I want to be liked
Facebook has redefined the word “like”, so let me start out with a simple request. If you haven’t already done so, please “like” me on Facebook. Do it now; I promise the blog will still be here, when you get back. Today, I am going to share a bit of a retrospective view with you
The Matrix
We do have a real live matrix in our bodies. It is known as the ECM or extra cellular matrix. It also falls under the heading of the broader term “fascia”. For most people, fascia means the Saran wrap like lining of many body cavities and joints, but emerging science suggests that functionally, even cartilage
My current take on calorie restriction
Calorie restriction is quite intriguing, but in the end run, we will find a few things that make it of limited value, including the fact that we now have 68% obesity and overweight, in this country. We can’t even get to near ideal weight and now we are to tell people to restrict well below
The return of the Big Bad Wolf – lessons learned from Vitamin A studies
Several years back, there was quite a stir when a study suggested that Vitamin A, in smokers, was a bad thing. There was a small, but significant increase in lung cancer, in smokers who took vitamin A and in those with asbestos exposure. Since that time, those studies (there were actually 2 of them, dating
Spring training
Since I train year round, I cannot help but notice the huge increase in people on “my” trails and “my” equipment, at the gym. I have been spoiled by having them all to myself. While it’s been 5 years since I wrote “Six Weeks to Super Fitness” and 2 years since our last fitness boot
Fighting a losing battle with cancer
The ink had barely dried on the blog below when the following article came out by Dr Ron DePinho, a seminal researcher in the field of telomeres and telomerase. Dr DePinho helped put the nail in the coffin of the “Mitochondrial Theory of Aging” a year or so ago, when he showed that telomere length
The missing BS detector
I have never been accused of adopting the “Popular Opinion”. Moreover, I make it a point to try to disabuse people of false notions. The problem is of course touched upon in the blog below, “The Connectivity Trap”, because we have created a totally open forum for human interaction. We have also created a totally
The Connectivity Trap
We were in the middle of an important conversation when the call came in. Jack, I will call him, was a middle aged business man, who had a proposition for me that was supposed to revolutionize my business and my life. The call interrupted his presentation for about 2 minutes, but in that time I
Myths and facts about weight loss – the current thinking
As you may have guessed from the phrase “the current thinking”, this stuff is subject to change. Much like diets, the actual testing of exercise routines is based far more on “personal experience”, than science. Even when science gets involved, it gets difficult to find a series of studies that support one thing or another,
Death and telomeres
There are more and more questions about telomeres on the net these days. One appeared recently asking what happens when an 82 year old women dies of respiratory failure from the standpoint of her telomeres. The answer is long and complex but it does take you through the very basics of aging. So if you
The Death Test
Sometimes I get pulled into discussions I would prefer not to have. Most times it’s a result of some stuff on the internet that has been designed to “engage” the audience in discussion. There never seems to be a lack of people ready to volunteer their opinion on things they have no knowledge about. A
Telomere turf wars – Taming the Beast and the Blasco Fiasco
Let me be clear. I am a supplement guy; have been for years. I take supplements. I make supplements and I sell supplements, which have unequivocally improved the lives of a lot of people. As a supplement guy, the most exciting thing to come along ever, has been TA-65, the Astragalus derived compound that lengthens
Why telomeres are not the new cholesterol – YET!
I have been seeing this headline circulating a lot lately – “Telomeres are the new cholesterol”. I actually know where it came from and the people who are responsible for its creation and circulation. These people are very smart and well meaning. But in their attempts to educate the public as to the very real
Big Pharma steals from Mother Nature
It may be hard for you to believe but 11 short years ago I was a poster child for Big Pharma. As a traditional Internist I practiced the art of dispensing drugs and more drugs. My fall from grace (not literally but figuratively) is well documented in my website story and the many emails I
Your DNA’s “Junk” is the Key to Immortality
Telomeres junk? Not long ago some of the brightest minds on earth believed telomeres were nothing more than junk whose sole purpose was to protect the treasure — your DNA. It turns out that junk IS the treasure. Without it there is no life. Many of those great minds may pretend they “knew it all
Are You a Genetic Time Bomb?
Recent research into the role of genes and more importantly the stuff around our genes known as the epigenome reveals why some of us may be a genetic time bomb ticking away. What can you do to stop the clock? During my years of medical practice I was approached by patients with real fears that
Naturally high – Your brain really IS on drugs!
A few years ago I sent you several emails about a new (it was new then!) weight loss drug called Rimonabant. Developed by French drug giant Rhone-Roher, this drug was supposed to cure everything from smoking to overeating and alcoholism. The problem was it didn’t work that well and it came along at a time
Another Take: Can exercise really help you live longer?
Just a few short weeks ago our host Greta Blackburn held one of her fabulous FITCAMP events in Cancun, Mexico. If you missed it, you missed a great one! At that event several presenters, including top Scientist Bill Andrews — co-discoverer of the HTERT gene and leading scientist at Sierra Sciences LLC — and top
Telomeres and the Paleolithic Diet
The last iteration of our genome with regards to the foods we eat seems to have taken place about 50,000 years ago. At that time we were unquestionably small bands of hunter gatherers who did not cultivate dairy animals or grains. History tells us these later “adaptations” did not take place until about 10,000 years
Cancer risk and telomere length
For those of us in the field, the recent slew of articles that show an age-independent link between telomere length and cancer comes as no surprise. When I say age-independent I mean your age, not the age of your individual cells. Cells age independently of the organism in some cases and the oldest cells have