🧬 The Distilled Download – "Regrowing Teeth, Fish Oil Controversy, Hilarious Bee Story, and the Secret to Amazing Brownies"

Greetings, fellow science nerds! 🤓 Here’s your latest installment of The Distilled Download.

I’ve been thinking a lot recently about ways to organize my content and make it more useful to you guys. This will likely mean a shift away from debunking things that don’t work and towards sharing cool science that can be applied to improve your life. Each deep-dive takes me a long time, so get ready for more long-form content and multi-part series on various topics. Stay tuned!

If you have any particular topic requests, let me know!

And now.

The Download

🦷 An End to Painful Dentistry?
Back in 2021, researchers in Japan were able to successfully cause both mice and ferrets to grow new teeth by giving them IV antibodies that suppress a gene called USAG-1. This September, they’ll be launching a trial at Kyoto University Hospital to treat 30 males aged 30-64 who are missing at least one molar, and they’re already recruiting for other trials. If all goes well (a big if, but we can hope!), this treatment could hit the market by 2030! I

I recently discovered that I have a tooth with a fracture in it where the recommended treatment was “let’s just leave it alone as long as it only sometimes causes excruciating pain." So I’m pretty excited for this, along with all the millions of others who this might help 🙂.

🐟️ Fish Oil: Helps the Heart, Hurts the Heart, and Lowers Aggression?
For years, the research on fish oil and omega-3 supplements has produced frustratingly conflicting results–and it just keeps going. I recently came across this study, linking fish oil supplementation to a 13% increased risk of having atrial fibrillation as a first-time heart problem and also linked to a 5% higher risk of a stroke as a first-time heart problem. But the SAME STUDY showed that, in those who already had heart disease, fish oil was linked to a 15% reduced risk of progressing from atrial fibrillation to having a heart attack and a 9% reduced risk of death after heart failure.

Meanwhile, a new meta-analysis of 28 Randomized Controlled Trials linked omega-3 supplements to a 20-30% reduction in aggressive behavior in both children and adults.

One explanation I’ve heard is that fish oil can rapidly go rancid, possibly leading to some of the negative effects. It’s important to get it fresh and with third-party testing for purity. So far, I’ve been leaning towards this providing a net positive effect (I take this one), but on my to-do list is doing a super deep dive into all the research to make a final determination.

🐝  Hilarious Story From an Amazing Podcast
On this recent episode of The Tim Ferriss Show with Dr. Martha Beck, “the best-known life coach in America,” Tim and Martha kept talking about a mutual friend named Boyd Varty, a South African Lion Tracker. At one point, they had this exchange:

I immediately stopped listening to that episode and started searching for Tim’s interview with Boyd from 2 years prior. It did NOT disappoint.

If you don’t have the patience for a 2.5-hour long interview, I’d highly recommend just skipping ahead and listening to at least this story.

🟫 The Secret to My Amazing Brownies
Have you ever had someone’s homemade brownies and had to smile and compliment them, all the while thinking: “…how do they not realize this is worse than Duncan Hines?”

I discovered several years ago that choosing the right cocoa powder is one of the most overlooked factors in homemade brownie baking. Hershey’s is NOT it. After a few months of researching and testing, I found this guy. Rich but not too bitter, I use it in my baked goods, smoothies, whipped cream, cocktails, you name it.

If you try it, be sure to send/tag me with your report back!

Recent Video Highlight

The Stellate Ganglion Block (IG, TT) – Four months ago, my partner Shira got a 5-minute procedure done that was like lowering the volume knob on her painfully overactive nervous system. It’s a procedure that’s been around for a hundred years, but very few know about it–I’m hoping this helps spread the word to those it can help!

Thanks for reading! I love to hear feedback, so feel free to respond to this email or tag me on Twitter or Threads (which I’ll start using seriously one of these days 🙊).