10 replies to this topic

[InquilineKea]

So I just came across this paper:

http://www.mbio.ncsu...oscar_paper.pdf

And apparently caffeine increases lifespan in yeast through mTor inhibition. A mechanism similar to the one found in humans is credible, given that regular coffee drinkers tend to have the lowest death rates (and also given caffeine's anti-carcinogenic and anti-Parkinson's effects, which may be due to other routes). While it may increase heart attack risk, I think this risk really only applies among those who are already predisposed to having heart attacks.

Now, there's a paper from 1978 called "Effect of caffeine on longevity and reproduction of the housefly", which says that caffeine decreases housefly lifespan. I find this paper VERY interesting because calorie restriction also doesn't increase housefly longevity (what is it that's special in houseflies?)

[1101]

Well for one thing a 30 years difference in biochemistry may as well be a thousand years given the advancements we've made in the last 30 so I don't know how credible that 1978 paper really is. I would think caffeine would almost certainly decrease life expectancy in anything with a circulatory system (ie humans) due to increased blood pressure and thus increased risk of stroke. Flies don't actually have a circulatory system per se. It's more like their 'blood' is strewn about randomly through their body and oscillated by a an organ called a dorsal aorta that sorta pumps like a heart but isn't really one. I'm no expert on insect anatomy but I imagine that the dorsal aorta is a muscle or is at least controlled by muscles. Because caffeine can temporarily paralyze the nerves controlling muscles (which a yeast cell does not have) I would think that this could account for the shortened life span since their 'heart' would not pump as efficiently. But again I think the risk of stroke would outweigh any health benefits provided by caffeine. I don't know anything about it being an anti-carcinogen but the anti Parkinson's effects can be explained by what I said earlier about caffeine paralyzing nerves which is probably bad for someone who doesn't have Parkison's.

In short I would hypothesize that caffeine can only significantly increase the life expetancy of organisms that lack nervous systems.

Edited by 1101, 12 January 2011 - 09:56 PM.

[InquilineKea]

You definitely have good points there. Caffeine has no negative effect on organisms without circulatory systems (like yeasts).

However, the negative effects of caffeine on people with circulatory systems is really only restricted to people who are already at risk for heart attacks/strokes (which is shown by studies - moderate coffee drinkers do have the lowest death rates, even though we can attribute some of those effects to coffee [w/o the caffeine]). We can effectively reduce our risks of both to effectively zero simply by practicing calorie restriction (or other healthy habits).

Edited by InquilineKea, 12 January 2011 - 10:39 PM.

[maxwatt]

Tea?

[Cameron]

whey, figs, beets decrease blood pressure. High intensity interval training with its beyond athlete peak body alterations should also result in reduced blood pressure when compounded by a moderate or reduced calorie diet. I've found that large dose caffeine has an extraordinary nootropic effect on my brain, it basically exponentially increases working memory far beyond human limits, so I'm not leaving caffeine behind

[rwac]

Another study on caffeine, this time on C. Elegans

Caffeine increases lifespan and slows aging dependent on DAF-16 and CBP-1 and delays proteotoxicity

http://www.ncbi.nlm....les/PMC3218048/

Edited by rwac, 27 July 2013 - 02:37 PM.

[InquilineKea]

Nice - mTOR inhibition is the type of thing that prevents proteotoxicity

[resting]

http://www.plosgenet...al.pgen.1003721

The changes in telomere length caused by environmental stress are independent of homologous recombination. A rad52Δ strain shows telomere elongation in the presence of ethanol and telomere shortening in the presence of caffeine and high temperature.

Strikingly, under alcohol stress telomeres were not only longer, but also exhibited length heterogeneity, indicating that the mechanism responsible for telomere length homeostasis, which preferentially elongates short, but not long telomeres [16], was disrupted (Figures 1, 2).

[Aphrodite]

What does everyone think of the following study?

“Prof. Martin Kupiec and his team at Tel Aviv University's Department of Molecular Microbiology and Biotechnology have discovered that the beverages may also have opposite effects on your genome. Working with a kind of yeast that shares many important genetic similarities with humans, the researchers found that caffeine shortens and alcohol lengthens telomeres -- the end points of chromosomal DNA, implicated in aging and cancer.”

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/12/131205142127.htm

Journal Reference:

Gal Hagit Romano, Yaniv Harari, Tal Yehuda, Ariel Podhorzer, Linda Rubinstein, Ron Shamir, Assaf Gottlieb, Yael Silberberg, Dana Pe'er, Eytan Ruppin, Roded Sharan, Martin Kupiec. Environmental Stresses Disrupt Telomere Length Homeostasis. PLoS Genetics, 2013; 9 (9): e1003721 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1003721

[Gerrans]

Now, there's a paper from 1978 called "Effect of caffeine on longevity and reproduction of the housefly", which says that caffeine decreases housefly lifespan. I find this paper VERY interesting because calorie restriction also doesn't increase housefly longevity (what is it that's special in houseflies?)

I suspect the confounder with houseflies is the number of them that commit suicide into cups of coffee. Must surely affect mortality rates.

[extroverinstinct]

I'm totally anti-ANYTHING that increases cortisol levels because of the hormone cascade involved and the cycle that it can initiate if we don't remove ourselves from the stress, or handle the stress badly.

Caffiene keeps the cortisol pumping, I don't see how this can be a good thing. I understand it has a short term benefit similiar to adrenalin if you are ABOUT TO BE EATEN, otherwise constant overstimulation is totaly antithetic to the immortalists dream.