🚴‍♂️ Evening Exercise May Be The Move

Welcome back to Optimize Me — the health and wellness newsletter for evidence-based advice on how to 🥦 eat better, 🏋️ workout smarter, and 🧑‍💻 be more productive.

In today’s send: A new study on exercise timing, following up on fasting, toilets that analyzes your pee, and a look at the impacts of metabolism on health.

Let’s get to it.

🚴‍♂️ Evening sweat

There is no wrong time to exercise, but a new study suggests people looking to lose weight -- and everyone else -- might want to work out at night.

• A research project at the University of Sydney analyzed data from close to 30K UK Biobank participants over eight years, focusing on people with a BMI over 30.

• There were four groups -- people with little to no aerobic activity, people with morning activity (6 a.m. to noon), afternoon activity (noon to 6 p.m.) and night activity (6 p.m. to midnight).

• Researchers tracked all causes of death over the eight years, plus cardiovascular and microvascular disease diagnoses.

The results were clear (and fascinating): The people who worked out at night saw the best results. While the morning and afternoon groups fared better than the sedentary one, the night group had an overall 61% lower mortality risk, was 36% less likely to develop cardiovascular disease and 24% less likely to have microvascular disease (i.e. common Type 2 diabetes conditions). The trend also bore out when crunching the numbers solely on diabetes patients involved in the study.

So what gives? And what could these findings mean for all people as they make lifestyle choices?

• Researchers believe our bodies better handle blood sugar as the day progresses. Aerobic activity when insulin resistance peaks may provide a more substantial effect.

• Blood sugar is also higher at the end of the day, particularly in those with diabetes. Late exercise may help move some excess glucose out of the bloodstream, gradually limiting long-term damage.

• Earlier studies have concluded nighttime exercise is more effective at lowering all-day blood pressure than morning exercise.

The researchers stressed that their findings are preliminary; clinical trials are planned to confirm and replicate the study. They also pointed out they did not hone in on the type of exercise by participants; everything from climbing stairs to a full-fledged workout was included. But there is plenty of outside research that points to other health benefits from exercising at night, specifically in sleep quality.

• Evening exercise increases rapid eye movement (REM) latency and slow-wave sleep. It also improves total sleep time, sleep efficiency and sleep onset.

• Working out at night also blunts plasma melatonin levels, often a factor in sleep disorders.

• People who exercise later in the day have reported they feel more alert during the day after sleep; late-shift workers are found to have higher attention and performance levels if they have some form of aerobic activity on the job.

• That said, morning exercise has been connected to reduced blood pressure at night, which has cardiovascular benefits and evening exercise can interfere with cardiac autonomic control during sleep.

Any exercise is better than no exercise, as evidenced by the fact the morning and afternoon groups in the study had far better health outcomes than the sedentary group. If exercise earlier in the day works for you, that is quite fine. But if all times are equal for your schedule, there is a compelling case to give the evening a try.

💪 Intermittent fasting follow-up

We talked about intermittent fasting a few weeks back, particularly how it won't kill you. 

Update: It still won't. But the overheated headlines generated by nuanced and partial data from an unpublished study did reinforce the general lack of research into the popular dietary approach, especially when it comes to long-term impacts. Evidence continues to mount, though, that short-term fasting is safe and beneficial for your health.

• A new study by researchers at USC and Yale determined monthly cycles of a fasting-mimicking diet may slow metabolic and immune system aging and reduce the risk of metabolic disease.

• Two clinical trials involved close to 200 adults (ages 18-70) with monthly five-day cycles of an FMD (using a proprietary line of plant-based, low-calorie and low-protein food products).

• At three months, the participants showed lower body weight, body fat, and blood pressure. Researchers also examined secondary outcomes related to metabolic syndrome and biomarkers connected to aging and age-related diseases.

• Other notable takeaways: Participants with hepatic steatosis saw a 50% reduction in liver fat; insulin resistance and A1c levels decreased in pre-diabetic participants; immune aging and biological age dropped across the board.

For most people, intermittent fasting means restricting food consumption to a small window each day but eating as they normally would (within reason) during that timeframe. A FMD is a far stricter dietary approach, but the results match past IF research.

• IF can assist weight loss and boost metabolic health. It reduces blood glucose levels, improves lipid profiles and is compatible with diabetic treatment.

• Intermittent eating patterns can improve sleep. There is some evidence it also activates biological pathways that may prevent cancer cell proliferation. It may also enhance neurological function. IF has also been linked to reduced cardiovascular disease risk and improved blood pressure and cholesterol.

If intermittent fasting — or any other diet plan that involves fasting — works for you, go for it (after consulting with your doctor). But be mindful that short-term application is the only truly proven safe approach.

🦾 Brush your teeth and check for disease

The Wall Street Journal recently reported on the future of tech-driven bathrooms and their impact on health and wellness.

Some of the ideas are, well, a lot. Among them: 

• Smart toilets may have urinalysis capabilities. They won't just be able to detect dehydration; they will also look for urinary tract infections and kidney issues. One company already sells toilet seats that use cameras and artificial intelligence to monitor stool and urine for signs of illness and disease. Toilets may also have self-cleaning functions to enhance hygiene and kill bacteria and virus, similar to how UV lights are used in hospitals.

• A French company sells pods that sit inside toilets and can track glucose and vitamin levels -- and even ovulation timing -- through chemical reactions. Other potential breakthroughs: Toilet seats that measure blood oxygen level, body temperature and heart rate and technology that can detect disease by smell.

• Another area of innovation is mirrors. They may have screen-like interfaces that connect users with remote healthcare professionals, as well as scan faces for skin-care advice and to coach meditation techniques. A Canadian company is developing a tabletop mirror that detects facial blood flow to read blood pressure and predict disease and illness risk.

• Showers with sauna-like steam and infrared capabilities to reduce inflammation and stress, among other issues, are already on the market. Smart bath mats -- effectively enhanced smart scales -- may be able to analyze balance and posture to predict neurodegenerative disease risk. Those products could be available in the U.S. as soon as next year. Bathrooms may also be built with smart floor tiles.

• Smart sinks are another future consideration with devices that analyze saliva for signs of COVID-19 and other viruses as you brush your teeth (public health officials examine wastewater). There are also projects to construct toothbrushes and toothpaste that can detect cancer.

It is unlikely these devices will be in the average American home anytime soon. However, they could begin to penetrate the luxury market in the next decade. They are becoming more prevalent in China and trickling into upscale spas across the globe. There are also use cases in senior living facilities. But there are concerns.

Efficacy is one, but privacy is another—developers insist medical information will be protected, but fears of personal and private information being vulnerable will be a hurdle with consumers. Also worth asking: Do people want to have such comprehensive data about their bodies and health so readily available? What are the consequences of getting an informal cancer diagnosis as you rush to work? The answer to those, and other questions, do not appear imminent. But they are eventually coming.

❌ Don’t Eat This: Recalls

• Belgian Yummies has recalled its 4-ounce Ice Cream Sandwiches and its 4.75/5-liter containers and pans of gelato for various undeclared allergens

• Baron Spices has recalled over 700 units of Blues Hog Sweet and Savory Seasoning for undeclared soy and wheat

• Oregon Spice Company has recalled its 5-ounce Johnny’s Parmesan Garlic Seasoning because it may contain sesame

🔗 Links

• The ways forever chemicals get into tap water 🥦

• A liquid biopsy is almost perfect at detecting pancreatic cancer 🦾

• How individual metabolism impacts health 🚴‍♂️