What do herbal extracts, cold temperatures, and physical exercise have in common? They all may kill you if you overdo them. However, they can also make you stronger. How?
In the last 30 years, the scientific interest in hormesis has resulted in more than 2000 studies confirming its beneficial role in preventing or delaying neurodegenerative diseases, increasing longevity and enhancing cognitive function. Here are four biohacks you can incorporate into your lifestyle right now to induce hormesis:
#1 Cold exposure
Thirty seconds at 4 degrees Celsius or two minutes at around 15 degrees is what you need to get your blood flowing and make your skin warm. This also helps to increase brown fat, the mitochondria rich substance. Why is brown fat important? It has a protective property to activate longevity genes which repair cellular damage. Unfortunately, brown fat tends to diminish as we get older, so this hack will help you stay younger longer at a cellular level.
#2 Calorie restrictions by fasting
Studies also show that restricted dietary intake will activate longevity genes. People living in the so-called Blue Zones fast due to religious reasons or societal norms. The human body possesses remarkable biological plasticity. It means that when food is scarce, the body switches into repair mode and cleans all cells from damaged protein. Those cells cleared up of damages will become stronger against future adversities.
#3 Herbal Products
Many plant-derived chemicals display hormetic features. For example, there are plenty of promising studies of the effect of intake of curcumin found in turmeric or resveratrol found in red grape skin. Other nutraceutical products include sulforaphane found in cruciferous vegetables and allicin present in garlic.
Of course, just increasing broccoli consumption or taking various supplements does not make your body healthier. Once, I was poisoned by overeating broccolini. Remember, the dose is central to achieving longevity, cognitive function improvement and other health benefits. Also, please be aware that even natural products can be unsafe if taken with other medication or supplements. For example, both resveratrol and curcumin interact with certain prescription drugs, reduce their efficacy and produce a toxic effect.
#4 High-intensity interval training (HIIT)
This hack is my favourite! A short burst of high-intensity exercises with a short break between repeated for as little as 4 min a day will activate your longevity genes. David A. Sinclair, in his famous book Lifespan: Why We Age-and Why We Don’t Have To, notes that exercise turns on the genes that make us young again at a cellular level. So try Tabata inspired fitness routines and see for yourself how your energy is restored.
I have only mentioned four ways to induce hormesis because I personally practice them. Other methods include hot temperature exposure and pharmaceuticals.
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