Written by Erica Tissera | Art by MollyAnn Caulfield
Hormesis is the backbone of medicine, defined as a biological phenomenon where low-dose exposure (as opposed to high-dose exposure, which is harmful) to a stressor (e.g. toxins, heat, drugs, exercise, fasting, radiation etc) induces an adaptive, beneficial response. In other words, hormesis is the embodiment of “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.”
The concept of hormesis began with a German pharmacologist named Hugo Schulz in the late 1880s. He is often believed to have come up with the first experimental evidence of the phenomenon. Later on, he began to collaborate with another man named Rudolf Arndt, and together they came up with the “Arndt-Schulz Rule,” which dictated that low doses stimulate and high doses inhibit. More recently, Edward Calabrese has pioneered extensive studies and documentation of the concept, further analyzing the mechanics of the complex dose-response relationship.
Hormesis has the ability to profoundly affect the success of medical interventions. At its core, hormesis is a biphasic dose response that mediates human adaptation processes and has the ability to improve performance or harm an individual. A biphasic dose response is a unique phenomenon where low doses of a stressor produce beneficial stimulatory effects, and higher doses result in inhibitory, toxic, or reduced effects.
So why is hormesis so important? Hundreds of experiments have been conducted to support the concept of hormesis, and one major finding is simply the fact that hormesis is a general phenomenon, and a common, basic component of daily life.
Simply put, hormesis applies to almost every aspect of our health and our life. Hormesis applies to exercise, drugs, medicine, anesthesia, dieting, fasting, heat, and more. A simple example is dieting. Every year, we all make resolutions to start eating healthier. Eating less, more mindfully, and eating only natural foods is undoubtedly extremely beneficial for one’s health, but something that never really crosses our minds because it seems so obvious is the fact that starving ourselves is not really beneficial at all. A lack of nutrients means less energy, low vitamins, and exhaustion, which of course puts our bodies in danger. This is a beautiful example of hormesis. At a low “dose” dieting is extremely beneficial, and to some extent, the more we diet, the more we benefit from it. However, after a certain point, the more we diet, the less healthy we get, due to a lack of proper nutrition. This is the beautiful complexity of hormesis: the idea of low dose stimulation, and high dose inhibition.
Medically speaking, hormesis has many applications. Apart from normal aspects of our health, such as those mentioned above, hormesis is also used for the drug development of anxiolytic agents, anti-seizure drugs, memory enhancement drugs, osteoporosis drugs, and wound healing preparations, all important components of modern health.
Hormesis also has applications in other fields, such as agriculture. Biostimulants are now used to boost natural processes in plants such as nutrient efficiency by increasing plants’ ability to absorb and utilize nutrients from the soil, meaning reduced use of fertilizers. In the long run, this could have a beneficial effect on the agriculture industry, as using biostimulants as opposed to fertilizer may one day be cost-efficient. However, while biostimulants were recently discovered to trigger beneficial hormetic responses, atmuch higher doses, they have proven to be dangerous.
Overall, it is important to understand the concept of hormesis, because of its multitude of applications in our daily lives. The next time you decide to take a Tylenol, maybe you’ll remember that the dose you take is so specific for a reason, and a little more of it could be deadly.
Works Cited
Calabrese, Edward. “Hormesis: Its Scientific Foundations and Biochemical Regulatory Applications.” YouTube, www.youtube.com/watch?v=23TfizmmeYs. Accessed 10 May 2026.
Henschler, D. “The Origin of Hormesis: Historical Background and Driving Forces.” Human & Experimental Toxicology, vol. 25, no. 7, July 2006, pp. 347-351, doi.org/10.1191/0960327106ht642oa. Accessed 10 May 2026.
Jalal, Arshad, et al. “Hormesis in Plants: Physiological and Biochemical Responses.” Ecotoxiology and Environmental Safety, vol. 207 (2021): 111225, doi.org/10/1016/j.ecoenv.2020.111225. Accessed 10 May 2026.
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