Embracing Hormesis: A Pathway to a Longer and Healthier Life
The introduction of healthy stressors trigger positive responses that can enhance our resilience and longevity.
I’ve always believed in the mental health and confidence-building benefits of pushing ourselves outside of our comfort zone. Much like travel invigorates the senses and opens us up to new cultures and experiences, trying new things that push us outside of our regular routines keeps us fresh, sharp and capable of growth.
Recently and through work initially highlighted by David Sinclair, I’ve learned that there’s a similar concept at play for our physical health with potentially powerful effects on our capacity to live longer and healthier lives.
What is Hormesis?
There are many levers at our disposal when it comes to achieving better health. Most commonly, these include the important roles of nutrition, exercise, sleep, mental wellness, supplements and medical testing. All of these levers are important and have their merits, however there’s also a fascinating and relatively lesser-known concept called Hormesis that’s worthy of our attention.
Put simply, Hormesis is the concept of "what doesn't kill you makes you stronger." It's the idea that short exposure to mild stressors can trigger a positive adaptive response in our cells that ultimately enhances our resilience and longevity. Let’s break it down into three components:
Mild Stressors are typically short but impactful challenges to the body, such as exercise, intermittent fasting, exposure to cold (cold water immersion or the less-proven cryotherapy) and heat (usually a sauna)
These mild stressors create adaptive responses whereby they activate protective mechanisms such as antioxidant defenses, repair processes and the removal of damaged cells
The benefits over time include increased resistance to diseases, improved cognitive function and enhanced cellular repair
Examples of Hormesis in Action:
Exercise: Exercise, especially that which pushes us outside of our regular physical routines (think short bursts of efforts where we’re operating above our V02 max) challenges the body's systems, leading to improved cardiovascular and muscular health
Intermittent Fasting: This practice involves short periods of fasting, which mildly stress the body, leading to increased autophagy (cellular cleanup) and potential longevity benefits
Cold Exposure: Cold showers or better yet, cold-water immersion (think 2 - 3 minutes in an ice bath) can activate brown fat cells, which may improve metabolic health
Heat Exposure: There’s are an increasing number of fascinating studies that reveal possible benefits of regular sauna exposure (20 minutes, 3 - 4x week) on cellular repair that can contribute to a longer, healthier life
While this post is meant to serve as a high-level introduction to the benefits of Hormesis, you could easily spend days diving into the fascinating details and studies behind this biological phenomenon. Bottom line: More work is needed to evaluate the long-term benefits of Hormesis, however initial evidence reveals that we could be adding quality and length to our lives by embracing these mild stressors that stimulate positive adaptive responses.