💖 Dear all,
I hope you’re doing well during these challenging times that more than anything have forced us to CHANGE, including how we look at our health and what we can do about it.
Winter is (literally) coming, and since it will be the first one in this pandemic context, we need to stay calm while also being more strategic than ever about things we can do for our health. You may have noticed that ‘boosting immunity’ is on everyone’s lips, but let’s look together at a smart action plan for your health for the next months:
🔬TESTING
annual check- If you haven’t yet had one, it’s the time to do it. If you want to avoid crowded laboratories, you can always book a nurse at home for the blood draw or have basic checkups with home self-testing kits.
immunity check - it is usually included in your annual checkup but extra tests can be done, especially if your immune system is not your strongest point (i.e. often getting sick, having allergies, autoimmune diseases, chronic stress, etc.)
gut microbiome - I usually recommend that everyone checks their gut microbiome, even with no/light gastrointestinal symptoms, because gut flora has such a crucial role in our health: immunity, metabolic health and mental health.
stress hormones/adrenal profile - especially if you have symptoms like fatigue, sleep problems, low mood/mood swings, nervousness, anxiety, low libido, and the list can go on. With the general life context of Covid-related stress as well as shorter days, our mental wellbeing is at risk, especially for people suffering from SAD or other mental health issues. Knowing more info about your stress biology allows for early action and better care of your mental health.
If you want more guidance on what tests you’d need, you can have a free online assessment and/or book a free 15-min video call with me.)
💊TREATMENT
flu vaccine- if your doctor recommends it. Needless to say, if you already have some health problems and you are at higher risk of getting Covid-19, you should rigorously follow your doctor's advice, including whether or not you should take the flu vaccine.
stop overuse/misuse of antibiotics- this message should be taken more seriously than ever. Since the Covid pandemic started, antibiotic consumption worldwide has considerably increased, which worries the medical community since it increases the risk of antibiotic resistance, which was already high before.
fix whatever unbalanced biological markers/health issues are revealed by the checkups and keep in mind the basics: maintaining the blood sugar optimal, no inflammation, having hormones in balance (including the stress hormones) and optimal vitamins & minerals (keep the eye on your Vit D). Of course, we aim for everything we check to be optimal.
💝LIFESTYLE
Daily routine- if you don’t have one in place, no matter how small it is, it’s time to start with the easiest thing for you to implement- that could be 5 minutes of exercise per day or 2 minutes of breathing exercises or reading a book instead of social media at night.
Food- a Mediterranean diet or close to it is a type of diet that seems to be beneficial for most of us, although personalised nutrition remains highly complex. Additionally, pay attention to having enough fiber consumption every day (at least 25-30 grams per day, with a minimum of 6-8 grams coming from soluble fibers like oats, lentils, apples, etc.). Also, try to get plenty of vit C through your food.
Exercise- it’s not too much to repeat it, exercise is one of the best antidepressants and one of the best things we can do for our health overall. Exercising at home can be challenging, but there are also plenty of alternatives for all tastes. Ping me if you want a personal coach to assist you in person or via video sessions.
Mindfulness- we talk a lot about meditation, but any mindfulness technique can do the job, like breathing exercises, journaling, visualisation, drawing, colouring, music therapy, etc. You can use several meditation apps (besides guided meditation sessions, many of them also offer relaxing music, sleep stories or a variety of choices related to mindfulness practices). Also, if you want to experiment with any of these techniques with a personal mindfulness teacher, let me know.
Monitoring- besides keeping an eye on your scale to maintain your optimal weight and having a thermometer at hand if you get sick, there are a few other parameters that you can measure and monitor these days, as they eventually can raise red flags for your health. For example, regularly measuring your resting heart rate and heart rate variability could eventually be an early indicator of a health issue if there is a sudden change in your baseline.
💡 Now that you have this practical advice, let’s learn a few things about what’s new in science these days and that can help you better understand things about your health and also some health aspects I’ve mentioned above.
❄️☀️Biological seasons
(yes, yes, you read well, our biological markers have also their summer and winter time :)
This is a fascinating study published recently by Stanford University regarding how seasons influence our health. We know that environment is a key factor for our health and that some diseases and health issues can be influenced by seasonal changes. ‘For example, mortality rates in the U.S. show a notable seasonality with rates in winter 25% higher than in summer. Other human phenotypes associated with seasons are allergies, autoimmune conditions like rheumatic disease, and cardiovascular diseases as well as psychiatric disorders. In addition, a series of large-scale population-based studies revealed that systolic and diastolic blood pressures were higher in winter than in summer’.
But the Stanford scientist brought more new insights in this field. Their longitudinal study performed in the San Francisco area analysed an enormous amount of data from 105 people followed over 4 years. This deep analysis came from several omics profiles (transcriptome, proteome, metabolome, cytokinome, clinical health data), as well as from nasal and gut microbiota. Ìn addition, they integrated data from environmental factors such as meteorological data (e.g. air temperature, solar radiation) and airborne pollen counts from the San Francisco Bay area. As a result their study discovered the seasonal changes of over 1000 molecules and microbes and identified two major biological seasonal patterns that correlate with early spring and late fall/early winter in the San Francisco bay area.
In other words, researchers found seasonal patterns for molecules involved in human biological processes such as inflammation, immunity, cardiovascular health, as well as neurological and psychiatric conditions. For example, disorders related to blood pressure, hypertension, and cardiovascular disease, sleep patterns, schizophrenia are associated with seasonal omics pattern n°1 where the omics molecules have the highest expression level in spring/summer. Interestingly to note, researchers found differences in insulin resistance/insulin sensitivity over the year. Therefore, HbA1c (HbA1c is a common marker for T2D, it reflects the average blood glucose over the past 100 days) was found to peak in spring/summer and declines in winter. Also, several microbial taxa showed significant seasonal differences between insulin resistant and insulin sensitive groups.
On the other hand, patterns related to inflammation, acne, cholesterol esterification etc. are associated with seasonal omics pattern two (increase in fall/winter).
Stay tuned for more details about the study in an interview with one of the researchers who is now part of Akesio’s scientific board :)
💩😇 Gut microbiome and mental health
There is growing evidence about gut microbiome and mental health and previous studies demonstrated links between gut health and depression, anxiety and many other conditions.
A recent observational study using two large population cohorts of Belgian and Dutch people and 16S ribosomal ribonucleic acid (rRNA) gene sequencing to analyze the fecal microbiota found correlations between microbial taxa, quality of life, and the incidence of depression. Ten genus abundances were correlated with quality of life scores, including both mental and physical scores. Faecalibacterium, Coprococcus, Dialister, Butyrivibrio, Gemmiger, Fusicatenibacter, and Prevotella were consistently associated with higher quality of life scores, whereas Parabacteroides, Streptococcus, and Flavonifractor showed negative associations. Moreover, researchers found that microbial synthesis potential of the dopamine metabolite 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid (DOPAC) correlated positively with mental quality of life. They also found a potential role of microbial glutamate degradation and gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) synthesis in depression.
Until next time, take care of yourself and your loved ones, and stay healthy!
Lavinia 💌
Dr Lavinia Ionita, Functional Medicine doctor
Akesio founder