Essay: The Science of Self-Repair

How our bodies reverse decades of bad habits.

Good afternoon everyone. Today’s essay discusses habits such as drinking, smoking, not exercising, sedentary living, eating processed foods and more. That said, it isn’t about measuring or judging those behaviours, nor is it about whether or how to improve them. I’m a firm believer that we cannot judge or discipline ourselves into better habits, we can only respect ourselves into a voluntary desire to care more. I hope you’ll walk away from this email with a strong sense of hope. Hope that, although we may not always be the perfect inhabitants of our temple, our temple is forgiving, adaptable, resilient, and can even repair prior damage done with sufficient TLC. Maybe reading about how much our bodies do for us, can inspire us to return the favour. Because it is self-respect (not self-discipline) that cultivates the caring tenderness of which balanced behaviour is the inevitable result.

Bonjour from 2017 me and 2024 me. This is not a progress pic.

This essay includes:

• insane facts and figures on the regenerative capacity of our bodies

• genetics/lifestyle split in cell regeneration speed

• common habits and their recovery trajectory

• a quote that changed my life and might change yours, too

Two years ago, I stumbled upon this research study investigating the differences in recovery times between younger and older athletes. After each cycling test, the older cyclists reported more fatigue and soreness than average. Except, the data the researchers collected did not match those sentiments. Instead, it showed that there was absolutely no difference in recovery time between younger and older athletes, and their performance speeds didn’t decline throughout the test either. The older cyclists only perceived their higher levels of fatigue and muscle soreness, sparking curiosity around psychological recovery needs vs physical ones.

And what about this experiment inspired by the legendary Ellen Langer. A group of people over 75 years of age were treated to a one-week retreat. The catch? “Pretend that it’s 20 years ago.” Everything from the decor, to the activities, to the physical demands were constructed to resemble the change in time. For the group of seniors pretending to be 20 years younger, hearing, eyesight, memory, dexterity and appetite all improved.

Are our bodies more resilient than we give them credit for? It’s easy to ‘give up’ on improvement once we believe the ‘damage is done’ and we identify as someone who is ‘just that old’ or ‘just not that into sports’. But what if the damage is (partly) reversible, or blatantly non-existent? Would we still feel the same? What if smokers simply decide they want to have the health of a non-smoker… and they can? How many would that inspire to quit? Welcome to the process of self-repair. Otherwise known as regeneration.

Your self-proclaimed identity dictates your behaviour, by James Clear.

Regeneration is honestly a bit of a mysterious topic. Scientists are still trying to fully understand how the process works in species that are able to regenerate whole body parts. And while humans do have the same regeneration-gene, our bodies are only able to repair on a cellular level because we’re wired differently. This isn’t any less impressive though. Our liver can regrow itself, the inner lining of our intestine renews weekly, stem cells can be recruited from the depths of the body to aid in skin regeneration on the surface, and the average age of a cell in the adult human body is only 7 to 10 years old.

The speed at which cells regenerate is defined by a mix of genetics and lifestyle. My first thought was: can we make it go faster? While there are some studies linking fasting to faster cell regeneration, the actual process is much more nuanced than that and not to mention, double-edged. The most important thing to remember here seems to be that cell regeneration is an automatic process, at a personal pre-determined speed, that we should simply not inhibit. How could we inhibit it? The main lifestyle factors that stop or slow down self-repair are diet, sleep, exercise, toxin exposure and stress.

This is important because self-repair doesn’t just entail regrowing livers, lungs and limbs. It’s also the driving force behind accomplishing more everyday things, like how some people can run further, more easily than others. Genetically, they could possess advantageous versions of certain genes, such as ACTN3 (associated with muscle function) and MSTN (which regulates muscle growth), which affect how quickly the muscles repair themselves. A study following 44 ultra-athletes on a 4,500 kilometre race (not a typo) found that after the first 1500 kilometres, the runners’ knee cartilage started regenerating itself, DURING the race.

hardestgeezer

A post shared by @hardestgeezer

From small regeneration feats to large, what does this mean for us non-ultra-runners? It means that yes: our bodies are capable of extraordinary repair of non-permanent damage from decades of bad habits. It voluntarily and automatically does so, if - and only if - we do not inhibit the process by lifestyle choices.

Let’s get into 5 common habits that showcase our body’s regenerative powers after quitting. Cue the charts.