"Telomere effect" mainly studies the factors that affect human life span (aging), and finds that the main factor that affects human life span is the genome called "telomere", which is generally at the end of the gene. The longer the telomere, the longer its life span, and the substance that affects telomere consumption is called "telomerase". Of course, for us, these technical terms are just talking about capital and have not changed our behavior. What we care about is what factors exist in daily life that will affect telomere length or telomerase activity. Teacher Wan Weigang listed the following factors to explain telomere effect for us in the article:
First, the response to stress
The bad news first. Studies show that there is a causal relationship between stress and telomere length. The greater the survival pressure, the shorter the telomere, which means that the life expectancy is shorter in high probability. As a species, living in the world will face pressure all the time. However, it is worth noting that although stress is a factor affecting telomeres, our human body is an anti-fragile system, that is, there is an over-compensation mechanism, just like muscle exercise, which is good news for us. What affects telomeres is mainly the response to stress. In the face of pressure, we usually have two stress mechanisms, threat response and challenge response, namely flight or war. When we start the threat response, we will be in a state of tension and communication, which will lead to the shortening of telomeres; When we begin to challenge the response, we will be in a state of excitement or even excitement, which will slow down the decrease of telomeres and thus delay aging. Self-control: Making Friends with Stress is a book about how to deal with stress. It is also mentioned in the book that it is this idea of harmful stress that really affects the human body. As long as we change this concept a little, pressure will not be harmful, and even become a kind of motivation. I think the reaction to stress mentioned in "telomere effect" is the same as that in "Self-control: Making Friends with Stress", and its deep mechanism is the physiological influence caused by psychological activities such as self-thought and emotion. Regarding the positive and negative examples of coping with stress, we can find quite a few examples from all over the world. For example, Wu Zixu's "A Night of White Hair" and Chekhov's "The Death of a Small Civil Servant" both reflect the harm caused by adverse reactions when facing pressure. In real life, when faced with natural and man-made disasters, many people can often survive with a positive attitude and become stronger. Therefore, whether stress is beneficial or harmful to us depends on how we look at it.
Second, the influence of negative emotions on telomeres
Studies have shown that small emotions in life often have no effect on telomeres, and the emotions that affect telomeres are mainly long-term negative emotions, such as hostility, pessimism and resentment. Hostility mainly comes from interpersonal tension. Hostility towards people around you often leads people to have the illusion that the whole world is rejecting and isolating themselves, and even keeps them in an angry mood for a long time. Pessimism comes from the expectation of the worst situation to prevent disappointment, so when faced with pressure, pessimists often give priority to escape, that is, threatening reaction, which leads to telomere shortening. The worst emotion is that we are obsessed with thinking. When we are obsessed with things, we will feel uncomfortable, which will lead to other adverse physiological reactions, such as chest tightness, vomiting and even inflammation or physiological depression. I have a deep understanding of this emotion. Just a few days ago, I was at a loss because of her decisive attitude. I don't know what I did wrong, so I'm grumpy and worried. As a result, I tossed and turned that night, and the next day I felt uncomfortable, chest tightness and vomiting. Although this kind of taste is unpleasant, it is a kind of gain to verify the fact that emotions affect physiology in yourself. According to the telomere effect, if you can't get along with yourself, your telomeres will get shorter. Isn't that chronic suicide? Optimism seems necessary.
Third, fitness exercise.
Studies have shown that human weight is also one of the factors that affect telomere length. We all know that exercise can keep healthy. Generally speaking, sports have three purposes-keeping healthy, shaping the body and participating in competitions. The latter two belong to a more advanced stage, and most of us belong to the first goal, which is to keep healthy. The study in Telomere Effect found that the telomeres of sedentary people are shorter than those of people who exercise, while those who exercise with high intensity and moderate amount have little difference. Sure enough, life lies in exercise. So what is moderate exercise? There are two kinds of moderate exercise mentioned in the book: long-term aerobic exercise (jogging and brisk walking) and intermittent exercise (running-jogging-walking rest, reciprocating cycle). Personally, I prefer jogging and brisk walking. I have personally tested these two kinds of sports, and jogging feels more comfortable, probably because I secrete more dopamine. But when I jog, I have to concentrate, so I basically don't pay attention to the sound coming from headphones. Let's go. You can use it at the same time. You can listen to audio learning while walking fast, which is an efficient way to use time. So I basically choose to go now.
Fourthly, the effect of diet on telomere.
Now that we have mentioned the influence of weight on telomeres, we should understand the influence of diet. "Telomere effect" points out that the following foods are harmful to telomeres: red meat (mammalian meat) and processed meat (sausages, etc.). ) and high-sugar foods. The following foods are good for telomeres: plant fiber, whole wheat, vegetables, nuts, beans, fruits and kelp. In addition, weight control through dieting is likely to rebound, and the harm caused by dieting to the body is irreversible. In order to control weight, a correct diet and moderate exercise are the last word.
At this point, Wan Weigang's interpretation of telomere effect is over. Tell me about my own feelings. After listening to the "telomere effect", we further confirmed the influence of psychological and mental state on physiological response, especially on stress. The view of stress determines the length of our telomeres, so optimistic people may live longer than pessimistic people. In terms of diet, I reflected on my eating habits and found that I personally prefer red meat, such as pork and beef, while white meat (fish or amphibians) is ok for ordinary birds, but I don't like fish very much and eat less fruits and vegetables. Before, I heard the diet mentioned by professional fitness coach Zhang Zhanhui in the excellent class where I got the app: proper amount of sugar (to ensure the basic supply of energy), more protein, less fat and more fruits and vegetables. Now, with the scientific research on telomere effect, we can get a more scientific and reliable diet list:
Appropriate amount of sugar: keep the basic amount of food (one bowl per meal) and don't drink high-sugar drinks (coke, etc.). );
High protein: try to choose white meat, eggs and beans;
Less fat: do not eat high-fat foods, such as fat;
Eat more fruits and vegetables: eat more vegetables for dinner and replace snacks with fruits as much as possible.