The Nutrient: Tomatoes and gut health, Unprocessed red meat, Gerry Lopez on longevity
Research
Short-Term Tomato Consumption Alters the Pig Gut Microbiome toward a More Favorable Profile
This study intended to help us understand how different foods impact the microbiome. Granted, they used pigs in the study, and the tomatoes were actually a "tomato powder," but the results are useful.
This research suggests that foods affect our gut bacteria in positive or negative ways, which is equally important to your health as the billions of strains in your probiotic. Take tomatoes, for example. When researchers only added this one food to pig's diet, their microbiome shifted for the better–they had a higher ratio of bacteria that we associate with health, and higher microbial diversity.
Takeaway
Most of my patients associate a healthy gut with probiotics. These microorganisms can be helpful, but they're mostly a short-term solution to help heal a damaged gut after an infection or a round of antibiotics. Your diet has a larger impact, and individual foods like tomatoes can lead to what my wife celebrates as a "gut like a dog."
News
Here's a tool that shows risk-outcome pairs related to available scientific evidence. For example, eating less unprocessed red meat may have no effect on the likelihood of having an ischemic stroke, whereas high systolic blood pressure increases the likelihood of getting ischemic heart disease by more than 85%. So go eat some meat, and check your blood pressure. Fellow nerds out there will get a kick out of this chart with all 50 associations.
Article
Gerry Lopez on how to keep paddling
“I still maybe even love surfing more right now, because I realize, shit man, I’m not that young any more, there’s not that many waves left in life.”
Words of the week
A good life, like a good story, requires a beginning, a progression, and an ending. Without those defining elements, it feels partial, even tragic; it lacks shape, purpose, and meaning. Elderhood is life’s third and final act; what it looks like is up to us.
–Louise Aronson, Elderhood: Redefining Aging, Transforming Medicine, Reimagining Life
Take care,
Dr. Rondo
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