Hormesis and Micronutrients Enhance Cellular Resilience for Longevity

Key Quotes

"You know we evolved to intermittently challenge ourselves and before we had instacart where you can get basically just get your food delivered to you we were out hunting gathering we were moving and we had to be physically fit you couldn't you know catch your prey if you were a sedentary slob right physical activity was a part of everyday life and caloric restriction or intermittent fasting was also a part of it this is another type of of challenge you know we we didn't always you know have a prey that we caught or maybe temperatures were such that you know there was nothing for us to gather right so food scarcity was something common as well as eating plants so getting these compounds that i mentioned so this is these are all types of stress intermittent challenges that activate genetic pathways in our bodies these are often referred to in science as stress response pathways because they respond to a little bit of stress you know physical activity is strenuous fasting is a little bit stressful heat cold these things are all types of little intermittent challenges"

Dr. Patrick explains that humans evolved to thrive on intermittent challenges, such as physical activity, fasting, heat, and cold. These stressors activate genetic pathways known as stress response pathways, which not only help the body cope with the immediate challenge but also build resilience against the stresses of normal metabolism and aging. This concept is referred to as hormesis.

"so for example one pathway is called heat shock proteins and as their name would apply one would go oh they're activated by heat well correct they are activated very robustly by heat but you can eat a plant like broccoli sprouts which is high in something called sulforaphane and it activates heat shock proteins among other things it also activates a very powerful detoxification pathway called nrf2 which helps you detoxify things like carcinogens that you're exposed to cold also activates heat shock proteins"

Dr. Patrick highlights that heat shock proteins, while activated by heat, can also be stimulated by compounds like sulforaphane found in broccoli sprouts. Sulforaphane also activates the Nrf2 pathway, which is crucial for detoxification of harmful substances. This demonstrates how different stressors, including dietary ones, can engage similar protective cellular mechanisms.

"what he showed in his data was that people that had an omega 3 index of 4 or lower so close to what the standard american is but a little bit lower they had a five year decreased life expectancy compared to people that had an 8 omega 3 index people that are in the 4 omega 3 index range in order to get to the 8 right the five year increased life expectancy if we're comparing the two groups was to supplement with at least two grams it was about two grams a day and that and i think it was a little bit less if it was triglyceride form but i think two grams is a good safe number"

Dr. Patrick references Dr. Bill Harris's research on the omega-3 index, explaining that a lower index (4 or below) is associated with a five-year decrease in life expectancy compared to an index of 8. She states that supplementing with at least two grams of omega-3 fatty acids daily is recommended to raise the index and potentially increase life expectancy.

"insufficient levels defined as less than 30 nanograms per milliliter and and that's sort of defined by the endocrin society there's been a lot of different meta analyses of all cause mortality studies where vitamin d levels are really seem to be ideal between 40 to 60 nanograms per milliliter so basically the point is that vitamin d is a steroid hormone meaning it actually binds to a receptor and um and another receptor dimerizes with it vitamin the retinoid receptor and that complex goes into the nucleus of a cell where your dna is and it recognizes little sequences of dna called vitamin d response elements they're called vdres they're specific sequences of dna that this complex vitamin d bound to the vitamin d receptor goes inside and recognizes and turns on a whole host of genes turns off a whole host of genes"

Dr. Patrick explains that vitamin D functions as a steroid hormone, binding to receptors and influencing gene expression within the cell nucleus. She notes that insufficient levels are defined as below 30 ng/mL, while ideal levels for all-cause mortality studies are between 40-60 ng/mL, underscoring vitamin D's broad impact on cellular processes.

"magnesium is also involved in making atp the the energetic currency of our cells they're you know basically all of our cells need atp to do anything and um they're also it's also involved in utilizing atp as well as dna repair enzymes these are enzymes that are involved in repairing damage to our dna personally think that magnesium insufficiency causes an insidious type of damage daily that you can't look in the mirror and see like when you're deficient in vitamin c you're like my gums are falling apart i have scurvy right but like you can't see dna damage you can't see it but it's happening it's happening right now in my body and it's happening in your body"

Dr. Patrick emphasizes magnesium's critical role in cellular energy production (ATP) and DNA repair. She posits that magnesium deficiency leads to subtle, daily damage that is not outwardly visible, unlike conditions like scurvy from vitamin C deficiency, highlighting the insidious nature of this micronutrient's insufficiency.

"the idea that being in this semi stressful environment would aid in the learning and and retention of information is is really well substantiated by this it's beautiful work by a guy named james mcgaugh he was at uc irvine for a while and then i think at uh university of arizona as well and they have a great memory group at both places very strong in learning and memory and he was the one that really defined this um kind of inverted u shaped function for the relationship between adrenaline and memory basically if you're too relaxed and not stressed enough you're not going to remember any information at peak levels of stress you actually are a memory machine at least within the context of whatever it is you're trying to learn"

Dr. Patrick connects the stress induced by sauna use to enhanced learning and memory retention, citing the work of James McGaugh. She explains McGaugh's findings on the inverted U-shaped relationship between adrenaline and memory, where moderate stress levels optimize memory function, while too little or too much stress impairs it.