He blinks upon the hearth-rug,
and yawns in deep content,
accepting all the comforts
that Providence has sent…
—Alexander Gray, “On a Cat, Ageing”
#Scottish #literature #20thcentury #poem #poetry #cats #aging #ageing
ageing
APPARENTLY, AGEING HAS SETTINGS? 💎
I went looking for some genuinely good news this morning. Not politics. Not war. Not another billionaire doing something ghastly.
And I found something rather wonderful.
Scientists are increasingly interested not merely in lifespan, but in healthspan. In other words, not just keeping us alive longer while bits fall off, but keeping us healthier for more of the years we're alive.
A large study published this year followed more than 500 mice throughout their lives and found that restricting their daily eating window improved measures of healthy aging in both males and females.
The strongest results came from an eight-hour eating window. Male mice in that group also lived significantly longer, although they were eating somewhat fewer calories as well, so the story is not as simple as “fast and live forever.”
And, importantly, they were mice. Nobody has discovered the Fountain of Youth, and we do not yet know whether the same effects will translate into longer human lives.
But I still find the direction rather exhilarating.
I have practiced time-restricted eating for years, and I know what it has done for my own experience of being 70. I feel lighter in my body. Quieter. Less noise. More clarity.
That is personal experience, not scientific proof.
Perhaps the great achievement of aging research won't be making human beings live to 150. Perhaps it will be much simpler.
Being 80 and still walking. Being 90 and still thinking clearly. Remaining independent longer. Having fewer years at the end, dominated by disease and frailty.
As someone who has somehow arrived at 70 without being consulted about it, I find that rather wonderful.
I have every intention of being a nuisance at 100. Science has made no such promise.
I don't particularly need more life.
But I'll happily take more life in the years I've got.
@meditation
@DigitalCoup
@economics_that_works
#Ageing #Healthspan #Science #life #Longevity #HealthyAgeing #Fast #eating #human #Scientists
Edited 68d ago
Ardent on the beach at Rossnowlagh
on the last day of summer,
you ran through the shallows
throwing off shoes, and shirt and towel
like the seasons, the city’s years…
—Robin Robertson, “Donegal”
published in SAILING THE FOREST (Picador, 2014)
https://www.panmacmillan.com/authors/robin-robertson/sailing-the-forest/9781447231554
#Scottish #literature #poem #poetry #summer #Donegal #ageing
THE MORE I ATE,
THE HUNGRIER I FELT 💎
I’ve been fasting for years now. Six years, I think, since the beginning of the pandemic anyway. In that time, I’ve become a completely different shape. Losing 100 kilos will do that, though, and losing it slowly over the years seems to have helped it stay off.
I never did it as punishment. Nor as a diet. And not because I’m trying to become some purified version of myself. I simply discovered that I feel so much better when I eat in a short window and then leave my body alone to rest and digest.
I break yesterday’s fast in a four-hour eating window every morning, then fast for 20 hours until the next morning. I drink water and black tea, eat a bowl of muesli at 7am, and have an early lunch at 10:30am.
What surprised me most was how quickly it became ordinary.
At first, fasting sounds so dramatic, almost impossibly hard to most people. But after a while, it is just breakfast, brunch, then freedom from food until the next day. I don’t really think about it anymore, and I rarely feel hungry. Oddly, I felt much more hunger when I ate “normally”, even though I was eating far more food.
Now there’s no constant grazing. No planning big dinners. No wondering what to eat at night. And no longer constantly thinking about food, where to eat, or how much I’d like to lose weight. The body has become lovely and quiet, and I love the quiet. That is probably the real reason I have stayed with it.
I’m not suggesting everyone should fast. I only know that, for me, eating less often has become the most natural way to live.
@3goodthings @DigitalCoup @meditation @economics_that_works @disability @pwd @joinin
