LIVE PART III: Hormesis

Today, I will align myself with cherishing reality, focusing and having fun , so that I may have the energy I need to enthusiastically, LIVE, love, learn and leave a legacy of excellence. HORMESIS: I originally wanted to break down the "Live" section into three entries, sleep, exercise and nutrition. However before moving on to exercise or nutrition from my last entry on sleep, I feel it is important to have an entry on HORMESIS. Traditional thought refers to certain substances or activities as either being "good for you", or "bad for you". Recent research seems to indicate that this is an oversimplification that leads to two very common mistakes: the first being that "if a little is good, then a lot must be better", and the second being, "if a lot is bad, then abstaining completely must be better." It turns out that our body reacts to exposure to various potentially harmful stresses by compensating or even overcompensating for them, thus making us more able to deal with future exposure to these stresses. (think calluses, suntans, bigger muscles and livers able to "hold liquor" as but a few examples). Exposure to viruses helps us build antibodies for future exposure and lack of exposure leaves us vulnerable. That doesn't mean that viruses are "good for us", per se. Keeping this in mind, some exercise may be good, none may be bad, and too much may be worse. Some red wine may be good, too much will destroy your liver. Even mild smoking may help you deal with air pollutants better than someone with no exposure. (sacrilege!). So, Nietsche's quote, of "whatever doesn't kill me makes me stronger", IMO is wrong, it may just kill you slower. So moving forward to nutrition and exercise, I will be taking HORMESIS into consideration, looking for a "therapeutic window" where too little is ineffective or deficient, too much is toxic and finding just the right amount is the goal. To further complicate things, the therapeutic window is more than likely a moving target, from individual to individual and even within the same individual at different time or age, or even with differing variables. Thanks for reading.