The SHN #58: Hans Selye, Hormesis, and Side Sleeping

Welcome back to The Synergetic Health Newsletter! 

In this edition, I’ll introduce you to a leader in stress research, Hans Selye.

After that, an investigation into whether the concept of engaging in stressful activities for the “hormesis” benefit is actually wise.

Then comes a look into the best sleep position, walking as an indicator of health, and then I write about binge drinking culture.

👨‍🔬 Hans Selye: The Pioneer of Stress Research

In today's world, stress has become an all-too-familiar companion. From the demands of work and family life to the constant barrage of information and stimuli, it's easy to feel overwhelmed and stretched thin. However, the concept of stress and its impact on health has been around for nearly a century, thanks in large part to the work of Dr. Hans Selye.

Born in Vienna in 1907, Selye was a researcher and physician who dedicated his life to understanding the effects of stress on the body. During his medical school days in Prague, he made an observation: patients, regardless of their specific condition, shared identical symptoms such as coated tongues, joint aches and pains, intestinal disturbances, and loss of appetite and muscular strength. Selye wondered if there was a scientific explanation for this "syndrome of just being sick."

Years later, as a researcher in biochemistry at McGill University, Selye would propose an explanation based on his studies with rats. In a paper published in 1936 in the journal Nature, Selye described the "stress syndrome" characterized by three stages: alarm, adaptation, and exhaustion. He discovered that regardless of the type of stressor the rats were subjected to, be it toxins, excessive exercise, or extreme temperatures, their bodies responded in the same manner.

Selye's research revolutionized the way we think about stress and its impact on health. He recognized that stress is not always negative; a certain amount of stress is necessary for growth and adaptation. However, chronic stress can lead to the "exhaustion stage," where the body loses its ability to adapt, and health suffers.

One of Selye's main insights was that people can control how they adapt to stress and thereby exert control over their stress hormone levels, particularly cortisol. He gave the example of a drunk hurling insults at someone. The person has a choice: walk away, ignoring the insults, or get riled up and start a confrontation. In the latter case, adrenalin and cortisol will kick in, and if there is some faulty biochemistry, the adaptation stage will be skipped, and the exhaustion stage with its dire consequences will quickly set in.

Selye's work highlights the importance of recognizing and addressing chronic stress as a serious health concern. When we're constantly in a state of alarm or exhaustion, our bodies don't have a chance to repair and recharge. This can lead to a host of health problems, from heart disease and diabetes to anxiety and depression.

What can we learn from Selye's research to help us manage stress and achieve better health? Well, we must recognize the signs of chronic stress, both physical and emotional, and take steps to address them. This may involve self-care practices like exercise, meditation, and social connection, as well as seeking professional help when needed.

By applying Selye’s insights and taking steps to manage stress, we can lead healthier lives. As he once said, "It's not stress that kills us, it's our reaction to it."

🔎 Hormesis: Rethinking the Stress-Health Connection

Hormesis has become a popular concept in health and wellness circles over the past few years. The basic idea is that exposure to low doses of stressors or toxins can actually be beneficial, stimulating the body's adaptive responses and making us more resilient.

But is hormesis really the key to optimal health that many claim it to be? According to health researcher Jay Feldman, the truth about hormesis is more complex - and potentially concerning - than most realize.

What is Hormesis?

The term "hormesis" was first coined in the 1940s during the era of atomic bomb testing. Researchers were trying to understand the effects of radiation and other environmental toxins. They proposed that while large doses were clearly harmful, extremely small doses might actually be beneficial. This idea was then expanded to other stressors like exercise, fasting, heat/cold exposure, and various supplements.

The central tenet of hormesis is that a little bit of the right kind of stress - in just the right dose - can trigger beneficial adaptations in the body. Proponents argue this explains why practices like intermittent fasting, high-intensity exercise, cold plunges, and saunas seem to have health benefits. The stress stimulates our innate repair and defense systems, making us stronger and more resilient.

Is Hormesis Misunderstood?

While the hormesis hypothesis sounds compelling on the surface, Feldman argues it's based on some fundamentally flawed assumptions:

• It assumes the stress itself is beneficial. In reality, any kind of stress - even in small doses - is likely harmful. The benefits come from other mechanisms unrelated to the stress response.

• It ignores the cumulative nature of stress. We're exposed to countless stressors daily. Adding intentional stressors on top of that can easily push us over the edge.

• It doesn't account for individual differences in stress tolerance. What's a "beneficial" dose for one person could be harmful for another.

• It overlooks the fact that many hormetic practices have specific beneficial effects unrelated to stress (e.g. circulation benefits from heat exposure).

• The research on hormesis often cherry-picks certain biomarkers or outcomes while ignoring negative effects.

Rethinking Common "Hormetic" Practices

Many popular health practices are promoted based on hormetic effects. But Feldman suggests we need to reevaluate them:

Exercise: While exercise has clear benefits, excessive high-intensity training can be counterproductive. The goal should be getting enough stimulus to build strength/endurance without excess stress. Low-intensity movement throughout the day may be more beneficial than intense workouts.

Cold exposure: Brief cold exposure may have some circulation benefits. But practices like ice baths and cold plunges are highly stressful. The shivering and adrenaline rush aren't signs of benefit - they're signs of physiological strain.

Heat exposure (sauna): Moderate heat can improve circulation and sweating. But extremely high temperatures and long durations mainly just stress the body. Gentler heat exposure is likely more beneficial.

Fasting: Short-term fasting may help "reset" appetite and metabolism. But extended fasting is a major stressor that can slow metabolism and break down muscle. Regular meals are generally better for energy and health.

Breathing practices: "Breathwork" techniques that involve hyperventilation induce hypoxia (low oxygen) - a major stress. This doesn't "strengthen" the body, it just forces emergency stress responses.

The Stress-Energy Connection

Rather than intentionally stressing the body, Feldman argues we should focus on supporting the body's energy production and reducing overall stress load. Key points:

• Stress depletes cellular energy. Practices that seem invigorating in the short-term often drain our resources over time.

• Many biomarkers associated with hormesis (e.g. heat shock proteins, AMPK activation) are actually signs of cellular stress/damage, not beneficial adaptation.

• The ability to handle stress depends on having abundant cellular energy. Ironically, many "hormetic" practices reduce our capacity to deal with stress.

• Instead of stressing the body to force adaptations, we should support its innate capacity for energy production, repair, and regeneration.

A More Balanced Approach

This doesn't mean we need to completely avoid all forms of challenge or stimulation. But Feldman suggests a different approach:

• Focus on gentle, enjoyable movement throughout the day rather than intense workouts.

• Expose yourself to moderate temperature variations, but avoid extremes.

• Eat regular, nourishing meals rather than restrictive diets or extended fasting.

• Prioritize rest, relaxation, and stress reduction over constantly pushing your limits.

• Support cellular energy production through proper nutrition, sleep, light exposure, etc.

The goal is to provide enough stimulus to maintain fitness and function, without overwhelming the body's adaptive capacities. This allows our innate repair and regeneration systems to operate optimally.

Stress in Today’s Age

Many of us have internalized the idea that we need to constantly push ourselves to grow stronger. What if this mentality is actually holding us back?

Our ancestors faced unavoidable stresses and hardships. But now we have the opportunity to create lives with less chronic stress. Instead of manufacturing hardship, we could focus on optimizing our health, pursuing meaningful work, cultivating relationships, and enjoying life.

This shift in perspective aligns with emerging research on the importance of rest, recovery, and parasympathetic activation for health. It suggests that resilience comes not from constantly stressing ourselves, but from building a strong physiological foundation that allows us to gracefully handle life's inevitable challenges.

While the concept of hormesis has spurred interest in many potentially beneficial health practices, the underlying theory may be flawed. Rather than intentionally stressing our bodies, we may be better served by reducing our overall stress burden and supporting our innate capacity for energy production, repair, and regeneration.

Note that these views on Hormesis are Feldman’s and others in the bioenergetic space. There are plenty of researchers and practitioners who believe in the efficacy of introducing hormetic stress for a plethora of health benefits.

For me, I land closer to the bioenergetic view on this subject but am always open to learning more and changing my mind if I see fit.

𝕏 Thread of the Week

💤 Sleep on Your Side, Not Your Back: Sleeping on your back (supine) increases the frequency and intensity of obstructive sleep apnea events and is linked to sleep paralysis and mouth breathing. Mouth breathing during sleep can impair cognitive function by reducing working memory efficiency.

The supine position is also associated with neurodegenerative diseases and motor impairment in Parkinson’s disease due to reduced glial-dependent waste clearance from the brain. Traditional practices like shui gong and Ayurveda recommend sleeping on the side to enhance sleep quality and digestion. (h/t @breathless)

🚶 Could the Way You Walk Indicate Mitochondrial Dysfunction? This article discusses how gait analysis can indicate mitochondrial dysfunction and potentially diagnose specific mitochondrial diseases. They found that: “Compared to the healthy controls, individuals with mitochondrial disease demonstrated significantly reduced gait speed; they walked much more slowly. They also took smaller steps and had increase step time, width and length variability.”

🥃 The Truth About Alcohol: In this 3+ hour podcast, Dr. Rhonda Patrick provides an extensive overview of alcohol's effects on health, covering its biochemistry, impact on various diseases, and strategies for harm reduction. The main takeaway of the length podcast— there is no safe level of alcohol consumption for optimal health. Binge drinking, in particular, is unforgiving.

To reduce harm, Patrick recommends limiting consumption to 1-2 drinks a week, consume with food, stay hydrated by drinking water with electrolytes, and consider supplements like N-acetylcysteine, glutathione, or sulforaphane.

A quick rant about binge drinking culture. I was part of this culture from college into my early 30’s. Having 10+ drinks in a night was not some herculean feat and instead was more the norm for a weekend night out in NYC.

Having been out the game for years now, I now find myself observing this behavior in others. It’s become striking to me just how much people drink in a session. Consistent drinking for a period of at least 4-5 hours, sometimes reaching in excess of 20 drinks.

This is an enormous burden on the body— and I struggle to see the upside. Sure, being tipsy or drunk can be fun. But signing up for the short and long term downsides of such behavior over and over again sure seems like self-sabotage.

I don’t mean to judge because everyone has individual choice, but I think that people participate in this behavior because either a) they always have/out of habit b)it’s what everyone else is doing so it can’t be that bad c)they need to escape their sober reality.

Habitual behavior combined with societal pressures combined with desiring a change in state is a fairly potent trio that leads to binge drinking.

If you were at a bar or at a party where everyone was drinking, would you feel uncomfortable without a drink in your hand? For me, this is still mostly a yes.

If you were being pressured by your friends to go out on the town, would you have a hard time saying no?

If you had a hard week at work, would you reach for the bottle when you got home?

By no means am I trying to take the drink(s) out of your hand— but I would like to shine the light on your motivations for excessive alcohol consumption. We know there are negative health benefits and we know that there are a set of triggers (habit, social pressure, desired altered state) working to influence behavior.

Could you overcome these triggers, put your health first, and wake up on a Sunday morning feeling fresh?

🔗 One Hitters

🥥 Coconut oil reverses depression (Study and Discussion)

💧 Make your own LMNT-style electrolyte drink (Post)

💪 Rotator cuff exercises won’t fix your sh*t (Article and Video)

✔️ That will do it for this time! Hopefully you got some value out of it. If you have any questions/comments/things you’d like to learn more about please don’t hesitate to reach out.

🔗 If you know anyone who loves learning about these types of topics, send them this link!

📰 To read all past newsletters, go here.