Anticipating a pandemic, fasting and immunity

Bit of catch up with a double dose of research updates and news from the lab at Porton.

Anticipating a pandemic

We got back into Porton Down Science Park this week for the first time since lockdown, to support our neighbours Public Health England with the Covid-19 Sero-epidemiology study. Public Health England has an ongoing sero-prevalence programme to assess how well the population is protected from vaccine preventable diseases. Historical methods use random samples left over blood samples from different healthcare laboratories around the country and examine them to see what protection they have from vaccine preventable diseases. As part of an enhancement to this system, a new systematic method in which new blood samples are actively and repeatedly drawn from a representative cross section of society, hopes to provide an invaluable resource for understanding the levels of immunity against vaccine preventable disease. This in turn should allow health agencies us to better anticipate the re-emergence of new diseases in the future.

On the subject of sensing and anticipating behaviours across large, distributed networks of people, we also got to continue some experimentation on the use of Graphs to better anticipate, predict and adapt knowledge worker networks in real time. Nena Shah and Jonathan Larson and the teams at Microsoft Research and Workplace Intelligence recently published this paper "Towards resilience: adapting to crisis through the lens of organisational networks" that explains the work in more detail and how we can make human machine systems more resilient in the face of rapidly emerging challenges - worth a read.

Research Highlights

Aerobic exercise makes your brain younger. Researchers recruited 206 older adults (average age of 66) with no history of cardiovascular or memory problems. Participants were enrolled in a supervised aerobic exercise program held three days per week. After six months of the exercise regimen, participants improved by 5.7% on tests of executive function (including mental flexibility and self-correction). Verbal fluency (how quickly you can retrieve information) improved by 2.4%, an improvement tantamount to being five years younger. These improvements appeared to be linked to a 2.8% average increase in blood flow to the brain following the exercise intervention.

Coffee drinking is linked to lower body fat in women. Researchers examined cross-sectional data from NHANES to determine the relationship between cups of coffee consumed per day and levels of body fat. They found that women aged 20-44 who drank 2-3 cups of coffee daily had 3.4% lower body fat than those who did not drink coffee. Among women aged 45-69, those who drank 4+ cups had an adiposity percentage 4.1% lower. Findings were consistent regardless of whether the coffee was caffeinated or not, and results were independent of smoking status and chronic disease.

Soft drink intake is associated with weight gain - regardless of physical activity levels. Researcher analyzed data on soft drink intake, physical activity, and anthropometrics from 1268 health workers and their families, who were assessed at baseline (2004-2006), and then at followup (2010-2012). They found that an increase in one serving per day of soft drinks was associated with 0.10 kg increase in weight per year. Importantly, this association was not modified by leisure-time physical activity; people who complied with the WHO physical activity guidelines gained a similar amount of weight in relation to soft drink intake, compared with those who did not engage in sufficient exercise. The truism that you cannot outrun a bad diet seems to be, at least to some degree, accurate.

Vitamin D is linked to COVID-19 incidence and mortality rate. Researchers collected data on mean levels of vitamin D in 20 different European countries, as well as cases and fatalities caused by COVID-19 in these nations. They found that lower mean levels of vitamin D was associated with a higher number of COVID-19 cases per one million individuals, as well as higher rates of morbidity and mortality.

Adding spices to food may attenuate postprandial inflammation. Twelve men with overweight/obesity participated in a 3-period crossover study. In random order, subjects consumed: 1) a high-fat high-carb meal, that meal containing 2 g spice blend, or a that meal containing 6 g spice blend. The spice blend consisted of basil, bay leaf, black pepper, cinnamon, coriander, cumin, ginger, oregano, parsley, red pepper, rosemary, thyme, and turmeric. Compared to the meal without added spice, IL-1β secretion from LPS-stimulated peripheral blood mononuclear cells was significantly reduced (1314%) at 240 minutes after consumption of the 6 gram spice blend.

Low vitamin K status is associated with increased risk of all-cause mortality. Researchers obtained individual participant-level data from multiple large cohorts with available measures of fasting circulating phylloquinone (vitamin K-1) and confirmed mortality. Among 3891 participants, those with ≤0.5 nmol/L circulating phylloquinone had an adjusted 19% higher risk of all-cause mortality compared with those with >1.0 nmol/L. Risk of incident cardiovascular disease did not significantly differ according to circulating phylloquinone status, so the mechanism underlying this association remains uncertain. Probably a good idea to eat your greens, in any case.

Podcasts We Loved This Week

Lydia Bourouiba: How diseases and epidemics move through a breath of air. Via TEDMED.

Sigal Samuel: How coronavirus spreads outdoors vs. indoors. Via Vox.

Alan Flanagan: Diet and Immunity. Via Sigma Nutrition Radio.

Michael Grandner: Screens, Technology, and Sleep - It’s Not All About the Blue Light. Via Sleep Junkies Podcast.

David Sinclair: Rewind Your Clock. Via the Rich Roll Podcast.

Feature & Content Updates

Air Quality: when most people think of air pollution, we usually think of outdoor particulate matter, like urban smog and vehicle exhausts. But indoor pollutants are estimated to be 2-5 times higher in the indoor environment than outside. This may not just affect our health, but also our cognitive performance - one study found that chess players who compete in tournaments in buildings with poorer air quality are more likely to make meaningful errors. The How-to Guide to Indoor Air Quality shows you how to test indoor air quality, and support maintenance of better air quality in your indoor spaces.

Talking Points are a feature that is unlocked once you complete a course (just click on the achievement badge), and offer a useful recap of key takeaways from the lessons to aid memory retention, and hopefully enhance your ability to use that information and convey it to others. We've recently added Talking Points to Physical Activity & Weight Control and Stress and Weight Control in the Ideal Weight Program, created by Stephan Guyenet. No point in studying something if you can’t use those insights later on!

Fasting is awesome because it ramps up autophagy, as well as growth hormone levels, and seems to have beneficial effects on insulin and leptin sensitivity. But from a practical standpoint, going without food... is tough because we aren't used to in an always on world. So in this guide, we try to make it easier. We break down different methods of fasting (like time-restricted, alternate day, etc), and some tips and considerations for making it through whatever fasting regimen you choose.

If you are looking to incorporate fasting into your life, this should help you figure out how to get started. For a deeper dive into the subject, please refer to our Fasting Program, developed by Jeff Rothschild.

Mediterranean diet: If fasting sounds too much, then the other option is to head to the Med. Pretty much everyone says that the traditional Mediterranean diet is healthy. But why did we come to believe that? And what specific benefits are observed in association with the diet? In the Clinical Research on the Mediterranean Diet course, we review the different levels of evidence - observational, experimental, and translational - that have been used to investigate and to understand the effects of the Mediterranean diet (or any other dietary pattern for that matter). We then examine the major trials that have tested components of the dietary pattern (primarily Lyon and PREDIMED), and finally walk through some of the specific aspects of health that have been shown to be affected by eating this way (cardiovascular health, metabolism, blood sugar control, cognition, longevity).

Some of these findings are worth considering - participants in the Lyon Diet Heart Study who adopted a more Mediterranean-style diet (and, importantly, started using a canola-based spread high in plant-derived omega-3s) were at a 72% reduced risk of suffering from or dying of a heart attack after four years in the study, compared to controls.

If you’re spending more of your life at home and less time going out and commuting, why not upgrade your knowledge and skills with some online educational content? The first lesson is just a little over two minutes long, the first lesson is free for everybody and if the cost of using the platform is too much, drop us a line and we'll sort you out.