Forrest and Trees Nutrition
Presently we are mesmerized by the study of foods ingested
Carbonated drinks bad, white rice for babies bad, being vegetarian good, white refined sugar bad
But What About Us?
But where does all this rhetoric about foods leave us, that is the people who are consuming the food?
Oh yea, we study the physiologic consequences of certain foods that have been identified as not such good choices as above Insulin goes up, blood sugars go awry, cholesteral and lipids are adversely effected
But what I mean by the question "what about us?" is where do we fit into the digestive equation
Passing the Molecular Buck
We have become so intensely involved as a nutritional system to study the physiologic consequences of the nutrition ingested that I believe we have lost an important part of the equation Ourselves!!
This has become such a habit of thought that we no longer consider that it's important to talk about the health of the GI tract that has to handle the foods ingested whether they are good or bad for us
It's as if we the ingestors are factored out of the equation That the "me" is inconsequential That the study of the molecules are the heart of the matter science nutritional model
We have indeed passed our responsibility to the molecules and their study
Gaining Our Responsibility Back
The energy science nutritional model allows us to take this nutritional responsibility back
But how? By paying attention to our digestion and its function Do we have acid indigestion, bloating, constipation, diarrhea, malabsorption, hemmorrhoids?
All of these various abnormal bowel patterns indicate poor affected digestion that needs help And that help isn't in the form of pills but finding out what foods are causing us difficulties:
Choosing foods that are compatable with our mindbody makeup
Forrest and Trees Nutrition
When paying attention to our digestion it's best to take a more overview perspective That is, seeing our digestion as a forrest rather than focusing on the trees
Digestive power leads us to fixing those problems I mentioned above
Rather than focusing on gluten or lactose molecules as the culprits that make us feel ill, if we redirect our attention and intention on digestive power, many times we can eliminate the issues of food intolerances
A molecular approach to nutrition can only take us so far An energy science approach is adjunctive and highly supportive to the molecular approach
Until tomorrow To health as a Skill Love DrBill
Photo courtesy Flickr Creative Commons by Percita
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Alzheimer’s and Prevention
The joys of extended life may lead to the dimness of failing mental skills(memory loss or retrieval problems, loss of creativity, attention span fading, and loss of learning ability) often described clinically as senile dementia
Alzheimer's Disease
Early dementia (earlier than age 70 although this age is arbitrary)is usually described as Alzheimer's disease but actually the label is applied to older people as well Suprisingly the problem begins around age 30 and 40% will have it at age 80 But 2% can't escape the fact that they will be affected(take my chances as they say)
The key pathological finding is plaque like lesions in the cortex which are thought to affect neural communication
Multifactorial causes are identified such as neurovascular injury(stroke leading cause), emotional trauma, neurotoxins, infection, and even overreacting which is interesting
Since we all want our mental faculties in our senior years the issue of what to do about it now becomes a subject of interest
The Matter Science Approach
Prevention of disease is presently where we are with many disease labels in the matter science medical model Usually the approach turns out to be early detection
So it is with the current matter science approach to Alzheimer's
The idea is that if we can genetically identify an at risk population we could then apply certain principles that would potentially interfere with the plaque formation in the brain tissue
The information becomes the carrot to change lifestyle behavior patterns S0 for example seems to have a protective effect against the disease If it doesn't you're simply demented and in good shape!
An Energy Science Medical Approach to Alzheimer's
From the above matter science medical model of Alzheimer's and from other models of disease it's clear that probably all diseases begin early
The figure that's thrown around these days from these disease models is that it's in the 30's(4th decade of life) That is the ground state of disease labels that are used presently begins earlier than we ever anticipated
What's this mean for people in their 50's? We'd better get busy But busy doing what?
Energy Science Suggestions
Here the energy science medical model has a lot to say about staying healthy and clearing stagnant energy flows in the mindbody physiology
Of course eating according to our mindbody energy makeups is help in not only clearing but also preventing further areas of stagnant energy(other names used toxic load, sludge etc)
Avoiding food incompatabilities
Using spices to improve digestion
Considering a monodiet intermittently such as kitchari for an extended period of time or one day out of a week using milk, preferred juice
Consider a practice of meditation to reduce overreactivity
Use of ghee for PV on a regular basis
Genetic Plasticity and the Energy Science
As we have discussed before genetic plasticity is a our friend as we move ahead with lifestyle behavior changes That literally changing how we do life can help impact our genetic predisposition to disease
And this is what the matter science medical model is telling us For those genetically prone to Alzheimer's changing lifestyle can have beneficial consequences
And the lifestyle changes that should be invoked come from the energy science medical model since the matter science model doesn't have much guidance
Until tomorrow To health as a Skill Love DrBill
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Qualities and the Five Senses
Let's consider this Can we hear, see, feel, taste, and smell the hot quality?
The Qualities of Opposites
Yes I think we can As a matter of fact all 10 pairs of primordial vibrational frequencies can be sensed in this way Hot/cold, heavy/light, dull/sharp, dry/oily, rough/smooth, dense/liquid, mobile/static, cloudy/clear, gross/subtle, hard/soft are expressions of the universe manifested through our nervous systems in the objects that we experience in our environment
That experience could be sensed as a hot angry relationship with another fellow becoming, such as a person expressing road rage The trick is to try to not only see the hot angry in the mannerisms of the person, but to hear, feel, taste, and smell it
Why Bother?
"Why should I?", you ask I know the person's angry Why carry it any further than that?
The simplest explanation is to be attentive
Why? Well first,because it allows more complete digestion of the emotional experience But secondly, it's fun The latter reason is perhaps more important because it's what makes life interesting and engaging
Attention and Digestion
So to fully digest an experience is to be attentive to the qualities in the experience This may sound like a terrible chore but we do it anyway so why not bring it up to being conscious about it
We do it anyway? Sure, think about it When we eat a salsa and experience the hot quality we become engaged, right ? We can extend that to the experience of drinking a glass of milk that gives us the oily, cold, dull, smooth, cloudy, heavy, static sensory experience
And we can do it with all 5 senses since we hear(milk being poured or moved in the mouth), see, taste, touch and smell these qualities as compared to the same experience we would have with water
Foods as a Mindbody Experience
But here's the amazing insight that we can have when eating food As we do more of these sense experiences with food we begin noting what foods do to our mindbodies
Yes, we can experience milk as we drink it but what's even better is to begin noting how it impacts our mindbody with the 5 senses as well Does it bring a heavy feeling? Is the mindbody more quiet without as much mental turbullence(static)? Is there more mucous(liquid, smooth, dull, cold, and cloudy) in the nasal passages and throat?
When we pay attention like this, we clearly digest better
Digestion: Lost in the Molecules
We have become so mesmerized by molecular study of matter science nutrition that we have intellectually tuned out of the sensory experience of nourishment
And as we have talked about earlier from an energy science nutritional point of view is the heart of being able to digest the foods that we take in
The foundation of good nutrition starts with digestion, absorption, and assimilation NOT with the molecule
When we pay attention with all 5 senses we begin to be engaged Then we digest better
Until tomorrow To health as a Skill Love DrBill
Photo courtesy of ecospc @ Flikr Commons
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Fit As A Fiddle?
So the expression goes implying that the mindbody is a well tuned harmonious instrument capable of playing beautiful music
From an energy science view that's what the mindbody is -a complex set of vibrational frequencies in harmony and playing beautiful music
The Matter Science View of the Body and Mind
The contemporary matter science view of the body and mind is that it's a molecular field that functions like a well oiled clock and somehow in some strange way through the molecular interactions in the brain has learned how to think
This mechanistic model of the human body and mind is not acceptable anymore and physicians and their patients know it now
This archaic human body world view that grew out of Newtonian physics prevalent in the 1600's when the world was awakening to the fact that the world was not flat is still how we see what it means to be human
Come On, Let's Wake Up!
This Newtonian world view went out a century ago with Einstein yet our contemporary matter science view of biology lives on
The reason for this is actually quite simple There seems to be no alterantive So we remain in slumber, believing that this is our biological destiny living a molecular existence
The challenge is to create a paradigm shift to look at the human mindbody as an energy field
Disease Prevention or Early Detection?
The paradigm shift is important for in it lies the essence of prevention of disease
What's currently called prevention of disease by the matter science medical discipline is early detection But early detection while it saves lives by finding early cancers is not prevention of disease
And what about all the other diseases that aren't cancers? Simple things such as hyperacidity syndrome(acid indigestion), gastroesophageal reflux disease(GERD), constipation, bowel malabsorption, food allergies, asthma, bronchitis, the common cold, autoimmune disease, and the big one presently obesity and its physiologic ramifications of metabolic syndrome
Disease Prevention: An Energy Science View
We may think we are fit as a fiddle since we feel good but the origins of disease may be percolating and we aren't aware of the process
From the matter science medical model we are now becoming aware that the disease process occurs decades before the manifestation of obvious disease such as in prostate cancer
From the energy science medical model all disease begins in the gastrointestinal tract by the imbalances created by the foods we eat
Since then all disease begins by the foods that we eat, we can see that if we make better choices nutritionally, we begin to prevent imbalances which ultimately leads to the obvious manifestation of disease decades later
So what to do?
Use foods that are balancing to the mindbody(see foodsheal.com)
Avoid incompatable food combinations
Pay attention to the health of your digestive fire
Favor habits that enhance digestive fire
Then you'll be on the real path to disease prevention
Until tomorrow To health as a Skill Love DrBill
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Nourishing the Mindbody Energy Field
Have you ever had a friend who you didn't know? Sounds like a ridiculous question, doesn't it?
Ok, let's see, have you ever had the experience of having a dear friend in high school or grade school that through the years you lose contact with?
Sure, I think we have all had that experience Lives change, we move to different locales, and our friends and relationships change Right?
Paying Attention or Nourishment
So when we lose track of our dear friends of the past we stop paying attention to them We stop nourishing those relationships due to life circumstances
But there is one part of us, even though our mindbody is changing as well as relationships, which doesn't change Paying attention to that part of us that doesn't change, the soul, is health promoting and can be done with meditation which is paying attention to that timeless presence
The mindbody changes but me, the observer, doesn't change The energy traditions call this observer our soul The energy science medical model has a place for this observer The matter science medical model doesn't It can't due to its limitations as to how it views the physical body, a collection of matter or molecules
The soul is part of our energy field So how else can we nourish our energy field?
Biologic Energy Field Nutrition
I would submit that the broad definition of nourishment is paying attention
Sooo .... paying attention to our energy field is to nourish it, to have a relationship with it
Doing yoga as a practice is a form of nourishment
When we pay attention to how the mindbody feels after doing a yoga pose is nourishment(often there are rushes, tingling that occur after a yoga pose is completed that is the actual movement of the energy field)
Eating foods that bring balance to the mindbody energy field is nourishment for the energy field
Avoiding poor food combining stops distressing the energy field
Paying attention to digestive fire which is an expression of the energy field also brings nourishment to us
Relationships Are Everything
Nurturing relationships is vital to our health I don't think anyone disagrees with that But what we relate to is the issue
If we relate to our mindbody as a collection of molecules, that's what it will be for us
If we want to see and feel ourselves as energy fields, we have to be willing to nourish and cultivate that relationship
Otherwise the energy mindbody is an intellectual curiosity with little significance for us in our day to day lives
The choice will determine our health, believe the unbelievable or not
Until tomorrow To health as a Skill Love DrBill
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Red Meat and Seafood: An Energy Science Nutritional Perspective
We gain a great deal of our nutritional support from high density protein foods found in different forms, usually from red meats and seafood
A Matter Science View
Domesticated beef carries with it the problem of a high concentration of fatty acids and hence many respected matter science dietary schemes such as the Paleo program point out that such meats are not what they used to be and therefore jeopardizing our health
Seafoods are plentiful but practically speaking the cost of harvesting may diminish as our economic woes perseverate Perhaps freshwater fish farming could be a good solution as from a matter science view the much acclaimed omega 6 fatty acids are just as plentiful in freshwater fish
An Energy Science View of Red Meat and Why
Domesticated red meat is high in fatty acids and energetically is sweet which provokes Kapha in a significant way since the vibrational frequences of the Kapha energy pattern are closely aligned with the sweet taste(cold, heavy, slow/dull, static, oily, smooth/slimy, gross, cloudy)
The acid taste is the sour taste in Nature The sour taste has the vibrational frequency constellation of hot, dry, dense, hard, and cloudy
The hot and dry vibrational frequencies provoke the energy physiology of Pitta and the dense, hard and cloudy provoke the Kapha energy pattern
Hence domesticated red meats effect imbalance in PK(Pitta Kapha) energy patterns and should be left alone(beef, duck, lamb, pork) but white chicken and white turkey and undomesticated red meats(venison, moose, elk except buffalo in moderation) all the time
For PV(Pitta Vata) energy patterns these same meats can be used in moderation (1-2 times per week but not everyday)
Seafood: An Energy Science View
Meat that has lived in salt water all its life carries the energetic vibrational frequency of salt
Just as red meats don't taste sour, seafood doesn't necessarily taste salty Nevertheless energetically these meats are sour and salty respectively since they carry the vibrational frequencies of the sour and salty patterns
The salty taste carries the vibrational frequencies of hot, light, liquid, subtle, soft, and smooth/slimy The former three effect imbalance in Pitta and the latter two effect Kapha Vata is favorably affected by the qualities of hot, liquid, soft and smooth/slimy so seafood in moderation for PV(Pitta Vata)
So the energy science states that freshwater fish are best for PK and in moderation for PV since the light, rough, and dry qualities imbalance Vata
What to do?
Take the test to find out who you are energetically
Look up the nutritional format that is best for you
Realize that these recommendations are guidelines not rules but that the more one uses them as tools for guidance in food selection the better the chance that you will feel better
A word about eggs: egg whites are great for everyone but yolk provokes PK due to the sour and sweet tastes for the same reason that red meat provokes Because the sweet taste of the egg white balances the sour of the yolk, whole eggs can be used in moderation
Unitl tomorrow To health as a Skill Love DrBill
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