I can imagine that people are sick of hearing me talk about cancer and dying, but one of the benefits of it is that it leads me to read and research all sorts of information on how to live longer and healthier. I was given a second chance and I am not trying to blow this one. Hopefully, we can learn together before you have to have the same awakening. I was never too badly out of shape in my life, but this journey has really pushed me into seeing how much healthier we can all be, and how long we can all live.
Medical technology is improving at such a rapid pace, that it is not unheard of to think that our children will live past 120, and if that isn’t shocking…most of those years can be younger healthier years. Someday 80 will be the new 50. So, we are not just looking to live longer, but live longer and better!
I was one of the fortunate 22,000 people in the US to receive a successful stem cell transplant. 10 years ago when, my son, Axel was born, we were given the option to collect and store his stem cells from his umbilical cord and store them. It costs us about $200 a year to keep them frozen and in storage but with the way medical technology is moving, this might be the single best investment that anyone can make for their children. Right now, we are living in an age of science fiction where stem cells are being used to cure diseases and repair organs and muscles. I hope Axel never needs to use his, but if the day comes he will have many more options than if we didn’t do that. I point this out to show you that when it comes to medical science, the future is now.
One of the things I have found in my research on medical advancements in aging is that drugs like metformin (a diabetes drug) and rapamycin have been shown to slow down aging at least and even reverse aging at the cellular level. Right now, you cant get metformin without also having diabetes, but it is believed that it and other drugs like it will eventually be given to people to slow aging.
The point here is that those drugs I mentioned slow and reverse aging by stimulating the survival circuit by activating sirtuins which when triggered help to repair damaged DNA ultimately extending our lifespan. Now, this is definitely over my head scientifically, but the point I took from this research is how the “survival circuit” can be activated to help us live longer. These drugs and expensive research are all being done to trick our cells into thinking we are in “survival mode”. The good news is that the same thing that the drugs do to cells we can do to our cells and stimulate the survival circuit all on our own, and you are not going to be shocked at how you can do this and it will mesh with some of the things you already know.
1. Be in a calorie deficit, and start fasting. Not only is this good for fat loss, but when your body doesn’t know when it is going to eat again, it is now in “survival mode” and the proteins in your DNA are working to repair your body. Since our cells are either in reproducing or repairing mode it is a cool way of tricking them into focusing on one more than the other. (you can imagine why reproduction is not always a good thing when it comes to cancer cells)
2. Expose your body to extreme temperatures. Right now while everyone is complaining about the cold weather in NY, we can use it to our advantage. Exercising or taking a brisk walk in a t-shirt during this time of year will put your body and cells into “survival mode”, and guess what? More repairing is being done, and less reproduction! Don’t like the cold? Studies show that going into a sauna for 20 minutes a day 4 days a week gives us a 40% lower chance of dying from a heart attack and stroke. Heck, all you have to do is sit in there, and you can greatly lower your chances of heart failure. After the sauna, if you really want to mix it up, hop in a cold shower. These shocks to your body tell your body you are under duress, to stop reproducing and start repairing!
3. Exercise. Again, none of this is shocking, but when it comes to exercise, high-intensity interval training (HIIT) is key to unlocking this life hack. Essentially, sprint for 30 seconds, walk for 2-3 minutes and repeat. By raising your heart rate up and down quickly, you are tricking your body into a flight response that it doesn’t know when it will start or stop. In doing so, you are again activating your survival circuit.
If I still have your attention, let me give you one more way you can verify the benefit of activating the survival circuit. Foods that are grown under stressful conditions are better for us!! This can be seen in leafy vegetation like lettuce. Ask any farmer or backyard garden expert, and they will tell you the best heads of lettuce are created when they get a 1-2 punch of hot and cold, and strawberries are tastier and plumper when they are given less water. The survival circuit might be only cellular-level science, but that is what we are made of, and if it is affecting your cells, then it is affecting your whole body.
