Your daily reminder. Like a Soviet commissar, Russell Vought wants to take over ALL federal grant-making from Meals on Wheels to cancer research. We can stop him. But it means everyone taking action. Write to your members of Congress today. actionnetwork.org/letters/oppo...

The editorial: diabetesjournals.org/care/article... The WaPo article: www.washingtonpost.com/health/2026/...

Tamar Haspel lists 3 pieces of nutrition advice you can count on. One is: "Most saturated fat raises heart disease risk" Her argument: most saturated fat raises LDL cholesterol, and LDL is causal for heart disease. But what about people whose LDL cholesterol is in the healthy range? wapo.st/3O10Xds

This YouTube by Michael Breus, is very informative about waking up at night, but is includes some advice that isn't right, at least not for me. I'll address six points in my replies. www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpdR...

I wake up most mornings at 3 or 4, and sometimes lay awake for long time. Anahad O'Conner at the Washington Post has exactly the same sort of insomnia! www.washingtonpost.com/wellness/202... Most of his piece references Michael Breus, "The Sleep Doctor." I'll talk about his advice in my next post.

A blockbuster expose by @jeneeninterlandi.bsky.social on RFK's CDC. Read it. Get angry. And get on the phones to your elected members of Congress. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

Alternate day fasting (which I've done for 21 yrs) seems best. "more substantial weight losses ... accompanied by reductions in visceral fat and cardiometabolic improvements." "lowered total cholesterol, triglycerides, and non-high density lipoprotein" www.bmj.com/content/389/...

This is a very important story. The government essentially censored news reports about a taxpayer-funded study because they feared that it might reflect badly on RFK Jr.

On the cyclic benefits of intermittent fasting and metabolic switching, this is an outstanding new perspective @naturemetabolism.bsky.social www.nature.com/articles/s42...

Varady remains unconvinced of effects independent of calorie restriction. “... I don’t think that there are any benefits ... beyond weight loss,” she says. Mattson is equally sure of the opposite: “... considerable evidence of benefits ... that cannot be explained by reduction in calorie intake.”"

Everything you ever wanted to know about the science behind intermittent fasting… as always, many questions remain open but there are suggestions that its effects might not be simply a function of calorie restriction… 🧪 @nature.com www.nature.com/articles/d41...

If you are a scientist, or a nutritionist who follows the science, and you think beef tallow is healthier than seed oils, or if you just avoid seed oils, tell me why. I'm looking for citations.

Wake up and drink your coffee! "Lower risks of all-cause mortality and cardiovascular mortality were observed in people who mostly drank coffee in the morning." If you keep drinking coffee all day, not so much. www.medpagetoday.com/primarycare/...

There is no scenario where RFK Jr should be anywhere near HHS. Reporters, pundits and politicians trying to normalize this nomination are complicit in the coming disaster his rise represents. www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/rcn...

The short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) have beneficial health effects, are produced by microbial metabolism and are unique acyl lysine histone marks. These papers show that the last bit is important; it's a mechanism by which the microbiome alters gene expression.

Interest in intermittent fasting appears to be lessening. There is an annual peak in Google searches right around this time of year, with the highest being 2020. Maybe this reflects the fact that most people already know what they want to know.

I would favor allowing states to decide. Maybe Illinois wants to be Eastern with no time change, Alaska wants a time change, Florida wants Atlantic time (aka Eastern with permanent daylight savings). Let them.

And you want something to do? WRITE AND CALL YOUR SENATORS NOW.

The cardioprotective and anti-arthritic consequences of fasting are reported to depend on spermidine, acting via autophagy induction and hypusination of the translation regulator eIF5A. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

And now this. My father had polio when he was a child in the 1930s. He thankfully survived. Many did not. This is, well, evil. Let's not mince words. www.nytimes.com/2024/12/13/h...

Changes in RNA structure (3' UTR, alternative splicing) and base modifications with age in C. elegans, a new paper from Schiksnis et al. (Pasquinelli lab) This new paper is at the intersection of my core scientific interest (RNA processing) and aging. academic.oup.com/nar/advance-...

This was on the first page of the print Washington Post today. It's a long article about research into the way different organs age at different rates. These ages can be inferred from plasma proteins. People are described as 'heart agers' or 'brain youthers'.

This is striking: "the effect of combined lifestyle interventions on type 2 diabetes risk partly persisted for many years after the intervention was withdrawn"

Pleased to announce the publication of our new manuscript, "Late-life protein or isoleucine restriction impacts physiological and molecular signatures of aging" in Nature Aging today! www.nature.com/articles/s43... Free link: rdcu.be/d1DGk

SHADES OF BLUE Blue zones, supposed havens of longevity, have become a global brand. But skeptics think they rest on shaky science www.science.org/content/arti...

Post a non-religious photo you think of as holy.

New review from grad student Stacy Li, postdoc Manny Vazquez, and I www.cell.com/trends/genet... - super proud of their hard work!