How Important are Food "Sensitivities"?
Hi Peter, I have followed your work for a long time and I really appreciate your way of communicating complex concepts in a way that makes them approachable for the "non-scientist." I just turned 40, I am starting to think more seriously about longevity and healthspan for myself. I run 4-5 days per week and strength train about 4 days per week (and have started to incorporate rucking recently). I have worked hard to design and stick to a high protein (~180-200g per day), whole food diet for myself, which is also relatively low in gluten and carbs (~50-70g). In my quest to optimize health as I age, I recently met with a longevity-focused doctor. In the course of reviewing blood work, she identified "sensitivities" to wheat, casein, and egg. This was very disappointing to hear, as eggs and yogurt have been a very big part of my diet and a good portion of the protein that I consume. She noted that the sensitivity level was "relatively low" (wheat = 2.9 ug/ml; casein = 3.3; egg = 8.0) but recommended that I eliminated all three of these things from my diet. I have been intentional about including these things in my diet because of the health benefits (and also my enjoyment of them). My question is, from a longevity and healthspan perspective, how important is it to avoid these foods? And is it worth losing the protein and nutrient benefits of these items in favor of the benefits that come with avoidance of these items? Thank you!
Doing Zone 2 after weight training
My question is very similar to another one with the same title: Is it ok to do zone 2 training right after weightlifting? I would like to add one point that was not raised in the original question: Doing Zone 2 (on a stationary bike) after weight lifting feels much more relaxed to me than doing it before weight lifting. The reason is that my heart rate is elevated after resistance training, therefore I need less power output on the bike to get into zone 2. It feels a little bit like cheating because staying in zone 2 feels less strenuous. Is it still as beneficial as zone 2 before weightlifting?
Sauna and autophagy
We know heat stress can lead to autophagy in animals, and we know there was a greater reduction in risk of dementia than of cardiovascular events in the Finish study ( roughly 65% vs 40%. What are Peter’s thoughts on why we see this greater reduction in dementia, and does he think this could reflect heat-stress induced autophagy helping to clear out misfolded or clumped proteins in neurons.