Does gravity make us age faster?

Is gravity making us age faster? Eternal founder Deepinder Goyal’s post on X about gravity’s direct role in human ageing has sparked a debate.

Goyal, who is also the CEO of food delivery giant Zomato, floated the ‘gravity ageing hypothesis’ in a series of posts on the social media platform. But what did he say? Is there any truth?

We explain.

What Deepinder Goyal said

Deepinder Goyal, the founder of longevity startup Continue Research, mentioned a “scientific yet unconventional” hypothesis on X, claiming “gravity shortens lifespan”. The 42-year-old said he was not sharing the theory as the “CEO of Eternal, but as a fellow human”.

He put forward three “known facts” to back his claims.

Goyal argued that decades of upright posture “reduces blood flow to the brain by small amounts.”

“Neurons in the hypothalamus and brainstem are highly metabolic and depend on tiny perforating blood vessels, which makes them very sensitive to even small drops in blood flow,” he wrote.

“These regions control ageing itself: Hormones, inflammation, metabolism, autonomic balance, repair,” the entrepreneur added.

He said about his post, “It’s open-source, backed by science, and shared with you as part of our common quest for scientific progress on human longevity. Newton gave us a word for it. Einstein said it bends spacetime. I am saying gravity shortens lifespan."

Goyal suggested practising inversion tables, which tilt users upside down, to “counteract the negative effects of gravity on our brains.”

“Inversions are already popular for lymphatic fluid drainage. We found that inversions are also the most effective way to counteract the negative effects of gravity on our brains. Our biggest finding is that six weeks of using inversion tables for more than 10 minutes every day led to a baseline increase of 7% in our daily average Brain Flow. This possibly nullifies 10 years of loss of Brain Flow with age,” he wrote.

Goyal issued a disclaimer that it is not “medical advice” and to “consult a qualified physician before changing your lifestyle or attempting any inversion practice.”

Reactions to Zomato CEO’s claims

Reacting to Zomato CEO’s longevity theory, Dr Cyriac Abby Philips, popular as The Liver Doc on X, challenged Goyal’s claims with a series of tweets.

“He’s definitely sharing this as the CEO of Eternal because they are planning to build some sort of “device” that exploits vague areas in science and medicine or some cranky “longevity intervention,” which they want to claim negates the effect of gravity indirectly and sell it to gullible people who want to live forever," the hepatologist said.

He dismissed any such potential device, saying it would only sell to “gullible people” who want to increase their lifespan.

“The best longevity intervention is to stop ordering from restaurants via Zomato and prepare healthy meals at home,” the doctor advised.

“Yes you got it early. His post appear to be precursor to some business idea which they may be contemplating for gullibility testing next bunch of GenZ or GenAlpha,” a user commented.

“He is just suffering from billionaire syndrome where he believes that just because he has money, he can make some statements that’ll be considered as scientific evidence,” another wrote.

Goyal’s post also triggered hilarious reaction

s on X. A user wrote, “Beating gravitational ageing by lying in bed all day.”

ALSO READ: Do strong friendships slow down ageing? Science says yes

How is gravity linked to ageing?

Gravity is what keeps us close to the ground. It is the force by which a planet or other body pulls objects toward its centre.

Einstein’s general relativity describes gravity as the warping of space and time. Time travels more slowly at higher altitudes and farther distances from Earth, where gravity is less effective.

“For all objects farther away from a gravitational field, such as Earth, time actually moves more slowly”, James Chin-wen Chou, a physicist at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in Boulder, Colorado, told Live Science in an email in 2022.

This means that people living at high altitudes age a little faster than those at sea level.

“Gravity makes us age slower, in a relative term,” Chou said. “Compared to someone not near any massive object, we are ageing more slowly by a very tiny amount. In fact, for that someone, the whole world around us evolves more slowly under the effect of gravity.”

The differences are not huge. If a person sits at the peak of Mount Everest, which is 29,000 feet (8,848 meters) above sea level, for 30 years, they would be 0.91 milliseconds older than if they had been those 30 years at sea level, Live Science reported, citing NIST.

With inputs from agencies