122. Stress Your Way to Better Health with Hormesis

What if small doses of stress could actually make us stronger, sharper, and even expend our lifespan? For the powerful concept of hormesis, or what's sometimes called good stress. Think of hormesis like a workout for your cells.
When they're exposed to controlled stress, they adapt and they become stronger, building resilience not just in one area but across multiple systems essential for overall health.

First, cold exposure. Then there's intermittent fasting and caloric restriction.
And of course, exercise, one of the most well-known hormetic stressors. They require mental endurance that carries over into other areas of life, helping us handle stress more effectively.
Imagine a world where controlled stressors don't just challenge us, but actually make us healthier, more resilient, and even slow down the aging process. It might sound surprising, but...
Hey guys, welcome back to the Ultimate Human Podcast. I'm your host, human biologist Gary Brecka, and today we're going to explore the powerful concept of hormesis, or what's sometimes called good stress.
You've heard me talk about this all the time. So imagine a world where controlled stressors like cold plunging, fasting, or sauna sessions don't just challenge us, but actually make us healthier, more resilient, and even slow down the aging process.
It might sound surprising, but that's exactly what hormesis is all about. This process activates our body's natural adaptive responses, boosting mood, speeding up cellular repair, and even helping us feel and function our best.
So let's break down how these simple strategic practices can supercharge our mental, physical, and cellular health. To kick things off, I want to ask a powerful question.
What if small doses of stress could actually make us stronger, sharper, and even extend our lifespan? Today, we're unlocking the science of hormesis, which involves these short, controlled moments of stress like cold exposure, intermittent fasting, or intense workouts. These aren't random challenges.
They're science-backed practices designed to boost our resilience and overall health. You know, one of my favorite sayings is that aging is the aggressive pursuit of comfort.
So let's start by defining hormesis itself. Hormesis is essentially our body's adaptive response to moderate controlled stressors.
Whether it's a shift in temperature, a dietary adjustment, or a physical challenge, these small stressors prompt an adaptive process in our cells and tissues, making us more resilient and improving our functionality. It's a concept that flips the conventional thinking about stress on its head.
Rather than being harmful, intentional mild stressors can help us build mental and physical toughness, increase our energy, and even promote longevity. And this response is happening at a deep cellular level.
Think of hormesis like a workout for your cells. When they're exposed to controlled stress, they adapt and they become stronger, preparing you to handle future challenges more efficiently.
This is known as the hormesis effect or a hormetic response. When we introduce mild stresses, it triggers a series of cellular processes that deliver long-term benefits like slowing down aging, strengthening health, and boosting resilience.
Now let's talk about what we mean by good stress. This type of stress is all about introducing small, controlled challenges to our bodies, like a cold plunge, a few hours of fasting, or a short, intense workout.
These activities don't push our bodies past their limits. Instead, they encourage growth and adaptation.
When we introduce stressors like these, our body experiences a temporary disruption in its balance, known as homeostasis. This disturbance activates cellular defense mechanisms and it kicks off a repair process and works to restore our stability.
So over time, these responses strengthen our body's ability to handle bigger challenges, building resilience not just in one area, but across multiple systems essential for overall health. Let's dig a bit deeper and look at some specific examples of hormetic stressors and the unique benefits they bring.
First, cold exposure. Think of a cold shower or an ice bath.
Now, it may feel uncomfortable, but the benefits of cold exposure are profound. When you expose your body to cold, it increases levels of endorphins and norepinephrine, which actually elevate our mood, reduce feelings of stress.
So research also shows that cold exposure can lower our cortisol levels, our body's primary stress hormone.

And this helps us build mental toughness and resilience over time.

Next, we have heat exposure, like what you experience in a sauna. Regular sauna sessions can improve cardiovascular health by enhancing blood flow, reducing blood pressure, and decreasing inflammation.
These combined effects lower the risk of cardiovascular disease. Studies have even found that regular sauna sessions can increase growth hormone levels, supporting muscle growth, bone density, and having a healthy body composition.
Then there's intermittent fasting and caloric restriction. While not for everybody, these are powerful ways to activate hormetic responses in your bodies.
Fasting improves insulin sensitivity, which actually supports better blood sugar control, helps with our cholesterol levels, and our triglyceride management, which is a measure of our blood fat. Fasting also activates autophagy, a cellular sort of cleanup process that recycles damaged proteins and supports cellular health and longevity.
And of course, exercise is one of the most well-known hormetic stressors. Physical activity, especially high-intensity interval training, or HITs, triggers biochemical effects that benefit not only your muscles, but also your cardiovascular systems.
HIT in particular has been shown to stimulate the creation of new mitochondria, those tiny little powerhouses in our cells that fuel our muscles, enhance energy levels, and do so many other benefits, including provide us with cellular energy. But the benefits of hormesis go beyond just the physical.
These stressors also build mental and emotional resilience. Activities like cold plunges and intense workouts don't just train our bodies, they train our minds.
They require mental endurance that carries over into other areas of life, helping us handle stress more effectively and with greater resilience. Beyond resilience, these short-term stressors also support long-term energy by activating cellular repair processes and boosting our mitochondrial function.
You hear me talk about the mitochondria all the time, the powerhouse of the cell. The only thing that fuels our energy levels and fuels human beings is the ATP produced by these little monsters.
You have 110 trillion of these in your body. These cellular boosts not only improve energy levels, but even have implications for slowing down the aging process at a cellular level.
Hermetic stressors also enhance mental clarity. By balancing neurotransmitters like dopamine, norepinephrine, they improve mood and help us adapt to daily stressors.
In controlled doses, stress can actually sharpen your focus, elevate your mood, and boost our overall sense of well-being. And finally, these stressors also contribute to overall longevity by reducing inflammation, enhancing immune function, and even lowering the risk of chronic disease.
So consistently practicing hormetic stressors offers protective effects against health risks like cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, and even metabolic syndrome, which almost 50% of the nation has today. Now let's look at some specific research that highlights the benefits of hormetic stressors.
One study found that regular cold exposure led to a 29% reduction in sickness absence among its participants. Additionally, cold exposure can improve mood by increasing norepinephrine levels, enhancing alertness and focus, and may even help alleviate symptoms of anxiety and depression.
Research on intermittent fasting reveals that it activates cellular repair processes like autophagy, which is crucial for slowing aging. Fasting has also been shown to improve metabolic health by regulating blood sugar, reducing insulin resistance, and lowering inflammation, all of which decrease the risk of chronic diseases like type 2 diabetes.
And studies on saunas have linked regular use to better heart health with reduced risks of hypertension and cardiovascular disease. Saunas also help increase circulation and reduce cortisol levels, mimicking the effects of moderate exercise and contributing to improved mood through the release of endorphins.
High intensity interval training HIIT, is another powerful example. Research has shown that even just 10 minutes of intense interval training can produce health benefits similar to 50 minutes of moderate exercise.
HIIT also improves insulin sensitivity. It lowers your blood pressure and increases your VO2 max, which is a key measure of physical fitness, making it a potent hormetic stressor.
Now you might be wondering how to start to integrate these powerful hormetic stressors into your daily life. Here are a few practical tips to get you started.
Cold exposure. Start small with a 30-second shower at the end of your warm shower.
Gradually start to increase the exposure over a few weeks, paying attention to how you feel after each session, and slowly building your tolerance to colder temperatures and longer durations. Remember, very little evidence that colder or longer is better.
Small amounts of exposure to these hormetic stressors can be fantastic. Let's go to fasting.
Ease into fasting with a simple 12-hour fast. Just fast from dinner to breakfast the next morning.
Let's say from 8 p.m. to 8 a.m.
As you get comfortable, you can extend your fasting window and try fasting a couple of times a week. Just make sure to focus on hydration and balance meals before and after fasting.
One of my favorites, sauna. If you're new to the sauna, start with 5 to 10 minutes at a moderate temperature.
Temperature is between 120 and 140 degrees Fahrenheit. Then gradually increase your time as your body adapts.
You can go as high as 160 to 180 degrees Fahrenheit. I would not ever get into a sauna above 180 degrees Fahrenheit and I wouldn't stay in a sauna that is above 160 for more than 15 minutes.

Drink plenty of water to stay hydrated and make sure to allow time for cooling down after you get out. Balance stress with recovery.
It's just as important to balance stress days with rest days. Alternate between cold or heat exposure, fasting or intense exercise, and then give your body time to recover.
Recovery practices like gentle yoga or my favorites like breath work, PEMF, exposure to sunlight are all excellent ways to support this adaptation process. One of my favorite things to do is actually alternate between sauna and cold plunge.
So when I do something called a transition shower or something to break the catecholamines, lots of you guys, you ruminate at night when you get into bed. So you go down to go to sleep and you're body tired, but your mind awake, you have a hard time shutting off your mind.
Well, what is a contrast shower? What is contrast therapy? The contrast therapy is something that you do to add a hormetic stress that actually calms your mind down. One of my favorites, and it's portable, you can use it anywhere in the world, is you step into a shower, take a regular warm shower.
At the end of that, turn the water as hot as it will go, let it run on your spine for about a minute, and then step out of that water stream, turn it as cold as it will go, and then step back in and deal with it. Just deal with it for 30 seconds to a minute.
When you get out and dry off, you'll find that those catecholamines, those racing thoughts, those ruminating thoughts have been blown right out of your mind. And then I like to also balance that with breath work when I get into bed.
I like to do slow rhythmic breathing, about a five to seven second inhale through my nose, followed by a pause, and then followed by a long exhale through a straw. Try this tonight when you get in bed and see if you could even do 10 rounds of that breath work before you're absolutely falling asleep.
Those of you guys that see me post my sleep scores all the time, I'm generally falling asleep in less than five minutes. It astounds my wife all the time.
Sometimes she says I fall asleep in the middle of my own sentences, and it's because that breath work and the contrast therapy are a great way to break the mental stress and strain of your day and make a transition into your sleep. Now, if you're fortunate enough to have a sauna and a cold plunge, which you don't need to do this, but if you do, 20 minutes in a dry sauna, followed by a one-minute cold plunge where you submerge your head for about three seconds, and get out and dry off, we'll do the same thing.
So balance stress with recovery. It's just as important to balance stress days with rest days.
Alternate between cold or heat exposure, fasting or intense exercise, and then give your body time to recover. Recovery practices like gentle yoga, breath work, stretching, deep breathing, these further support your adaptation process.
Mindfulness is another one of my favorites. You know, as I've gotten older, I've gotten considerably more mindful.
So consider using mindfulness techniques like meditation or deep breathing, either before or after these practices, to enforce your resilience. Taking a moment to reflect after each session can boost mental clarity and support your body's adaptation to stress.
The truth is, stress can be a powerful ally if we know how to embrace it intentionally. By incorporating small controlled stressors into our lives, we can transform our health and resilience because it's not about avoiding stress.
It's about using it to thrive. Stay strong, stay resilient, and remember, as always,

that's just science.