Yes, although—within a specific range—mild "hormetic" stress or departure from baseline can lead to adaptive and beneficial effects in organic systems.
Hormesis is characterized by a biphasic dose-response: low-level exposures to stressors (toxins, temperature, exercise, dietary restriction, etc.) are those which stimulate adaptive beneficial responses, eg exercise, ischemic preconditioning (short bouts of reduced blood flow improving tissue resilience), and dietary energy restriction.
Rather than negating homeostasis, we can say that hormesis "refines" it: mild, intermittent stress can make us resilient through larger future perturbations.
alt Hacker News
Yes, although—within a specific range—mild "hormetic" stress or departure from baseline can lead to adaptive and beneficial effects in organic systems.
Hormesis is characterized by a biphasic dose-response: low-level exposures to stressors (toxins, temperature, exercise, dietary restriction, etc.) are those which stimulate adaptive beneficial responses, eg exercise, ischemic preconditioning (short bouts of reduced blood flow improving tissue resilience), and dietary energy restriction.
Rather than negating homeostasis, we can say that hormesis "refines" it: mild, intermittent stress can make us resilient through larger future perturbations.