A couple of months ago I paused for a day like we all do once a year to celebrate another journey around the sun. I’ve never been one for big birthday bashes, as having a meal with family and friends is much more my cup of tea.
Turns out this year’s 44th trip around the sun might be a bit more meaningful than others, according to some new research that my wife pointed out to me about a month ago.
“Do you feel older this year?” she asked.
I had just run a couple of different races with some former and current students; clearly both groups — some in their teens and others in their 20s — finished before me but I was glad to still be able to somewhat keep up with them.
Perhaps this year there have been a few more aches and pains I’ve lamented about from time to time.
And of course there are those 10 pounds or so that I need to drop that just don’t want to come off as easily as it seems they used to.
“Maybe a little but not much,” I finally said to answer Jen’s question about if I feel a bit older this year.
Turns out she had come across an article a couple of weeks after my 44th birthday in which scientists from Stanford discovered massive bimolecular shifts that take place in our 40s and 60s.
In other words, we don’t age in a gradual, linear process. Instead, it occurs in waves as opposed to a gradual climb. And guess what age scientists discovered one of the two key intervals for rapid aging?
Forty-four.
“Researches assessed many thousands of different molecules in people from age 25 to 75, as well as their microbiomes — the bacteria, viruses and fungi that live inside us and on our skin — and found that the abundance of most molecules and microbes do not shift in gradual, chronological fashion. Rather, we undergo two periods of rapid change during our life span, averaging around age 44 and age 60,” according to an article on Stanford Medicine’s News Center website.
Who knew?
At least I have some science behind me now to justify suddenly starting to feel my age this year a bit more than other years.
But all hope is not lost for those of us in our mid-40s.Instead, there is a way to slow down this scientifically proven age acceleration problem. The approach to tapping the brakes, however, shouldn’t come as a surprise.
Solutions include drinking more water, eating more fruits and vegetables and less junk food, drinking less alcohol, sitting less, exercising more, and doing more weight training.
We start to lose muscle strength quickly in our 40s — meaning weight training becomes even more important to combat feeling your age at 44 and 60.
Looks like I need to work a bit harder this year as I exercise to fight the massive bimolecular shifts that strike during your 44th year.
That’s a challenge I’m up for.
jdpeeper2@hotmail.com
