The gut microbiome changes in detrimental ways with age. Beneficial populations decline in numbers while harmful populations gain ground at their expense. A large part of the harm done results from an increased burden of inflammatory microbes that aggravate the immune system, resulting in chronic inflammatory signaling that degrades tissue function throughout the body. But the loss of beneficial metabolites generated by microbial species is also increasingly well studied. Butyrate, for example, helps with cognitive function <a href="https://www.fightaging.org/archives/2019/11/modulating-gut-microbe-populations-to-generate-more-butyrate-thus-raising-bdnf-…
The gut microbiome changes in detrimental ways with age. Beneficial populations decline in numbers while harmful populations gain ground at their expense. A large part of the harm done results from an increased burden of inflammatory microbes that aggravate the immune system, resulting in chronic inflammatory signaling that degrades tissue function throughout the body. But the loss of beneficial metabolites generated by microbial species is also increasingly well studied. Butyrate, for example, helps with cognitive function <a href="https://www.fightaging.org/archives/2019/11/modulating-gut-microbe-populations-to-generate-more-butyrate-thus-raising-bdnf-…
“If you don’t love yourself, you’ll always be looking for someone else to fill the void inside you, but no one will ever be able to do it.” ~Lori Deschene
Two years ago, I sat in my basement with tears streaming down my face. I had just found a copy of an old letter I’d written to an old boyfriend years before. In it, I was practically begging for his love, and also complaining and even shaming him for not loving me well.
As I read, I was overcome by three insights, all of which brought up big emotions:
The first was that for well over the first half of my life, I had been so hungry for love, so needy for it, that in this and subsequent relationships, including my first marriage, I created a lot of pain and discord.
“If you don’t love yourself, you’ll always be looking for someone else to fill the void inside you, but no one will ever be able to do it.” ~Lori Deschene
Two years ago, I sat in my basement with tears streaming down my face. I had just found a copy of an old letter I’d written to an old boyfriend years before. In it, I was practically begging for his love, and also complaining and even shaming him for not loving me well.
As I read, I was overcome by three insights, all of which brought up big emotions:
The first was that for well over the first half of my life, I had been so hungry for love, so needy for it, that in this and subsequent relationships, including my first marriage, I created a lot of pain and discord.
Fecal microbiota transplantation from a young individual to an old individual has been shown in animal studies to reset the aging gut microbiome to a more youthful configuration for a lasting period of time. The gut microbiome changes in detrimental ways with age, harmful and inflammatory populations displacing beneficial populations that produce needed metabolites. A fecal microbiota transplant removes these changes, improving health, reducing inflammation, and extending life span in short-lived species. It is a procedure already used in humans, and which should be further developed as a means to improve the health of all ol…
Fecal microbiota transplantation from a young individual to an old individual has been shown in animal studies to reset the aging gut microbiome to a more youthful configuration for a lasting period of time. The gut microbiome changes in detrimental ways with age, harmful and inflammatory populations displacing beneficial populations that produce needed metabolites. A fecal microbiota transplant removes these changes, improving health, reducing inflammation, and extending life span in short-lived species. It is a procedure already used in humans, and which should be further developed as a means to improve the health of all ol…
I’ve recently come back to running, after going through a long period with almost no interest in it.
But this time, it’s different from before.
Before, when I was “a runner,” I was doing it for races and for fun. For its own sake.
This time, it’s entirely about fitness and longevity.
And as such, I want to do it right. Kettlebell training has taught me to pay careful attention to the way I move — out of necessity while performing swings and get-ups and moving around heavy kettlebells in general — which has carried over into greater focus on how I move throughout life.
And in my return to running, I’ve found myself obsessed with the nuances of my stride — something to which I scarcely gave a second thought in the old days, choosing instead to be satisfied with half-truths like “<a href="https://www.nomeatathlete.com/injury-proof-your-running-stride…
I’ve recently come back to running, after going through a long period with almost no interest in it.
But this time, it’s different from before.
Before, when I was “a runner,” I was doing it for races and for fun. For its own sake.
This time, it’s entirely about fitness and longevity.
And as such, I want to do it right. Kettlebell training has taught me to pay careful attention to the way I move — out of necessity while performing swings and get-ups and moving around heavy kettlebells in general — which has carried over into greater focus on how I move throughout life.
And in my return to running, I’ve found myself obsessed with the nuances of my stride — something to which I scarcely gave a second thought in the old days, choosing instead to be satisfied with half-truths like “<a href="https://www.nomeatathlete.com/injury-proof-your-running-stride…
“I love when people that have been through hell walk out of the flames carrying buckets of water for those still consumed by the fire.” ~Stephanie Sparkles
I have a tattoo on my back of Charles Bukowski’s quote “What matters most is how well you walk through the fire.” It spoke to me as I had been walking, often crawling, through a fire for much of my life.
At times, I took different paths, skipping through fields of flowers, but eventually I would find my way back to what I knew, which gave me a strange sense of comfort—the fire whose roots had begun in childhood, with my abusive mother.
I used to be consumed by this fire. I have another tattoo on my foot that reads “Breathe.” Fo…
“I love when people that have been through hell walk out of the flames carrying buckets of water for those still consumed by the fire.” ~Stephanie Sparkles
I have a tattoo on my back of Charles Bukowski’s quote “What matters most is how well you walk through the fire.” It spoke to me as I had been walking, often crawling, through a fire for much of my life.
At times, I took different paths, skipping through fields of flowers, but eventually I would find my way back to what I knew, which gave me a strange sense of comfort—the fire whose roots had begun in childhood, with my abusive mother.
I used to be consumed by this fire. I have another tattoo on my foot that reads “Breathe.” Fo…
“Sobriety was the greatest gift I ever gave myself.” ~Rob Lowe
I tried and failed to have a fabulous relationship with alcohol for many years.
When my children were tiny I drank far more than was good for me, thinking I was relaxing, unwinding, socializing, and having fun. I’d seen my life shrink down from a world with lots of freedom and vibrancy to a socially restricted void, and I wanted to feel normal. I wanted to join in with everyone else.
All my birthday cards had bottles of gin or glasses of fizz on them, all the Friday afternoon memes on social media were about “wine o’clock,” and I wanted to be part of that world.
The opening of a bottle in the evening had me thinking I was changing gear, moving from <a href="https:…
“Sobriety was the greatest gift I ever gave myself.” ~Rob Lowe
I tried and failed to have a fabulous relationship with alcohol for many years.
When my children were tiny I drank far more than was good for me, thinking I was relaxing, unwinding, socializing, and having fun. I’d seen my life shrink down from a world with lots of freedom and vibrancy to a socially restricted void, and I wanted to feel normal. I wanted to join in with everyone else.
All my birthday cards had bottles of gin or glasses of fizz on them, all the Friday afternoon memes on social media were about “wine o’clock,” and I wanted to be part of that world.
The opening of a bottle in the evening had me thinking I was changing gear, moving from <a href="https:…
Researchers here suggest that the amyloid-β aggregates characteristic of Alzheimer’s disease first originate inside cells, and are connected with lysosomal dysfunction. Only later do the better studied toxic extracellular aggregates form. This is not the first group to point out that intracellular amyloid-β may be important. It is early days for this line of research, and quite unclear as to how this might change strategies aimed at disrupting the early stages of the condition, prior to symptoms, a period of years in which amyloid-β aggregates are accumulating slowly over time.
Researchers here suggest that the amyloid-β aggregates characteristic of Alzheimer’s disease first originate inside cells, and are connected with lysosomal dysfunction. Only later do the better studied toxic extracellular aggregates form. This is not the first group to point out that intracellular amyloid-β may be important. It is early days for this line of research, and quite unclear as to how this might change strategies aimed at disrupting the early stages of the condition, prior to symptoms, a period of years in which amyloid-β aggregates are accumulating slowly over time.
“Minimalism isn’t about removing the things you love. It’s about removing the things that distract you from the things you love.” ~Joshua Becker
Over the recent few years of being a digital nomad, I got a chance to live in Spain, Sri Lanka, Mexico, and Canada for a month or longer. As I didn’t have a home base and only had one medium-sized suitcase with me (still do), I couldn’t really afford to buy new things.
I mean, I would need to put them somewhere, and my suitcase is already over forty-five pounds while most airlines only allow up to fifty.
Even when I had to go back to my home country and stay there for almost a year because of the pandemic, I knew I’d be on the road again as soon as possible. So I continued to not buy anything other than essenti…
“Minimalism isn’t about removing the things you love. It’s about removing the things that distract you from the things you love.” ~Joshua Becker
Over the recent few years of being a digital nomad, I got a chance to live in Spain, Sri Lanka, Mexico, and Canada for a month or longer. As I didn’t have a home base and only had one medium-sized suitcase with me (still do), I couldn’t really afford to buy new things.
I mean, I would need to put them somewhere, and my suitcase is already over forty-five pounds while most airlines only allow up to fifty.
Even when I had to go back to my home country and stay there for almost a year because of the pandemic, I knew I’d be on the road again as soon as possible. So I continued to not buy anything other than essenti…
Most of us don’t realize how powerful stories are in our lives, because we don’t even notice that we’re telling ourselves a story. But stories shape everything.
For example, the stories you tell yourself is the reason you feel:
Resentment toward a loved one or coworker
Guilty about what you haven’t done
Overwhelmed by all that you need to do
Anxious about the uncertainty of the world
Stuck in your old habits
Avoidant of your difficult tasks
Bored or lonely
Nothing in the basic reality of life makes us feel these things. It’s our stories about our reality that creates the feelings.
Let’s look at how this works in our lives, then how we can use the power of story to change everything we want to change.
How Story Shapes Our Lives
If someone you know says to you, “Would you like some of this …
Most of us don’t realize how powerful stories are in our lives, because we don’t even notice that we’re telling ourselves a story. But stories shape everything.
For example, the stories you tell yourself is the reason you feel:
Resentment toward a loved one or coworker
Guilty about what you haven’t done
Overwhelmed by all that you need to do
Anxious about the uncertainty of the world
Stuck in your old habits
Avoidant of your difficult tasks
Bored or lonely
Nothing in the basic reality of life makes us feel these things. It’s our stories about our reality that creates the feelings.
Let’s look at how this works in our lives, then how we can use the power of story to change everything we want to change.
How Story Shapes Our Lives
If someone you know says to you, “Would you like some of this …
