Understanding Nutritional Disease: Energy Science Nutrition
When the term "nutritional disease" is used it often conjures up the notion of deficiency for us or already existing disease that is advanced
Somehow there is a lack of nutrients in inner space leading to physiologic dysfunction of the tissues and hence even at the intracellular level For example, folic acid deficiency can lead to neural tube defects in the developing fetus if the mother does not have adequate stores of this vitamin Or the lack of iron in the diet of a vegan could lead to anemia Or diabetes, stroke, and heart disease is present
Beyond Molecular Deficiency
But the idea of nutritional disease from an energy science nutritional view goes beyond the molecular measurements of the matter science nutrition
This concept implies that the GI tract is not functioning properly due to choices made by the mind(choices that the mind makes about how it conceives of nutrition) This is a different concept than what we are used to thinking about since we only think of disease in the very late stages of manifestation
For example, vague abdominal bloating, intermittent acid indigestion, occasional constipation, excess gas, excessive belching are all early warning signs that nutritional disease is evident
Our problem is that this concept is so utterly foreign to us that it doesn't make much sense and if it does worst yet we don't have enough direction to know what simple things we can do about it
Disease Prevention
In order to prevent imbalances we have to begin with the concept of "nipping the imbalance in the bud" so to speak
This requires that we monitor the choices we make around nutrition This is because all diseases that occur begin in the mind due to the choices we make In order to prevent disease we need to begin shifting our attention to what choices are we making And even if we have already manifested disease the choices we make about nutrition will begin the healing journey back to health Many of these choices can be aided by looking at the foodsheal.com website This is a good start
Many of the prodromal symptoms of disease listed above can be obviated by doing energy science nutritional work BEFORE more significant problems occur
For example before diarrhea, a person often has constipation, bloating, and abdominal gases and then diarrhea strikes Before a heart attack the person manifests palpitations, breathlessness on exertion, transient chest pain that may radiate to the shoulder and so on Instead of getting checked most people go on living unhealthy lifestyles and then one day find themselves in the ER with a severe heart attack
An Ounce of Prevention is ............
In this day of progressive worsening of the global economy and potential economic collapse and escalating health care costs we can ill afford getting serious disease
This means that taking care of ourselves is even more important than ever before But you and I know that we do not have a health system that provides a system of prevention It's emergency room medicine Ask any allopathic doctor and she will concur
Health begins and ends with our choices Are you making the right ones?
Next time we'll discuss how emotions,thoughts,and feelings lead to disease
Until next time Ciao To health as a Skill Love DrBill
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The Biological Energy Pattern of Vata and Its Imbalances
The Energy Science and Aggravated Vata
In the biological energy science of Ayurveda the energy of movement in the physiology is Vata which translated means that which acts like a vehicle If this biological energy pattern is a vehicle, what does it carry? The answer it circulates the other physiologic energy patterns of Pitta and Kapha but for our purposes today we'll focus on what produces an increase in the Vata energy pattern and what are the consequences
Aggravation of this energy pattern is brought about by;
Not eating according to your energy mindbody makeup
Eating old leftover food Dry uncooked food Rapid eating
Eating before last meal digested Too many activities(so called multitaskiing) Overstimulation
Staying up late at night Prolonged loud talk Overexertion Excessive exercise Prolonged grief worries anxiety fear loneliness Excessive sex
So What Are the Physical Obervations of This Aggravated Vata State?
Once Vata is aggravated it shows up in many psychological signs and symptoms
Fear Indecision Anxiety Tremors
Loneliness Lack of direction Fatigue Muscle tension/joint pains
And physically as:
Dry rough skin Early skin wrinkling Chronic constipation or diarrhea
Poor sleep Interference with sexual performance Addictions(alcoholism etc)
Cracking of the joints
Many of these signs and symptoms are common reasons why we seek help at our matter science medical doctor's offices, estimated to be about 70-80% of all doctor visits Yet by our list of symptoms we can see that often the tools that the doctor might use will be insufficient at best in dealing with the presenting problems
Long Range Consequences of Fast Paced Lifestyle Behaviors
But the serious consequences of this imbalance year after year decade after decade is not pretty Left to continued aggravation by the "fast paced Western lifestyle" Vata takes us out to the woodshed and creates even more damage Merely extensions of the above listed dis-eases and this list is not complete
Chronic fatigue syndrome Chronic diarrhea Chronic depression
Malabsorption(irritable bowel syndrome) Chronic constipation Eating disorders(anorexia/bullemia)
Chronic headache Stroke(CVA) Osteoporosis
Chronic insomnia Asthma Interstitial cystitis
So What To Do?
The first step is to stop the aggravation by observing what we are doing on a daily basis with the above aggravating factors in mind Going to foodsheal.com will help give some nutritional guidelines
Other steps are important
Get good rest on a regular basis (in bed by 1030pm)
Don't overexercise(light sweat is enough)
Do daily oil massage
If you yet don't have the long range consequences then it's a great time to start If you have long range consequences then it's never too late!!!
Until next time Ciao To health as a Skill Love DrBill
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Calories: Is Quantity Really the Problem?
Matter science or measurement based nutrition that presently guides us regarding food choices tells us that calories is one way to assess how to decide whether our diet is satisfactory And even the government helps us with stats that show us consuming on average 570 calories per day more than what we did in the 1970's
Of course other meausurements such as number of grams of carbohydrates, proteins, and fats become relevant in matter science nutrition
What About Nutritional Habits?
In a study presented recently at the American Diabetes Association meeting New Zealander Dr Jeremy Krebs presented some insights about overweight diabetics and the ability to gain weight loss
There were two points that came from the study Reports Krebs, "The first is that no matter what diet we prescribe, people find it extremely difficult to sustain the changes from their habitual diet over a long time. But if they are able to follow either a high-protein diet or a high-carbohydrate diet, they can achieve modest weight loss."
So although we can discuss measurements of components in foods or overall calorie count, the bottom line is that much of the work for weight loss requires that changes in lifestyle choices If substantial change is to occur lifestyle choices around food, particularly comfort foods has to happen
The Good News
The second point "is that for people with diabetes, if they can adhere to either diet and achieve weight loss, then they do get benefits in terms of their diabetes control and cardiovascular risk,"
This of course is no surprise since it is clear that the overweight epidemic is the cause of the rising rate of diabetes and metabolic syndrome
But the question remains, "What kind of 'high protein or high carbohydrate diet' are we talking about here?"
How's Measurement Nutritional Science Working For You?
From an energy science nutritional approach the overweight condition is a Kapha imbalance
Simply putting someone on a Pitta Kapha nutritional format is a step forward in the management of the overweight condition Of course there are several other things that we can do to handle improve the health of the GI tract but the format is numero uno
The high protein diet stresses eating more meat, eggs, nuts and dairy is actually counterproductive from an energy science nutritional approach
The high carbohydrate diet stresses eating more fruits, vegetables, and grains but the issue is which fruits, vegetables, and grains Sour fruits and the almighty banana are actually provoking and cause weight gain Raw tomatoes produce weight gain while others if used all the time do the same Yeasted bread produces weight gain
So my friends, perhaps we should stop hitting our heads against the matter science wall and try something different
Ciao for now To health as a Skill Love DrBill
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The Passion of All Passions
There's a lot spoken these days about seeking your passion, developing your passion, living your passion In other words living life with purpose
Passion is like an insatiable furnace that has to be fed "Feed me, feed me", it says
So today I'd like to address this passion from a health perspective
Health as a Passion
What? Health and passion? I believe we're all interested in living a healthy life Right? It's hardwired into us from birth as an aspect of survival of the species So it would be natural if we would be passionate about our own survival
"I eat healthy" What does that mean? Who say's what's healthy? An individual decision, I suppose, but a casual personal observation, but health passion would require of us asking some hard questions about our so called healthy choices
But perhaps there's interference?
Passionate Health Questions
I think that when we are passionate about our health it means that we'll do anything to make it happen We'll go to any lengths to make sure that our health is optimal So ask yourself these questions(no right or wrong answers and you won't be graded!)
Will I spend any amount of money and forego any extraneous expenses(movies, gas, treats, vacations, etc) to further my health?
Do I continue to seek out different informaton to evolve my health?
Am I healthier in my mindbody physiology today than I was yesterday, last month, last year?
Do I regard aging as a fictional event?
Whe I wake up in the morning do I think about the health of my mindbody first and the future events of the day second?
Do I consider exercise a barometer of health? (ie if I'm able to run, swim, bike, or climb Mount Everest then I'm healthy) If so, why and who says?
Misdirecting Our Passionate Efforts for Health
You see it's all about the distractions of life and day to day activities that divert our attention away from our health passion
Today the matter science(molecular study) as typified in nutrition directs our attention away from the salient aspects of personal health We become so focused on the molecules in foods(including vitamins and supplements) that we miss the greater issues of lifestyle
It's as if we are indulging on the small things rather than stepping back and looking at the greater picture
Feeding the Furnace
From my own experience and what I have encountered with patients is that we have to first start the furnace of health passion
Like anything else this expects some form of commitment on our part
Passionate about health implies that there is a willingness to step outside the box, to encounter new information, to try new things on, in order to make health a priority
We don't really speak to this in our culture, perhaps becasue as we've said earlier, this survival thing is hardwired and so we just assume that it's part of our lifestyle But I think not
Passionate About Our Lifestyle Choices
So simple things first Come hell or high water we chose the following choices
Lights out by 10:30pm
Up at 6am
Favor foods that briing about balance
Build a churan to enhance digestive fire
Now you're stoking the furnace!
Ciao with passion To health as a Skill Love DrBill
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The Roundabout
You may have heard or experienced the traffic device called the roundabout
Popular in Europe and worldover they are being used in the States now and they periodically show up in our communities as in mine over the last 5 years
Direction of Flow
The interesting thing about roundabouts is the guidance they provide for drivers to direct traffic
But there is no person hired by the city to do this guidance It's done by us!
We ourselves provide guidance for ourselves And we do it very efficiently
As a matter of fact there have even been mathematical models studying how the circular aspect of the roundabout creates a highly efficient distribution device for traffic control
There are no crashes or irritability, just smooooth polite merging and managing the flow of our vehicle movements
Health and the Energy Science Medicine Roundabout
As I was driving today and experiencing the marvels of the roundabout near my house, it occurred to me that energy science medicine acts like a roundabout
We put ourselves into the flow of suggested lifestyle behaviors(our own internal roundabout) and the traffic flow of biological energy is redirected spontaneously
The doctor didn't direct it The therapist didn't direct it The dentist didn't direct it We direct it effortlessly We just have to get out of the way and not interfere with the flow
Even though herbs are potent redirectors of biological energy flow patterns, in the end the lifestyle choices that we make effect the biological energy flow the most
As we have this biological roundabout energy flow experience, something quite magical begins to happen
Our health improves
Health Redefined
Health is not something we hope for, it's something we work at like any skill
The question then is obvious What is necessary to hone our skill To make the roundabout work better for us
Nutrition is a fundamental pattern of behavior that we can use Sleep patterns and exercise are others
As we improve our health we find a very startling thing That health is evolutionary and that it is infinite There is no end to it
And as we get healthier another insight We find that in higher states of health it's not just the mindbody, we become more aware
Amazing! Just by improving our roundabout
Until tomorrow To health as a Skill Love DrBill
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Saving Money Through Lifestyle Choice
The hardest thing we do in life is change our lifestyles to more health promoting ones But guaranteed if we do this kind of work we will save money by reducing our health care expense because one thing is certain right now just as inevitable as death and taxes
Our health care costs will be going up, so get ready!
Brushing Our Teeth-The Value of Ritual
Probably the best way to captivate the mindbody's attention and get it to listen to a wanted change is to build it into our ritualistic sequence of the day Just like brushing our teeth is a ritual we do every day we can place within our scheduled things to do one thing that we want to add or change
Say we always have a cup of Joe in the morning Perhaps switch that to tea a couple of times per week Or the biggest meal of the day at noon is not easy-try doing one day a week Or drinking a glass of warm water to get started in the morning before brushing your teeth That squarely puts the new change right into the ritualistic sequence
You get the idea of baby steps
Who Says?
I think one of the objections to such an approach is "Who says that this is the correct thing to do to promote health?"
These energy science recommendations come from a 5000 year old tradition that has stood the test of time I don't think any of us can do better than that including the present matter science tradition that has been around less than 100 years
Saving $$
So how does this equate into saving the dough?
Over time simple lifestyle choices will reduce visits to the doctor, God forbid! I'm not saying to avoid annual checkups but by and by the needs to see the doctor for various complaints such as insomnia, weight gain, heartburn, depression, anxiety, etc will begin melting away
Taking responsibility for our health has a tradeoff Personal work toward improving our lifestyle choices with the tradeoff of reduced medical bills
I'd say that's a pretty sweet deal Don't you?
Until tomorrow To health as a Skill Love DrBill
Photo courtesy Marfis 75
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