Engy › Who's who in longevity › Patrick Schrauwen
At a glance
- Patrick Schrauwen is a Dutch metabolism researcher, long a professor at Maastricht University and now also affiliated with the German Diabetes Center in Düsseldorf.
- He studies how mitochondria, the power plants in muscle cells, relate to insulin sensitivity and type 2 diabetes.
- In 2011 his group tested resveratrol in people with obesity: in a short study the compound produced some metabolic changes reminiscent of calorie restriction.
- With Wouter van Marken Lichtenbelt he showed that ten days of mild cold strongly improved insulin sensitivity in people with type 2 diabetes (Nature Medicine, 2015).
- He also studies the body clock: how the timing of eating, sleeping and exercise affects metabolism, including through time-restricted eating studies.
- For longevity, his work matters because the metabolic health of muscle is a key to healthy ageing.
- Takeaway: avoid eating late in the evening, move every day and let your body experience some cold now and then.
Recent
- Study The impact of physical activity and exercise timing on metabolic health among individuals at high risk of type 2 diabetes
- Study Insulin resistance, not hepatic histological features, is the dominant correlate of insulin clearance in class 3 obesity
- Study Nocturnal fat oxidation is lower in older individuals with overweight/obesity, including those with type 2 diabetes, and is associated with fasting triglyceride levels