Currently viewing the tag: "swim"

The New Eye On BAT

By On · 49 Comments

Irisin transforming fat to BATWe take a quick break from our macronutrient discussion to talk about some really exciting news in the hypothermics world that showed up in the last two weeks. It’s great when new data shows that old thoughts might be wrong.  This one comes from researchers at Harvard Medical School (and a host of other institutions).(1)  These scientist discovered a new hormone, irisin, named after the greek goddess iris – the personification of the rainbow and messenger of the gods.

What is most exciting is that this hormone could be another piece of the “calorie” controversy – the irritating paradox of calorie in, calorie out.  So let’s take a look at what they found.

Only the Good Die Young

In the past we have discussed the role of the uncoupling protein, UCP1, that instructs the mitochondria to generate excess heat instead of producing ATP.  This protein is mediated by another very important co-activator, PGC1-α. You may have heard about it in connection with what are called the Sirtuin proteins. If not, let’s back up and review a little on these before getting into this new discovery.

By regulating the production/activation of this family of molecules, scientist have not only been able to vastly alter obesity in mammals, they also are able to affect animal longevity.  You’ve heard of Resveratrol by now and these are the very same metabolic pathways altered by that molecule. (2-4)

PCG1-alpha altered mice show dramatically different aging.

Increased PGC-1α expression in skeletal muscle prevents age-associated weight gain and improves exercise capacity during aging. (A) Comparison of mice expressing the PGC-1α transgene in skeletal muscle (MCK-PGC-1α) and wild-type littermates (control) at different ages. (B and C) Lean and fat mass of 22-month-old wild-type and PGC-1α animals as determined by DEXA scans, (D) Relative hindlimb mass of 22-month-old wild-type and PGC-1α animals (E) Treadmill performance test at different ages for wild-type and PGC-1α animals; Source: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2009 Dec 1;106(48):20405-10. Epub 2009 Nov 16.

For example, if you look the the photo to the right, you’ll see a pair of mice. One mouse (left),  was genetically modified to have enhanced PGC1-α and compared to a normal control mouse (right).  Just a scan of the photos and you will quickly see that the modified mouse ages “gracefully.”  Its control cage-mate gets plump like the rest of us even though it’s in the same environment. The genetically modified mouse stays healthy.

It doesn’t stop there. Take a look at graph “E” to on the bottom right.  That is the difference in performance of Treadmill tests (I wonder if they used Livestrong?).  Look at the difference of performance at 22 months! Like a fine red wine, these mice get better with age.  In addition to the lack of weight gain and increased running skills, these mice showed no age-related bone loss or insulin resistance and the typical systemic inflammatory response was mitigated.

Despite what people might say, you’re not going to get these results from drinking red wine (sorry), but these are incredible first steps to unlocking the mystery of aging and metabolic syndrome.

Message to My Blubber

The new research identifying the irisin hormone is just as exciting.  This hormone was hidden as part of a much larger molecule and these researchers were able to  isolate it.  Irisin is secreted as a result of exercise in both these transgenic (modified) mice and Humans.  It turns out that this is way for the muscle to “communicate’ with the forming white adipose cells, signaling them to become the more energetic brown adipose tissue (BAT).  The concentration of this hormone jumped sharply after exercise (Human and mice).

The researchers went a step further.

By doing experiments in cultures, they discovered that nano molar levels (tiny amounts) of this hormone cause a 50-fold increase in the UPC1 protein. When delivered in vivo (in the animal) they still saw a 10-20 fold increase of in UCP1, which resulted in an increased energy expenditure and improvement in the glucose tolerance of mice fed a high fat diet.  But a nagging question remained. What purpose would be served by a hormone being released in response to exercise that INCREASED energy consumption?  One might thing that the opposite would be true – evolution would dictate conservation of energy.

Cavemen Didn’t Exercise

A long time before 5-toe shoes and grown men (and women) running through NYC Central Park beating their chest and throwing boulders, we were far more like the bird sitting on your back porch (unless you are looking at a pigeon – they don’t count); we starved.  If you look all around you and ignore domesticated animals (including pigeons and rats), you will find that every animal is starving.  They live to eat every day and it is a struggle to find calorie.  It is THE struggle that anthropologist are still trying to unravel with Humans.

Where did we get the energy to become the modern-day intellectual giant?

You should see the conflict. If we were starving and now find that a hormone is released in response to strenuous activity, which turns energy storing white fat into energy burning brown fat, that would be a NEGATIVE not a positive evolutionary trait. The quest to find food would be a downward energy spiral.

Ah, but we really had no reason to run through the park or roll giant tires around. Why would our ancestors need to exercise?  It turns out that there is one activity that WOULD cause a lot of muscle activity, yes it’s shivering.  It was a way for animals to keep warm and in response to the biological stress of cold, muscle secreting a hormone to create more BAT to keep warm was a GOOD thing.  It meant staving off hypothermia.

A further interesting fact is that PGC1-α was originally discovered by scientists, because it was unregulated by cold exposure.  We also know that in addition to caloric restriction, mild cold stress is the only other way that we have demonstrated longevity in mice. Even more exciting is that recent tests (unpublished) have show a nearly 5-fold increase of BAT output of a 52 year old man vs 20 year old controls.  This increase was even though they had similar levels of BAT, so there is even more energy to tap into. You can adapt and cause increased metabolic activity.

Un-wrapping it All

I think we are seeing just the tip of where all of this is going. In the last decade we have moved from the idea that we lose all of our BAT with aging, to we have a fixed amount of BAT, to now understanding there are hormonal mechanisms to create new BAT.  Further the exact pathways that are responsible for longevity through caloric restriction also are affected by mild cold stress.  These systems respond to biological stress of starvation and cold, like a muscle responds to the stress of weight training,  by creating a more resilient biology.

Mild cold stress does not have to be miserable, or even cold.  It can come in a lot of different forms. In the David Agus new Book, The End of Illness, he discusses at great length the role of inflammation in aging. He even gives an example of a one of his “all-star” cancer patients. Diagnosed with prostate cancer at the age of nearly 80, he decided to make a life changes that include swimming every day. He is now almost 90 and doing incredible.

I have documented the profound ability to thermal load through swimming.  In addition we know that mild cold stress starts in warm water (27C/80F).  Today we have learned that a hormone has been identified that is not only increases PGC1-α, it’s causes all the benefits of longevity seen through sirtuin activation. It’s exciting to see this all come together and I know we’ll only learn more. This is not the ice cube diet or really even “freeze your ass off,” it’s a basic adaptation with millions of years of evolutionary excellence.

Turn the heater off, go for a walk, let go of a few layers, move,  or just swim – do something.  You have nothing to lose and we all look funny as hell in shorts, gloves and face masks.  If laughter is the best medicine, worse case is you’ll make someone live longer by laughing.

Ray

 

(1) Boström PA, et al.,  “PGC1-α-dependent myokine that drives brown-fat-like development of white fat and thermogenesis,” Nature. 2012 Jan 11. doi: 10.1038/nature10777. [Epub ahead of print]

(2) Wenz T, et al. “Increased muscle PGC-1alpha expression protects from sarcopenia and metabolic disease during aging,”Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2009 Dec 1;106(48):20405-10. Epub 2009 Nov 16.

(3) Tong Shi, et al. “SIRT3, a Mitochondrial Sirtuin Deacetylase, Regulates Mitochondrial Function and Thermogenesis in Brown Adipocytes,” J. Biol. Chem., Vol. 280, No. 14, Issue of April 8, pp. 13560–13567, 2005

(4) Marcia C. Haigis and Leonard P. Guarente, “Mammalian sirtuins—emerging roles in physiology, aging, and calorie restriction,” Genes Dev. 2006 20: 2913-2921.

**************
Do you like these blogs and want to help me? Please take a minute to scroll up on the right side of the screen consider making a monthly donation to this program. You can also make a one time donation here:

Thanks!
Ray

In the SWIM of Things

By On · 50 Comments

I’m not much of a swimmer, but I want to be.  In 2011 it is a major personal fitness goal to try to swim more frequently. The interesting irony is that I was in the pool and spa industry for about a decade and yet I wasn’t ever a swimmer. Most are not; in fact, health and fitness isn’t very common in the industry at all.  There seems to be more focus on fountains than fitness.

It’s the first day  of summer here the the Northern Hemisphere…to all of the readers in the Southern part of the world, you are in the thermal loading sweet spot right now – enjoy.

My initial thoughts of thermal loading came from a detailed analysis of Michael Phelps and his enormous caloric intake.  I was able to talk to him for a few minutes this fall and finally thank him for the inspiration.

If you google “weight loss and swimming,” you’ll find site after site that indicates swimming is bad for losing weight or that swimmers tend to put on body fat. I’ve done an exhaustive literature review and I am confident that both of these assertions are wrong. Most of the quotes comparing  swimming, running and cycling find their root in an 1987 study by Gwinup (1). In it, he compares the three activities in the absence of caloric restriction or monitoring of any kind.

Essentially this study followed moderately obese women in one of  three activities, walking, stationary bicycle, and swimming over a 6 month period.  This is probably one of the most extensively cited papers I have seen.  The results were that walking and cycling caused a drop in weight and swimmers actually gained.  It is astounding that it’s been 24 years ago and not much more has been completed.

The problem with the study as I see it is they didn’t ask the people to restrict diet in any way. If in fact swimming could result in a greater caloric burn due to the thermal load of the water, couldn’t that explain the increase hunger? If they were not instructed on how to specifically counter this, would that account for the weight gain? This is generally applied to everyone, but wouldn’t someone that is applying swimming as part of a comprehensive diet/exercise program understand they had to keep calories restricted?

It is plausible to expect that the additional drain of energy from the thermal load of the water could cause the body to signal hunger.  Remember, the body regulates heat (energy) not temperature, so we might expect the body to simply turn on the hunger mechanism in response to the energy deficit caused by increased heat drain. Most importantly, might we expect that armed with this knowledge, we could turn off, or resist, this hunger trigger with proper diet and nutrition?

I believe the answer is yes.

Gappmaier (2) had some VERY harsh words in 2006 retort to the oft-cited Gwinup paper. He felt that while the data Gwinup suggested from his study might substantiate the opinion offered, the other labs cited in the paper have never published any data/papers supporting it. Gappmaier’s view was that most of the research on modes of aerobic exercise had gone into the cardiorespiratory changes, not weight loss.  In the end, Gwinup didn’t control the very variable that was necessary to draw his conclusions, nevertheless, it has been cited over and over for the last 24 years.

Gappmaier found that with similar frequency, duration, and intensity, swimming results are comparable in terms of weight loss. This parity is good news, but of course it likely  is based on a relatively warm and  consistent water temperature and that is where I think the big opportunities to boost the results reside going forward.

In the last year, I really wanted to find a better way to thermal load in the summer. As well, I wanted to know exactly what the truth is concerning water thermal conductivity and the Human body’s loss of thermal energy (calories). There is no doubt it happens, but there is a question of rate. A somewhat exhaustive review of the literature on the thermoregulatory side found that the simple one dimensional math model I outlined two years ago gave a pretty good fit to actual Human data of the 50s & 60s.

This data was collected to assess macronutrient requirements of military personnel in a cold stress environment; ironically they were studies on how to keep weight on, not lose it.  I know it works, but what are the best methods and how quickly can one lose?

I’ve talked with MANY people following both the TEDMED talk and 4HB and I am astonished at just how much fear we have of cold as a society. In fact, the fear is so great that people often interpret “cool” as cold and begin to bundle at what was a very comfortable room temperature just a few years ago.

Over that last 2 months I have been putting in a new lab and looking at methods to better assess my own progress. Taking one for the “Team” out there, I put about 12 lbs on and want to take it off (with interest) using a solid diet/nutrition plan and swimming. I now have the capability to go down to 45F/7C water temperature for swimming in a swim spa…we’ll see how brave I get.

What I know for sure is that there are studies that seem to verify increased hunger associated with swimming. All of the other references you see, in one way or another, lead back to Gwinup 87.  The vast majority don’t control diet at the same time and suggest that increase hunger makes swimming a futile process for weight loss.

I am not buying it.

I have spoken to so many ex-swimmers that rave about weight loss when getting back into the water. The thermal models say it should work. Most importantly, swimming is probably one the very few physical activities that one can do for a lifetime. You can start at any age or level of fitness and if it IS hot and sticky, it’s a fantastic way to relax.

I still need your help in part of this. I am going to begin collecting data in the next few weeks. Part of what I really need to add to all of the current equipment is a thermal imager.  Be sure to click the voting widget up and to the right and I’ll be sending out requests soon in attempts to get this funded.

So, if you are a swimmer, get your suit on and dive in…even BETTER if you are a swimmer going into winter in the southern hemisphere >grin<. I’ll be subjecting myself to even more extreme self-experiments over the coming months and will report back what I learn.

If you haven’t learned to swim- I feel your pain. I too had an incredibly difficult time getting instruction as an adult. I wasn’t afraid of water (once an avid scuba diver), just didn’t know how to “swim laps;” thanks goes out to Al Bayhi @ iSport.com. If you are in the Bay-area, this guy is THE best.

After much personal study of the Total Immersion techniques, as Tim describes in 4HB, I was able to move from zero ability to swimming comfortably over a 5 day period, 3 hours of instruction a day. It was sort of a brutal immersion, but I REALLY learned a lot. From the aches and pains it is clear to me that I exerted a lot of physical energy during the process.

Swimmin is a great compliment to whatever exercise/diet program you are doing, so get into the swim of things and shed some unwanted body fat.

1.  Gwinup, G. (1987). Weight loss without dietary restriction: Efficacy of different forms of aerobic exercise. American Journal of Sports Medicine, 15, 275-279

2. Gappmaier E, Lake W, Nelson AG, Fisher AG.  Aerobic exercise in water versus walking on land: effects on indices of fat reduction and weight loss of obese women The Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness 2006, 46:564-569