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Hi, the diet is the foundation for our palace named body. As long as we cant ascent, we should be attentive to what we put into it. I know the title may trigger one or another a bit, because the needs of a body can differ. But generally, there are bad things and good things for our bodies. I've dealt with it for quite some time, but there are so many opinions, explanations, studies (i know that many are bs), scientific results and so on.. I can't be sure what to eat at the end and whatnot. Vegan or Paleo or HCLF or LCHF or Meditarian or/and Oil-free or/and Sugar-free or/and Gluten-free or/and Raw or/and without processed foods or/and regional or/and "high-frequency foods", ...the list could go on. Have you any knowledge of how I ought to handle it? Sur sure rich in micro nutritions and elements (such as gold, silver, iron, zinc...) But other than that? Thanks for any knowledge you submit

Good day guys. Jun Yu Xian again for another beginner's inquery. Please suggest a diet that could help me in cultivation and also would help me make my body fit. Note that I am not neglecting workout. I just want to want to eat something healthy.

Interesting overall, but one little tidbit jumped out at me: We modern humans can only tolerate about 35 percent of lean protein in our diets before our kidneys start to suffer. https://www.sapiens.org/column/field-trips/neanderthal-diet/

So I just watched this on Amazon Prime (free there for now): https://youtu.be/1HI_woehm0Q Essentially what this video says is that the sugar in our foods is at the heart of the obesity epidemic. There is a LOT more than that, but that is the gist. 4 grams of sugar is 1 teaspoon. The World Health Organization has these recommendations: https://www.who.int/nutrition/publications/guidelines/sugars_intake/en/ I am not sure if this is the altered version (at the demand of the US government and the food/drink industry.) What I recall is the daily recommended dose is no more than 12 grams, I think. I am willing to test this. Before I tried being a vegetarian, during and after I have drank a LOT of pop. Going vegetarian is supposed to make you loose weight. I lost very little. Since pop is one of the biggest sources of sugar in my diet, followed by deserts, eliminating it for a period of 1 month to start, going to perhaps 3 months, should have some interesting results. So I am intending that, as of June 10th, I am not drinking any more sweetened beverages. This includes pop, Vitamin water, tea, Odwalla, fruit juices, etc. Only things that are unsweetened, having no added sugar, will be drunk. For the record other sources of high concentrations of sugar are ketchup (Haines natural ketchup has 1 teaspoon or 4 grams of sugar PER TABLESPOON) and peanut butter (sugar is used as a filler.) Question for those of you here more food conscious than myself... According to this video, we can eat fruits and the natural sugar in the fruit burns slower (doesn't go directly to our liver) because of its fiber. So if I were to add some unsweetened, vegetarian fiber to my diet for each meal, would that offset any sugar I intake? I may have more to say on this later.

I learned humans bodies are truly only designed to eat fruit, flowers, nuts, seeds, and herbs... **note: I don't care to "convert" anyone's dietary life or anything, this is simply my experience and innerstanding of it all... Tho, I grew up with the S.A.D. (standard american diet) eating meats, processed foods, dairy - you name it. I slowly became aware through the years of health & our biological requirements, what dis-eases really are, etc. I began to transition to vegetarianism, then to veganism, and now to raw vegan Not for longevity or even to feel good (tho, those would be included). It was to expand my awareness of All That Is... and it has been working. I no longer have anxiety, and I have way more energy now, and am more clear minded. I aim to be frugivore at some point and see what it's like (I heard for some, they really get into the astral realms and have to start eating vegetables again to ground themselves if they have to deal with other people). Anyway, thought I would share my experience for anyone interested in this. When the body is purified, energy can flow w/o obstruction (qi/chi/prana/etc.), the mind is less taxed, the emotions are more clear, etc. Everything is connected... so it was logical for me to start cleaning up my physical vessel. I have been taking a class for a certification at the International School of Detoxification (taught primarily by Robert Morse). If anything I said, you vibe with, then I recommend checking out some of his videos on youtube. Namaste, my friends

I am trying to find my way with food. Particularly, coming off Suboxone, I need energy, liver, kidneys and brain regeneration. Sleep is an issue as well. On a deeper level, I'm practicing the very, VERY beginnings of internal alchemy, and thus am interested in changing my body's pH balance. I identify as a Taoist, because it is easiest, but I'm more specifically an esoteric mystic, I guess. I want to know what everyone eats, an their experience with food, changing diets. I just stopped eating meat a few days ago. I have decided I will not eat anything I would be unwilling to procure. So, I would milk a cow, takean egg, kill a shrimp, maybe even a fish. But nothing else. This happens naturally also. I have no moral issue with killing animals, but I do have a moral issue with industry. So ANYWAY: What do you identify as? (Taoist, Buddhist, atheist, gnostic luciferian,Catholic etc.) What does your diet look like? Breakfast? Lunch? Dinner? Snack? How did you come to this diet? What benefits have you noticed from it? How have your different diets made you feel? Any other observations about certain foods, supplements, etc? Drugs/medications: side effects, benefits and food interactions? Any other comments or pieces of advice? SPECIFICALLY FOR TAOISTS Grains or no grains? Are whole grains okay? Natural sugar vs. refined sugar? Carbs vs no carbs? Cooked versus raw food? Vegetable/fruit juice: Pastuerized or unpastuerized? Better or worse than eating the entire fruit/vegetable? Smoothies? FASTING: Resources? How long?(min./max) Experiences? I really appreciate it guys. I'd like this thread to be a resource for everyone. I find it very difficult to learn what the Taoists diet looks like. I understand this is because of the individual nature of Taoism, and it's feminine and embracing nature. But still, I'd like to know how others eat and why.

Anybody tried dry fasting? Apparently it can be very beneficial for ones health. I'm in the process of cutting my fluid intake down as well as keeping away from modern beverages such as tea, coffee, alcohol, cola etc. Herbal tea, water, fruit and vegetable juice is what I would choose to drink.

Thread discussing if non-vegan diets are sustainable in the modern age and moving forward into the future.

I’ve been interested in spiritual/daoist diets for a while. However, the more I read, the more confused I get. Since we (or most of us) are descendants of the Indo-Europeans, it would make sense that the majority of our diet should reflect their diet, which would have probably remained the same over the thousands of years, throughout the ice-age. That means we should consume mainly animal products (red meat, dairy, maybe eggs too? Unsure about fish), and have fewer vegetables and fruit which would have been scarce/non-existent during this time period and geographical origin of the Proto-Indo Europeans. This, I assume, is why so many caucasians are prone to diabetes and health problems from high-glucose foods. East Asians (and Africans) however, were not as exposed to the Ice Age as the Europeans and the North Americans, so are probably more suited to a diet of lots of vegetables and fruit (exceptions being the Siberian East Asians who were affected by the Ice Age and survived on a mainly meat diet). This is perhaps why the foundation of Chinese culture snd civilisation is agriculture, and until today, there is very little meat generally consumed in a type]ical Chinese diet. So I would understand why avoiding grains would be beneficial for caucasians (who gradually began shifting from pastoralism to agriculture only 3000-4000 years ago) because the indroduction of carbohydrates is still relatively new. But why do the Chinese Daoists abstain from grain? With all the people of China consuming wheat noodles and rice, I would assume the gluten-intolerant population in East Asia is very low. To be honest, I don’t feel bad about eating carbohydrates/starch/gluten/grains. I’ve cut out all grains and as much carbohydrates as possible from my diet, and nothing fills me up quite like rice, potatoes, pasta, noodles, etc. I suffer no ill effects from eating such things, so why would the Chinese, despite the Daoists saying that those who consume grains live only a short life. Also, do we not miss out on vital nutrients from carbohydrates and fruit (which wouldn’t have been available on the Proto-European steppe or glacier-covered mountains)? Don’t caucasians who don’t get their regular serving of glucose-filled fruit suffer from scurvy and similar ailments? But just like the 5 grains forbidden by Daoism, the ancients say that most of the fruit and flowers of the Earth share a similar mysterious unknown origin. So what is it? Why were the Daoists trying to adapt an Indo-European diet (forgoing grains), and the vedic Brahmins encouraged a diet away from the natural Indo-European foods available (promoting vegetarianism and consumption of fruit)? I’m really confused what diet is best when everyone keeps changing their minds. Why did the Daoists hate the legendary King who introduced cooking fire to China? It is said that the move away from continually eating our foods raw allowed our brains to grow bigger and more sophisticated (more energy is devoted to the brain rather than powering digestion). So, my main questions are: 1. What is the most ideal diet for a layman/beginner today (I know advanced Qigong practioners have other options)? 2. What is the best diet to cleanse the body, both short term (for health/vitality) and long term (for the removal of the 3 corpses)?

The food we consume - is the all that we take in We bring in through the eyes vast cubic miles every day The ears hear a thousand vibrations we never notice The nose speaks directly to our ancestry in each breath Our skin sinks to the marrow Please share here beauty that you have found so that it might be a well of delight and wonder

I did a search before posting, but only found quite outdated information, the most recent being around 2008, so decided to post this new thread. I would like to know how Daoism approaches the subject of food, diet in modern society, as opposed to the life of a wandering sage living in the wilds. Our modern world is a very different place, and the quality of our foods is for the most part far removed from nature. So I would like to know how one should go about establishing a healthy diet from that point of view. Please don't bombard me with stuff relating to the typical western view of nutrition - I'm looking for something more specifically Daoist based. Personally I have never been able to digest meat very well, and have a natural disinclination towards eating it. But I also understand that Daoism is not about imposing restrictions and rules. The key point seems to be the importance of harmonizing with one's environment. But what does that mean in the society we actually live in? Where I live, it is pretty pointless to expect to gain all the essential nutrients from locally grown foods, because the soil itself is bereft of them. Not only that but everything is sprayed with powerful insecticides and other chemicals all year round. There are many local ecological farms starting to produce vegetables, but their prices are exorbitantly high, and I cannot afford them. In my opinion whether or not one agrees with eating meat, the slaughtered animals are so full of drugs, chemicals and other harmful toxins that I see no advantage in eating them, and plenty of risk to the health. Local people rear rabbits and chickens and live off them throughout the year. I buy eggs from them, because they are free range and at least the chickens are reared in more natural conditions than the atrocious conditions of the chickens that produce the variety sold in supermarkets. But everything else has to be purchased from shops or supermarkets. So let's start the discussion...

Sooo due to some comments in another thread, I came across the topic of fasting. It only seems relevant that if I'm going to be practicing Brahmacharya (celibacy), I might as well start by testing my self control with regards to food. I ate my dinner last night, and all day today I haven't had a bite of food. I like how it has been making me feel. Yeah, I'm not the highest energy today, but I've been feeling very spiritual and very blissful all day. I feel like I've been more in tuned with situations, and more my true self. It is also nice to step back and realize how thankful I am for the food I recieve. I think I want to start giving thanks for food before I eat it as well. My stepmom is Japanese, and her family says "tadakie mas" (idk about spelling) before eating as a way of giving thanks for the food and farmers that it came from. Fasting gives my body a chance to regenerate and cleanse apparently as well. I can also tell that next time I have a but to eat, which will be tomarrow, it will be the best bite I've ever had I've been drinking water all day and I took my liquid multivitamin as well, but that's it. I got the idea from a really amazing bum named Arramu and I am very thankful. I also want to fast one day per week or at least every two weeks. What are you alls feelings towards fasting? Does anyone practice multiple days of fasting at a time? What kind of fasting have you all done?

Greetings. I need help. I am not very sure what to start and what to quit doing, but I've got to change something in my life. It's been about 6 months since I stopped trying hard, and tried to go back to basics. A short background: I've got very ill at the age of 19, after just about 2 months of living by myself in a new city. I hated the university, ate terribly, slept for 4-5 hours and practiced guitar for 10-12. Pretty soon I got stressed and depressed. Next I got carpal tunnel syndrome, inflammation of wrists and all the joints and muscles/tendons in my hands. Got more depressed. Few months later I ended up in hospital, because of severe stiffness of lower middle and upper back. Not able to sleep, not able to focus, had blurry vision, and was just awfully miserable. Shallow breath. Barely functioning. Oh I forgot. I had acute hyperacusis and tinnitus even prior to that. Nothing helped much, time healed some of the issues, to a certain degree. OK so 2 years later I did a 14 day water fast, followed by a 30 day water fast. Cured the inflammation, ears and back problems and CTS to about 70%. I'm finally able to use computer keyboard and even play guitar a little, which is nice. Cool but now I have some digestive issues(very fragile stomach) and have some trouble gaining weight( I'm 5'9'' and 118lbs). During the fast I felt a lot of tension around and below my navel. My stomach now is very sensitive and when I'm frightened or even surprised it hurts as if electrically shocked(previously I felt neck tension and head pain when under stress). I'm glad I'm so much more emotionally and mentally stable and don't have panic attacks and paranoia tendencies as I used to. I'm not depressed anymore. The downside is I'm still regaining strength 3 months after the fast and it's kinda slow. Still have a shallow breath and get exhausted pretty easily. I Think I need some sort of plan guys! If anybody could take time to address any of the following points, I would be most grateful. I feel somewhat stuck. No.1 Diet, sleep and basic activities. I've been following raw vegan fruit based diet since the fast and it was great for a number of reasons, but recently I started to see some limitations. Main problem is I guess lack of enough ripe fruit available here in Europe. So I started introducing cooked millet, potatoes, lentils and diary. Diary is fine, but over all I just feel week, lazy and lethargic. I tend to overeat on these things, since non of them is as satisfying as ripe fruit. It's really a pita. Will this last until I regain all my weight? I used to weigh about 75kg. I use cronometer.com and try to get about 3500-4000 calories daily now. I started following ayurveda for my dosha(vata) and it's amazing! Different foods like peppers, mushrooms eggplants, beans and other things always gave me problems, and now as I follow the guidelines I don't have to fear the food I'm eating lol. I try to get a litre of water before each meal, I can then eat normal sized portions. I try to sleep... as much as possible lol. In a few days I'm coming back to work. Walking around a warehouse picking up items for shipping( luckily not very strenuous). Anything to change here? Is the Chinese method of eating worth exploring?(Don't know anything about it, heard it's kinda complicated). Would it be a good idea to go to a Tibetan Medicine centre? I'm open. No.2 Meditation, Martial Arts and Qigong. I'll give you my goals: -fix my body posture( I have very weak back, slouch, my shoulders are tight and high. Shoulder blades stick out like crazy and it's hard to relax sitting or standing. -improve circulation(it used to be terrible before the fast, but still could be better), -spontaneity(you know in life, in guitar improvisation, even in conversation I feel the lack of flow) -Calm the fucking Dan Tien(lower, and perhaps middle I'm not sure my whole stomach is a mess recently) I'm trying Zhan Zhuang. Have the book The Way of Energy and watched the YT channel. I find it exhausting, even ust the1st position. I tried it a dozen of times over past few months and couldn't hold it for more than 3 minutes. It's appealing, I see the potential and acknowledge it is a foundation, but it's harder than this Anyway, the second I heard about Baguazhang, I didn't want to look back anymore. At anything, even Taiji. I'm sold for life. I don't know why, I'm totally mesmerised. Something about the spinning circle flowing motion... and I see myself as somebody who's trapped in cycles anyway so why not lol? Do you think it could be appropriate for someone like me? Right now? How can I find a teacher? Do you know anybody who does it in the Netherlands/Germany/Sweden? OR should I already start learning Chinese ? I understand it's even less popular then real Taiji. Is it really so rare? And before I find a teacher, would it be ok to learn from books/dvds or I'd be better off joining Taiji classes? One Taiji instructor I met even suggested I should go back to Karate and do that for some time, before I get into the internal styles and qigong... I'm confused. As for meditation, I always did like a simple body scan relaxation, or progressive muscle relaxation, and rarely got satisfying results. Only recently I had some success with BK Frantzis Taoist Meditation CD's. I'm sort of used now to breathing from the belly and the back and focusing on the Lower Dan Tien is kinda effective. I feel it. Still it's hard for me to stick to the practice. If I do it one day properly for few minutes, the next day don't even feel the interest and get bored easily if I try. It's like it stirs my body energy, and then I lose the drive to repeat the exercise. Same with Qigong massage I tried few days ago. I yawned like crazy, and didn't feel too good afterwords... I know I have a tendency to overdo everything, but for Dao's sake- is there anything I can practice for more than a minute and not feel totally exhausted??? I would really love to get into all the energy meditations, organ massages, moving and manipulating chi inside the body... you know, the fun stuff. How can I get there? What should I read? Most Importantly: what I SHOULDN'T be doing? What could hurt me? And again, how can I look for a teacher of meditation and qigong? I also occasionally do Trauma Releasing Exercises, which are awesome: Has anybody heard of this? And I'm also interested in the Alexander Technique... No.3 Would something like Initiation Into Hermetics by Francis Bardon or other such curriculum contribute in any way to my vitality? I'm still kind of clueless about all the occult stuff. Would appreciate some feedback on that as well. I'm interested in inducing trance on the fly. Why? I'm not sure. But you've got to be able to in order to play like Jimi Hendrix, am I wrong? I would also appreciate any magick and spiritual inspired fiction and "fiction" books. Novels perhaps. I really dug Carlos Castaneda a while ago. Finally, and this is minute but can you share with me what type of shoes and clothing do you use for walking, and practicing martial arts? I recently realized it also matters. What type of materials? I'd like to get some loose(traditional/modern Chinese perhaps) clothes that would be socially acceptable lol. Any good sites? Kinda love shopping To end this huge lament of a noob I'll just throw some titles on you and if you want share your thoughts on them( just your general opinion): Book of Five rings - Musashi Baguazhang - Hidden Knowledge in the Taoist Internal Martial Art Ywing-Ming-Yang-PHDThe-Root-of-Chinese-Chi-Kung The Complete System of Self-Healing by Dr. Stephen T. Chang Way of the inner smile by Michael Winn Daoist Body Cultivation by Livia Kohn Taoist Meditation by Thomas Cleary Becoming Te Iceman. Any recommendations? Peace. PS. Please excuse my English, I know it got a little rusty recently.

In my PPD I mentioned I've been meaning to do a Darebee.com 30 day challenge. They have quite a few exercise programs based on 30 Day, involved some very involved ones. They have dozens of programs from kettlebell to sword to breathing, but most involve body techniques. What's nice is that most are nicely printed single sheets. I've been meaning to get off my ass and start the 3,000 squats/1,000 push ups one. I mentioned it, member Taiji said he'd be doing a darebee Punching protocol that includes lots of pushups. Yada yada.. so I'm creating this New topic so people can talk about the exercise challenge they're taking on. How its going. What's hard, whats worthwhile, what benefits they're getting. Taking on a challenge, doing it daily that is what gong fu is all about, learning and stretching our abilities.

Inspired by some old posts from SecretGrotto, I decided to start this thread about the Perfect Health Diet as espoused by Paul Jaminet and his wife. For those unfamiliar, Paul proposes that the perfect diet focuses on whole foods and a certain macronutrient ratio. Essentially, carbs (~150g) and proteins (75g) are kept relatively low, and fats make up the bulk of the daily calorie load (140-150g/day). For those who are more interested in the details, the Jaminets provide an outline of the diet on their website (here). Having given that brief introduction, has anyone tried the PHD or a similar diet? What have your experiences been? As well, what might a Taoist POV be on such a fat-heavy diet? And what would such a fat-dominant diet have on cultivation?

Greetings Bums, I'm trying to modify my daily diet to improve my practice (and general health/wellbeing of course) and would welcome suggestions from any and all about ideas for breakfast/lunch/dinner/snacks that would be in keeping with a Daoist diet. I have seen plenty of lists of foods which constitute good Daoist types e.g. avoiud red meat, spicy food, cold food/drink, processed food etc etc. but I am an absolute incompetent in the kitchen and as regards cooking and preparing food etc. It is something that I don't have the time or the inclination for to be honest, so contstructing my own recipes and ideas is something that gives me the fear. I think I'd be much more successfull in my endeavours if I was able to have a clear and prescriptive structure to follow. SO if anyone could share what they eat on a daily basis - that they believe constitutes a good Daoist diet - then this would be much appreciated! I'm hoping to put together a simple plan for three simple healthy meals. I should say that I have a moderately active life - commuting/working with long days (though in a sedentary job) with some light exercise and qi gong in the evenings and daily meditation. Any input much appreciated. Thanks

Using all my spare time for over a year I have developed a web app to make some suggestions to answer a few commonly asked questions on this forum; Which path to take? How can I heal / cure myself of “x” health issue? I have this problem in my meditation, what do I do? The app is centred around providing effective and practical suggestions derived specifically for each individual user. The best thing about it is that you can get a lot of the great benefits of TCM and put things into practice right away without needing to learn piles of TCM theory. All you need to do is answer a questionnaire that takes 10-15 minutes, after which the app will generate a customised health cultivation program for you. Meditation, exercise and diet issues are addressed for each individual user aimed at bringing the body back into a state of balance where the possibibilty of extraordinary health can be achieved. However I would like to say that although the underlying capabilities are working, it is a work in progress and has a pretty basic looking interface. In the future I hope to make it look fancier, but until then when I can review the situation, the whole system is free to use. In the meantime I would be greatful if you could give me some feedback, inform me of any problems you face while using the webpage, or if you find the app useful it would be great if you 'liked' the facebook page (you can find it on the front webpage of the site www.healthcultivation.com). This app shouldn't take the place of advice given by your doctor. If you have health issues you should always see your doctor first. Check out the app at: Online TCM Diagnosis To use the diagnosis system you must create a login account (free), so that your answers get saved when you proceed to the next step, saving you from needing to re-enter answers at a later date. I spent heaps of time making this so i hope some people can benefit from it.

What do you eat (or avoid eating)? What's your diet profile (or ideal diet)? Got recipes? What does the Taoist, Buddhist, or Spiritual diet consist of?

My view on diet has been evolving a lot over the past few years. I originally read about the Paleo diet, decided that the logic seemed sound, and tried it off and on for the better part of three years. Then I got into the Specific Carbohydrate Diet, which isn't a whole lot different. I then started studying Ayurveda, and began seeing that I might not have understood the full picture. I began to see how complex this subject is, so at least I no longer feel like I can tell people what they should be eating with authority. Seeing 'Forks Over Knives' reinforced the notion I'd picked up from Ayurveda that moderation is far more important than the Paleo folks would like to admit. Also, it would seem that flatly proscribing starches doesn't take a lot of evidence into account. So I'm left with influences from a variety of conflicting diet viewpoints: on the one hand there's SCD/Paleo logic, which still makes sense to me. Then there's the vegan/whole foods/China Study way of looking at it, that seems to have the best evidence to support it, but is also polar opposite to Paleo in many respects. Lastly there's Ayurveda (or TCM/energy based medicine), which seems like some sort of middle ground - I can mix Ayurveda with either Paleo or whole foods/vegan, but not both. I started a water fast two days ago, inspired by a thread here. I think I'll go 10 days. I would really like a better idea of what I should be eating when I finish. I've been reading 'Fasting and Eating for Health' by Joel Fuhrman, and his diet is basically whole foods/vegan. I'm leaning this way, and seriously considering going vegan after the fast. I still have major caveats with eating grains/starches. Is this unfounded? Can anyone recommend a book that's pro-grain and counters Paleo-arguments? I would love to start eating stuff like chia seeds, buckwheat, quinoa, oats and the like. So can anyone with more understanding offer some experience/knowledge on the matter? Which points are valid of the respective philosophies? Are there certain grains to be avoided, and certain grains I can eat liberally?