Reduced-calorie diets consistently result in elevated lifespan, but how often you eat makes an impact as well. Intermittent fasting and fasting-mimicking diets can be considered a source of good stress.
For example, in one study, mice who didn’t snack between meals postponed the development of age-related illnesses, and their blood glucose levels were healthier than those of mice who ate whenever they felt like it.
The findings were consistent no matter what diet the mice were fed, and fasting is just one example of a good stressor.
“Lifestyle disease can be viewed as a lack of exposure to good stress,” explains Dr. Lucia. “There is good stress and bad stress, and the dose makes the poison. Low doses of stressors such as sunlight, exercise, and fasting turn on protective repair mechanisms that make our cells stronger and younger. You can think of good stress as the biological translation of Nietzsche’s quote: ‘What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.'”
Even plants become stronger when exposed to stress, like drought, heat and cold. These influences cause plants to produce phytochemicals to protect themselves from stress. The polyphenols found in olive oil, turmeric, green tea, chocolate, and red wine are examples of phytochemicals, and they’re all beneficial to our own health.
Start today and start small by eating “stressed plants,” increasing the intensity and frequency of your exercise, and getting some sunlight every day. According to Dr. Lucia, even emotional crises can also be positive in some ways. “Getting married or breaking up with a partner, having kids, and becoming older — these life events can trigger brain changes that make us emotionally stronger.”
In other words, going without a 2 p.m. granola bar or dealing with a rough patch at work isn’t just OK. It’s good for you.
