Pg 107 "These eight processes when working right, contribute to longevity; but when not working right underlie the various chronic conditions that result in mortality. They're not considered diseases per se--as they don't have an easy lab test or biomarker. They don't have a drug target, so doctors don't talk about any of them with their patients--because why would you want to bring up something you can't solve? It recalls a saying I learned while I was a visiting professor in Paris, "If there is no solution, there is no problem."
Pg. 109 "1. Glycation Why do we get cataracts and wrinkles as we get older? Each of these is an example of an undeniable and inevitable fact of life--the Maillard or glycation or browning or caramelization reaction. All four terms describe the same process, which is the primary process of aging.
Pg. 110 "Because glucose has a six-member-ring structure, it's more stable and engages in the Maillard reaction relatively slowly. Conversely, fructose's five-member ring is more easily broken apart and engages in the Maillard reaction seven times faster than glucose. It also generates one hundred times the number of oxygen radicals. Furthermore, our research group has shown that a specific breakdown product of fructose, called methylglyoxal, drives the Maillard reaction 250 times faster than glucose. All in all, when it comes to aging, fructose is worse than glucose, and therefore sugar is worse than starch. That' doesn't make glucose "good"--it raises insulin and drives obesity--but compared to fructose, it's a walk in the park."
Pg. 112 "2. Oxidative stress Each of our cells possesses specialized subcellular organelles called peroxisomes, which is here antioxidants lie in wait to quench incoming oxygen radicals and render them inert. But if there are more oxygen radicals than antioxidants (termed oxidative stress), it causes cellular dysfunction, structural damage to lipids, proteins, or DNA, and in the extreme, cell death. When this happens in the liver and the pancreas, you get diabetes."
Pg. 113 "3. Mitochondrial dysfunction The single best stimulus to make more and fresh mitochondria is exercise--but even your mitochondria can't outrun a bad diet."
Pg. 114 "4. Insulin resistance Just two organs in your body need insulin to function: the liver and adipose tissue. Too much insulin can get in the way, forcing glucose clearance from the bloodstream into tissues."
Pg. 115 "5. Membrane integrity Every cell has an outer membrane to protect and contain its contents. When membranes get damaged, cells spill their contents and all hell breaks loose, usually leading to cell dysfunction and death."
Pg. 118 "6. Inflammation The key to the chronic disease kingdom is that there are not four separate problems (nutrition, metabolism, inflammation, immunity); there's only one, and they are all related. Screw up one and you screw up the other three.
Pg. 119 "7. Epigenetics Lots of effort has been placed on looking for genetic reasons behind metabolic syndrome, but the studies say only 15 percent is genetic--the rest is environmental. But the environment can change genes as well, through a phenomenon called epigenetics. Epigenetics refers to changes in the areas around our genes that can cause them to be turned on or off."
Pg. 121 "8. Autophagy Clearing biological waste products is a process known as autophagy, and it plays a key role in healthy aging, especially in the brain. The brain uses more energy than any other organ, and so there are lots of mitochondria, oxygen radicals, and therefore lots of damage in it."
Pg. 109 "1. Glycation Why do we get cataracts and wrinkles as we get older? Each of these is an example of an undeniable and inevitable fact of life--the Maillard or glycation or browning or caramelization reaction. All four terms describe the same process, which is the primary process of aging.
Pg. 110 "Because glucose has a six-member-ring structure, it's more stable and engages in the Maillard reaction relatively slowly. Conversely, fructose's five-member ring is more easily broken apart and engages in the Maillard reaction seven times faster than glucose. It also generates one hundred times the number of oxygen radicals. Furthermore, our research group has shown that a specific breakdown product of fructose, called methylglyoxal, drives the Maillard reaction 250 times faster than glucose. All in all, when it comes to aging, fructose is worse than glucose, and therefore sugar is worse than starch. That' doesn't make glucose "good"--it raises insulin and drives obesity--but compared to fructose, it's a walk in the park."
Pg. 112 "2. Oxidative stress Each of our cells possesses specialized subcellular organelles called peroxisomes, which is here antioxidants lie in wait to quench incoming oxygen radicals and render them inert. But if there are more oxygen radicals than antioxidants (termed oxidative stress), it causes cellular dysfunction, structural damage to lipids, proteins, or DNA, and in the extreme, cell death. When this happens in the liver and the pancreas, you get diabetes."
Pg. 113 "3. Mitochondrial dysfunction The single best stimulus to make more and fresh mitochondria is exercise--but even your mitochondria can't outrun a bad diet."
Pg. 114 "4. Insulin resistance Just two organs in your body need insulin to function: the liver and adipose tissue. Too much insulin can get in the way, forcing glucose clearance from the bloodstream into tissues."
Pg. 115 "5. Membrane integrity Every cell has an outer membrane to protect and contain its contents. When membranes get damaged, cells spill their contents and all hell breaks loose, usually leading to cell dysfunction and death."
Pg. 118 "6. Inflammation The key to the chronic disease kingdom is that there are not four separate problems (nutrition, metabolism, inflammation, immunity); there's only one, and they are all related. Screw up one and you screw up the other three.
Pg. 119 "7. Epigenetics Lots of effort has been placed on looking for genetic reasons behind metabolic syndrome, but the studies say only 15 percent is genetic--the rest is environmental. But the environment can change genes as well, through a phenomenon called epigenetics. Epigenetics refers to changes in the areas around our genes that can cause them to be turned on or off."
Pg. 121 "8. Autophagy Clearing biological waste products is a process known as autophagy, and it plays a key role in healthy aging, especially in the brain. The brain uses more energy than any other organ, and so there are lots of mitochondria, oxygen radicals, and therefore lots of damage in it."