Big congrats to Richard for getting to his lowest weight since early 20s

collaroygal · 2017-10-02 19:56:39 UTC

The whole episode is good, but it was such a joy to hear that @richard has gotten down so low.

well done Jimmy

richard · 2017-10-03 14:46:22 UTC

Thanks It’s been slow going and I still have a way to go … but keeping calm and ketoing on is my strategy.

Madeleine · 2017-10-03 15:10:32 UTC

My favorite moment in that discussion is when you talked about how many new cells have only known a non-diabetic body/environment (I think you said it much better but I was too busy yelping to make a note of your phrasing). So cool!!!

Mglasbrener · 2017-10-03 15:29:34 UTC

Excellent. Congrats! Keep it up!

richard · 2017-10-03 16:59:03 UTC

Fat cells live 10 years and then are retired and replaced. Here is the science that found this

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Dynamics of fat cell turnover in humans.

KL Spalding, E Arner, PO Westermark, S Bernard, BA Buchholz, O Bergmann, L Blomqvist, J Hoffstedt, E Näslund, T Britton, H Concha, M Hassan, M Rydén, J Frisén and P Arner, Nature, Jun 2008 05

Obesity is increasing in an epidemic manner in most countries and constitutes a public health problem by enhancing the risk for cardiovascular disease and metabolic disorders such as type 2 diabetes. Owing to the increase in obesity, life expectancy may start to decrease in developed countries for the first time in recent history. The factors determining fat mass in adult humans are not fully understood, but increased lipid storage in already developed fat cells (adipocytes) is thought to be most important. Here we show that adipocyte number is a major determinant for the fat mass in adults. However, the number of fat cells stays constant in adulthood in lean and obese individuals, even after marked weight loss, indicating that the number of adipocytes is set during childhood and adolescence. To establish the dynamics within the stable population of adipocytes in adults, we have measured adipocyte turnover by analysing the integration of 14C derived from nuclear bomb tests in genomic DNA. Approximately 10% of fat cells are renewed annually at all adult ages and levels of body mass index. Neither adipocyte death nor generation rate is altered in early onset obesity, suggesting a tight regulation of fat cell number in this condition during adulthood. The high turnover of adipocytes establishes a new therapeutic target for pharmacological intervention in obesity.

The method for dating human cells takes advantage of an effect caused by above-ground nuclear bomb testing that took place from 1955 to 1963. When the bombs were tested, their radioactivity created a spike in the amount of a carbon isotope, C14, in the atmosphere. The C14 made its way into plants and animals that ate the plants. When people ate those plants and meat from the animals, the C14 was incorporated into their human DNA. After the nuclear test ban, C14 levels started to drop. The result is that every cell has a C14 level that reflects the level in the atmosphere at the time the cell was born.

First the researchers confirmed that the number of fat cells remained constant in adults. Obese people who had weight loss surgery had as many fat cells two years after the surgery as before it, even though they were much thinner.

Then the investigators asked whether fat cells were being born and dying. To do that, they examined fat cells taken from 35 people, fat and lean, who had had liposuction or abdominal wall reconstruction. The amount of C14 in the cells would reveal how old the cells were. Since the number of fat cells remained constant, the number being born had to equal the number dying. And a mathematical model revealed the dynamics of the cell turnover.

richard · 2017-10-05 12:57:44 UTC

BTW yesterday I was 200g lighter than my previous best last week.

Not that losing weight is my goal, but it’s a nice side effect of becoming more healthy, and outliving damaged fat cells.

collaroygal · 2017-10-05 15:19:10 UTC

Glad to know something good came from that above ground testing.

Thanks for this Richard, I had not seen anything like it before.
Oh and enjoy being down a few more grams as well.

Helewisa · 2017-10-05 15:22:55 UTC

Wow, fantastic news, thank you for sharing this victory and the science! ;-D

brentoev · 2017-10-09 14:22:27 UTC

Congratulations!

birddog27 · 2017-10-09 14:40:39 UTC

Hmmm, I wonder if fasting for autophagy speeds that up at all?

richard · 2017-10-10 13:35:34 UTC

Autophagy is recycling by cells of bad proteins. Apoptosis or "cell death " (which is what fat cells do after 10 years) is recycling of the whole cell to it’s component parts and potentially to be remade into fresh new cells. I suspect cells that lag in autophagy eventually end up getting stuffed with bad hombres and an early invite to apoptosis. So possibly fasting and thus giving your cells a chance to spring clean will cause them to delay cell death and hang around a little longer.

But I am just speculating.

gardengirlkp · 2017-10-10 14:16:03 UTC

I wonder if this phenomenon is why 2-5 years of solid weight maintenance is considered by some to be the mark of long term remission from relapse?

Many obesity root causes. I suspect that this endocrine complexity is one key input for many of us. Addressing each rood is key for better health in the long run -IMO. I’m 5.5 years in remission from 40 years of obesity.

Congrats and here’s to KCKO.