Resting Heart Rate and Longevity

[Skip]

Dr. Greger had an interesting video today talking about the relationship between resting heart rate and longevity. I'm curious to see what our resting heart rates are? Lowest values are usually taken when waking up in the morning before getting out of bed (and moving around).

http://nutritionfacts.org/video/finger- ... b-23264797

[kirkj]

I don't check it very often, but mine is usually around 60.

[geo]

I saw that vid earlier today and was fascinated by the studies he refered too. And more surprised to learn that it didn't matter whether your RHR was naturally (genetically) low or because you were an athelete.

In my case, my RHR floats around 40-44 these days and thats when I measure it during the day not when I first wake. Before coming to this lifestyle my RHR was in the high 80's (Its in my testamonial). The last doctor I saw was actually worried about my low RHR saying it wasn't normal, despite being in fantastic health and dropping my RHR by about 50% by switching to this program (he also didnt believe my RHR could drop so much just by diet). Now I'm exercising more and wonder if it might drop even more...can't wait for the rest of this series.

[Spiral]

I don't wear a heart rate monitor anymore, now that I have given up racing. I think my resting heart rate has gone up a little bit since my training volume and training intensity has decreased.

[Dalton]

I'm concerned about my pulse. It's consistently 61 average while resting. I'm not in marathon condition in any way whatsoever. My doc is having me do a bunch of blood work and then will refer me to a cardiologist. It really has me anxious. Hopefully my worrying is all for naught. Maybe I eat too much curry??????

[vgpedlr]

I've never seen my RHR below 50 despite years of endurance exercise. It sometimes is higher, like after really hard training or a race. Or getting sick.

[EmmetFitzhume]

Interesting this should come up. I had previous McDougall success but fell back into bad eating patterns due to some family tragedies and stress. Subsequently blood pressure went up, pulse went up, blood sugar went up...

So about 3 weeks ago I decided to get serious about my health again. One of the things I noticed was that my resting pulse rate was about 80 all the time. After being back on the McDougall bandwagon it's dropped to 60-64 when I'm sitting at my desk at work and somewhere around 55-58 after waking up from sleeping.

I can only attribute this to improved endothelial function. My blood pressure hasn't normalized yet. I'm still many pounds overweight. And I haven't even done any exercise yet. The drop in pulse rate was very obvious and impressive.

[viv]

I've been a couch potato for the last couple of hours and just took my pulse and I was surprised it was so low at 45. I do have Hashimoto's (low thyroid) but that's well controlled with a daily levothyroxine pill. But maybe 45 is normal for me now as I've been McDougalling for over three years. Anyway, I feel good and that's the main thing.

Viv

[mountain]

I watched Dr. Greger's video clip yesterday and he clearly said that longevity only hits you if your RHR is low without exercising.
Lowering your RHR with exercises or medication doesn't lengthen your life .

[dailycarbs]

I watched Dr. Greger's video clip yesterday and he clearly said that longevity only hits you if your RHR is low without exercising.
Lowering your RHR with exercises or medication doesn't lengthen your life .

I thought he said exactly the opposite.

[JeffN]

Caloric restriction may reverse age-related autonomic decline in humans
Aging Cell. Volume 11, Issue 4, pages 644–650, August 2012

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1 ... 825.x/full

Summary
Caloric restriction (CR) retards aging in laboratory rodents. No information is available on the effects of long-term CR on physiologic markers of aging and longevity in humans. Heart rate variability (HRV) is a marker for cardiac autonomic functioning. The progressive decline in HRV with aging and the association of higher HRV with better health outcomes are well established. Heart rate variability assessment is a reliable tool by which the effects of CR on autonomic function can be assessed. Time- and frequency-domain analyses compared 24-h HRV in 22 CR individuals aged 35–82 years and 20 age-matched controls eating Western diets (WD). The CR group was significantly leaner than the WD group. Heart rate was significantly lower, and virtually, all HRV values were significantly higher in the CR group than in the WD group (P < 0.002). Heart rate variability in the CR individuals was comparable with published norms for healthy individuals 20 years younger. In addition, when differences in heart rate (HR) and HRV between CR and WD were compared with previously published changes in HRV induced in healthy adults given atenolol, percent differences in each measure were generally similar in direction and magnitude and suggested declines in sympathetic and increases in parasympathetic modulation of HR and increased circadian variability associated with CR. These findings provide evidence that CR has direct systemic effects that counter the expected age-associated changes in autonomic function so that HRV indexes in CR individuals are similar to those of individuals 20 years younger eating WDs.

In Health
Jeff

[geo]

Thanks Jeff! So MWL may help explain my low RHR

[Skip]

This study (mentioned by Jeff above) makes a good argument that calorie restriction (without malnutrition) is associated with longer life in animals and humans. One of the indictors is a lower resting heart rate when compared to the western diet group (as well as BMI and other indicators).

The calorie restricted group was eating animal products. Perhaps their results would even be better if they avoided animal products...

[graciezoe]

My fitbit reads that my average is 42 with some weeks 43.

[jay kaye]

Jeff N and study about calorie restriction? I thought that the newer consensus was that the result were more form restricting protein consumption than overall calorie reduction.

December 23, 2014

Boston, MA — A new study led by Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) researchers identifies a key molecular mechanism behind the health benefits of dietary restriction, or reduced food intake without malnutrition. Also known as calorie restriction, dietary restriction is best known for its ability to slow aging in laboratory animals. The findings here show that restricting two amino acids, methionine and cysteine, results in increased hydrogen sulfide (H2S) production and protection against ischemia reperfusion injury, damage to tissue that occurs following the interruption of blood flow as during organ transplantation and stroke......“This finding suggests that H2S is one of the key molecules responsible for the benefits of dietary restriction in mammals and lower organisms as well,” said senior author James Mitchell, associate professor of genetics and complex diseases. “While more experiments are required to understand how H2S exerts its beneficial effects, it does give us a new perspective on which molecular players to target therapeutically in our efforts to combat human disease and aging.”

https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/press ... dentified/

and

March 2016 The mechanisms underlying methionine-restriction effects on life-span extension, however, remain unknown, as do their potential connections with caloric restriction, another well-established intervention for prolonging life span. Paradoxically, methionine is enriched in proteins expressed in mitochondria and may itself serve an important role in the detoxification of reactive oxygen species and may thereby contribute to delayed aging. Collectively, we highlight the evidence that modulation of the methionine metabolic network can extend life span—from yeast to humans

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1 ... edMessage=

Your thoughts?

j