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The IGF-1 Trade-Off: Performance vs. Longevity

6 videos recommended on HN
YouTube
1 HN user recommended this explainer1 month2014–2022 score 1
Years with an HN recommendation, 2007–2026

Linked in discussions of diet, aging and cancer as a quick summary of how IGF-1 and mTOR growth signaling cut against longevity.

A short FoundMyFitness explainer on the trade-off between growth hormone/IGF-1 and longevity. Higher IGF-1 helps muscle and cognition, while lower levels are linked to longer lifespan and stress resistance.

“video is replete with examples of the effects of low IGF-1/GH or high IGF-1/GH both in animal models and humans.” (HN, 2014)

1 recommendations · 2 citations · Explainers · intro

3 Hacker News comments

From the HN archive; up to 20 kept per video, favoring different commenters. Recommendations first.

@dpatrick86 Oct 2014 Recommends
on HN thread What will it take to run a 2-hour marathon?
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Speaking to your question about "what the long term effects of these drugs are": My wife put together a together a pretty interesting video about the "faustian bargain" which is IGF-1 (used as a proxy measure for growth hormone)... video is replete with examples of the effects of low IGF-1/GH or high IGF-1/GH both in animal models and humans. One of the more interesting points in the video is the fact that people with polymorphisms that make their IGF-1 receptor experience some slight loss of function actually live longer (in general). [this video] The video also links to an article which has a bibliography if you're interested.
Effects of low versus high IGF-1 in animals and humans

Citations, criticism and jokes

@femiagbabiaka Apr 2021 Cites it
on HN thread For 2M years, humans ate meat and little else: study
1. Bigger groups === more and better data. I didn't know anyone growing up who was interested in ketogenic or carnivorous diets, now it's much more common. 2. Huge difference between the diet of a westerner following carnivore and traditional tribal carnivorous diets 3. The Inuits weren't particularly healthy, I'm not sure why their diet matters: [link] 4. And most importantly, there's a lot of research showing that high levels of IGF-1 associated with diets high in red meat are not good for longevity: [this video]
High IGF-1 from red meat diets associated with worse longevity

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