Category Archives: melatonin

Circadian clocks, entrainment, and health

Posted on December 3, 2018 | Leave a comment

Summary of a presentation by Orie Shafer titled “Circadian timekeeping and entrainment in neuronal clock networks.”

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From the classic Wever study, which put participants in underground dungeons to study circadian rhythms in the absence of sunlight…

and showed there are multiple inputs, both external and internal zeitgebers.

 

 

In this study, in the absence of sunlight, the human circadian rhythm in locomotor activity, bed movements, and rectal temperature was about 25.8 hours:

The study wasn’t perfect, but still cool.

Most people like to simplify and say light is the input, and while it may be the main one, we now know there are also other important inputs such as food intake for the food-entrainable oscillator and exercise for the skeletal muscle clock.

“Behavorial rhythms are driven by molecular rhythms. Molecular  clocks are required in small islands of the brain for behavorial, endocrine, and physiological rhythms.” Search for genetically modified models of virtually any clock gene and it’s going to influence a wide variety of processes. Like, circadian rhythms are important for certain aspects of nearly everything. “60% of the time, it works every time” lol

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If you want the benefits of  ‘shrooms but don’t like eating them, Real Mushrooms makes great extracts. 10% off with coupon code LAGAKOS. I recommend Lion’s Mane for the brain and Reishi for everything else. 

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Posted in angiotensin, Bromocriptine, Cabergoline, chronopharmacology, circadian, Dopamine, melatonin, mortality, sex, sleep, Sun, vasopressin, Vitamin D

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Deleterious effects of artificial light at night on health and the environment

Posted on November 25, 2018 | Leave a comment

Evidence summary on how our increasing exposure to artificial blue light is putting us at risk. And actionable steps on what you can do about it.

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It’s not blue light per se, but rather underexposure to natural sunlight during the day and overexposure to artificial light at night (ALAN). Step 1: Do the opposite of that.

 

 

“Bright light occurs naturally as part of sunlight and moonlight and, like all living things on Earth, we have evolved to respond to the daily cycle of light and dark. There is growing concern that the increased exposure to artificial light at nigh is having an effect on our health, wildlife, and the night sky.”

Your eyeballs are pretty awesome. Rods and cones and these crazy cells that respond specifically to daylight. The crazy cells, ipRGCs, respond to light, particularly in the green/blue range of visible and serve, in part, to entrain the central component of your circadian clock in the SCN. This is important and influences many body functions such as sleep, metabolism, immune system, mood, and even certain disease processes.

If you’re more interested in the environmental impact of artificial light (eg, street lamps), book recommendation: The End of Night: Searching for Darkness in an Age of Artificial Light. If you’re more interested in the human effects: Lights Out: Sleep, Sugar, and Survival.

ALAN-induced clock disruption is said to have “flow-on” negative health effect — there’s no “good news / bad news” to this story (it’s all bad news).

Rock hot blue blockers at night. Use blue light filters on your devices like f.lux and Iris. Sunlight during the day; darkness, moonlight, or firelight at night.

Note those spectral sensitivities – we can see more green/blue than any other colors. Maybe there’s a reason for that?

For the rest of this article and more, head over to Patreon! Five bucks a month for full access. It’s ad-free and you can cancel if it sucks 🙂

If you’re interested in setting up consultations with me, reach out: drlagakos@gmail.com.

Affiliate links: Still looking for a pair of hot blue blockers? TrueDark is offering 10% off HERE and Spectra479 is offering 15% off HERE. If you have no idea what I’m talking about, read this then this.

 Join Binance and get some cryptoassets or download Honeyminer and get some Bitcoins for free! 

20% off some delish stocks and broths from Kettle and Fire HERE. 

If you want the benefits of  ‘shrooms but don’t like eating them, Real Mushrooms makes great extracts. 10% off with coupon code LAGAKOS. I recommend Lion’s Mane for the brain and Reishi for everything else. 

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Posted in Advanced nutrition, angiotensin, Bromocriptine, Cabergoline, cancer, chronopharmacology, circadian, depression, diabetes, Dopamine, melatonin, mortality, nicotine, sex, sleep, Sugar, Sun, testosterone, vasopressin, Vitamin D

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Entrain all of your circadian clocks. Full stop.

Posted on October 17, 2018 | Leave a comment

Skipping breakfast shifts skin circadian clock and enhances UVB-induced skin aging and cancer (Wang et al., 2017)… ok, that’s not the real title of the paper, but it’s what the research showed. And it’s kind of amazing.

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Regarding skin cancer and wrinkles, there are two basic processes to focus on: proliferation and protection.

 

 

These processes don’t really overlap: you want endogenous protective mechanisms during the day, to protect against UV rays, and you don’t want to be proliferating at this time because that would increase the chances of a malignant mutation being passed on.


Conversely, at night when the risk of UV-induced DNA damage is considerably less, it’s a green light for proliferation of skin cells. This is healthy, anti-aging-like turnover of skin cells.

We’ve discussed the importance of co-entrainment of your circadian clocks in the path: sunlight in the morning to start up the central pacemaker, breakfast in the morning to co-entrain many of the peripheral clocks with the master clock, exercise to get the skeletal muscle clock on board… but now we have another reason for breakfast: to co-entrain the circadian rhythms in your skin!

Consequences of skipping breakfast, going to the gym at night, staying up late, and having a big dinner: increased risk of obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer, etc., etc…

In this study: skin aging and cancer.

For the rest of this article and more, head over to Patreon! Five bucks a month for full access and there are many other options. It’s ad-free and you can cancel if it sucks 🙂

If you’re interested in setting up consultations, email me: drlagakos@gmail.com.

Affiliate links: join Binance and get some cryptoassets or download Honeyminer and get some Bitcoins for free! And now you can mine Bitcoin from your Chromebook!

Still looking for a pair of hot blue blockers? Carbonshade and TrueDark are offering 15% off with the coupon code LAGAKOS and Spectra479 is offering 15% off HERE. If you have no idea what I’m talking about, read this then this.

20% off some delish stocks and broths from Kettle and Fire HERE. 

If you want the benefits of  ‘shrooms but don’t like eating them, Real Mushrooms makes great extracts. 10% off with coupon code LAGAKOS. I recommend Lion’s Mane for the brain and Reishi for everything else. 

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Posted in angiotensin, Bromocriptine, Cabergoline, cancer, chronopharmacology, circadian, depression, diabetes, Dopamine, Exercise, melatonin, muscle, Protein, sex, sleep, Sun, testosterone, vasopressin, Vitamin D

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Artificial light at night: effects on cardiovascular disease

Posted on September 8, 2018 | Leave a comment

There is now increasing evidence that exposure to artificial light in the evening and at night increases the risk of cardiovascular disease (Moore-Ede, 2018). Because most “energy efficient” LED light are rich in blue wavelengths, the use of these lights can trigger disease processes involved in hypertension, atherosclerosis, and cardiovascular disease.

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Circadian disruption, melatonin suppression & phase shifting, and activation of chronic inflammatory pathways.

 

 

Sunlight during the day is protective; artificial light at night is harmful. Blue light filters on your smart devices and hot blue blockers on your face are protective.

As always, the effects are most pronounced in actual shift workers who see 20-40% increases in risk of cardiovascular disease, heart attacks, and coronary artery disease…

For the rest of this article and more, head over to Patreon! Five bucks a month for full access and there are many other options. It’s ad-free and you can cancel if it sucks 🙂

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Affiliate links: join Binance and get some cryptoassets or download Honeyminer and get some Bitcoins for free! And now you can mine Bitcoin from your Chromebook!

Still looking for a pair of hot blue blockers? Carbonshade and TrueDark are offering 15% off with the coupon code LAGAKOS and Spectra479 is offering 15% off HERE. If you have no idea what I’m talking about, read this then this.

20% off some delish stocks and broths from Kettle and Fire HERE. 

If you want the benefits of  ‘shrooms but don’t like eating them, Real Mushrooms makes great extracts. 10% off with coupon code LAGAKOS. I recommend Lion’s Mane for the brain and Reishi for everything else. 

Join Earn.com with this link.

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Posted in Advanced nutrition, angiotensin, Bromocriptine, Cabergoline, chronopharmacology, circadian, Dopamine, melatonin, nicotine, sleep, Sun, vasopressin, Vitamin D

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Artificial light at night: effects on breast & prostate cancer

Posted on September 1, 2018 | Leave a comment

There is now substantial evidence that exposure to artificial light at night (ALAN) increases the risk of breast and prostate cancer (Moore-Ede, 2018).

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MOA of ALAN: circadian disruption & phase shifting, melatonin-suppression, and accelerated unsuppressed tumor growth.

 

 

Sunlight during the day is protective. Artificial light at night is harmful.

ALAN-induced melatonin-suppression and circadian disruption increases the risk for certain endocrine-sensitive cancers. While this is most blatantly manifested in shift-workers, it also holds for people who sleep with the lights on and those exposed to, for example, street lamps shining light through bedroom windows at night.

50% increased risk of breast cancer in female shift workers. Up to 200% increased risk prostate cancer in male shift workers.

This is a good one, so if you’re not a Patron yet you’re not gonna want to miss it! Five bucks a month for full access and there are many other options. It’s ad-free and you can cancel if it sucks 🙂

Consults are open, contact me if you’re interested: drlagakos@gmail.com

Affiliate links: join Binance and get some cryptoassets or download Honeyminer and get some Bitcoins for free! And now you can mine Bitcoin from your Chromebook!

Still looking for a pair of hot blue blockers? Carbonshade and TrueDark are offering 15% off with the coupon code LAGAKOS and Spectra479 is offering 15% off HERE. If you have no idea what I’m talking about, read this then this.

20% off some delish stocks and broths from Kettle and Fire HERE. 

If you want the benefits of  ‘shrooms but don’t like eating them, Real Mushrooms makes great extracts. 10% off with coupon code LAGAKOS. I recommend Lion’s Mane for the brain and Reishi for everything else. 

Join Earn.com with this link.

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Posted in angiotensin, Bromocriptine, Cabergoline, cancer, chronopharmacology, Dopamine, melatonin, mortality, sex, sleep, Sun, testosterone, vasopressin, Vitamin D

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Artificial light at night: effects on obesity and diabetes

Posted on August 23, 2018 | Leave a comment

“There is now substantial evidence that exposure to blue-rich light in the evening and at night increases the risk of obesity and diabetes (Moore-Ede 2018)”

I concur.

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The upstream mediator is disruption of the circadian system. More downstream is melatonin suppression and phase shifting which promote nutrient anti-partitioning, late eating patterns, mindlessly poorer food choices, etc., etc.

 

 

Don’t get me wrong, sunlight in the morning and during the day is great… it’s even protective against artificial light at night (ALAN)-induced melatonin suppression… it’s just this ALAN we’re talking about.

Obesity is almost doubled in people who sleep with the lights on at night. I have no idea how this happens, maybe by accident, or they just fall asleep reading or something. But for whatever reason, risk of obesity = doubled.

Many more facts, figures, and what to do about it… but for that, head over to Patreon! Five bucks a month for full access and there are many other options. It’s ad-free and you can cancel if it sucks 🙂

Consults are open, contact me if you’re interested: drlagakos@gmail.com

 

Affiliate links: join Binance and get some cryptoassets or download Honeyminer and get some Bitcoins for free! And now you can mine Bitcoin from your Chromebook!

Still looking for a pair of hot blue blockers? Carbonshade and TrueDark are offering 15% off with the coupon code LAGAKOS and Spectra479 is offering 15% off HERE. If you have no idea what I’m talking about, read this then this.

20% off some delish stocks and broths from Kettle and Fire HERE. 

If you want the benefits of  ‘shrooms but don’t like eating them, Real Mushrooms makes great extracts. 10% off with coupon code LAGAKOS. I recommend Lion’s Mane for the brain and Reishi for everything else. 

Join Earn.com with this link.

Start your OWN Patreon campaign!

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Posted in Advanced nutrition, angiotensin, Bromocriptine, Cabergoline, chronopharmacology, circadian, Dopamine, melatonin, sex, sleep, Sun, vasopressin

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Intermittent Fasting and Goalposts

Posted on June 30, 2018 | Leave a comment

I may come across as harsh on Intermittent Fasting (IF) and I’d like to be clear about something. I’m not saying IF will make you gain body fat or die a slow and painful death. I am saying the quality of evidence presented in human studies suggesting it will benefit you somehow is #weaksauce. Further, I don’t really like the idea of huge refeeds. Like, how can 2000 kcals in one sitting be remotely healthy?

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Metabolic. Mayhem.

 

 

You may have noticed many guru’s sliding away from “intermittent fasting” and “skipping breakfast” and toward promoting a more circadian-appropriate feeding pattern. That’s because it’s about when you eat, not the precise duration of the feeding window.

The studies have been done:

 

Which brings me to the current IF study #weaksauce du jour and it’s implications. But for that you’re gonna have to head on over to Patreon! Five bucks a month gets you access to all articles and there are many other options. It’s ad-free and you can cancel if it sucks 🙂

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Affiliate links: It’s 2018, join Binance and get some cryptoassets or download Honeyminerand get some Bitcoins for free! And now you can mine Bitcoin from your Chromebook!

Still looking for a pair of hot blue blockers? Carbonshade and TrueDark are offering 15% off with the coupon code LAGAKOS and Spectra479 is offering 15% off HERE. If you have no idea what I’m talking about, read this then this.

20% off some delish stocks and broths from Kettle and Fire HERE. 

If you want the benefits of  ‘shrooms but don’t like eating them, Real Mushrooms makes great extracts. 10% off with coupon code LAGAKOS. I recommend Lion’s Mane for the brain and Reishi for everything else. 

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Posted in Advanced nutrition, angiotensin, Bromocriptine, Cabergoline, chronopharmacology, circadian, depression, diabetes, Dopamine, melatonin, nicotine, sex, sleep, Sun, vasopressin, Vitamin D

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Global rise of potential health hazards caused by blue light

Posted on June 23, 2018 | Leave a comment

-induced circadian disruptions in modern aging societies (Hatori et al., 2017)

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While this article could’ve easily addressed the havoc wreaked on most animals (hibernating, migrating, reproducing, etc.) or even many plants by artificial light, the focus is on humans.

Continue reading →

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Posted in angiotensin, Bromocriptine, Cabergoline, cancer, chronopharmacology, circadian, depression, diabetes, Dopamine, melatonin, mortality, sex, sleep, Sun, vasopressin

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Watch the Clock, Not the Scale

Posted on June 8, 2018 | 1 comment

I’ve been known to say intermittent fasting is #weaksauce because most of the human studies show little or no effect and people frequently report being hungry (yes, even if LCHF). Human studies, not “n=1’s.”

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Well, now we know why. Time-restricted feeding (TRF) only really works when the feeding window is early (eTRF), as demonstrated by the recent Sutton study which showed, miraculously, great benefits achieved sans weight loss. Calories were strictly controlled in that study to prevent weight loss. AND when the participants were on eTRF, they actually reported less hunger in the evening.

 

 

We know from the studies by Jacobs and Hirsh that under ad lib AND isocaloric conditions, people lose more weight eating all their food for breakfast than those eating all their food for dinner.

 

 

That’s cuz metabolism is gimped at night. Lower metabolic rate and greater propensity to store fat.

Melatonin sensitizes the system, preparing it to optimally partition nutrients in the morning.

For the rest of this awesome article, head over to Patreon! Five bucks a month for full access and there are many other options. It’s ad-free and you can cancel if it sucks 🙂

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Still looking for a pair of hot blue blockers? Carbonshade and TrueDark are offering 15% off with the coupon code LAGAKOS and Spectra479 is offering 15% off HERE. If you have no idea what I’m talking about, read this then this.

20% off some delish stocks and broths from Kettle and Fire HERE. 

If you want the benefits of  ‘shrooms but don’t like eating them, Real Mushrooms makes great extracts. 10% off with coupon code LAGAKOS. I recommend Lion’s Mane for the brain and Reishi for everything else. 

Start your OWN Patreon campaign!

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Posted in Advanced nutrition, angiotensin, Bromocriptine, Cabergoline, chronopharmacology, circadian, Dopamine, Energy balance, Ketosis, melatonin, muscle, sex, sleep, vasopressin

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Dopamine regulates systemic glucose metabolism in humans

Posted on June 1, 2018 | Leave a comment

In Four. EPIC. Experiments (ter Horst et al., 2018)

Tl;dr: sunlight & breakfast in the morning.

[FULL ARTICLE ON PATREON]

Dopamine receptors are downregulated in obese patients and are restored in long-term weight loss patients after bariatric surgery. It’s better to get your dopamine hit via sunlight than sugar duh.

This is some amazing science.

 

 

Experiment 1. 50-year old dude with severe OCD gets diagnosed with type 2 diabetes and is only able to get his glucose under control with metformin and 226 IU insulin. At 53, his OCD is treated with deep brain stimulation (DBS). His insulin requirements declined to 180 IU. He didn’t lose weight but went off quetiapine, so maybe coincidence because: 1. quetiapine is diabetogenic; and 2. DBS induces dopamine release.

Two-step hyperinsulinemic euglycemic clamp when DBS is turned off and turned on. BOOM! When it’s on, lower fasting insulin, and better insulin-induced suppression of liver glucose output, free fatty acids, & muscle glucose disposal! DBS improved insulin sensitivity in liver, adipose, and skeletal muscle.

For the rest of the discussion on these super-interesting experiments, head over to Patreon! Five bucks a month for full access and there are many other options. It’s ad-free and you can cancel if it sucks 🙂

Affiliate links: It’s 2018, join Binance and get some damn cryptoassets or download Honeyminer and get some Bitcoins for free!

Still looking for a pair of hot blue blockers? Carbonshade and TrueDark are offering 15% off with the coupon code LAGAKOS and Spectra479 is offering 15% off HERE. If you have no idea what I’m talking about, read this then this.

20% off some delish stocks and broths from Kettle and Fire HERE. 

If you want the benefits of  ‘shrooms but don’t like eating them, Real Mushrooms makes great extracts. 10% off with coupon code LAGAKOS. I recommend Lion’s Mane for the brain and Reishi for everything else. 

Start your OWN Patreon campaign!

Join Earn.com with this link and get paid to answer questions online.

calories proper

 

 

Cycloset (bromocriptine)

 

 

Go for a walk.

And #eTRF.

 

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Posted in Advanced nutrition, angiotensin, Bromocriptine, Cabergoline, chronopharmacology, circadian, clamp, depression, diabetes, Dopamine, melatonin, muscle, nicotine, sex, sleep, Sun, testosterone, vasopressin

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