Longevity, Adversity, and the Science of Healthy Aging
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Old age — a season for growth and expansion.
In contemporary societies, old age is often seen as a taboo. Rarely are people encouraged to talk much about it. On the contrary, like with death, it is best to live as though it doesn’t even exist. Still, what we ignore does not disappear. It remains intact even when we close our eyes. For this reason, ignorance cannot be the best strategy. What people should strive for is a type of curiosity, an inquiry into how they could lead happy, healthy and creative lifestyles no matter the season.
Yes, societies that over-celebrate youth often devalue those who are in the second half of their lives. Even though not every single elder produces value as a taxpayer, that doesn’t mean that they are not productive or — even worse — worthless. On the contrary, their ability to reflect on important philosophic and religious questions, as well as a capacity to encounter the unknown parts of existence that lay outside the boundaries of regular societal life, is just as important as social life itself. As said by Carl Jung:
“The greatest potential for growth and self-realization exists in the second half of life.”
Nonetheless, it is only true under the right conditions, which involve health, inquisitiveness, and sanity.
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Astronomical and biological age
David Andrew Sinclair, a professor of genetics at Harvard Medical School and co-director of its Paul F. Glenn Center for Biology of Aging Research, has conducted extensive research into the questions of why, how, and when we age. He is also the author of “Lifespan: Why We Age — and Why We Don’t Have To.”
According to Sinclair, astronomical years is a poor way of measuring one’s real age. What has to be looked into is one’s real, biological age. But how do the two differ?
Our chronological age is the number of years we’ve been alive depending on how many times the Earth has orbited the Sun. Our biological age, on the other hand, is how old our body seems based on a number of factors, including how our chromosomes have changed over time. (Source)
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According to Sinclair, measuring one’s biological age is a doorway not just into the understanding of how old our body is, but also a peek into how healthy we are on a cellular level. If our goal is longevity, it is a testimony showing if we are living correctly.
As mentioned in Sinclair’s podcast, 80 percent of our genetic expression is in our own hands, no one else’s. The other 20 percent are hardwired genetically and not much can be done about them. Eighty percent! That’s how much depends on lifestyle: how and where we live, what we eat, what we do, and what we don’t do. To age well, we have to take responsibility into our own hands. Only 20 perent can be blamed on our genetics.
“I will always choose the agony of knowledge over the bliss of ignorance,” says Wayne Gerard Trotman, and in this regard, so should we!
Why do we age?
According to David Sinclair, our bodies age mainly because of a cellular process called “ex-differentiation.” According to biologydictionary.net:
“Cellular differentiation, or simply cell differentiation, is the process through which a cell undergoes changes in gene expression to become a more specific type of cell. The process of cell differentiation allows multi-cellular organisms to create uniquely functional cell types and body plans.”
Ex-differentiation occurs when the cells “forget” what they should be and what they ought to do. According to David Sinclair this cellular “memory loss” is the main factor for why our bodies age. Research on mice has shown that it is possible to both fasten and reverse their ageing process just by affecting the cell differentiation mechanisms. Similarly, that can be done with humans as well, although human trials at this time are still quite scarce.
As there are many factors which influence how fast and well we age, today I would like to cover only the fundamentals: food, exercise, cold, and heat. In this post, I am skipping the section about supplements, as I believe that a person should first develop a strong foundation, before moving towards pills and powders. Also, environmental factors such as air pollution and soil or water contamination also affect us greatly, but that’s a topic for another entry.
Adversity, adaptability, and food.
Historically and evolutionary, human beings have lived in much harsher conditions than most of the world does today. Food used to be scarce, while shelters were not certain. Even if one had a type of dwelling, it didn’t provide as much protection from various environmental factors as our contemporary homes do. There were no supermarkets, no fridges, and many more threats.
Our ancestors were used to prolonged periods of time without having food. Also, before the agrarian revolution, they were constantly on the go, moving much more than we do. That’s what our bodies are actually designed for. We’re wired for adversity.
But nowadays adversity is scarce. We live in an age of unimaginable prosperity, where only one thing is lacking… Challenge. As most people’s fridges are full and markets are available 24/7, finding food for most is not an issue. People are able to indulge in eating almost as much as they want all throughout the day, but this wreaks havoc on their systems. When people go on an insulin roller-coaster and never deprive their organisms of external energy sources, the age-old physical repair and recycling mechanisms stop working. Autophagy is a cellular cleansing process which only gets turned on while fasting or being on a caloric restriction. According to a physiologist and nutritionist from Columbia University, Dr Priya Khorana:
Autophagy is the body’s way of cleaning out damaged cells, in order to regenerate newer, healthier cells. While “auto” means self and “phagy” means to eat, the literal meaning of autophagy is “self-eating.”
Even though most of our foods are now packed with calories, they are often deprived of real nutrition, such as minerals and vitamins. Overproduced, refined and processed foods make us feel as though we are living in a time of abundance, but in reality, not much is gained from diets such as a standard American diet. Thus, it is important that our food is not just tasty and calorically dense, but also rich in micronutrients.
Research conducted by David Sinclair indicates that eating a plant-based diet, limiting the intake of sugars and meat, and cutting out highly processed foods will do wonders not just for how you look and feel, but also in terms of how well you’ll age. In his mind, one of the best and easiest regimens to start with is the Mediterranean diet. Rich in olive oil, vegetables, and occasional seafood, the Mediterranean diet is a good starting point for those who want to move away from sugar and fat-saturated meals to a more broad and healthy palette of nourishment.
It is well known that most of the people who have lived until 100 were eating mainly vegetables, adding bits and pieces of fish here and there. The Okinawans and the Sardinians are both good examples of such communities. Veganism is often a good option, but Sinclair warns that if one wants to eliminate all animal produce, the person has to track his or her levels of Omega-3’s, Vitamin D, and Vitamin B12. As the professor is testing veganism on himself right now, most probably pretty soon we will get more data about its physiological merits and drawbacks.
Fasting
As mentioned before, our bodies require not just nourishment, but also time to absorb, recycle, and rest from the food we’ve eaten, thus a regular regimen of fasting is highly recommended for those who seek longevity and health. Even though there are many types of religious fasting (such as Lent and Ramadan), today we will talk more about secular ways of non-eating, such as intermittent fasting. Basically:
Intermittent fasting is an eating pattern where you cycle between periods of eating and fasting. Some people fast for 16 hours, others go for 18, while others prefer to eat just one meal a day. Here, you have to find what works best for you.
Although we already fast while we sleep, skipping breakfast or dinner gives our body a better opportunity to get into the state of autophagy, which helps cells to reuse old proteins, repair damage, and clean excess waste. Even though fasting has many benefits and can be advised for most people, avoid malnutrition as it can lead to serious health problems. Restricting eating windows doesn’t mean eating a banana a day. Eat as much as you want, simply not during the time you fast.
Exercise
Another thing that we are deprived of in our contemporary societies is… you’ve guessed it ... Exercise. Although the sedentary lifestyle is comforting, it is also physically degrading. Our body is not designed for being glued to chairs. It needs adversity and challenge, to move, climb, reach, run, pull, duck, push, and sprawl. Physically, the effort we exert while moving creates acute inflammation (not to get confused with chronic inflammation) which is necessary to help us adapt to various environmental challenges. As the biggest challenge that we nowadays face may only be paying our taxes, we should begin to voluntarily search for adversity instead of letting atrophy find us.
Sinclair suggests mixing aerobic, anaerobic, and weight-lifting exercises, but in his mind, anything is better than absolute inactivity. The slogan here is simple — “get off your butt.” Not everyone should become an endurance athlete, sprinter, or a power-lifter. Small things like walking are great as it is an example of moderate exercise that we should do every day. There’s no magic number of steps that you should take, but the minimum should be around 6,000 a day.
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For those that don’t want to challenge their lungs and hearts any further, I have disappointing news. In order to maintain health, at least 45 minutes of weekly vigorous exercise is recommended. Running, weight-lifting, calisthenics, high-intensity interval training, cycling, swimming, or in my case, martial arts all fall under the term “vigorous exercise”. Once again, you don’t need to overdo it. Fifteen minutes a day, three times a week might tick the mark, but once you get into it I am sure the time of your weekly heart racing will increase definitely.
Cold and heat
As people of the past were used to circumstances when food was scarce and they had to move a lot, similarly, they were more often subjected to harsh weather conditions, such as cold and heat. Even though nowadays we are able to wrap ourselves in warm coats or hide in air-conditioned facilities, there are great benefits that can be derived from occasional cold or heat.
When the human body experiences cold it starts producing brown fat, which is proven to be both beneficial and healthy for the organism.
Brown fat, also called brown adipose tissue, is a special type of body fat that is turned on (activated) when you get cold. It produces heat to help maintain your body temperature in cold conditions. Brown fat contains many more mitochondria than white fat.
A great and easy way for one to expose oneself to cold is cold showers. Now, I know that idea of turning the water to the blue side of the tap might seem daunting, but what you can try first is what some call the “Irish” or “contrast” showers.
A contrast shower is a shower that alternates between bouts of hot and cold water for a total time of anywhere between five and ten minutes.
Through the practice of contrast showers, you can get the double benefit of exposing your body both to cold and heat, the latter being one of the most ancient therapies for aging. According to Dr. Sinclair, sauna (especially infrared sauna) is a great way to get your weekly dose of heat and its benefits
Research has shown that men who participate in the sauna a few times per week have about 20 percent less risk of cardiovascular disease and mortality caused by heart attacks. That is because sauna activates heat shock proteins which help fold proteins correctly and stimulate pathways that build blood vessels and make more mitochondria.
Finishing words
Fasting, exercise, cold and heat are all types of what Sinclair calls “adversity mimetics,” which mimic biological adversity that is conducive to a better lifespan and health span. Thus, to be healthy longer, we have to challenge ourselves and step out of our comfort zones as often as we can. Not doing that resolves in death and atrophy. So, what is better? Not being or being healthy?
Sanitation and medicine have extended our lifespans, but if we want to live even longer and healthier we should not rely only on them. We should look into the factors that made people live long and healthy lives before our technological advancement and synergize our findings. Then maybe we will not just live until 150, but also remain physically and mentally sane to tell our story and share our experiences for the betterment of our culture and others.
