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Hello,

I trust you're safe, fit and well.

All strength to Ukraine 🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦

Printing humans.

A team of scientists have created a tiny heart using human cells and a three-dimensional bioprinter!! They first tried using heart muscle cells (cardiomyocytes) in the 3D printer, but the cells didn't grow. So they instead used stem cells, which have the ability to transform into different cell types [published July 3, 2020, in the journal Circulation Research].

They were able to program the stem cells to become cardiomyocytes. "Within about a month, the cells began beating together, similar to a human heart."!

What's next? Tiny brains? Giant human robots? Downloadable human printing kits?

On the practical side, perhaps printing a new liver or say a pancreas from your own cells is not as crazy as it once sounded?

In this post-Covid long-Covid era mindfulness apps and services are booming. Do they work, are they worth the money? Some say no, I'm not so sure - see item #2.

In a world becoming increasingly sunny we concurrently have a declared global public problem - a deficiency of vitamin D. This has serious consequences including doubling the likelihood of developing dementia - see item #1.

Here are the topics I have chosen for you to help you live longer better:

⭑ Vitamin D deficiency raises global risk of dementia global - WHO
⭑ Some say mindfulness apps are a waste of money - I'm not so sure ✔
⭑ Fat has a circadian rhythm - brown fat can be trained to burn more energy!
⭑ Pull-ups - never easy but blitz them with these 3 techniques ✔

01 Vitamin D Deficiency Leads to Dementia​

A world-first study found that that people who had low levels of vitamin D were more likely to have smaller brain volumes and more white matter lesions. These are both risk factors for dementia and stroke.

The study also found that participants with low levels of vitamin D were more likely to have a diagnosis of dementia or stroke within five years.

This research is important because it shows a direct link between vitamin D and the risk of dementia and stroke. It provides evidence that vitamin D could be used as a treatment or prevention for these diseases.

Data from 294,514 participants found that those with low levels of vitamin D were more than twice as likely to develop dementia and had a 31% increased risk of stroke.

This is a very significant finding because, globally, more than 55 million people have dementia with 10 million new cases diagnosed every year. And because vitamin D deficiency is relatively common across the globe it means that tens of millions of people could avoid dementia if they boost their vitamin D intake.

What it means for us: Vitamin D is a hormone precursor that is increasingly recognised for widespread effects, including on brain health.

Vitamin D is also important for strong bones and teeth, a healthy immune system, and cancer prevention.

The best way to get vitamin D is through exposure to sunlight; however, if you live in an area with little sun or have darker skin pigmentation you may need to supplement your diet with vitamin D.

Most older people in non-tropical areas globally, are deficient. In fact, the World Health Organisation estimates that 1 billion people, or about one-sixth of the world’s population, have low blood levels of vitamin D. This puts them at risk for a variety of health problems, including increased rates of cancer, heart disease and diabetes.

The WHO has declared that vitamin D deficiency is a public health problem and has called for increased screening and treatment worldwide.

Talk to your doctor if you are concerned about whether or not you are getting enough vitamin D.

The good news is that most of us can get our daily dose for free, from the sun.

Related, read my article: Vitamin D Is Free Yet We Don’t Get Enough And Our Health Is Suffering​

Related: How Bananas Benefit Your Bones — And Brain​

02 How Effective is Mindfulness for Treating Mental Ill-health? And What About the Apps?​

Mindfulness has become a popular way to treat mental and physical health. It's no surprise that the mindfulness industry is booming in the wake of Covid and its unsettling aftereffects - especially the use of smartphone apps.

But do mindfulness apps work?

A new report says that while in-person mindfulness programs show moderate benefits among healthy people the jury is out on apps. This is despite some large trials and comprehensive reviews.

One such review looked across 145 trials with a total of nearly 50,000 participants. The authors “failed to find convincing evidence in support of any mobile phone-based intervention on any outcome”.

And disconcertingly, one study compared results from one group of participants using a popular mindfulness app with another group being given fake or "sham" suggestions that had the look of mindfulness and found that the app was no better.

Finally, another study of nearly 7,000 people found that over 8% of them became more anxious, depressed or negative in their thinking after app-guided meditation.

What this means for us: The conclusion from all the above (and via the link) is that "mindfulness apps confer little benefit" for mental health.

Now I might surprise you here, since you know from previous newsletters that I lean towards the side of well-designed studies. In the case of this article and its findings and recommendations I'm not so sanguine.

For a start (1) nobody really knows what mindfulness is, (2) the study participants are very hard to "normalise" at the beginning, and (3) self-reported results of using apps are inherently qualitative.

If you are an academic in the field of mindfulness then it's a case of publish or perish, and a little controversy never goes astray. It sets you up to later publish "the solution".

I think mindfulness apps have their place, in the sense that if you find them helpful then they work for you.

I have a couple of inexpensive subscriptions and they remind me to take time out to breath and such, and I find that helpful. For example, I use Moovbuddy which is a combination of exercise and meditation / relaxation reminders. I often respond to its prompts.

Besides the reminders, what is generally beneficial is the feedback and history which a good app can then use to tailor better suggestions.

You can be your own judge of the costs versus the benefit. There are many to choose from, and if they don't suit then delete them and move on.

An app isn't going to replace a skilled personal intervention. However, post-pandemic the demand for psychologists is vastly outstripping supply and in Australia you can expect to pay $125 an hour for a visit. That will pay for an app for a year.

Related: Thanks To Magic 3 This Meditation I Learnt in Indonesia Calms Me Before Bed​

@Medium - Follow my publication there↗, covering ⭑food, ⭑brain, ⭑body, ⭑life

03 Winter-swimming Scandinavian Men Can Teach Us How The Body Adapts To Extreme Heat and Cold​

If the thought of pull-ups is a little daunting - see the next article - here's something a little more comforting.

A new Scandinavian study that found cold-water immersion followed by hot sauna recovery can help with weight loss. I'm not so keen on running into the ocean in the winter but apparently it works!

In the study, researchers monitored the vitals of a group of young men who had spent at least two years swimming twice a week in cold water and compared them with a non-swimming control group.

It seems that routinely alternating swims or dips in chilly water with sauna sessions might affect how brown fat, also known as brown adipose tissue (BAT), burns energy and produces heat.

Brown fat is the type of fat that helps keep you warm, and researchers found that those who regularly swam then sat in a sauna burned more calories via brown fat.

Unexpectedly, the reason is that the swimmers showed much higher heat production, or energy expenditure, in response to cool temperatures than the control group. In other words, the winter swimmers burned more calories than control subjects during cooling, due to higher heat production.

The higher heat production is thought to be because the cold dips followed by hot saunas stimulated the responsiveness of the BAT. This cold-hot regime increased the ability of BAT to respond quickly to temperature variations. In other words, the routine trained the BAT!

The group that did not swim in cold water was found to have a much less responsive BAT when they were exposed to the same cold water as the regular swimmers. Hence, the former burnt less energy.

What this means for us: In short: cold-water immersion followed by hot sauna bouts can increase your energy expenditure and potentially promote weight loss. However, realistically, a single bite of a donut is going to negate, by far, any cold-water immersion fat loss.

The main benefit may be much broader and have important health implications, given that BAT activity is associated with a lower risk of metabolic diseases.

It highlights how little we know about fat as an important body organ. As we learn more about the role of fat in regulating our metabolism perhaps this type of cold-water immersion will become a type of training for our BAT circadian rhythm resulting in improved metabolic health.

Related: The Exact Slow Pace You Must Run and Cycle To Max Fat-Burning​

04 How to Master the Pull-Up​

Our exercise of the week is ... dare I say it, pull-ups! Hate them, love them, fake them? The link above to a NY Times article inspired 188 comments.

There are more myths about pull-ups than push-ups. That's because pull-ups are hard and you can't fake your way through "I did 100 pull-ups a day" even with all the swinging and gymnastics in the world!

No, you don’t have too much muscle, too little muscle, too tall, too big, wrong shape, weak grip, wrong day of the week. Pull-ups are a simple exercise with fabulous benefits, but hard to do properly. And if you only have "nightclub muscles" - like 99% of the bros at the gym - then you will have to fake them by adding momentum.

As a compound exercise they engage many upper body muscles including the lats, biceps, and shoulders. Pull-ups also improve our core stability and coordination because their execution requires holding our lower body in form.

The NY Times article is motivating, but it makes the whole process too complicated. I prefer to keep it simpler, but not sloppy, while achieving at least the same benefits.

What this means for us: Here's the nub of how to master your way to being able to jump up on the bar and do 4 or 5 nice pull-ups that feel nice and look impressive.

You have to apply just three techniques - (1) hanging, (2) lowering for strength development, and (3) how to properly engage at the bottom of a pull-up movement.

It is true that if you are overweight or your muscles cannot support your joints (especially your shoulder joint and lower back), or you feel pain as you hang then you should attend to those issues first.

Otherwise, you build up over time, little-by-little, using the three training techniques:

Hanging. Start by simply hanging. Each time at the gym, hold on shoulder-width apart (palms facing forward) and hang - initially aiming for 30 seconds. Retract your shoulder blades back and down while squeezing them slightly together. Keep a rigid body line with your legs together, taunt, and angled slightly forward. Release gently at the end of 30 seconds and lower yourself down.

Engaging the Pull Properly. The pull isn't a grab and a stab at getting up there. Grip overhand, palms forward, shoulder-width apart. Bring your legs slightly forward and hold your body rigid. Now, retract your shoulder blades and contract your muscles starting with your lats by pulling the bar down as if you were throwing it down and behind you. Simultaneously engage the secondary muscles in your back and squeeze yourself upward.

Lowering for Strength Development. From whatever height you can pull up to, lower slightly, slowly and then hold. If you can lift your shoulders higher than your elbows than lower slowly back to your elbow height and hold for 10 seconds, then slowly lower to a full extension. During this entire movement hold a rigid body line with your legs angled slightly forward and head up.

Here's the program:

• Hang for 30 seconds for 3 reps for as long as it takes (I mean in days, weeks or months) to feel comfortable and to hold the proper form.
• When your hang is good, engage into the pull even if you only pull up a little. No matter how little you can pull up at first, hold at the top of the pull before lowering down.
• When you can pull to your elbow height, hold there for 10 seconds, and lower down slowly. Do this for up to 3 times every session. And add in 3 hangs as well.

Over time you will find yourself pulling higher and higher until one day you can get right to the top, chin over the bar. Test yourself every couple of weeks. When can pull right up, lower slowly to shoulders level with your elbows, hold for 10 seconds, and lower slowly to the bottom. Keep your body rigid and legs slightly angled forward.

Now you have it. Keep doing it and you will get to be able to execute 3 to 5 stylish pull-ups every time. You'll be a legend!

Good luck!

In case you missed it...

Related: How To Go From On-knee to Full Pushups, and Reap The Benefits​

Thanks for reading!

About the newsletter: Do you think it can be improved? Have a story idea? Want to share about the time you met Chris Hemsworth, or your questions about how to live longer better? Send those thoughts and more to me at walter@bodyagebuster.com

'4 Most Valuable' is a weekly newsletter from Walter Adamson. If you like it, please forward to a like-minded soul. Someone forward this to you? You can subscribe from this page.

Resources for you:

​How To Keep Your Weight Off With Daily Walks — 5 Fun Level-ups That Everyone Can Do​

​The Surprising Way Hip Flexors Pull You Down Into An Elderly Stoop And Shuffle, And How To Avoid It​

​This One Exercise Will Reshape Your Body And Your Brain, If You’re Game​

​The Surprising Benefits of Black Tea Daily​

​As You Age Pistachios Can Help You Sleep Better​

​I Started Trail Running At 70. Besides Being Bitten By A Dog I Love It​

​Shining Light On Infrared Therapy - It Helped Unlock My Shoulder​

​Are You Ab-Wheel Rolling To Back Pain? I Was — Not Now​

​Brain Health Is Boosted By Eating Less, Often — Here’s How To Start​

​Why Walnuts Lower Heart Disease and Help You Sleep Better​

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