The Art of Hormesis

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I've on occasion been asked, how do you remain fit? Now, I'm going to reveal my secret- Hormesis.

What doesn't kill you makes you stronger. This is the basic layman concept of hormesis.  Our body responds to transient, acute physiologic stress or discomfort by triggering the adaptive stress response pathways. This reaction makes  our cells - especially the mitochondria, (the powerhouse of the cell) work better, making our body more efficient machines. The stress should be acute; chronic stress leads to debility and disease.

One of the most common hormetic activity is exercise.  We stress our heart and muscle  to a certain degree and our body responds by making our muscles stronger, bigger and more adaptive to stamina. As in life and hormesis, too much of anything, including exercise is bad. I ran too much in my 40's and I injured myself then. So now in my 50's, running has become an occasional activity.

Fasting is another hormetic activity. I have always skipped breakfast since high school.  I preferred extra time to sleep over eating breakfast.  I didn't  know what hormesis was at that time but I was unknowingly practicing it already.  We were always scolded by Mom for not eating or eating too little.  Now, almost all my siblings practice it. 

All the major religions practice fasting, so fasting must be one of God's "favorite recommendation" for health. When we lack food, the body senses it is going to die eventually if the condition is persistent, so it hunkers down and triggers the longevity pathways in an attempt to delay perceived death. 

Spiritually, fasting is a way of disconnecting from the flesh and coupled with prayer- a way of deeply connecting to God. Without prayer, fasting is just a diet. With prayer, it becomes a conduit to God's mind. We pray not to connect to God, because true believers are already in dwelt by the Holy Spirit. We pray to maintain our connection with God. Lack of fasting and prayer makes us vulnerable to the Evil One.

Fasting weakens the flesh but strengthens the spirit. The spirit is further strengthened by studying and meditating on the Word of God. While doing breathing meditation on an empty gut, using a variety of techniques - pranayama, Wim hof, etc, I put on or difffuse oils, usually (myrrh, cedarwood, peppermint combination ) and utter the Holy Trinity or bible verses especially during breatholding. This invariably lifts the spirit and makes you feel better. If the sun it out I also like to do the salute to the sun (Surya Namaskar yoga) while fasted. I also love doing the tree pose (Vrksasana); it strengthens the core, improves balance and stretches the ligaments and tendons of the feet. For extra challenge, try doing it for longer than 5 minutes or with eyes closed. What a de-stressor!

Other stressors or insults that trigger hormesis in humans include- lack of food (fasting), lack or too much of oxygen (hypoxia, hyperoxia), cold, heat, low dose radiation, and low dose toxins (phytoalexins). That is why we should not be bothered or get easily irritated by life's acute stressors - they technically make us live longer. 

Phytoalexins are chemicals that plants make in response to stress like in times of scarcity or pestilence.  That is why it is best to eat organic. The  pampered  and pesticide laden non-organic plants lack the phytoalexins because they didn't undergo the "hard" plant life, depriving them of the opportunity to produce the phytoalexins. 

In GMO- or genetically modified plants, (refashioning God's original intent for plants) genes are altered so insects don't attack them anymore or they resist some plant diseases. When we eat stressed plants, the phytochemicals  are supposed to tell our body that times are going to be hard and so our body prepares by triggering the longevity pathways. But in altered plants, this mechanism is lost. 

We always had a symbiotic relationship with plants. In the prehistoric age, we can only eat animals after we hunt. We could not store slain animals since there was no refrigeration then. Sometimes no animals can be found but plants abound. Thus, eating animal meat should not be something we do daily but eating plants and fruits should be, and with every meal.  Red meat is a known class 1 carcinogen equal to radiation.

The three longevity pathways in humans are mtor, ampk and sirtuin.  These pathways are triggered by low protein, low sugar intake, hormesis and plant phytochemicals.  Examples of these are resveratrol in grapes, allicin in garlic and EGCG in green tea. Coffee has a lot of these substances and its my preferred morning drink- siphoned or filtered black and with no sugar. Coffee, tea and water do not break the fast. 

Intermittent fasting or time restricted eating is one of the best form of hormesis because it triggers the 3 longevity pathways and Autophagy- a process of self eating wherein our body gets rid of the zombie, dysplastic , precancerous  and senescent cells when it senses lack of food. 

In intermittent fasting- i prefer to call it time restricted feasting- we only eat during a specified time of day like between 12 noon and 8 pm for an 8 hour eating window and 16 hours of fast- 16:8.  Depending on your purpose of IF- e.g. autophagy, there may not be a need to restrict calories since you don't want to lose weight. Same calories are eaten but in a compressed time period (e.g. 2000 cal between 12 noon to 8 pm so you are not eating for 16 hours). 

But it is hard to overeat when one's eating window is narrow. At the start, this is difficult to do especially when the body is adapting to the low sugar stress- we are all addicted to sugar, so the symptoms of sugar withdrawal can be quite distressing and uncomfortable initially.  But as in any addiction, this can be overcome with time and discipline. Eventually,  we can distinguish between craving and hunger. The diet has now becomes a lifestyle. 

Hormesis is a switch that is turned on and off.  It shouldn't be practiced continuously; it should be pulsatile and episodic.

My alphabetic hormetic practice-

  • A-bstinence/fast*- Usual (3-4x weekly) 18:6, sometime 20:4 or 19:5, OMAD (one meal a day) once a month and 24 hour fast every 3-4 months. Improves general health, GI, muscles, brain
  • B-reathlessness*/breatholding/hyperbaric O2-(cardio/hiit/wimhof, pranayama breathing, yoga)- lungs, joints, immunity.
  • C-old (ice immersion)- adipose tissue brown fat formation/weight loss ( I do this once or twice a week in a tub with ice) and heat exposure (sauna after gym) - skin/brain/muscles
  • D-rugs*/diet/supplement- phytonutrients- occasional low alcohol (2-3x a year), resveratrol (this is Dr. David Sinclair's compound, I have been taking for 10 years intermittently), alpha-lipoic acid, NMN, NAD boosters (studies ongoing)
  • E-xercise* (Weight training-machines and free, cardio (treadmill), walking (5-10K steps a day), HIIT (High intensity interval training 1-2x a week usually statiobike or stairs), yoga for stretch and flexibility - muscles/heart/vascular/bones/joint/tendon
  • F-lare- sun exposure/quantum scalar pendant/grounding/forest bathing - always expose to early morning sun 15 min daily preferably in a garden or with trees/sun salute
  • G-ames (reading/puzzles/chess/meditation/art/video games)

So don't be easily irritated. Be patient, gentle and tolerant. Welcome stress like a friend. It will make you live longer.

Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. (Romans 12:1-2)

Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect (Matthew 5:48)

 

* Disclaimer- thorough and complete medical check-up is recommend before doing these practices. People with diabetes, heart disease and other medical conditions may require medical supervision.

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