I am finishing a four-day fast today.  In the hope of synergizing senolytic modalities, I took 2.5 g of quercetin last night and another 2.5 g this morning.  I don’t take quercetin regularly, because studies in mice show that daily administration doesn’t lengthen lifespan, and may shorten it.  But for the present, quercetin is the most readily-available senolytic agent we have.  

It’s my speculation that fasting might prime senescent cells for elimination, in the same way that fasting has been shown to prime cancer cells for elimination by chemotherapy or radiation.  Valter Longo has been at the center of the latter research, and he tells me that he is testing the senolytic hypothesis now, with no results yet.

Quercetin is a flavonol found in many vegetables and fruits, especially capers, radishes, cilantro and onions.

Quercetin by itself has been found to be only a weak senolytic in mice, and it has not yet been tested in humans.  It is somewhat better when combined with dasatinib, but dasatinib is highly toxic and not something I would experiment with based on current knowledge.

People have asked about my fasting discipline.  I answer that different people have vastly different experiences, and you won’t know until you try for yourself.  I fast regularly one day a week, and when I take on a longer fast there is often a hump to get over on the second day, sometimes headaches and malaise.  I use enema to clear the colon on the second day, and often this seems to help.  I take caffeine daily while fasting, which is more than in my regular life.

The chief complaint I have after the second day is that I am too mellow, content to lie in bed.  No restlessness during sitting meditation.  Time slips by, and I feel no urgency about accomplishing anything.  I read things I might not otherwise find time for.  I go for long walks and entertain wide-ranging thoughts.