Hormesis

Mon, 06 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Hormesis is the principle that a controlled dose of stress makes the body stronger by switching on repair and maintenance pathways. It’s the biological version of “shock the system to make it adapt” — the same logic that breaks hedonic adaptation in the mind.

The switches

From David Sinclair’s longevity work (source):

AMPK — turn it up. Rises when you’re hungry or moving (low energy/ATP). Signals the body to build more mitochondria.
mTOR — keep it low. Rises when you gorge on protein and sugar; blocks autophagy (cellular cleanup). Low mTOR = repair mode.
Sirtuins + NAD. When the body senses scarcity or stress it makes NAD, fuel for sirtuins that handle DNA repair and epigenome stabilization. (Alcohol depletes NAD — see caffeine & sleep and nutrition.)

The operating idea: “treat your body so it thinks it’s under threat.”

Hormesis on Today Purpose

Hormesis

The switches