Written by Dr Julian Fox .
As I stood looking out to sea, braced by the iron railings against the winds coming in from the North East (the direction of Siberia). To the poms this is called “blustery weather”, to the rest of the world its bloody freezing when a half sane person wouldn’t be taking off an overcoat. But I witnessed a group traversing the beach towards a foaming sea the colour and menace of steel. The bonds of comradery suggested a religious fervour – the surface they were crossing appeared like a carpet of stone fruits – without the fruit. There must be some great reward awaiting.
As their bodies were embraced by the waters, someone to my side muttered an explanation – ‘cold water swimming’
And so, my deep dive into cell biology, and the explanations of how our cells need to clean and recycle proteins. If they don’t, these build up over years like belonging in a hoarders house. Unchecked this contributes to faster aging and many of the chronic diseases we notice in older people. The clean-up is called “autophagy” and the research into how it happens has grown exponentially in the last 10 years. It doesn’t need to be as extreme as cold water swimming in Cromer, but we can gain important learning.
The Possibility Coach 
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