Hormesis: What doesn't kill you makes you stronger

How Hormesis can help you peak performance

What doesn't kill you, makes you stronger

When you work out, your muscles break & grow bigger

It results from over-compensating to protect the body from future stress

When you're sedentary, your body, bones, and muscles weaken because they have no reason to be strong

Hormesis is characterized by a so-called J-shaped (sometimes U) curve, in which a small amount of a substance or stress results in better health than a zero amount Increasing the dose increases the stress response up to a point beyond which increasing doses worsen health

Hormesis is a fundamental feature of Biological Systems

Fasting is a form of stress
Running is a form of stress
Lifting weights is a form of stress
Drinking alcohol is a form of stress

A small dose of a stressor to an organism makes it more robust, more resilient, healthier, stronger, and may even increase its lifespan It's been shown in plants & animals, that mild infection & malnutrition actually increased their health & longevity

The impact of hormesis on health can be further appreciated by consideration of the “couch potato” lifestyle. When cells in the body and brain are not challenged, they become complacent & are therefore vulnerable to injury and disease.

Lack of physical and mental exercise, in combination with excessive food intake, results in a condition called insulin resistance that is a harbinger of all diseases in the body, you know it and it has a connection with insulin resistance

On the other hand, when fewer calories are consumed and when more energy is expended (exercise), cells are subjected to mild metabolic stress. They respond to this mild stress adaptively by increasing their ability to take up glucose in response to insulin and making you more insulin sensitive (making you healthier)

King Mithridates VI (135–63 BC) used to take small doses of real poison to make him immune to poison This actually saved his life later on when he was fed poison.

I won’t ask you to take poison to improve your health but what I want to tell you is “It's not about the thing so much as it's about the dose”

So lay back, enjoy a drink or two & stop stressing over life

Stress kills more people than the disease itself.

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Have a great week ahead!

Stay healthy, Stay Strong

Your one & only,

Rusty