I can see your book outline emerge right before my eyes! :-)
I'd be interested in hearing your thoughts about how aging impacts these steps. For example, I've been hearing people promoting increased protein intake for older people; but that means putting more stress no the kidneys trying to process that protein. My head spins. 🤯
😊 Ah, thank you Karen! Haha, I can see the outline too—it would be such a fun book to write! I’m so glad you can see the bigger picture coming together. 😊
What a great question! Here’s how I see this:
As we age, our organs and cells don’t function as “snappily” as they used to (though this depends on how much attention someone has paid to recovery throughout their life). When we’re younger, the body bounces back into adaptation (getting stronger) much more easily after stressors like exercise or daily life. Recovery is faster in so many ways—from better nutrient absorption to higher levels of growth hormone and deeper sleep (which unfortunately decreases as we age).
Because of this, aging requires paying even more attention to the entire recovery process to offset these changes. This definitely includes amino acids and protein intake but with nuance. Simply increasing protein levels in an exaggerated way just because someone is older could backfire—it’s something that needs to be done gradually and paired with resistance training. It’s also important to “feel” how the body responds with each adjustment.
At the same time, I think working on GI tract health (digestion and transit) is crucial. If digestion is on point, the body can better utilize the protein it’s getting, which means there’s less need for excessive amounts. So it’s not just about how much protein someone consumes—it’s about whether their body can actually use that protein effectively for building and adapting.
What I often see is people thinking, “Oh, I’m getting older, so I need to exercise more to stay young and slow down aging.” This is especially common in the longevity space. But what happens is they don’t pay equal attention to recovery—they push harder with exercise but don’t recover enough to balance it out. Without proper recovery, the combination of aging and over-exercising can become a disaster waiting to happen. It’s all about stressing the body enough to adapt but recovering deeply enough to allow that adaptation to happen.
"It’s all about stressing the body enough to adapt but recovering deeply enough to allow that adaptation to happen."
Well, that about sums it up, eh? 🤓
And my question is a great example of our cultural tendency to seek "Right Answers" - as if there were standardized formulas to better run our "machine". So hard not to get pulled in! But you've extracted me this time -- thanks. 🙏🏻
haha! yes! It does sum it up! Thank you for reading and for the amazing question Karen. And yes, it is hard not to get pulled in - there is so much information out there and such a hurry to get to healthspan/longevity that the nuance is easy to miss!! I get pulled in too but getting better and better at observing the 'getting pulled in' so I get myself pulled out as soon as I notice!
I can see your book outline emerge right before my eyes! :-)
I'd be interested in hearing your thoughts about how aging impacts these steps. For example, I've been hearing people promoting increased protein intake for older people; but that means putting more stress no the kidneys trying to process that protein. My head spins. 🤯
😊 Ah, thank you Karen! Haha, I can see the outline too—it would be such a fun book to write! I’m so glad you can see the bigger picture coming together. 😊
What a great question! Here’s how I see this:
As we age, our organs and cells don’t function as “snappily” as they used to (though this depends on how much attention someone has paid to recovery throughout their life). When we’re younger, the body bounces back into adaptation (getting stronger) much more easily after stressors like exercise or daily life. Recovery is faster in so many ways—from better nutrient absorption to higher levels of growth hormone and deeper sleep (which unfortunately decreases as we age).
Because of this, aging requires paying even more attention to the entire recovery process to offset these changes. This definitely includes amino acids and protein intake but with nuance. Simply increasing protein levels in an exaggerated way just because someone is older could backfire—it’s something that needs to be done gradually and paired with resistance training. It’s also important to “feel” how the body responds with each adjustment.
At the same time, I think working on GI tract health (digestion and transit) is crucial. If digestion is on point, the body can better utilize the protein it’s getting, which means there’s less need for excessive amounts. So it’s not just about how much protein someone consumes—it’s about whether their body can actually use that protein effectively for building and adapting.
What I often see is people thinking, “Oh, I’m getting older, so I need to exercise more to stay young and slow down aging.” This is especially common in the longevity space. But what happens is they don’t pay equal attention to recovery—they push harder with exercise but don’t recover enough to balance it out. Without proper recovery, the combination of aging and over-exercising can become a disaster waiting to happen. It’s all about stressing the body enough to adapt but recovering deeply enough to allow that adaptation to happen.
"It’s all about stressing the body enough to adapt but recovering deeply enough to allow that adaptation to happen."
Well, that about sums it up, eh? 🤓
And my question is a great example of our cultural tendency to seek "Right Answers" - as if there were standardized formulas to better run our "machine". So hard not to get pulled in! But you've extracted me this time -- thanks. 🙏🏻
haha! yes! It does sum it up! Thank you for reading and for the amazing question Karen. And yes, it is hard not to get pulled in - there is so much information out there and such a hurry to get to healthspan/longevity that the nuance is easy to miss!! I get pulled in too but getting better and better at observing the 'getting pulled in' so I get myself pulled out as soon as I notice!
Thanks for the great Info Helena.
My pleasure Kevin! Thank you for reading and I am so glad you liked it!