Category Archives: Human Longevity

No one knows just how long they're going to live, but there are things that you can do to help prolong your given lifespan, like following a healthy diet and living an active lifestyle. There are also places you can live where you're more likely to live longer. The Blue Zones, as they're referred to, are Okinawa, Japan; Sardinia, Italy; Nicoya, Costa Rica; Ikaria, Greece and Loma Linda, California.

"The Blue Zones refer to five areas of the world where longevity rates are longer than the average human lifespan," says registered dietitian Sarah Schlichter."Specifically, people reach age 100 at 10 times greater rates than in the United States."

Maybe it's some sort of magic that leads people in these five locations throughout the world to live longer lives, but it's more likely that they follow active lifestyles and make healthy dietary choices.

"While genetics likely account for some of this, this is largely believed to be due to their dietary and lifestyle habits," says Schlichter.

While we can't all move to one of the Blue Zones, we can follow some of their eating habits to see what they do and what they never do. Here are some of the best breakfast habits to follow if you want to live like the world's oldest people.

This one seems like a no-brainer, but sometimes it can be hard to pass up an extra serving of food if you're eating a really delicious meal, even if you already feel full. This isn't the best practice to follow if you're trying to live the longest life possible, as those who live in the Blue Zones of the world, where people live the longest, rarely tend to continue eating meals after they begin to feel full.

"People in the Blue Zones are believed to follow the Confucian mantra of stopping eating when they feel 80 percent full," says Schlichter. "Of course, to do this, they are likely eating regular, balanced meals and not allowing themselves to get too hungry either."

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You've definitely heard it before: breakfast is the most important meal of the day. People who live in the Blue Zones, who are 10 times more likely to live to 100 than residents of the United States, take that to heart.

According to Schlichter,"[people in the Blue Zones] also allegedly eat their smallest meal late in the afternoon or early evening, which is counterintuitive to the ways that many Americans eat."

Plant-based diets are rising in popularity throughout the country, making this habit a bit easier to follow. The diet consists of eating mostly, or entirely, foods made from plants, which still leaves plenty of options for breakfast, like whole-wheat pancakes or sheet-pan veggies.

"A cornerstone of the Blue Zones diet is including many fruits, veggies, sweet potatoes, nuts, beans, lentils and legumes daily," Schlichter says.

That doesn't mean that you have to go completely vegan, as the world's oldest people also eat meat and dairy, although at far lower levels than in the United States.

"They do eat meat, but about once a week, and they stick to a 3-4 oz serving size. They do encourage eating fish daily," Schlichter says.

It's hard to cut out sugar entirely, as it's naturally found in many foods, including an abundance of fruits. But if you want to live like the world's oldest people, it's important to not eat excess sugars that are found in a majority of junk foods.6254a4d1642c605c54bf1cab17d50f1e

"Many Americans know we should reduce added sugars but don't know where to start," Schlichter says. "In many of the Blue Zone areas, they have less access to added sugars so it's an easier task. Their traditional foods don't have added sugars, except maybe the honey they add to their tea."

She adds that the world's oldest people do consume sugar, but it's not a regular occurrence and it's not added into every meal that they eat.

"People in the Blue Zones consume sugar intentionally, not by habit," Schlichter says.

For the most part, residents in the world's Blue Zones follow very healthy diets, but that's not because they feel they're being forced to follow a certain diet, or because they're restricting themselves from eating what they really want. Instead, they celebrate the food that they're eating in moderation, rather than banning themselves from eating certain foods.

"In the Blue Zones, they don't worry about counting calories or reading food labels," Schlichter says. "They eat intuitively from the land and listen to their bodies, rather than external signals of the diet culture around them."

When you're trying to emulate the world's oldest people while making breakfast, you should use ingredients that you enjoy in moderation, and enjoy your breakfast rather than being concerned about what diet you should be following.

"Here in the US, we are bombarded with new diets all the time, and reasons why we should eat one way, or cut out foods entirely," Schlichter says.

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5 Breakfast Habits to Live Like the World's Oldest People Eat This Not That - Eat This, Not That

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Insecticide resistant Anopheles gambiae have enhanced longevity but reduced reproductive fitness and a longer first gonotrophic cycle | Scientific...

Science has left no field to alter and make it human-friendly. Medicine, architecture, teaching, cooking, cosmeticsevery aspect is easy to blend into our modern high-tech lives. Nowadays, even reversing the process of aging is possible.

Every individual has his/her own ideas about life, aging, and death. Some find it a thing to cherish, an experience, a vital path that is to be traversed to reach the final destination, death. Some believe it as a sign, a time in life where you introspect your position in your life, your journey that has completed many stages of life and youre about to go through the last one. Some believe that aging is as crucial as going through the adolescent phase, teen life, and adult stage.

An extract from the book Ikigai reads:

At 80 I am still a childWhen I come to see you at 90Send me away to wait until Im 100The older, the stronger.

The other set of population finds aging as the root cause of many diseases. People feel they should be able to live longer in a happy and healthy state along with their partner or companion and continue doing what they love. They find the notion tempting to live a life that would undo their disorders, a life that will offer a fair chance to keep exploring. According to National Geographic reporter Dan Buettner, having a purpose in life is so important in Japanese culture that the idea of retirement simply doesnt exist there. People never really grow cold towards doing what they love and they want to continue it forever. Aging, they believe, makes people dependent on others.

But is delaying or stopping aging even possible? According to nutritionists and fitness coaches all over the world, regular exercise and keeping a balanced diet is the only key to delaying aging. But as the world is progressing, scientists have come up with ways to delay, stop, and even reverse aging with the help of biotechnology and gene therapy. Making changes up to the microscopic level is speculated to be the ultimate solution to a disease-free long life and eternal youth.

Also read: Heres a guide to smart workouts and good health

Telomeres are sections of our DNA that are present at the edges. As we age the length of these telomeres drops. A laboratory experiment by the team of Maria Blasco in the Spanish National Cancer Research Centre was held on mice that increased the length of telomeres in them. This resulted in increasing longevity by up to 20 per cent. Although this theory has visible results, it also causes cancer in organisms.

Other scientists believe that removing senescent cells from our bodies may transform aging. Senescent cells are those cells that have stopped dividing in our body. This was also performed on mice in an experiment at Unity Biotechnology Centre that resulted in not only an increase in the life span but also reduced heart diseases, cataracts, arthritis, and other diseases related to aging.

However, it is not easy to cause mutations in such a complex body organization as that of a human. Nevertheless, we are not far away from what now seems magical to soon be an ordinary operation done by humans.

The author is a student at Mount Carmel school, New Delhi. Views are personal

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There may be a way to stop or delay aging. But science is divided - ThePrint

A taxidermied Cumulina holds a block of toy cheese. Cade Martin

It was a sad day in the department of anatomy and reproductive biology at the University of Hawaii, Manoa. On May 5, 2000, an elderly mouse named Cumulina, whose birth had captured international headlines, died of natural causes. She was special, Ryuzo Yanagimachi, the laboratorys principal investigator, said at the time.

Born on October 3, 1997, Cumulina was the first successfully cloned mouse and the second mammal ever cloned from an adult cell. She was also the forerunner of a technique that would establish once and for all that the long-awaited possibility of cloning animals could be readily accomplished. Her birth came just 15 months after the birth of Dolly the Sheep, the worlds first mammal cloned from an adult cell, had shocked scientists and the public alike, raising ethical questions in some quarters about the science fiction-like possibility of human cloning while also inspiring worldwide hopes of coming breakthroughs in biomedicine.

Dollys success proved complicated, though; of the 277 embryos her stewards at the Roslin Institute in Edinburgh cloned in 1996, Dolly was the only one born. The teams method involved removing the nucleus from a Scottish Blackface sheeps egg cell and electroshocking it with a mammary gland cell from a Finn Dorset sheep to enable the two to fuse. They then implanted this unusual egg cellwhich contained a full complement of DNA but had never been fertilizedinto a ewe, who brought it to term.

The Roslin scientists would produce two more cloned ewes in 1997 using a similar technique. But in the meantime, Teruhiko Wakayama, one of Yanagimachis postdoctoral researchers in Hawaii, came up with another idea.

Wakayama had been galvanized by news of Dollys birth, and spent free time in the lab to try to create a mouse clone. He removed nuclei from egg cells and replaced them by injecting nuclei taken from adult mouse cumulus cells, which normally play a role in egg maturation. He then implanted these special eggs into surrogate female mice to see whether they would successfully give birth.

After a number of failed attempts in the fall of 1997, Wakayama and Yanagimachi produced a stunning result: a healthy female mouse pup. He named her Cumulina, after the cells he had used to create her. Celebrated internationally for his achievement, Wakayama went on to become a professor at the University of Yamanashi in Japan and Yanagimachi founded the Institute for Biogenesis Research at the University of Hawaii.

In the year after Cumulinas birth, Wakayama and Yanagimachi made 84 more cloned mice, putting to rest lingering skepticism over whether cloning was practicable. Wakayamas method proved more efficient than the one the Roslin scientists had used to produce Dolly. Cumulina truly represented a breakthrough in the cloning technique, says W. Steven Ward, director of the University of Hawaiis Institute for Biogenesis Research.

So far scientists have cloned more than 20 types of animals. Mice created through the nuclear transfer method that was used to make Cumulina are now the most abundant cloned animals in the world. Nonetheless, some of the more spectacular scenarios from the 1990s about cloning have not come true. Researchers still have not managed, for example, to replace a dying persons failing organ with a new one generated from cloned cells. But the early work that produced Dolly, Cumulina and other cloned animals has contributed to advances in stem-cell technologies that are now helping scientists explore regenerative medicine, investigate the underpinnings of diseases ranging from leukemia to diabetes and research new pharmaceuticals.

Laboratory mice typically dont reach old age, but Yanagimachis crew made every effort to ensure Cumulinas longevity. They even threw birthday parties for her. She was a pretty pampered mouse, says Kristen Frederick-Frost, curator of modern science at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History.

Cumulina lived well past age 2, the equivalent of over 90 in human years. After she died, Yanagimachi preserved her in a freezer until a local high school teacher offered to taxidermy her body. The teacher posed Cumulina holding a block of fake cheese, and the stuffed mouse sat on display in Yanagimachis lab for a couple of years before being relegated to a closet. In 2004, she barely escaped being washed away in a flood, and has since spent most of her time in storage.

Yanagimachi retired in 2005, and last year, Ward contacted curators at the National Museum of American History. The decision to accept Cumulina was a no-brainer, Frederick-Frost says. The collection also includes OncoMouse, the worlds first patented genetically modified animal, who, along with his successors, was used for cancer research.

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Why the Cumulina Mouse Is Headed to the Smithsonian | At the Smithsonian - Smithsonian Magazine

Christianity is often regarded as a staunch opponent of veganism after all, most Christian denominations are highly carnivorous in their dietary ethics. Many proclaim liberty to consume animal flesh as they assume animals to be a gift created for food by God.

The Bibles depiction of human-animal relations has been used to justify this position. According to the book of Genesis (1:26), God entrusted humans with dominion over the animal kingdom. For centuries, this text was used to justify slaughter and meat consumption by many who understood it to imply rulership.

However, there have been some contemporary challenges to this interpretation. Several Christian communities teach that instead of ruling and dominating, humans should think of themselves as having stewardship over the planet and every creature. Among these is the Seventh-day Adventist Church, which highlights that right next to the Bibles text on dominion is a passage saying that God created plants, seeds and fruits to be human food, and therefore human diets should be entirely plant-based (Genesis 1:29).

I am fascinated by this topic as I am both an Adventist community member and an academic who researches food and sustainability in spiritual communities. So heres why Adventists came to be often entirely plant-based or vegetarian, and what others might be able to learn from them. How do they challenge and impact dietary choice across the world, and what more could they do?

First registered in the US in 1863, the Seventh-day Adventist Church today claims more than 20 million members worldwide across nearly 100,000 different churches. Through its history, the church has paved the way in the promotion of meat-free lifestyles.

Founding member and prolific writer Ellen White encouraged the community to abstain from animal products to maintain good health. Although her focus was on human health and wellbeing, her statements about compassion towards animals as sentient beings were almost unprecedented at the time. For example, she wrote in a 1905 book chapter titled Reasons for Discarding Flesh Foods:

[The animals] manifest sympathy and tenderness toward their companions in suffering. Many animals show an affection for those who have charge of them, far superior to the affection shown by some of the human race. They form attachments for man which are not broken without great suffering to them. What man with a human heart, who has ever cared for domestic animals, could look into their eyes, so full of confidence and affection, and willingly give them over to the butchers knife? How could he devour their flesh as a sweet morsel?

Since the 19th century, Seventh-day Adventists have established hospitals, educational institutions and lifestyle centres worldwide. Historical health businesses such as Kelloggs (cornflakes were first developed for patients at an Adventist-run sanitorium), Loma Linda Foods, Worthington Foods and Granovita were formed. Although not mandatory, a vegetarian or entirely plant-based diet is followed by many of its members, making the community a special sampling target for medical research.

A longevity study conducted by the churchs associated university and published in 2001 showed that Seventh-day Adventists live around six years longer than the average citizen (for specifically vegetarian Adventist males, its almost a decade). Demographers have even identified Loma Linda, a small city in California where about a third of the population is Adventist, as one of five so-called blue zones of the world where people live the longest. Many Adventist centenarians living in the town testify to the benefits of a plant-based diet among other lifestyle practices related to prayer, sports or work.

Apart from the focus on personal health, the churchs official statements on environmental protection talk about the threats caused by emissions of destructive gasses and the depletion of non-renewable resources. Leaders of the church call for respect of creation, restraint in the use of the worlds resources, reevaluation of ones needs, and reaffirmation of the dignity of created life.

However, despite these occasional messages, it seems that Adventists themselves still most commonly cite human interests as their reason for plant-based diets. I recently conducted a pilot study involving 12 health professionals employed by the worldwide church. The following results are due to be published in a peer-reviewed journal later in 2022.

I showed all these people a photograph of a pig with her piglets confined in a tight cage in which she could hardly turn around. Asked to express their diet-related opinion by reflecting on the photo, ten of the 12 solely mentioned health-related concerns about eating such an animal, while only one referenced animal compassion and another one environmental problems. These proportions also appear to reflect the churchs publications and online communication channels relating to diet and lifestyle.

So while there may be room to learn from Seventh-day Adventists if youre aiming for a longer life, Adventists themselves could also extend their sphere of interest and influence to include animal compassion and environmental concerns into their communication about a meat-free lifestyle. By fostering conversations from a wider range of perspectives, plant-based practitioners could attract a higher number of friends and followers willing to benefit people, animals and planet all at once.

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Why Seventh-day Adventists are so often vegan or vegetarian - The Conversation Indonesia

When it comes to taking care of yourself, one might think of the immediate role of diet and exercise in ensuring future health and longevity.

But untreated stress is often the cause of many illnesses, along with depression and anxiety.

And while stress is a natural part of the human experience, ensuring that its kept in check is an essential part of taking care of oneself.

For many, the word yoga will inevitably conjure up varying images for each individual, depending on their experience with the practice. And while there are many ways to practice, local instructor Misty Caples is dedicated to making sure each person gets the right benefits from the right program.

Caples keeps busy teaching a variety of practices for a variety of demographics, ranging from kids to seniors. She can be found at Piedmont Fitness, Blue Lotus, Summit YMCA and the Carnegie, where she recently hosted a mindfulness and meditation class.

The class focused on meditation and breathwork, "which are really beneficial for our mental health, Caples said.

However, yoga practice isnt just a side hustle for the instructor. Shes personally witnessed the healing power of yoga and wants to share her success with all who are interested in transforming their lives.

Caples began her journey into yoga eight years ago while still living in Charlotte, North Carolina. Stuck in a stressful job, she began noticing the impact it was having on her physical and mental health.

"I have a family history of mental illness and depression, and I saw myself falling into the same patterns as family members, she said. "Someone invited me to a yoga class, and something really resonated and I just kept going. It made a huge difference in my life. I decided I wanted to do the same for others.

Her husband soon took a new job in Georgia, and the family relocated to Peachtree City. Undaunted, Caples began traveling back to Charlotte every third weekend to train as a yoga instructor until graduating in October 2018.

She began teaching in a Sharpsburg studio until the pandemic caused everything to shut down.

The pandemic was a major catalyst for witnessing the importance of self-care in a very uncertain time, according to Caples.

"I cant even imagine what 2020 would have been like without my training, she said. "I saw it take a toll on a good bit of people.

During that period, she taught classes on Facebook live, which not only helped her students but Caples, too.

"During the pandemic, I had those that I had been teaching reach out about private sessions. From there it just grew, she said.

Once the studios opened back up, she was hired at Blue Lotus, where she currently teaches two 6:30 a.m. classes.

However, new avenues to help others kept opening up for Caples.

(Photo by Susan Crutchfield)

A practice for every body

Caples currently teaches chair and gentle yoga at Piedmont Fitness and at the Carnegie Library.

Typically, the majority of students in chair yoga are older adults. Seniors, who often struggle with pain, joint stress, imbalance, osteoarthritis and other physical limitations, can benefit from incorporating a yoga practice into their daily routine.

Seniors are also at risk for higher rates of depression, anxiety and other mental health disorders. Memory can decline, balance can be impaired, and with that, sense of self can suffer.

Yoga, especially restorative yoga, can also offer a wide array of health benefits working physical and psychological wonders.

Linda Arnall is a regular in Caples chair yoga class and began attending after a knee replacement surgery.

I also have arthritis and need exercise, but nothing too strenuous, and this is exactly that, she said. We stretch and really focus on breathing, which is good. Its a very calming class and we always leave feeling stress-free in a nice frame of mind.

While the utilization of the chair is a primary instrument in the course, Arnall said Caples is very innovative in her approach to teaching. A recent class incorporated dancing and parachute games.

We do a variety of other exercises, but no matter what, its always a fun class, she said. We all do what we can do, and she encourages that. Everyone in there has become a little family, and a great teacher always cares about her students, which she does."

A recent study revealed yoga can help manage osteoarthritis in elderly women. Not only can these low-impact moves loosen your muscles, but they can also tone your supporting muscles and help prevent injury.

But often, taking the first step into something as potentially daunting as yoga is understandably difficult for some. However, Caples encourages those who are curious to take that leap of faith.

"I have found yoga classes and instructors tend to be very welcoming and want to help those who are starting out, she said. "In my experience, if they can get over the fear and come to a class they will be made to feel welcomed. They can reach out to an instructor to ask any questions beforehand.

Caples has also added Intermediate yoga classes in the evening at Piedmont Fitness and also teaches at the YMCA. With a variety of styles, there is a practice for every person and Caples urges those who are interested to reach out.

Its extremely important not to compare, she said. Each person's practice is going to be different because our bodies are different and we have all gone through different things. But thats what I like about yoga its such a personal thing. There is no comparison and no judgment.

In a successful practice, there is no final destination or finish. The practice is a gradual progression that allows the student to enjoy the benefits while continuing to improve.

Maybe you start out with a couple of minutes of meditation, and thats all you can do right now. Eventually, you become more used to it, and you start to see the benefits so you do it for longer, she said. Its the same with physical practice and breathwork.

Caples said shes extremely grateful to do something that she loves but makes a positive difference in people's lives.

"Ive met some wonderful, extraordinary human beings, and Im grateful for the wonderful yoga community that has allowed me the opportunity to do something I love and am passionate about, she said. It might be cliche to say, but it really is about the journey. There is always something more to learn and continuous growth to be had.

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Focusing on the journey - Newnan Times-Herald

Loma Linda University Health researchers say high consumption of ultra-processed foods and, separately, high consumption of red meat may be important mortality indicators. Their recently published study adds to a growing body of knowledge about how ultra-processed foods and red meat impact human health and longevity.

Compared to past literature analyzing ultra-processed and animal-based foods health impacts, this study included one of the largest cohorts, with over 77,000 participants. It also considered a diverse array of diets, including vegetarian and non-vegetarian. As a result, outcomes provided new insights about ultra-processed foods as a common denominator of mortality across vegetarians and non-vegetarians, says Gary Fraser, MBChB, PhD, a study author, and professor at Loma Linda University School of Medicine and School of Public Health.

Our study addresses the question of what can make a vegetarian diet healthy or unhealthy, Fraser says. It seems that the proportion of ultra-processed foods in someones diet is actually more important with respect to mortality than the proportion of animal-derived foods they eat, the exception being red meat.

Fraser says the study exposes how it is possible to be a bad vegetarian or a good non-vegetarian because it isolates the health impacts of processed foods in the diet whether its vegetarian or not. Results revealed that vegetarians who ate a lot of processed foods as part of their diets faced a similar proportionate increase in mortality outcomes as non-vegetarians who ate a lot of processed foods in their diets.

The study, Ultra-processed food intake and animal-based food intake and mortality in the Adventist health study-2, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, assesses the mortality risks of two dietary factors independent of each other:

Seven LLU researchers gathered data from an observational prospective cohort study in North America, recruited from Seventh-day Adventist churches, comprising of77,437 female and male participants. Participants completed a frequency food questionnaire including over 200 food items to describe their diets. They also provided other health-related and demographic information about themselves, including sex, race, geographic region, education, marital status, rate of tobacco and alcohol use, exercise, sleep, BMI, and comorbid conditions with cardiovascular disease or diabetes.

Researchers then analyzed participants health and demographic information in conjunction with their mortality data, provided by the National Death Index, for a mean timeframe of about seven and a half years. Next, researchers used a statistical model to help them consider each variable independently of others and produce a cause-specific mortality analysis.

They adjusted their statistical model to focus on ultra-processed food intake irrespective of other factors like animal-food consumption or age. In doing so, Fraser and co-authors found that people who obtained half of their total calories from ultra-processed foods faced a 14% increase in mortality compared to people who received only 12.5% of their total calories from ultra-processed foods.

Study authors report that high consumption levels of ultra-processed foods were associated with mortality related to respiratory, neurologic, and renal conditions particularly Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (even when restricted to people who never smoked). However, high ultra-processed food consumption was not associated with mortality from cardiovascular disease, cancer, or endocrine conditions.

Results did not reveal an association between mortality and dietary intake of total animal-based foods. Once researchers parsed animal-based foods into sub-categories, however, they found a statistically significant 8% increase in the mortality risk associated with moderate (approximately 1 oz per day) consumption of red meat compared to no red meat.

Overall, Fraser says the study demonstrated how greater consumption of ultra-processed foods was associated with higher all-cause mortality, even in a health-conscious Adventist population with many vegetarians. Such findings of ultra-processed food consumption and mortality provide a "helpful confirmation of what people expected, he says.

The study calls for further research into the specific health effects of ultra-processed foods consumption in humans. While research endeavors continue to deepen understanding of how ultra-processed foods impact our health, Fraser advises avoiding consuming them at high levels.

If youre interested in living longer or to your maximal potential, youd be wise to avoid a diet filled with ultra-processed foods and replace them with less processed or unprocessed foods," Fraser says. "At the same time, avoid eating a lot of red meat. Its as simple as that.

To learn more about research at LLU, visit https://researchaffairs.llu.edu/ or call 909-558-8544.

American Journal of Clinical Nutrition

Observational study

People

Ultra-processed food intake and animal-based food intake and mortality in the Adventist health study-2

22-Feb-2022

The authors report no conflicts of interest.

Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert system.

Continued here:
LLU study associates higher mortality with eating lots of ultra-processed foods, red meat - EurekAlert

David Chickering| Chippewa Luce Mackinac Conservation District

The Kirtlands warbler is a small gray and yellow bird which happens to be one of the rarest songbirds in North America. These birds are very particular about establishing nests and rearing of the next generation of birds.

This warbler nests at the base of trees along the edges of newer, and fairly dense, Jack Pine stands which have a particular biology all their own. Suitable Jack Pine stands have been found in Northern Michigan as well as parts of Wisconsin and Ontario, but due to increasing human population and its associated impact on forest management this habitat has become harder to find.

The Jack Pine is a coniferous tree and is a fire dependent species. This means that it has serotinous cones which require heat to open and release viable seeds. Historically, this heat is provided by periodic fires on the landscape. These large forest fires are less common now due to managing forests for human and property safety. Conservation specialists and foresters have developed new methods of planting which can mimic this type of fire disturbance by way of clear-cutting and replanting to maximize forest edges and ensure proper density for nesting.

The Kirtlands Warbler spends the winters in the Bahamas and migrates to Northern Michigan to build its nest on the ground. They begin nesting in a Jack Pine forest when the trees are 5-6 feet tall and around 7 years old. They will use this forest until the trees reach 10-16 feet in height and are around 20 years old.

After that point, the trees are likely too tall to provide the proper protection and desirable habitat and the birds will look for a younger stand of Jack Pine. The ideal density for nesting is too tight to provide desirable lumber from the planting, which has caused some difficulties in optimizing the land use for both protection of bird habitat and effective use of the biomass provided by the trees.

Large-acre plantings of Jack Pine have been the focus for many conservation agencies over the past few decades which have improved the outlook for the Kirtlands Warbler longevity. Plantings this spring in Northern Lower Michigan have established over 6,000 acres of new habitat which will be ready to provide nesting locations in about 7 years. Conservation efforts like this have helped increase the population from 200 birds to an estimated 3,000 birds and have played a vital role in their graduation from the endangered species list to a threatened species.

For more information about Kirtlands Warbler habitat establishment contact your local Natural Resources Conservation Service office, Forest Service or Department of Natural Resources office.

David Chickering is a conservation engineer for the Chippewa Luce MackinacConservationDistrict.

Read the original here:
Opinion: The Kirtland's Warbler: Singing a song of conservation success - Sault Ste. Marie Evening News

Studies in worms, flies, rodents, and monkeys have demonstrated that diets that severely restrict total calorie intake, while providing all the essential nutrients, extend average lifespan.

The research shows that in all these organisms, food shortages trigger physiological changes that promote longevity and delay the onset of age-related disease.

Calorie-restricted diets in humans, which involve reducing average calorie intake by around a third, may also extend human lifespan, though hard evidence is currently lacking.

Animal studies have revealed that timing of calorie restriction can have an effect due to the circadian system, which controls daily cycles of physiology, metabolism, and behaviors such as eating. This has also been linked to aging.

This led researchers at the University of Texas (UT) Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, TX, to investigate whether the timing of meals contributes to the life-extending effects of calorie restriction.

Numerous studies have shown that calorie restriction increases the average lifespan of mice. But most of this research has involved scientists feeding calorie-restricted diets to laboratory mice during the day.

Unlike humans, mice are nocturnal, which means they have evolved to feed at night.

So for their study, the scientists used automatic feeders to ensure that some of the mice ate only during the night.

To determine whether the timing of meals had an effect on lifespan independently of calorie restriction and fasting they split the animals into 6 groups.

In one group, which served as a control, the animals could eat ad libitum (as much as they wanted, whenever they wanted).

The remaining 5 groups ate calorie-restricted diets (3040% fewer calories) with the same total calorie intake but different feeding schedules.

Control mice that ate ad libitum had a median lifespan of 800 days, whereas mice on a calorie-restricted diet with food available around the clock lived 875 days, or 10% longer.

Mice on the calorie-restricted diet that ate only during the day (the inactive phase of their circadian cycle) and fasted for 12 hours overnight lived 959 days. In other words, they lived almost 20% longer than the controls.

But calorie-restricted mice that only ate during their active phase, then fasted for the remaining 12 hours, lived the longest. These animals clocked up an average 1,068 days of lifespan, which was nearly 35% longer than the control animals.

The scientists have reported their findings in Science.

We have discovered a new facet to caloric restriction that dramatically extends lifespan in our lab animals, says senior author Dr. Joseph Takahashi, Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator and chair of neuroscience at UT Southwestern Medical Center.

If these findings hold true in people, we might want to rethink whether we really want that midnight snack, he adds.

They also found that calorie-restricted diets improved the animals regulation of glucose levels and insulin sensitivity, but the improvements were greatest for mice that ate only at night (their active phase).

This suggests that the mice were healthier and aged more slowly, Dr. Takahashi told Medical News Today.

The researchers found that, in all the mice, aging increased the activity of genes involved in inflammation and decreased the activity of genes involved in metabolism and circadian rhythms.

Calorie restriction slowed down these age-related changes, but mice that only ate a night reaped the greatest benefits.

Since aging can be considered a progressive ramping up of inflammation, [calorie restriction] is also delaying this age-related increase in inflammation, which is also consistent with delaying the aging process, said Dr. Takahashi.

The authors note some limitations of their study.

In particular, they write that sleep disruption in the mice that ate during the day (during their inactive phase) may have contributed to their shorter lifespan.

In addition, all the mice in the study were male. The authors write that in females, ovarian hormones may provide some protection against disruptions in circadian rhythms.

As with all research that involves animal models, the study may not translate well to humans.

If the findings do apply to humans, which have the opposite active phase to mice, the scientists suggest that eating early in the evening is best for healthy aging.

One day it may even be possible to develop drugs that target circadian genes or the proteins that they make, in order to mimic the anti-aging benefits of eating only during the active phase.

[W]e are working on this idea and searching for drugs that can enhance circadian alignment, said Dr. Takahashi. Fingers crossed!

Eating late at night interferes with the bodys ability to keep blood sugar levels within a healthy range.

A recent study found this was particularly true for people with a particular variation of the gene for the melatonin receptor.

Melatonin is a hormone that helps to govern the sleep-wake cycle. As its levels increase in the evening, this not only triggers sleepiness but also impairs insulin secretion.

As a result, the body has more difficulty controlling blood sugar levels after meals close to bedtime.

Since many people opt for carbohydrate-rich snacks in late evenings, such as chips, cookies, candy, or popcorn, these snacks are more likely to impair blood sugar control and increase ones risk for prediabetes and diabetes, said Mariam Eid, R.D., L.D., a dietitian and founder of A Happy AOneC, which advises teens and young adults recently diagnosed with prediabetes.

Therefore, consuming carbohydrate-rich meals and snacks earlier in the day promotes better blood sugar balance and supports the prevention of prediabetes and diabetes, she told MNT.

The rest is here:
Eating earlier in the evening may have anti-aging benefits - Medical News Today

Once upon a time, I had a pretty awkward and comical date in Santa Monica. I was new-ish to Los Angeles and decided to try out a dating site that was famous for its robust matching algorithms. However, on this particular evening on Pico Boulevard, their matching science was, well, not so robust.

I probably should have known something was awry when the handsome maitre d' wished me "good luck" in a distinct, you're-gonna-need-it kind of tone before taking me to the table where my date was already seated.

In lieu of a warm salutation, my date stood up, scanned me from toes to head (yes, in that particular order), and proclaimed with some audible disappointment, "You're taller than yourdating appprofile said." I replied, "It's nice to meet you too" like any gracious Southern lady would, and proceeded to sit my tall self down. (I'm actually a not-so-tall 5-feet-6-inches, but as my dating profile clearly stated, "I like to wear heels," so you know, do the math.)

The rest of that date could inspire a Saturday Night Live skit, but allow me to cut to the nutrition-relevant chase (since this articleisabout nutrition principles and foodstuffs for a long and healthy life, I promise).

Originally posted here:
You Have Control Over Your Healthspan: A PhD's Go-To Nutrients For Longevity - mindbodygreen.com