A few months ago I was talking to my friend Dan Pardi (founder of Human OS) at the 111 Minna 20th anniversary party. Despite the loud techno music, Dan and I got into a conversation about health, nutrition, and supplements (as we usually do). Dan told me about some interesting research on the compound fisetin (found in many foods, but especially high in strawberries). Just a few high doses of fistetin, fed to mice, improved health and significantly extended lifespan, even when given to older (middle-aged) animals.
Category: Health/Body-hacking Page 4 of 20
Update: I didn’t notice any benefits from discontinuing fish oil, and I feel better on my regular supplemental dose (about 3g/day). My latest thinking is that fish oil may calm down an overactivated immune system via increasing IL-10, and that this may be helpful not only for asthma but for any number of conditions where tissues can get “stuck” in an inflammatory state.
Fish oil has been good to me. It was the first supplement that I noticed reduced my asthma symptoms, over fifteen years ago. Along with dietary changes, supplemental vitamin D, and evening primrose oil, I used 2-4 grams of fish oil per day, and for the most part stayed asthma free.
In the last twenty years or so, research has emerged that supports the idea that boosting levels of NAD+ (the oxidized form of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide) in animals (including mammals) can slow or even reverse many aspects of biological aging, either by activating sirtuins (proteins that regulate key biological pathways), by facilitating cell-to-cell and intracellular communication, and/or by other means. NAD+ levels can be boosted by orally supplementing with NAD+ precursors, including nicotinamide riboside (patented and marketed as Niagen, abbreviated as NR), and nicotinamide mononucleotide (abbreviated as NMN). To a much lesser extent, NAD+ can be increased by supplementing with plain old niacinamide/nicotinamide (NAM), and niacin/nicotinic acid (NA).
Recently a family member asked me for some tips for improving short-term memory. I ended up doing a deeper-than-usual dive into the topic. Some of my findings confirmed what I already knew or suspected, but others caught me by surprise. You know those giant canisters of powder with a picture of a bulging venous bicep on the label? Well, more on that later …