First…. Know This:

Life developed in a stressful environment and evolved the necessary mechanisms to utilize these “stresses” to optimize function and at the same time minimize thier detrimental effects.

“We have to be comfortable with the uncomfortable” - not pain. Moderate periodic hormetic stressors - “eustress”.

Our health depends on it…..

 Examples of Hormesis in Action

It’s Your Cells That Matter

Our orientation to our being is usually focused on “our body”. When we are feeling well, it is the body that is feeling well. When we have symptoms of not feeling well, it is our body that is not feeling well.

We would serve ourselves better to think of ourselves as a collection of cells all functioning in a coordinated manner. Numerous cells which each function for a common system purpose such as our nervous system or digestive system.

The body is made up of systems. Systems consist of organs. Organs consist of tissue. Tissue is made up of cells.

We can use the endocrine system that produces the body’s hormones as an example. The pancreas is an organ which makes the hormone insulin to regulate the use of glucose and direct processes of metabolism. The Beta cells of the pancreas make the insulin, which by the way is a protein. So you see, we are now at the level of a cell.

Within the cell, its DNA stores instructions on how to make the protein insulin. It also has machinery that then follows the instructions to produce the protein and the resources in the form of amino acids from the foods we eat (mostly, the body can make some on its own) to assemble the protein.

The cell also has to produce its own energy to run this machinery and primarily this comes from energy factories called mitochondria. There might be 500 to a couple thousand in a given cell. The heart may have up to 6,000 mitochondria to make energy due to all the work it does. So the cell is a pretty complete unit functioning to perform a role within its biological community.

The mitochondria might be thought of for a singular role of making the cells energy, but it also has other significant roles such as determining when the cell is diseased and cueing the cell for apoptosis, cell death, to ensure the survival of the rest of the cellular community.

 Cellular Survival Means our Survival

Now having an orientation to the cell, we talk about the importance of “Hormesis”.

Hormesis leads to cellular survival. In the field of biology and medicine Hormesis is defined as “an adaptive response of cells and organisms to a moderate (usually intermittent) stress” and is integral to their normal physiological function.

A process in which exposure to a low dose of a chemical agent or environmental factor that is damaging at higher doses induces an adaptive beneficial effect on the cell or organism.

The dose is referred to as a “hormetic” dose which provides a “preconditioning” or “adaptive stress” allowing the cell to be more resilient when presented with the same or increased levels of the stressor.

Hormesis is looked at as a “biphasal” model where the phases are “Stimulatory” (beneficial) and “Inhibitory” (toxic).

1 & 2 are illustrative of no hormesis. For example, lack of physical stimulation and exercise results in loss of muscle mass (atrophy). 9 & 10 are illustrative of a high level of hormesis. For example, overtraining will result in injury. The green area represents a stimulus, a level of stress, that produces a healthy biological adaptation.

The tipping point is a biological “threshold” where it may be more difficult to return to a healthy hormetic state.

One of the ways the cell monitors the stress it is under, and the need to adapt, is through sensing the amount of “reactive oxidative species” (ROS) and its “redox systems”, both are associated with the mitochondria and their production of energy. Think of ROS as exhaust from a car engine.

Based on this monitoring, the cell may increase its capacity to make energy for the job the cell is assigned to and it will work on reducing the ROS (exhaust). Increasing capacity to make energy may include mitochondrial biogenesis (making more mitochondria) and improving the chemical pathways in the cell through which functions are related to reducing the ROS. Antioxidants are chemicals that reduce the ROS.

Certain exercise intensity and duration encourage mitochondrial biogenesis as well as certain eating patterns. Certain foods provide antioxidants as well as the body makes its own. Glutathione is the bodies largest antioxidant. It is made by the body.

 Why Is Hormesis Such A Big Deal?

• Vaccines are a hormetic dose to “precondition” us for viruses.

  • “Endogenous Deficiency of Glutathione as the Most Likely Cause of Serious Manifestations and Death in COVID-19 Patients” (reference) Battling the COVID-19 Virus requires a significant amount of cellular work and energy producing greater than normal reactive oxidative species which depletes the level of the bodies largest antioxidant, glutathione

• The means to avoid disease, improve health and fitness, and potentially extend lifespan are within Lifestyle factors that present metabolic stressors

  • Exercise (forms of High Intensity Interval Training may prove most effective)

  • Plant Polyphenols (resveratrol, green tea, quercetin, and berberine are examples)

  • Calorie Restriction (various forms of fasting may prove most effective)

• “An important component of hormesis is the potential to upregulate total mitochondrial function and thus the ability to generate ATP (cellular energy). An emerging concept that ties in with this idea that the resting metabolic rate (RMR) reflects an animal’s “metabolic engine” size and capacity to do work and fitness.” (reference)

• “Fine tuning redox thriftiness is achieved by hormetic signals that stimulate mitochondrial biogenesis and resistance to oxidative stress, which improves metabolic flexibility and suppresses excessive inflammation.” (reference)

 Much of the current thinking is that the decline in our health and fitness is a part of “just getting older”. That is the furthest thing from the truth!

You are probably familiar with the term “rehabilitate” or “rehabilitation” which is often associated with physical conditioning that occurs after a sports injury or perhaps after cardiovascular surgery. The professional sports industry has learned how costly rehabilitating an athlete is. The cost is the expense of the rehabilitation process, and the cost of paying the athlete while they are not playing.

The sports industry has realized that putting the time and effort into “pre-habilitation” of the athlete, in other words properly conditioning them, results in avoiding injury and the cost.

This applies to each of our lives. We see it in the “cost of healthcare” and the degraded quality of life we experience as we age. It doesn’t have to be that way.