James Lee > Quotes

“exercise triggers a whole host of beneficial processes for your brain.  One of the most important is the release of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), which acts as a kind of “fertiliser” for the brain, triggering repair and neuronal growth.”
― James Lee, Better Living Through Neurochemistry - A guide to the optimization of serotonin, dopamine and the neurotransmitters that color your world

“Also, isolation leads to chronically lowered levels of the feel-good neurotransmitter serotonin.  It is one of the bizarre ironies of major depression that being depressed causes people to withdraw from the most powerful antidepressant known - rich and varied social contact.  However therein lies a rich lesson also - in some cases one of the quickest and most effective ways to reverse depression is to socialize.”
― James Lee, The Methuselah Project - How the science of anti-aging can help you live happier, longer and stronger: Harness the latest advances in bioscience to create your own anti-aging blueprint

“Magnesium is believed to reduce the brain damage sustained during a stroke by reducing the massive amount of excitatotoxicity that is associated with this event.  Not only does magnesium help in this context, high magnesium consumption is believed to confer a degree of protection against stroke”
― James Lee, Just Keep Calm & Take Some Magnesium - Why a “boring” mineral is suddenly hot property for soothing bodies and calming minds

“However, I should also point out, that for mild to moderate cases of depression, drugs don’t perform any better than placebo.  Interestingly, the most effective treatment for mild to moderate depression is also one of the potent anti-agers mentioned earlier - cardiovascular exercise.  In Jump Start - An introduction to the science of exercise therapy for anxiety & depression, Benjamin Kramer says “Study after study has clearly shown that cardiovascular exercise and/or weight training works just as well as antidepressant medication, but with one key advantage - Those subjects who treat their anxiety and depression with exercise tend to stay well, whereas those who treat their depression with medication have a significantly higher relapse rate”.”
― James Lee, The Methuselah Project - How the science of anti-aging can help you live happier, longer and stronger: Harness the latest advances in bioscience to create your own anti-aging blueprint

“There is one activity which reigns supreme in terms of normalising and optimising neurochemistry – cardiovascular exercise. ”
― James Lee, Better Living Through Neurochemistry - A guide to the optimization of serotonin, dopamine and the neurotransmitters that color your world

“The best sources of astaxanthin are krill oil supplements and wild-caught salmon. ”
― James Lee, The Methuselah Project - How the science of anti-aging can help you live happier, longer and stronger: Harness the latest advances in bioscience to create your own anti-aging blueprint

“the fact that magnesium deficiency increases the production of free radicals and decreases”
― James Lee, Just Keep Calm & Take Some Magnesium - Why a “boring” mineral is suddenly hot property for soothing bodies and calming minds

“Magnesium is a little more complicated than most other supplements due to the fact that it not only comes in a range of forms, but also can be either administered orally (with a tablet or capsule) or transdermally (absorbed through the skin). ”
― James Lee, Just Keep Calm & Take Some Magnesium - Why a “boring” mineral is suddenly hot property for soothing bodies and calming minds

“fantastic little handphone”
― James Lee, My Handphone Is Haunted! / School Camp Terrors

“C-reactive protein is your main biomarker for inflammation and is therefore commonly tested where there is an elevated risk for heart disease. ”
― James Lee, Just Keep Calm & Take Some Magnesium - Why a “boring” mineral is suddenly hot property for soothing bodies and calming minds

“The human brain loves exercise.”
― James Lee, Better Living Through Neurochemistry - A guide to the optimization of serotonin, dopamine and the neurotransmitters that color your world

“what we know about magnesium and your bones, however I should also point out that maintaining appropriate levels of magnesium is one of the most important factors (alongside vitamin D and vitamin K levels) for preventing osteoporosis and osteoarthritis.”
― James Lee, Just Keep Calm & Take Some Magnesium - Why a “boring” mineral is suddenly hot property for soothing bodies and calming minds

“chariots”
― James Lee, My Friend's Now a Mummy! / May All Your Dreams Come True

“glutamate and calcium are not inherently toxic, only becoming so when there is excessive activation leading to excitatotoxicity.   This ability of magnesium to prevent excitatotoxicity is not just limited to gradual long term problems either.  Magnesium is believed to reduce the brain damage sustained during a stroke by reducing the massive amount of excitatotoxicity”
― James Lee, Just Keep Calm & Take Some Magnesium - Why a “boring” mineral is suddenly hot property for soothing bodies and calming minds

“Krill oil contains a super-potent carotenoid antioxidant called astaxanthin, which appears to have significantly greater free radical scavenging activity than vitamin C and vitamin E. ”
― James Lee, The Methuselah Project - How the science of anti-aging can help you live happier, longer and stronger: Harness the latest advances in bioscience to create your own anti-aging blueprint

“prepare capsules, extracts, powders, and tinctures. ”
― James Lee, Milk Thistle - The liver-healing power of silymarin

“the topic of cholesterol, magnesium appears to play a potentially beneficial role here as well, by functioning as a kind of natural statin.  The synthesis of cholesterol in your body requires an enzyme known as HMG-CoA reductase.  Statins, which are also known as HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors, work by inhibiting this process.  So in cases where there is heightened risk of heart disease or medically-diagnosed hypercholesterolemia (pathologically high levels of LDL cholesterol), magnesium may provide similar protection as statins”
― James Lee, Just Keep Calm & Take Some Magnesium - Why a “boring” mineral is suddenly hot property for soothing bodies and calming minds

“dropped through the hole, but had managed to break her fall. She was clutching a broken beam with her hands, and her legs dangled in space above the deadly water. “Quick!” I shouted. “Pull her out!” Kieffer threw himself onto the floor by the edge of the hole. He stretched out his hand to Farliyana while I held onto his feet. Kieffer wriggled further forward until his fingers closed around Farliyana’s wrists. “I’ve got her hands, but only just!” he yelled back over his shoulder. “Now you’ve got to pull both of us out!”
― James Lee, My Class Vampire / The Mad, Mad School Music

“The padlock popped open and I almost FAINTED.
11”
― James Lee, Don't Go Near the Neighbors / Somebody's Stealing My Life

“Magnesium plays a central role in allowing your body to properly absorb calcium.  But magnesium doesn’t work alone, and that’s where vitamin D and vitamin K come in.  There is a growing body of evidence that suggests that if you want to correct a vitamin D deficiency by taking large doses of vitamin D, you also need to take vitamin K supplements.  The reason for this is that vitamin D (along with magnesium) is needed for the proper absorption of calcium.  However, it is vitamin K that is needed to then allow your bones to absorb the calcium.  In the absence of vitamin K or magnesium, that calcium can turn up in the worst possible place – your arteries. ”
― James Lee, Just Keep Calm & Take Some Magnesium - Why a “boring” mineral is suddenly hot property for soothing bodies and calming minds

“With whole foods you often find that magnesium is bound with a range of synergistic vitamins and minerals such as vitamin K.  However, while magnesium consumption in whole foods will help prevent a diagnosable deficiency, it may not be enough to actually treat or prevent a specific illness.”
― James Lee, Just Keep Calm & Take Some Magnesium - Why a “boring” mineral is suddenly hot property for soothing bodies and calming minds

“calcium drives the contraction (tensing) of muscles and magnesium plays the equal and opposite role.  The problem is not, however, too much calcium per se, but too much calcium in proportion to magnesium.  This leads to tense muscles, twitches and spasms.”
― James Lee, Just Keep Calm & Take Some Magnesium - Why a “boring” mineral is suddenly hot property for soothing bodies and calming minds

“persistence is likely linked to high dopamine, so the higher the dopamine levels, the more you are likely to soldier on through adversity to achieve a particular goal.”
― James Lee, Better Living Through Neurochemistry - A guide to the optimization of serotonin, dopamine and the neurotransmitters that color your world

“Magnesium not only reduces the secretion of stress hormones such as ACTH (the hormone that drives cortisol release), but also reduces the extent to which these stress hormones can create downstream effects in the brain. ”
― James Lee, Just Keep Calm & Take Some Magnesium - Why a “boring” mineral is suddenly hot property for soothing bodies and calming minds

“Up until a few years ago, I had always thought that magnesium helped treat anxiety for one reason - muscles need magnesium to relax. They use calcium to contract and magnesium to relax, which is why magnesium deficiency is associated with muscle tightness and cramping.”
― James Lee, Just Keep Calm & Take Some Magnesium - Why a “boring” mineral is suddenly hot property for soothing bodies and calming minds

“high magnesium consumption is believed to confer a degree of protection against stroke in those people with hypertension.”
― James Lee, Just Keep Calm & Take Some Magnesium - Why a “boring” mineral is suddenly hot property for soothing bodies and calming minds

“As an aside, the other powerful glutathione boosters apart from NAC are – alpha lipoic acid, milk thistle, curcumin and rhodiola rosea.”
― James Lee, N-acetylcysteine - Boost glutathione, heal your liver and soothe your brain with the power of NAC

“Inflammation damages cells, and each time your body needs to repair damage there is a minute chance of a mutation that could lead to cancer.  Inflammation is one of the factors I can say conclusively is involved in accelerated biological aging. A”
― James Lee, The Methuselah Project - How the science of anti-aging can help you live happier, longer and stronger: Harness the latest advances in bioscience to create your own anti-aging blueprint

“People can sometimes become too fundamental and dogmatic regarding pharmaceuticals.  Yes, pharmaceuticals are largely developed by “Big Pharma” with profit in mind, but the end result is that they often reduce suffering in the world.”
― James Lee, The Biohacking Manifesto - The scientific blueprint for a long, healthy and happy life using cutting edge anti-aging and neuroscience based hacks