Reversing the Signs of Aging: are we Climbing the Wrong Mountain?
On vanity, self-improvement, youth, and aging
Body Image. When the Longevity industry tells us about ‘reversing the signs of aging’ they are using the same language as the Beauty industry - ‘defy hair loss’, ‘younger looking skin’. Their marketing tugs on hopes and fears surrounding our body image. Stop for a second and think about what it means to plan our remaining decades of behavior based on that. We can do better.
I struggle - a lot - with how I look when I’m out of shape, overweight, and over-fat. It comes with an inevitable retreat from social activities, a covering up (loose-fitting black clothes, anyone?) and a precipitous drop in self-confidence. It’s easy to get caught up in how I look in the mirror and in the eyes of others. I had hoped that problems with body image would go away with age but they persist. I’m not alone. I’ve worked out with older, fitter, more muscular triathletes who have the same problem.
In the parlance of the Longevity industry I should try to ‘reverse the signs of overeating’. While there is no doubt that the resultant bump in self-confidence would be healthy, it’s the actual internal body changes of fat-loss and muscle growth that are far more important. The real wins are from improvements to energy levels, endocrine and cardiovascular health, range of movement, and sleep quality.
The New Fountain of Youth. People have been chasing the fountain of youth since the invention of old age. Some hope to recapture the virility of their youth, some to recapture the wandering eyes of their mates, some to rebuild the waning attention of their fans and followers, some with dreams of lengthening their stay on Earth.
The burgeoning Longevity and “anti-senescence” therapy market promises just that, but we are still looking at it from the perspective of the aging actor that takes growth hormone and undergoes plastic surgery just to land new roles. We mistake the lack of wrinkles, the full lips, the washboard abs, and flowing hair for a return to youth. We think of the outward signs of aging - or weight loss - and hope that reversing them will change how others view us.
We ought to ask ourselves why we want to ‘reverse the signs of aging’, and what we think that means. Is it vanity? Do we just want to look younger in the mirror and in other’s eyes? Do we want to live longer? If so, why? Is it an ego-driven need to make that last million, or is it to enjoy the Earth for one more year? Will we be able to help humanity by adding to our lifespan or will we just spend it watching more TV and kvetsching about our ill health?
Epigenetic Clocks. Longevity research is focused on the biomarkers of aging and trying to find tests that show how a subject’s biological age differs from their chronological age. This is referred to as an epigenetic clock, where DNA changes as a person’s body becomes progressively more worn out. The goal is to develop treatments that reduce the rate of change of our epigenetic clocks. Companies like Novos provide supplement packages that promise to “improve energy levels, skin health, mood, and cognition over time”, slowing down aging in many ways. These supplements are no longer snake oil or the mythical Fountain of Youth: they really do show statistically significant results.
What’s missing are the many, many levers we can pull to improve our bodies, minds, and how we show up in the world as we age: reduced sun exposure, great food and very little of it, reduced exposure to chemicals, air and water quality, connection to real people, strength, flexibility, increased muscle mass and decreased body fat, reading, memory, wisdom, creativity, endurance, hormetic stress to improve challenge responses, sleep, reduced stress, time spent fasting, time in nature, emotional intelligence, shadow intelligence, compassion, reduced exposure to hate and propaganda, and reduced environmental footprint to name a few. Unlike the harder deadline of our epigenetic clocks we can improve on many of these at any age.
You're only as young as the last time you changed your mind.
— Timothy Leary
Virtue, not vanity. I know through reading and intuition that problems with my body image won’t be solved by just fixing my outward appearance. Chasing youthful looks, reversing the signs of aging, and improving body image is surface-level: it’s climbing the wrong mountain. Our summit is Mount Thrive Longer, and the trail to it is one of internal improvements to our minds and bodies, becoming better humans as we age.