[How About This Book] "Aging Is a Disease, It Can Be Treated"

Functional Medicine Authority Mark Hyman
Natural Aging Is Not Inevitable
Find and Address Root Causes of Symptoms
Body Imbalance and Internal Inflammation
70% of Immune System Located in Gut
Natural Diet and Community Spirit Are Solutions
Blame Wrong Food, Not Laziness

"Disease is not an inevitable result of aging, and aging is a treatable disease."

This is the statement of Mark Hyman, a world-renowned authority in functional medicine. He challenges the common belief that aging is a natural phenomenon that comes with getting older and argues that it is a disease requiring treatment. Generally, as people age, they experience chronic diseases such as heart disease, cancer, diabetes, dementia, hypertension, and autoimmune diseases. While treatments usually address symptoms, the author emphasizes that fundamental recovery can only be achieved by directly managing "aging" through "functional medicine." Functional medicine is a new medical concept that views all diseases as having underlying root causes behind their symptoms and seeks to identify and resolve the factors causing the disease.

The author devotes a significant portion of the book to introducing functional medicine. From the perspective of functional medicine, the human body is an ecosystem. Diseases occur when balance is lost, resulting in functional disorders, and various diseases related to aging can be prevented or treated by changing lifestyle and environmental factors that affect genes.

If aging is a disease, what is its cause? The author points to inflammation inside the body caused by physical imbalance. Excessive intake of carbohydrates and sugars leads to blood sugar imbalance and insulin resistance, which in turn cause cancer, diabetes, obesity, Alzheimer's disease, and even depression. The author explains, "Depression is also a disease that appears when inflammation occurs in the brain," and states that controlling inflammation can resolve depression as well.

For treatment, the author focused on the gut. He states, "70% of the immune system is located in the gut," and had patients stop consuming processed foods and dairy products that cause inflammation and administered antifungal agents. What were the results? According to the author, after six weeks, patients showed improvement in conditions including psoriatic arthritis, migraines, depression, gastroesophageal reflux disease, and irritable bowel syndrome.

The author also discovered functional medicine treatment methods in so-called "Blue Zones," regions known for their high longevity. Commonalities found in Blue Zone villages such as Olbia in Sardinia, Italy, and Ikaria in Greece included a self-sufficient natural diet and a strong sense of community. Residents shared ingredients they grew themselves within their village communities, enjoying both physical and mental stability.

The author compares this to modern life and identifies the causes of premature aging. Mainly, living a solitary, irregular lifestyle indoors invites disease. Conventional wisdom holds that if physical activity is low compared to food intake, weight gain and visceral fat accumulation cause inflammatory aging. However, the author explains that poor dietary habits lead to laziness, not the other way around. Poor food choices come first. "Research shows that eating a lot of unhealthy food causes visceral fat accumulation, which then leads to overeating and lack of exercise. Visceral fat is 'fat that triggers hunger.' This fat slows metabolism and fat burning, makes you feel hungry, and causes you to sit still watching TV."

Most other health recommendations introduced are at a common-sense level. The author advises reducing consumption of foods high in sugar and flour and cutting back on antibiotics, anti-inflammatory drugs, and acid suppressants that negatively affect the gut. Regarding exercise, he notes that walking just 10 minutes a day can extend lifespan by several years, and engaging in 75 to 150 minutes of vigorous activity weekly is even better. He also introduces heat therapy, such as a 20-minute sauna session that helps remove sugar from proteins in the body, and cold therapy, such as 1 to 2 minutes of cold water showers to detoxify the body.

He places special emphasis on mental health. The author explains, "Lack of agency, rejection, loneliness, social isolation, and trauma affect our immune system, hormones, and gut." In the same vein, discovering meaning and purpose in life helps with anti-aging. Purpose is defined as ‘talent + passion + value,’ and the author states, "Altruism, that is, feeling part of something greater than oneself, helping others, or becoming someone socially needed, leads to a happy and meaningful life."

Regarding the controversy over whether a balanced diet eliminates the need for supplements, the author recommends taking supplements. He refutes some doctors’ claims that "vitamins just make expensive urine." He stresses that unless one hunts and gathers food from nature, sunbathes in primitive clothing, spends the day stress-free, and sleeps deeply for 8 to 9 hours at night, supplements are essential. He particularly emphasizes that vitamin D should be taken at 2000 to 5000 IU daily.

The book is interesting in that it introduces the concept of longevity as living healthily for a long time, not just having a high chronological age. It is refreshing that aging is regarded as a disease caused by physical imbalance and that methods to control the root cause?inflammation?are introduced. However, the author’s proposed solutions seem to contrast with the increasingly complex modern society, prompting reflection on "what really matters." It encourages readers to consider whether they are sacrificing their lifespan to live as society demands and to reflect on their own lives.

Young Forever | Written by Mark Hyman | Translated by Hwang Sun-young | Sejong Books | 464 pages | 22,000 KRW

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.