Most of humanity innately senses that we benefit from what God has engineered into Nature. Nature’s ‘wisdom’ heals and fortifies all of creation. How Nature does this is still largely a mystery to natural science in many respects. One process by which we are able to benefit from harnessing Nature’s wisdom is through Hormesis. Hormesis is a biological phenomenon whereby a beneficial effect (improved health, stress tolerance, growth or longevity) results from exposure to low doses of an agent that is otherwise toxic or lethal when given at higher doses. The philosophy of Hormetism, advocated in this blog, is based upon harnessing this biological phenomenon in a deliberate and systematic way in order to increase strength and resilience. We favorably adapt biologically to low levels of stressors within a hormetic zone.
At Fitness Genome, we advocate routinely getting out into Nature and supplementing with our modalities that seek to replicate different expressions of Nature in hormetic doses. In today’s world, it is entirely necessary to create these adaptive responses biologically to create a greater functional capacity to moderate the environmental and self-imposed challenges we face day to day.
The great news is that we all have a deep reservoir of biological and neural plasticity/ability to change-adapt. Studies have shown favorable hormetic responses up to 60% above normative values and generally in the 30-60% range with an ‘appropriate’ adaptation inducing stimulus across all phyla.
Even more exciting is the discovery that these stressors can be targeted to specific endpoints such as cell proliferation, cell and tissue repair, disease resistance, cognitive endpoints, aging/longevity and other endpoints that are critical to thriving in today’s challenging environment. And these endpoints can be quantified…We will dive further into this in the coming weeks.
Not only can Hormesis target specific endpoints but it also directly enhances our internal regulatory processes necessary for maintenance such as DNA repair, autophagy and antioxidant defenses creating holistic enhancements.
At Fitness Genome, we talk about feeling, functioning and performing at a higher level than you previously thought possible and this concept is the driver given the untapped potential you have thanks to this principle of Hormesis.
As an example, humans and plants have adapted to countless toxic agents turning them from foes into friends. Iron and copper are examples of this given that both are highly toxic to cells in their ionic forms. Based on the concentration of these metals in soil where a particular plant lives, plants have adapted to engineer multiple oxidases that utilize copper and iron. In a similar way, hemoglobin and myoglobin have adapted to operate within a hormetic zone over time. Exposure to copper and iron well outside ‘current’ hormetic zones can create dysregulation of homeostatic levels of these metals and lead to neurodegenerative disorders including Parkinson’s which gives further credence to the knowledge that the brain is the foundation of all adaptive responses and must be integral….We will also go into this in much greater detail in the coming weeks
Natureneering is the quantifiable, targeted use of cutting-edge technology to harness Nature to capitalize upon your own capacity to adapt within your current hormetic zone. Additionally, your hormetic zone has the capability to advance/adapt further positively creating the potential for performance, health and longevity beyond what was previously thought possible.
We will delve into the Natureneering capabilities of specific modalities in the coming weeks.
Until then…Get out into Nature for 20 minutes every day!