To say that I’ve spent the last few years thinking obsessively about aging would be an understatement. Before consciousness can even emerge, the clock starts to tick. And it isn’t just you, but everyone around us, people we care about, and the people who brought us into this world. If you’re observant enough, you can already start to see glimmers of how they have changed over the years, and once you begin to witness wrinkles, hair falling off, and joint pains, it all gets too real. Whatever we once possessed will be someone else’s. But what if, we can alter this a tiny bit right now? What if we can reverse the aging damage we have incurred over our lifetimes? What would that future look like? The following article aims to incite a spark within you of how becoming curious about aging and executing it can change your life for the better. Once the inception happens, you’ll start to see the world differently and there won’t be any coming back.

While natural selection has made us who we are, sophisticated beings that can question their existence and even defy the intents baked within us by genes (for people not wanting to have kids), and we can outsmart all creatures, the process is not perfect. Something tells our cells what they are supposed to be and that something is epigenetic information. This epigenetic regulation is performed by numerous complex mechanisms such as DNA methylation, RNA interference, etc. As days go by, there is a loss of this regulatory information leading to the accumulation of epigenetic noise, cells becoming worse at what they do and cells getting activated when they shouldn’t have. Our cells start to lose the identity they once had leading to senescence within organisms; however epigenetic dysregulation is reversible. Evolution is willing to accommodate epigenetic damage as long as the organism can reproduce.

Solve the underlying problem of aging and you’ll address most if not all health concerns.

Each one of us wants to stay fit and live lives with the best version of ourselves possible, however, life gets in the way. Keeping work and relationships aside, it is aging that gets in the way. Being aware of this, most people are drawn to get on in their fitness/wellness journey primarily because they want to stay fit, lean, and healthy, lose weight, improve mental health, or get into a better shape. However, these goals are parochial as they compartmentalize the outcome one can hope to obtain.

Age reversal is the ultimate holistic fitness (and life) goal that encompasses almost if not all of our intents.

Thinking about age reversal requires being in tandem with an indefinite number of objectives. Starting off with physical aspects, it does require one to have low body fat percentage, which includes losing weight and having more lean muscle mass. Having more fat cells contributes to inflammation contributing to cellular damage. Our bodies shed a certain percentage of muscle mass every year if adequate amounts of protein are not consumed and strength training is not being done. It becomes increasingly challenging to pack up more muscle as we age, especially after 50. Having more lean muscle mass is linked with longevity. The cardio which many people find themselves dreading about improves Vo2 max, a crucial biomarker to determine the maximum amount of oxygen an individual can utilize during intense exercise. Scoring higher numbers on it showcases how good one’s cardiovascular health is. Skincare and haircare are not reserved for certain individuals, everyone should be thinking about this. Sun rays cause DNA damage within skin cells, the least one can do is apply sunscreen at most times. The importance of sleep can’t be overstated at this point. Moving on to mental well-being, it really helps to meditate and feel the calmness from doing nothing. There are far more fundamental reasons for why meditation should be looked into, this is one of them.

Now coming to the main argument, contemplating about aging, and the will to slow its speed does something remarkable. The more you become curious, the more you’ll start to think about what negligence is doing to you, and how it can be hard to come back from it. You’ll gather resources about how to restore vitality at the organ level which in turn leads to better health. You’ll be more mindful, and purpose-driven about following each of the above-stated practices, you’ll begin to view workouts as personal hygiene, going after a diet that nourishes you from within (food as medicine; medicine as food), and viewing sleep that is not to be negotiated with. There is no cheat day when it comes to aging. You can only slow its speed (and reverse in some cases) if you are diligent and earnest about committing to it, failure to do so would only accelerate it. Let the reality sink in.

I know it sounds discouraging at first but it has been inevitable, all the generations before we faced it, and we are not any different, but we are making steady progress in our understanding of slowing down aging and if people can get the basics right, they can meaningfully improve their lives. Starting with the fundamentals (nutrition/workouts/sleep) is a good starting point.

You’ll begin to see the crevices all across our society.

Once you internalize what you just read. No beneficiary would gain anything out of you being youthful and healthy. Food companies won’t, doctors won’t. Pharmaceutical companies won’t. You’ll be hyper-aware of self-destructive behaviors such as eating unhealthier diets, consuming alcohol, staying up late and all sorts of acts that are not doing anything good inherently. Desserts won’t give you the same rush as they used to because you’d know what that glucose spike is going to do. How the attention economy is deleterious to our minds. Ever wondered when was the last time you felt immense calm and did something without getting distracted. The extent to which our societies have drifted when we are not aware of what is happening to us baffles mind. Ignorance is not bliss.

While science is not there yet in terms of solving age reversal, you’ll emerge as a far better version of yourself because whatever falls under the age reversal objective is far more likely going to lead you to have a higher net positive impact on your health. This also includes working on relationships. We are social beings and if there is one thing common across blue zones, it is the social connections people have, the feeling of community. The scope is not limited to physical or mental well-being only.

We do the best we can with what we know today.

While there is always new evidence coming that either strengthens previously known hypotheses or negates them, the best we can do is to adapt and learn from what we know today. This means going through peer-reviewed studies and being data-centric. Let data make decisions about what your body requires, not you. Next time you have a craving, know what is it that your body requires. Let data be the authority that makes more of your decisions and be agile. An example way of thinking about this might be. The brain requires fiber, the heart requires mono/polyunsaturated fats (higher LDL, lower HDL), the pancreas and all organs benefit from the consumption of less sugar, etc. Once that is realized, think about how diet can be altered to fit the agenda of organs and more holistically body. We all have certain kinds of workouts which we enjoy, and some we move away from. Including crucial ones or altering existing ones that have been scientifically proven to be beneficial and not just the ones that are easy or enjoyable is going to be cardinal. If we don’t do anything, the inevitable will happen, the best we can do is have hope and take actions which seem reasonable given what we know today.

You’re not what chronological age tells you.

Everyone is aging at a different rate. Whoever is conscious about the goal and is prioritizing it is likely to be younger as per the biological age scale (can be measured through DNA methylation). Their biomarkers are going to reflect that. Measuring yourself (through blood testing etc.) can provide useful signals of how progress is looking.

Attempts to slow down aging solves other problems. It’s all tied up.

An important realization to have is that if we make attempts towards decelerating aging, we will eventually be making progress towards preventing or delaying diseases that start to come as we age such as Alzheimer’s, arthritis, diabetes, or even cancer, etc. While it’s hard to realize this when you’re young (I’m 25), you can reflect upon how you’ve changed over the past few years. It gets harder to pull an all-nighter, going to bed early becomes natural, and salads become comforting. Whether you want to retain the elasticity of your skin, retain dense hair, be able to make huge jumps or hike long distances, it’s all tied up together. The underlying reason is the same. The scope expands beyond health benefits.

Purpose is crucial for happiness. This way of thinking makes you contemplative about crucial aspects of life, careers where you can do meaningful work (short-lived nature of life) while not taking much stress (higher cortisol levels), working on relationships that spark joy, and ways in which they can be nurtured, partly because their well-being can determine your well-being. You’ll experience highs in physical health that will make you feel good about yourself in an unimaginable way. These highs are long-lasting and emerge from within. And you’ll not be able to go back even if you wanted to, because you now know what is at stake. This may have been a read like a preface, I intentionally didn’t specify what other numerous interventions one can go for beyond the obvious, or what diets are beneficial over others. The goal was to evoke curiosity, state something universally true and now you should do your own research on what science is up to. There’s a lot waiting for you to be read and inculcated. Good luck! Don’t just do it for yourself, do it for humanity. Let our generation be the one that breaks the age barriers.