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Is Personalized Genetic Testing Worth It?

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Overrated “precision medicine” may just be serving vested interests, and consumer DNA testing can be useless—or even worse. Today, you can get your DNA sequenced—the letters of your entire genetic code spelled out—for about a thousand dollars, a bargain compared to the $100 million or so it cost 20 years ago. And for around a hundred dollars, you can get partial DNA sequencing. Direct-to-consumer genetic testing is “only a click away,” like 23andMe, for “ancestry, health, love…and more.” Unfortunately, many tests that are available today haven’t been validated properly. And, as a result, the buyer may be buying something “that is ultimately useless.” Or, results may just be just flat-out wrong. There is growing public demand for direct-to-consumer genetic tests, but when put to the test, researchers found an “alarmingly high false-positive rate.” Test results indicated that people carried a high-risk gene, but it simply wasn’t true. And this happened 40% of the time, especially wi...
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Are Nuts and Peanut Butter Linked to a Longer Life?

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Why are nuts associated with decreased mortality, but not peanut butter? According to the largest study of risk factors for death in human history, a poor diet causes more deaths than anything. Cigarettes only kill about 8 million people a year, whereas humanity’s diet kills millions more, as you can see below and at 0:20 in my video Do the Health Benefits of Peanut Butter Include Longevity? . What are the worst aspects of our diet? Processed meat? Twinkies? Soda? No, the five deadliest things about our diet are : not enough fruit, not enough whole grains, not enough vegetables, too much salt, and not enough nuts and seeds, as shown here and at 0:42 in my video . Nuts should come as no surprise since interventional trials have shown that eating nuts improves artery function, and arterial diseases like heart disease are among our leading killers. But that’s not all nuts can do. They may also improve blood sugar control, lower cholesterol, suppress inflammation, reduce oxidative st...
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Does Less Protein Increase FGF21 for Longevity?

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Fasting and exercise can boost the longevity hormone FGF21, but what can we eat—or avoid eating—to get similar effects? Over a century ago, fasting was hailed not only as a means of combating “cerebral lassitude,” but also for the “prolongation of healthy longevity.” If that turns out to be true, FGF21 might be a missing link. FGF21 is characterized as a “systemic enhancer of longevity.” It can be boosted through prolonged fasting, but thankfully, there are other, less drastic measures, such as more carbs or less protein. Give people lots of starchy foods, and their FGF21 levels shoot up. The healthiest sources would likely be whole grains and beans, since butyrate appears to boost FGF21, too, and we get that from fiber. That’s one of the things our good gut bugs make from fiber-rich foods. Circulating FGF21 levels also increase dramatically after eating a lower-protein diet—more than a 150% increase within four weeks. By the way, “lower protein” simply means reducing intake...
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How to Boost Your Longevity Hormone

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What can we do to boost the longevity hormone FGF21? In the year 2000, a new human hormone was discovered . It was the 21st documented fibroblast growth factor, so they called it FGF21. Since its discovery, FGF21 has become recognized as a key agent for the promotion of metabolic and arterial health, leanness, and longevity. Inject it into fat monkeys, and they lose body weight without reducing their food intake. And they don’t just lose a little weight—they have a 27% drop in body fat while eating the same amount. In mice, it increases their lifespan by 30 to 40%, which is comparable to lifelong caloric restriction, and, again, they achieve this without decreasing their food intake. The researchers conclude that FGF21 could possibly be used as a hormone therapy to extend mammals’ lifespans, which has gotten Big Pharma salivating, raising the question: “Can aging be ‘drugged’?” That’s not all FGF21 can do, either. “The idea that one drug can treat obesity, diabetes, dyslipidemia...
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How Prebiotic Foods Keep Your Microbiome Healthy

We co-evolved a symbiosis with our good gut bacteria, but we aren’t holding up our end of the bargain. If you look at the classics—the most frequently cited articles in the scientific nutrition literature—the original glycemic index paper ranks tenth, cited more than a thousand times. Learning about fruits, vegetables, and cancer prevention comes in seventh. But hitting the top four, cited more than 2,000 times: “Dietary Modulation of the Human Colonic Microbiota: Introducing the Concept of Prebiotics.” As I discuss in my video How to Keep Your Microbiome Healthy with Prebiotic Foods , prebiotics are the food components that nourish and feed the good bacteria in our gut, like fiber and resistant starch. Eating high-fiber plant foods is generally “a good foundation for a prebiotic-rich diet.” Once upon a time, fiber was thought of as just the undigested part of food, known only for bulking up stools and keeping bowels regular. Then researchers discovered an array of receptors in ...
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How We Eat vs. How We Think We Eat

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The so-called optimism bias may get in the way of a healthy lifestyle. Yes, media messages about nutrition are often confusing and inconsistent, but many Americans know what is considered a healthy diet. I mean, does anyone really think drinking brown carbonated sugar water is good for them? The issue is that they don’t appear to be translating their knowledge into action. Why do people have such difficulty changing their dietary behaviors? While ignorance and confusion may play a part, being motivated to change is likely much more important. Certainly, we are living in a world that pushes us to eat whatever we want, regardless of the long-term consequences. “One of the major problems in getting people to change their behaviour is the need to get them to recognise the need to change.” For example, if you ask people how much meat they eat—or how much greasy food, eggs, sweets, alcohol, or butter—they claim to be eating less than the average person. So, if people think they’re at...
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The Link Between Breast Cancer and a Virus in Meat and Dairy

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Exposure to the bovine leukemia virus from meat and dairy (or a blood transfusion from those who eat meat or dairy) is a risk factor for cancer. In 2015, researchers in California found bovine leukemia virus (BLV) stitched into the DNA of human breast cancer tumors from mastectomies. The virus was found at much higher rates than in normal breast tissue obtained from breast reduction surgeries. Based on this difference, they calculated that as many as 37% of breast cancer cases may be attributable to exposure to BLV, likely through consuming milk or meat from infected animals. In response, the milk and meat industries seemed more concerned about consumer confidence than consumer cancer. But scientifically, the research priority turned to the question: Could the California results be replicated? The answer, it turns out, was yes. They were replicated among women in Iran. Replicated in Brazil. In Australia, the link was even stronger. In Texas, they found the same thing. Women dia...
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