Curious Minds - March 27, 2023
Happy Monday!
I have now been in Japan for a week! I am in Kyoto where I will be watching the Cherry Blossoms bloom at their peak on March 30th. I hope you all have a great week!
Something I’m listening to
Huberman Labs has quickly become one of the top 5 podcasts in the US (per many of the charts). Dr. Huberman’s intention has been to bring scientific data to his listeners to help with everyday problems. The podcasts are long. I picked this one up after a buddy mentioned it to me, and it is the most thorough dive into the biomechanics of how the body uses energy that I have every used, and they cap it off with a bunch of specific actional advice (which I’m already doing).
If you want the tl:dr; (but seriously, one of the best podcasts I’ve listened to, so I suggest listening), the generic workout program they suggest for extending longevity is roughly 2 hours of work a week and can be broken down into the following:
1 day a week of sprints (or any all-out heart pounding activity). 20 seconds of sprints, 40 seconds of rest. Do a total of 6 sets.
1 day a week of a 5-10 minute activity such as jogging, cycling, etc. For instance, a 1-mile run. You should push yourself so you are breathing hard, but not crazy hard.
1 day a week of a longer endurance activity, this could be a 30-60 minute jog (or equivalent of other activities) — even a 1-2 hour hike will work here.
That’s it.
To be clear, *there is so much more* in the podcast, but just doing that each week will drastically improve your life/health/energy/focus.
Something eruptive
A recent competition, ScrollPrize, launched to use modern AI skills to read ancient scrolls found in the ruins of Mt Vesuvious.
They had found many scrolls that were completely charred through, and found that any attempt to unroll the scrolls would destroy them. Using combinations of new technology, they can now scan the scrolls without unrolling them, but they need to use various AI tools to actually interpret the readings. The competition gives $250,000 to the winner.
Something to reduce allergies
Peanut allergies have been on the rise, but a recent study shows that if you introduce peanut butter during weaning (see article above for specifics), that it can be cut by 77%.
Something you can play
More and more games following the Wordle format have been coming about. Most recently, Dadagrams. Someone played Scrabble with his dad for years, and so he turned it into an online game where *you* can play his dad, and compare scores with him.
Something I’m looking into
I’ve been on a ketogenic diet, or “keto”, for 3 years. If you’re not sure what that is, it essentially is a high-fat, low-carb diet that gets your body into a state where it primarily is burning fat for a fuel source instead of carbohydrates.
It’s excellent for many conditions such as diabetes, epilepsy, fat loss, and a number of other features. The purpose for me has primarily been that I no longer feel hungry (I have felt insatiable most of my life).
One thing that goes hand-in-hand with this for diabetics is monitoring insulin through a “CGM”, or continual glucose monitor. Essentially, this tells you what foods and when your blood sugar spikes.
In the last two years, CGMs for non-diabetics have started to become popular. This has just helped people make dietary choices, or to lose weight, or to optimize strategies for athletes. It also would tell someone when they are likely to knock themselves out of ketosis (the state where you are burning fat as a fuel source).
I’ll keep you updated, but so far I’m interested in one called “Veri”. They tend to be expensive ($100-$400/month), but Veri seems to be the cheapest “good” CGM for non-diabetics.
I hope you all have a great week, as always send me your questions & comments. I’ll be back in the US next week, and excited to start a new workout program.
Cheers,
Kerry