A few days after our last meeting, Jaya called me and started “Hey, I have been actively following your DG (Dietary Guidelines) and FG1 (Fasting Guidelines) and now I also have a serious regimen for my WFG (Weight and Fat Goals) 2. When I met my nutritionist for my WFG, she also shared some wonderful tips to support my AG (Age Goals)3, with respect to working out, sleeping, etc. You have already shared the guidelines for my Diet and Fasting – which were revealing, how about sharing the other DIY guidelines for supporting life extension and age reversal?”
I responded “I am happy to see your seriousness on the journey of healthy longevity and age reversal. To reap maximum benefits, do remember to make these Guidelines a part of your daily living and do consider your AG (Age Goals) as an important factor in taking any decision related to your health or in our day to day lives.
“As regards your query about the other Guidelines – perhaps, it is now time to move forward. A number of researchers from around the world have been actively conducting human clinical trials, on various basic factors and their impact on the pathways of ageing which in turn impact life extension and age reversal. I will try and condense the findings of their research by way of simple Do It Yourself (DIY) guidelines.
- EG: Exercise (and Movement) Guidelines: Here is the EG for healthy longevity:We know that exercise benefits are numerous, but nevertheless, let me name a few – it helps reduce resting heart rate4, improves cholesterol pattern (reduces LDL and triglycerides and increases HDL), reduces body fat (the bad visceral body fat, which ages you), lowers blood pressure, insulin, glucose and insulin resistance, improves growth hormone, turns off the FTO gene (which normalizes leptin, the satiety hormone), improves methylation, improves brain health and reduces stress, anxiety and depression, increases endorphins to make you more positive and feel happy, helps us sleep better, etc.
Key EG from the latest research on specific exercise / movement programs for longevity are:
- best Cardio workout is HIIT – High Intensity Interval Training. Opt for any workout that you like and try to do 60 minutes of HIIT twice a week.
- pursue some kind of Strength / Weight training for about 45 minutes thrice a week. Muscle power has more benefits than muscle strength – meaning that you must focus more on lifting average weights with more repetitions as quickly as possible, rather than on lifting heavy / very heavy weights with less repetitions.
Both HIIT and Strength training address the dual problems of sarcopenia (loss of muscle mass) and dynopenia (loss of strength) by increasing the number of mitochondria in your muscle cells. Also dose matters, but more is not necessarily better! So please do not overdo, either.
It is equally important to do your stretches post the workout and release any kind of tension in your muscles and fascia.
- sitting is the new smoking: if you have to sit through the day, get up every 30 minutes and stand for atleast 10 minutes or walk around for atleast 5 minutes.
- exercise improves bone health and density. It turns out that strong, healthy bones play a far greater role in overall health than previously known. Bone health and strong bone density is linked to improved insulin sensitivity, reduction of fat tissue deposition, better weight management, and heart health.
- remember humans are meant to move – so stay active, walk more, climb stairs when possible, try new workouts, sweat when you are doing a vigorous workout, add a protein / energy drink to your workout, and remember there is no age limit to not exercise!
- Eight years of an increased average life expectancy came from people who exercise for 30 minutes a day. And this isn’t, strenuous weightlifting. This was as limited as just walking for 30 minutes a day. Researchers have established since a long time now that exercise promotes healthspan, giving people extra disease-free years. By regularly following the EG you will positively impact the pathways of ageing and enable age reversal, apart from enabling healthy longevity.
- SG: Sleep Guidelines: Sleep deprivation has a serious negative impact on our genes, it causes dangerous alterations to our DNA and in extreme cases may lead to diseases such as diabetes, depression, cardio vascular diseases and even cancer!
Sleep helps lower heart rate, rebuild organs, muscles and bones, replenish energy and willpower, reset immune system, among other things. Good sleep hygiene plays a key role in longevity. Sleep releases growth hormone which is critical to body repair and healthy ageing. Sleep also washes our brain, cleaning it of damaging and toxic molecules, which may otherwise cause serious health issues including Alzheimer’s disease.
Here then are the SG: Sleep Guidelines (and some tricks) for heathy life extension and age reversal:
- Seven to eight hours of sleep at night is widely considered to be the most optimal. Also sleeping more than eight hours on a regular basis isn’t always better! Best sleeping position is considered to be sleeping on the left side.
- Have a consistent bedtime and wake up time. Create a bedtime ritual. Eat three to four hours before bedtime. Eat your carbohydrates at night, as this helps boost serotonin, which will convert into melatonin and helps support a healthy night sleep. Exercise in the morning hours. Don’t have caffeine after 3pm.
- “When it comes to ideal bedtime, it appears that there is a window of several hours—roughly between 8 PM and 12 AM—during which your brain and body have the opportunity to get all the non-REM and REM shuteye they need to function optimally”, according to Dr. Allison Siebern from Stanford University (non-REM sleep is deeper and more restorative than lighter, dream-infused REM sleep, though both offer important benefits).
- Exposure to more sunlight, especially before noon will help you sleep better. Also check your vitamin D3 levels – lower levels will result in poor sleep, among other things.
- Avoid the use of artificial lighting and electronics at night as they may contribute to sleep problems. These electronic devices emit light of a blue wavelength, which may trick your brain into thinking it’s daytime. Many studies suggest that blue light in the evening disrupts your brain’s natural sleep-wake cycles, which are crucial for optimal sleep health.
Sleep in a dark room and keep your devices in another room to avoid blue light exposure at night.
Researchers have revealed a 65% higher death rate for people who regularly slept less than 5 hours on all nights, compared with people who regularly slept 6 to 7 hours per night. One study by a UCLA team found that even one night of partial sleep deprivation activates genes related to biological aging in older adults. In various research studies it has also been shown that sleep deprivation is positively correlated to a lower lifespan and conversely, a healthy sleep pattern is positively correlated to longevity. The SG cover the latest research in this space and following these should positively impact your pathways of ageing.
- SHG: Soft Health Guidelines: Here are some SHGcommon to maintaining good health and supporting healthy longevity, which I am sure you are well aware of and need no elaboration. However, let me also add that a great deal of research has been done on these Soft Health Factors by longevity researchers and it has been proven beyond doubt that following the same will have a huge impact on life extension: Here are the SHGs:
- Don’t smoke
- Moderate alcohol intake
- Avoid chronic stress and anxiety
- Avoid exposure to environmental toxins
- Have an active sex life
- Always stay positive
- Get some sun, but protect your skin from over exposure
- Be socially active
- Meditate and introspect daily
- Have a purpose or as they say in Japanese, “Find your ikigai” and eschew retirement
- Be intellectually active
- Enjoy a good laugh, daily
I am sure that you must be totally convinced about these SHGs by the more than adequate research data on these aspects of well being, as they have been extremely well publicized!
Here are some not so common SHGs on keeping good health, again, a result of specific research on their impact on healthy life extension:
-
- Sing and hear different genres of music
- Cook, also try out new dishes regularly
- Learn to play a musical instrument / learn a new language
- Develop a hobby
- Incorporate deep breathing
- Rewind yourself with nature
- Practice gratitude
Scientists call these factors soft health drivers. They can make everyday living better — and add years to your life.
“Whereas diet and exercise are important, the social connection and the soft drivers of health — how you live your life, mentally, and socially — are even more important,” says science journalist Marta Zaraska.
These drivers can reduce mortality from 45 percent up to 65 percent.
Please do not disregard these SHGs, to enjoy the benefits of the other Guidelines, please make the SHGs a part of daily living.
- BG: Biohacking Guidelines: Biohacking refers to scientifically-driven lifestyle interventions to optimize health for longevity and age reversal. The BGs that I will highlight here are the ones not covered in DG (Dietary Guidelines), FG (Fasting Guidelines) earlier, or the other Guidelines I shared today and are actively supported by well known biohackers around the world5:
- Cold therapy: Do cold therapy in order to improve mitochondrial health and slow down the process of aging. Cold therapy is said to activate the body’s natural healing powers that can relieve the symptoms of many medical conditions and promote overall levels of health and well-being. Cold water therapy can be done easily from a cold shower (turn the shower to the coldest temperature at the end of a bath, for 2-4 minutes daily) to ice baths or as cryotherapy (that involves exposure to -100-250℃ in a controlled environment for 2-4 minutes).
- Heat therapy: Do heat therapy to improve circulation, ease pain, and encourage the body to relax. It’s also been shown to improve cardiovascular health on a similar scale to a cardio workout and using a sauna regularly has been shown to influence longevity. Heat therapy basically involves exposure to temperatures ranging from 70-100℃ via sauna.
- Little bit of stress is good: Hormesisis a process of conditioning and adaptation in which low levels of stress stimulate or upregulate cellular and molecular pathways that improve the capacity of cells and organisms to withstand greater stress. Examples of hormesis include single or multiple exposure to low doses of otherwise harmful agents, such as irradiation, fasting or food limitation, heat stress, ice baths, exercise, deadlines, hypergravity, reactive oxygen species, and other free radicals – all have a variety of anti-aging and longevity-extending hormetic effects. But also remember, the consequences of stress are dose-dependent. Too much stress is debilitating – a hurricane will rip a tree out of the ground. But not enough stress, and you lose your edge.
- Nap each afternoon: “You can get incredible benefits from 15 to 20 minutes of napping,” says Sara C. Mednick, PhD, sleep expert and author of Take a Nap! Change Your Life. “You reset the system and get a burst of alertness and increased motor performance. That’s what most people really need to stave off sleepiness and get an energy boost.” Research has shown that a regular nap of 20 minutes can cut your chance of having heart disease by 37%.
- Sleep in a cold room: Scientific evidence has recently shown that sleeping in cooler temperatures provides you with various health benefits. It can activate a gene known to be tied to longevity, help stimulate sleep and allow you to cycle naturally though the sleep stages, help you manage your weight by raising your metabolism, support your natural melatonin levels and give you a better quality of sleep, increase the level of brown fat and reduce the risk of disease. You will wake up restored, you will look and feel better in the morning according to scientists. The ideal room temperature for sleep is 15 to 20 degrees C.
- Take care of your teeth: Strictly speaking this is not a biohack, rather, a learning from studying the centenarians from the Blue Zones. It has been observed that people with tooth decay / gum problems are more likely to develop heart disease as they grow older. One study also found that people who brush their teeth twice are day are better off than those who brushed only once, who were better off that those who brushed irregularly. Poor teeth / oral hygiene is linked with accelerated ageing as the person is unable to get the best nutrition required.
Researchers are continuously working on new biohacks for longevity and age reversal, and I am always on the watchout for anything that shows promise. I will surely share other proven biohacks in future.
“We have now covered DG, FG, EG, SG, SHG, BG:
DG : Dietary Guidelines
FG: Fasting Guidelines
EG: Exercise and Movement Guidelines
SG: Sleeping Guidelines
SHG: Soft Health Guidelines
BG: Biohacking Guidelines
“This gives you a reasonably good DIY toolkit for healthy longevity and age reversal.
“But remember, regardless of the Guidelines that you follow, tracking your health data is a must as only this will help you monitor your progress and see if its working for you!”
Jaya responded “thank you for the detailed guidelines. I am already looking forward to a whole new life, once I incorporate these into my daily habit guidance”.
I responded “Indeed Jaya, this is a whole new world and welcome to its exciting and amazing possibilities. I am so looking forward to a long innings of new learnings, new experiences, new friends and what have you. Aren’t you?”
Akkshay Mehta
(Life Extension and Age Reversal Evangelist)
This blog is my effort to inspire you with the latest developments in the space of healthspan, life extension and age reversal. In simple English! Do share and Stay tuned.
I would love to hear from you. I can be reached agm@growyoungtech.com
1 DG: Dietary Guidelines, FG: Fasting Guidelines defined in
Healthy Longevity: Toolkit AG, DG, FG, My Blog # 4 https://bit.ly/3gZ5mtW
2 WFG: Weight and Fat Goals defined in
Healthy Longevity: Toolkit AG, DG, FG, My Blog # 4
3 AG: Age Goals defined in
Healthy Longevity: Toolkit AG, DG, FG, My Blog # 4
4 According to Mayo Clinic:
“A normal resting heart rate for adults ranges from 60 to 100 beats per minute. Generally, a lower heart rate at rest implies more efficient heart function and better cardiovascular fitness. For example, a well-trained athlete might have a normal resting heart rate closer to 40 beats per minute”.
https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/fitness/expert-answers/heart-rate/faq-20057979
5 Well known Biohackers I refer to here are : Dave Asprey, Ben Greenfield, Mark Sisson, Tim Ferris, Dr Mercola, Liz Parrish, Tony Robbins, among others.
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