Dog Food

Max is currently eating Acana dog food. I wanted to know if it would be easier/cheaper to make it myself (and make it vegetarian). After researching that, I eventually found out that the best solution is to buy vegetarian dog food.

I first dismissed the latter because I thought that this would be much more expensive. Only at the end of my research, I found out that the vegetarian dog food was cheaper than the one I was buying until now.

Previously – Acana

80 euro per bag of 17kg

€4,71 per kg

€1,13 estimated costs per day

DIY

€2,10 estimated costs per day

Based on list of ingredients adapted from this blog.

The mix I made consisted of 23% protein.

The costs per 700kcal would be €1,82 (so per ‘normal’ meal, so not too expensive and quite healthy)

(for myself: file is saved under personal – archive)

New – V-Dog Flakes / Crunchy Nuggets

53,50 per bag of 15kg

€3,57 per kg

€0,86 estimated costs per day

note 1: calories per gram estimated to be the same

note 2: Flakes is cheaper, but is Crunchy Nuggets are ‘brokjes’ so the same as Max has now

When I run out of the current food, I will be switching Max over to this food.

Various Ageing Stubs

Autophagy

Autophagy is the process by which cells (or cellular components) eat themselves under conditions of nutrient deprivation (AKA fasting)

https://podcastnotes.org/2019/07/11/autophagy/

Alzheimer’s

The vaccine research involved a new field in immunology called endobody vaccines.

Endobodies: Most vaccines prepare our body’s immune system to fight off so-called exogenous disease, such as measles or flu, caused by bacteria or viruses entering our blood. Endobody vaccines, on the other hand, prime our immune system to deal with malfunctioning internal parts of the body that it would otherwise ignore.

United Neuroscience.

(earlier work) epitopes – fragments of proteins, five to six amino acids long, that play a critical role in the body’s defence against external diseases.
The human immune system relies on a collection of cells and proteins to identify, neutralise and destroy invaders. The body’s first two lines of defence are inflammation and the so-called neutrophil cells. Inflammation is caused by damaged cells releasing chemicals that cause blood vessels in the area to leak, swelling the tissue with fluid and isolating the foreign substance. Neutrophils are white blood cells that then ingest invaders and break down their protein chains. The next wave of defence – white cells called microphages – “eat” the neutrophils, extracting fractions of the invading proteins and attaching them to the surface of their cell wall. These fractions are the so-called epitopes.

After the body has defeated the invasion, it stores a blueprint of the successful B cells and T cells. This makes it much faster at fighting another bout of the same disease, swamping the threat before it has time to spread. Most immunisation against disease involves mimicking an infection by injecting an inactivated or attenuated form of the invader to trigger the immune system – should an infection occur, the immune system will then respond before the person becomes ill.

She created synthetic versions of the tiny chains of amino acids that trigger the production of antibodies. In the case of her Alzheimer’s vaccine, this allowed her to develop a mechanism that triggers antibodies to the Alzheimer’s protein in the blood. These then attract T cells that attack any protein with an antibody attached.

Chang Yi’s vaccines use molecules that are so small, they don’t trigger inflammation.

Since then the disease has risen to become the leading cause of death for women and the second leading cause for men in the UK: combating Alzheimer’s would be a dramatic medical achievement. 

Over the last 15 years, UK mortality statistics have shown a steady decline in deaths from heart disease, strokes and most major cancers – for men and women. Over the same period the death rate from dementia – of which Alzheimer’s is the most common cause – has doubled: in part because lifespans have increased, and the effects of the disease increase with age. In the UK, there are currently 850,000 people living with dementia, and 500,000 – perhaps as many as two-thirds – have Alzheimer’s. 

A total of five drugs are available to relieve symptoms, but they cannot slow or stop the progression of the disease. There is no known cure. Following diagnosis, life expectancy is typically between three and nine years.

Although we don’t know much about Alzheimer’s, researchers believe its effects are caused by two rogue proteins, beta-amyloid and tau – high amounts of both are found in the brains of people with Alzheimer’s. Beta-amyloid was discovered in 1984, with tau identified two years later.

For reasons that are unclear, damaged beta-amyloid can misfold into a “sticky” form that clumps together in a tangle of fibres – called plaques – that accumulate around nerve cells and disrupt cell communication, metabolism and repair. 

Both proteins may cause brain cell damage, although researchers aren’t sure if high levels of beta-amyloid and tau cause Alzheimer’s or are symptoms of the condition. 

Chang Yi’s vaccine – UB-311 ( UB-312, the Parkinson’s vaccine )– couples a synthetic imitation of a common disease with a specific sequence of amino acids that are present only in the damaged beta-amyloid protein, and absent in the healthy form. This provokes an antibody response, clearing the tangled proteins away without provoking potentially damaging inflammation.

In January 2019, the company announced the first results from a phase IIa clinical trial in 42 human patients. “We were able to generate some antibodies in all patients, which is unusual for vaccines,” Chang Yi explains with a huge grin. “We’re talking about almost a 100 per cent response rate. So far, we have seen an improvement in three out of three measurements of cognitive performance for patients with mild Alzheimer’s disease.”

to immuno-sculpt people against chronic illness and chronic ageing with vaccines as prolific as vaccines for infectious diseases.

https://www.wired.co.uk/article/alzheimers-vaccine-united-neuroscience

Links June-July 2019

June-July 2019 – not all links, will be more consistent in the future.

https://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007%2F978-3-319-69892-2_395-1

Big library, found originally via Longevity Activism post/page on there

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/06/190617164701.htm

Antioxidant puts up fight, but loses battle against protein linked to Alzheimer’s disease

http://arep.med.harvard.edu/gmc/protect.html

Genetic alleles and protection they offer

https://www.ldeming.com/longevityfaq#explanation

Good beginners post, Laura Deming

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1474-9726.2009.00533.x

Mouse studies, only 1/5 (at least in this paper) showed longer lives through caloric restriction, some shorter

https://podcastnotes.org/2019/01/30/sinclair/

Interview with David Sinclair, notes from the podcast with many interesting links

https://podcastnotes.org/2019/01/17/attia-5/

Interview with Peter Attia, notes from the podcast with many interesting links

https://podcastnotes.org/2018/08/14/mtor/

Interview with David Sabatini, notes from the podcast with many interesting links, mtor discussion, Rapamycin

https://podcastnotes.org/2019/07/11/autophagy/

Podcast, Mike Mutzle, autophagy

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/15/opinion/future-billionaires.html

Paul Krugman, NYT, billionaires shouldn’t live forever, opinion piece (imagined future)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yfd041nvaIo&t=0s

Engineering Better Medicines from our Own Cells | Krystyn Van Vliet | TEDxMIT – better way to grow cells (outside the body) and use them as therapies

https://singularityhub.com/2019/07/30/scientists-just-released-a-new-playbook-for-engineering-longer-healthier-lives/

Playbook, described in Singularity Blog

Resveratrol

Promoted by David Sinclair, has financial stake, NAD boosters

” What is theoretically possible in the future remains unproven in humans and not ready for sale, experts say. “

Research by Sinclair and others helped spark interest in resveratrol, an ingredient in red wine, for its potential anti-aging properties. 

Sinclair co-founded a company, Sirtris, to test resveratrol’s potential benefits and declared in an interview with the journal Science it was “as close to a miraculous molecule as you can find.” GlaxoSmithKline bought the company in 2008 for $720 million. By the time Glaxo halted the research in 2010 because of underwhelming results with possible side effects, Sinclair had already received $8 million from the sale, according to Securities and Exchange Commission documents. He also had earned $297,000 a year in consulting fees from the company, according to The Wall Street Journal. (ok… XD)

“If you want to make money, hiring a sales rep to push something that hasn’t been tested is a really great strategy,” said Miller, who is testing substances on mice. “If instead you want to find drugs that work in people, you take a very different approach. It doesn’t involve sales pitches. It involves the long, laborious, slogging process of actually doing research.”

Top cited papers on google scholar:

Cancer chemopreventive activity of resveratrol, a natural product derived from grapes [1] 5,456 citations, Jang et al., 1997

mostly in mice / cultures

meta-study

most in mice, good effects

Resveratrol, a phytoalexin found in grapes and other food products, was purified and shown to have cancer chemopreventive activity in assays representing three major stages of carcinogenesis. Resveratrol was found to act as an antioxidant and antimutagen and to induce phase II drug-metabolizing enzymes (anti-initiation activity); it mediated anti-inflammatory effects and inhibited cyclooxygenase and hydroperoxidase functions (antipromotion activity); and it induced human promyelocytic leukemia cell differentiation (antiprogression activity). In addition, it inhibited the development of preneoplastic lesions in carcinogen-treated mouse mammary glands in culture and inhibited tumorigenesis in a mouse skin cancer model. These data suggest that resveratrol, a common constituent of the human diet, merits investigation as a potential cancer chemopreventive agent in humans.

Biological effects of resveratrol [2] 1741 citations

Full article not available, seems to be summary of research

” However, the bioavailability and metabolic pathways must be known before drawing any conclusions on the benefits of dietary resveratrol to health. “

Therapeutic potential of resveratrol: the in vivo evidence [3], 3315 citations, 2006

By Joseph A. Baur, and David A. Sinclair.

Resveratrol, a constituent of red wine, has long been suspected to have cardioprotective effects. Interest in this compound has been renewed in recent years, first from its identification as a chemopreventive agent for skin cancer, and subsequently from reports that it activates sirtuin deacetylases and extends the lifespans of lower organisms. Despite scepticism concerning its bioavailability, a growing body of in vivo evidence indicates that resveratrol has protective effects in rodent models of stress and disease. Here, we provide a comprehensive and critical review of the in vivo data on resveratrol, and consider its potential as a therapeutic for humans

Review of literature

Resveratrol has been considered to be a caloric restriction mimetic in lower organisms, primarily on the basis of its activation of sirtuin proteins and its capacity to extend lifespan9,14. In mammals, caloric restriction and resveratrol treatment afford protection against a similar spectrum of diseases (TABLE 1), justifying further investigation into the potential overlap in mechanism of action.

It is fair to say that the literature on resveratrol is, in many cases, contradictory and confusing. The wide range of concentrations and doses used to achieve the various effects reported for resveratrol (~32 nM–100 µM in vitro and ~100 ng–1,500 mg per kg (body weight) in animals) raises many questions about the concentrations that are achieved or achievable in vivo. Furthermore, resveratrol has a short initial half-life (~8–14 min for the primary molecule175,176) and is metabolized extensively in the body. As such, calculating the effective in vivo concentration of resveratrol or designing new studies based on the current literature can be daunting

In mammals, there is growing evidence that resveratrol can prevent or delay the onset of cancer, heart disease, ischaemic and chemically induced injuries, diabetes, pathological inflammation and viral infection. These effects are observed despite extremely low bioavailability and rapid clearance from the circulation. Administering higher doses to improve efficacy might not be possible as toxic effects have been observed at or above 1 g per kg (body weight)147. Moreover, administering a daily dose to a human weighing 75 kg with 100 mg per kg (body weight) of resveratrol would require 2.7 kg of resveratrol a year, at a current cost of about US$6,800. Therefore, blocking the metabolism of resveratrol, developing analogues with improved bioavailability, or finding new, more potent compounds that mimic its effects will become increasingly important.

However, activation of the mammalian Sir2 homologue SIRT1 by resveratrol has yet to be demonstrated in vivo, and our current lack of understanding of how caloric restriction brings about its effects precludes a more definitive mechanistic comparison

See references at the end for some good footnotes!

What about recent papers?

Mwah, nothing really good in humans…

https://khn.org/news/a-fountain-of-youth-pill-sure-if-youre-a-mouse/

Prof. dr. J.H.J. Jan Hoeijmakers

Jan Hendrik Jozef Hoeijmakers (Sevenum, 15 March 1951) is a Dutch molecular biologist, biochemist and molecular geneticist. He is known for his clarification of the DNA repair mechanisms and the effects of defects in the repair mechanism on genetic stability in old age, cancer and various hereditary disorders.

https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jan_Hoeijmakers

The team of Jan Hoeijmakers succeeded in cloning the first human DNA repair gene, Ercc1, followed by many more, discovered the very strong evolutionary conservation of DNA repair and an unexpected link with basal transcription.

His team identified which repair processes primarily protect from cancer and which from accelerated aging and succeeded in getting grip on the aging process in mice by modulating DNA repair and surprisingly by nutritional interventions. 

Rapid accumulation of unrepaired DNA damage in these mice may cause cancer or premature cell death and senescence, but triggers also an anti-aging, anti-cancer ‘survival response’ likely in an attempt to extend lifespan. 

In 2005 Hoeijmakers started a company called DNage and in 2012 he founded AgenD whose mission is to provide solutions for medical/health problems associated with aging. 

https://www.oncode.nl/research/groups/jan-hoeijmakers-group

Jan Hoeijmakers is Prof. Molecular Genetics at the Erasmus Medical Center in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. His research focuses on the mechanism and clinical impact of mammalian DNA repair. His team cloned half of the genes involved in nucleotide excision and transcription-coupled repair, enabling elucidation of the underlying molecular mechanisms, and generated the largest set of mouse repair mutants allowing insight into the etiology of human repair syndromes. He discovered that DNA damage and consequent transcription stress is a main cause of ageing and that dietary restriction dramatically delays accelerated aging in mouse repair mutants and corresponding human patients by reducing DNA damage. These findings have wide clinical implications for many aging-related diseases most strongly neurodegeneration, for reducing side effects of chemo- and radiotherapy, and ischemia reperfusion injury associated with surgery and organ transplantation. Jan Hoeijmakers heads research teams in the Erasmus Medical Center, the Princess Máxima Center for Pediatric Oncology in Utrecht and the CECAD in Cologne. For his scientific achievements Hoeijmakers has obtained many (inter)national awards and distinctions including the Spinoza award, Louis Jeantet Prize for Medicine in Europe, the Josephine Nefkens Prize for cancer research, 2 subsequent ERC advanced grants, the Koningin Wilhelmina Research Prize of the Dutch Cancer Society, recently the Thon Award of the Olav Thon Stiftelsen, etc.

https://ssiem2019.org/prof-dr-j-h-j-jan-hoeijmakers/

Articles

https://scholar.google.nl/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C5&q=J.+H.+J.+Hoeijmakers&btnG=

Web archive, erasmus MC profile

https://web.archive.org/web/20170201220024/http://www.erasmusmc.nl/MScMM/faculty/CVs/hoeijmakers_cv?lang=en

Rapamycin

DEF

Article: Rapamycin directly activates lysosomal mucolipin TRP channels independent of mTOR

https://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article?id=10.1371/journal.pbio.3000252

https://news.umich.edu/a-new-pathway-for-an-anti-aging-drug/

Rap and rapalogs promote autophagy via a TRPML1-dependent mechanism. Given the demonstrated roles of TRPML1 and TFEB in cellular clearance, we propose that lysosomal TRPML1 may contribute a significant portion to the in vivo neuroprotective and anti-aging effects of Rap via an augmentation of autophagy and lysosomal biogenesis.

  • “If you look at the administration of rapamycin across about a billion years worth of evolutionary animal models, everything from yeast to worms, fruit flies to mammals (mice and dogs), this compound seems to universally increase life”
  • Rapamycin binds to a complex, called mTOR (mechanistic target of rapamycin) in our cells and inhibits its function
  • mTOR regulates autophagy
    • When mTOR activity is turned down (by taking rapamycin), the body is more likely to undergo autophagy
      • Autophagy is the process by which cells eat themselves – the dysfunctional cells (like cancer cells) tend to be “eaten” first
    • In a sense – the inhibition of mTOR mimics what happens to the body in a nutrient sparse environment
  • Peter has been taking 5 mg of rapamycin for the last 3 months (he doesn’t specify how often, but it sounds like every 4-7 days)

  • In the Mannick study, the negative side effects when taking 5 mg of rapamycin once per week, compared to taking 1 mg every day, didn’t seem to be that much worse
    • But taking 20 mg once per week vs. 5 mg once per week, showed no additional immune benefit (however there were more negative side effects)
  • Matt Kaeberlein has done some studies on dogs, suggesting the optimal dosing in humans would be around 4-8 mg, in some sort of pulsatile/episodic fashion (every other day or every third day)
    • Why? – You don’t want to inhibit MTORC2 
      • If you dose with rapamycin every day, you don’t allow for TOR to be recirculated, and within a few days of consecutive dosing, you start to inhibit the creation of mTORC2
  • So in short, there’s no side effects to taking too little (just a lack of benefit), but you want to be careful about taking too much
  • If Peter were to guess the perfect dose: 4-6 mg every 4-7 days

  • Rapamycin (a drug) acts on a protein called mTOR (it inhibits its function)
  • Insulin, glucose, and amino acids activate mTOR
  • mTOR is responsible for many things, but perhaps most important is its regulation of autophagy
  • By suppressing mTOR through things like fasting, we increase autophagy
  • Human data suggests that an intermittent dosing of rapamycin is most beneficial

It’s now known there are two mTOR complexes

A

https://podcastnotes.org/2018/08/14/mtor/

NMN

David takes 1 g of NMN and 0.5g of resveratrol every morning mixed in with some yogurt 

A new study published in Nature Metabolism finally reveals the answer to how NMN enters the cell in order to become NAD+ and that it does not need to convert into NR to do so.

Nicotinamide mononucleotide (NMN) is a biosynthetic precursor of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+) known to promote cellular NAD+ production and counteract age-associated pathologies associated with a decline in tissue NAD+ levels. How NMN is taken up into cells has not been entirely clear. Here we show that the Slc12a8 gene encodes a specific NMN transporter. We find that Slc12a8 is highly expressed and regulated by NAD+ in the mouse small intestine. Slc12a8 knockdown abrogates the uptake of NMN in vitro and in vivo. We further show that Slc12a8 specifically transports NMN, but not nicotinamide riboside, and that NMN transport depends on the presence of sodium ion. Slc12a8 deficiency significantly decreases NAD+ levels in the jejunum and ileum, which is associated with reduced NMN uptake as traced by doubly labelled isotopic NMN. Finally, we observe that Slc12a8 expression is upregulated in the aged mouse ileum, which contributes to the maintenance of ileal NAD+ levels. Our work identifies a specific NMN transporter and demonstrates that Slc12a8 has a critical role in regulating intestinal NAD+ metabolism.

https://www.leafscience.org/nmn-crosses-cell-membrane/

NMN and Resveratrol Explained

  • Sirtuins are genes found to control aging in yeast cells
    • There are 7 of them in humans (5 in yeast)
    • They protect all organisms from deterioration and disease
    • Sirtuins essentially “sense when we’re hungry/exercising, and send out the troops to defend us”
    • When you put more sirtuins into a yeast cell or a mouse, it lives 5-20% longer
  • NMN and Resveratrol are molecules which essentially mimic the effects of the sirtuin genes
    • “You can think of resveratrol as the accelerator pedal for the sirtuin genes, and NMN as the fuel”
      • “Resveratrol steps on the accelerator pedal of the sirtuin enzymes”
    • So you need the fuel (NMN) for resveratrol to work
  • You can buy NMN on Amazon
  • Sirtuins need NAD to work
    • “In fact, if you didn’t have NAD in your body you’d be dead in about 30 seconds”
    • As we get older, our NAD levels drop  – by the time you’re 50, your NAD levels are about half what they were when you were 20
    • NMN also boosts NAD levels (like NR)
  • Why not just take NAD?
    • It’s taken up really poorly into cells (it’s a large molecule) – Dr. Peter Attia talked about this in these Podcast Notes
    • NMN is much smaller, and thus gets into cells easier

https://www.leafscience.org/nad-transporter-identified/

https://www.leafscience.org/nmn-crosses-cell-membrane/

https://www.nature.com/articles/s42255-018-0009-4

David Sinclair, director of Harvard’s Center for the Biology of Aging

“[In my lab] we’ve been working on the molecule NAD. We published in Cell in March that by raising NAD levels we could rapidly reverse many aspects of aging in mice. [We gave] old mice the ability to run like young mice again and actually out-compete young mice. That was happening because there was improved blood flow throughout the animal. The molecule that we used is called NMN. We put that in the water supply, and after just a week we saw an increase in endurance. We’re excited about this breakthrough because it shows that we understand why we lose blood flow as we get older, and why we get tired and feel frail. But it also shows that we have a very quick way of reversing that. You could imagine people who are tired, wheelchair-bound, or even bedridden, having energy to get out and exercise again.”

In Vitro & In Vivo

Many scientific paper refer to the way they have studie something as ‘in vitro’ or ‘in vivo’. What do these terms mean? What are the differences (with regards to research)? And what is an example of their use?

In vitro

In vitro studies are usually done with just a few cells in a controlled environment like a test tube or laboratory dish. In vitro is Latin for ‘within the glass’. This way researchers can look very specifically at only one process (and get more detailed results). Because of the relatively low costs and complexity, you can do many different experiments at low cost.

A downside is that in vitro studies may forgo the necessary complexity and ‘normal’ conditions that arise within a living organism. This is also called the absence of biokinetics: (the study of) the growth changes and movements that developing organisms undergo.

Examples of studies are those in microorganisms, cells, or biological molecules (proteins, DNA, RNA). For instance, you could study how RNA molecules bind to specific ligands (ion or molecule).

To better extrapolate from in vitro to in vivo you can do apply multiple techniques. You could increase the complexity of the in vitro system. Or you can use mathematical modelling to simulate a more complex system.

In vivo

In vivo studies are done in living organism. In vivo is Latin for ‘within the living’. An in vivo study can be done in animals (including humans), and plants. This way researchers can see the real-life effects of drugs and interventions. This could show that the effect doesn’t take place, or that other (negative) side-effects happen. The costs are higher than for in vitro, but you get a much more realistic experiment.

An example of an in vivo study is to see if the body actually absorbs the molecule or treatment. If it passes through your body without getting picked up, then modifications should maybe be made.

In vivo experiments are done in many different species. Of them the mouse is one of the best known. The roundworm c. elegans is another much used test subject. Of course in vivo experiments are also done on humans. Because each animal is different (had different metabolic processes) it doesn’t mean that something that works in vivo on one, does also work in the other.

How do they translate?

Not all experiments that yield the desired result in vitro, translate to in vivo outcomes. One reason could be that the molecule or drug is not able to reach the destination you want it to work in, for instance, because it can’t breach the blood-brain barrier.

The same caveat also applies to the difference between different animals used in in vivo experiments.

Currently, I couldn’t find useful/any data on how many studies translate from in vivo -> in vitro (yeast) -> in vitro (mouse) -> in vitro (human) (of course extra steps can be added or removed). I hope to update this part soon.

In silico studies

These tests are performed on a computer (simulation). The Latin here is the same as the English: silicon (chips). Although quite new, in silico techniques could help to find out how drugs interact with the body and with pathogens. Three ways this technique could be applied are:

  1. Bacterial sequencing techniques – sequencing bacterial DNA and RNA to identify bacteria
  2. Molecular modelling – how drugs interact with the nuclear receptors of cells
  3. Whole cell simulations – simulating how a (bacterial) cell behaves in an environment

Sources

https://mpkb.org/home/patients/assessing_literature/in_vitro_studies

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_vitro

https://www.verywellhealth.com/what-does-in-vivo-and-in-vitro-mean-2249118

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_vivo

Why I Started Long Life

I’m very curious to see if we can lead longer healthy lives. I believe that this is one of the most interesting fields out there and one where I might contribute to. Longevity research might have a disproportionately large impact on the world. This blog is my first investigation into this field. Below I spell out my reasons in more depth.

Real Solutions to a Hard Problem

As far back as our history goes, people have been searching for the Fountain of Youth. We don’t want to become old (but see the next part) and so we’ve been searching for tools to tackle diseases (symptoms) and the whole ageing process itself (causes). Now that we’ve started to understand a part of our metabolism a bit better, we might stand a chance to tackle this.

Research in the lab and in animals is promising. Some mouses live twice as long before, some genes are identified in the ageing process (by deactivating them), and some prominent scientists (notably Aubrey de Grey) predict that we have a good shot at finding robust solutions to the causes of ageing in 20 years.

I Want to Live Forever

I can’t imagine myself wanting to grow old. To have pain everywhere, to battle cancer, to be in the hospital more than outside of it. Growing old has been romanticised and many people believe that it’s even good to have an expiry date. That motivates you to live a full life, right?

Well, I think that the opposite also is true. If we were to live to 150, 600, or forever, wouldn’t we take more care of the planet? Make better life decisions? Save more for the future?

And imagine the wisdom that we might accumulate. Think of the professors that don’t need to retire, the scientists that can keep on theorising, the chess grandmasters that can keep on learning. Think of the full life you can live, the countries you can visit, the love you might experience.

One of the inspirations for this blog has been this article: The Fable of the Dragon-Tyrant by Nick Bostrom. It uses the analogy of a dragon (for death) and how the people living under the dragon are used to sacrificing their family and friends to it. But what if we were able to stop the sacrifice, to keep your loved ones alive. Also, see this video by CGP Grey that summarised the article:

Longevity is Multidisciplinary

Another reason for my interest in longevity is the reason that it brings together many different disciplines. And I think that interesting research happens at the intersection of multiple areas.

For me, it brings together artificial intelligence (e.g. DeepMind doing protein folding, learning algorithms helping with drug discovery), biology (e.g. CRISPR), entrepreneurship (the many companies that have sprung up, and a chance for me to have an impact in this field), and ethics (e.g. who will get to live forever, “The future is already here — it’s just not very evenly distributed” – William Gibson) . Of course, it brings together many other fields, people, and ideas.

Now is the Time for Me

At Queal (where I’m the co-founder and CEO), we’re at a very good point and I’ve freed up some time to think about other ideas (about a day or so as of writing this). I will use this time to start an inquiry into what we (collectively) know about ageing and what we can do. At the start, I will first try and deduce what different areas/subtopics (e.g. molecular damage, dietary influences) there are, and what the latest knowledge is there. I will also focus on finding the right sources (news/scientific) to keep up with the latest discoveries.

I hope I’ve been able to give a good overview of my reasons for starting this blog. With that being said, I will leave you with this final note:

This is Why We Die

Most of us die from ageing. For every person that dies in a car accident, 34 have died from cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and other age-related diseases. Compared to homicide (105 to 1) and conflict (357 to 1) it’s even more striking[1].

Yet we don’t focus most of our energy on preventing age-related diseases. And maybe with good reason, one day we will die (probably). But what if we could extend our healthy lifespan by 10, 20, 50 or even more years. I for one think that is a very exciting possibility.

Today is the right time to start thinking about this, or as the Chinese would say: “The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago, the second best time is now.” To the best of my knowledge, we are now at the point where we start to understand some of the underlying processes that cause ageing.

The elixer of life is now growing on the tree of knowledge and this is my first step at learning more about this.

Why We Die

With all that being said, here are the 7 reasons/categories why we die. I’ve taken these from Aubrey de Grey (wiki), a brilliant gerontologist/connector/promoter of the fight against ageing. Here we go:

  1. Mutations – in chromosomes
    • this causes cancer due to changes in the nuclear DNA, proteins that bind to this, or molecules that contain genetic information in the eukaryotes
  2. Mutations – in mitochondria
    • this causes problems in the energy-producing parts of a cell (the mitochondria), again these are changes to the (local) DNA
  3. Junk – inside of cells
    • when the junk inside the cell is not being cleaned/digested properly neurodegenerative diseases rear their heads
  4. Junk – outside of cells
    • the same but this time outside/in-between cells, Alzheimer’s senile plaques are the most well-known example of this
  5. Cells – too few
    • some cells don’t get replaced (or too slowly) and this makes us weaker with age (Parkinson’s disease, immune system)
  6. Cells – too many
    • the dead cells that don’t divide but also are in the way (senescence), they can block space for living cells or even secrete proteins that do harm
  7. Extracellular protein crosslinks
    • cells are held together by linking proteins and when too many connections form, they lose elasticity

Which Diseases are Responsible?

If we look at it from another angle, the diseases that kill us, what is it that actually takes us out? All of them have links to the 7 systems described above, yet all in different ways, which I hope to describe in future in-depth blogs.

  1. Cardiovascular diseases (18 million, 32%)
    • A class of diseases that involve the heart or blood vessels
    • “The most important determinant of cardiovascular health is a person’s age.”[2]
    • Related terms: caloric restriction (CR), sirtuins, IGF-1, rapamycin (mTOR)
  2. Cancers (9 million, 17%)
    • A disease caused by an uncontrolled division of abnormal cells in a part of the body
    • “Ageing is the inevitable time-dependent decline in physiological organ function and is a major risk factor for cancer development. “[3]
    • Related terms: genomic instability, telomere attrition, epigenetic changes, loss of proteostasis, decreased nutrient sensing and altered metabolism, cellular senescence and stem cell function
  3. Respiratory disease (3.5 million, 7%)
    • A type of disease that affects the lungs and other parts of the respiratory system. Includes asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), pulmonary fibrosis, pneumonia, and lung cancer [4]
    • “The respiratory system undergoes various anatomical, physiological and immunological changes with age. The structural changes include chest wall and thoracic spine deformities which impairs the total respiratory system compliance leading to increase work of breathing .”[5]
    • Related terms: Stiffening of the thoracic cage (7th underlying principle), lower respiratory muscle strength (especially in men),
  4. Diabetes, blood and endocrine disease (3 million, 6%)
    • A disease in which the body’s ability to produce or respond to the hormone insulin is impaired, resulting in abnormal metabolism of carbohydrates and elevated levels of glucose in the blood
    • “Almost one-third of U.S. adults over the age of 65 years have diabetes. Approximately half of those are undiagnosed, and an additional one-third of older adults have prediabetes.”[6]
    • Related terms: impaired glucose intolerance, postprandial hyperglycemia, defects in β-cell function, metformin
  5. Lower respiratory infections (2.5 million, 4,5%)
    • Lower respiratory tract infections are any infections in the lungs or below the voice box. These include pneumonia, bronchitis, and tuberculosis
    • Viruses, bacteria, fungal infections, and mycoplasma are the main causes.
    • I guess this one is a bit of an odd one out, it’s not so much related to ageing as to health (in how strong your body is to overcome this). Also, the main burden of it is felt in subsahara Africa. [7]
  6. Dementia (2.5 million, 4,5%)
    • Dementia is a general term for a decline in mental ability severe enough to interfere with daily life. Memory loss is an example. Alzheimer’s is the most common type of dementia
    • “Epidemiological studies have shown that dementia could be avoided even at extreme old ages.” The incidence of dementia has also gone down in the last few decades. [8,9]
    • Related terms: Amyloid-beta, microglia (CD22), P. gingivalis
  7. Neonatal deaths (1.7 million, 3%)
    • The first cause on the list that is not directly related to ageing
    • Neonatal deaths are all the children that die in the first month
    • This has fallen dramatically from 140/1000 (14%) to 5/1000 (0,5%) of births [10]
  8. Diarrheal diseases (1.7 million, 3%)
    • The second cause on the list that is not directly related to ageing
    • Diarrheal diseases are a collection of diseases caused by multiple viral, bacterial, and parasitic organisms that share the common symptom of diarrhoea, defined as the passage of three or more loose or liquid stools per day
    • Especially kids and the elderly are the most at risk (thus in a way linking it to ageing, at least for the latter group)
  9. Road incidents (1.3 million, 2%)
    • Not related to ageing, and unfortunately something that hasn’t gone down over the last 10 years
    • It has gone down in some countries (e.g. Germany) where safety measures prevent deaths
    • The most vulnerable group is in the 70+ bracket (35/100.000 people)
  10. Liver disease (1.3 million, 2%)
    • Not strictly related to ageing, but damage over time may lead to liver cancer

Together this top 10 causes of death cover approximately 85% of deaths. If we remove all those not strictly related to ageing, we still have 73% of deaths that are related to ageing directly.

Other Causes?

I think this list doesn’t cover everything we think of when we image death. Two things are missing that many relate to deaths. The first is war/conflict/terrorism [11]. The second is our lifestyle.

War used to be a much more common cause of death. Until the 20th century, most countries were at war, not at peace. The peak in the last 100 years was the second world war, with 22 deaths per 100.000. Today it stands at just over 1 per 100.000.

Our lifestyle is not something to boast about. Obesity stands at 13% worldwide, and at 28% in North America and Europe [12]. And I think that this can be one of the causes/co-factors of many of the causes of death listed above. Together with air pollution, bad diets, no exercise and other lifestyle related choices, we should count ourselves lucky that we’re actually living this long.

In this post I’ve explored the causes of death and looked at the diseases that eventually tackle us. I’m optimistic that we will find solutions to most, if not all, of these in the coming decades. Our solutions should be combined with an approach in which we also make sure we do our best to keep our body healthy through diet and exercise.

To end a short analogy. Imagine yourself as a car. If you run it down, put in the wrong fuel, and eventually drive it total loss in a car accident, you would be a very irresponsible driver. If you take good care of your car, change the oil when needed, and sometimes push the peddle to the floor for just a sprint, then you might have a longer journey ahead. If then someone comes along and replaces a part of the car, or gives it a special fuel that restores the engine, you might be driving the car for a very long time to come.

Longevity Websites

In my first exploration of longevity, I’m looking at who is doing what already. Here is an (incomplete) list:

Websites/Community/Non-profit

https://www.sens.org/ – SENS Research Foundation, research, education, outreach

https://www.lifespan.io/ – Website for funding research projects, blogs, and a great Rejuvenation Roadmap

https://www.reddit.com/r/longevity/top/?t=week – Subreddit for longvity, good (read: critical) comments (sorted by new)

https://neo.life/ – Original reporting on ageing (and a bit wider), by Jane Metcalfe, found via this article on Longevity as the greatest investment

https://www.longevity.international/ – Online platform, under construction, backed by Longevity International Consortium, Biogerontology Research Foundation, Aging Analytics Agency and Deep Knowledge Life Sciences, good overviews (summary here)

Companies

http://www.gerostatealpha.com/ – Gerostate Alpha – 3 well-known researchers

https://www.calicolabs.com/ – Calico, backed by Alphabet, no products, some turnover, $1.5b research center

https://verily.com/ – Verily, backed by Alphabet, $1.8b funding, work on monitoring, interventions, precise medicine (not root causes?)

https://unitybiotechnology.com/ – Unity Biotech, developing medicines that potentially halt, slow or reverse age-associated diseases, while restoring human health. Senolytic medicines

https://www.springdisc.com/ – Spring Discovery, machine learning for ageing research, $18m+ funding

https://insilico.com/ – Insilico Medicine, artificial intelligence for drug discovery, biomarker development & ageing research

https://www.longevity.vc/ – Longevity Fund, venture capital investing in longevity research

https://www.juvenescence.ai/ – Juvenescence, drug development and artificial intelligence (AI) company focused on ageing and age-related diseases. (parent company)

Other

https://ourworldindata.org/ – Research and interactive data visualizations to understand the world’s largest problems

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outline_of_life_extension – Wikipedia overview, and here an index of related topics

https://www.ldeming.com/longevityfaq#explanation – Laura Demin (Longevity Fund) explanation of ageing research

https://www.bluezones.com/ – Based on the Blue Zones (where people live long), correlation?, and only small effect

Older / Less Active

http://aginginmotion.org/blog/ – Advancing research and treatment of sarcopenia and age-related functional decline

https://joshmitteldorf.scienceblog.com/index-to-this-blog/ – Blog by Josh Mitteldorf (started September 2012)

http://act-ad.org/ – Accelerate Cure / Treatments for Alzheimer’s Disease

https://agingportfolio.org/ – Knowledge bank on ageing research, from 2011 (not active?)

https://www.agingresearch.org/about-us/ – Aliance for aging research (founded in 1986), infographic

http://www.anti-agingfirewalls.com/ – A weblog on the sciences and practices of living healthily very long by Vince Giuliano

http://www.brainpreservation.org/ – Brain Preservation Foundation (BPF), whole brain preservation (price, mammal brain preserved)

https://www.crsociety.org/ – Caloric restriction, old forum (still active), with some good posts

http://ageing-research.blogspot.com/ – Cellular Senescence blog – last post start 2018

More Organisations

https://www.afar.org/ – American Federation for Aging Research (AFAR), business organisation (B2B)/promoter, metformin trail

https://www.asaging.org/ – American Society on Aging, business organisation (B2B), more focus on quality of life

https://www.americanagingassociation.org/ – American Aging Association, business organisation (B2B), dedicated to understanding the basic mechanisms of aging in order to enable humankind to preserve and restore functions typically lost to age-related degeneration, and to extend the healthy human lifespan, linked to AFAR

https://www.a4m.com/ – American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine (A4M), also Metabolic Medical Institute (MMI)

https://alliancerm.org/ – Alliance for Regenerative Medicine (ARM), development of safe and effective regenerative medicines and advanced therapies worldwide

http://bsra.org.uk/ – British Society for Research on Ageing (BSRA), promotion an d funding for causes and effects of ageing

http://www.cellage.org/ – CellAge, destroy aged cells, didn’t get of the ground?

https://www.churchofperpetuallife.org/ – Church of Perpetual Life (faith in technology, interesting/old website)

http://www.rlecoalition.com/ – Coalition for Radical Life Extension, conferences on radical life extension

https://www.cohbar.com/ – CohBar is a clinical stage biotechnology company whose mission is to increase healthy lifespan by developing treatments for the underlying metabolic dysfunction driving the diseases of ageing

https://dogagingproject.org/ – Dog Aging Project, study of ageing in dogs with rapamycin as possible drug

Financial Independence

This is the essay for the second theme of my 2020 goals.

In this essay, I will research how best to think about my financial situation. A part of this is related to the why (what does money enable), and a large part is also related to time (because that is often juxtaposed to money).

Currently, I don’t have much money/cash, but I hope that in the future I will be able to accumulate some wealth (and/or give it away effectively). So better prepare now. And I think many of the lessons do apply to my (and your) daily life already.

Learning Goals

  1. How do I compare spending now vs saving? (time value of money, interest, etc)
  2. How should I spend my working/productive time? (opportunity cost, freedom)
  3. How can I invest?
    1. Is there a place where I have an informational advantage?
    2. Which stocks to buy? (which ‘basket’, via which broker (de Giro?))
    3. Are there even other opportunities next to stocks? (real estate?)
  4. Am I spending money on the right things? (monthly checks)
  5. How can I best save for retirement? (change anything?)
  6. How do the taxes work? (wealth, income, dividends, etc)
    1. Can I make a good model for this?
  7. How much money would I need to ‘retire’ (FIRE/LEAN FIRE)?
  8. How do I protect the downside? (tail risk, black swans)
  9. How do I look at the above in relationship to Effective Altruism / donating? (e.g. make even more to donate more)
  10. What are cool (or informative boring ones) blogs/websites/videos to follow to keep learning?

Plan of Attack

  1. Coordinate with a friend about the topic/who will research what
  2. Define what my goals are for my finances (what does it enable?)
  3. Recap what I already know (books, videos, etc)
  4. Do the research
  5. Write down learnings/plan here
  6. Make an implementation plan (7. Profit)

Financial Goals

The goals below are somewhat chronologically/more expensive. They are mostly based on income/wealth and not really on spending, mostly because almost everything I do is cheap/within just about every Dutch person’s reach.

  1. Earn a living wage (have enough money to pay the bills)
  2. Save money for my pension each month
  3. Have money spare to do nice things (vacations)
  4. Have money to donate
  5. Own a house
  6. Pay of that house
  7. Pay down student debt (someday)
  8. Invest in stocks/bonds/other
  9. Build wealth
  10. Live of that wealth (if needed)

What I’ve Learned

I’ve decided to stick to the questions I’ve had before and wrote down my learnings.

How do I compare spending now vs saving? (time value of money, interest, etc)

This is based on that you shouldn’t save all your money and then spend it when you’re old and can’t enjoy it (or are dead).

For myself, I would say that spending anything on things I could also do for free or cheaper is somewhat of a waste of money. With that attitude, I think I will have enough money left to donate and save.

Let me give an example here. I think that getting coffee at Starbucks is somewhat of a waste (so I aim to always bring my own coffee / get it for free at the office which is near Starbucks). But I do spend some money on festivals because I enjoy that more than say only taking walks in the park.

I do think that I will be happier if I have more money saved (so saving in itself is a good thing), but that the effect on the day-to-day is very small.

What I can imagine is that I should spend some money now to save in the future and that I shouldn’t be hesitant to do this (e.g. to get solar panels)

Actionable: Make a budget (well I have one, so updating it, see appendix 1).

How should I spend my working/productive time? (opportunity cost, freedom)

I think that working on interesting problems is one of the most important things. I think that should also include things that allow me to make money or free up time to work on interesting things that don’t make money.

Or in other words, spending some more (boring) time on maximizing income should be done if that frees up time to work on new (non-paying) interesting problems/ideas.

But… only to a certain degree. You (or I) shouldn’t work for 100 hours a week to make a lot of money (e.g. as a lawyer or consultant) as to ‘later’ be able to use that money to ‘enjoy’ life. I think that at all moments you should enjoy life and only work until there are no more benefits (short or long term) from it.

How can I invest?

You can’t time the market (see A Random Walk Down Wall Street) so buying stocks every month is one of the best (if not the best) strategies.

Below are the more specific questions about where to invest (money-wise).

Another book that I liked is The Most Important Thing. This is more sensible advice on how to think about investing, more for the active investor.

Is there a place where I have an informational advantage?

Maybe one day there is an informational advantage to be had in either psychedelics or longevity. Both are of great interest to me, but I haven’t looked at the investment space yet. I also doubt that there is much a single investor can do here at this moment (i.e. it’s only for funds and other organizations).

I do think that my psychology (calm, thoughtful, second-order thinking) is suited for investing. But I do know that I don’t know much. So, for now, I will defer this question to my advice on investing (for a pension) the same amount every month.

Which stocks to buy? (which ‘basket’, via which broker (de Giro?))

As far as my reading of blogs and reviews goes, DeGiro is the best place for people in The Netherlands to buy stocks. If I do commit to this way of investing, I will update which tracker/basket (or individual stocks?) I’ve bought.

At this moment (March 2020) I will also leave this question open. I might investigate this further (or defer to friends) when I want to buy stocks outside pension investments.

Update (April 2020)

DeGiro has various trackers (baskets) that you can buy. The most popular are:

  • Vanguard FTSE – worldwide, costs 0,25% per year (cp/y)
  • Vanguard S&P 500 – tech stocks, 0,07% cp/y
  • iShares MSCI World A – worldwide, 0,20% cp/y
  • iShares S&P 500 – tech stocks, 0,07% cp/y

The most popular trackers, like the ones above, are free to buy (so no transaction costs if you have one transaction per month!) (see this blog with info about finding all these, and the official list here).

Most blogs say that buying the first one is the best/most recommended. Personal preferences may also lead you to buy the second (which is already a large part of the first, but more focused on tech).

Some may even argue that you want to buy individual stocks, but I would urge against this. Historic results are no guarantee for the future, one company can fall (but an index will keep rising), you are not a professional investor, you could just be lucky – for a while.

Shares or bonds?

The advice, by the founder of Vanguard, is to have XX% shares and YY% bonds, where the latter is your age (e.g., of you’re 30, you will have 70% stocks, 30% bonds).

I think this makes sense, but with me planning on living far beyond 70 years of age (when people plan on withdrawing money, and thus want fewer fluctuations), I think I will stick to a higher percentage of stocks. The exact percentage, I will have to see.

Buy all at once or spread it out?

I might have a relatively significant amount of money to invest (versus the €300 I now invest in pension-investing every month). I’ve searched if I should invest it all in one go, or spread that investment out.

This Vanguard article says that historically the lump sum way works best. But investing over a longer time may lower your chances of regret (e.g. by not investing everything just before a crash).

Are there even other opportunities next to stocks? (real estate?)

After looking into this (with a friend), this is only possible if you’ve paid off your own house. Then it would possibly be interesting, but it has many risks also associated with it.

So for now, I’m sticking to stocks.

See appendix 2 for more info.

Am I spending money on the right things? (monthly checks)

This point fits nicely in with appendix 1. Here I look at my monthly budget and take a snapshot of how I spend my money. This will change over time and every month I fill in my excel to track this. Please message me if you want to have an (empty) copy to make your own plan.

How can I best save for retirement? (change anything?)

I will stick to €300 investment into a pension investing every month. I have some ‘sandbox’ calculations where I can see that at low expenses this is all I ‘need’, so for now I will just invest/give away everything above what I spend.

How do the taxes work? (wealth, income, dividends, etc) Can I make a good model for this?

Together with a friend, I’ve made a model of this and as with the other things, feel free to ask me for it.

The key points are:

  • Dividend income is taxed lower than salary, so we have our ‘normal’ DGA loon, and the rest is dividends
  • Wealth taxes only apply at a very high level and soon probably only above 440k
  • You will be taxed over your income if you’re retired, this includes the AOW and pension-savings (pensioenfonds).

How much money would I need to ‘retire’? (FIRE/LEAN FIRE)

Well, I don’t plan on ever retiring and sitting behind the petunias. I also plan to live for a whole long while (see here). And that is living in good health (mental and physical), so therefore I also plan to stay productive and be able to earn enough (and have low expenses).

Ok, that all being said. I’ve modeled some scenarios (again, feel free to ask for the excel) and these are some concrete (probably wrong, but in the right ballpark) numbers:

All of the below numbers assume a ‘safe’ withdrawal rate of 4% of the principal (the money saved).

They also include €826,80 gross income from AOW (government handout to all people with a pension – but I think it will go up with inflation) and my own pension saved (estimated at €1754 gross – (already in ‘future’ euro’s – so no inflation correction here). They are not included in the ‘before 70 y/o’ section.

FIRE – Financial Independence Retire Early

If I would want to keep on living as I do now, with the same expenditures, I would need the following:

After 70 y/o: €390.000 (or €235k if no mortgage – INM)

Before 70 y/o: €1.180.000 (€900.000 INM)

Lean FIRE

If I would live on the ‘bachelor’ budget (see appendix 1), I would need the following:

After 70 y/o: €30.000 (€- INM)

Before 70 y/o: €700.000 (€550k INM)

So it does really differ a lot if my (our) expenditures are high or low when I ‘retire’. If, after 70 years (the assumed retirement age) I retire and spend little, I need virtually no savings, but if I want to retire now and keep on living at the same pace, the amount of money needed is substantial.

A few notes. The model is somewhat pessimistic in money from AOW (could be higher) – but with inflation could be the same. And it takes into account an average amount of taxation on savings in a few trances, so the actual taxation is a bit lower (see here for more on ‘vermogensbelasting’)

How do I protect the downside? (tail risk, black swans)

One thing I think is important here (besides that you read The Black Swan), is to limit expenditures. This is what limits the amount of money needed to be saved and then also the amount of taxes you have to pay over that amount of money.

Later. Emergency fund?

How do I look at the above in relationship to Effective Altruism / donating? (e.g. make even more to donate more)

If I look at my budget (appendix 1), then one could argue that everything above €3000 income (net) is too much (i.e. could be donated – on top of the €250 already in there).

But I also want to save money to be able to ‘retire’, I want to buy off the mortgage on the house, and I still have quite a lot of student debts.

This is my draft for the spending percentages of the ‘extra’ money above €3000:

  • first €1000 on mortgage
  • then 50% donated, 50% saved for student loans (start paying back in 2022) / investments
    • Donation minimum is €3000 per year, so this will supersede the other two categories (investments/mortgage) if need be
    • The money saved for student loans is also the money I will invest (so everything above student loans is investment money)
    • So, if I’ve ‘saved’ the student loan money, the 50% is investment
    • And if I’ve paid off the mortgage, I could just keep the 50/50 donating and investing
    • I plan to invest (put money into stocks) every month, and take out money for donating in December (read: On average I could gain 3.5% by doing this)

What are cool (or informative boring ones) blogs/websites/videos to follow to keep learning?

Implementation Plan

I’ve already implemented most of the things discussed. I do think I could be spending less and will focus on doing those regular things better (getting a beer at the supermarket, getting free coffee at work, etc).

But the main focus points, over time, will be on investing and making the most of the money. And of course, being able to donate.

With my next venture (now in the early phases), I also plan to donate away everything where possible, as long as there is enough money to keep the business going.

I plan to write out my views for that soon.

Appendix 1 – Personal Budget

This is my personal budget and some notes on what I think falls into each category and possible actionables. This budget is also my budget and doesn’t include my girlfriend’s expenses (but does include our combined expenses / 2).

Income

Total Income: €3000 (this is variable and based on the ‘DGA loon’ plus a little extra (e.g. Airbnb income))

Expenses

Mortgage: €410 (I understand that this is extremely low, I’ve paid off a part of the mortgage already so that factors in)

Repairs: €125 (VVE – collective money for repairs)

Improvements: €100 (other improvements, like insulating glass, later solar panels (not possible), so not something regularly, but good to have it in the budget)

Electricity: €65 (I think this also includes gas but could be a bit higher together – maybe this will be updated to €100 ish)

Water: €15 (for the municipality)

Sewer: €80 (it’s a smaller amount per month, but includes a once-a-year payment to the municipality)

Cleaning: €0 (no housekeeper, can do it ourselves plus Anne (our cleaning robot – highly recommended, as is a cordless vacuum))

Phone: €7,50 (no-phone abbo, 2gb)

Internet: €34 (alas no fiber internet yet)

TV: €0 (also no Netflix for me, girlfriend does have it in her personal budget)

Insurance: €105 (Medical, Travel, Home/Inventory insurance)

Medical: €40 (budget, but averaged €5 in 2019)

Groceries: €180 (seems reasonable, but I think it could be lower, €6 per day now – pandemic update: this is much higher as going out and other categories have folded into this one)

Clothing: €45 (I don’t really shop that much, if at all, for fashion, so it’s mostly new shoes, pants, etc when needed)

Mobility: €80 (I was over budget here, with €97 per month last year, of that €34 is weekend-free for NS, rest is also mostly NS – pandemic update: also much lower)

Pets: €80 (food for Max, some indestructible toys)

Dining: €30 (1x per month)

Brunch: €30 (1,5/2x per month)

Going Out: €140 (everything from going climbing, to seeing a movie, festival, could also be a bit lower)

Drinks: €60 (could/should be lower, budget recently separated from ‘going out’)

Personal Care: €15 (things bought at pharmacy)

Sports: €20 (sports attributes, now low because the gym is below office (free))

Tech: €150 (this is too high, also a bit of a catch-all of websites, but includes new phone, laptop, etc – some/a part also gets reimbursed by work)

Gifts: €30 (actual was €42 last year)

Vacation: €500 (also quite high budget, but only for this year (2 months away, and ski, and with friends 11 days – normal budget is €250)

Donations: €250 (will probably be higher soon)

Books: €20 (actual was €4, so a large portion disappeared in the ‘tech’ category)

Pension: €300 (I’m saving this per month via BrandNewDay for my pension)

Savings: €50 (what is left after the rest – this excludes some money from my girlfriend for the house, the large vacation budget, and possibly higher income – but overall it’s quite balanced as a basis)

Or in other words, in this budget, I spend €2950 per month. Some of it comes back through taxes on the donations and pension. I estimate that the total out-of-pocket expenses in this budget are €2745 per month (€32.940 p/y).

What if I lived just as a bachelor, without a girlfriend but with a social life. Then I expect that I will not spend €2950, but only €1942 per month (€23.304 p/y). Most of the savings come from the lower vacation budget of ZERO. Or €1392 (€16704 p/y) without donations and pension (which now already are partially deductible).

Or even massaged further, to see what I could theoretically live on if the house is paid off and I live alone (but of course you could live for the same amount together), the total ‘necessary’ spending (also lowering tech a bit) would be €932 per month (€11.184 per year).

Cheap Bachelor expenses
Mortgage € 410,00
Repairs € 125,00
Improvements € 20,00
Electricity € 65,00
Water € 15,00
Sewer € 80,00
Phone € 7,50
Internet € 34,00
Insurance € 105,00
Medical € 10,00
Groceries € 130,00
Clothing € 40,00
Mobility € 40,00
Pets € 80,00
Going Out € 60,00
Sports € 20,00
Tech € 100,00
Gifts € 30,00
Vacation € –
Donations € 250,00
Books € 20,00
Pension € 300,00

Appendix 2 – Real Estate

This applies to The Netherlands, and specifically to me. So, you know, do your own research.

A second mortgage, to buy a house to rent out, is virtually impossible. No lender will approve the loan, or you can only do it if you pay the lion’s share of the house (I imagine 50%+).

The rent (percentage) will also be higher (more risk), and even then, you will probably have a line in the agreement that you can’t rent out the house (so only use it as a second home).

And, because you’re not staying in that house, you can’t get the mortgage deductible (‘hypotheek rente aftrek’).

But, if you’ve paid off the mortgage on your primary home, then buying a second home would be possible. You can then get a ‘renters mortgage’ where you only have to pony up 20-30% of the house in cash (downpayment).

The rent can be a bit higher than on a ‘normal’ mortgage, but not too much.

The friend I worked on this with thinks you could get a 9% ‘rent’ on the cash you would have paid). This includes the monthly fees, but excludes repairs and initial costs of the transaction (buying the house). It also excludes bad renters and property damage, so yeah.

Buying a house to rent it out will probably not be the way to go. Maybe one day if/when I plan to live outside the city, then renting out the (fully bought) house here could be an idea. That would, however, take another 6-7 years at the fastest.

Sources

Most sources are linked throughout the article, but here are some more great links.

Finally getting that six-pack

I’m thinking more seriously about losing a little bit of weight / having a slightly lower percentage of fat (which is the real ‘problem’, weight is perfectly fine – it just should be muscle).

For that reason, I’ve read How Not To Diet, HNTD (and because Michael Gregor is just really good at communicating science and doing so much research). Based on that book, and some other recommendations, these are the tweaks I plan to add to my daily (food) routine.

You can see more about the (normal) food routines in this post – Eat for Health & Energy.

13 Tweaks

  • 0 soda drinks
    • Even 0 calorie drinks mess with your system and make you ‘sweet’ sense messed up, so just carbonated water from now on
    • Hot situation: when going out this is the most important time to say no and drink ‘spa rood’ (sparkling water) (and a beer sometimes of course, not that that’s good either)
  • 0 energy drinks
    • For the same reasons as above, and it’s quite the waste of money versus coffee at home
    • Hot situation: when in the supermarket I sometimes get an energy drink (and at 6.30 pm that is a good time for one), but instead I should just make a coffee at home if I really want that caffeine boost
  • 20 minutes eating
    • Spreading out the meal over 20 minutes should have a good effect of making you more satiated (even if eating the exact same amount of food)
  • 2x p/d weigh myself
    • This should not really do something besides making me more conscious about my weight (and if you miss one time, you still have the other time)
    • This is morning and evening (fun to see what the difference is)
  • 1 min cold shower
    • Have a cold shower (last minute) to activate brown fat (located in shoulders/back)
    • Brown fat is the one that burns/eats the other/passive fat
  • + Cardio
    • I will add 30 minutes of cardio (or more if suitable) to my workouts
    • Not HIIT, but just steady-state cardio burning some more calories
  • + Barn
    • When making bread I will add some barn (pieces of whole wheat, instead of milled whole wheat), because the fibers are less broken/ground-up and thus is better for your gut/health
    • (someday soon I will publish the bread recipe here)
  • + Carniferous Greens
    • Because that is one of the few recommendations from Gregor that I’m not consistently (daily, now 2x per week) following
    • This means leafy greens will be added (almost) daily, and that will be in a smoothie (see below)
  • + 2 tbsp of apple cider vinegar
    • Because it revs up the metabolism and is good in general (I guess the same goes for all/most of the points below, I defer to the book)
    • And they all go in the smoothie (most probably)
    • (could also be other type if this really isn’t bearable)
  • + 1/4 tsp black cumin
  • + 1/4 tsp garlic powder
  • + 1 tsp ground ginger
  • + 1/2 tsp cumin (normal – kurkuma in Dutch)

The More is Less Smoothie

As mentioned above a few times, I will add some ‘good’ and metabolism stimulating greens/herbs to a smoothie that I plan on drinking every day (at breakfast). It will be a small (shot-size) smoothie and not a full (long-drink) smoothie per serving.

  • Spinach (400g bag of fresh leaves)
  • 4x the herbs/spices/vinegar as mentioned above

Appendix 1 – Counting Calories?

Based on food research earlier I’ve calculated the number of calories I would need. I think this is a useful first step, but after reading HNTD I think I’m not focussing on these numbers.

The main reason is that the ‘science’ is not that precise as we would like to believe. That relates both to how many calories are in foods (mislabelling), and how we process them in our body (earlier in the day – less calories absorbed, and for some food (with a lot of fibers) we poop out a significant 20% of the calories/food). And there are many more variables at play.

What I most want to focus on is knowing what I eat, if those meals are good and don’t allow/encourage me to snack in-between (aka cheat) and let me be healthy and full of energy.

That all being said, here are the calculations:

At about 500 calories in deficit (eating for instance 2800 calories) I would lose about 500 grams per week (MayoClinic).

(Fitbit update: Fitbit thinks I burn about 3600kcal per day, so that is even higher)

Or if you spread that out over a week it might look like this:

  • Monday: 3000 kcal
  • Tuesday (no sports): 2000 kcal
  • Wednesday: 3000 kcal
  • Thursday: 3000 kcal
  • Friday: 3000 kcal
  • Saturday (no sports): 2000 kcal
  • Sunday: 3000 kcal

The total would be a deficit of 4100 kcal or 585 kcal per day.

Appendix 2 – Sports at Home

Because the gym is closed (COVID-19). This is my new sports schedule:

Monday – Wednesday – Friday

General warmup and stretches. Three times the following.

  • 8 Halos (each side)
  • 10 Goblet Squats
  • 8 Overhead Presses (each side)
  • 15 Kettlebell Swings
  • 8 Bent Over Rows (each side)
  • 6 Front Rack Reverse Lunge (per side)

Tuesday – Thursday – Saturday/Sunday

  • Hiking (2 hours plus), or
  • Running (30 minutes plus), or
  • Outside workout (airsquats, pushups, burpees, etc) (15 minutes plus)

Next to this I will do a lot of stretches and hope to make my mobility better during this time. I will also continue to do some weightlifting practice, but alas I only have a PVC pipe at home (no barbell or weights – and live on the first floor so that is for the better).

Eat for Health & Energy

This is the essay for the first theme of my 2020 goals.

Food is something we deal with every day. It’s something that most people in The Netherlands have an abundance of. The marketing, endless choices, well-meant health advice, and more stuff our ears almost every day.

So, how do we make a good choice, a better choice than the day before? That is what I want to find out over the period that I’m writing this essay.

It’s motivated by a feeling of drift. I have Queal as my basis, I (or Lotte) cook most days. But I snack random things at the office, I have no idea what is in my meals exactly, and I don’t know exactly what better choices there are.

This might be a bit exaggerated. I don’t normally eat fast food, there might be no more than a few lost saturated fats in my diet, and I eat as many greens as your average rabbit.

Still, I think I can do better. So here are the learning goals and a plan of attack.

Learning Goals

  1. What foods should I be eating every day/week?
  2. How many calories should I be eating (and are calories really a good measure)?
  3. What are good (and easy) meals I can eat, and what is in them?
  4. I hear that fasting can have many benefits, should I do it?
  5. I eat mostly vegan, do I need to supplement anything?
  6. When to eat best for energy (next to sleep, sports, etc)?
  7. What about protein, it should be high for sports (I think) and low for longevity?
  8. And what about IGF-1, it’s good for sports, bad for ageing?
  9. (added Aug 2020) How to prevent the common cold?

Plan of Attack

  1. Recap what I’ve already read (books)
  2. Visit trusted sources (web/books)
    1. And read underlying research if possible/needed
  3. Write down what I’ve learned
    1. And write down the longer arguments (appendixes)
  4. Make an implementation plan (creating new habits)

What I’ve Learned

“For most of our leading killers, nongenetic factors like diet can account for at least 80 or 90 percent of cases. As I noted before, this is based on the fact that the rates of cardiovascular disease and major cancers differ fivefold to a hundredfold around the world. Migration studies show this is not just genetics. When people move from low- to highrisk areas, their disease risk nearly always shoots up to match the new setting.” – Dr. Greger, How Not To Die

Bad food can kill us. Unless we do other stupid things, it is probably the thing that will do us in. Below all the things I’ve learned and want to implement.

Calories

Based on my height (194cm) and weight (90-94kg), my basal caloric need per day is 2219 kcal (also see Appendix 1). This is the amount I need if I sit still the whole day.

At an earlier date, I’ve calculated that this would translate to the following:

  • 222g carbs
  • 166g protein
  • 74g fat

On very active days I will burn about 3500-4000 kcal. That is with doing a full session in the gym to running 10km. This was taken earlier from my Fitbit. But I think this is an overestimation.

I estimate that I burn through 3000-3300 kcal per day.

Daily Dozen

I want to eat 3000 kcal, but where should they come from? Here I’m basing most of my research on Dr. Greger – his books How Not To Die, How Not To Diet, and his website Nutrition Facts.

One of his main recommendations is to try and eat a variety of foods called the ‘Daily Dozen’. Here is a short summary of the list, see Appendix 2 for further analysis.

  • Beans ☑ ☑ ☑
    • Black beans, black-eyed peas, butter beans, cannellini beans, chickpeas (garbanzo beans), edamame, English peas, great northern beans, kidney beans, lentils, miso, navy beans, pinto beans, small red beans, split peas, tempeh (which is made from beans, duh)
    • 3 servings
      • 1/4 cup hummus or bean dip
      • 1/2 cup of cooked beans, split peas, lentils, tofu, tempeh
      • 1 cup of fresh peas or sprouted lentils
    • €0,20-€0,50 (per serving)
  • Berries ☑
    • Acai berries, barberries, blackberries, blueberries, cherries, concord grapes, cranberries, goji berries, kumquats, mulberries, raspberries, strawberries
    • 1 serving
      • 1/2 cup fresh or frozen
      • 1/4 cup dried
    • €0,20
  • Fruits ☑ ☑ ☑
    • Apples, dried apricots, avocados, bananas, cantaloupe, clementines, dates, dried figs, grapefruit, honeydew, kiwifruit, lemons, limes, lychees, mangos, nectarines, oranges, papaya, passion fruit, peaches, pears, pineapple, plums (black), pomegranates, pluots, prunes, tangerines, watermelon
    • 3 servings
      • 1 medium-size fruit
      • 1 cup cut-up fruit
      • 1/4 cup dried fruit
    • €0,50 (per serving, or free at the office)
  • Cruciferous ☑
    • Arugula, bok choy, broccoli, brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, collard greens, horseradish, kale, mustard greens, radishes, turnip greens, and watercress
    • 1 serving
      • 1/2 cup chopped
      • 1/4 cup brussels or broccoli sprouts
      • 1 tbsp horseradish
    • €0,50
  • Greens ☑ ☑ ☑
    • Same as above plus, beet greens, sorrel, spinach, swiss chard
    • 2 servings
      • 1 cup raw
      • 1/2 cup cooked
    • €0,50 (per serving)
  • Vegetables ☑ ☑
    • Artichokes, asparagus, beets, bell peppers, carrots, corn, garlic, mushrooms, okra, onions, purple potatoes, pumpkin, sea vegetables (nori, dulse, arame), snap peas, squash, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, zucchini
    • 2 servings
      • 1 cup of raw leafy vegetables
      • 1/2 cup raw or cooked non-leavy vegetables
      • 1/4 cup dried mushrooms
    • €0,30 (per serving)
  • Flaxseeds ☑
    • Flaxseeds
    • 1 serving (1 tablespoon)
    • €0,06
  • Nuts (and Seeds) ☑
    • Almonds, brazil nuts, cashews, chia seeds, hazelnuts/filberts, hemp seeds, macademia nuts, pecans, pistachios, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, walnuts
    • 1 serving
      • 1/4 cup nuts/seeds
      • 2 tbsp nut/seed butter (including peanut butter)
    • €0,05-€0,30 (or free at office)
  • Grains ☑ ☑ ☑
    • Barley, brown rice, buckwheat, millet, oats, popcorn, quinoa, rye, teff, whole-wheat pasta, wild rice
    • 3 servings
      • 1/2 cup hot cereal or cooked grains, pasta
      • 1 cup cold cereal
      • 1 tortilla or slice of bread
      • 1/2 bagel
      • 3 cups popped popcorn
    • €0,10-€0,50 (per serving)
  • Spices ☑
    • All you can think of (salt-free) (garlic, ginger, nutmeg, oregano, etc)
    • 1 serving (e.g. 1/4 tsp turmeric)
    • €0,05
  • Beverages ☑ ☑ ☑ ☑ ☑
    • 2 litres of water +
    • green tea, etc
    • €0,00 (free or a few cents for tea)
  • Exercise ☑
    • 90. min moderate OR 40min. vigorous
    • Moderate examples: bicycling, dancing, housework, hiking, surfing, swimming recreationally, yoga
    • Vigorous examples: backpacking, circuit weight training, football, jogging, running, swimming laps
    • €0,00-€3,30 (if €100 gym, per day)

See a picture of this here.

I will strive to get as many as possible done on this list every day. And at the same time not get lost in the woods by wanting to do it perfect.

Some things I already do very well (beverages, exercise), others I do only sometimes (nuts, 3 fruits).

I think this advice is also in line with most other nutritionists and can be summarized as ‘eat greens, don’t eat too much’.

Below I’ve listed my cheatsheet as to how I will get as many of these as possible.

Other Things To Eat

Next to those things listed above, I have also thought about the ingredients listed below.

  • Salt ☑
    • I should get between 3-6 grams (see video here)
    • I’m more concerned about not getting enough (because no processed foods)
    • And that I should also get enough iodine (which isn’t in seasalt, and is very much in bakers salt)
    • In four pieces of bread, you should get enough iodine for the day (from ‘Wat is nu gezond?‘)
    • The bread I’m making myself, I make with iodinated salt.
  • Dark Chocolate ☑
    • Maybe positive because it contains flavanols
    • But not much conclusive research
    • It’s also processed, so cocoa powder is probably better
    • Could sometimes be a good snack (better than white/pink chocolate)
  • Garlic ☑ (allicin)
    • Is shown to prevent and shorten common cold duration
    • Half a clove (fresh) or 2 prepared
    • And it could help prevent cancer
  • Coffee ☑
    • There is a high chance I will get my caffeine fix in a pre-workout (good for the gym, but haven’t found a good one for the gut/microbiome)
    • I personally found that a cup helps me be a bit more alert, but I’m not particularly sensitive
    • And that I felt (after drinking a few cups per day for a few months) that I’m not the most productive/creative with it
    • So, I aim to drink one cup of coffee or less on workdays
    • Without milk, or (in the weekends) with soy/oat milk
  • Alcohol ✖
    • It’s not good for you (not even red wine, ok)
    • But good socially and widely accepted
    • I aim to drink fewer than 2 drinks on weekdays (mostly 0)
    • And drink a maximum of 5 drinks when with friends/going out
    • Still, one of my goals to improve, I do think that becoming older (chronologically speaking that is), that the temptation is lower and social situations less geared towards heavy drinking

Feeding the Microbiome

This part is mostly based on The Good Gut (also see this video, 3). There is much overlap for feeding your microbiome and eating healthy in general. Very specifically it also recommends eating fermented foods and prebiotics.

Personally, that means I will drink some kefir almost daily (made at home).

Update June 2020: the kefir wasn’t that tasty, so I have updated this to a home-based ginger-drink.

  • Kefir ☑
    • 1 small glass per day
    • €0,05 (bought starter once, now just add some sugar and things to flavour it)

The recommendation is also to eat 28g of fibre (men, 25g for women) per day (so more than generally recommended).

Supplementation

Before doing this research (January 2020), I wasn’t really using any supplement for health. I was using Creatine and NAC only for sports.

So, I think you can survive – and thrive – without them. But they might be beneficial for the reasons listed below.

  • Vitamin B12 ☑
    • 2500mcg cyanocobalamin serving 1x p/w
    • (I have 1000mcg so once every 3 days)
    • Reason: because of good sanitation, it isn’t in our food anymore (it used to be on the dirt)
    • This form is the best supported/bioavailable
    • If you’re over 65, raise it to 1000mg per day
    • €0,02 per day (€0,04 per pill, from bulkpowders)
  • Vitamin D ☑
    • 2000 IUs of D3 1x p/d
    • (I have 5000mg, so once every 2 days)
    • Reason: we’re not in the sun enough, so no need to take it if in the sun (without too many clothes) for more than 15 minutes
    • €0,01 per day (€0,01 per pill, from bulkpowders)
  • Creatine ☑
    • 3-5g per day (when doing sports)
    • Creatine use can increase maximum power and performance in high-intensity anaerobic repetitive work (periods of work and rest) by 5 to 15%” (source, via wiki – also see here)
    • It might lead to a bit of bloating, so maybe not take it if cutting weight
    • €0,04 per day (5x per week)
  • NAC ✖
    • To be honest, I can’t find research that conclusively supports taking this (a prodrug for L-cysteine – an amino acid)
    • So, once it’s gone, I won’t be getting it again

When to eat? (for longevity, weight loss, energy levels)

Conclusion: late breakfast, no late-night snacks.

Breakfast might not be necessary, but skipping breakfast (on average) also doesn’t lead to weight loss (video). The main reason mentioned is that the group that did eat breakfast, exercised (read: moved) more. There was no change in metabolic rate.

What is also mentioned (and I’ve read before too), is that calories later in the day are worse for you (i.e. let you gain weight more) than during the earlier times. So late-night snacking or eating a very large dinner, is also out the door.

Where to get food?

I was inspired by a new look at The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan to think a bit more about where I get my food.

In the book, Pollan challenges your view of organic food (and shows how meat is made too).

What I do want to do more (and have yet only done once) is order more local food. Here I can buy interesting vegetables for cooking, and I would still want to eat some eggs and I believe that here they can do this in a way that is more sustainable/less harmful. The website for this is Rechtstreex.

Update June 2020: We are now getting a lot of vegetables and fruits via Rechtstreex.

What about IGF-1?

Conclusion: Difficult to say. I should watch my sports performance, but not really strive for higher or lower IGF-1 I think.

Should your levels of IGF-1 [insulin-like growth factor] remain too high when you reach adulthood, however, your cells will constantly receive a message to grow, divide, and keep going and growing [which may of course be what you want for muscle growth]. Not surprisingly, the more IGF-1 you have in your bloodstream, the higher your risk for developing cancers, such as prostate cancer.

The release of IGF-1 appears to be triggered by the consumption of animal protein. This may explain why you can so dramatically bolster the cancer-fighting power of your bloodstream within weeks of eating a plant-based diet. … One of the ways your body tries to protect itself from cancer—that is, excessive growth—is by releasing a binding protein into your bloodstream to tie up any excess IGF-1.”

From a study, mention in this (not super) YouTube video, it’s mentioned that the cancer risk is also higher if you have low IGF-1 (i.e. it’s an u-shape). He also talks about low-carb and intermitted fasting (and by that having low IGF-1 despite eating meat/keto).

How to prevent common colds?

Eat half a clove of raw garlic (e.g. in a salad).

And a teaspoon of nutritional yeast could also be helpful if experiencing physical or mental stress (the former I have because of sports).

Cheatsheet

Here is my cheatsheet (check-list) for the day, cooking, and week. As mentioned earlier, this is aspirational and I won’t check off everything every day. That is ok.

Waking (6 am)

  • Vitamin B12 and/or D (if needed)
  • 300ml of (green) tea

Breakfast (10 am)

  • Homemade bread with hummus
    • 1 serving beans
    • 1 serving spices
    • 1 serving salt (iodine)
    • 3 servings grains
    • 1 serving flaxseed
    • 1 serving nuts
    • 660kcal, 24g protein, 9.2g fibre
  • Serving of (frozen) blueberries (75g, 1/4 cup)
    • 1 serving berries
    • 36kcal, 0.7g protein, 1.8g fibre
  • 1 litre of water (with citrus) and (green) tea combined

Fruit (11.30 am)

  • Kiwi and/or apple
    • 1 or 2 servings fruits
    • (kiwi) 42kcal, 0.8g protein, 2g fibre (more with skin on)
    • (apple) 95kcal, 0.5 protein, 4.4g fibre

Lunch (1 pm)

  • Queal Ready (100g)
    • 1 serving grains
    • 0.5-1 serving berries – if Berry Good
    • 400kcal, 26.6g protein, 6.6g fibre
  • Update June 2020: Greens salad, e.g. spinach with herbs/spices
    • Update August 2020: Will probably update this to a smoothie with garlic and nutritional yeast also added.
  • 600ml of water (with citrus)

Exercise (2 pm)

  • Weightlifting and/or Bodybuilding
  • 60 to 90 minutes + warm-up
  • 600ml of water

Second Lunch (4 pm)

  • Protein shake + creatine + 2 scoops Queal Steady (66g)
    • (protein) 197kcal, 34.8g protein
    • (Steady) 275kcal, 13.9g protein, 4.6g fibre

Subtotals until now:

  • 21 checkmarks (water and sports included)
    • 16 of those from Daily Dozen
  • 1705 kcal
  • 101g protein
  • 28.6g fibre (and that is another check!)

Dinner (6-7 pm)

So here it gets trickier/less standard, the cheatsheet reflects mostly what I haven’t yet gotten and/or foods that I think are good.

  • 2 servings beans (e.g. black beans, tempeh)
  • 4 servings (cruciferous) green (e.g. broccoli, spinach, cauliflower)
  • 2 servings grains (I’ve already had some, but most dinners do include this)
  • 1 or more servings spices (e.g. turmeric, pepper, garlic)
  • 600ml water (at least 2 cups of water in the evening)
  • 1 serving kefir (a small glass when getting home/during dinner)
  • 1725 kcal left, 70g protein left, 0g fibre extra needed

(historic note 27 jan 2020) I’m totally lying/misremembering/overeating above what I state here. If it’s really just 1300kcal during the day, then I’m eating 2000 in the evening. I really want to start tracking this and probably need to add some more foods during the day! I will start with some more Queal (Steady) at lunch. (update 20 feb 2020, now at 1700kcal so closer to what is expected).

Appendix 1 – Caloric Need

Based on Calculator.net I would need to eat the following amount of calories per day:

  • Sedentary: little or no exercise 2415
  • Exercise 1-3 times/week 2767
  • Exercise 4-5 times/week 2948
  • Daily exercise or intense exercise 3-4 times/week 3119
  • Intense exercise 6-7 times/week 3472
  • Very intense exercise daily, or physical job 3824

If I would have to estimate, I would be needing 3300 kcal per day to maintain my weight.

At about 500 calories in deficit (eating for instance 2800 calories) I would lose about 500 grams per week (MayoClinic).

Or if you spread that out over a week it might look like this:

  • Monday: 3000 kcal
  • Tuesday (no sports): 2000 kcal
  • Wednesday: 3000 kcal
  • Thursday: 3000 kcal
  • Friday: 3000 kcal
  • Saturday (no sports): 2000 kcal
  • Sunday: 3000 kcal

The total would be a deficit of 4100 kcal or 585 kcal per day.

I would want to get a bit leaner sometime soon. And after I’ve done most of the research for this article I might attempt this and document it.

Finally getting that six-pack

Appendix 2 – Daily Dozen

There is no incentive from the industry/medical to promote food healthy. It’s like smoking in the 50s. Take control yourself.

My translation of daily dozen:

  • Beans: Hummus (beans), 1 serving during lunch, most days.
  • Berries: 75g frozen berries (blueberries) or mix, most days.
  • Fruits: at least 1 (serving) apple, kiwi, banana per day.
    • Citrus skin (grated) in water/drink
    • Vary the fruits with some more exotic/different ones
  • Cruciferous vegetables: some during dinner
  • Greens: some during dinner
  • Vegetables: some during dinner
  • Flaxseeds: 1 tbsp of broken/powdered flaxseed with some nuts – or already in homemade bread
  • Nuts: Mix of nuts (with flaxseed) in a small container (1/4 cup or less) – or already in homemade bread
  • Grains: some during dinner or home-made bread
  • Spices: add to dinner (and get tumeric and garlic in there many times) – and/or already in homemade hummus
  • Beverages: lots of water, 2 to 3 cups of a variety of teas (green, black, ginger, etc)
  • Exercise: yes, 5x per week weightlifting/bodybuilding, biking 20 minutes, walking 20 minutes (but slow pace for both – with Max)

Some more detailed meals

  • 2 Whole-grain pieces of bread with hummus and avocado
    • 180g bread (472kcal 4.3g fat 88g carbs 17.6g protein 2g salt)
    • 1/4 cup hummus (190kcal 11g fat 18g carbs 6g protein)
    • 1 avocado (322kcal 29g fat 17g carbs 4g protein)
    • Vegan
  • Queal Ready 100g + Flaxseeds
    • Ready (400kcal 12.3g fat 42.6g carbs 26.6g protein 0.6g salt)
    • Flaxseeds (tbsp)
    • 1 serving berries, 1 serving seeds, 1 serving grains
    • Vegan
  • 3 home-made thin-slices of bread with hummus + Flaxseeds
    • 130g bread (340kcal 3.1g fat 63.5g carbs 12.6g protein 6.2g fibre 1.4g salt)
    • 1/4 cup hummus (190kcal 11g fat 18g carbs 6g protein 3g fibre)
    • Flaxseeds (tbsp)
    • Vegan
  • Protein shake + creatine
    • Protein powder 1,5 scoop (197kcal 3.7g fat 5g carbs 34.8g protein)
  • 1/2 cup of blueberries
    • About 75g (36 kcal 0g fat 8g carbs 0.7g protein)

Daily dozen,

  • Beans
    • Amount: 1.5 cups (235ml*1.5=350ml, 1.5x small glass) of cooked beans OR 3/4 cup (176ml) hummus (some breads with royal spread of hummus)
    • Why: contains fibre (good against heart disease and almost all others)
    • How to incorporate: Eat hummus and cook with beans a few times per week
    • What are some of the truly potassium-rich foods? The healthiest common whole-food sources are probably greens, beans, and sweet potatoes.
    • “Folate is a B vitamin concentrated in beans and greens.
    • Costs: €1.90 per 900g dry. With some olive oil, tahini, herbs (and/or roasted paprika, garlic, etc). Guesstimated cost of 50g prepared product (1 serving), €0.20
  • Berries
    • Amount: 0.5 cup (120ml – 75g) of frozen blueberries/mix
    • Why: contains fibre (see above), antioxidants, may prevent cognitive decline, polyphenols (which contain antioxidants amongst others), protective against cancers
    • “Some berries have more than 1,000 units [of antioxidants]”
    • “Berries offer potential protection against cancer (chapters 4 and 11), a boost to the immune system (chapter 5), and a guard for the liver (chapter 8) and brain (chapters 3 and 14). An American Cancer Society study of nearly one hundred thousand men and women found that those who ate the most berries appeared significantly less likely to die of cardiovascular disease.”
    • The colors are the antioxidants.” i.e shop for the brightest fruits.
    • Costs: €1.99 per 1kg frozen. So at 100g (47kcal) it’s €0.20
  • Fruits
    • Amount: 3 fruits
    • Why: same as above, also mention of longer telomeres
    • Apples, Citrus (skin of it, scraped), kiwi – all mentioned favourably
  • Cruciferous
    • Arugula, bok choy, broccoli, brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, collard greens, horseradish, kale, mustard greens, radishes, turnip greens, and watercress
    • 1 serving
      • 1/2 cup chopped
      • 1/4 cup brussels or broccoli sprouts
      • 1 tbsp horseradish
  • Greens
    • Same as above plus, beet greens, sorrel, spinach, swiss chard
    • 2 servings
      • 1 cup raw
      • 1/2 cup cooked
  • Vegetables
    • Artichokes, asparagus, beets, bell peppers, carrots, corn, garlic, mushrooms, okra, onions, purple potatoes, pumpkin, sea vegetables (nori, dulse, arame), snap peas, squash, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, zucchini
    • 2 servings
      • 1 cup of raw leafy vegetables
      • 1/2 cup raw or cooked non-leavy vegetables
      • 1/2 cup vegetable juice??
      • 1/4 cup dried mushrooms
  • Flaxseeds
    • Amount: 1 tbsp
    • Why: lower blood pressure (original article, via HNTD)
      • Other research also links to lower breast and prostate cancer
    • How to incorporate: Add a tablespoon to lunch or when eating a mix of nuts (see next one)
    • Extra: Another video about Flaxseeds
      • 3 tbsp is 30% of magnesium needs, B1, 20% phosphorus, 10% selenium
    • “Though lignans are found throughout the plant kingdom, flaxseeds have around one hundred times more lignans than other foods.117 What are lignans? Lignans are phytoestrogens that can dampen the effects of the body’s own estrogen.”
    • “Mother Nature packs them a little too well. If you eat flaxseeds whole, they’re likely to pass right through you without releasing any of their nutrients. So, for best results, first grind up the seeds with a blender or coffee or spice grinder, or buy them preground or “milled.” “
  • Nuts (and Seeds)
    • Almonds, brazil nuts, cashews, chia seeds, hazelnuts/filberts, hemp seeds, macademia nuts, pecans, pistachios, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, walnuts
    • 1 serving
      • 1/4 cup nuts/seeds
      • 2 tbsp nut/seed butter (including peanut butter)
  • Grains
    • Barley, brown rice, buckwheat, millet, oats, popcorn, quinoa, rye, teff, whole-wheat pasta, wild rice
    • 3 servings
      • 1/2 cup hot cereal or cooked grains, pasta
      • 1 cup cold cereal
      • 1 tortilla or slice of bread
      • 1/2 bagel
      • 3 cups popped popcorn
  • Spices
    • All you can think of (salt-free) (garlic, ginger, nutmeg, oregano, etc)
    • 1 serving (e.g. 1/4 tsp turmeric)
  • Beverages
    • 2 litres of water +
    • green tea, etc
  • Exercise
    • 90. min moderate OR 40min. vigorous
    • Moderate examples: bicycling, dancing, housework, hiking, surfing, swimming recreationally, yoga
    • Vigorous examples: backpacking, circuit weight training, football, jogging, running, swimming laps

Sources

Most sources are linked throughout the article, but here are some more great links.

  1. Youtube: Dr. Gregor’s Daily Dozen Checklist
    1. https://nutritionfacts.org/app/uploads/2018/03/metric.png
  2. Youtube: How Not to Die: An Animated Summary
  3. Youtube: How the Gut Microbiome affects the Brain and Mind
  4. Red Pen Reviews – great website that reviews nutrition books

Music to Improve your Performance at Fitness

Listening to music can significantly improve your performance. Research indicates that it can improve your endurance by 15%. This effect is reached through three different mechanisms; rhythm, arousal, and distraction from discomfort. This article will elaborate on each of these mechanisms. Further, it will give some tips on the songs to choose and what effect this has on not only fitness but also running.

The rhythm of music is primarily responsible for improving performance. A study on bicycle speeds showed that people conform to the tempo of the beat they are listening to. People are drawn to the synchronous sounds produced by the music. The study found that it did not matter what kind of music was playing. The beats per minute (BMP) was the only mechanism responsible for the faster speeds.

Arousal is the second mechanism that music activates. This means that music will get you to move, to get you in action-mode. From a biological perspective, it can be stated that music tricks your body in thinking a lot is going on, it activates the fight-or-flight responses. But instead of fighting people we nowadays use music to get that little edge during working out. People have even coined music a legal drug for sports.

The third mechanism is about distraction from discomfort. Music, which is mostly played at quite the volume, distracts you from other stimuli that want your attention. Without it, you may be focusing on the discomfort of lifting the weight again. Or you will constantly look at the time indicator on the treadmill. Music lets you drift away and absorb the power from the tunes. In the case of power-lifting, as opposed to cycling, it can be stated that the kind of music is of importance. “Fight the Power” by Public Enemy will probably do much better than “Baby” by Justin Bieber.

Music can be a great motivator during sessions at the gym. The confidence and sense of power can even be transferred to other situations. Play that great song you always hear during fitness right before an interview and feel how your energy levels will rise. If you do not currently have a favourite power song, than this shortlist may help you along:

Not only during visits to the gym you can benefit from music. Your running performance can also benefit greatly from using music. The three effects (rhythm, arousal, distraction) also apply here. Emphasis should be put on the rhythm part, using the BPM information of songs, you can compile a list that suits the tempo of your heartbeat perfectly.

If you are using music for fitness or for running, it can be a great help in achieving your goals. Make sure to pick the right music and vary the songs every now and then. Unplug when you see a friend, but turn up the volume when you do the last set of an exercise. Make music an integral part of your routine and increase your performance.

References & Further Reading:

1. http://www.acefitness.org/certifiednewsarticle/805/

2. http://www.muscleandfitness.com/training/tips/25-greatest-power-songs-all-time

3. http://www.webmd.com/fitness-exercise/features/exercise-and-music