1 00:00:09,160 --> 00:00:12,840 Speaker 1: Hey, everybody, welcome to another edition of Wisdom Wednesdays. 2 00:00:13,320 --> 00:00:14,960 Speaker 2: Now, we all know the importance of. 3 00:00:14,920 --> 00:00:19,040 Speaker 1: Going to the doctor and getting regular health checkups, particularly 4 00:00:19,239 --> 00:00:21,759 Speaker 1: as you get older, and especially as you hit my 5 00:00:21,840 --> 00:00:25,599 Speaker 1: aage north of fifty. But what are the most important 6 00:00:25,720 --> 00:00:29,120 Speaker 1: markers to actually look at? So today I'm going to 7 00:00:29,120 --> 00:00:32,240 Speaker 1: talk about what I think and this is my personal opinion, 8 00:00:32,280 --> 00:00:36,000 Speaker 1: But what I think are these six most important bio 9 00:00:36,159 --> 00:00:40,440 Speaker 1: markers in terms of your long term health. And five 10 00:00:40,520 --> 00:00:44,400 Speaker 1: of them are interconnected, and in one of them stands alone. 11 00:00:44,880 --> 00:00:49,080 Speaker 1: So the five that are interconnected are constituents of what's 12 00:00:49,120 --> 00:00:52,080 Speaker 1: called the metabolic syndrome. Now you may have heard of 13 00:00:52,159 --> 00:00:56,920 Speaker 1: metabolic syndrome, and recent research has shown that about thirty 14 00:00:56,920 --> 00:01:00,840 Speaker 1: five percent or more of Australians have metabolic syndrome, and 15 00:01:00,880 --> 00:01:05,520 Speaker 1: I'm sure that data is very similar in most developed nations, 16 00:01:05,760 --> 00:01:09,600 Speaker 1: and worse in the UK and particularly in the USA. 17 00:01:10,319 --> 00:01:13,160 Speaker 1: So the metabolic center, why is it an issue? Well, 18 00:01:13,200 --> 00:01:17,880 Speaker 1: basically it means your metabolism is broken. And we know 19 00:01:17,959 --> 00:01:23,600 Speaker 1: that people who have metabolic syndrome have really significantly increased 20 00:01:23,720 --> 00:01:27,200 Speaker 1: risks of cardiovascular disease, which is the biggest killer of 21 00:01:27,319 --> 00:01:31,280 Speaker 1: also type two diabetes, which is a big killer, but 22 00:01:31,720 --> 00:01:36,680 Speaker 1: they also have massively increased risk of dementia and cognitive decline. 23 00:01:37,000 --> 00:01:39,840 Speaker 1: And I've talked about before dementia is now the second 24 00:01:39,840 --> 00:01:43,039 Speaker 1: biggest killer of all Australians and is soon in the 25 00:01:43,080 --> 00:01:45,640 Speaker 1: next few years predicted to be the first. But if 26 00:01:45,680 --> 00:01:49,880 Speaker 1: you have metabolic syndrome, it also significantly increases your risk 27 00:01:50,280 --> 00:01:52,920 Speaker 1: of non alcoholic fatty. 28 00:01:52,640 --> 00:01:54,960 Speaker 2: Liver disease which causes a whole. 29 00:01:54,680 --> 00:01:58,760 Speaker 1: Heap of complications, and chronic kidney disease, as well as 30 00:01:58,800 --> 00:02:03,360 Speaker 1: a number of different cancers pcos as, sleep, apnea, and 31 00:02:03,400 --> 00:02:06,440 Speaker 1: the list goes on. So this for me is the 32 00:02:06,480 --> 00:02:09,520 Speaker 1: one thing that everybody needs to look out for, and 33 00:02:09,560 --> 00:02:13,280 Speaker 1: particularly as we get older, as our risk our incidents 34 00:02:13,600 --> 00:02:18,920 Speaker 1: dramatically increases with age. And so the metabolic syndrome is 35 00:02:19,000 --> 00:02:22,960 Speaker 1: basically three from five. Now, there are different definitions of 36 00:02:23,000 --> 00:02:25,000 Speaker 1: it from different places around the world. 37 00:02:25,040 --> 00:02:26,840 Speaker 2: I'm going to use the Australian definition. 38 00:02:27,639 --> 00:02:31,680 Speaker 1: It's three from five of the following high blood pressure, 39 00:02:32,080 --> 00:02:36,160 Speaker 1: high triglycerides, high hats DL I sorry, low fast and 40 00:02:36,240 --> 00:02:41,280 Speaker 1: low hats DL, the good cholesterol and inverted commas, high 41 00:02:41,360 --> 00:02:45,000 Speaker 1: fasting glucose and what's called central obesity. 42 00:02:45,160 --> 00:02:47,640 Speaker 2: So let's go through those ones one by one. 43 00:02:47,840 --> 00:02:50,680 Speaker 1: So the first one is blood pressure, and high blood 44 00:02:50,680 --> 00:02:54,000 Speaker 1: pressure is defined in terms of the metabolic syndrome as 45 00:02:54,120 --> 00:02:57,680 Speaker 1: having a systolic the top number of greater or equal 46 00:02:57,760 --> 00:03:01,120 Speaker 1: to one hundred and thirty milim also of mercury or 47 00:03:02,080 --> 00:03:06,440 Speaker 1: eighty five or more for your diastolic. So the systemic 48 00:03:06,560 --> 00:03:09,079 Speaker 1: that's the pressure in your artery walls when the heart 49 00:03:09,120 --> 00:03:12,600 Speaker 1: is beating, and then when the heart is relaxing, that's 50 00:03:12,600 --> 00:03:16,200 Speaker 1: your diastolic number that eighty five. So either one of 51 00:03:16,240 --> 00:03:21,000 Speaker 1: those consistently above those. That is saying high blood pressure. 52 00:03:21,040 --> 00:03:23,239 Speaker 1: Now just another thing. When you go in to get 53 00:03:23,240 --> 00:03:26,320 Speaker 1: the doctor, and you walk in to the waiting room, 54 00:03:26,360 --> 00:03:28,400 Speaker 1: you see and then you come into the doctor's office, 55 00:03:28,400 --> 00:03:30,240 Speaker 1: you sit down and take your blood pressure straight away. 56 00:03:30,560 --> 00:03:33,720 Speaker 1: That is not a true reflection because you've been up, 57 00:03:33,800 --> 00:03:37,640 Speaker 1: you've been walking around. Really to get a true reflection, 58 00:03:38,280 --> 00:03:41,160 Speaker 1: you should be have been sitting down for at least 59 00:03:41,160 --> 00:03:44,640 Speaker 1: fifteen minutes. Ideally, have no caffeine. If you're concerned about 60 00:03:44,680 --> 00:03:46,960 Speaker 1: blood pressure, I recommend it you get a blood pressure 61 00:03:47,000 --> 00:03:49,640 Speaker 1: monitor and you test it at home, and if there 62 00:03:49,720 --> 00:03:52,440 Speaker 1: is an issue, you really want to get it checked 63 00:03:52,680 --> 00:03:56,880 Speaker 1: properly before you jump to any conclusions, and be a 64 00:03:56,880 --> 00:03:59,640 Speaker 1: word that some people suffer from what's called white coat 65 00:03:59,760 --> 00:04:02,640 Speaker 1: hyphe pertension. So as soon as they say a white coat, 66 00:04:02,680 --> 00:04:04,839 Speaker 1: as soon as somebody's measuring the blood pressure, it can 67 00:04:04,880 --> 00:04:08,760 Speaker 1: go up. So that's why taking it consistently over a 68 00:04:08,800 --> 00:04:11,800 Speaker 1: period of fifteen minutes or so when you're seated are 69 00:04:11,960 --> 00:04:15,040 Speaker 1: half line is the best way to measure your blood pressure. 70 00:04:15,520 --> 00:04:20,880 Speaker 1: Then let's talk about triglycerides. So high triglycerides are defined 71 00:04:20,880 --> 00:04:25,560 Speaker 1: as more than one point seven millimals per liter or 72 00:04:26,920 --> 00:04:30,919 Speaker 1: if you're American, one hundred and fifty milligrams per desileter, 73 00:04:31,480 --> 00:04:35,560 Speaker 1: So those two scales, they're different in different countries. So 74 00:04:35,600 --> 00:04:37,760 Speaker 1: one point seven minimals per leater are one hundred and 75 00:04:37,760 --> 00:04:41,000 Speaker 1: fifty milligrams per desti leader. Triglycerides are a sign of 76 00:04:41,120 --> 00:04:45,800 Speaker 1: excess energy in the bloodstream and can also be a 77 00:04:45,839 --> 00:04:49,039 Speaker 1: sign of insulin resistance. So that's why it's really important, 78 00:04:49,279 --> 00:04:54,040 Speaker 1: and that triglyceraids goes hand in hand with HDL cholesterol, 79 00:04:54,040 --> 00:04:57,920 Speaker 1: the good cholesterol. So the cutoffs here from the metabolic 80 00:04:57,960 --> 00:05:01,600 Speaker 1: syndrome perspective are less than one milli mole per lider 81 00:05:01,720 --> 00:05:05,560 Speaker 1: for men, which is about thirty nine milligrams per desolater 82 00:05:06,040 --> 00:05:09,720 Speaker 1: in the other language, or for females is less than 83 00:05:09,800 --> 00:05:13,760 Speaker 1: one point three, which is fifty milligrams per destily, so 84 00:05:13,760 --> 00:05:15,960 Speaker 1: one point three milli moles per lider or one or 85 00:05:16,000 --> 00:05:19,360 Speaker 1: fifty milligrams per destolat and again, and particularly as it 86 00:05:19,440 --> 00:05:23,039 Speaker 1: interacts with treglycerides, this can be a sign of insulin 87 00:05:23,120 --> 00:05:27,760 Speaker 1: resistance that causes widespread damage throughout the body. Then we 88 00:05:27,920 --> 00:05:32,599 Speaker 1: have fasting glucose of more than five point five milli 89 00:05:32,680 --> 00:05:35,360 Speaker 1: moles per lider, so this is after an overnight fast 90 00:05:36,080 --> 00:05:40,680 Speaker 1: or in the other language, ninety nine milligrams per desilet. 91 00:05:41,279 --> 00:05:44,719 Speaker 1: Sometimes they use one hundred just for ease. So what 92 00:05:44,880 --> 00:05:50,360 Speaker 1: is really important to understand is glucose is the last 93 00:05:50,400 --> 00:05:53,479 Speaker 1: thing that tends to go awry in terms of the 94 00:05:53,560 --> 00:05:57,760 Speaker 1: metabolic syndrome. So some people think that they get loaded 95 00:05:57,839 --> 00:06:00,560 Speaker 1: into a false sense of security because may have high 96 00:06:00,600 --> 00:06:02,760 Speaker 1: blood pressure, they may have central obesity, but they think, hey, 97 00:06:02,760 --> 00:06:04,720 Speaker 1: I'm not too bad because my blood sugar is okay. 98 00:06:05,200 --> 00:06:06,480 Speaker 2: That is the last to go. 99 00:06:07,560 --> 00:06:12,200 Speaker 1: The other component that we talked about was central obesity, 100 00:06:12,480 --> 00:06:16,080 Speaker 1: so that's high waste circumference. So the cutoffs used for this, 101 00:06:16,560 --> 00:06:20,560 Speaker 1: again they vary, but the Australian money is for men 102 00:06:20,880 --> 00:06:24,320 Speaker 1: more than ninety four centimeters. And this is not when 103 00:06:24,360 --> 00:06:27,279 Speaker 1: you're sucking in your gut. This is you take a 104 00:06:27,360 --> 00:06:30,200 Speaker 1: breath in, your breathe out, your relax your gut and 105 00:06:30,240 --> 00:06:35,559 Speaker 1: you measure generally around the umbilical cord, are the umbilical cord, 106 00:06:35,800 --> 00:06:39,400 Speaker 1: the belly button. That's the kind of measurement looking at 107 00:06:39,480 --> 00:06:41,280 Speaker 1: making sure you're getting it straight all the way around. 108 00:06:41,640 --> 00:06:45,920 Speaker 1: And then for women it's more than eighty centimeters. And 109 00:06:46,560 --> 00:06:51,479 Speaker 1: there are some different cutoffs, particularly for people for with 110 00:06:51,680 --> 00:06:57,320 Speaker 1: Central Asian are East Asian and Chinese and Central and 111 00:06:57,360 --> 00:07:00,960 Speaker 1: South American descent, and they're saying and actually the cutoff 112 00:07:00,960 --> 00:07:04,080 Speaker 1: for me and should be ninety centimeters rather than ninety 113 00:07:04,160 --> 00:07:08,600 Speaker 1: four centimeters. So there are a few individual differences. So 114 00:07:08,960 --> 00:07:13,960 Speaker 1: together three of those five things means that your metabolism 115 00:07:14,040 --> 00:07:19,800 Speaker 1: is starting to fall apart. And most chronic diseases, particularly 116 00:07:19,880 --> 00:07:22,440 Speaker 1: the big killers the ones I talked about, cardiovascu disease, 117 00:07:22,480 --> 00:07:26,600 Speaker 1: type two diabetes, chronic kidney disease, and all alcoholic fatly 118 00:07:26,600 --> 00:07:30,960 Speaker 1: liver disease, some forms of cancer, dimension cognitive decline your 119 00:07:31,080 --> 00:07:34,160 Speaker 1: risk of those goes through the roof if you have 120 00:07:34,240 --> 00:07:38,880 Speaker 1: the metabolic syndrome. Now, let's talk about the other blood 121 00:07:38,920 --> 00:07:43,920 Speaker 1: biomarker that I feel is really really important, and this, 122 00:07:44,240 --> 00:07:49,120 Speaker 1: for me, is the single most nutricio, the most important 123 00:07:49,360 --> 00:07:53,520 Speaker 1: nutritional signal that we should be looking at, and it's 124 00:07:53,560 --> 00:07:57,640 Speaker 1: something called your Amiga three index. Now, you will not 125 00:07:57,720 --> 00:08:00,000 Speaker 1: get this tested from the doctor. You've got to go 126 00:08:00,160 --> 00:08:03,080 Speaker 1: get it done privately. But it's actually pretty cheap and 127 00:08:03,800 --> 00:08:07,320 Speaker 1: go to an amigaquant dot com. 128 00:08:07,480 --> 00:08:09,040 Speaker 2: I got no association with these guys. 129 00:08:09,080 --> 00:08:12,560 Speaker 1: I just love their testing because what has been shown 130 00:08:13,400 --> 00:08:18,480 Speaker 1: quite robustly in the research is that people who have 131 00:08:18,680 --> 00:08:24,920 Speaker 1: an Amiga three index of eight percent or more live 132 00:08:25,160 --> 00:08:29,200 Speaker 1: five years longer than people with an Amiga three index 133 00:08:29,320 --> 00:08:33,360 Speaker 1: of five or less. Now, you show me one other 134 00:08:33,960 --> 00:08:41,040 Speaker 1: nutritional signal that actually determines a longevity difference of five years. 135 00:08:41,400 --> 00:08:44,600 Speaker 1: For me, this is the most important in terms of 136 00:08:44,720 --> 00:08:49,120 Speaker 1: nutritional signals, is that a Mega three index. And interestingly, 137 00:08:49,960 --> 00:08:52,640 Speaker 1: most Americans have an a Mega three index of five 138 00:08:52,720 --> 00:08:57,000 Speaker 1: or below. And in Japan the average Amiga three index 139 00:08:57,240 --> 00:08:59,920 Speaker 1: is et And they eat a bucket load of fish 140 00:09:00,280 --> 00:09:03,400 Speaker 1: and they just happened to live five years longer than Americans. 141 00:09:03,440 --> 00:09:06,319 Speaker 1: Now that's not what this where the study actually came from. 142 00:09:06,400 --> 00:09:08,840 Speaker 1: This was a study looking at a whole bunch of 143 00:09:08,880 --> 00:09:12,839 Speaker 1: people independently of that, but we see that backed up 144 00:09:12,880 --> 00:09:15,360 Speaker 1: in the observational evidence of longevity. 145 00:09:15,840 --> 00:09:17,800 Speaker 2: So you're a Mega three index. 146 00:09:18,040 --> 00:09:23,120 Speaker 1: That is basically the proportion of these long chain omega threes, 147 00:09:23,280 --> 00:09:28,000 Speaker 1: epa and dita of all fatty acids in your red 148 00:09:28,120 --> 00:09:29,319 Speaker 1: blood membranes. 149 00:09:29,679 --> 00:09:31,880 Speaker 2: Now why red blood cells. 150 00:09:32,480 --> 00:09:34,400 Speaker 1: This is the equivalent the Amiga three index is the 151 00:09:34,400 --> 00:09:38,120 Speaker 1: equivalent of HITESBA one c for glucose. So if you 152 00:09:38,160 --> 00:09:41,240 Speaker 1: get your fast in glucose, that's a snapshot in time 153 00:09:41,760 --> 00:09:45,880 Speaker 1: of one particular morning. It can be influenced by your stress, 154 00:09:45,960 --> 00:09:50,040 Speaker 1: your sleep levels, all of those things. But HITESBA one 155 00:09:50,160 --> 00:09:53,200 Speaker 1: c is a measure of it over three months, which 156 00:09:53,240 --> 00:09:58,359 Speaker 1: is a much better measure. Likewise, a Mega three index 157 00:09:59,720 --> 00:10:02,840 Speaker 1: is actually a measure of it in your red blood 158 00:10:02,880 --> 00:10:06,440 Speaker 1: cells that tend to have a life of about three months, 159 00:10:06,480 --> 00:10:10,000 Speaker 1: so that is the reflection of the last three months. 160 00:10:10,040 --> 00:10:12,480 Speaker 2: So it's a much more steable. 161 00:10:13,440 --> 00:10:17,800 Speaker 1: Measure than just getting a Mega three from traditional blood. 162 00:10:17,840 --> 00:10:21,360 Speaker 1: This actually takes it from your red blood cells and 163 00:10:21,400 --> 00:10:25,400 Speaker 1: that's really really critical. And you can get the basic 164 00:10:25,440 --> 00:10:27,880 Speaker 1: test from a mega quant, or you can get a 165 00:10:28,760 --> 00:10:33,160 Speaker 1: more in depth test of your fatty acids, and I 166 00:10:33,320 --> 00:10:35,640 Speaker 1: love that test. It also looks at your Amiga six 167 00:10:35,679 --> 00:10:40,679 Speaker 1: to Amiga three ratio, which again is another important measure. 168 00:10:41,559 --> 00:10:44,400 Speaker 1: Most people have too much Amiga six. We need a 169 00:10:44,400 --> 00:10:46,360 Speaker 1: fair amount of Amiga six, but too much of them 170 00:10:46,400 --> 00:10:50,920 Speaker 1: start to become pro inflammatory. So I highly recommend you 171 00:10:51,000 --> 00:10:54,760 Speaker 1: jump onto a mega quant and order the tests. Maybe 172 00:10:54,760 --> 00:10:57,040 Speaker 1: you can get the more complex tests the first time 173 00:10:57,080 --> 00:10:58,920 Speaker 1: and then just go back to the basic test, But 174 00:10:59,840 --> 00:11:02,640 Speaker 1: for me, are the real things that you want to 175 00:11:02,679 --> 00:11:05,280 Speaker 1: look at, and just going to your doctor getting your 176 00:11:05,280 --> 00:11:09,479 Speaker 1: standard bloods and getting a measurement of your waste circumference 177 00:11:09,480 --> 00:11:10,960 Speaker 1: and that will tell you whether or not you have 178 00:11:11,080 --> 00:11:15,000 Speaker 1: metabolic syndrome. And then for a small additional cost, I 179 00:11:15,000 --> 00:11:17,720 Speaker 1: think it's about sixty five Ousie dollars, you can get 180 00:11:17,720 --> 00:11:21,000 Speaker 1: your Amiga three index measured at a mega quant. 181 00:11:22,120 --> 00:11:23,439 Speaker 2: So some people. 182 00:11:23,200 --> 00:11:25,680 Speaker 1: May actually ask, and I get askest all the time, 183 00:11:26,360 --> 00:11:28,560 Speaker 1: is that why don't put a lot of emphasis on 184 00:11:28,840 --> 00:11:33,280 Speaker 1: LDL Because there's a lot of emphasis placed on LDL. 185 00:11:33,960 --> 00:11:39,240 Speaker 1: I actually think LDL cholesterol by itself is a pretty 186 00:11:39,360 --> 00:11:44,520 Speaker 1: poor measure, a poor proxy of your cardiovascular disease risk. 187 00:11:45,240 --> 00:11:48,200 Speaker 1: I've seen research studies published at showing that half of 188 00:11:48,240 --> 00:11:52,760 Speaker 1: all patients who have a heart attack have normal levels 189 00:11:52,840 --> 00:11:57,720 Speaker 1: of LDL cholesterol. And then there's a study that was 190 00:11:58,520 --> 00:12:03,240 Speaker 1: published at UCLA Health that showed that seventy five percent 191 00:12:03,280 --> 00:12:06,080 Speaker 1: of patients who were hospitalized for a heart attack had 192 00:12:06,480 --> 00:12:09,520 Speaker 1: normal levels of cholesterol. Right now, this was a number 193 00:12:09,520 --> 00:12:12,559 Speaker 1: of years ago, this study, and you know what their 194 00:12:13,400 --> 00:12:18,280 Speaker 1: conclusion was. The conclusion was the guidelines for people are 195 00:12:18,320 --> 00:12:21,040 Speaker 1: clearly not low enough. We should be driving it lower. 196 00:12:21,360 --> 00:12:23,600 Speaker 1: So that's one way of looking at it. The other 197 00:12:23,640 --> 00:12:26,880 Speaker 1: way of looking at it is that LDL cholesterol in 198 00:12:26,920 --> 00:12:30,960 Speaker 1: and of itself is not causative of heart disease. And 199 00:12:31,000 --> 00:12:33,720 Speaker 1: there's lots of debate about this online. You will hear 200 00:12:34,120 --> 00:12:38,160 Speaker 1: lots of different opinions, even from highly seasoned health professionals 201 00:12:38,320 --> 00:12:42,959 Speaker 1: and cardiologists. I don't think that LDL and of itself 202 00:12:43,280 --> 00:12:47,800 Speaker 1: is causative. We know things measures like APO B are 203 00:12:47,880 --> 00:12:52,080 Speaker 1: much more predictive and LDL particle size, So just so 204 00:12:52,160 --> 00:12:55,440 Speaker 1: you know your LDL has different particle size. We know 205 00:12:55,559 --> 00:12:59,480 Speaker 1: that small dense LDL is this stuff that is athrogenic 206 00:13:00,040 --> 00:13:05,079 Speaker 1: and big fluffy LDL is not pathogenic at all, and 207 00:13:05,720 --> 00:13:08,440 Speaker 1: some people even say that it might be protective. So 208 00:13:08,559 --> 00:13:11,960 Speaker 1: you do not know from a typical LDL test that 209 00:13:12,000 --> 00:13:15,120 Speaker 1: you get at your doctor what your particle size is. 210 00:13:15,480 --> 00:13:17,840 Speaker 1: So if you want to go down that route in 211 00:13:17,920 --> 00:13:21,400 Speaker 1: terms of looking at cholesterol, I highly recommend that you 212 00:13:21,520 --> 00:13:25,319 Speaker 1: get some of the more in depth analysis looking at 213 00:13:25,360 --> 00:13:31,000 Speaker 1: your particle size, and particularly then LP LITTLEA and apole B. 214 00:13:31,640 --> 00:13:35,800 Speaker 1: That's Apo capital B and it stands for apple lipper 215 00:13:35,920 --> 00:13:41,480 Speaker 1: protein B and that is basically a protein that transports 216 00:13:41,559 --> 00:13:46,280 Speaker 1: lipids around and that's involving both cholesterol and tricless rides, 217 00:13:46,679 --> 00:13:50,160 Speaker 1: and so that is a better measure of your overall 218 00:13:50,200 --> 00:13:54,120 Speaker 1: cardiovascular risk. But I think that metabolic syndrome has got 219 00:13:54,480 --> 00:13:56,600 Speaker 1: much bigger implications. 220 00:13:55,880 --> 00:13:59,920 Speaker 2: For a wide variety of diseases. So there we have it. 221 00:14:00,320 --> 00:14:03,680 Speaker 1: That is my personal opinions, not medical advice, but my 222 00:14:03,880 --> 00:14:07,800 Speaker 1: personal opinion on what I think are the most six 223 00:14:07,920 --> 00:14:12,360 Speaker 1: most important biomarkers in terms of your long term health. 224 00:14:12,840 --> 00:14:15,720 Speaker 1: Hopefully that's useful. That's it for this week. Catch you 225 00:14:15,760 --> 00:14:22,840 Speaker 1: next time, folks.