When I think of longevity a couple of movies come to mind. Cocoon and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button cover this theme in different ways. Or a quick history lesson takes us back to Ponce de Leon and the search for the fountain of youth. Researchers at USC may have found the protein that confers anti-aging benefits. The protein is MOTS-c and is a mitochondrial protein. Mitochonria can thought of as the powerhouse of the cell and are responsible much of our cellular energy. MOTS-c acts by heping promote metabolism amd maintaining homeostasis. Previous research into MOTS-c has shown that it helps increase insulin sensitivty and reverse obesity in mice. In human when we exercise we see the level of MOTS-c is elevated almost 12x and remains elevated for up to four hours post-exercise. What the research team at USC did was inject MOTS-c into mice of various ages and then measure their speed and agility, among other things. For mice, young is considered 2 months old, 12 months is middle age and old is 22 months. The researchers injected the mice three times per week and had them perform a running test. The mice would warm-up for 5 minutes at 13 metres per minute. After five minutes the speed was increased one metre per minute for five minutes to reach 18 metres per minute. The mice then ran for up to 30 minutes at a top speed of 23 metres per minute. What they found is the older mice i.e. 22 months old, were able to keep up and outrun the young and middle aged mice. As well, the older mice were more sure-footed compared to the younger mice. This is encouraging and it appears MOTS-c may play a role in healthy aging. It helped with the metabolic fitness...

Back in March we returned home from a Caribbean cruise. Once we arrived back in Canada we were required to quarantine and self-isolate for 2 weeks. We were probably among the first people to do so as the Canadian government closed the border to international travel as we arrived. I remember the customs agent coming on the plane, explaining the quarantine process and duration and giving everyone a handout with the same information. I remember this agent saying we should feel lucky as were the last flight to arrive in Kelowna as the border was closed. The next two weeks were spent at home. We didn't go to work, school or out for any reason. It was kind of nice actually as we would simply text a friend or family member our grocery list and send them an email money transfer. We literally didn't even step out of the house for two weeks. And we could notice the difference this was making on our physical and mental health. I couldn't wait to get back in the gym, train and do something active. As someone who is normally active a couple weeks break from the gym probably wasn't the worst thing in the world. If I were a couple of decades older this quarantine could have been catastrophic. A new study looked at how 2 weeks of quarantine affects our health. In this study of 22 men and women, average age of 69 years, total daily steps were reduced to less than 1500 per day. Researchers looked at insulin sensitivity and muscle protein synthesis after 2 weeks of inactivity. What they found was that insulin sensitivity and muscle protein synthesis both decreased after only 2 weeks of sitting around. Leg muscle mass decreased by 4%. A key, and concerning, finding of the...

Have you ever watched kids play? It's usually unstructured, all out and fun. For example, watch a 3 or 4 year old at a playground and they run from one play structure to the next. They don't walk from the slide to the swing, they run. And it's not to because they are in competition with someone else. There could be no other kids at the park and they'll still run. Puppies are the same way. I've started taking our puppy, Poppy, on some hikes and walks. And every now and again she'll open up into a sprint until she gasses herself and has to stop and rest. Once she recovers she's off again chasing a butterfly, racing me or for any reason at all. At some point in life exercise changes. Maybe it's because we think everything has to be by the rules or it doesn't count. For example, you can't just do push ups you need to do 3 sets of 10. And runs need to be a certain time or distance. Maybe we stop exercising because it doesn't feel like play. We don't get to do the fun things we did as kids. Whatever the reasons for not exercising the consequences of not exercising as we age are very real. A recent article covered this in more detail. Here's a brief recap of what happens to your body if you don't exercise as you age. Sleep Issues - Do you have an elderly parent? Or maybe you work with elderly people. If so, you'd know it's not uncommon for them to have poor quality sleep. This can be due to waking up during the night for the bathroom, to not being able to relax or difficulty getting in a comfortable position. Regardless of the reason, it is rare...