Live longer through hormesis, uncovering the truth about cholesterol, and you are the owner of your might.

On the topic of alcohol consumption, there is actually quite a bit of research that shows that moderate, measured alcohol consumption may not only not be bad for you, but may actually have some longevity inducing and disease preventive benefits. 

Now, I want to make it clear, I will not be advocating either way in favor of, or against alcohol consumption, but merely shedding some light (backed by actual scientific research) on the subject from a perspective that isn’t often shared, and in a way that I think will be beneficial to you. 

As a primer for the coming weeks segments on alcohol and the potential health benefits of moderate consumption, we’re going to tee it up more clearly defining the term that may be at the crux of these potential health benefits, and that is “hormesis”. 

Hormesis is a biological phenomenon characterized by a biphasic dose-response to an environmental agent or stressor. This means that low doses of a substance or stressor that would be harmful or even lethal at higher doses can actually produce beneficial effects. 

Here's how this concept works inside the body to improve health through stress:

Mild Stress as a Trigger: When the body is exposed to a mild, controlled stressor, it perceives this as a challenge to its internal balance (homeostasis). This could be something like brief exposure to cold, intense but short exercise, or temporary calorie restriction (fasting).

Activation of Protective Mechanisms: In response to this mild disruption, the body initiates a cascade of adaptive responses at the cellular and molecular levels. These responses are aimed at restoring balance and enhancing the body's ability to cope with future, more severe stressors.

Key Mechanisms Include:   

✔️ Increased production of antioxidants and detoxification enzymes: These help to neutralize harmful free radicals and eliminate toxins more efficiently.   

✔️ Enhanced DNA repair mechanisms: The body becomes better at fixing damage to its genetic material.   

✔️ Activation of heat shock proteins and other stress-protective proteins: These proteins help to stabilize other proteins, prevent misfolding, and promote cellular survival.   

✔️ Improved mitochondrial function: Mitochondria, the energy powerhouses of cells, become more efficient and resilient.

✔️ Stimulation of autophagy: This is a cellular "clean-up" process where damaged or unnecessary components are broken down and recycled.

✔️ Modulation of inflammatory pathways: A transient inflammatory response can trigger anti-inflammatory processes that lead to a net reduction in chronic inflammation over time.   

✔️ Neurotrophic factor release: In the brain, mild stress can stimulate the production of factors that support neuron growth, survival, and function.   

✔️ Enhanced Resilience and Adaptation: The temporary activation of these protective mechanisms leads to a state of enhanced resilience. The body becomes better equipped to handle more significant stresses in the future, whether they are environmental, physical, or metabolic. This can translate to various health benefits, including:   

• Increased longevity: By promoting cellular repair and reducing damage accumulation.   
• Improved metabolic health: Enhancing insulin sensitivity and promoting healthy weight management.
• Enhanced cardiovascular function: Strengthening the heart and blood vessels.  
• Neuroprotection: Making the brain more resistant to age-related decline and neurodegenerative diseases.   
• Boosted immune function: Improving the body's ability to fight off infections.   
• Increased physical fitness: Through muscle adaptation and improved energy utilization.   

Examples of Hormetic Stressors and Their Potential Benefits:

• Exercise: Short bursts of intense activity followed by recovery periods can stimulate muscle growth, improve cardiovascular health, and enhance metabolic function.   
• Caloric Restriction and Intermittent Fasting: Temporarily limiting calorie intake or restricting eating to specific windows can trigger autophagy, improve insulin sensitivity, and promote cellular repair.   
• Temperature Exposure (Sauna and Cold Exposure): Brief exposure to heat or cold can activate stress response pathways, reduce inflammation, and potentially improve immune function and cardiovascular health.
• Exposure to Certain Plant Compounds (Phytochemicals): Low doses of some compounds found in plants, like those in cruciferous vegetables or berries, can activate detoxification enzymes and antioxidant defenses.   
• Mental Challenges: Engaging in mentally stimulating and novel tasks can promote cognitive resilience.   

The short of it is that it’s clear, the human body strengthens through stress. 

The more we learn about this idea of hormesis, and how to use it to our advantage strategically, the healthier, more physically and mentally resilient we become. 

As with all things, it’s about moderation though. 

Exercise for 24 hours straight, and you’ll end up hospitalized most likely. 

Lift weights for 60 minutes, 3-4 times per week, and you will strengthen your bones, joints, and muscles, as well as reducing risk of most diseases. 

Take a 5 minute cold shower, or sit in a cold plunge for 3-5 minutes, and you will reduce inflammation, and feel on top of the world; do it for 30 minutes, and you might get hypothermia. 

Fast for 36 hours periodically, and you rebuild your gut, cells, and immune systems. 

Fast for 30 days and everything in the body weakens. 

Understanding hormesis and the idea of a hermetic response will now better arm you forth upcoming segments on alcohol consumption and longevity.

A paper published in the journal Nature titled, “Remnant cholesterol can identify individuals with higher risk of metabolic syndrome in the general population” states that recent research points to remnant cholesterol being the true “bad cholesterol”, and an increase in it has a strong correlation to the development of metabolic syndrome. 

What is Metabolic Syndrome and why does it matter?

Metabolic Syndrome is defined by the Mayo Clinic as “a cluster of conditions that occur together, increasing your risk of heart disease, stroke, and Type II Diabetes. These conditions include high blood pressure, high blood sugar, excess body fat around the waist, and abnormal cholesterol or triglyceride levels.” 

Essentially, as the body ages, especially the more progressively it ages, it becomes less adept at metabolizing lipids and blood sugar, and when this gets to a point where it starts to cause real potential health concerns and problems, it’s deemed ‘Metabolic Syndrome’. 

Once you’ve hit the point of having Metabolic Syndrome, your risk of developing serious health complications and disease goes up significantly. 

Weight gain comes on more quickly, blood lipid profiles worsen, and insulin becomes more and more resistant, to the point of developing full on insulin resistance, or Type II Diabetes.

When I mentioned, “especially the more progressively it ages” above, with respect to the aging process on the body, what I’m referring to is an individual aging internally (biological age) at a rate faster than their actual age. This is brought on by a multitude of commonly known factors such as:

❌   Poor Diet

❌   Poor Lifestyle

❌   Lack of Quality Sleep

❌   Excessive Stress

All of which, especially when compounded, will increase your likelihood of developing Metabolic Syndrome earlier in life. 

Just as someone’s biological age can increase at a rate faster than their actual age due to the aforementioned factors, one can age biologically more slowly than their actual age when diet and nutrition is good, they largely make good lifestyle choices, sleep well, and mitigate and remove stress from their life effectively. All of which will help you stave off Metabolic Syndrome and the development of most diseases. 

This paper shows that remnant cholesterol is a strong indicator of overall metabolic health in the body, and thus, provides you a barometer to determine if you are at risk of developing, or maybe have developed Metabolic Syndrome. 

Once you have drawn this correlation, you are then in a better position to analyze your diet and lifestyle and make changes accordingly, or maybe none at all, if your metabolic health seems to be very good. 

What this paper also indicates, is that the picture on “cholesterol” is more broad than simply, high cholesterol equals increased risk of heart disease, as it seems more and more that the presence of Metabolic Syndrome is a stronger indicator of risk of all disease, including heart disease, and high cholesterol doesn’t necessarily mean one has metabolic syndrome.

In fact, last week I cited a 35 year study that found that individuals with high cholesterol actually lived to be 100 or more at a much higher frequency. 

How do you find out what your remnant cholesterol is?

Determining your remnant cholesterol is quite easy. Simply take your Total Cholesterol, and subtract both your LDL and HDL Cholesterol. The remaining number, which is essentially your remaining cholesterol, is your remnant cholesterol. 

If you have recent blood work panels, you can go back and determine this number right away. 

NOTE: This should be a blood work panel done while fasted. Whether you are referring to recent blood work, or referring to future blood work you will be getting done to determine your remnant cholesterol, blood drawn while fasted will show an accurate depiction of your lipid profile, and provide a more accurate remnant cholesterol. 

For example, let’s say your Total Cholesterol is 230, and your LDL is 120, and HDL is 90. (Measured in mg/dL)

A 2021 study suggests that a remnant cholesterol of 24 mg/dL or more indicates a greater risk of stroke and heart disease, and thus, an indicator of poor cardio-metabolic health. And generally, a remnant cholesterol 30-40 mg/dL and higher is considered an indicator of poor metabolic health, and likely a strong indicator of Metabolic Syndrome. 

Anything under that is more ideal, and the lower it gets, the better the indicator of overall positive metabolic health. 

Peeling Back the Layers 

An interesting finding of this study is the difference between male and female in the correlation between high remnant cholesterol and Metabolic Syndrome. 

Men, who, despite being more likely to have higher numbers in the remnant cholesterol range, have a lower correlation between high remnant cholesterol and the development of Metabolic Syndrome. 

Meaning, women have a stronger correlation between high remnant cholesterol and the development of Metabolic Syndrome. So, if you’re a woman reading this, and you know your remnant cholesterol number, it’s probably worth placing a greater importance on what this number may be telling you. 

In fact, as women age, the incidence of Metabolic Syndrome goes up quite significantly by the decade. 

Approximately 66%, or ⅔ of individuals with Alzheimer’s are women, and Alzheimer’s is definitely one of the diseases that are strongly linked to Metabolic Syndrome, even being called Type III diabetes. 

Below is an outline of the incidence of Metabolic Syndrome in women by age range:

Furthermore, the paper draws a correlation between menopause, and the rate of Metabolic Syndrome stating:

“Additionally, with the beginning of menopause, the decline of skeletal muscle mass is accelerated, blood lipids deteriorate, and remnant cholesterol levels are significantly increased, all of which increase insulin resistance, which in turn, leads to metabolic syndrome.”

Basically, what they’re saying is that as women go through hormonal changes, which results in a dramatic reduction of progesterone, estrogen, and testosterone, and as a result, they have a greater likelihood of losing muscle mass, which is critical for mitigating Metabolic Syndrome.

In short, women, at some point, you will be faced with inevitable hormonal changes that will negatively impact your ability to maintain muscle mass, which will negatively impact your overall metabolic health. 

This brings us back to a recurring theme of this newsletter blog, and that is…

Protein not only doesn’t make you fat (except in rare cases when there is a genetic snip that causes this), but it actually speeds up metabolism, and the research shows, typically, the more the better, both for supporting exercise recovery, supporting muscle mass, and boosting metabolism, all of which can stave off, or help reverse Metabolic Syndrome.

The earlier you start the better, as the stronger you are, heading into these inevitable hormonal changes, the less the loss in muscle mass will affect you! 

Men, this also happens to you, so the message is the same. 

I dedicated an entire Weekly Thread to the importance of muscle mass, strength, and protein in your diet for longevity. CLICK HERE to check it out. 

Painting with Broader Strokes on the Discussion of Cholesterol

Traditional thinking in medicine is that high cholesterol increases risk of heart disease (I’ll discuss the flaws of this thinking more in coming issues), and therefore, if one can medicate with a pharmaceutical to reduce cholesterol, that would then reduce risk of heart disease. 

Enter statin medications. 

A statin does in most cases reduce cholesterol, so the seemingly obvious and simple conclusion traditionally would then be drawn that one’s risk of heart disease then goes down. 

Again, citing the research I shared last week on the blood biomarkers of centenarians (those living to 100 years or more), actually indicated that high cholesterol was a biomarker directly correlated to a LONGER lifespan, and thus, could reasonably assume a lower risk of heart disease. 

As the research above indicates, remnant cholesterol might be a stronger biomarker of disease than just looking at your total cholesterol, or the supposed “bad” cholesterol, which is your LDL cholesterol.

If you refer to the way remnant cholesterol is determined, by subtracting your HDL and LDL cholesterol from your total cholesterol, you could take a statin; it could lower your cholesterol, but have ZERO impact on your remnant cholesterol. 

If Metabolic Syndrome is the real correlation and link to disease, and not just heart disease, but diabetes, Alzheimer’s, cancer, et cetera, taking a statin could lower total cholesterol (meaning it’s technically doing its job) but have no impact on one’s level of Metabolic Syndrome by not reducing remnant cholesterol, blood sugar, etc, and thus, really be doing nothing to actually lower risk of disease, including heart disease.

I think the real question is, “Do we need to be concerned with cholesterol?”

Or at minimum, “Is more information and lab work needed to truly paint the picture on risk of heart disease and the potential correlation with high cholesterol?”

Now, the rub is in asking these questions, is that it sells a lot less statins, and you can deduce from that what you’d like. 

My aim in discussing this subject in more depth, as I’ve begun to in the last couple weeks, and will continue to in the next few weeks, is to simply arm you with more information to help you make informed decisions on your own health. 

This is information that is not necessarily being made readily available to you, and I think it’s important to get out there.

I think the more questions we ask, the more information we are armed with, the more empowered we are to make the decisions we deem best for ourselves, and our health, and ultimately, that is always what I am trying to do with this weekly blog.

“I am owner of my might, and I am so when I know myself as unique.”

-Max Sturner

You are the arbiter of your actions and your way forward. 

Do not let others determine your fate for you.

Now, others will bump into you from time to time, they may hinder, and even try to disrupt your path forward. 

But they cannot stop you if you don’t let them.

Neither circumstance nor disposition can get in your way, if you remain the sole arbiter of your fate. 

You are the owner of your might.