Slow Down Aging: The Two Biggest Factors

Glycemic Variability and Inflammation

✨ Two major contributors to aging ✨

There are two important concepts to understand when it comes to aging: glycemic variability and inflammation. These factors play a massive role in how quickly or slowly we age. Let's break down each of these concepts.

1. Glycemic Variability

Glycemic variability refers to how often and by what amplitude your blood sugar changes. While food is the primary influencer, hormonal processes also play a role. But for simplicity, we'll focus on food today. Three factors in your diet affect glycemic variability:

• Meal frequency

• Meal composition

• Meal volume

The more frequently you eat, the more your meal leans toward simple carbohydrates, and the larger the meal, the higher the glycemic variability.

Why is this a problem?

Processing meals takes a lot of energy—energy that could be used for other important bodily functions. Here's why high glycemic variability isn't ideal:

• Increased blood sugar leads to higher insulin and other anabolic processes.

• Anabolic processes contribute to both good and bad growth (yes, even cancerous tissues).

• Reduced recovery time between meals means your body has less time to focus on recycling and cellular cleanup—think of it as trying to do road construction without stopping traffic!

• High glucose levels lead to inflammation due to the formation of AGEs (Advanced Glycation End-products), essentially rusting us from the inside out.

  
  

How can we decrease glycemic variability?

Here are some actionable tips:

• 🍽️ Decrease meal frequency — 3 square meals a day are plenty!

• 🥑 Include healthy fats and quality protein with each meal to slow the sugar spike.

• ⏳ Fast for at least 12 hours daily (overnight counts!).

• 🥦 Experiment with no-carb meals (fibrous vegetables are your friend).

• 🥗 Include resistant starches and fiber in your meals.

• 🧄 Incorporate fermented foods into your diet.

• 🚶‍♂️ Take a walk after meals.

• 🏋️‍♀️ Do a quick set of squats or pushups before eating.

• 🍽️ Chew your food at least 10 times — slow down and savor your meal.

  
  

2. Inflammation

Inflammation is the body's response to stress and isn’t always a bad thing. For example:

• 🌡️ A fever helps kill off viruses or bacteria.

• 💉 Redness around a wound promotes scabbing and new skin growth.

• 💪 Muscle soreness stimulates protein synthesis and tissue repair.

  
  

So, when is inflammation harmful?

When it becomes chronic and goes unresolved. This can happen due to various physiological, environmental, and psychological factors.

Examples of factors that cause excessive inflammation:

• Physiological:

  • Chronic exercise

  • Frequent consumption of processed food

  • Chronic dehydration

• Environmental:

  • Use of toxin-laden cleaning or personal products

  • Food filled with antibiotics and hormones

  • Chronic exposure to EMFs (electromagnetic fields)

  • Lack of sunlight or constant exposure to blue light

• Psychological:

  • Work stress

  • Family stress

  • Constant worrying or anxiety

    
    

How Stress Affects Inflammation

The way we interpret psychological stress affects how our body perceives it. Small doses of stress (and inflammation) are good, but chronic stress is bad.

How to Limit Inflammation in Daily Life:

Here are some recommendations:

• 😴 Focus on sleep — it's the ultimate recovery tool.

• 🧘‍♀️ Start a meditation, prayer, or journaling practice to manage stress.

• 🔍 Identify the sources of your stress and change what you can.

• 🥗 Eliminate processed foods from your diet.

• 💧 Avoid beauty and body products with chemicals or synthetic scents.

• ☀️ Get natural sunlight every day (or try infrared light therapy if needed).

  
  

By focusing on reducing glycemic variability and limiting chronic inflammation, you can significantly slow down the aging process and improve your overall well-being.