Posted on 02/12/2022 10:07:05 AM PST by ConservativeMind
A new study confirms the health benefits of moderate calorie restrictions in humans—and identifies a key protein that could be harnessed to extend health in humans.
Dixit started by analyzing the thymus, a gland that sits above the heart and produces T cells, a type of white blood cell and an essential part of the immune system. The thymus ages at a faster rate than other organs. By the time healthy adults reach the age of 40, said Dixit, 70% of the thymus is already fatty and nonfunctional. And as it ages, the thymus produces fewer T cells.
They found that the thymus glands in participants with limited calorie intake had less fat and greater functional volume after two years of calorie restriction, meaning they were producing more T cells than they were at the start of the study. But participants who weren't restricting their calories had no change in functional volume.
"The fact that this organ can be rejuvenated is, in my view, stunning because there is very little evidence of that happening in humans," said Dixit. "That this is even possible is very exciting."
With such a dramatic effect on the thymus, Dixit and his colleagues expected to also find effects on the immune cells that the thymus was producing, changes that might underlie the overall benefits of calorie restriction. But when they sequenced the genes in those cells, they found there were no changes in gene expression after two years of calorie restriction.
This observation required a closer look, which revealed a surprising finding: "It turns out that the action was really in the tissue microenvironment not the blood T cells," Dixit said.
"…We found remarkable changes in the gene expression of adipose tissue after one year that were sustained through year two," said Dixit.
(Excerpt) Read more at medicalxpress.com ...
Why does ConservativeMind need a ping?
Berberine and Barberry
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/berberine-powerful-supplement
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/325798
https://examine.com/supplements/berberine/
https://naturopathic.org/news/565580/6-Potential-Benefits-of-Berberine-You-Should-Know-About.htm
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmolb.2018.00021/full
https://www.pharmaca.com/projectwellness/a-quick-guide-to-berberine/
https://www.naturalmedicinejournal.com/journal/2016-08/berberine-improves-symptoms-irritable-bowel-syndrome
https://www.naturalmedicinejournal.com/journal/2012-12/clinical-applications-berberine
https://draxe.com/?s=Berberine
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4078475/
Barberry, extract below-
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/barberries
https://www.verywellhealth.com/barberry-berberis-vulgaris-what-you-need-to-know-89546
https://www.mountsinai.org/health-library/herb/barberry
https://draxe.com/nutrition/barberry/
https://www.webmd.com/vitamins/ai/ingredientmono-1126/berberine
Did they try thymus thumping?
The first URL to healthline mentions the comparison to three drugs.
That is one of those non-technical, non-critical articles that tends to overstate benefits while ignoring negative results.
Like I say, I take berberine every day, have for over a year with multiple brands, and the effects on me are much more modest than you’d expect from that article. And no effect on body weight or other parameters. Those kind of results need to be replicated in several well-controlled studies with neutral researchers.
Reading from my phone, ping for later reading.
Remarkable. I have been on metformin for 20 years.82 and going strong. Diabetes is well in hand.
I'm 78 and still kicking too.
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