Book Thoughts - Regenerate by Sayer Ji

Regenerate by Sayer Ji

5 out of 5

TL:DR Challenging the standard of practice, pill-for-every-ill approach to healthcare, Sayer Ji dives into the history of how the modern medical establishment came to be, as well as explores the alternative to the “sickcare” system by looking into ways of optimizing health through holistic practices and functional medicine tactics, rather than managing illness. 

What is the fundamental theory about how to “Regenerate”?

People always compare the human body to a machine that is subject to wear and eventually breaks down over time, but we are not machines. We have the unique ability to continuously rebuild and regenerate ourselves if given the right input. Mastering our health comes down to understanding the fundamental principle that your DNA does not control your destiny. Instead, environmental factors, or those elements of our lifestyle (such as diet, movement, sleep hygiene, stress, mindset, and toxic exposures) almost exclusively determine your lifespan and quality of life. Ji refer’s to a concept called the “Paleo-deficit disorder” illustrating the environmental burden on our health by saying there is: “no coincidence that our career stress, our sedentary desk jobs, our sleep deficit, our processed and adulterated food, our exposure to industrial chemicals and pharmaceutical drugs, our lack of social support, and our minimal contact with nature all constitute the primary risk factors for disease… [all of which] are largely under our control, [and have the power to] determine whether our genetic blueprints express health or disease.” Ultimately, we hold the power to steer our lives towards vibrancy or disorder, and we make small course corrections with literally every decision we make. 

Top 3 Interesting Take-a-ways:

Traditional taxonomy differentiates plants as autotrophs (which produces their own food) from animals as heterotrophs (which eat other living things for food). Generally, these classifications don’t overlap, but there is an exception with something called photoheterotrophs, which can use light for energy but cannot use carbon dioxide as plants typically do. Examples of photoheterotrophy can be found in rodents and pigs (one of the closest animal to humans physiologically) “which have been found to be capable of taking up chlorophyll metabolites into their mitochondria, enabling them to use sunlight energy to supercharge the rate  (up to 35% faster) and quantity (up to 16x increase) of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) production within their mitochondria.” 1 This is made possible by a by-product of chlorophyll named pyropheophorbide a (or Ppa) which is taken into the animal mitochondria. In the presence of Ppa and light from the environment, researchers observed an increase in the amount of ATP produced by the mitochondria. Animals given Ppa but not exposed to light did not show this effect, nor did a control group. It was found that feeding animals Ppa with concomitant light exposure significantly increased it’s lifespan, whereas those that didn’t saw shorter lifespan from light exposure. It’s interesting to think that eating plants may provide a protective mechanism outside of phytonutrients. Additionally, this raises questions regarding the increased ambivalence to sunlight exposure, as sun is viewed as a vector for skin cancer so much that people slather petrochemical-based sunscreen to block all exposure. Ji posits, “one crucial question that remains unexplored is whether sunlight is only toxic when chlorophyll is absent from our diet and tissues or if it is healthy when it appears in optimal doses alongside appropriate chlorophyll consumption. 

‎(1. Nancy A. Moran and Tyler Jarvik, “Lateral Transfer of Genes from Fungi Underlies Carotenoid Production in Aphids, “ Science 328, no. 5978 (April 30, 2010): 624–27, https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1187113.))

‎‎The continued research on the microbiome is challenging the genome-centric story of human evolution, namely that extremely gradual changes in the protein-coding nucleotide sequences of our DNA are primarily responsible for the survival of our species over the ages. Exemplified by a study in Nature that found Japanese subject had a strain of bacteria in their gut that were composed of both genes and enzymes required to digest sugars found in sea vegetables, which are normally indigestible to humans.2 The implication is that when a population eats a food like seaweed long enough, the useful genes from marine bacteria residing on seaweed can be absorbed and assimilated into already-existing bacterial strains in their guts. The bacteria in our guts have the ability to shift or compensate for deficits in our “hardwired” genetic capabilities. In other words, continued environmental exposure to our microbiome can change our physiology and adapt to changes and challenges we face. As a result, our microbiome grants us with an immense plasticity allowing us to improve our ability to survive and remain in harmony with our the environment we find ourselves in. 

‎(2. Jan-Hendrik Hehemann et al., “Transfer of Carbohydrate-Active Enzymes from Marine Bacteria to Japanese Gut Microbiota,” Nature 464 (2010): 908–12, https://doi.org/10.1038/nature08937.)

‎Ginkgo is the world’s oldest living plant, with the ability to live well over 1,000 years. It is believed to have originated around a quarter of a billion years ago, and has appropriately gained the nickname “living fossil.” It has survived Earth’s five mass extinction events, and was the only species of plant to survive the atomic bomb dropped over Hiroshima on August 6, 1945 with six trees still standing at the epicenter of the blast. Gingko’s hardiness and cellular longevity transfer to humans. At the “cellular level, it works as an antioxidant, reducing the oxidative stress that can lead to diseases we associate with aging, including cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, and heart disease. It also enhances mitochondrial respiration.” It elicits anti-aging effects within the different cell types of neurons, blood platelets and fibroblasts (which help in collagen production), as well as liver, heart, and endothelial cells.3

‎(3. Sayer Ji, “Gingko Biloba: A ‘Living Fossil’ with Life-Extending Properties,” GreenMedInfo.com, June 10, 2019, www.greenmedinfo.com/blog/gingko-biloba-living-fossil-life-extending-properties.)

The Interplay Between the Gut and Brain

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The classic approach to understanding the gut is that it is simply a collection of organs designed to digest, absorb, and assimilate the food we eat. While this isn’t incorrect, it does not provide the full picture. The gut is full of organisms all working on a wide variety of physiologic actions that help to regulate immune system functioning, detoxification, inflammation, neurotransmitter production and hormone signaling. Without proper maintenance we can have negative effects to our mood, libido, sleep, metabolism, immunity and even our perception of the world and clarity of our thoughts.

Ok, so how do things get out of hand? The overall health of our mind and body is dependent on a diverse population of good organisms in our gut, when populations fall and bad organisms take control we get ill. A loss of diversity in microbial species can be attributed to a culture that favors an unbalanced diet low in plant fibers, the overuse of antibiotics as well as overly sanitizing everything. Understanding this may help to explain why we suffer from rising rates of “western” illnesses that are not seen nearly as much in traditional, mostly agrarian cultures.

Depression, ADHD, obesity, autism, psoriasis, rheumatoid arthritis, cardiovascular disease, Crohn’s disease, asthma and Alzheimer’s have been linked to inflammation in the gut. The causes of gut inflammation vary from person to person but generally stem from poor dietary choices and chronic stress. Consuming a diet high in sugar elevates blood sugar levels which stirs up inflammation in the bloodstream as excess sugar can be toxic if it isn’t swept up and used by the cells. It also triggers a reaction called glycation – the process by which sugar binds to proteins and certain fats, resulting in deformed molecules that function inefficiently. The body recognizes these molecules as abnormal and sets off an inflammatory reaction. In the brain, these structures contribute to degeneration of the brain and its functioning.

The degenerative effects of our dietary choices do not stop at sugar. The ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 fats also come into play. Omega-6 fats dominate the western diet; these pro-inflammatory fats are found in the many vegetable oils used for manufacturing of all processed foods and have been linked to an increased risk for brain disorders. Omega-3 fats, on the other hand – ones found in olive oil, fish, flaxseed and grass-fed animals – boost cognitive function, help to thwart inflammation and can actually counterbalance the detrimental effects of high consumption of omega-6. Anthropological research has revealed that our ancestors consumed a ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 fats at roughly 1:1. Presently, the average western diet is made of as much as 10-20 times more omega-6 fats than what our ancestor ate.

Inflammation due to poor diet elevates a stress hormone called cortisol, which causes some damaging effects on the gut. These elevated levels have the ability to change the mix of bacteria, increase the permeability of the gut lining, and enhance the production of inflammatory chemical coming from immune cells, called cytokines. These cytokines ramp up inflammation in the gut leading to further permeability and also directly and negatively affect the brain making it more susceptible to mood disorders. This effect was studied by Japanese researchers who looked at mice that lacked a microbiome (germ-free mice), it was found that these mice overreacted to stressful situations stemming from an exaggerated HPA (hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal) response. In other words, the lack of beneficial organisms in the gut can lead to a more damaging outflow of cortisol, thus leading affected individuals to perceive certain events as more stressful than those who have a healthy gut.

Cortisol is also uniquely tied to our circadian rhythm – the ebb and flow of hormones through the 24-hour day that factors into our biology and whether or not we’re feeling alert or tired. Insomnia is a common symptom in mood related disorders and its now known to be linked to the health of our gut. Without optimal health in our gut environment we cannot produce adequate levels of serotonin – an inhibitory neurotransmitter necessary for sleep and mood regulation. Roughly 80% of the amount of serotonin in the body is manufactured by the nerve cells in your gut and many neurologists and psychiatrists are beginning to realize that medications are often less effective in treating sleep and mood disorders than dietary changes are. Interestingly, it is thought that the actual mechanism for modern antidepressants may have nothing to do at all with their effect on serotonin and everything to do with decreasing inflammation.

Another widespread brain disorder linked to the gut is ADHD. The inhibitory neurotransmitter GABA is seen as being largely deficient in the brains of ADHD children. Deficiencies in GABA activity would mean that areas of the brain would be put into overdrive. So what’s triggering this lack of GABA, and how can we increase brains levels? GABA is manufactured in the body from the amino acid glutamine, but the conversion of glutamine requires the presence of what are called cofactors – chemicals necessary for a specific reaction to take place. Specifically, this conversion demands the affected body to be able to absorb and assimilate both zinc and pyroxine (vitamin B6) through food sources, yet without healthy gut flora these cofactors cannot be processed efficiently thus leading to the observed deficiency.

At one point in time it was largely thought that the instance of a “gut feeling” was nothing more than some ambiguous association between the interworking’s of our gut and brain, however upon further investigation it has been shown that there is, in fact, a distinct connection governing this relationship. Serving as a direct link, the vagus nerve that controls impulses and relays information from our gut to our brain and it is for this reason that the health of our gut plays a large role in cognitive function. By understanding that there is a connection, we can find a better way to promote health and prevent diseases.