The biggest lie in fitness and health

Did you know that asbestos, radiation, and cigarettes can be healthy? That vitamin C can promote cancer and abstinence can make you sick? Then get ready for a completely different perspective on “Fitness & Health”.

WHAT IS THE LIE?

Most of us divide the world into what is healthy and what is harmful: exercise and vegetables are healthy. Whiskey and plutonium are bad. Most scientists, doctors, authors, trainers, and therapists do the same — and IT IS WRONG.

THE THINKING ERROR

… is believing in linear dose-response relationships: a poison, for example, is poisonous, therefore harmful, regardless of the dose. At first, the toxic effect is barely noticeable, but as the dose increases, symptoms of poisoning gradually appear, become increasingly harmful, and eventually end fatally.

AND THIS IS HOW SCIENCE IS DONE

… according to a paradigm: often, only a few measurements lead to this assessment. A ruler is placed on the points that lie on a line in the coordinate system, and a line is drawn. Points outside that line are ignored as special cases or measurement errors. And just like that, you get a linear model.

BUT THE FACTS SHOW …

that asbestos, for example, is not carcinogenic from the very first fiber onward, as has often been claimed, but that long-term workers in an asbestos factory developed cancer less frequently than the average population. Similar findings emerged among workers exposed to different forms of radiation. They too developed cancer less frequently.

Just random isolated cases, or is there a natural system behind it? Absolutely. It is called …

HORMESIS

And it is not new. Paracelsus already said that nothing is good or bad in itself and that only the dose makes the poison — but in truth, this has hardly ever become established in science, medicine, or therapy. The linear paradigm still dominates: only exercise, moderation, and abstinence are good, and anyone who overdoes it or exposes themselves to extreme influences supposedly destroys their health. Everyone knows these squeaky-clean health puppets well enough.

NOTHING AGAINST STRAIGHT LINES

… but all of that is nonsense. Nature does not work that way. Fitness and health are not peaceful states that grow through balance and asceticism and are threatened or destroyed by supposedly harmful influences. On the contrary: fitness and health are war. They are dynamic processes that rebel more strongly the more they are attacked, threatened, and challenged. Nature is domineering, destructive, creative, complex, and non-linear. It dances in zigzags, in curves, and follows two simple principles:

1. HARMFUL THINGS MAKE YOU FIT & HEALTHY

… as long as they do not exceed certain doses. This applies to pretty much everything. Everything that moves, wears down, attacks, irradiates, poisons, and stresses our body knocks it out of balance AND activates protective and stabilizing measures. And that is not all. It activates the so-called …

HORMETIC TRIPLE

1. Repair of damaged structures
2. Supercompensation and increased protection against future attacks
3. Clearing out unstable and weak structures

WHICH MEANS

The body is not only repaired. It is also strengthened and stabilized, and beyond that, cleaned up and cleared of vulnerable structures. The weakest parts of the system are removed, making the entire system stronger and more stable. In addition, this does not only happen locally, but throughout the entire organism. That is why local radiation therapy in cancer treatment can also destroy tumors in other parts of the body, even though they were not irradiated at all. From a linear perspective, this makes no sense. From a hormetic perspective, however, the supposedly carcinogenic radiation activates the stabilization, cleansing, and healing of the entire body. But yes: radiation can certainly be carcinogenic — and that brings us to the second hormetic principle:

2. ONLY TOO HIGH A DOSE MAKES THE POISON

Only when it becomes too much does an influence truly become toxic. Before that, it produces the opposite: fitness, stability, and health. The impulse pushes the organism, and the organism pushes back on every level. Like a gang of rowdy young men constantly shoving, slapping, and smacking each other on the neck without actually fighting. It toughens them up. Hormesis. And this principle runs through the entire living world.

That is why researchers are currently interested, for example, in low-dose radiation therapy. Whoever finds the right dose here may also be able to fight cancer that has already metastasized — by activating the body’s self-healing powers.

ANOTHER EXAMPLE: VITAMIN C

Highly praised as a potent antioxidant for fighting free radicals. However, the still-young field of hormesis research, which only really took off in the 1990s, has shown that free radicals also have many constructive effects in our body, for example in the immune system. There, free radicals help oxidize hostile bacteria and viruses.

Anyone who swallows piles of vitamins may support essential processes in the body and protect it from harmful substances, but they also override many healthy processes, such as the ability to deal with infections independently. And seriously: as if nature, after millions of years of evolution, had not found ways to deal with free radicals itself — or even use them constructively. Just like cholesterol, they are part of our body and indispensable.

In addition, our body can produce sufficient antioxidants itself, such as glutathione, if it needs them and is nourished in a balanced way. So it is no surprise that many studies find little benefit from high vitamin C intake. In cases of overdosing on fat-soluble vitamins, symptoms of poisoning and higher mortality even occur.

HIGH-DOSE INTRAVENOUS VITAMIN C, HOWEVER

… is interesting again. Unlike its swallowed counterpart, much more of it enters the bloodstream, where it becomes hydrogen peroxide and reverses its effect: the “healing” antioxidant becomes a “harmful” pro-oxidant. And that is good … for example, it supports chemotherapy in cancer therapy. How?

In chemotherapy, the goal is to completely destroy malignant cancer cells before the chemical club also destroys the rest of the body.

CONTROLLED MADNESS

Here, it is primarily oxidative stress caused by free radicals that is supposed to destroy the tumor. If one swallows vitamin C alongside it, the effect is counterproductive: antioxidant. Most of it is grabbed by the attacked tumor. It wants to use the vitamin C to protect itself from the free radicals that are supposed to destroy it. That is why serum vitamin C levels in cancer patients are usually so low.

High doses of intravenously administered vitamin C, on the other hand, have a pro-oxidative effect and support the destruction of the tumor by boosting the power of free radicals. In the linear model, this can hardly be explained. In the hormetic understanding, however, it makes sense — because here every substance can be good or bad and can act in completely different ways depending on dose and consumer.

WHAT DO WE LEARN FROM THIS?

In the future, we will need a much more individualized and dose-oriented form of medicine and therapy. Artificial intelligence will contribute to this in groundbreaking ways. The fact is: what is poison for one person can heal and strengthen another — and vice versa, depending on the dose.

THIS APPLIES TO PRETTY MUCH EVERYTHING

… including drugs, poisons, spices, chemicals, radiation, heat, cold, breathing, conflict, storms, sex, hunger, thirst, noise, and so on. Stress in every form. All the extreme things in life and on our planet only become good or bad depending on the dose.

Meaning: nothing is good or bad in itself. If someone tries to convince You otherwise, they are lying to Your face and blocking Your development. It also means:

EXTREMES ARE BETTER THAN AVERAGE & ABSTINENCE

Someone who lives obediently and healthily according to linear thinking, choosing the down-to-earth middle path, is in reality more fragile, impotent, weaker, and more vulnerable than someone who lives in an extreme, polarizing, varied, sinful, and dangerous way. Because that person has been through it all, is prepared for many things, and is extremely fit, competent, and stable.

If they do not die violently or by accident, they will live longer and healthier — not despite travel, risks, drugs, accidents, infections, parasites, injuries, storms, dirt, conflict, and experiments, but BECAUSE of them. Nietzsche was right:

WHAT DOES NOT KILL YOU MAKES YOU STRONGER

That is why our grandparents grew so old: because they lived through hard and deprived times. Hormesis researchers and epigeneticists assume that today’s generations are far more vulnerable and, despite medical progress, will be sick more often and die earlier. Why? Because they live lazily and pampered.

WHAT DOES THAT MEAN FOR YOU?

First of all, stop wetting Yourself over every tiny little thing. Do not believe the linear sermons and models. Your neighbor’s asbestos roof, the radio tower around the corner, the chili or germs in the curry, the vaccine at the doctor’s office — all of this is like jumping into ice-cold water, hyperventilating, or reducing Your breathing: toughening.

THE ICE MAN?

What do You think made Wim Hof and his followers so immune to cold, overload, and infection?

Correct — pure hormesis. All his techniques are intense stress for our body. The hormetic triple kicks in, not just locally, but throughout the entire system: first, repair of destroyed and stressed structures. Second, supercompensation and preparation for further extremes. Third, sorting out weak and unstable structures.

Sauna, caffeine, sparring, and chili can complement this wonderfully. Yes, even heavy metals can strengthen You — and I do not just mean barbells.

EXAMPLE: SYPHILIS

One night in the arms of Venus brings a lifetime on Mercury — as people already said 500 years ago. By Mercury, they did not really mean the planet Mercury, but lively little quicksilver. At the time, it seemed to be the only effective therapy against the stubborn venereal disease. But it killed most patients until, in 1536, the aforementioned Paracelsus recognized that mercury did indeed help, but only in small doses. Beyond that, it was toxic. So mercury is neither good nor bad in itself. It is both — depending on the dose.

IT GOES EVEN FURTHER

At the beginning of the 20th century, syphilis therapy was revolutionized. In 1909, the German chemist Paul Ehrlich came up with the idea of using a proven malaria drug against syphilis as well — and it worked wonderfully. What kind of healthy remedy was it? Arsenic — an extremely deadly poison, above a certain dose.

In the 1950s, syphilis became completely controllable through antibiotics. And what is this penicillin? A mold fungus. Does not exactly sound healthy either, does it?

Or somehow it does. Apparently, it is the particularly extreme substances that can also be particularly good for us — in the right dose.

ASK THE FLY AGARIC

Were You also raised to believe that it is deadly and absolutely poisonous? Do You perhaps still believe it?

The fact is that this is just another one of countless linear fairy tales told to children so they stay obedient. In reality, the mushroom is considered a delicacy in Japan and has been a sought-after intoxicant in all kinds of cultures and eras around the planet. From priests in ancient India or the Maya Empire to the Vikings, the Russian party drug scene, and Alice in Wonderland — the fly agaric has been chewed, filtered, smoked, or drunk for millennia. It is said to have been responsible for the berserkers’ rage. The Vikings believed that wherever fly agarics grew, foam from the mouth of Wotan’s horse had dripped onto the earth. Later in Scandinavia, people drank the urine of reindeer that had previously been fed fly agarics. The Scots mixed it much more elegantly into their whiskey, and in the noble houses of Russia there were actual fly agaric parties. The mushrooms fetched high prices there.

You see, the supposed bringer of death cannot be quite so terrible. How else could it be considered a symbol of luck?

THE SMOKER’S PARADOX

Current research shows that smokers have a significantly better recovery and survival rate after heart attacks. Is that allowed? From a linear perspective: no.

And yet it is the case, because under so much “damage” the body has already created natural bypasses long before a surgeon has to create artificial ones. Of course, chain smokers and habitual smokers are outside the health-activating dose. They smoke themselves into the grave.

Nevertheless, signs are accumulating that smoking and nicotine can also have benefits. The evening pipe or the shared joint are by no means pure poison.

There are many such findings about supposedly harmful influences that turned out to promote health. Most of them, however, are swept under the rug and ignored because, according to the linear model of thought, they are not allowed to exist. Long live tunnel vision.

MY APPEAL TO RESEARCHERS, DOCTORS & THERAPISTS

It is time for the more realistic paradigm — for hormesis. For fitness, therapy, and medicine, it is what quantum mechanics is to Newton’s classical physics: a groundbreaking paradigm shift into a more modern, more accurate understanding of the processes taking place on both large and small scales.

This needs to be addressed. Black-and-white thinking must be overcome, and the potential as well as the healing dose of supposedly harmful influences must be researched — tailored to the individual patient.

LET’S TURN THE TABLES

Much of what we consider healthy or ordinary is, in truth, pure poison. Oxygen, for example, is extremely destructive. It eats through almost everything, even cars, airplanes, and ships; it is called oxidation. Calcium, zinc, and sodium are hardly more peaceful — almost toxic. Yet our body has learned to use them and grow through them. Another example:

FEEDING POISONS

Caffeine, nicotine, cacao, resveratrol, and so on. All poisons produced by plants to render predators harmless. For humans, they are stimulating, activating pleasures — and not only in civilization. All of this is part of human nature and has been established in tribes and rituals for thousands of years.

What about opium, hashish, alcohol, and co(caine)? Siggi Freud wrote a treatise on coca, “the divine plant”. All these drugs were loved, respected, and established. But there was also abuse, addiction, and crime.

DOSE PROBLEMS

Weak people fled into powerful substances, just as they now flee into virtual realities, Instagram, TikTok, and Netflix, or still into alcohol and tobacco — because they fail to install a beautiful life in reality. And healthy, strengthening means became destructive poisons through doses that were too high, too frequent, and too unreflective.

THEN CAME CONDEMNATION & DUMBING DOWN

Life-hostile, fearful, and conservative forces condemned everything risky, effective, and extreme. They imposed their one-dimensional linear thinking onto this world as well and stamped it with: This is bad. Devil’s stuff. Be obedient instead. Go to the office, go to church, dress warmly, and pay Your taxes. Or, in the cool version: go obediently to the gym, swallow BCAAs, take care of Your Instagram account, and avoid lactose.

YES, “LIVING HEALTHILY”

… sounds so easy, simple, and linear: exercise, vegetables, and abstinence. But in reality, You grew up in a society and generation of simplified condemnation and dumbing down. Here are two simple truths:

1. EXERCISE, VEGETABLES, AND ABSTINENCE only appear so healthy because they are poison for Your body — attacks, destruction, deprivation, and stress. In themselves, they are not healthy at all. Only Your body’s hormetic reaction makes them healthy. And if You do not occasionally dance into the contrasting opposite, it makes You vulnerable and fragile — because it is one-sided and linear, which hardly works in a complex, non-linear world. It is like sending a martial artist, after years of training in the dojo, into a dirty street fight. He will hit the ground very quickly and start babbling about “against the rules”. But out there, there are no rules. Only attack, defense, and mutual arms races. Peace is an unnatural illusion. Your body knows that. Or as the Romans said: Si vis pacem? Para bellum — You want peace? Then prepare for war.

2. EVERYTHING THAT IS SUPPOSEDLY BAD IS NOT BAD AT ALL — as long as You have the dose under control. Look at snake charmers. Often bitten, poisoned, and not rarely full of overflowing robustness and stability. Do You know Lord Shiva from Indian mythology? The god of creative destruction?

Most of the time, this mighty, aggressive, yet focused and self-controlled god is depicted completely blue. Why? Because he is full of poisons and drugs. Inside, he is boiling, and he grins while doing so. All the human and natural drugs do not harm him. He lives high up in the stormy mountains of the Himalayas. Every day he lets a cobra bite his tongue, and I can tell You: the guy is constantly high.

WITH DR. Z, IT OFTEN DID NOT LOOK MUCH DIFFERENT

I deliberately wrote a certain part of the book “Leider geil, fett & faul” under the influence of drugs. From an early age, I was permeated by a strong drive toward self-destruction, toward the extreme. The masculine role models that occasionally danced through my life were hardly the ones counting calories, swallowing vitamins, and measuring body fat. On the contrary: they were the ones who laughed at all that, lived with power, toughness, and passion, and were still strong and stable, rugged and edgy. Most of them, however, were not the brightest candles on the cake.

And the smart ones with whom I discussed, exchanged books, and philosophized … They were often only smart out of compensation, because their body was named Klaus, and they were certainly not capable or stable.

UNITING BOTH

That was my first goal as a youngster. I wanted to be brutally fit: in body and mind. To unite the intellectual and inspire the body. Above all, I wanted this because I did not see it anywhere in life, even though it is wonderfully holistic — smart, strong, and stable.

TWO HEARTS IN MY CHEST?

And yet I always had this drive toward destruction, drugs, and booze. Were there two completely different hearts beating in my chest?

Fit and healthy during the day. Destroying it all again at night. That is how it seemed for many years — based on the linear model of thinking and the mistaken assumption that some things are clearly healthy and others clearly harmful.

For years, I barely understood myself and yet followed my intuition and instincts. Although I wrote fitness books, I never entered the associated world of industry, hypocrisy, supplements, and trade fairs. And the followers of that cult could hardly deal with me. After all, they carried their Tupperware containers around and grinned into the camera while holding up some supplements.

I, on the other hand, treated myself to a beer after training or went partying and was reluctant to follow rigid plans or other developmental crutches. Why make something as simple as strength and muscle building so complicated?

I ALSO TOOK IT TO THE EXTREME

… and in one experiment, consumed as many drugs as possible for half a year, daily, for months, with up to 30 nights of partying per month and a bottle of whiskey for breakfast. Only in the extreme did it bring me to my limits, but it neither dragged me down nor destroyed me. Quite the opposite.

Afterwards, I was completely sober for over two years. No drugs, no cigarettes, not a drop of alcohol, hardly any parties. Another experiment. And how did that affect me? A life that abstinent should, in theory, have an extremely potent effect on performance and health.

BUT IT DID NOT

Sure, my blood values were spotless, but I did not feel it. Life went on as usual, just more one-dimensional. And when, at the beginning of lockdown in Goa, I visited my neighbors for the first time and five lively girls from Moscow or St. Petersburg jumped toward me in bikinis or pajamas and put a gin and tonic in my hand, it did not occur to me for a single second to say “Niet”.

So began a few beautiful months in Goa, which are still continuing, during which I dealt extensively with hormesis, borscht, and hallucinogens. The occasional bottle of wine is back on the table too.

Now there are no longer two hearts beating in my chest, because whether training and dieting or drugs and self-destruction, both lead to the same goal: fitness, Nietzsche, stability — hormesis; only from different sides, as long as You have the dose under control.

THIN ICE

Many people cannot manage that. For them, it is easier to divide things into healthy and bad, good and evil. And that is also a form of order, but far removed from reality and quite limited. Because with widespread condemnation and dumbing down, not only fear and weakness grow rampant. Massive growth potential is also lost. Rousseau already said: “There is no villain who could not be made useful for something.”

Good and bad do not lie in the things themselves, but in our reaction to them. All of this is connected, creates itself mutually, and is holistic. So if You struggle with the world or have too many enemies, realize that You are the one creating these problems.

BUT THIS IS UNFOLDING

In the future, there will be more and more people who understand our wonderful world in a more realistic and complex way, who overcome black-and-white thinking and see the good even in the bad. They will benefit massively from it — not only physically, but also mentally and financially, as well as in terms of fun, flow, and passion. Or as Nietzsche put it:

THIN ICE — A PARADISE FOR THOSE WHO KNOW HOW TO DANCE WELL

If You want to dive deeper into the topic, I recommend the following German book by Richard Friebe: “Hormesis. Das Prinzip der Widerstandskraft. Wie Stress und Gift uns stärker machen.” Otherwise …

Let it rip!
Z

POST SCRIPTUM

While I was swiping through this article, first a spider bit me in the backside, and the next morning a poisonous caterpillar left a palm-sized rash on my thigh that made my lymph nodes swell painfully. Right now, I am finishing and revising the article while Bramy is tattooing me. Chemical ink in a dirty studio in India, scratched deep into the skin. Alongside it: a Ganesha statue, power outages, Punjabi music, street children scurrying around, chai tea, and incense sticks — four hours long, compressed into 5m². From a linear perspective, a few nasty moments.

FROM A HORMESIS PERSPECTIVE

… more productive days in the jungle, in probably the dirtiest country ever, where I have been stuck for eight months thanks to Corona. And do You know the best thing about hormesis?

It gives You a much more stable, confident perspective on dealing with supposedly harmful and risky influences. Radiation, dirt, and poison become vitamins. And You calmly accept everything, no matter how bad it may look — and with that, it is already overcome. Never forget:

MINDSET IS EVERYTHING