Full Transcript Welcome and Fall Mastermind Overview 0:00 Hi everyone and welcome back to Mimosa Longevity's Mastermind. 0:04 I'm Dr. 0:05 Mima Gere and today we're going to be talking about a really exciting topic that I think has so much interest these days and yet we don't really know what 0:16 to do with it. 0:17 So I am going present to you all this data and some of the latest science and the topic is personalized nutrition. 0:25 Let's get started. 0:33 Actually, let me do this. 0:34 There we go. 0:43 All right. 0:43 So again, I'm Dr. 0:45 Mima. 0:45 This is a fall series that we're doing here on different topics related to longevity and health. 0:52 this is the public mastermind that's available for the rest of the fall. 0:57 It's going to be free. 0:58 And then as we go into the next year, there will be a membership opportunity as well. 1:03 and that'll include more protocols and specific offerings that will unique to the Mimosa Longevity Community. 1:12 So just to recap, we have five sessions this fall from the fall into the end of the year into winter. 1:20 They'll be every Thursday at seven o'clock. 1:23 So you're free to join live or you can also listen to the recording afterwards than when that gets released. 1:30 This is open to the public so if you're interested in sharing this with anybody, they can go ahead and register and get on the list and they will receive 1:38 the recordings as well. 1:40 As a quick recap, last week we covered circadian rhythm and food timing. 1:45 Again, a very interesting topic. 1:47 So I really encourage you, if you missed that one, to go back and review it. 1:52 It really is fascinating to see the circadian rhythm science and what that really represents for us as humans and how much the Circadian Rhythm biology 2:05 influences every single gene in our being. 2:08 And this is all about light and light essentially turns on and off genes. 2:13 inside your physical body. 2:16 Today, we're going to be talking about personalized nutrition in the microbiome, eating for your gut and eating your genes and understanding your unique 2:24 body type. 2:26 And then the few sessions coming up, I wanted to give you a little preview. 2:30 On the 30th, we'll be really diving into detox pathways. 2:34 This is important for those of you who are concerned about whether or not you might have a genomic predisposition to not detox very well. 2:43 this webinar and this mastermind is all about that. 2:48 So make sure you don't miss it and really start to understand how your genes are influencing your detox pathways and we'll also look at ancient purification 2:58 processes that help with detoxification. 3:00 The session after that will be going into November 13th and that is a really also very much functional medicine based mastermind, 3:11 well, we'll talk about hormones and really get into the deep science around hormones, and what's important to think about in terms of our hormone biology,
Why Personalized Nutrition Matters 3:20 understanding how stress and nutrition affect the hormones. 3:24 And figuring out ways that we can actually interact with our hormones in a healthy, natural way to bring about more balance. 3:33 And then last but not least, on the 11th of December, we'll be really focusing on longevity blueprint. 3:40 What are the key principles for longevity that you think about when it comes to this holistic longevity framework and then taking that into next year where 3:49 we really get into protocols around longevity science and functional medicine. 3:57 So I just wanna remind those of you who are interested in doing a detox, we have an active detox right now taking place. 4:04 It's a 21 day detox. 4:06 it's not too late to join. 4:08 I talked about this at the last Mastermind. 4:11 We'll be covering topics around gut health, hormone balance, energy and detox sleep and recovery, weight balance and nutrient optimization. 4:20 Everyone is invited to apply to joined this program. 4:24 The program includes daily rhythm guides, a weekly focus theme, live support, we'll be offering two different zoom classes that you can join in and as 4:34 well as a Sunday reflection. 4:35 And it also includes the actual kosher cleanse framework. 4:40 This is a Ayurvedic detox. 4:42 And there's a framework around this, which includes Ayurveda and functional medicine, recipes, shopping lists, and a toolkit for getting your mind-body 4:52 to reset. 4:53 We also have a WhatsApp community that is private. 4:57 You'll be able to join and ask questions and feel supported with coaching throughout the program. 5:04 For those of you who are interested for eligibility, it really is more of a wellness and longevity focus for those who want to increase their energy, 5:12 not suitable for active injuries or acute illness, surgeries or pregnancy. 5:18 There is supplement program that is included, a detox supplement programme that's optional, as well as optional supplement testing. 5:27 The sign-up information is available for that aswell. 5:30 If you sign up for this webinar, you will be receiving that in your email. 5:34 Alright, so let's dive in into today's content. 5:38 Again, I'm very excited to talk about this topic. 5:40 It's been really the area of my focus in terms of research, my training, and my background. 5:46 I would say since before medical school I trained in nutrition science. 5:52 And it's been probably almost 30 years now of focus on personalized nutrition. 5:58 And I'm very excited to share this latest research with everybody. 6:02 Really, let's get into the conversation about what makes sense, what is scientifically relevant. 6:11 Let's also talk about some of the trends that are out there and maybe debunk some those trends for you right now. 6:16 So when we think about personalized nutrition in the microbiome, you're really eating according to your gut and your genes and unique body type. 6:25 So let's begin with the simple truth. 6:27 There is no single right diet for anybody. 6:31 Okay? 6:32 So if anybody says you have to follow this diet and it's the right for everyone, Wrong answer. 6:39 I'll show you exactly why that's the case. 6:42 The idea that there's one perfect way to eat has dominated nutrition. 6:47 Nutrition science, nutrition programs, and really nutrition marketing for decades. 6:53 This is completely false. 6:54 The calories and calories out approach is wrong. 6:58 We cannot just survive by eating less sugar, avoiding fat and following the latest fad, right? 7:05 So what we're learning today is essentially the fundamentals of new biology that is showing that metabolism is not a simple in and out math problem like 7:16 a lot of people say it is. 7:18 It really is a conversation. 7:20 It's a conversion with your body. 7:22 With your mind and your spirit, I'll even extend to say that because it really has this back and forth communication. 7:29 I call it information for that reason. 7:32 One of the most elegant demonstrations of this actually came from a cell biology paper, which I'd like to present to you. 7:38 This was in 2015. And it showed that hundreds of people ate identical meals. 7:43 The same bread, the same carbs, same calories, and then they measured their blood glucose response. 7:50 And what they found was incredibly astonishing. 7:53 It was that two people could eat the exact same slice of bread and have a completely opposite outcome. 8:00 Right? 8:01 So for one, it basically moved the needle, and for the other, the glucose would shoot up like a roller coaster. 8:08 Right. 8:08 So here we are with two totally different responses to carbohydrate metabolism. 8:13 Why? 8:14 Because it wasn't just the food alone that matters. 8:17 And this is where we have to change our perspective. 8:20 It's not just a food, alone. 8:22 it's the person eating that food that matter as well. 8:26 All right. 8:27 so we can't give a single prescription out. 8:29 for a certain diet. 8:31 It really is personalized. 8:33 So let's take a look at all the things in this cell paper that they looked at. 8:37 This is back in 2015, right? 8:39 So now we're 10 years later. 8:41 Can you imagine how much science has come out? 8:44 People were measuring 800 people. 8:49 Again, in cell biology, they showed the microbiome matters, the blood test matter, and the questionnaire data mattered, right? 8:56 So anthropometrics, their body composition mattered. 8:59 Their food diary mattered all these things went in to predict how their bodies responded to what's written up here the glycemic response.
Microbiome, Short-Chain Fatty Acids, and Gene Expression 9:08 Right? 9:09 It wasn't just one factor. 9:11 All these thing went to then create a prediction on how somebody was going to respond to a diet that they were given of bread, 9:20 simple bread. 9:21 Now, we're not all sitting there eating little slices of bread, but this is just a very simple study that showed even if you just look at one thing, 9:30 carbohydrate, glucose, and that's it. 9:32 Not all the other factors in our diet, that there are individual differences. 9:37 So now let's take that a step further and look at what JAMA showed. 9:40 There's a JAMAA paper that validated that the microbiome actually was important as well. 9:47 So it confirmed that dietary responses are individualized at the level of the individual, the host, and also their microbiome. 9:57 So again, it's not the individual person, but it is the bacteria that is on that person and in that that's also playing a role. 10:06 Now you're just multiplying the personalization effect. 10:10 So you can see this is getting to be broader and broader. 10:14 So when scientists integrated this information, like each person's microbiome, their genetic markers, lifestyle factors, 10:22 they found that they could actually predict the responses that their body was having much more accurately. 10:31 And that was a JAMA article that came out in 2019. which basically proved, so if anybody is still talking about calories, 10:38 you should point them to this article, it basically proves that this model of using multiple factors, including the microbiome and lifestyle, 10:48 outperformed calorie counting systems. 10:53 Bottom line, right there, 2019 and JAMA. 10:56 So there are many things that go into deciding what right diet is for you. 11:01 It is not one size fits all. 11:04 There are personalized metabolic signatures, individual patterns of how your body interprets nutrition. 11:12 Your gut microbiome plays a role, your genetics play a roll, you hormones play role and your sleep patterns all play roll. 11:20 They are informing your translators, right? 11:25 So they're essentially translating how your body is storing, using energy and responding to inflammation. 11:34 And even, of course, now we know the gut-brain connection, how it regulates your mood. 11:41 So again, it's really this harmony, this symphony that's taking place in the body all the time. 11:47 So it is not a single factor. 11:50 Here we are kind of looking at that big picture and trying to understand what are the levers? 11:57 What are things that matter when we look at the science? 12:01 So here's what's so interesting is that timing matters. 12:04 And I talked about this in my last mastermind. 12:07 The same meal that's eaten at 6 pm is not going to be metabolized the same at 9 pm. 12:14 It produces totally different effects depending on your circadian rhythm and what's called your per two clock gene expression. 12:22 Again, this was a gene that we've discovered that shows that you're going metabolize food and fat totally differently based on whether or not this gene 12:32 is being expressed. 12:34 So in some individuals, a later dinner can stabilize the glucose in others. 12:39 It's going to spike your cat cortisol and trigger less sleep. 12:44 So yeah, you can't say everyone should eat early, everyone eat late. 12:49 This is where having your genome can be very helpful. 12:52 So knowing whether or not you have this PR2 gene expression can help you understand what your actual lifestyle plan should look like. 13:01 When we talk about personalized nutrition, we're really talking about, like I said, this dynamic relationship, the symphony that's taking place between 13:09 your genomes, your microbiome, and your circadian biology. 13:11 It's a communication. 13:13 That's constantly taking place. 13:15 And that's what we're really talking about in this mastermind. 13:18 We're moving beyond the typical labels and we are getting into the why, the how, and the body's feedback mechanism. 13:28 Because food is information. 13:31 So let's talk about the microbiome and switch gears a little bit. 13:34 This science has come out and exploded in the last decade, but when it comes down to clinical practice, we don't yet know how to implement it. 13:45 So a lot of times people have given up on this and said it's not really relevant, that's completely false. 13:50 It's highly relevant. 13:51 We just need to understand what of this information is relevant and how use it and there will be a discovery phase for the next 10, 20 years interpreting 14:03 some of these findings. 14:05 We have made a lot of progress already, and I'm going to share some other information with you here. 14:10 The microbiome is essentially, like we said, it's everywhere. 14:14 It's on your body, in your, body around you. 14:16 But we're going focus right now on just the gut microbiomes. 14:20 So the Gut Microbiome consists of about 10 to the 14 Microorganisms, that's a huge amount of organisms and you can just imagine that genome compared to 14:31 the human genome, right? 14:33 The human genomes microscopic compared the microbiome genome that again is on and inside of us. 14:40 So this is just the gut and that how many microbes are present. 14:45 The core mechanism that is taking place is that the micro biome is playing a critical role in nutrition. 14:51 When you eat your food, Specifically, fermentable fibers like plant polyphenols go through what's called a microbial fermentation process. 15:02 Sometimes I hear from people, they're having a hard time digesting vegetables. 15:07 Well, this is why. 15:09 So they essentially yield these things called short chain fatty acids like butyrate, propionate, and acetate. 15:17 And these metabolize, these short chain fatty acids, then go on to bind to these G protein coupled receptors listed here on the actual epithelium and on 15:28 immune cells, influencing the insulin sensitivity and inflammation in the body. 15:35 So microbiota are influencing, the bodies insulin, sensitivity, and information because of how you digest those fibers. 15:46 Right? 15:47 So keep that in mind. 15:49 The bacteria matter. 15:52 Crossing the intestinal barrier, these microbiota actually act as what's called histone decetylase inhibitors. 16:00 They increase histones acetylation and modulate gene expression and gene transcription. 16:06 Wow. 16:07 Right. 16:08 These bacteria essentially produce metabolites that have the ability to cross through the intestine and affect your genome. 16:18 That's incredible science. 16:20 They serve as the fuel for colonocytes and support what's called tight junction integrity. 16:26 We talk about leaky gut, I'm sure you've all heard about leaking gut. 16:30 Well, these actual short chain fatty acids have ability, to support this particular area of the body. 16:38 and help your cells regenerate. 16:41 So this is very important for healing the gut. 16:44 A clinical implication is that the production of these short-chain fatty acids that we talked about is different between different individuals, 16:55 right? 16:56 So when you look at one person, they're going to have the presence of, for example, acromansia or Fisala bacterium. 17:03 These are circadian rhythm bacteria. 17:07 Essentially, the host genomic variants in short chain fatty acid receptors all influence the magnitude of this effect. 17:16 Again, here's another great paper very recently in Nature Metabolism that confirmed that propionate and butyrate, short-chain fatty acids, 17:26 directly interact with chromatin in the DNA, increasing the accessibility of what are called promoter regions involved in mitochondrial biogenesis and 17:41 cell repair. 17:43 So emphasizing the importance of these short chain fatty acids in a diet. 17:48 This demonstrates that the microbiome functions as a regulatory interface between nutrition and gene expression. 17:57 Again, super important, right? 17:59 We're just starting to understand which bacteria, how do we use them? 18:03 What's the right balance? 18:05 You know, what are different genetic factors playing a role? 18:08 Your ethnic background, your cultural factors that all play a roll in diet and whether or not you're gonna be responding well to a certain diet versus another. 18:20 We are just trying to understanding that more studies need to be done. 18:23 This is fascinating science. 18:26 The microbiome converts dietary inputs into molecular signals. 18:31 And these short-chain fatty acids act as epigenetic modulators with these downstream effects on metabolism, immune tone, 18:40 and neurochemical balance, the gut brain neurotransmitters right here coming from this interaction with the microbiota. 18:50 So there needs to be a personalized modulation. 18:55 of the microbiota that is present, right? 18:58 So we can't, again, all take the same probiotic. 19:01 We just simply can expect same results. 19:05 So, we need to have targeted diets, prebiotics, circadian rhythm eating, and probably targeted probiotics as well to offer a viable pathway to influence 19:16 what's happening at the genome level. 19:19 So this is the future of science because we now know that this informs all disease, all diseases. 19:26 You name it, cancer, diabetes, heart disease. 19:29 All of it is influenced by the microbiome. 19:31 So in the context of longevity medicine, we're really thinking about how to optimize this microbial signaling that's taking place to reinforce cellular 19:44 resilience and metabolic efficiency. 19:47 Now let's move on to what is happening in terms of the mechanism of short-chain fatty acids. 19:54 So short chain fatty acid themselves are illustrated here, butyrate, acetate, propionate butyrate. 20:01 They're right here on the outside of this cell and they're influencing what are called these GPR receptors. 20:10 They represent one of the most important signaling bridges between diet, microbiome activity, and host physiology. 20:22 is known because it serves as a primary energy source. 20:25 It supports this barrier function and it goes, again, beyond the gut. 20:31 it has these microbe, these mitochondrial effects, what's called CERT-1 signaling that's responsible for stress resilience or stress resistance and also 20:42 insulin sensitivity. 20:45 Short chain fatty acids also affect T regulatory systems. 20:49 So we're talking now about immune function modulated by short chain, fatty assets. 20:55 Again, a dietary thing, something we can take in our diet and influence all these beautiful downstream effects. 21:04 So there is a cross talk between the epigenetic factors that we've talked about and the endocrine system.
Circadian Timing, Fasting, and Microbiome Diversity 21:12 So again, another beautiful paper, the FEMS microbiology letters in 2024 showed that these butyrate and propionate molecules inhibit the HDAC activity, 21:26 increasing the histone acetylation in epithelial immune cells. 21:30 We know that this is how epigenetics is taking place and how we modify genes. 21:38 So this goes back to this concept that genes aren't everything. 21:42 It's not just the genes, it's also what we call epi-genetic, which is what's illustrated here with the histone acetylation, 21:49 the changes to the jeans that are influenced by your lifestyle, your diet, meditation, and other holistic practices, nutrients, 21:59 et cetera, that can actually affect the expression of those genes. 22:03 It's not just what's coming from your parents. 22:06 You can actively modify and change that with these methods. 22:13 Now let's talk a little bit about circadian rhythm and fasting and how that plays a role here. 22:19 So we know that these microbial short chain fatty acids follow the circadian rhythm. 22:24 I said that a while ago. 22:27 They peak during the daytime feeding window and they decline overnight. 22:33 Going back to what we talked about last week, Eating overnight, not a good idea. 22:39 Working late hours and staying up overnight not good for your microbiome for this exact reason. 22:46 The rhythm is synchronized with host clock genes. 22:49 So the PER2 we talked about earlier in this mastermind but also clocked genes and BMAL1 gene forming what's called a bidirectional loop between the microbial 23:01 metabolism and the host, the individual's chronobiology. 23:05 So we get this back and forth communication because of these genes and the connection to light. 23:12 Fasting periods will actually amplify the short chain fatty acid efficiency by improving receptor sensitivity and increasing microbial diversity, 23:25 particularly in specific bacteria like acromansiae when we're focusing on longevity. 23:33 So fasting, in other words, is beneficial, again, at the right time, the the period of time and I'll talk about soon in the Right Body Type. 23:44 So in practical terms, optimizing your short-chain fatty acids, we talked about all these beneficial effects of these, includes diversifying your fermentable fibers, 23:55 so inulin-resistant starches and arabinoglycans, having more polyphenol-rich foods that feed these short chain fatty acid bacteria coming from plants, 24:06 right? 24:08 And then fasting windows of at least 14 to 16 hours to enhance the metabolic rhythm. 24:15 And then circadian meal timing, making sure you align your microbial and host expression with the sun, with light. 24:25 So from a clinical standpoint, we're often using tests to understand this. 24:29 Some of these are more research-based than others, but we are using stool metabolomics, metagenomic sequencing, And we can target nutritional interventions 24:40 to start to map and modify just simply short chain fatty acids dynamics in real time. 24:45 This is just one set of metabolites, right? 24:48 Now you can just imagine if you amplify that out to all the other things that we have yet to understand and study. 24:55 So all these things are important. 24:57 Now let's talk a little bit about microbiota diversity and individuality. 25:04 So going into understanding this concept, we examine, for example, in this paper, two individuals that can consume the same diet and experience completely 25:15 different outcomes, one that's thriving and the other that becomes symptomatic, only because of the microbial diversity and composition being different 25:25 between them. 25:26 So no two microbiomes are identical. 25:31 Even identical twins, they examined and did studies on this, only about 30 to 40% of twin microbiota in the gut are actually overlapping, 25:44 right, in identical twin. 25:45 So there's a diversity here or a lack of diversity that can also exist depending on what's happening in your body. 25:53 And that diversity defines how nutrients, toxins, hormones, are processed and how resilient your body is to stress. 26:03 So this microbiome variability and function is what also determines your energy extraction, the production of metabolites, 26:13 like the short-chain fatty acids we talked about, also bile acids and neurotransmitter precursors. 26:19 And your detox capacity, your body's ability to include degradation of xenobiotics, like environmental toxins, and also build up of estrogen. 26:29 So when our body is going through stress, we actually build out more estrogen metabolites that need to be detoxified. 26:37 And the microbiome plays a big role here. 26:40 And then lastly, the barrier integrity. 26:42 So we talked earlier about intestinal permeability and how leaky gut is one of the things we're often diagnosing in people and that is influenced also 26:52 by the specific microbiota. 26:55 And that determines what amount of toxins your body ends up taking in because that barrier, integrity can be compromised. 27:04 When it is compromised or when you have a reduced diversity, you develop something that we term dysbiosis. 27:11 In Ayurvedic terms, it's called AMA. 27:14 Western medicine is called dysbiosis. 27:18 Dysbiosis has been associated with insulin resistance, autoimmune activation, neuroinflammation, and accelerated biological aging. 27:27 So again, in practical terms, if you have low microbial diversity, you can actually have a reduced capacity to produce butyrate and greater intestinal permeability. 27:38 And then really, that's when we get into diabetes also, because you've exaggerated postprandial glucose and lipid response even to healthy foods. 27:49 So getting back to like your gut actually informs a lot of things beyond your genome. 27:55 It's the microbiota that kind of have a mind of their own sometimes and influence your glucose and your lipids. 28:05 So let's take a look at a case, you know, there's some divergent responses to the same diet. 28:10 So we look back at this cell paper and the jam paper, and it clearly demonstrates that two people could eat the Same carbs. 28:17 We talked about the bread and how different they are. 28:20 And we looked at the actual taxa, the microbiome, such as bacteroidities or pervitella. 28:27 These species of bacteria are linked to carbohydrate metabolism and inflammatory signaling. 28:34 So we can identify specific bacteria that are saying, I want more carbohydrates, and they're getting you to essentially crave and eat more carbohydrate 28:44 so that they can be fed. 28:45 Just a simple example of something that was discovered, again, a decade ago. 28:50 So microbial identity is very important, not just a caloric account, in predicting the outcome for nutrition. 28:59 Now let's talk about some of the other theories and the ideas that are out there when it comes to dietary paradigms. 29:06 We talked so far about caloric intake, we demonstrated how important it is to look at the different individuality, the genome, 29:14 microbiome, and how we have this individual response. 29:19 Now, let us talk some other ideas about how this fits. 29:23 So right now we have quite a polarized environment when it comes to nutrition, and honestly we always have had a polarised environment for nutrition.
Diet Paradigms and Individual Responses 29:33 It's been like this since we started talking about nutrition but it's time for this to start to change. 29:39 If you look for example at the lectin-free diet concept by Dr. 29:43 Gundry, when you at look at actual individuals, you'll find that they have an HLA-DQ or IL-6 promoter variants. 29:53 So if you have these genes present, they're going to have lower levels of what are called lectin degrading bacteria. 30:01 So this is one example, lactobacillus plantarum. 30:06 And these individuals actually would benefit from having the spectra repleted. 30:14 And so others can have robust microbial degradation pathways and tolerate legumes and nightshades without issue. 30:24 So again, it's not a one size fits all. 30:27 If you don't have this particular phenotype and genotype, you likely will be able to metabolize this food just fine. 30:38 So I really caution people when they say they can't eat something. 30:43 We have to understand why, we have understand what's happening in your genome. 30:47 We have to experiment and see which bacteria might be present and what we can actually replete and then reintroduce some of the foods that you might have 30:59 been reacting to before and seeing what your body does. 31:01 It's a conversation. 31:04 Another common diet right now is the carnivore diet or also the zero fiber diet. 31:12 Now, these diets can be very effective because they are essentially stabilizing symptoms. 31:18 So you'll have people that are reacting often to fibers or reacting to foods and they'll go to the carnivore diets because their stabilising their symptoms 31:27 and feel like it works compared to everything else they've done. 31:31 Well, they temporarily stabilize the symptoms in individuals that have overgrowth or immune dysregulation by lowering an antigen exposure, 31:44 right? 31:44 So yes, you know, in many individuals that a certain dysbiotic presence or genetic influence, they will be reacting to certain vegetables and certain fibers. 31:58 However, it's not just the meat that causes the change. 32:04 It's the fact that you're removing the input of the antigen and you reducing inflammation by doing so. 32:12 But in the long-term, I caution people on diets like this because prolonged restriction reduces what's called Fisalar bacterium and Rosiburia species. 32:24 And these guys are the ones that produce short chain fatty acids. 32:29 Now we talked earlier, the whole first half was all about the importance of short-chain fatty acid in the research. 32:35 So you really look at this, you know, in a logical manner, is this a proper diet for longevity? 32:42 Likely not. 32:45 We're potentially compromising long-term mucosal health in exchange for reducing inflammation in short term. 32:55 Next, there are other diets that are looking just at fruits and vegetables and saying this is the only answer. 33:02 Again, this can support detoxification in individuals that can have sluggish biometabolism. 33:08 So these are people with this particular genotype or slugish sulfur metabolism, so CBS variants, but they promote glycemic and oxalate issues. 33:19 for those with these other polymorphisms. 33:23 So you really have to customize and individualize. 33:27 And I realized as I started to study the genome and understand individual differences, that when you have the power of your genome, 33:35 you can actually understand what your SNPs are. 33:38 What do they look like? 33:40 You can start to decode this information for yourself and again, have a conversation with your diet, your body, and start to discover what can be actually 33:52 taking place. 33:52 So again, each paradigm can and correct depending on the individual's host genome and microbiome profile. 34:03 It is not one size fits all. 34:06 We really have to look at the individuals and we have look long-term benefits. 34:10 Is this the right diet for short- term or right for long term? 34:14 And remember that circadian and environmental modifiers play a big role here, right? 34:18 So the microbiomes composition is dynamic. 34:23 Sleep disruption, meal timing, antibiotic exposure, that is critical So many people have been exposed to series after series of antibiotics throughout 34:33 their life that is going to disrupt your microbiome. 34:36 They say seven to 10 years out sometimes, that's not saying don't take the antibiotics, it's saying we need to replete the microbiomes after antibiotic exposure. 34:46 And also in the elderly population, to increase lifespan and longevity, we really have to think about repleting that microbiom and keeping that structurally 34:58 active as well for the gut. 35:01 Chronic stress, I can't emphasize this enough, rapidly alters your microbiome ecology. 35:08 You may think it's no big deal to gun for a deadline, but while you're doing that and you not eating well and not sleeping well, 35:15 you are affecting your micro biome. 35:18 So in animal models they showed that circadian misalignment alone shifted the firmicutes to bacteroidities ratio within just two days, 35:26 right? 35:27 So very important that you have this relationship that's taking place. 35:33 It doesn't, you know, it's not like other blood tests like hemolymina A1C where it takes three months to show up. 35:38 We're talking about immediate changes with the microbiome, almost as immediate as a glucose change when you eat something. 35:45 So this underscores why interventions have to include timing, rhythm, an environmental context in addition to food. 35:57 Okay, so we need to think about how to apply this clinically. 36:01 So from a longevity standpoint, the goal is not just to adopt a universal diet, it's to restore the adaptive microbial diversity. 36:12 And that's really characterized by at least these three things right now based on the literature, a high functional redundancy, 36:20 So multiple taxa specific bacterial groups that are supporting the same pathway to create redundancy stable circadian oscillation and the microbial gene expression. 36:36 So circadian rhythm, we talked last time that the body has its own clock chains that can get turned on and off. 36:42 So do the microbiome. 36:43 The microbiota have a circadian rhythm and they also get turn on an off as well based on light. 36:52 Keeping that stable and a regular pattern is so important. 36:56 What time do you go to bed? 36:57 What do time you wake up? 36:59 We can't travel and change different time zones all the time and expect that there's not going to be a physiological response, 37:07 science is showing that that happens in any case. 37:11 So there will be consequences on the microbiota. 37:14 And then a balanced immune communication across the gut and brain axis. 37:21 That's the third component that is essentially something we want to restore when it comes to longevity. 37:28 So the key insights here are that diet is only the visible half of the equation and the invisible half is what's happening with the microbiome that we 37:41 sometimes need to test and understand. 37:43 Our tests are even getting better. 37:44 We can now do whole genome sequencing. 37:46 It's still not really accessible for everybody yet in terms of microbiomes, but we're gonna get there and it's gonna happen within the next decade for sure. 37:55 and determining how that diet is interpreted. 37:59 Precision nutrition begins when we start mapping all of these things. 38:06 And let's talk about the genes.
Genes, Epigenetics, and Ayurvedic Body Types 38:08 So for those of you who've worked with me, you know how I work with the genome. 38:12 This is a big part of my practice. 38:14 I find there's a lot of power in understanding the genomes, and especially when you start to bring in all these other variables and understand how they're 38:22 influencing the clinical picture. 38:24 So just a quick overview of the genome with the time that we have available to highlight some of key pathways, the methylation pathway, 38:34 fatty oxidation pathway carbohydrate metabolism, glycemic control, inflammation and immune reactivity, histamine and biogenic amines. 38:44 These are all current genes that are well described in the literature that can be used to develop individualized, personalized programs. 38:53 They're ones that I use all the time with my patients. 38:56 And I love working with these because they give you so much insight into why symptoms are taking place and offer alternative pathways in how we can provide 39:08 protocols for healing symptoms. 39:11 And remember, there's this interplay right between the genes and the microbiome. 39:15 Just to give you some examples, the FTO risk allele that many of you may have heard about, F-T-O gene, this particular alleol is associated with obesity 39:26 and it's moderated by gut diversity. 39:28 So that's where Acromancie became so famous and well-known because of this gene-microbiome interaction that we discovered. 39:36 Likewise, MTHFR-related methylation deficits are amplified under dysbiosis. 39:42 This is something that a lot of people don't know. 39:45 So the MTHFR gene is actually amplified when you have a dysbiotic gut. 39:52 And so stress responses, inability to detox properly, cancer risk, all of this is modulated by this Mthfr pathway, and that's amplified by dys biases. 40:06 There is this bi-directional relationship that supports this idea of a holo genome, the idea that the host and the microbiome genomes function as this 40:16 integrated biological system rather than separate entities. 40:19 Of course, right? 40:20 But yet we haven't been functioning that way. 40:23 in medicine, the science is showing it, and it's time for us to start practicing that way in our nutrition, in out medicine and our wellness and in in lifestyle. 40:33 So circadian rhythm and epigenetic integration is so important as well. 40:39 We talked about this in the first series, so I'm not going to get into this too much detail, but I just want to make sure that we don't forget that part 40:49 as And we want to align our nutrition with our genetic architecture. 40:53 That is really key. 40:55 So thinking about this overall loop, right? 40:58 We've got this diet microbiome epigenome loop that's taking place. 41:03 The diet shapes the microbiomes, the microbial metabolites shape the epi genetics, Right? 41:08 The epigenerics go back and influence the genome. 41:11 Right. 41:12 This is how we can actually start to build resilience and influenced our genetics. 41:18 And it gets disrupted through lifestyle patterns, through behavioral patterns. 41:23 Stress patterns again, those have also a genetic influence and a trauma influence. 41:30 So stress, processed foods, circadian misalignment, they create metabolic noise. 41:36 And restoring this rhythm and microbial diversity is what creates coherence. 41:42 So we talk, you know, I love talking about consciousness and coherance as part of the biological framework. 41:49 At the molecular level, enzyme systems show quantum coherense and electron tunneling. 41:55 The mitochondria operate as resonant biooscillators. 42:03 And the vagus nerve, the relaxational nerve in the body, is involved as well as your heart-brain coherence. 42:11 to directly influence the mitochondrial signaling. 42:14 So all practices around meditation, coherence, heart rate variability, consciousness realms, these are all important to activate and deactivate some of 42:25 these mechanisms and influence vagal tone and digestion. 42:29 We're still studying how this works, but it's very promising. 42:33 And this is why, because it actually has been shown in research and it is fascinating science. 42:40 Now, before we end today, I want to take a couple of minutes to talk about the Ayurvedic framework and how that's important here as well and show some 42:48 of the recent science, especially for those of you who are involved in the Kosha program that are interested in working on AyURveda with me. 42:59 I love presenting the science behind AyUrVeda because it's a 3,000-year-old system that is highly relevant in terms of things we're talking about today. 43:08 So this concept of constitutions in Ayurveda, vata-pitikafa constitutions, air, fire and earth, these are very important elemental frameworks of body types 43:20 or body constititions, and they are directly correlated with microbial profiles, as well as physiological traits. 43:32 So let's do a quick map for those of you who are in the program who want to understand this a little bit more in our one-on-one work together. 43:40 Here's how it works. 43:42 Vata is air and ether, right? 43:44 So those are the two elements that go into vata. 43:48 The physiological traits of Avata type is variable appetite, light body type, that you lose weight quickly, and irregular digestion. 43:57 So that means sometimes they're constipated, sometimes their have diarrhea. 44:01 It's never consistent and sometimes, you know, things come and go quite quickly in their bodies. 44:07 So what's been proven and is so fascinating is that they have a lower abundance of this particular bacteria from acuities, 44:15 reduced short chain fatty acid output, and increased gut permeability. 44:20 So the Ayurvedic focus is often to have more warm grounded foods, oily foods and reconstituting the mucosa. 44:32 Again, this is an ancient science. 44:33 They always had these treatments, but the science is now showing that we can map it back to bacteria and the genome. 44:41 Pitta, which is a fire type, have a strong appetite, heat sensitivity, they get overheated, and a tendency to be inflamed. 44:50 Now these folks are dominant, not lower, but dominant in their firmicutes and compared to the Vata. 44:57 And they have a reduced acromanciae during stress. 45:01 So their antidote in terms of the fire is cooling anti-inflammatory phytonutrients, having more greens, turmeric, aloe, and stabilizing that cytokine expression 45:13 in term of their treatment. 45:15 And last but not least is CAFA, which is the earth and water type. 45:18 This has a slow metabolism, more fluid retention, and lower motivation. 45:25 These folks have a lower diversity in their microbiome and a higher F to B ratio. 45:31 So their optimal diet is light, rich in spices, and usually will need to have those early dinners we talked about and enhancing their metabolic rate and 45:43 microbial diversity because of the natural low diversity. 45:47 So again, ancient science and our ability to apply modern medicine and create personalized protocols for individual types based on their microbiome. 46:00 So these patterns reveal that Ayurvedic observation can actually form these functional clusters, and that's aligned with their nutrition. 46:12 So the key focus areas as we wrap up today is that there is this biological communication. 46:20 Every bite of food that you eat is having a rule set. 46:24 I'm sorry, not a real set, but a language communication that's taking place and it's carrying data. 46:33 So your microbiome is translating that data into metabolites and your genes are interpreting those metabolite and expressing those patterns. 46:42 Your circadian rhythm synchronizes those pattern into a coherent rhythm of repair, energy production and understanding or cognition. 46:52 So when we think about longevity, it's really important to remember these particular things. 46:58 One, personalization outperforms prescription. 47:02 Number two, rhythm is as important as content. 47:08 So when you eat, how often you need, right? 47:11 That rhythm of it is important, as what you're eating. 47:15 Microbial signaling is a therapeutic target. 47:20 Genes provide the blueprint, but they're not the final verdict. 47:24 And there's an integration of ancient and modern models that enhances our precision. 47:31 So remember that nutrition is not linear. 47:33 It's rhythmic, relational, and responsive. 47:39 Finally, I'd like for those of you who are watching this, either afterwards in the replay or here live right now, to do this integration practice. 47:49 I recommend maybe taking seven days and recording a food, mood, digestive journal. 47:56 but framing it through this additional lens, which I teach within the kosher program as well of circadian rhythm and genomic awareness. 48:06 Your meal timing and the composition should be recorded every day on these seven days journal, right? 48:13 When you eat, what you Eat and how you combine certain macronutrients are all important.
Food Journaling and Closing Takeaways 48:19 So record that for seven Understand what your energy is doing. 48:25 Notice after the meal, within 30 minutes, are you a more alert? 48:30 Are you more focused? 48:31 Or are more fatigued? 48:33 That energy curve provides a lot of information. 48:37 Understand your digestive patterns. 48:40 Watch when you eat things. 48:42 Are your bloated? 48:44 Was that a comfortable meal? 48:47 And are going to the bathroom regularly? 48:51 How are your emotions and your cognitive shifts? 48:54 Food influences our emotions. 48:56 Track your mood stability. 48:58 Look for clarity versus restlessness. 49:01 Those are key signs. 49:04 Watch your sleep and fasting windows. 49:07 Document the intervals between your meals, your bedtime and waking energy the next morning. 49:14 We actually have a whole framework here in the kosher program that I teach people and we have, um, a way to document all this information. 49:22 For those of you at home, you can do a seven day food journal and write all these things down and start to reflect on this for yourself and identify whether 49:33 this is a supportive pattern, something that enhances your clarity and energy and comfort or a disruptive pattern that consistently creates imbalance. 49:43 Be aware that the entry point into precision and self-regulation is so important because awareness dictates all of it. 49:54 And the practice turns into science when you start to experience this, right? 49:59 So turn it into a real experience. 50:02 Transform the data into what's called embodied vision so we can have consciousness in how we approach longevity. 50:12 So finally, I'd just like to close and reflect that longevity is not about restriction. 50:18 It's about resonance. 50:20 Its about creating coherence and resonance in your body, your mind, you spirit, connections around you, and your community, 50:30 whole life. 50:31 When your genome, microbiome and daily rhythm operate in harmony, You unlock a level of efficiency that is no supplement, 50:39 it's not a protocol. 50:41 It's really truly this amplified level, of peace and harmony within your body and around you. 50:48 And that harmony is the foundation of sustainable health, creativity and vitality. 50:55 So again, I'm Dr. 50:56 Mima Gere and thank you so much for attending today's mastermind. 50:59 I just want to remind you that our next master mind is going to be on October 30th, where we'll be diving more into detox pathways for vitality. 51:08 We'll focus on the gut, the liver and the lymph systems and genetic influences on these pathways. 51:15 Looking at simple food based detox strategies, we can start to apply as well as rituals like breath work, ceremonies and herbal teas that support cleansing 51:26 and will end with a detox visualization and guided breathwork practice. 51:31 So I encourage you to join next session live if you can, but if can't it will be available like this one over recording. 51:39 And this session, like our others, will end up on our Monza Longevity page, which is going to be on YouTube, as well as on the Substack. 51:50 So those of you who haven't had a chance to sign up, Monzo Lungevity has both a YouTube as, well, a Substacks so that you can stay active and stay current 51:59 in all the information that's being released. 52:01 Thank you so much for following along today, and I'll see you in two weeks.
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