Aging is a disease
Aging is a disease
Most people are not interested in their health even if they have had low energy for years, even if their blood tests where not ideal, even if they have put on some kilos. All these things came naturally when having a family, chasing a career and the aging process , right? And then all of a sudden something happens that triggers all alarm bells. We will lose a loved one, or we are diagnosed with a disease. And from that point on, we start reseaching, being very careful and start taking care of our daily lifestyle. Does this sound familiar?
If you agree with me on the above, you might also agree that these are a result of the fact that we cannot avoid the un-avoidable. Aging, disease and decay as we age. Most people respond that they don’t want to live past 80 since aging is such an unpleasant experience.
I beg to differ. Aging is a disease and we can do something about it.
Aging is loss of information
Why do we humans put a cap to how many years we want to live? I guess we are all afraid since aging comes with loss of basic functions, cancer, dementia, Alzheimer, right? What if I told you that there are many scientists now believe that humans will very soon be regularly living past 120?
David Sinclair, my favourite reseacher, in his latest book Lifespan, has a very simple definition of aging. Aging is the loss of information over time. This information, such as DNA, is stored in a backup storage and can be retrieved to reverse time and together youth of cells in our body. And just recently his lab has succeed in doing so by reversing aging in mice!
We are of-course not there yet but what is fascinating is that the aging is now considered by a lot of scientists as a disease, as the root cause of all the illness. And that is why there is a significant amount of money now being spent on reseach on aging.
SUMMARY
- Aging is considered in many reseach circles as a disease and there is a lot of reseach taking place to treat aging.
Be pro-active with your health
There will be a time when we will be able to take a pill and reverse back the aging process.
But till that time there are many things we can do to be health and filling full of energy. And to summarise in one sentance I would say. Take care of yourself before your doctor tells you to do so. And this starts already in our 20s not in our 40s. You see our health capacity has always a downward trend and if we reduce that capacity in our 20s and 30s, but living with principles like “I will sleep when I am dead” and similar anectotal sayings the end will indeed come sooner.
Taking care of our health and prioritising ourselves is a daily practise in order to maintain the highest possible level of function. Keeping those batteries fully charged will ensure that we are full of energy and still having dreams in 80s, 90s and even 100s!
SUMMARY
- Practise healthy habits already when you are young to have the highest possible function when you get older and still be able to chase your dream!
I want to be 80 and full of energy!
Let’s look at some practises that Dr.Sinclair follows himself, but also are generally accepted in the research world as practises that everyone should follow to live a healthy life. And you will be surprised how simple it is!
Exercise
We all know exercise is good for us. It improves our heart health, we maintain muscle mass, we lower insulin and many more. But on a cellular level exercise can make our telomeres a decade younger than those who live a sedentary life. And telemores are one of the makrers accossiated with longevity
Hormesis
You probably have heard that what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. That is the hormesis effect. Small doses of “acute” stress actually make you stronger. Take cold-therapy for example. A cold shower every morning or a cold plunge makes a lot of magic happen in our cells. Our breathing pattern changes, our blood flow changes and all surival mechanism in our body come to life. And hormesis is well researched. Our body wants to have an easy, couch potato, life. Forcing it out of its comfort zone has been proven to makes us more resilient and extend lifespan. Try strength training, cold and hot therapy as part of your daily lifestyle
Intermittent Fasting
Intermittent Fasting and calorie restriction can have tremendous health benefits. This is another hormetic effect that as the right doses makes us stronger. This is because many pathways and longevity hormones are triggered when we are not eating. Hormones like HGH, IGF-1 are required for healing, repairing and maintaining healthy bones, muscle, cells and tissues. Try intermittent fasting on most day and once in a while a prolonged fast which has even more benefits like autophagy and stem-cell regeneration.
Sleep
Sleeping the time that so many critical processes happen in our body. Detoxification, cleansing, memory consolidation, healing. We need to get every day quality sleep, 7-9 hours of sleep out of which 25% should be REM sleep and 25% deep sleep.
Insulin sensitivity and proper nutrition
Insulin resistance is very closely linked many health issues, which we have discussed already Reducing refined carbs and sugar will help you maintain healthy blood glucose and insulin levels and stay insulin sensitive. By eating a proper diet (preferably low-carb) you can then ensure you get all the nutrients your body needs and that your cells are insulin sensitive and will make proper use of them!
Stem-cells and NMN
For those who want to take it a step further you there many more hacks which can help in our quest for health and longevity. Consider taking NMN (nicotinamide mononucleotide) as a supplment to boost your NAD levels, or have new stem-cells implant. But these are for another post!
SUMMARY
- Acute stress called hormesis makes us stronger, while sleep helps us heal and regenate.
- Being insulin sensitive is a key marker of health.
Key Takeaways
- Do not put a limit to the healthy years you can live. Growing old and healthy is a choice and one that we can make already.
Further reading
- Buy the book Lifespan from Dr.Sinclair at our store
- Dr.Sinclair’s talk at Google
- Check the detailed breakdown of our series on Nutrition, Sleep and Biohacking
