J.D. Moyer

sci-fi author, beatmaker

Category: Health/Body-hacking Page 5 of 20

My Anti-Aging Experiment

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On July 30

In Health/Body-hacking, Personal Updates, Reverse Aging

Finnish sauna (not mine)

My health has suffered ever since Trump was elected. Maybe it’s coincidental, but 2017 was one of my worst health years. My foot was in a cast, I got a staph infection, I suffered from severe hay fever/allergies, gastritis (and possibly ulcers), anxiety and depression, and in the first months of 2018 I had terrible insomnia and gained about ten pounds.

Of course Trump didn’t cause my health issues directly, but the background stress of witnessing a full-blown kleptocracy in action, slowly and surely dismantling health care, environmental protections, and civil rights certainly didn’t improve my health. The additional stress may have been the tipping point, combined with my overcaffeinated lifestyle, too many commitments and responsibilities, genetic vulnerabilities, and simple aging, that flipped me from good health to poor health for a period of time.

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Three Foods That Reduce Blood Pressure (and Two That Might)

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On May 4

In Health/Body-hacking

Over the years I’ve noticed my blood pressure creeping up a few points, on average, each year. Recent readings have been good (around 110/70) but I’ve seen my systolic BP register as high as 130, which is considered prehypertensive, and high(ish) blood pressure runs in my family.

Controlling blood pressure is an important factor in terms of reducing risk of heart attack and stroke. Common sense measures are avoiding excessive salt, exercising daily, limiting alcohol, and losing weight if overweight. But what about food?

Garlic

This study from 2017 found that raw crushed garlic significantly improved several aspects of metabolic syndrome in humans, including systolic and diastolic blood pressure.

In this rat study, hypertensive rats given S-1-propenylcysteine, a compound from aged garlic, had their systolic blood pressure return to baseline values.

Fish Oil

In this study, older adults experienced a drop in blood pressure after taking four grams of fish oil per day for twelve weeks.

This study found that older adults given fish oil for twelve weeks experienced fewer hypertension-related symptoms.

Fish oil is a supplement, not a food, but presumably fatty fish such as salmon and sardines would have a similar effect. And this study suggests that’s the case.

Low-Fat Dairy

This broad review of the literature found associations between consumption of low-fat dairy (especially skim milk) and reduced hypertension, but no association with supplemental calcium, supplemental vitamin D, or whole-milk dairy products.

Whey protein in particular appears to reduce hypertension.

Dark Chocolate (Maybe)

This paper reviewed twenty recent interventional studies using cocoa on both normotensive and hypertensive subjects, and found modest but consistent reductions from high-flavanol chocolate, especially dark chocolate.

On the other hand, this eight-week study found no effect on blood pressure in hypertensive adults from daily consumption of dark chocolate.

This study found very modest reductions in blood pressure, but improved endothelial function after four weeks of adding high-polyphenol dark chocolate to subject’s diets.

Berries/Red Grapes (Maybe)

In one study, blueberries, while improving endothelial function, didn’t appear to reduce blood pressure.

This study found modest improvements in blood pressure and other cardiovascular markers from daily consumption of strawberries, but not enough to warrant a “treatment effect.”

However this meta-analysis found significant reductions in blood pressure from foods rich in anthocyanins, including berries and red grapes/wine.

Summary

Daily exercise (long brisk walks at a minimum) is probably the best defense against (and remedy for) hypertension and metabolic syndrome, even among young people. But diet comes in at a close second. While recent research suggests that reducing sodium may not be effective, adding fresh garlic, fatty fish, skim milk and/or whey protein may be beneficial. And dark chocolate, berries, and red grapes may have additional positive effects on endothelial function.

Accumulated Sleep Tips

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On April 10

In Health/Body-hacking

I’ve been sleeping better–much better–and it feels like a good time to do a complete roundup of all the methods that appear to have helped me, and also mention a few sacred cows of sleep tips that didn’t seem to help at all. For those of you new to this blog, my sleep went to hell in mid-January after the deaths of two family members within a single week. It’s been a slow climb back to a more-or-less normal sleep pattern ever since. Here’s what worked:

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A Terrifying Bout of Insomnia

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On February 17

In Health/Body-hacking

I saw two dead bodies in the same week, and I stopped sleeping.

The first body was my father-in-law, at his viewing. He looked natural, as if peacefully asleep. But his total stillness betrayed this illusion.

My uncle died a week later, at an assisted living facility in Concord. He’d been estranged from our family for more than twenty years, but he’d reached out recently, and we were all getting to know each other again. He’d been ill for a long time, with COPD, but that week he had a stroke, and died a few days later. The morning he died, my mom and I drove to Concord, and waited in his room for the mortician. My uncle was emaciated, and pale, and obviously dead, but still warm. I helped move his body from his bed to the gurney. He weighed almost nothing.

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Apple Cider Vinegar for Acitinic Keratosis

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On December 27

In Health/Body-hacking

For about a year I had noticed a very small (about 2mm by 4mm) patch of rough, scaly skin under my right eye. Sometimes it would heal up, but mostly it was slightly rough and red. I was pretty sure it was a small patch of acitinic keratosis, a skin condition that can develop into skin cancer if untreated (pretty common in the over-40 blond/blue-eyed set). I’d had them several times before in the same general area, and each time I’d gone to the doctor I’d been treated with cryotherapy (a tiny spritz of liquid nitrogen). After the treatment, the area would scab up, and when the scab fell off the skin would be pink and smooth underneath.

But … I didn’t feel like going to the doctor’s office. With my broken foot and gastritis, I’d spent far too much of 2017 in hospitals and doctor’s offices. So I did an internet search to look for alternatives.

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