Cold Therapies
Cold Exposure Improves Insulin Sensitivity and Benefits Blood Sugar Control in Diabetics
SJS Comment. This is a huge increase in insulin sensitivity (the underlying problem of Type 2 Diabetes) in an extremely short period of time.
“Cold exposure may be a potential therapy for diabetes by increasing brown adipose tissue mass and activity. Here we report that 10 days of cold acclimation (14–15 °C) increased peripheral insulin sensitivity by ∼43% in type 2 diabetes subjects.”
https://www.nature.com/articles/nm.3891
Hormesis
Eating Fewer Meals Reduces Insulin Resistance
“Frequency of meals is an important aspect of nutrition, with profound effects on human health and lifespan. Reduced meal frequency can prevent the development of chronic diseases and extend the lifespan in laboratory animals due to lower oxidative damage and higher stress resistance. Intermittent fasting leads to a prolonged lifespan and positively affects glucose tolerance, insulin sensitivity and incidence of type 2 diabetes
Hormesis
Challenging Oneself Intermittently Improves Health
“Humans and their predecessors evolved in environments where they were challenged intermittently…Cells and organ systems acquired and retained molecular signaling and metabolic pathways through which the environmental challenges enhanced the functionality and resilience of the cells and organisms…Within the past 60 years there has been a precipitous diminution of such challenges in modern societies…Signaling pathways that mediate beneficial effects of environmental challenges on health and disease resistance are disengaged, thereby rendering people vulnerable to obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancers and neurodegenerative disorders.”
Exercise
Sitting Around Makes You Want to Sit Around; Challenging Yourself Leads to Fitness and Longevity
“(Lack of exercise) results in a vicious cycle that increases oxidative stress and reduces metabolic flexibility and perpetuates the disease state. In contrast, hormetic stimuli can induce an anti-inflammatory phenotype… leading to greater biological fitness and improved functional longevity. The links between obesity, the metabolic syndrome, diabetes, vascular disease and even cancer, are now all too clear.”