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Exercise and Caffeine May Activate Metabolic Genes
ananyo writes "A trip to the gym could mean not just losing pounds — but also chemical modifications from DNA in the form of methyl groups. The presence (or absence) of methyl groups at certain positions on DNA can affect gene expression. Researchers at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm looked at the methylation status of genes in small biopsies taken from the thigh muscles of healthy young adults before and after a stint on an exercise bike. They found that, for some genes involved in energy metabolism, the workout demethylated the promoter regions (stretches of DNA that facilitate the transcription of particular genes). Genes unrelated to metabolism remained methylated. Furthermore, similar demethylation could be seen when cultured muscle cells were given a massive (probably lethal) dose of caffeine."
From TFA: ...“one would need to consume a caffeine equivalent of about 50 cups per day, almost close to a lethal dose”, she says. “Exercising is far easier if you ask me.”
Clearly, she doesn't know about the secret Mountain Dew IV that hackers use whilst lurking in their parents' basements...
& your genes runnier?
FTFA:
Zierath cautions that this result does not imply that drinking coffee could be a replacement for exercise. Caffeine acts mainly through the central nervous system, and to see direct effects on muscle such as those in the rodent-cell experiments, “one would need to consume a caffeine equivalent of about 50 cups per day, almost close to a lethal dose”, she says. “Exercising is far easier if you ask me.”
It's hard to code while I exercise, and it's only almost close a lethal dose. If it doesn't kill me, will 50 cups of coffee make me stronger? ;)
Can we get an English translation of the summary?
What the heck does it mean? Even the linked Wikipedia article is a mass of technobabble understandable only to subject matter experts. How about something to tell us what these changes to gene expression (whatever that is) mean in human readable terms.
-- I ignore anonymous replies to my comments and postings.
So Lamark was right after all.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Baptiste_Lamarck
a pill form of exercise.
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
In the post title. Thanks for your attention.
We know where leadership by an anti-intellectual "strongman" who scapegoats minorities and likes boisterous rallies goes
We've known for decades that there are many mechanisms for regulating what cells produce. This regulation happens at all stages of protein synthesis, from unwinding the DNA from the chromatin to excreting it outside the cell. Methylation of the promoters is merely an example of this regulation. It is not changing your genetic code and making you a mutant. It is a simple "on/off" switch, no different from having a protein recognize a particular sequence on the promoter and sticking to it. And, of course, no one should be surprized at the blindingly obvious finding that exercise regulates expression of genes related to metabolism.
All this research is "exciting" only because it identifies the regulation pathway and thereby opens the possibility of direct intervention in it. Soon there might be drugs that let you sloth around on the couch watching TV all day long, while making the body think it has been working out eight hours a day. And maybe these (very expensive) drugs may even succeed at intervening in all the places regular exercise does, from growing your muscles, to reducing fat deposits, to increasing blood supply throughout the body. Then all those slobs that are dying in droves today would suddenly become healthy (and broke) hardbodies, who will delight in stuffing lockers with the laid off nerds who created those drugs (and were no longer needed thereafter). Yes, nerds like you, dear Slashdot reader. And oh, how you'll cry! And oh, how I'll say I told you so.
How can this be possible? Many of the kind folks on Slashdot have informed me that I am stupid for thinking that there are different metabolism. Even more so for thinking that what you ingest would have any effect on this mythical 'metabolism'. They kindly refer me to the laws of thermodynamics and how it states that weight is strictly a matter of the number of calories burned through exercise vs. the number of calories consumed.
There is no proof that exercise improves longevity. If it were the case, then I would expect to see body builders living the longest, which is not the case. Longevity appears to be about moderation and happiness.
...and then run a mile. You'll live forever.
Warning: this article may contain humor, sarcasm, parody, and perhaps even irony. Read at your own risk.
Filler
Sure, you'll have to consume enough caffeine that you'll be dead, but...
and I'd bet that someone's found a transcription factor somewhere that binds to methylated DNA and ...
I believe there are inhibitor regions which will, when not methylated, attract some special-purpose snotball (yeah, I'm gonna call that a technical term) which interferes with transcription. And then when methylated, these inhibitor regions fail to interfere.
My other car is a 1984 Nark Avenger.
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn21544-exercise-instantly-boosts-fatbusting-genes.html?DCMP=OTC-rss&nsref=health
Not exactly plain, nose-picker English, but I sorta get it: exercise is good for you.
I can't make heads or tails whether having my DNA promoter regions methylated or demethylated is good for me or not.
Exercise switches on expression of certain muscle-related genes in muscles. Film at eleven.
Surprise, surprise! What did they expect?
IMHO they're just discovering the details of some signaling pathways in muscles, probably related to rebuilding damage and strengthening muscles as a result of exercise.
Bantam Dominique roosters crow a four-note song. Once you've heard it as "Happy BIRTHday" you can't NOT hear it that way
I've always thought that taking a BC Powder about 30 minutes before a tennis match always helped me out. Seems I was right and didn't know it.
only to go get caffeine and ./
XDDD
http://tinyurl.com/ykoyz35
Have gnu, will travel.
Most of us would rather be well-toned than waif-like. Therefore it's not just about burning calories but building muscle. And unless you want to starve yourself, it's much easier to build muscle.
Pearson and Shaw claim that plummeting growth hormone levels is why people over 30 find exercise less beneficial in toning their bodies.
They also claim that supplements promoting growth hormone release increase/restore this ability.
This latter claim has been demonstrated in many animals including pigs:
http://www.springerlink.com/content/m7q0118602n8l37x/
Caffeine also seems to slow lipid (fat) formation:
http://www.ajcn.org/content/79/1/40.short
Both have strong effects for me. I take 200mg of niacin 1-2 hours before exercising and drink coffee with meals.
Hi - digging a bit deeper into this story -
1. Demethylation - removing methyl groups from DNA - generally activates genes.
2. In this case, the scientists are not 100% sure what demethylation of these genes means - it could mean they're being activated but they're not sure yet. More research required...
3. The observation that there are these sorts of epigenetic changes though in response to exercise is in itself really interesting. You do some exercise and within minutes you get changes to your DNA? That's pretty awesome.
4. The metabolic genes cited are not directly involved with metabolism - they're on various pathways involved in metabolism. So it's quite possible that what they're seeing is an uptick in genes linked to energy production.
As for the New Scientist article
"Now there is no excuse to avoid the gym: just one hour of exercise instantly changes your genes to boost the breakdown of fat."
There's no evidence of that at all. It may not have anything to do with 'fat' - they're genes involved in metabolism - I think that's all we know.
... that is the question. Why not both: exercise on the way to getting (yet) another cup :P ?
Weight is still determined by calories in and calories out.
Not true. Weight is determined by the insulin response triggered by an increase in blood sugar.
And all this time I thought that weight was determined mainly by mass and gravitational pull.
A comment receiving a Score:5 Informative depends on the OPINION of the cretin awarding the mod points. Operative word in that statement: OPINION.
Two comments stating the exact opposite points of view from each other on /. both receiving the hallowed "Score:5 Informative" only means that two people, one each being capable of being swayed in the direction of the opinions each of the posters of the two comments, respectively, had and spent their mod points on those comments respectively.
The practical upshot is that not only are opinions like assholes, inasmuch as everybody has one, and most of them stink, but some assholes also have mod points, and will assign them to stinky posts. The mod system, (I've tried surfing /. with a variety of mod / meta mod settings) is only marginally better/more useful than not having one, so the points assigned are almost useless. If you set your sliders all the way over to "display all" you'll see the full conversation, and the moderators won't have the ability to steer the conversation you see. The downside is you'll see a lot of ignorant shit too, like posts that have nothing to do with the conversation. I've had (and spent) mod points before... and know the basics of how they work. They give you the power, essentially, to enforce your opinions on others, and what they wrote. These points are given out to people like me, which is to say, to average people, without verifying qualifications, so...
Therefor, if you're relying on moderation to save you time reading /., you're not really READING /. You're reading a censored version of it.
Bottom line, mod points and scores DON'T MATTER if you want to know what's going on, instead of being spoon-fed pre-chewed information.
Enjoy.
I think this has got to be the first scientific support for someone unlocking the mythical super saiyan state!