Adele's dramatic weight loss has brought the SIRTfood diet back into the headlines. The diet plan, based on the 2016 book The SIRTfood Diet, proposes weight loss occurs by activating sirtuins.

Popular social media articles explain that the diet 'turns on your skinny genes', which may raise a few eyebrows in the science-minded crowd. (Where exactly is that 'skinny gene'?)

I'm diving into the science of the fascinating SIRT genes, explaining how they work and showing you how to check your SIRT gene variants. The Lifehacks section will explain the scientific research on different sirtuin activators and how you could apply these solutions to 'hack' your sirtuins for healthy aging and increased metabolism. I end with my thoughts on whether the SIRTfood diet works based on the exact foods included vs. a general reduction in calories eaten.

New study out investigating how the lights you turn on in the evening at home are affecting melatonin production and sleep. 

Overall, the results showed that light exposure in the blue wavelengths (which suppress melatonin) affected sleep quality and time to fall asleep for the first 90 minutes after bedtime.  The researchers adjusted for age, sex, average bedtime, deviation from average bedtime, chronotoype, insomnia scores, and sleep quality index. After all the adjustments, the relationship still held true between brighter light in the blue wavelengths causing poor sleep efficiency and decreased slow-wave sleep.

The New York Times has a nice interview and article about the research on how previous coronavirus exposure can protect some people from SARS-CoV-2.  The article makes the point that children are getting sick from SARS-CoV-2 at much lower levels due to already having had multiple coronavirus infections. Anyone who is around kids a lot knows that they tend to have a runny nose and cough quite a fews times each fall and winter, and the article points out that about 20% of those colds are due to coronaviruses. 

I've featured several of the immunology studies in past newsletters showing the cross-reactivity of the immune system via exposure to prior coronaviruses. A number of studies have shown T-cell cross reactivity from previous coronaviruses, and this Science study featured in the NYT shows antibody reactivity to the spike protein in people who had not been exposed to SARS-CoV-2 (blood samples from before the pandemic).   While not breaking news to anyone who has kept up with the preprints on SARS-CoV-2 research, it is nice to see this validated and expanded on via a major scientific journal.