Update: Broadening the Supplement Stack
I wonder if biohacking is like getting tattoos? The startup resistance is high, but it gets easier and easier, and you want more and more…
The National Institute of Health’s “National Institute on Aging” has been conducting an ITP study (Interventions Testing Program) to identify molecules with high age-extending effects in wild mice. So far, their two best molecules have been Rapamycin (best) and Acarbose (second best).
I decided I would check out Acarbose to see what effect it might have on me.
Acarbose
My India contact offered me 400 x 50mg Acarbose pills at $77, or let’s say 20 cents per 50mg pill after shipping.
As regards dosing, it appears people take 50mg or 100mg of Acarbose with the first bite of a meal. Some use less if the meal has fewer complex carbs (steak dinner with asparagus) or take more if it has more (pizza dinner with more pizza). From what I gather, you’re not supposed to take more than 300mg a day. Some appear to take 25mg (half pill) with snacks or to work their body up to the higher dose.
What does Acarbose do? It blocks your body’s absorption of complex carbohydrates (or perhaps blocks the conversion of complex carbs into sugars that your body can absorb). I’ve learned that it does nothing to sugar itself, which is a simple carb. But virtually anything else that’s a carb is a complex carb, including grains, legumes, potatoes, veggies, etc.
This drug is generally recommended for people with blood sugar issues. Its effect on your body includes lowering your post-meal blood glucose level and blood insulin level verses what it would have been if you had not taken Acarbose. This has the ultimate effect of causing greater insulin sensitivity (which is good, and is the opposite of insulin resistance which is bad). This can make some people’s blood sugar too low, leading to dizziness or worse so you need to be careful. It can also lead to losing weight.
A key side effect of Acarbose is gas, like flatulence, which can be shockingly bad and continue for the better part of a day. This is because excess carbs make it further down your digestive system than usual. When it travels far down the system the carbs fuel gut bacteria, which generate the gas.
I hope folks will comment below if some of the above needs to be clarified or put into a better context. This is my understanding anyhow.
Some say the gas subsides after a while. There is also some conversation about whether your gut bacteria get accustomed to Acarbose over time causing a diminished effect. I don’t fully understand that conversation so I’ll just mention it as something to consider.
I have been using Acarbose for all of three days.
In that time, I’ve had meals where it had no effect. Then there was the time I ate a meal of ramen noodles, broccoli slaw, and tofu and nearly cleared out my house for the rest of the day. It’s been a long time since since I had gas that serious. It was just one package of Ramen and a 50mg Acarbose!
This made me wonder if people lose weight on Acarbose because it creates a strong anti-incentive to consume more carbs. It certainly did that for me.
I feel like I notice an effect of Acarbose.
Once or twice I’ve gotten the slightest dizziness, like a split second that makes me do a double-take. Today I took Acarbose with my normal carb-heavy breakfast before going to the gym, and I swear I felt like I had less energy at first. After about 20 minutes I was fine and as energetic as ever.
I did find a study suggesting that some people experience a loss of muscle mass while on Acarbose. The study sent on to recommend that people exercise while on Acarbose, which I am doing anyhow.
I’ll monitor the system, but today’s workout ended up being awesome, so I’m not complaining about the effect so far. Except for the gas, and the carb anti-inclination, and the initial lack of pep at the gym. We’ll see how it goes.
(This site has several helpful threads on Acarbose that I recommend.)
Beta-Alanine & Creatine
Two supplements that lots of athletes appear to take are beta-alanine and creatine. The latter has been discussed quite a lot on these pages.
Creatine helps your body to build muscle. You’re supposed to take 3-5 grams a day, maybe more in the first month, since it takes 2-4 weeks to build up in your system. Creatine is a fine white powder that is pretty cheap and virtually tasteless. I mix it in my morning oatmeal.
I’ve been using Creatine for 6-8 weeks and have noticed muscle gains. It doesn’t work if you don’t exercise. I work out at a high intensity for 4-6 sets of 6-15 reps per muscle group, increasing the weight on every subsequent set. For the latter 3 sets I go close to muscle failure.
Beta-alanine is new to my stack. Like Creatine, it’s also inexpensive. It looks like sugar, dissolves quickly, and is entirely tasteless. From what I’ve gathered, beta-alanine is an amino acid that, long story short, helps to block the production of lactic acid. Remember sprinting and feeling your muscles start to burn? Remember literally any time you’ve been sore? That’s lactic acid.
By reducing lactic acid production (or maybe it neutralizes it I’m not sure) beta-alanine allows you to do more reps at a higher intensity. You don’t stop because it burns (leg day is notorious for this), you stop when your muscles are genuinely exhausted.
I noticed this effect immediately upon starting beta-alanine. It was shocking to me how strong the effect was. Another effect you’ll notice very quickly is that beta-alanine makes you itch for about 20-90 minutes. For me it’s not very strong, but it’s definitely there. Some people notice this itching when they’re working out anyhow – that’s their natural beta-alanine at work. But when you take it as a supplement you (I) definitely feel the itch.
There’s a tiny scoop in the container. You’re supposed to take about 3 grams of the stuff a day. Like creatine it supposedly builds up in your system over several weeks, and the makers recommend that you use it every day. I’ll do so until this package is gone and then evaluate whether I want to continue.
Melatonin
I’m conflicted on melatonin, although that didn’t stop me from ordering a bottle of 60mg capsules and trying them for the past three days.
On the one hand it’s a hormone which seems like an iffy thing to mess with. On the other hand, there are literally tons of studies (apparently – I’m not a doc) that attribute all sorts of marvelous effects to high dose melatonin.
Here’s the skinny as I understand it:
Melatonin is produced in two places in your body. First, it is produced by your pineal gland in response to darkness. For many people this melatonin production peaks around midnight. It is suppressed (some say) by too much blue light, but red light, such as firelight, doesn’t affect melatonin production. Thus, this melatonin signals to your body that it’s time to sleep. As I understand it, this melatonin doesn’t go into your blood stream; rather, it… does something in your brain. That sounds really basic and probably wrong, but that’s my sense. Melatonin can cross the blood-brain-barrier, so when you take a supplement it can be registered by your brain and help reset or strengthen your circadian rhythm.
Second, melatonin is produced in nearly every cell of your entire body. It’s source is serotonin, I believe. But in any case, it supports mitochondrial health because melatonin is a powerful anti-oxidant.
Apparently people’s melatonin production peaks around Age 6, settles to an adult level in the early teen years, and then begins to diminish more and more as one ages past 40, 50, 60, etc.
Some of the research I’ve heard suggests that the healthiest people of “old age” make more melatonin. The idea is that melatonin, being an anti-oxidant and being excellent for mitochondria (the powerhouse of the cell), contributes to overall health.
Some have even suggested a theory of aging that ties to diminishing mitochondrial health. According to such a theory, melatonin supplementation could help mitigate some effects of aging.
It’s all very speculative by my accounting, but tantalizing. I’m encouraged by the several doctors I’ve read and watched who say they have been taking 50mg-180mg of melatonin daily for decades with no ill effects, good sleep, and perhaps strong positive effects.
Again, I invite anyone to comment with additions, clarifications, or corrections!
With these things in mind, I began taking one 60mg capsule of melatonin at 10:30pm or so over the past three days. I have noticed a few things that have been consistent over this time:
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I slept hard until 4:30-5:00am all three days – that is, without any wake ups earlier. It may have been because I had to use the bathroom. In any case, for Day 1 & 2 it was difficult to fall back to sleep at that hour. On Day 3 I used the bathroom and quickly fell back asleep for one hour to 6am, and again to 7am.
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Melatonin makes my dreams far more vivid. It’s like how I dreamed back in my 20’s. I think that contributes to the hard sleep and the way I went right back to sleep today on Day 3. The vivid visions convert directly to dreams and sweep me away. The thing is, I believe this vivid visioning carries over for me into the morning at least. That is, I have found my mind wandering more often in these days, and really getting wrapped up in my thoughts. It’s certainly possible to focus, and not with too much effort, I should say. But if my mind is wandering… well here’s an example. I listen to a book-on-tape while I run. On melatonin my mind was scooting down so many rabbit holes that I had a hard time concentrating on the book unless I really focused. So there’s that.
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Also I’ve been a bit of a yawner in the morning on these past three days. The thing is, I didn’t sleep so great on days 1 & 2, so of course I was yawning. Still, I’ll be paying attention to see if that continues.
Overall I’m pretty happy with 60mg melatonin so far. I’m not too worried about absolutely scrambling my system, but yeah it’s definitely on my mind.
FWW (for what it’s worth), my partner is not using Creatine (she doesn’t want muscles), not using Beta-alanine (she might, but she’s not sold on the itching), and did try 60mg of melatonin two nights ago and absolutely hated it. She said she’s never slept worse in her entire life and will definitely never ever try it again. I suggested that since it was a grapefruit rapa day for her, it might be worth trying at least once more at a more generic time. She said probably not but maybe.
That reminds me, Acarbose has a few drug interactions, so please do some research. They say don’t drink while on it and I think it is contra-indicated for nicotine. In any case, please don’t take any of this as Gospel or as a recommendation, and read up and talk to a doc before starting such a serious drug.
TL;DR: I don’t have any tattoos but I’m taking more molecules for health than I would have imagined 6 months ago. I plan to be careful and selective about what I continue with. Rapa for sure; creatine for sure; beta-alanine and melatonin maybe, we’ll see.