Fiber, Longevity & Myokines

Weekly Resource Roundup

Dietary Fiber and Longevity

Dr. Layne Norton reviewed gut health and the positive impact fiber has on longevity. Here are some key takeaways from the conversation:

• There are three big levers we can pull to improve gut health: 1) Exercise 2) not eating too many calories 3) eating fiber
• Dietary, soluble fiber is a prebiotic meaning the gut can take fiber and produce fatty acids that are then reabsorbed in the liver with positive effects like increased insulin sensitivity.
• Eating enough fiber has shown to be better than taking a probiotic. Probiotics are not concentrated enough to colonize and they need to be fueled with the appropriate amount of fiber.
• Eating fiber is a longevity hack. A meta-analysis showed that for every 10g increase in fiber, there was a 10% reduction in the risk of mortality. 
• It’s recommended to eat 15g/per 1,000 calories and aimm to have a variety of fiber sources like grains, vegetables, and fruits.
• There doesn’t appear to be a top end or having too much so you want to eat as much as you comfortably can.
•  Fiber should be eaten for it’s positive impacts on mortality and not for having ‘regular’ bowel movements.
• There haven’t been any studies on fiber that didn’t show improvements from eating a high fiber diet.

Muscles & Myokines

Muscles are more than a set of fibers. It’s been discovered that small proteins are released from muscle cells in response to exercise. They are signaling cells telling other cells what to do. Some myokines can enter the bloodstream and can communicate with bone, fat, heart, immune, and brain cells. The physiological changes stimulated by myokines are widespread and have positive impacts on metabolic health, the immune system, and tissue repair and play a role in staving off muscle loss, increasing bone density, and reducing tumor growth.

Source

Move More, Sit Less, and Celebrate Outside This Season

Biomechanist, Katy Bowman shares 11 ways to stay active during the holiday season. Listen or read