Self hacks/Health hacks

[i am]

I'll try to keep from putting too many concepts and theories here to keep it focused...

 

So there are movements towards souping up the human race. Things like Bulletproof, all sorts of supplements, etc. Feeding super nutrients, fats and all that into us to boost brain function, energy, digestion, and extend life.

 

And people get real into this stuff. Of course they do.

 

Then there the traditional teachings of "enlightened" people from the past and present, telling us to eat a simple diet, avoid spices, basically to take in a bland, simple, light diet. That doing this allows your energy to move from the gross to the light, to feel subtle energies, to raise your vibration.

 

Now obviously one of these is for health and performance, and one is for moving along in the process of enlightenment. But I know there are very spiritual people who feel that the first example is part of furthering human evolution and moving toward enlightenment.

 

The prevailing attitude in our culture now in the yoga, qigong, martial arts health crowd seems to be to follow the first example. An all around kind of high-performance life. High performance body and high performance mind.

 

What's your take?

 

I know where I stand, and a few here probably know where my thinking on this stems from, but I'd like to see what other people think.

 

 

[thetaoiseasy]

The body can support the body. The body can support the mind. The body can also support the spirit.

 

Is there any purpose to maintaining a beautiful 200-year-old bag of bones and flesh for the sake of it? In the end, a healthy body provides an opportunity for one to fulfill one's interests.

 

Herbs, supplements and superfoods will never enable one to reach the depth of spirit, however. Their energy mainly supports the body. To a spiritual cultivator, too much nutrition may even sometimes be seen as a burden in the long-term.

 

The spirit level is much lighter than the body and mind. It reaches to the sun and stars.

Edited October 30, 2014 by thetaoiseasy

[liminal_luke]

I´d say living in a natural environment with access to good seasonal food and clean air--that´s the best. For people that don´t have that supplements and such, while clearly second best, can help bridge the gap. They are a tool that can support the body. And whatever supports the body supports the spirit.

 

That´s what I think anyway.

 

Liminal

[dawei]

IT is BS about self... Self-hack.

 

Take care of 'self' and feed it in a good way... Health-hack

[woodcarver]

If you look at it scientifically, our bodies aren't designed to digest the complex foods and flavors people commonly eat today. No magic about it...

 

and there are no hacks. Garbage in, garbage out. This is the law of everything ever.

[Flolfolil]

Can't recommend nattokinase enough. You can see the difference it makes in your vein health and people you know will comment on it, too Helped me severely reduce chi-in-head headaches

[dawei]

Garbage in, garbage out. This is the law of everything ever.

 

[Guest munky]

I think a lot of it is marketing and fads and it makes people think theyre healthy. Lot of supplements probably arent as beneficial as they are made out to be, and if they are aimed at giving performance boosts for a particular body system, it might be causing imbalance somewhere else. Which overall can be bad for health, and these types of considerations are more important for a spiritual cultivator too.

But even the whole foods that are beneficial - the popularised "superfoods" like kale, goji, chia, quinoa. They put miniscule amounts of some superfoods in certain common foods and then make it the biggest thing on the labelling, to make it seem really healthy. Of course this is the western diet calling superfoods. A lot of these foods like goji Chinese have known are good for ages, same goes for chia and quinoa from the places they originated from.
Theres always going to be new superfoods being discovered, and then marketed.

I know there are many different types of green leafy vegetables especially in Asian diets that havent been investigated in the way kale and brocolli has.
The overpriced kale or brocolli powder and pills - its been proven that the benefits of those are nowhere near as effective as simply eating the whole food itself. I dont think a lot of supplements have good evidence for health benefit too.

We know whole foods diet always better than taking supplements. The nutritional value from a simple, light diet can actually be excellent, improving and hence general performance. Say compared to a diet loaded in fat and junk, its going to feel bad for the energy irregardless of how many supplements one takes.

It's been shown whole food plant based diet is very healthy, and extends life already, so that goes hand in hand with the simple bland diet of some spiritual cultivators.
However for physical performance benefits, physical energy quality of life, people are drawn to meat, eggs, superfoods that can give boosts, and so its different in that respect. People working with the spiritual energy side may find these to be detrimental to their goals.

If people emphasise food and herbs too much, as a way to increase spiritual advancement they just need to realise nutrition for the body is very different from nutrition for the spirit. For cultivation think its more important to know what foods to avoid and minimise, rather than take more of.

Edited October 30, 2014 by munky

[silent thunder]

I've relaxed on my nutrition, compared to where I was a few years ago. I'll eat some things in the last few months that I've avoided for a while, and it's mainly about opening up to the energy of the moment and sharing with people I love.

 

My approach to eating has changed considerably. I'm much more aware of my state of being before and especially during my meals. Eating in a state of intentional joy, focusing that energy through my food as I'm consuming it, as our energies are combining is wonderful. For a while now I've been cooking and preparing the meals with this process, but recently, since the passing of my Father, I'm really aware of occupying a place of joy or simple gratitude and making that the focus of the meal. Powerful. It's bleeding over into other aspects now.

 

Where I'm particularly picky these days is with everything I consume mentally. What am I choosing to read? What kind of media am I opening my mind up to? How much unintentional violent and dysfunctional information am I being exposed to? What thought paths do I allow my self to meander down? With what am I feeding my mind?

[runner11]

This modern scientific approach to nutrition is very materialistic. We are a society that values what modern science has to say as gospel, and anything not backed by peer reviewed journals is seen as quakery. We have a study that shows that pomegranates contain antioxidants, so therefore pomegranates will make you healthier. We don't look at the whole diet in relation to where you live or the season. We just say, olive oil has omega 3 fatty acids, so that's healthier than butter. Its no surprise that a culture that views the human body as a mechanical series of organs that each perform a job, would also view food as a combination of vitamins, minerals, and amino acids that react a certain way to cells of the body.

 

People want to break down food to the point where they're throwing around words like antioxidants and branched chain amino acids, but they're missing the big picture. From a TCM perspective, its the flavors in the food that nourish the various organs, as well as containing the essence of the food. If we eat food that lacks various flavors, just because we think the ingredients are healthy, that's not a healthy diet.

 

I also think that the idea that a supplement could be better than a whole food is a testament to how far removed from nature we have become, and how arrogant we have become as a society. Some might say a perfectly vine ripened tomato is healthy because its sweet and acidic, adds a beautiful color to summer salads, is cool and refreshing, balances the bitterness of greens, etc. Others might say tomatoes are healthy because they contain lycopene, so here's a pill that has lycopene.

 

We have people buying things like pomegranates, olive oil, quinoa, and all kinds of other foods from half way around the world just because some scientific studies tell us that they're healthy. Olive oil is great, if you live in California. Where I live on the east coast, 99% of the olive oil on the store shelves has already gone rancid. Local grass fed butter would be the healthy thing to eat where I live, but good luck convincing people of that.

 

materialistic society

materialistic view of the body

materialistic view of our food

 

I think what's good for the body and the spirit is eating good food with good people.

[SecretGrotto]

1. Ketogenic diet. Reduce carbs to less than 50g/day, eat only complex fibrous carbs when you do. Eat fat for main energy source.

Macadamia nut butter (fat) as energy staple food. Only practical source of extremely beneficial food-intake-reducing Omega 7.

Replace coffee with anti-coffee (Prepared He Shou Wu / Foti root). Replenishes Jing, invigorates liver, kidneys, adrenals, turns gray hair black again, most potent longevity tonic known.

Alkalize body. Frequent baking soda+lemon juice diluted in water. Aloe juice in citric acid base.

Daily fast. Don't eat after 7pm.

[i am]

Some good thoughts.

 

While it's a valid point, I'm not talking about people eating junk food plus supplements and thinking they're healthy. I'm talking about very health-concious people who are very concerned, like secretgrotto, about the right balance of fats, about certain "tonics", and alkali vs acidity in the body, about the idea of hacks in the "life hacker" style, where you're figuring out different ways things work and building a better you.

 

Many of these people go against what mainstream society is telling them (though there are so many "main streams" today I don't know if we can rightly call anything mainstream), they're eating lots of grass-fed butter, locally raised meat, healthy oils etc. Seeing how their body works with gluten, and without it. Experimenting and researching. There are a lot mini revolutions going on in western diets, which re-thinking a lot of what we've been programmed to believe (thus the term "hack" that a lot of these people are using).

 

I know what people are talking about with supplements instead of real foods, fads, scams etc. But I think a lot of people really are finding truth in some of the more recent trends, and are probably really experiencing health benefits.

 

In comparison to, say, eating oatmeal in the morning. No nuts for extra health, no sweetener, even natural ones like raisins, no super healthy grass fed butter or ghee. Just oatmeal. Then maybe some nuts and fruit for lunch. A salad for dinner. Or just plain rice, with maybe some steamed veggies on the side. No spices, no additives. Done.

 

Just as an example.

[SecretGrotto]

FWIW, my 94-year old grandma drinks Aloe juice and rooibos tea every day, eats very little, regularly fasts (no water) for 3 day periods, and she still works 10-hour days on her own terms, baking biscuits and making food.

 

Her parents died when she was 6 years old, and she had to raise her younger brother and sister under an abusive foster parent. She had cancer, TB, broken feet and bones. Someone pushed her down some stairs when she was 18, crushed her spine, which is still crushed. She's a hunchback, but she's very thankful and still running around strong, albeit with crutches at times.

[thelerner]

Can't recommend nattokinase enough. You can see the difference it makes in your vein health and people you know will comment on it, too Helped me severely reduce chi-in-head headaches

I've heard good things about it. Any particular brand and potency?

[Flolfolil]

I've heard good things about it. Any particular brand and potency?

i used "Doctor's Best" at 4,000 FU (fibrinolytic units)

 

i only went with that one because it was the cheapest on amazon, and they use non-gmo soy beans

 

 

Also, consider doing the "9 bottled wind" pranayama in combination with taking it

[Guest munky]

In comparison to, say, eating oatmeal in the morning. No nuts for extra health, no sweetener, even natural ones like raisins, no super healthy grass fed butter or ghee. Just oatmeal. Then maybe some nuts and fruit for lunch. A salad for dinner. Or just plain rice, with maybe some steamed veggies on the side. No spices, no additives. Done.

 

Just as an example.

 

Ah alright. Someone who naturally eats little and light can do with that diet, but i think the foods you wrote there are super healthy - even without grass fed butter etc which we arent sure is healthy and good for everyone. Afterall, what are those people's motivations from adopting grass-fed, paleo, balance of fats and all?

If it's for a health condition or illness, that simple bland diet, except eating more, would help in a lot of cases.

 

Goal is performance and feeling energetic? Probably those other things can help.

 

As you've said there all these different things and claims. Some claims are based on bad studies and overexaggeration of small parts of a diet, so counter arguments pop-up (like olive oil). Is alkaline/acidic saying people tend toward acidic in the modern Western diet? It becomes important to maintain balance when people really desire "acidic" foods with heat properties. The bland simple diet already solves this obviously.

 

The grass-fed/organic stuff is relevant as that way you are avoiding chemicals and toxins, rather than adding more complicated things to diet. Many of those things can provide more physical support for those who need it, but of course they all allow people to continue eating tasty food. They can also keep putting more oil in food, if they use healthy oils and achieve proper balance of oils in the diet. Bit of an overcomplication compared to the simple diet.

Not many people want to eat bland vegetarian diet (even with small amount of meat) even if it is healthier. Some will feel physically weaker too.

 

A spiritual cultivator with devloped energy and channels wouldnt need as much nutrition and support for the body from food, so they would feel fine on that kind of diet. There may be decreased apetite and are less attracted to the energy of some foods and find it hard to put it in their mouth. At a certain stage it might be what is be natural for them, and little force and discipline required to eat that kind of diet. Avoiding foods and ingredients that are found to cause energetic problems and imbalances for the cultivator, but would otherwise be fine for a normal person is also a consideration.

 

But the average person and cultivator that kind of diet probably would not be enough to support the body also depending on the needs in daily life. I still think nutrition would be mostly ok as it sounds like everything you need should be there, but for a person who needs more, nutrient deficiencies could occur.

And they'd need lot of discipline to maintain it. Taste buds do get more sensitive in the long term so it won't seem as bland. But the natural hunger and desire for various foods needs to be met.

Edited October 31, 2014 by munky