) (Abramowitz et al. 2012).

Collectively, based on these data it looks like my serum bicarbonate (31) and anion gap (6) values are close to optimal for health and longevity. If your values are not close to optimal, can they be improved? Yes! Increasing fruit and vegetable (F&V) intake has been shown to increase serum bicarbonate (Goraya et al. 2013). Because bicarbonate is a component of calculating the anion gap, an increase in fruit and vegetable intake would be expected to also decrease the anion gap (although I couldn’t find any studies that have tried to use F&V to reduce it).

If you’re interested, please have a look at my book!

References

Abramowitz MK, Hostetter TH, Melamed ML. Lower serum bicarbonate and a higher anion gap are associated with lower cardiorespiratory fitness in young adults. Kidney Int. 2012 May;81(10):1033-42.

Adeva MM, Souto G. Diet-induced metabolic acidosis. Clin Nutr. 2011 Aug;30(4):416-21.

Ahn SY, Ryu J, Baek SH, Han JW, Lee JH, Ahn S, Kim KI, Chin HJ, Na KY, Chae DW, Kim KW, Kim S. Serum anion gap is predictive of mortality in an elderly population. Exp Gerontol. 2014 Feb;50:122-7.

Goraya N, Simoni J, Jo CH, Wesson DE. A comparison of treating metabolic acidosis in CKD stage 4 hypertensive kidney disease with fruits and vegetables or sodium bicarbonate. Clin J Am Soc Nephrol. 2013 Mar;8(3):371-81.

Park M, Jung SJ, Yoon S, Yun JM, Yoon HJ. Association between the markers of metabolic acid load and higher all-cause and cardiovascular mortality in a general population with preserved renal function. Hypertens Res. 2015 Jun;38(6):433-8.

Raphael KL, Zhang Y, Wei G, Greene T, Cheung AK, Beddhu S. Serum bicarbonate and mortality in adults in NHANES III. Nephrol Dial Transplant. 2013 May;28(5):1207-13.

Sebastian A, Frassetto LA, Sellmeyer DE, Merriam RL, Morris RC Jr. Estimation of the net acid load of the diet of ancestral preagricultural Homo sapiens and their hominid ancestors. Am J Clin Nutr. 2002 Dec;76(6):1308-16.

	Michael Lustgarten on Vitamin C: Dietary Intake And…
	Gregory Bravo on Vitamin C: Dietary Intake And…
	Michael Lustgarten on Which Epigenetic Clock Is Best…
	Michael Lustgarten on Which Epigenetic Clock Is Best…
	Dan on Which Epigenetic Clock Is Best…