It’s Diwali time - time for celebrations with family and new resolutions. Also, a time for gifting and sharing your best.
On this happy occasion, as a diehard Age reversal / longevity champion, let me share my daily protocol for Growing Younger. I simply call it: My “F.I.T.N.E.S.S.S.S.” Protocol.
Let me explain the acronym:
F: Food
I: Intermittent Fasting
T: Testing
N: Nutrition
E: Exercise
S: Sleep
S: Stress
S: Social
S: Supplements
Let me explain each point and its relevance for Age reversal:
F: Food: As in eat less Food, and eat less often - eat maximum to 75 - 80% capacity only and preferably no more than 3 meals a day - a single calorie intake constitutes a meal, the only exceptions are zero calorie drinks: water, herbal or black tea / coffee.
Have a fixed and restricted daily eating time window - preferably less than 12 hours, and eat 3 hours before sleeping.
Time and energy saved from digestion gives our biological resources more time to focus on repair and rejuvenation of the body which helps us stay at our youthful best.
I: Intermittent Fasting: IF simply means - to almost stop eating, with intent, for a certain length of time. Minimum fasting period is 12 hours. Fasting includes intermittent fasting, time restricted eating, etc. Popular fasts include: 16:8: eat 2 / 3 meals in 8 hours and fast for 16, 20:4: eat 2 meals in 4 hours and fast for 20, OMAD: One Meal A Day after 23 hours, 24 / 36 hours: eat the next meal after 24 / 36 hours, 4:3: Or Alternate day fasting: consume no food, every second day, 5:2: eat 5 days a week and fast for balance 2.
The benefits of IF are similar to eating less: our body gets more free time to focus on repair and regeneration of cells, tissues, organs, etc. and helps keep our body healthy, disease free, in balance and young.
T: Testing: This includes All types of health tests, including those for blood, urine, stool, saliva, heart, lungs, cancers, bones, eyes, dental, strength, imaging tests, CT scans, measuring Weight, BMI, etc. We need to follow an annual or half yearly protocol of testing all these parameters and diligently observing changes to our body to take corrective action as required.
We can now run some tests 24/7 with wearables like Smartwatches such as Apple watch / Fitbit, wristbands / fitness trackers, CGMs, patches, Oura ring, etc. Under development are smart clothing, implantables, nanobots, etc. which can be used to track various parameters of the body. It is highly recommended that we run as many of these as possible to get an early warning in case of any health imbalance.
It has been proven that early detection of a health issue will provide us with adequate time for an almost 100% recovery. Thus preventing any sudden health challenge and providing us with enough time to correct a health issue. The importance of Testing cannot be stressed enough!
N: Nutrition: This refers to What we eat. The recommended dietary guidelines for age reversal are:
opt for a vegetarian diet, eat diverse plant based foods, eat more fresh, organic, local, in season produce. Eat more vegetables - the more colorful the better. Eat salads with beans, sprouts and a home made dressing.
Do Not consume or limit consumption of animal milk and its products, sugar, and refined flours. Reduce oil consumption. Consume adequate water to remain hydrated. Consume Alcohol in moderation.
Have more proteins and in each meal, reduce carbohydrates in favor of proteins. And eat good fats in every meal. Good fats for longevity: avocado, olive oil, dark chocolate, nuts and seeds.
Eat more fruits - atleast 3 servings a day, preferably first thing in the morning. Best for longevity: Pomegranate, banana, blueberries, kiwi, papaya, watermelons, grapefruit.
Eat nuts daily, unsalted, unoiled - about 30gms. You can also have 2 tablespoons a day of diverse seeds like flaxseeds / chia seeds / pumpkin seeds, etc. Nuts and seeds to be consumed at different times.
Other food items which have proven longevity benefits: garlic, turmeric with peppers, lemons, cayenne pepper, coconut oil, cooked tomatoes, mushrooms, oats, spices such as cinnamon, red chillies, cardamom, cloves, saffron.
For our omnivore friends I can only recommend fish and chicken for their protein content, for longevity benefits.
Finish dinner atleast 3 - 4 hours before bedtime. It is also recommended to walk for 20-30 minutes, 30 minutes after dinner.
Eat mindfully. Everything we eat must benefit our health and not injure it.
Our Diet / Nutrition is a key factor in keeping us healthy and young.
E: Exercise: best exercise regimen for age reversal / longevity is a combination of Cardio and Strength training. Opt for HIIT - High Intensity Interval Training of around 60 minutes twice a week and some kind of Strength / Weight training for about 45 minutes thrice a week. As you age, focus more on lifting average weights with more repetitions, as quickly as possible, rather than on lifting heavy weights, with less repetitions.
Other recommendations related to exercise:
Do your stretches post a workout
if you are sitting through the day, get up every 30 minutes, for 5-10 minutes
add exercise to your daily calendar, try to plan your workout at a fixed time each day and track yourself daily
Plan a different workout for each day of the week and try to make the workout a fun experience
Eight years of an increased average life expectancy came from people who walked for just 30 minutes a day. In terms of payback, exercise delivers very high health returns!
S: Sleep: The connection between quality sleep and good health had been well researched only recently and the results are astonishing. Science has linked poor slumber with a number of health problems, conversely indicating that good sleep can be a solution to a number of health issues (some very serious health issues as well)!
With the evidence available, it would be quite logical to conclude that Sleep is a foundation for our good health, everything else - proper nutrition, exercise, etc. works, only when the foundation is strong!
It is recommended that we sleep between 7-8 hours a day for the best impact on our health.
Many biological processes happen during sleep:
The body repairs cells, restores energy, and releases molecules like hormones and proteins
The brain gets rid of toxic waste and stores new information. Also Nerve cells communicate and reorganize, which supports healthy brain function
Sleep helps improve learning, mood and energy levels, regulate hormones, prevent cancer, Alzheimer's and diabetes, slow the effects of aging, and increase longevity, says Sleep expert Matthew Walker.
S: Stress: Researchers have determined that increased cumulative stress was associated with accelerated aging compared to chronological aging and was a cause for aggravation of major health issues. They also found, however, that emotional regulation reduced the effect of stress on accelerated aging. Humans are not used to handle the advanced levels of chronic stress being experienced by a vast percentage of the population today. This stress results in emotional problems, depression, panic attacks, or other forms of anxiety and worry, headaches, upset stomach, high blood pressure, chest pain, and problems with sex and sleep, etc.
Possible methods of stress reduction are:
do guided meditation
practise deep breathing / pranayama
maintain social bonds / connections with supportive and positive people
indulge in a hobby, new learning, laughter therapy, a pet, play games, etc
S: Social: One meta-analysis found that people with healthy and supportive relationships live longer, and that these effects are surprisingly strong. Over the course of studies averaging seven years long, research participants with larger social networks were about 45 percent less likely to die.
One explanation is that social relationships help calm our stress-response system. While chronically high levels of the stress hormone cortisol wreak havoc on our physical and emotional health, experiencing safe and supportive social relationships has the opposite effect, keeping our stress-response system in check. In a study of elderly Hong Kong residents, researchers found that those who spent more time cultivating social relationships had a significant drop in cortisol levels during the day, which could explain why positive relationships help us learn better, stay healthier, and live longer.
Strong social bonds help us stay healthy, young and strong.
S: Supplements: Even the best possible diet cannot give us all the goodness that nature has, to support our longevity and age reversal. For this reason, we have to turn to Supplements. Researchers have identified an number of Supplements for age reversal such as: NMN or NR (Nicotinamide Mono Nucleotide or Nicotinamide Riboside), AKG - alpa keto-glutarate, Spermidine, Resveratrol, Quercetin, Fisetin, Collagen, Coenzyme Q10, Astragalus, Rhodiola, Pterostilbene, Curcumin, ALA, Astaxanthin, Hyaluronic Acid, which have proven age reversal benefits apart from Vitamin and Mineral Supplements such as Vitamin D3, K2, B12, C and E, Magnesium, Melatonin, Zinc, Folic acid, Biotin, Lutein, Lycopene.
All these supplements impact some of the 9 pathways for age reversal / longevity.
F.I.T.N.E.S.S.S.S. is my mantra to stay young and healthy. I hope it becomes yours too!
On this Diwali may your achieve prosperity in Health too!
Welcome to growing young, staying healthy, active and independent.
Akkshay Mehta
(Age Reversal Evangelist)
This blog is my effort to inspire you with the latest developments in the space of healthspan, lifespan and age reversal. In simple English! Do share and Stay tuned.
I would love to hear from you. I can be reached at mehtaakkshay@gmail.com