December 12th, 2022
1) Protein intake is incredibly important for muscle growth and mitochondrial synthesis. It has to be a function of volume not percentage of food taken in. 1.5 grams per kilogram of weight or 0.68 grams per pound. For a 70 pound child that would equate to 47 grams per day. The type of protein is important for absorption and synthesis. Animal proteins contain all of the essential amino acids necessary for protein growth. Plant proteins are functional but would require higher volumes do to 20-35% reduced uptake of plant based protein versus animal based protein.
2) Washing your hands for 20 seconds is the key to reducing the transmission of all noxious pathogenic microbes. This needs to be reinforced in everybody. Good ole soap and time cures most bugs for the ability to do damage. As always avoid touching your face during the day.
3) Grief is real. Learning to handle grief is a critical aspect of human aging and longevity. To be swallowed by grief or trauma in any way is to allow life to control you instead of you accepting and existing within life's playbook, good and bad alike. Humans that I have spoken to over the past half century that rise above grief and trauma have a level of acceptance, positivity and industriousness about their future. That is a playbook worthy of reading.
4) Covid is a tricky little creature that is mostly a nuisance for humans that are not ill at baseline from an inflammatory chronic disease. Mutability is the norm and likely will remain so. Our job remains to control that which is controllable: our nutrition, our sleep, our stress responses, our exposures and our movement. Focus here first and worry about pathogens second.
5) Schools underperformed throughout the last 2 year pandemic cycle leaving our most vulnerable children behind in the most important statistic, education. Without a proper education, humans invariable struggle in every society since the dawn of time. We must make their education a massive priority moving forward.
6) The immune system is becoming ground zero for most of our most serious diseases of aging. For most of human history humans have struggled to maintain adequate immunity to prevent pathogens from killing us. For the last century, that narrative is now flipped as infectious diseases are less of a problem and now our lifestyle habits are driving dysfunctional immune activity leading to more autoimmune attack, cancer and inflammation. A reversible recipe that is rarely followed now.
7) Music is the lifeblood of joy for much of society. Keep engaging in your musical joy. Keep playing the music that feeds your soul and happiness. Share the love and passion with your kids. Encourage instrument playing and growth of the musical part of the brain.
8) Exercise continues to be one of the top three daily decisions that leads to a healthy outlook and an improved immune system. Walk more. Run more. Bike more. Just move more.
9) The more that I learn the less that I truly know. Blinders of medical belief and protocols of care are not useful in general. The Covid pandemic and subsequent medicalization of healthcare decisions needs a redo. We need to have a phase shift in medicine that empowers each person as an N of 1 to be primarily involved in reaching their personal health goals of longevity, disease avoidance and balance.
10) So many great podcast guests to learn from. This year we learned from specialists in the fields of obesity research, men's health, brain science, covid/long covid, metabolism, behavior, constipation/milk intolerance, ADHD, inflammatory bowel disease and the microbiome. New topics will be infection induced brain disorders, protein intake, words in relationship, epigenetics, teenagers and much more.
Above all, keep your heart and mind positive while you change to be your best self while supporting your children in all things. Keep hugging and loving your children to health and success.....
Here is to year 13 coming up!
Dr. M
