Ramadan Fasting During the COVID-19 Pandemic; Observance of Health, Nutrition and Exercise Criteria for Improving the Immune System
Fasting is one of the religious rituals of Muslims worldwide who refrain from eating foods and liquids every year during Ramadan. This year (2020), Ramadan is very different from previous years due to the outbreak of a terrible microscopic giant called ...
Fasting for at least 3 days allows the body to start producing new white blood cells, which rejuvenates the immune system to fight infection. Although it has been shown in humans and animals that the number of white blood cells decreases with long-term fasting, blood cells return when they are re-fed
Whilst Ramadan fasting may seem to be a harmful challenge for Muslims in this situation, some health benefits have been proposed in humans (Figure 2). Nevertheless, improving immune function and increasing individual resistance are essential to help fight COVID-19
Fasting as key tone for COVID immunity - Nature Metabolism
SARS-CoV-2-induced anorexia triggers systemic metabolic alterations. In a study published in Nature, Karagiannis et al. show that the ketone body β-hydroxybutyrate (BHB) improves COVID-19 disease outcomes. Further, BHB metabolically and functionally reprograms CD4+ T cells, highlighting immunometabolic tuning of immunity in COVID-19.
Overall, this study has identified the ketone body BHB as an alternative carbon source to fuel mitochondrial OXPHOS, thereby metabolically reprogramming TH1 cells and improving antiviral immunity in conditions of infection-induced anorexia. Considering the diverse cellular signalling activities of BHB3, it is possible that BHB alters CD4+ T cell function through additional means such as transcriptional regulation or epigenetic modifications, consistent with a role for BHB in controlling CD8+ memory T cell development via epigenetic regulation15. As metabolic programs are crucial regulators of CD4+ and CD8+ T cell plasticity and heterogeneity9, additional studies are required to address whether BHB and other metabolites induced by a ketogenic diet have similar effects on other types of T cell during viral infection or in other nutrient-deprived contexts, including the tumour microenvironment. In summary, these important findings broaden our knowledge of dietary influence on antiviral immunity and provide new insights into and understanding of the variable morbidity associated with COVID-19.
Association of periodic fasting with lower severity of COVID-19 outcomes in the SARS-CoV-2 prevaccine era: an observational cohort from the INSPIRE registry
Objectives Intermittent fasting boosts some host defence mechanisms while modulating the inflammatory response. Lower-frequency fasting is associated with greater survival and lower risk from COVID-19-related comorbidities. This study evaluated associations of periodic fasting with COVID-19 severity and, secondarily, initial infection by SARS-CoV-2.
Design Prospective longitudinal observational cohort study.
Setting Single-centre secondary care facility in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA with follow-up across a 24-hospital integrated healthcare system.
Participants Patients enrolled in the INSPIRE registry in 2013–2020 were studied for the primary outcome if they tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 during March 2020 to February 2021 (n=205) or, for the secondary outcome, if they had any SARS-CoV-2 test result (n=1524).
Interventions No treatment assignments were made; individuals reported their personal history of routine periodic fasting across their life span.
Main outcome measures A composite of mortality or hospitalisation was the primary outcome and evaluated by Cox regression through February 2021 with multivariable analyses considering 36 covariables. The secondary outcome was whether a patient tested positive for SARS-CoV-2.
Results Subjects engaging in periodic fasting (n=73, 35.6%) did so for 40.4±20.6 years (max: 81.9 years) prior to COVID-19 diagnosis. The composite outcome occurred in 11.0% of periodic fasters and 28.8% of non-fasters (p=0.013), with HR=0.61 (95% CI 0.42 to 0.90) favouring fasting. Multivariable analyses confirmed this association. Other predictors of hospitalisation/mortality were age, Hispanic ethnicity, prior MI, prior TIA and renal failure, with trends for race, smoking, hyperlipidaemia, coronary disease, diabetes, heart failure and anxiety, but not alcohol use. In secondary analysis, COVID-19 was diagnosed in 14.3% of fasters and 13.0% of non-fasters (p=0.51).
Conclusions Routine periodic fasting was associated with a lower risk of hospitalisation or mortality in patients with COVID-19. Fasting may be a complementary therapy to vaccination that could provide immune support and hyperinflammation control during and beyond the pandemic.
Trial registration Clinicaltrials.gov, [NCT02450006][1] (the INSPIRE registry).
Data are available upon reasonable request. The data underlying this article cannot be shared publicly due to US privacy laws. Data are available upon reasonable request to the corresponding author.
[1]: /lookup/external-ref?link_type=CLINTRIALGOV&access_num=NCT02450006&atom=%2Fbmjnph%2Fearly%2F2022%2F06%2F30%2Fbmjnph-2022-000462.atom
In the n=205 patients with COVID-19, 11.0% of fasters and 28.8% of non-fasters had hospitalisation/mortality (figure 2). This constituted a total of 46 composite study events, or 40 hospitalisations without death, 4 hospitalisations ending in death and 2 deaths without hospitalisation. The association of periodic fasting with the composite end point had HR=0.61 (CI 0.42 to 0.90; p=0.013). Fasting remained significant in all multivariable analyses (table 2), with a range of HR=0.61–0.65 depending on the covariables that were entered (p=0.015–0.036). Results for periodic fasting were similar in subjects <65 years (figure 3A) and ≥65 years of age (figure 3B), although splitting the population into the two subgroups (n=104 and n=101, respectively) reduced the statistical significance in both age groups.
Fasting—A review with emphasis on the electrolytes
Fasting has certain advantages over caloric restriction in the treatment of refractory obesity; however, its mechanisms are apparently more complex an…
After the deprivation is complete, mild psychological disturbances, such as anxiety, irritability, hallucinations, and difficulty concentrating may develop and appetite may increase. There are also positive consequences of REM deprivation. Some symptoms of depression are found to be suppressed by REM deprivation; aggression may increase, and eating behavior may get disrupted
Sleep in general aids memory. REM sleep may favor the preservation of certain types of memories: specifically, procedural memory, spatial memory, and emotional memory. In rats, REM sleep increases following intensive learning, especially several hours after, and sometimes for multiple nights. Experimental REM sleep deprivation has sometimes inhibited memory consolidation, especially regarding complex processes (e.g., how to escape from an elaborate maze).[103] In humans, the best evidence for REM's improvement of memory pertains to learning of procedures—new ways of moving the body (such as trampoline jumping), and new techniques of problem solving. REM deprivation seemed to impair declarative (i.e., factual) memory only in more complex cases, such as memories of longer stories.[104] REM sleep apparently counteracts attempts to suppress certain thoughts
After waking from REM sleep, the mind seems "hyperassociative"—more receptive to semantic priming effects. People awakened from REM have performed better on tasks like anagrams and creative problem solving.[73]
Sleep aids the process by which creativity forms associative elements into new combinations that are useful or meet some requirement.[74] This occurs in REM sleep rather than in NREM sleep
Rapid eye movement sleep (REM sleep or REMS) is a unique phase of sleep in mammals and birds, characterized by random rapid movement of the eyes, accompanied by low muscle tone throughout the body, and the propensity of the sleeper to dream vividly.
The REM phase is also known as paradoxical sleep (PS) and sometimes desynchronized sleep or dreamy sleep,[1] because of physiological similarities to waking states including rapid, low-voltage desynchronized brain waves. Electrical and chemical activity regulating this phase seems to originate in the brain stem, and is characterized most notably by an abundance of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine, combined with a nearly complete absence of monoamine neurotransmitters histamine, serotonin and norepinephrine.[2]Experiences of REM sleep are not transferred to permanent memory due to absence of norepinephrine
How to WIN the fight Against AGING | Aubrey de Grey on Health Theory
This episode is sponsored by Thryve. Get 50% off your at home gut health test when you go to https://trythryve.com/impacttheory
Scientific break-throughs are happening all around you. As technology advances, biologists such as the Chief Science Officer of the SENS Research Foundation, Aubrey de Grey, is leading the way to pioneering tech that will allow you to choose how long you want to live. For years scientists have been trying to find a way to slow down the aging process, but Aubrey introduces the idea of repairing the damage that aging does on the body to theoretically restore the body’s biological age to maybe 30 years younger. If you are familiar with the obsession I’ve had with living forever, you already know how much this excites me.
SHOW NOTES:
Quality of Life | Aubrey on why a long life depends on the quality and being invested in choice [0:58]
Reverse Aging | Why damage repair could be easier than slowing aging & the push back met [4:40]
Indefinite Life | Aubrey on why the result of expected life for reversed aging could be indefinite [8:08]
Structure Repair | Landing on the idea of repairing structure to restore cellular level function [9:32]
Pushback | Aubrey on pushback among scientists about reverse aging in biology [11:17]
Body Damage | Aubrey on self-inflicted damage being reversed to same level 30 years prior [14:13]
Longevity Escape Velocity | Aubrey on his theory how to reverse biological age 30 years [16:26]
Types of Damage | 7 categories of damage that correspond to therapeutic methods of repair [21:18]
Stem Cell Therapy | Aubrey explains how stem cells could treat loss of cell problems [22:17]
Cancer Treatments | Aubrey gives category of damage due to too many cells [23:26]
Senescent Cells | Aubrey explains how these cells can promote cancer [26:53]
Mitochondrial Mutations | Aubrey explains problems at the molecular level inside cells [28:53]
Cellular Waste | Aubrey breaks down how cellular waste over years impacts old age [33:35]
Macular Degeneration | Aubrey explains specific enzymes that could prevent blindness [35:24]
Excretion | Aubrey explains diseases that could be resolved by breaking down waste [37:50]
Alzheimer’s | Breaking down amyloid as extracellular waste and modest benefit [39:22]
Advancing Therapies | Aubrey gives sobering guess how close effective therapies are [44:07]
QUOTES:
“I want to make sure that my choice about how long to live, and, of course, how high quality that life will be, is not progressively taken away from me by aging.” [2:24]
“Old age is something that evolution doesn't care about at all. Evolution only cares about the propagation of genetic information.” [34:41]
“you've got to fix them all. You haven't got to fix any of them perfectly. But you've got to fix them all pretty well.” [43:28]
“what excites me is typically the breakthroughs that would take me half an hour background to describe why it's even important.” [46:16]
Guest Bio:
Dr. de Grey is the biomedical gerontologist who devised the SENS platform and established SENS Research Foundation to implement it. He received his BA in Computer Science and Ph.D. in Biology from the University of Cambridge in 1985 and 2000, respectively. Dr. de Grey is Editor-in-Chief of Rejuvenation Research, is a Fellow of both the Gerontological Society of America and the American Aging Association
Follow Aubrey De Grey:
Website: https://www.sens.org/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/aubreydegrey
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aubrey-de-grey-24260b/
Dive Deeper On Related Episodes:
Reset Your Age with David Sinclair https://youtu.be/IEz1P4i1P7s
Lifestyle For Longevity with Kellyann Petrucci https://youtu.be/l9QO0JlnU8w
Secrets To Longevity https://youtu.be/Ulm01gzU8rU
(PDF) Hand-Grip Dynamometry Predicts Future Outcomes in Aging Adults
PDF | One use of clinical measures is the prediction of future outcomes. The purpose of this systematic review was to summarize the literature... | Find, read and cite all the research you need on ResearchGate
The evidence gathered from diverse samples of individuals, employing several dynamometers, and using different strength measures sup-ports the value of grip strength as a predictor of mortality, disability, complications, and increased length of stay.
Effects of light on human circadian rhythms, sleep and mood
Humans live in a 24-hour environment, in which light and darkness follow a diurnal pattern. Our circadian pacemaker, the suprachiasmatic nuclei (SCN) in the hypothalamus, is entrained to the 24-hour solar day via a pathway from ...
Rather recently, the availability of artificial light has substantially changed the light environment, especially during evening and night hours. This may increase the risk of developing circadian rhythm sleep–wake disorders (CRSWD), which are often caused by a misalignment of endogenous circadian rhythms and external light–dark cycles
On the other hand, light can also be used as an effective and noninvasive therapeutic option with little to no side effects, to improve sleep, mood and general well-being
The antidepressant effect of light is most pronounced when it is administered in the early morning hours
Previous cataract surgery or lens removal
Light at the wrong time may disrupt circadian rhythms and sleep, but in the form of light therapy, light exposure can be used as an intervention for psychiatric and other medical conditions.
A bone marrow transplant is a medical procedure performed to replace bone marrow that has been damaged or destroyed by disease or chemotherapy.
Allogeneic transplants involve the use of cells from a donor. The donor must be a close genetic match. Often, a compatible relative is the best choice, but genetic matches can also be found from a donor registry.Allogeneic transplants are necessary if you have a condition that has damaged your bone marrow cells. However, they have a higher risk of certain complications, such as GVHD. You’ll also probably need to be put onmedications to suppress your immune system so that your body doesn’t attack the new cells. This can leave you susceptible to illness.The success of an allogeneic transplant depends on how closely the donor cells match your own.
Nicotine – a meta-analysis of 41 clinical studies concluded that nicotine administration or smoking improves alerting and orienting attention and episodic and working memory and slightly improves fine motor performance
A 2016 review reported that theanine may increase alpha waves in the brain. Alpha waves may contribute to a relaxed yet alert mental state.[50] Another study has shown that an oral administration of theanine at doses of 50–200 mg promoted "relaxation without causing drowsiness" within 40 mins after consumption.[51] A 2014 systematic review and meta-analysis found that concurrent caffeine and L-theanine use had synergistic psychoactive effects that promoted alertness, attention, and task switching. These effects were most pronounced during the first hour post-dose
Racetams, such as piracetam, oxiracetam, phenylpiracetam, and aniracetam, are often marketed as cognitive enhancers and sold over the counter.[52] A 2019 study found that piracetam supplements sold in the United States were inaccurately labeled.[52] Racetams are often referred to as nootropics, but this property is not well established.[53] The racetams have poorly understood mechanisms, although piracetam and aniracetam are known to act as positive allosteric modulators of AMPA receptors and appear to modulate cholinergic systems
Piracetam is a drug marketed as a treatment for myoclonus.[3] It is also used as a cognitive enhancer to improve memory, attention, and learning.[4][5][6][7][8] Evidence to support its use is unclear, with some studies showing modest benefits in specific populations and others showing minimal or no benefit.[9][10] Piracetam is sold as a medication in many European countries. Sale of piracetam is not illegal in the United States, although it is not regulated nor approved by the FDA so it is legally sold for research use only.[4]
Ingredient per 100 g per 542 g Edamame 38 g 204 g Coconut cream 25 g 137 g Mashed kale cabbage 11 g 62 g Brussels sprout 11 g 60 g Salmon 10 g 55 g Lime juice 1.2 g 6.3 g Shallots 0.97 g 5.2 g Blue spirulina 0.73 g 3.9 g Fresh garlic 0.40 g 2.2 g Nori seaweed 0.37 g 2.0 g Salt 0.34 g 1.8 g Green jalapeno 0.19 g 1.0 g Oregano 76 mg 0.41 g
