Ancient Theories of Aging Converge on Diet

As long as humans have been aging we have sought to understand why and how. The earliest known book in history -?Epic Of Gilgamesh?(2100 BC) - even accounts for the tale of the king of Uruk who sought, among other things, to find the secret to eternal life.

This article focuses on ancient Greek theories of aging that may add a contextual perspective to our modern understanding of aging and how far we’ve come to end up back at the same place: diet.?

Hippocrates (460 - 370 BC)?

Hippocrates is, by all accounts, considered the “Father of Medicine,” but he may also be the originator of gerontology. He first described the aging process as increased susceptibility to disease and waning reliance to combat it once contracted. In his contributions to?Hippocratic Corpus, Hippocrates proposed that the aging process resulted from the gradual and progressive loss of heat from the body, which became colder and drier. Nonetheless, he recommended fruits and vegetables (fluid-filled foods) and adequate hydration as a means of prolonging a healthy life, and attributed to the quote:

"let thy food be thy medicine and thy medicine be thy food."

Plato (429 - 347 BC)?

Plato, a Greek philosopher most known for his work?Republic, characterized aging and disease as two different phenomena. Plato was largely influenced by the teaching of his philosophical predecessor Socrates (470 - 399 BC) who wrote the secret to a long healthy life was “In childhood be modest, in youth temperate, in adulthood just, and in old age prudent.” Plato echoed these teachings and attributed the aging decline to a progressively decreasing ability to absorb nutrients but to live a healthy life, one can create harmony between the movement of the soul and body. He stressed the important role of elderly citizens in society and emphasized his reverence for their contributions and wisdom.?

Plato stressed the importance of a moderate and healthy diet, which consists of cereals, legumes, fruits, milk, honey, fish and meat, sugar, and wine to be limited. He warned that excesses in food lead to ailments and hinder the ability to fight off disease, thus shortening the era of youthful vigor.

Aristotle (384–322 BC)?

Aristotle was another Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. As a student of Plato, Aristotle contributed to nearly every field of study, including medicine. According to Aristotle, we possess a finite amount of a "vital substance." As those reserves run low, so does lively vigor. This depletion is responsible for aging. When that substance is consumed,?

The bulk of Aristotle’s discussion ties the process of aging to the gradual exhaustion of vital heat and its relation to beats of the heart and breaths of the lungs. However, he also recognizes the importance of environmental factors in the maintenance and exhaustion of this “vital substance” and so on in the process of aging.

Aristotle came to these conclusions through the observation that plants with low heat live longer than animals with high heat, and larger animals with low heart rates lived longer than smaller animals with faster heart rates.?

This theory has evolved into the?Rate of Living Theory?which can be thought of as such: life is a candle that can burn bright for a short time or dim for longer. This theory is still somewhat influential in some fields (primary?metabolism) of modern gerontology. Aristotle describes diet and eating habits as cornerstones of health and a healthy diet to slow the burning of this life candle.

Galen (129 – 216 AD)

In addition to contributing to the development of various scientific disciplines, Galen had a profound influence on philosophy, logic, and the philosophy of science.

He wrote?Hygiene?at the peak of his career (175 AD), heading a concierge solo-private practice to the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius. It remains the only surviving classical study of gerontology and describes aging as a natural process that can be eased or even delayed through preventive measures such as diet.?

Galen viewed aging?holistically?as a lifelong process with three stages: childhood, maturity, and old age. He recognized that a person’s aging ‘path’ is highly individual, with a range of possible health outcomes at each stage. And he realized the importance of a healthy youth as the basis for a robust old age.

Galen’s ‘anti-aging’ regime might be prescribed today: He advocated walking and moderate running and noted the health benefits of a simple diet involving gruel, raw honey, vegetables, and lean protein (fowl and fish). He believed that the techniques contributed to his own longevity. He purportedly lived to 80—an incredible outlier for the time.

Today (2022 AD)

Despite major advances in characterizing the cellular and molecular changes with age, global studies assess why people age differently, and the development of experimental therapies to combat aging, the modern consensus on the paramount importance of diet and exercise echoes that of first physicians and scientists. Their theories, for the most part, have only since been confirmed by studies showing how aging is influenced by diet and exercise and the development of therapeutics that mimic these lifestyle interventions.