Slowing aging is possible, but do you actively encourage it in you?
Leaving this place is inevitable, and we see this fact represented in many ways of living — among us young adults — the YOLO movement is one of the most adopted ones. Why? Maybe because it’s the most entertaining choice, or perhaps because it helps us cover all bad decisions under the blanket of “YOLO.”
Anyway, my opinion is that our body may be paying an expensive cost that might not be necessary, if only we had a couple of things in mind while YOLOing.
Assuming we all want to maximize our experiences, the question is: how can we engage in a lifestyle that is also thoughtful with ourselves in 50–70 years?
Without entering into the implications of slowing or even reversing aging, nor what it would mean to have the choice of postponing death indefinitely, let me share with you some of the things that I keep in mind now and try to perform as much as possible.
Specifying upfront that I’m no scientist and apologize for any oversimplification, I leave at the bottom additional reading to learn more. The idea behind why we can slow aging is that a universe of potentiality might be available to the human race if we could incline some degrees the angle through which we think of aging — instead of thinking of it as the natural consequence of growing up, to rather conceive it as a disease.
This idea has gained traction thanks to Ph.D. David Sinclair who presented his arguments in what he calls ‘The Information Theory of Aging.’ Trying to offer you an ELI5 explanation, the theory suggests that we age because of genomic damages in our cells that lead to the dysfunction of our organism and decrease its ability to repair itself.
Now that we have a slight grasp of what this theory is about, what are the things to keep in mind to take advantage of it? Basically, I reduce it to two aspects: promote sirtuins activity by putting your body under ‘healthy stressors’ and avoid inflammation at all costs.
“Yeah… sure, but what does that mean?” You might kindly ask. And the full answer is in his book Lifespan: Why We Age―and Why We Don’t Have To; however, Sinclair does outline some activities with which you can engage to achieve both:
- Embrace fasting and, in general, eat fewer calories
- Eat different kinds of vegetables, and avoid eating meat unless you do a heavy workout
- Avoid sugars and refined carbs
- Sleep enough
- Do HIIT training a couple of times per week
- Don’t smoke
- Stimulate your brown fat by getting cold
- Avoid radiation (getting sunburned, for example)
- Stimulate your mind and have a purpose
- Beyond these actions, he suggests that soon some supplements and drugs could be used to reverse aging, such as NMN, resveratrol, and metformin
While no results are conclusive yet, many studies back up his science, and it seems to be only the beginning. These actions all activate what Sinclair names the ‘Survival Circuit,’ which is a system that all life forms have in common and is the mechanism that serves organisms to live longer and healthier lives.
Finally, what is clear is that we hold agency on how well or not we will live in the later stages of our life. So keeping these choices in mind can significantly benefit your vitality in your 80s and 90s, and why not longer… But, for now, what is certain is that many ‘ordinary’ institutions may not be as healthy as ‘everybody’ thinks… and from experience, I can tell you that one great place to start is by saying ‘bye, bye’ to all+3 meals a day and welcoming OMADs.
Hope you enjoyed this. Thank you for reading.
Relevant articles and book cover:
https://www.outsideonline.com/2422626/biomarkers-concussion-recovery-research
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-02667-5
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5107309/
