Food as medicine
- Thread starter Poindexter
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Easy Livin’ 3000
Minister of Fire
This is part of why I like this community so much. Enlightened cavemen all around.
I start out almost every day with a big bowl of beans (called refried, but really just mashed). Melt a little cheese on top, after seasoning the beans with homegrown red pepper flakes, some red wine vinegar, lots of fresh ground black pepper, and some juice from pickled hot peppers.
Once the cheese is melted, I top it off with a fresh hot pepper or two, serrano recently, lots of chopped onion, tomato, Romain lettuce, and sometimes some olives and cilantro.
I finish it all with some fresh chopped salsa, a few squits of hot sauce, and some store picante. And more fresh black pepper. Then a dollop of sour cream. I eat it with unsalted fried whole grain corn tortillas.
Since I started eating this for breakfast, my desire for meat and processed foods throughout the rest of the day, has plummeted. My bms are like clockwork, and always easy. 2 per day usually, and I don't eat much else, dinners and lunches are almost always small. And contrary to the beans' reputation, I am far less gassy than before I started eating the beans regularly.
I guess my point is, I found a way to incorporate lots more plants into my diet, in an incredibly satisfying way. That bowl of beans on the morning is my favorite dish.
It's also way cheaper to eat this way.
I start out almost every day with a big bowl of beans (called refried, but really just mashed). Melt a little cheese on top, after seasoning the beans with homegrown red pepper flakes, some red wine vinegar, lots of fresh ground black pepper, and some juice from pickled hot peppers.
Once the cheese is melted, I top it off with a fresh hot pepper or two, serrano recently, lots of chopped onion, tomato, Romain lettuce, and sometimes some olives and cilantro.
I finish it all with some fresh chopped salsa, a few squits of hot sauce, and some store picante. And more fresh black pepper. Then a dollop of sour cream. I eat it with unsalted fried whole grain corn tortillas.
Since I started eating this for breakfast, my desire for meat and processed foods throughout the rest of the day, has plummeted. My bms are like clockwork, and always easy. 2 per day usually, and I don't eat much else, dinners and lunches are almost always small. And contrary to the beans' reputation, I am far less gassy than before I started eating the beans regularly.
I guess my point is, I found a way to incorporate lots more plants into my diet, in an incredibly satisfying way. That bowl of beans on the morning is my favorite dish.
It's also way cheaper to eat this way.
I have invested much of my last four days off reading up on the gut biome, what is in it, and what it can do.
In the current infant state of the science, all the known and fully elucidated chemical pathways for beneficial output from the gut biome run on plant fibers.
The one fully elucidated chemical pathway for the gut biome processing meat (my notes are upstairs and my wife has gone to bed already) are dependent on genus Escherichia, start with carnitine and one other chemical common to meat, have a processing step within the liver, and become the chemical in the blood that tacks cholesterol plaques onto the walls of arteries.
I am already signaling my wife and the one child we have at home right now that I am about to try full on vegan for a month or so to see how I feel. I had, I think it was Thursday, 4 ozs beef sausage and 4 ozs cold water shrimp and 2 ozs of cow's milk cheese in a bowl of shrimp and grits. It has taken me about 48 hours of extremely intentional vegan intake to rebalance my gut from meat to plant processing and restore the dopamine/ oxytocin/ serotonin flow I have recently been accustomed too.
The best tasting meal I can think of in the moment for flavor would be a fire grilled ribeye, with a side of smoked sausage, some potato au gratin, and maybe a token green salad with a highly herbed vinaigrette for dressing. And a beer. But I would feel like I got hit by a truck within one hour.
But to feel good for hours and hours after the meal, I like a bit of whole grain barley or oats, a bit of wheat germ, some asparagus and some live culture kimchi. Maybe a glass of red wine. The hit of the D/O/S feel good chemicals can last most of my waking hours, and I am hooked.
1. This is why plant-based meat and cheese substitutes can be useful during a 'transition' period. These don't become new staples, but can a nice addition/condiment to add to dishes occasionally going forward. These ofc lack the carnitine and choline of meat/eggs/dairy, even if the saturated fat can be a little high per serving.
2. The thing I'm missing from your diet is SPICES. Last night I made a Tikka Masala from scratch.
Tempeh Tikka Masala
Instant Pot Vegan Tikka Masala: a rich Indian-inspired curry with spices, tempeh, roasted vegetables, and coconut milk. Easy and delicious!
sweetpotatosoul.com
In the place of the 'garam masala' spice, I used a tsp of cumin and 1/2 tsp of allspice. I also skipped the tempeh (having eaten a lot of protein in the last few days), and added chopped asparagus cooked in the sauce for about 7-8 minutes. I also couldn't source her drinkable yogurt (sponsor product placement) and skipped the coconut cream, so I mixed vegan greek style yogurt with full fat oatly to the required total volume.
I served this over my quinoa pilaf (rather than white bismati) and it was spectacular and pretty easy. And low-fat/vegan.
The Indians have been figuring out how to make really yummy (lacto)vegetarian food for a long time.
You need to (1) collect some spices/condiments and (2) collect some sauces/cookbooks.
I bought a bunch of vegan condiments: equivalents of mayo and worcestershire sauce. Soy and shoyu. Red and white miso. Balsamic glazes, sweet and sour, hoisin and teriyaki sauces, etc. All are a bit high in salt and sugar, but are OK at condiment level IMO.
Depending on the dish a zot of one or two of those can really take it up a notch, and takes no time at all.
My new added goal is to consume at least a quarter teaspoon of 30 different plants daily.
Not 30 servings of plants, I am sticking with 10-12 servings, just 20 other plant species at +/- 1/4 teaspoon each.
I have seen 30 different plant species as a suggestion, without a usable footnote back to a scientific study, at least twice in the last few days.
I did start a homemade kimchi today with 9 different plants in it, the only duplicate between my salad bar at work and the veg in my kimchi is carrot, so that will get me some diversity here in a couple days.
My goal for this spring is to have >200 species of pets in my menagerie by June 1. I am not sure it is reasonable, something like 100-125 distinct species might be dramatically more realistic, but I am going for it.
We are paralleling in some ways...
I am lazy, and that means I will usually eat several servings of one veg over several servings of different veg. I am trying to get in the habit of having several kinds of veg/legume in my fridge that I can just chuck into a sauce or a buddha bowl or on a salad. The key is just have a bunch cooked in the fridge. I think this is better nutritionally and for the ole gut.
Several spices have health effects. Tumeric is everyone's favorite, but studies have shown that it needs to be paired with black pepper for full effect/bioavailability (which the Indians figured out). Crucifers have this amazing substance sulforaphane, but the amount you get depends on cooking method, but boosted if you add dried mustard after cooking. So in the end, I'd bet there are a ton of synergistic effects in having a variety of plant foods and spices that we haven't figured out yet.
I took a work trip to NYC last week, and I was happy to see that they had lots of good vegan options at the meal breaks. My buds and I walked into a Korean restaurant and after we sat down, discovered that the whole menu was vegan! Then over the weekend my GF made me some yummy hot sandwiches with impossible sausage and broccoli rabe.
And something in those 4 days has given me some GI upset.... lots of gassiness that I have not had over the last 10 weeks of veganism. :/
My research suggests that I may not have a fully adapted microbiome (some omnivores are lacking key species to begin with) and/or may have an overgrowth of GI yeast candida (which is filling the void left by the missing bacterial species).
I am sure that this too shall pass.
As for rejiggering the microbiome, I am going to try taking a probiotic with Akkermansia muciniphila. It is a 'keystone' species in the human GI that leads to healthy gut barrier formation and tons of SCFAs. Apparently, only about half of Americans have this species present, the others have this niche occupied by one of a few different species. The lack of A. muciniphila in these individuals has been shown to be correlated with obesity and a variety of chronic and metabolic disorders. A. muciniphila is interesting bc it eats your own colonic secretions, and turns them in SCFAs (mostly propionate) which then 'cross-feeds' your colonic epithelium (and other microbiome species, thus 'keystone')... so its doesn't need prebiotics once established. Apparently is also likes FOS substrates, so I am eating several grams of hydrolyzed inulin powder per day at the same time to help it out.
As for quantifying your microbial diversity... I assume you are going to pay $99 for a test from https://www.ombrelab.com/ ? Or do you have a different plan.
I am lazy, and that means I will usually eat several servings of one veg over several servings of different veg. I am trying to get in the habit of having several kinds of veg/legume in my fridge that I can just chuck into a sauce or a buddha bowl or on a salad. The key is just have a bunch cooked in the fridge. I think this is better nutritionally and for the ole gut.
Several spices have health effects. Tumeric is everyone's favorite, but studies have shown that it needs to be paired with black pepper for full effect/bioavailability (which the Indians figured out). Crucifers have this amazing substance sulforaphane, but the amount you get depends on cooking method, but boosted if you add dried mustard after cooking. So in the end, I'd bet there are a ton of synergistic effects in having a variety of plant foods and spices that we haven't figured out yet.
I took a work trip to NYC last week, and I was happy to see that they had lots of good vegan options at the meal breaks. My buds and I walked into a Korean restaurant and after we sat down, discovered that the whole menu was vegan! Then over the weekend my GF made me some yummy hot sandwiches with impossible sausage and broccoli rabe.
And something in those 4 days has given me some GI upset.... lots of gassiness that I have not had over the last 10 weeks of veganism. :/
My research suggests that I may not have a fully adapted microbiome (some omnivores are lacking key species to begin with) and/or may have an overgrowth of GI yeast candida (which is filling the void left by the missing bacterial species).
I am sure that this too shall pass.
As for rejiggering the microbiome, I am going to try taking a probiotic with Akkermansia muciniphila. It is a 'keystone' species in the human GI that leads to healthy gut barrier formation and tons of SCFAs. Apparently, only about half of Americans have this species present, the others have this niche occupied by one of a few different species. The lack of A. muciniphila in these individuals has been shown to be correlated with obesity and a variety of chronic and metabolic disorders. A. muciniphila is interesting bc it eats your own colonic secretions, and turns them in SCFAs (mostly propionate) which then 'cross-feeds' your colonic epithelium (and other microbiome species, thus 'keystone')... so its doesn't need prebiotics once established. Apparently is also likes FOS substrates, so I am eating several grams of hydrolyzed inulin powder per day at the same time to help it out.
As for quantifying your microbial diversity... I assume you are going to pay $99 for a test from https://www.ombrelab.com/ ? Or do you have a different plan.
On more of a deep dive....
Looks like Akkermansia muciniphila is ubiquitous in humans (and other mammals) with a good amount of strain diversity between individuals. Levels of the bug vary enormously in a diet dependent way. As in, those eating low-fiber, low carb diets have a 100+ fold lower incidence of A. muciniphila (missed in early assays of lower sensitivity). Since it appears having healthy gut epithelium (and thus a healthy gut-blood barrier) requires cross-feeding between the bug and your epithelial cells, folks with those low-fiber/low-carb diets have 'leaky gut' and associated systemic inflammation markers. That also shade into things like arthritis, and MS. And of course, Crohns, IBS, etc.
Cross-feeding: the epithelial cells lining your gut EAT SCFAs, and excrete mucin protein (mucus) as a physical barrier. A. muciniphila binds and eats mucin (slowly) and excrete SCFAs that feed your cells AND other bacteria in their community, which convert these to still more molecules symbiotically. The presence of A. muciniphila upregulates mucus production significantly. A. muciniphila is the foundation.
The solution is simple: fiber. Specifically, the kinds of fiber that your microbiome can digest, like fructans (poly-frucose) like inulin (in chicory root) and 'resistant starch' (RS) which is starch (poly-glucose) that is not digested by our GI due to its physical density and/or branching molecular structure. Resistant starch is found in everything, but is esp high in beans, green bananas, cashews, and potatoes (that have been chilled after cooking). Just feeding inulin OR RS to folks in modest amounts is enough to bloom their A. muciniphila to healthy levels. This bloom coincides with all the magic ... high SCFAs (maybe serotonin and dopamine too?), reduced inflammation, reduced insulin tolerance, reduced bloodstream entero-toxins (from gut leakage), reduced IBS flares, you name it.
My youngest always had GI issues, and started eating green bananas regularly years ago... and has had few complaints since. LOL.
So, I didn't get my beans in for a few days... and got gassy. Maybe my happy bugs were mad bc they didn't get their resistant starch. Solution: eat my beans. The A. muciniphila probiotics I bought are probably useless... too small a dose, and I probably already have the bugs. I will take them anyway.
Having done a deep dive on WFPB diets for the last several months, I think this single aspect (A. muciniphila) could be at the root of much of the benefits of the diet for inflammation and mood, including perhaps @Poindexter 's effects. The same bugs have their tentacles in lipid metabolism as well, so could also contribute to cardiovascular benes (which are mostly from reduction is saturated fats and dietary cholesterol).
Looks like Akkermansia muciniphila is ubiquitous in humans (and other mammals) with a good amount of strain diversity between individuals. Levels of the bug vary enormously in a diet dependent way. As in, those eating low-fiber, low carb diets have a 100+ fold lower incidence of A. muciniphila (missed in early assays of lower sensitivity). Since it appears having healthy gut epithelium (and thus a healthy gut-blood barrier) requires cross-feeding between the bug and your epithelial cells, folks with those low-fiber/low-carb diets have 'leaky gut' and associated systemic inflammation markers. That also shade into things like arthritis, and MS. And of course, Crohns, IBS, etc.
Cross-feeding: the epithelial cells lining your gut EAT SCFAs, and excrete mucin protein (mucus) as a physical barrier. A. muciniphila binds and eats mucin (slowly) and excrete SCFAs that feed your cells AND other bacteria in their community, which convert these to still more molecules symbiotically. The presence of A. muciniphila upregulates mucus production significantly. A. muciniphila is the foundation.
The solution is simple: fiber. Specifically, the kinds of fiber that your microbiome can digest, like fructans (poly-frucose) like inulin (in chicory root) and 'resistant starch' (RS) which is starch (poly-glucose) that is not digested by our GI due to its physical density and/or branching molecular structure. Resistant starch is found in everything, but is esp high in beans, green bananas, cashews, and potatoes (that have been chilled after cooking). Just feeding inulin OR RS to folks in modest amounts is enough to bloom their A. muciniphila to healthy levels. This bloom coincides with all the magic ... high SCFAs (maybe serotonin and dopamine too?), reduced inflammation, reduced insulin tolerance, reduced bloodstream entero-toxins (from gut leakage), reduced IBS flares, you name it.
My youngest always had GI issues, and started eating green bananas regularly years ago... and has had few complaints since. LOL.
So, I didn't get my beans in for a few days... and got gassy. Maybe my happy bugs were mad bc they didn't get their resistant starch. Solution: eat my beans. The A. muciniphila probiotics I bought are probably useless... too small a dose, and I probably already have the bugs. I will take them anyway.
Having done a deep dive on WFPB diets for the last several months, I think this single aspect (A. muciniphila) could be at the root of much of the benefits of the diet for inflammation and mood, including perhaps @Poindexter 's effects. The same bugs have their tentacles in lipid metabolism as well, so could also contribute to cardiovascular benes (which are mostly from reduction is saturated fats and dietary cholesterol).
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We went through this in the late 60s and 70s when vegan everything was the rage. It was painful to eat out because everyone was going whole grain but few knew how to cook or season. I had a whole grain pizza back when we first moved to Seattle that sat in my gut for a week it was so heavy.1. This is why plant-based meat and cheese substitutes can be useful during a 'transition' period. These don't become new staples, but can a nice addition/condiment to add to dishes occasionally going forward. These ofc lack the carnitine and choline of meat/eggs/dairy, even if the saturated fat can be a little high per serving.
2. The thing I'm missing from your diet is SPICES. Last night I made a Tikka Masala from scratch.
Tempeh Tikka Masala
Instant Pot Vegan Tikka Masala: a rich Indian-inspired curry with spices, tempeh, roasted vegetables, and coconut milk. Easy and delicious!
I
Fortunately, my wife is a really good cook and immediately started modifying vegetarian recipes to include spices and herbs so that they actually taste good. We do not subscribe to the monastic, hair shirt, mentality that healthy food must be an acquired taste. The Indian and SE Asian people have always known this and very few of their dishes can be called bland. Good eats should also taste good. That means using quality ingredients, preferably fresh, in interesting ways. This doesn't mean complex seasoning. A salsa or good tomato sauce is not complex, but don't be afraid of the onions, garlic, and some herbs.
We are also blessed by Seattle being a melting pot with lots of other cultures here now. When we moved here, it was hard to find good affordable restaurant food except in the International District. Now, great spice shops and good restaurants abound. It's been a welcome change. We don't eat out that much, but when we do, we like the food to be better than we can make at home.
Lots of butter, heavy cream, and meat in those recipes. There are healthier ways to make good-tasting food that fits this diet regime.
I am going to send a PM to @woodgeek suggesting he, with the greater depth of knowledge, start a new thread here re: the gut biome.
My original intent in this thread was to explicate the bare nutritional minimums for better health. I work at the bedside with sick people, and I see the same five things over and over.
The top five things any one person can do to stay out the hospital are the same as they were in post one this thread.
1. Stop smoking.
2. Limit alcohol
3. Get your self talk under control. You are beautiful just the way God made you. You are strong. You are capable.
4. Eliminate processed meats, fats and carbs.
5. Consume at least 5 servings of vegetables every day.
If I was an instructor at a nursing school I would pay $50 cash to any student who could find one patient on any inpatient floor that did not have at least one of these five problems, accidental trauma, advanced age and athletic overuse injuries excepted. And labor and delivery also excepted. Child birth gives me the screaming heebie-jeebies and I stay far far away, there are plenty of otherwise healthy women who end up getting C-sections.
My original intent in this thread was to explicate the bare nutritional minimums for better health. I work at the bedside with sick people, and I see the same five things over and over.
The top five things any one person can do to stay out the hospital are the same as they were in post one this thread.
1. Stop smoking.
2. Limit alcohol
3. Get your self talk under control. You are beautiful just the way God made you. You are strong. You are capable.
4. Eliminate processed meats, fats and carbs.
5. Consume at least 5 servings of vegetables every day.
If I was an instructor at a nursing school I would pay $50 cash to any student who could find one patient on any inpatient floor that did not have at least one of these five problems, accidental trauma, advanced age and athletic overuse injuries excepted. And labor and delivery also excepted. Child birth gives me the screaming heebie-jeebies and I stay far far away, there are plenty of otherwise healthy women who end up getting C-sections.
I'm passing on starting a microbiome thread, due mostly to my lack of knowledge.
I didn't mean to hijack this thread with my transient microbiome obsessions.
That said, in keeping with the thread, I think there are tons of great health effects from eating lots of whole plant foods. The origin of these benefits are threefold:
1) Our ancestors evolved eating a wide variety of whole plant foods forever (10s of millions of years) so there are literally hundreds of phytonutrients that are common in plant foods (not just the dozen vitamins identified 100 years ago) that interact favorably with out internal biochemistry. These non vitamins are not deemed 'essential' for life, but they are essential for health and longevity. Not to mention the minerals like iron, calcium, magnesium and potassium high in plant foods. Many of the metabolic pathways affected by phytonutrients are DNA repair, calcium and other mineral regulation, anti-cancer, etc. Supplements based on purified plant extracts don't work in general, bc these different nutrients often work in concert. Similarly, refining plant foods into flour and oils removes all the goodness, so white rice and white bread and ritz crackers don't count as plant foods. Just eat your veggies (and fruits and whole grains and nuts)!
2) Your microbiome in your colon is an unrecognized and underappreciated ORGAN. It has more different genes and DNA than you do. It takes nutrients from your diet (prebiotics) and converts them to lots of other molecules (mostly SCFAs) that feed your colon lining, and get into your blood stream. These SCFAs can affect/regulate mood/hormones, and regulate hunger/satiety, your liver metabolism, everything. And this microbial organ evolved in humans eating 100 g/fiber per day for millions of years. And most americans micriobiome is very effed up, bc it is starved of fiber (usually <15 g/day) and overgrown with bugs that digest animal proteins and fats. This is called dysbiosis... a messed up microbiome. These bugs do not feed your colon cells (resulting in gut problems including leaky gut and colon cancer, the #2 cancer killer). This dysbiosis leads to hunger cravings, obesity etc. and gas/bloating from eating HEALTHY foods like legumes and veggies. Leaky gut causes these bacterial and food proteins to get into your bloodstream leading to systemic inflammation and autoimmune diseases (bc some of the leaking proteins mimic our own proteins). Bad news all around. Eat some fiber!
3) Our ancestral diet was very low in saturated fat and cholesterol (hunter gatherers run <5% meat calories), and our systems have ZERO adaptations to a high saturated fat and cholesterol diet (such as those seen in carnivorous animals). We do make our own cholesterol (its essential), but its regulatory pathway runs through the gut and assumes high fiber. Just eating low fiber and dysbiosis can run our cholesterol too high, while we are eating zero cholesterol! And then high saturated fat and cholesterol in the diet send our blood cholesterols to the moon. The 'normal' levels of cholesterol are too high, about 2X what one sees in hunter-gather humans, breastfed human infants, apes in the wild, or in whole food vegans. Human and apes at those low (i.e. TRUE 'normal') levels have ZERO atherosclerosis... which is LITERALLY the coating of the insides of all your arteries with solid cholesterol. Humans with so-called 'normal' cholesterol levels have atherosclerosis everywhere as adults, with the process starting in grade school. While clogging of heart arteries gets a lot of attention, clogging of the circulation in the kidney, eyes, brain, spinal cord, peripheral circulation, and reproductive organs all contribute to what we americans consider 'normal aging': back pain, loss of cognitive function, ED, vision deterioration, muscle wasting, high blood pressure, etc. Avoid saturated fat (esp animal fat)!
TL:DR; Eating a diet low in saturated fats and high in whole plants will change your life. It will help you get/maintain a normal weight, have a better and more stable mood and improve your sex life. And by avoiding/reversing atherosclerosis and its anti-cancer effects, it will allow you to age more gracefully, adding 10 healthy years to your life on average!
I didn't mean to hijack this thread with my transient microbiome obsessions.
That said, in keeping with the thread, I think there are tons of great health effects from eating lots of whole plant foods. The origin of these benefits are threefold:
1) Our ancestors evolved eating a wide variety of whole plant foods forever (10s of millions of years) so there are literally hundreds of phytonutrients that are common in plant foods (not just the dozen vitamins identified 100 years ago) that interact favorably with out internal biochemistry. These non vitamins are not deemed 'essential' for life, but they are essential for health and longevity. Not to mention the minerals like iron, calcium, magnesium and potassium high in plant foods. Many of the metabolic pathways affected by phytonutrients are DNA repair, calcium and other mineral regulation, anti-cancer, etc. Supplements based on purified plant extracts don't work in general, bc these different nutrients often work in concert. Similarly, refining plant foods into flour and oils removes all the goodness, so white rice and white bread and ritz crackers don't count as plant foods. Just eat your veggies (and fruits and whole grains and nuts)!
2) Your microbiome in your colon is an unrecognized and underappreciated ORGAN. It has more different genes and DNA than you do. It takes nutrients from your diet (prebiotics) and converts them to lots of other molecules (mostly SCFAs) that feed your colon lining, and get into your blood stream. These SCFAs can affect/regulate mood/hormones, and regulate hunger/satiety, your liver metabolism, everything. And this microbial organ evolved in humans eating 100 g/fiber per day for millions of years. And most americans micriobiome is very effed up, bc it is starved of fiber (usually <15 g/day) and overgrown with bugs that digest animal proteins and fats. This is called dysbiosis... a messed up microbiome. These bugs do not feed your colon cells (resulting in gut problems including leaky gut and colon cancer, the #2 cancer killer). This dysbiosis leads to hunger cravings, obesity etc. and gas/bloating from eating HEALTHY foods like legumes and veggies. Leaky gut causes these bacterial and food proteins to get into your bloodstream leading to systemic inflammation and autoimmune diseases (bc some of the leaking proteins mimic our own proteins). Bad news all around. Eat some fiber!
3) Our ancestral diet was very low in saturated fat and cholesterol (hunter gatherers run <5% meat calories), and our systems have ZERO adaptations to a high saturated fat and cholesterol diet (such as those seen in carnivorous animals). We do make our own cholesterol (its essential), but its regulatory pathway runs through the gut and assumes high fiber. Just eating low fiber and dysbiosis can run our cholesterol too high, while we are eating zero cholesterol! And then high saturated fat and cholesterol in the diet send our blood cholesterols to the moon. The 'normal' levels of cholesterol are too high, about 2X what one sees in hunter-gather humans, breastfed human infants, apes in the wild, or in whole food vegans. Human and apes at those low (i.e. TRUE 'normal') levels have ZERO atherosclerosis... which is LITERALLY the coating of the insides of all your arteries with solid cholesterol. Humans with so-called 'normal' cholesterol levels have atherosclerosis everywhere as adults, with the process starting in grade school. While clogging of heart arteries gets a lot of attention, clogging of the circulation in the kidney, eyes, brain, spinal cord, peripheral circulation, and reproductive organs all contribute to what we americans consider 'normal aging': back pain, loss of cognitive function, ED, vision deterioration, muscle wasting, high blood pressure, etc. Avoid saturated fat (esp animal fat)!
TL:DR; Eating a diet low in saturated fats and high in whole plants will change your life. It will help you get/maintain a normal weight, have a better and more stable mood and improve your sex life. And by avoiding/reversing atherosclerosis and its anti-cancer effects, it will allow you to age more gracefully, adding 10 healthy years to your life on average!
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I receive a daily Yale Today e-mail. Timely article on gut bacteria.
news.yale.edu
Boosting survival of a beneficial bacterium in the human gut
Yale researchers uncovered a novel mechanism by which “good” bacteria colonize the gut. The finding could help spur the development of new probiotic therapies.
news.yale.edu
So fasting helpsI receive a daily Yale Today e-mail. Timely article on gut bacteria.
Boosting survival of a beneficial bacterium in the human gut
Yale researchers uncovered a novel mechanism by which “good” bacteria colonize the gut. The finding could help spur the development of new probiotic therapies.
Scientific American sent out a special supplement this month to subscribers. It is on the human phenome and may be the future of medicine. I have just started reading it. It is fascinating and so much more comprehensive than just treating symptoms.
www.scientificamerican.com
The Phenomics Revolution
The emerging science of phenomics could shift the focus of health care from treating the sick to the prediction and prevention of disease.
www.scientificamerican.com
I started with small changes, like cutting back on processed foods and adding more natural food options.
I focused on eating mostly veggies and whole foods, and over time, I could really feel a difference. My joints weren’t acting up as much, and I had way more energy. Now, I just keep it simple—dark greens, colorful veggies, and whole ingredients every day.
My grandparents emigrated from France after WW2. My French grandfather would say to us teenagers, who partied hard all the time, that he didn't understand how we drank. We drank to get hammered.
He basically drank wine his whole life, even as a kid. The wine would just always be on the dinner table. But they did not pound it to get hammered. It was more like drinking water with lunch/ dinner.
And because he grew up drinking wine, they did not have that same "now i'm 18 i can legally drink, wahoo" or "i'm a bad ass underage drinker". Party on dudes!
The french just have wine imbedded in their lives. And the dumb drunk thing is not what it's about or how they roll.
Completely different outlooks and behavior and than us Americans have.
That said alcohol is a poison.
You can choose to add poison to your body that it then has to use valuable energy just to remove the poison or not. And save that energy for you body to use to heal itself from other factors.
Personally "The thrill is long gone" from alcohol, so i hardly ever drink. I'd rather play sports and there's no way i could do both.
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