Our Scientific Director Megan Hall (née Roberts) recently had some of the work from her Master’s degree published in the journal Cell Metabolism, which is seriously impressive. The paper appeared on Science Daily, and generally caused a bit of a stir in the low carb community. As we have direct access to the horse’s mouth, I’ve asked Megan to join me in this episode of the podcast to summarise the findings and give some thoughts on how it might relate to human health.

Here’s the outline of this interview with Megan Hall:

[00:00:55] Mastermind Talks.

[00:01:47] The lead up to the study.

[00:02:17] Time-restricted feeding.

[00:02:38] Are they eating longer because of a less crappy diet?

[00:04:21] Calorie restriction was the focus of Megan's lab.

[00:05:27] Stephen Phinney, MD, PhD and Jon Ramsey, PhD.

[00:06:13] Study design.

[00:07:36] High-fat diets in rodents.

[00:08:39] Two arms: longevity and healthspan.

[00:10:55] Grip strength in a rodent.

[00:11:40] Novel object test.

[00:12:55] fMRI for body composition using the EchoMRI.

[00:13:13] The results. Study: Roberts, Megan N., et al. "A Ketogenic Diet Extends Longevity and Healthspan in Adult Mice." Cell Metabolism 26.3 (2017): 539-546.

[00:15:40] Valter Longo, PhD and USC Longevity Institute. Studies: Brandhorst, Sebastian, et al. "A periodic diet that mimics fasting promotes multi-system regeneration, enhanced cognitive performance, and healthspan." Cell metabolism 22.1 (2015): 86-99 and Wei, Min, et al. "Fasting-mimicking diet and markers/risk factors for aging, diabetes, cancer, and cardiovascular disease." Science translational medicine 9.377 (2017): eaai8700.

[00:16:27] Study: Sleiman, Sama F., et al. "Exercise promotes the expression of brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) through the action of the ketone body β-hydroxybutyrate." Elife 5 (2016): e15092.

[00:17:34] Motor function and coordination.

[00:18:58] The importance of preserving type IIA muscle fibers. Podcast: The Most Reliable Way to Lose Weight with Dr Tommy Wood and The High-Performance Athlete with Drs Tommy Wood and Andy Galpin.

[00:19:18] Study: Zou, Xiaoting, et al. "Acetoacetate accelerates muscle regeneration and ameliorates muscular dystrophy in mice." Journal of Biological Chemistry291.5 (2016): 2181-2195.

[00:20:04] Exercise performance.

[00:21:13] Physiologic insulin resistance.

[00:22:06] Podcast: Real Food for Gestational Diabetes with Lily Nichols.

[00:24:21] Keto vs low-carb.

[00:27:05] Studies: β-Hydroxybutyrate: A Signaling Metabolite and Ketone bodies as signalling metabolites.

[00:27:49] YouTube: Histone deacetylation and inhibition.

[00:29:19] I mentioned the Khan Academy, but in the end Megan liked these videos on HDAC inhibitors and cancer and Histone deacetylation and inhibition (also mentions p53!).

[00:30:49] FOXO proteins.

[00:31:30] Lysine residues.

[00:31:48] Mn SOD.

[00:32:10] mTOR, Dr. Ron Rosedale.

[00:34:04] REDD1 protein.

[00:34:32] P53 protein, metformin.

[00:35:30] Less cancer in KD mice.

[00:36:00] Warburg Effect.

[00:36:21] Replicability.

[00:36:57] Study: Newman, John C., et al. "Ketogenic Diet Reduces Midlife Mortality and Improves Memory in Aging Mice." Cell Metabolism 26.3 (2017): 547-557.

[00:38:28] Press coverage of the study, “Eat Fat, Live Longer” at Sciencedaily.com.

[00:41:01] Soybean oil in rodent diets.

[00:41:34] Sex-dependent differences.

[00:43:23] Takeaways.

[00:44:21] Dogma displacement inertia.

[00:45:19] Exogenous ketones. Study: Stubbs, Brianna Jane, et al. "On the metabolism of exogenous ketones in humans." Frontiers in Physiology 8 (2017): 848.

[00:46:34] What does this mean for humans?

[00:47:42] Weightloss.

[00:48:36] Micromanaging the details.

[00:50:33] Who are you and what are your goals -- Robb Wolf. Podcast: Wired to Eat with Robb Wolf.

[00:51:55] Nourish Balance Thrive Highlights Series sign up.

[00:53:11] Megan's purpose.

[00:53:39] Book: Find Your Why: A Practical Guide for Discovering Purpose for You and Your Team by Simon Sinek and David Mead.