Siim Land - Metabolic Autophagy: Practice Intermittent Fasting and Resistance Training to Build Muscle and Promote Longevity

The reasonable man adapts himself to the world:
the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself.
Therefore, all progress depends on the unreasonable man.

George Bernard Shaw

Living organisms have developed complex systems of behavior and physiological processes to adapt to their environment.

There are countless stimuli we get exposed to on a daily basis and all of them send a certain signal to the body. This, in turn, triggers a chain reaction of events that determine how your metabolism, nervous system, and psychology respond. In 1878, Claude Bernard wrote:

The constancy of the milieu interieur is the condition of a free and independent existence.

He used it to describe how the first organisms left the oceans by developing the ability to balance their internal liquids and carry the ocean with them in the form of kidneys. This internal milieu describes the phenomenon of homeostasis also called equilibrium, inner balance, and wisdom of the body . It also describes the necessity for maintaining equanimity within oneself to truly experience freedom and independence in the world. Being stressed out and fatigued literally blindfolds you to the joys of life and prevents you from enjoying it fully.

This sort of equilibrium is something all living things and systems strive for. We want to be able to control the world around us as to avoid discomfort, chaos, disorder, pain, and ultimately death.

Entropy is the tendency of complex systems, including living organisms, to progressively move towards chaos, disorder, death, and deterioration. Its based on the Second Law of Thermodynamics, which states that the total entropy of an isolated system cannot decrease with time. Ideally, it can remain in a constant equilibrium or undergo reversible processes.

Aging is a phenomenon that describes a gradual process of entropy in the physical body. Birth or conception is the beginning point for a journey of growing and proliferation, which ultimately reaches deterioration and death. This is called senescence and its caused by the phenomenon of entropy.

Basically, aging and death are the entropy of life the slow waning away of the body that happens because of many things.

Immortality and eternal youth have been ideas of great curiosity throughout the entire history of the human species. Thousands of texts and practices have been invented in attempts to fight off entropy or at least postpone it.

Ancient aboriginal shamans, Ayurvedic yogis, Medieval alchemists, pharmacists, and contemporary biohackers all have many things in common. They seek to hone their bodies and sharpen their minds in some shape or form. The difference is only in degree to what extent are they capable of altering the human physiology and how. With modern technology and science, we now have access to more resources and information that will not only make our lives better and more vigorous but can also lengthen it.

This book is not about trying to live forever or bestowing you with the water of eternal youth. Its more like an attempt to optimize the human body for both longevity and performance. Theres not going to be a specific blueprint or a one-size-fits-all template for all to follow. Instead, Im going to give you the tools and principles you can use to improve your healthspan, get more things done, and potentially increase life expectancy based on the research we currently have.

This homeostatic equilibrium and entropy manifest themselves inside the physiological processes of our bodies as well.

The word metabolism comes from Greek, meaning change, and it describes the collection of all the life-sustaining chemical reactions inside the organism. These actions enable us to produce energy, maintain our physical framework, and eliminate the waste we get exposed to. Its the biological circuitry of life.

The metabolism has two sub-categories or sub-processes called anabolism and catabolism. Theyre opposites of each other that undergo a constant dance that directs the body to conduct specific metabolic functions and lead it to a certain direction of development. See Figure 1.

• Anabolism, meaning upward in Greek, describes the synthesis of biological molecules to build up new physical matter in the body . These reactions require energy and nutrients. Being anabolic means youre growing and building the framework that will decrease the accumulation of entropy.
• Catabolism, meaning downward in Greek, describes the breaking down of biological molecules to release energy. This can apply to the breakdown of bodily tissue as well as the digestion of food that then gets assimilated into the body through anabolic processes. Being catabolic means youre fragmenting larger structures into smaller ones and using it to produce new energy.

Figure 1 The Cycles of Anabolism and Catabolism

These oppositions can be seen everywhere around you. There are day and night, winter and summer, the sun and the moon, man and woman, black and white, wakefulness and sleep. Its how the world balances itself out as to maintain homeostasis and prevent excess.

This balance is critical for health. Youd think that for health and longevity its better to always stay anabolic as to prevent any loss of bodily tissue. However, being catabolic has many beneficial and even essential qualities that actually make you live longer.