In my post about morning routines, I mentioned that the middle of the day can get a little messy. I prefer flexibility over regimentation, but I still need some guiding principles to act on.

One of those principles is Hormesis.

This is the idea that manageable doses of potentially harmful stressors are good for us. It's not quite "What doesn't kill us makes us stronger", but it's something like that.

Intermittent fasting causes the body to enter a state of ketosis. This metabolic state burns fats more efficiently and reduces food cravings, because your body is munching down on its fat reserves. So, if I'm not hungry, I don't worry about preemptively eating, since I know being hungry can be good for me.

Dry fasting, foregoing water, puts the body into a state of autophagy, which translates literally into "self eating". It's not as scary as it sounds, though. What happens is you start metabolizing a bunch of intracellular junk and debris, because water is a product of metabolic reactions. Our bodies will actually produce their own water ("endogenous water") out of junk that's making us sick, including excess body fat.

I haven't hydrated in over a year now and I feel great.

Being mildly cold for an extended period of time causes our bodies to switch from storing white fat to storing brown fat. It's been a while since I looked into this, but brown fat is supposedly healthier and it generates more heat.

The thermostat isn't low in the winter just because I'm cheap: it's good to be a little cold.

I've actually never looked into this in detail, but I know people swear by the health benefits of saunas, steam rooms, hot baths, etc. I think it's related to perspiration being one of the main ways we eliminate toxins from our bodies.

The thermostat isn't high in the summer just because I'm cheap: it's good to be a little hot.

The best known example of hormesis is just regular exercise. This extra stressing of our bodies is so linked to the idea of ~HealthAndFitness that I don't feel any need to elaborate on it.

Why do so many more people have allergies and other autoimmune disorders than in prior generations and why is it a western phenomenon?

One leading explanation is that our immune systems don't learn what they're supposed to because our modern environments are so sterile. Regular minor exposure to germs and allergens gives our immune systems the opportunity to learn what they are so that it doesn't go berserk when it sees a higher volume later (or something like that, I'm not that kind of doctor).

The 5 Second Rule should be a lower bound.

I'm sure there are many more examples of hormesis. Rather than look them up, though, I'd rather hear from the stackers about what beneficial stressors they rely on for their personal health.