Episode 15070:12:11
Diet Soda Brain Aging, Hidden Heart Attack Risk, New Cholesterol Pill, Lettuce Recall, and more... : 1507
The Human Upgrade: Biohacking for Longevity & Performance
Show notes
Artificial Sweeteners & Cognitive Decline, Myosteatosis on Coronary CT, Merck's Oral PCSK9 Inhibitor, Cyclospora Outbreak, Gut-Brain Synchronization, and the Banana Smoothie Mistake Explained
Artificial Sweeteners Linked To 62% Faster Cognitive Decline In Landmark Brazilian Study
A study tracking more than 12,700 adults (average age 52) over eight years found that people consuming the most artificial and low-calorie sweeteners, roughly 191 mg a day, about what's in a single can of diet soda, showed cognitive decline 62% faster than the lowest-intake group, equivalent to 1.6 extra years of brain aging, with memory hit hardest. Six of the seven sweeteners tested, including aspartame, saccharin, and acesulfame K, were linked to faster decline; tagatose was the lone exception. Researchers point to gut-microbiome disruption, altered glucose and insulin signaling, and possible direct neuronal effects as plausible mechanisms. Host Dave Asprey breaks down why a dose this small was enough to move the curve, why tagatose deserves more scrutiny before being called "safe," and where diet products' short-term weight-loss marketing conveniently ignores the long-term cost to your brain.
Source:
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AI Analysis Of 1,722 Heart Scans Finds Muscle Quality Predicts Heart Attacks Independent Of Calcium Score
Using data from the SCOT-HEART trial, a University of Edinburgh team ran an AI model against ten years of coronary CT angiogram scans, measuring skeletal muscle attenuation, a marker of myosteatosis, or fat infiltration into muscle tissue. Every 10-point increase in muscle density corresponded to a 31% lower heart attack risk and 39% lower all-cause mortality over the following decade, and critically, this held independent of coronary calcium score, the current gold-standard risk marker. The same low-density-muscle patients also showed higher lung attenuation, lower liver attenuation, and more torso fat volume, a pattern consistent with systemic insulin resistance rather than a muscle-specific issue. Host Dave Asprey unpacks why calcium score isn't capturing the full risk picture, why myosteatosis is really a readout of whole-body insulin sensitivity, and what he'd add to a routine workup on top of a calcium score.
Source:
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2026/jun/30/strong-chest-back-less-likely-heart-attack-analysis
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FDA Approves First Oral PCSK9 Inhibitor, Cutting LDL By Up To 60% Without Injections
Merck's enlicitide (brand name Lipfendra) is now FDA-approved as the first once-daily oral PCSK9 inhibitor, lowering LDL cholesterol by up to 60% in a phase 3 trial of 2,912 patients, routinely bringing levels down to 50-60 mg/dL. It works by blocking PCSK9, a liver protein that tags LDL receptors for destruction, the same target as injectable drugs like Repatha and Praluent, which have shown roughly 20% reductions in heart attacks and strokes in high-risk patients. Lipfendra is priced at $315 for a 30-day supply, with no excess side effects reported versus placebo over six months, though long-term outcome data is still pending. Host Dave Asprey explains why crushing total LDL without checking ApoB, LDL particle number, or oxidized LDL is optimizing the wrong variable, and what he'd want on his labs before considering a drug like this.
Sources:
https://www.cnbc.com/2026/07/16/mercks-cholesterol-pill-gets-us-fda-approval.html
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Cyclospora Outbreak Tied To Taylor Farms Lettuce Spreads To 34 States, Prompts Nationwide Recall
Federal investigators have linked a multistate cyclosporiasis outbreak to shredded iceberg lettuce from Taylor Farms de Mexico, with Michigan alone logging over 5,000 cases and 100+ hospitalizations, much of it traced to lettuce used at Taco Bell. Taylor Farms has recalled all iceberg lettuce sourced from central Mexico, and Walmart has pulled Marketside Iceberg Salad and Marketside Shredded Lettuce with specific date codes across 27 states. Cyclospora spreads through fecal contamination and causes weeks of watery, explosive diarrhea if untreated; washing doesn't reliably eliminate it, since the parasite requires heat above 158°F to inactivate. Host Dave Asprey explains why pre-washed, pre-cut bagged greens remain a recurring contamination risk no matter what the label claims, and connects the outbreak's gut damage to lingering gut-brain consequences long after symptoms resolve.
Sources:
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New Research Links Excessive Gut-Brain Synchronization To Anxiety And Depression
Emerging research on the enteric nervous system, which contains over 100 million neurons and sends more signals to the brain than it receives, finds that when the gut's electrical rhythm synchronizes too tightly with the brain's, that over-coupling correlates with higher rates of anxiety and depression. The gut communicates with the brain through the vagus nerve, hormones, and immune signaling, and dysbiosis or ENS dysfunction has separately been linked to mood disorders in both human and animal studies. Host Dave Asprey breaks down why the goal isn't maximum gut-brain connection but the right kind of connection, questions whether the coupling is driving the anxiety or the anxiety is driving the coupling, and makes the case for treating mood from the gut up instead of the brain down.
Source:
https://refractor.io/medical/enteric-nervous-system-brain-link-mental-health/
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Rhonda Patrick Explains Why She Never Adds Bananas To Her Berry Smoothies
Rhonda Patrick has been telling audiences she skips bananas in her berry smoothies because of polyphenol oxidase, an enzyme in bananas that degrades the polyphenols in blueberries linked to improved cognition and vascular health, based on in-vitro and food chemistry data. She now builds her smoothies on an avocado base instead, and notes that vitamin C from citrus can partially inhibit the enzyme for anyone unwilling to drop the banana. Host Dave Asprey weighs in on the gap between lab chemistry and clinical outcome data, why that gap doesn't make the mechanism any less real, and why this is a low-cost swap worth making even without a human trial behind it.
Sources:
https://www.reddit.com/r/Biohackers/comments/1v2jbib/dr_rhonda_patrick_i_dont_add_bananas_to_my/
https://www.foundmyfitness.com/episodes/polyphenol-oxidase-bananas-smoothies
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This episode is designed for biohackers, longevity enthusiasts, and high-performance listeners who want mechanism-level insight into a sweetener risk hiding in everyday diet products, a heart attack predictor buried inside routine CT scans, the tradeoffs of a new cholesterol drug, a produce recall worth paying attention to, the science behind gut-driven anxiety, and a smoothie mistake that's quietly undercutting your polyphenol intake. Host Dave Asprey connects clinical research, cohort data, and food chemistry into practical frameworks for protecting brain health, cardiovascular health, and gut-brain resilience.
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Keywords: artificial sweeteners cognitive decline, aspartame brain aging, tagatose safety, diet soda memory loss, myosteatosis coronary CT, skeletal muscle attenuation heart attack, SCOT-HEART trial, coronary calcium score insulin resistance, enlicitide Lipfendra FDA approval, oral PCSK9 inhibitor, LDL particle number ApoB, cyclospora outbreak 2026, Taylor Farms lettuce recall, cyclosporiasis symptoms treatment, enteric nervous system anxiety, gut brain synchronization, vagus nerve mental health, Rhonda Patrick polyphenol oxidase, banana blueberry smoothie mistake, biohacking news 2026, Dave Asprey, The Human Upgrade
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Timestamps:
00:00 – Intro
00:19 – Story 1: Artificial Sweeteners
02:05 – Story 2: Muscle Fat & Heart Risk
04:36 – Story 3: PCSK9 Cholesterol Pill
06:27 – Story 4: Cyclospora Lettuce Outbreak
07:56 – Story 5; Gut-Brain Axis & Anxiety
09:29 – Story 6: Banana vs. Blueberry
11:08 – Predictions for Next 5 Years
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