DrMirkin's eZine: Metformin to slow aging, plant-based meats, more .. .
Published: Sat, 05/25/24
Updated: Sun, 05/26/24
May 26, 2024
Many studies have shown that metformin helps to treat the life-shortening diseases that are the leading causes of death in North America today -- diabetes, heart disease, several types of cancers, kidney disease, liver disease, obesity and others (Front Endocrinol, August 4, 2021;12). A review of 53 studies found that metformin is associated with a reduction of the death rate from these diseases, but at this time, metformin cannot be prescribed to slow aging because we do not have studies to show that metformin helps to prevent aging, not just symptoms of specific diseases (Ageing Res Rev, 2017;40(37):31-44). The TAME trial wants to change this by investigating whether metformin can delay aging overall, instead of just treating specific age-related diseases individually. If the TAME trial can show that it does have anti-aging effects, the organizers hope to gain FDA approval for metformin to treat aging.
The American Federation for Aging Research is asking people to donate money to fund this TAME Trial (Targeting Aging with Metformin). This group of researchers plans to enroll more than 3,000 people, 69-79 years of age, in a six-year trial at 14 leading research institutions across North America, centered at Wake Forest University School of Medicine, to test whether metformin will delay development or progression of age-related chronic diseases. Their website is https://www.afar.org/tame-trial None of the standard drug companies will fund a trial on metformin because there is no money in it for them. Metfomin is inexpensive and has been on the open market since 1958. It is generic and is the second most commonly prescribed medication in the United States, with more than 91 million prescriptions per year.
How Could Metformin Help to Delay Aging?
Metformin helps to prevent tissue damage by blocking inflammation and oxidation that accelerate aging,and even helps damaged tissue to heal. It lowers high blood sugar levels by increasing insulin's effects on lowering high blood sugar levels, decreasing the amount of sugar released by the liver into the bloodstream, decreasing the amount of sugar absorbed from the intestines and increasing the amount of sugar excreted in the urine (Medicine in Drug Discovery, Dec 2020;8:100062). For
more information on studies and planned topics visit their website at https://www.afar.org/tame-trial
Lifestyle Factors That May Delay Aging and Improve Quality of Life
• Be physically active and try to exercise every day. It is established that exercise helps to prevent and treat certain diseases that are associated with premature death. Several studies show that lifestyle factors help to prevent and treat several diseases:
• Eat a plant-based anti-inflammatory diet with lots of vegetables, fruits, whole unground grains, beans, seeds and nuts. Restrict mammal meat, processed meat, sugar-added foods and drinks, ultra-processed foods, and fried foods.
• Try to get 7-9 hours of sleep each night.
• Avoid smoke or living with smokers.
• Avoid or severely restrict alcohol.
• Avoid excess body fat, particularly in the belly.
• Keep blood levels of hydroxy vitamin D above 30 ng/mL.
• Avoid chronic exposure to excess sunlight.
• Avoid exposure to X-rays and other sources of radiation, and various toxic substances such as insecticides, herbicides and industrial chemicals.
• Treat chronic infections anywhere in the body.
My Recommendations
To live a longer life, try to follow all the rules for healthful living, and check with your doctor to see if metformin might be appropriate for you while we await the findings of the TAME Trial. There is evidence that controlling high blood sugar levels after meals may help to prolong lives and that metformin may help you to reach your goals. Up to 70 percent of North American adults will eventually develop high blood sugar levels after meals and 30 percent of diabetics don't know they are
diabetic because they may have normal fasting-blood sugar levels. You can suffer all the terrible side effects of diabetes if your blood sugar is greater than 145 mg/dL one hour after you eat a meal, even if your fasting-blood sugar is normal.
Metformin helps to control high blood-sugar levels, but at this time doctors have no solid proof that metformin also helps to prolong lives, so we will watch for the TAME Trial results. Again, their website is https://www.afar.org/tame-trial
Extensive research has found that a plant-based diet is significantly less likely than a meat-based diet to be associated with increased risk for heart attacks or diabetes (American J of Preventive Cardiology, Sept 2021;7:100182). Entrepreneurs in the plant-meat industry have stepped in and added chemicals to processed parts of plants to make a plant-based food that looks and tastes like meat. However, very recently, Singapore researchers found no evidence that plant-based meat substitutes are less likely than animal meats to increase heart attack or diabetes risk (Amer J Of Clin Nutr, April 8, 2024). The researchers studied 89 people at high risk for diabetes. Roughly half were placed on a diet that included plant-based-meat products and the rest were placed on a diet with animal meats. After eight weeks, blood cholesterol (including total cholesterol, the good HDL, the bad LDL, triglycerides), continuous blood sugar monitoring (glucose and fructosamine), blood pressure (systolic and diastolic), inflammation (high sensitivity C-reactive protein) and body composition were not different between the two groups. The animal meat group had a slightly lower blood sugar level. The animal-meat group took in more protein and the plant-based meat group took in more sodium, potassium and calcium.
Why Plant-Based Meats May Not Be Healthful
The authors did not offer their opinions on why the plant-based meats may not offer health advantages over eating regular animal meat. Plant-based meats are highly processed, which means that they may contain additives to make the food taste better, feel better on your tongue and break down faster in your intestines. Plant-based meats are higher in added salt and are fortified with reheated plant oils that contain aldehydes and free radicals that cause inflammation to increase risk for heart
attacks (Vascul Pharmacol, 2014 Apr;61(1):1-9), cancer (Crit Rev Food Sci Nutr, 2019;59(3):488-505), dementia (J of Biological Chemistry, April 2024;300(4) and diabetes (J Biochem Mol Toxicol, 2003;17(1):24-38).
My Recommendations
Extensive research shows that a plant-based diet appears to be more healthful than a diet with lots of meat. Therefore, food entrepreneurs have made plant-based foods that look and taste like meat. A very recent eight-week study found no real health benefits from eating plant-based meat over eating regular animal meat. The plant-based meats on the market today are usually highly-processed and contain additives to make them taste good. Many contain extra sugar, salt, flavor enhancers,
preservatives and color enhancers that have not even been tested yet for safety. Scientists have found an association between some highly-processed foods and heart attacks, certain cancers, diabetes, obesity, certain gastrointestinal diseases and premature death. At this time, scientists do not know all of the advantages and disadvantages of eating plant-based meats. I will continue to montor these studies.
His wife for 41 years, Deed Abbate, told the news media that he died on April 30, 2024 at age 86 from cancer, but I was unable to find out what particular type of cancer caused his death. He almost died from hemorrhaging from a ruptured aortic aneurysm in 2013, at age 76.
His Rise to Fame Eddy was born in Corning, New York and raised in New York State. He started to play the guitar at the age of five. In his teens, he moved with his family to Tucson and then to Coolidge, Arizona, where he recorded several Rock-n-roll guitar instrumentals. He did not have an outstanding singing voice, so instead of singing the words of a song, he would substitute plucking on his guitar's bass strings to produce a low twangy sound. In 1958 at age 18, he was encouraged by a local DJ named Lee Hazelwood to record his instrumental "Rebel Rouser", which became an instant success and was the 6th top hit in the country. He was now a successful instrumentalist and followed with two more top 10 singles "Forty Miles of Bad Road" (No. 9) and "Because They're Young" (No. 4). Read more
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