Wednesday 14 September 2011

Hormesis, cell death and aging

Hormesis, cell death and aging

Isabelle Martins, Lorenzo Galluzzi and Guido Kroemer

Abstract

Frequently, low doses of toxins and other stressors not only are harmless but also activate an adaptive stress response that raise the resistance of the organism against high doses of the same agent. This phenomenon, which is known as "hormesis", is best represented by ischemic preconditioning, the situation in which short ischemic episodes protect the brain and the heart against prolonged shortage of oxygen and nutrients. Many molecules that cause cell death also elicit autophagy, a cytoprotective mechanism relying on the digestion of potentially harmful intracellular structures, notably mitochondria. When high doses of these agents are employed, cells undergo mitochondrial outer membrane permeabilization and die. In contrast, low doses of such cytotoxic agents can activate hormesis in several paradigms, and this may explain the lifespan-prolonging potential of autophagy inducers including resveratrol and caloric restriction.



Thursday 3 March 2011

Paleo Diet

From http://www.paleonu.com/panu-weblog/2009/11/13/what-i-eat.html

Paleo diet:-

>> I don't count, weigh or measure and I only look up the contents of what I am eating for research purposes (curiosity or the blog).

I eat about 5 % of calories as carbohydrate right now. Partly that is because I seem to be somewhat starch intolerant and I see little point in adding things like potatoes and rice that I didn't eat much before. It is not because I am specifically following Kwasneiwski's optimal diet, it just works out that way. But many of my own premises lead the same direction as Kwasniewski, so that's just confirmation in my mind. I suspect anything from 0-30% carbs will work fine (for health) for most people. If you want to go beyond that to Kitavan levels with Yams or white rice, I doubt if that is as healthy, but that might be OK, too if you have extirpated the neolithic agents.

My staples are:

Grass fed beef and lamb, wild venison (whitetail deer), bison. I eat the hearts and livers, don't care for the kidneys. Codfish, wild salmon and trout from lake michigan, sashimi (maguro especially). Wild turkey (the bird not the liquor)

Eggs - pastured eggs averaging 4 a day - often garnished with green or red chili salsa and sour cream. Onions and mushrooms for accompaniment.

Whole cream - in coffee and straight up. Diesel #1.

Pastured butter - I use it to cook everything and add it to stews and chili. Diesel #2.

Bacon, smoked bacon and prosciutto ham maybe once a week. (Penn Jillette says bacon is the perfect food)

Occasional sardines in olive oil or water.

Cheeses - Gorgonzola, parmesan, cheddar, brie, etc.

Veggies mostly as condiments - Red, yellow and white onions, regular and portabella mushrooms, wild morels and chantarelles in season, asparagus, green beans, different varieties of chilis.

Our main fruit is tomatoes eaten whole or crushed in tomato sauce for stew or chili. Lots of avocado with breakfast. A handful of raspberries and occasionally blueberries topped with unsweetened whole whipped cream now and then. Add vanilla to the whipped cream.

"Nuts" - limited pecans, almonds and walnuts - not for health just for flavor.

Any day we eat factory meat or get a big dose of n-6 PUFAs in restaurant food (Mcdonald's burger without bun, barbecued store bought chicken, restaurant eggs fried in vegetable oil) we each take 1 teaspoon of Carlson's cod liver oil.

You know about the vitamin D - now 8000 units/day Carlson's drops in morning coffee.