Bats Challenge Telomere Aging Model

This week’s stories: 

Smartphone App Catches What Sleep Trackers Miss 

A 2026 trial found that suvorexant, a popular prescription sleep drug, improves sleep quality scores — but worsens morning alertness and cognitive function while improving afternoon and evening performance. The study used a smartphone app to pulse users throughout the day, revealing a split-time-of-day signal that traditional sleep scales miss entirely. Optimizing your sleep dashboard and optimizing your waking performance are not the same thing. 

Sources: 

• https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/suvorexant-ema-trial-2026 
• https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/suvorexant-daytime-performance 

 Bats Are Breaking the Telomere Model 

A 2026 bioRxiv preprint on the tropical bat species Molossus molossus found that these animals live unusually long lives with almost no telomere shortening — challenging the assumption that telomere erosion is a universal driver of mammalian aging. Instead, the bats maintain genome integrity through superior DNA repair and oxidative stress management driven by the metabolic demands of flight. Telomere length may be a symptom, not the cause — and the longevity industry has been measuring the wrong thing. 

Sources: 

• https://www.biorxiv.org/content/molossus-molossus-telomere-longevity-2026 
• https://www.nature.com/articles/telomere-bat-aging-2026 

The Fenugreek Hack That Cuts Glucose Spikes by Up to 20% 

Soaking fenugreek seeds overnight and consuming them before meals has been shown across multiple small human trials to reduce fasting glucose and post-meal glucose spikes by 5 to 20 percent. The mechanism is dual — soluble galactomannan fibers slow carbohydrate absorption while bioactive compounds improve insulin receptor sensitivity in muscle and liver. It's a cheap, food-grade, CGM-trackable lever that most people have never tried. 

Sources: 

• https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/fenugreek-glucose-clinical-review 
• https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/fenugreek-insulin-sensitivity-trial 

The First Longevity Supplement to Move Vascular Age Like Exercise 

A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial out of the University of Surrey found that a multi-ingredient longevity stack targeting NAD metabolism, glycation control, and mitochondrial function improved three independent vascular aging markers simultaneously in healthy adults over 40. Arterial stiffness improved by 1.18 meters per second — equivalent to reversing roughly a decade of age-related decline. Blood pressure dropped 6.1 millimeters of mercury, outperforming aerobic exercise, HIIT, the DASH diet, omega-3s, and magnesium in head-to-head comparisons. 

Sources: 

• https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=6241278 
• https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT06145087 
• https://novoslabs.com/blog/supplements/novos-core-clinical-trial-results-longevity-supplement 
• https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/longevity-supplement-improves-vascular-aging-markers-clinical-trial-novos-magnesium-gi 

Carbon Monoxide Exposure Is Up 50% in 2026 — And Most People Won't Know Until It's Too Late 

Maryland state data reported by CBS News shows emergency room and urgent care visits for carbon monoxide exposure jumped from 167 cases in 2025 to 251 so far in 2026 — a nearly 50 percent increase. CO binds to hemoglobin more tightly than oxygen, quietly starving your brain, heart, and muscles while producing symptoms that mimic fatigue, brain fog, and the flu. The CDC estimates more than 400 Americans die from unintentional CO poisoning every year — and most of them never saw it coming. 

Sources: 

• https://kffhealthnews.org/morning-briefing/friday-march-6-2026 
• https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/co/default.html 
• https://www.cbsnews.com/news/carbon-monoxide-exposure-maryland-spike-2026 

Fat Plus Carbs Around Training May Actually Be the Metabolic Move 

A 2026 study found that combining fat with a carbohydrate-rich period during or around exercise improves insulin sensitivity and fat oxidation in the recovery phase — directly challenging the long-held "never stack fat and carbs" rule. The mechanism appears to be a mixed-fuel training effect: the liver and muscle learn to manage glucose and fat concurrently when both are present during high metabolic demand. Context changes the calculus, and the workout itself may be the variable that flips the equation. 

Sources: 

• https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/fat-carb-exercise-metabolism-2026 
• https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/fat-carbohydrate-insulin-sensitivity-training 

All source links are provided for direct access to the original reporting and research. 

This episode is designed for biohackers, longevity seekers, and high-performance listeners who want mechanism-level clarity on circadian biology, neurodegeneration signals, cognitive training, caffeine strategy, and supplement regulation. Host Dave Asprey connects emerging science, behavioral data, and policy shifts into practical frameworks you can use to build a resilient, adaptable health stack. 

New episodes every Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, and Sunday. 

Keywords: sleep medication daytime performance, suvorexant alertness, sleep score vs performance, telomere aging myth, bat longevity telomeres, DNA repair aging, fenugreek blood glucose, fenugreek insulin sensitivity, CGM glucose hack, longevity supplement clinical trial, vascular aging markers, arterial stiffness reversal, pulse wave velocity supplement, carbon monoxide poisoning 2026, CO detector home safety, environmental toxin biohacking, fat and carbs exercise, macronutrient timing training, insulin sensitivity workout, metabolic flexibility training, biohacking news, longevity research 2026 

Thank you to our sponsors!  

- The One Device | Use code DAVE for $10 off at theonedevice.com/dave 

- Screenfit | Get your at-home eye training program for 40% off using code DAVE at https://www.screenfit.com/dave. 

Resources:   

• Get My 2026 Clean Nicotine Roadmap | Enroll for free at https://daveasprey.com/2026-clean-nicotine-roadmap/ 

• Get My 2026 Biohacking Trends Report: https://daveasprey.com/2026-biohacking-trends-report/ 

• Dave Asprey's Latest News | Go to https://daveasprey.com/ to join Inside Track today.  

• Danger Coffee: https://dangercoffee.com/discount/dave15   

• My Daily Supplements: SuppGrade Labs (15% Off)   

• Favorite Blue Light Blocking Glasses: TrueDark (15% Off)   

• Dave Asprey’s BEYOND Conference: https://beyondconference.com   

• Dave Asprey’s New Book – Heavily Meditated: https://daveasprey.com/heavily-meditated  

• Join My Substack (Live Access To Podcast Recordings): https://substack.daveasprey.com/ 

• Upgrade Labs: https://upgradelabs.com   

Timestamps: 

00:00 – Intro 

00:20 – Trailer 

00:57 - Story #1: Sleep Meds & Morning Performance 

02:42 - Story #2: Bats & the Telomere Model 

04:33 - Story #3: Fenugreek & Glucose Spikes 

06:00 - Story #4: Multi-Ingredient Longevity Stack Trial 

07:51 - Story #5: Carbon Monoxide: The Silent Threat 

09:45 - Story #6: Fat + Carbs Around Exercise 

11:25 - Weekly Roundup 

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.