Longevity Diet and Immortality

[nightwatchdog]

I am undergoing a fast now following a bout of influenza over this weekend (natural purge/colonblow lol)...

 

This led me to look into fasting, and calorie reduction among Taoist traditions. I have found some interesting stuff anecdotaly, and apparently a body of research concerning life extension, proven in laboratory settings, following severe calorie restricted diets. Nutrients are kept at maximal levels, only calories are restricted. The researches believe it's due to a reduction of free radicals (dirty Chi?) in the diet. Supposedly lab mice live 200% longer.

 

A wikipedia article:

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calorie_restriction

 

Thoughts, experiences, or comments?

[林愛偉]

I am undergoing a fast now following a bout of influenza over this weekend (natural purge/colonblow lol)...

 

This led me to look into fasting, and calorie reduction among Taoist traditions. I have found some interesting stuff anecdotaly, and apparently a body of research concerning life extension, proven in laboratory settings, following severe calorie restricted diets. Nutrients are kept at maximal levels, only calories are restricted. The researches believe it's due to a reduction of free radicals (dirty Chi?) in the diet. Supposedly lab mice live 200% longer.

 

A wikipedia article:

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calorie_restriction

 

Thoughts, experiences, or comments?

 

 

fasting is fun. I did fasting this summer, by choice, during my stay at a temple. To keep from feeling hunger, I ate Mantras: Shurangama, Great Compassion, and Amitabha Buddha name recitation.

 

Felt great, vibing high, and not an ounce of light-headedness.

 

Lost weight too.. lol

 

Peace,

Lin

[karen]

Hi nightwatchdog,

 

The CRON diet (calorie reduced, optimal nutrition) is an example of an idea that has merit but is usually used within a very limited context, so the results are limited. We have to look at it in a broader context.

 

Life is polarity, and what determines health and longevity is going to be a more complex function than simply a matter of calorie restriction. Diet relates to one pole of our being, but at the other pole there's love. If you do dietary restrictions without love, you don't get the real benefit. And by love, I mean resonance, not mere attraction. Doing what you love isn't necessarily what you always feel like doing at every moment, but the deeper resonance tells you you're in sync with your higher will. An attraction is an attachment that the higher self doesn't really need or want.

 

You see lots of people doing special diets with a kind of austere poverty consciousness that can't lead to health, no matter how correct the diet is. And people who are emotionally healthier, who live in prosperity consciousness, can often "get away" with eating a poor diet. But as we get healthier and let go of false beliefs and food addictions, our food desires start lining up with what's really healthiest for us.

 

Another point about the CRON diet is that it's not just calorie reduced, but *optimal.* Quality as well as quantity, and that has to be completely individualized, not just a matter of maximizing nutrients.

 

Hopefully in about two weeks, I'll be set up to offer customized food charts on my website. What's unique about this is that the software uses research from a large group of independent diet researchers like Dr. Mercola, and traditional dietary systems like Ayurveda and TCM. So it plugs in a variety of parameters like metabolic type, body type, ayurvedic type, etc., and the person's health issues, food allergies, etc. And the result is a nice color coded chart that shows you which foods are best for you; which are okay to eat occasionally; and which are best for you to avoid.

 

With all the dietary rules and other rules that we impose on ourselves in the name of health, there has to be a sense of contentment. And that's not just another rule . Rules come from the intellect. But there is a 4-beat life cycle that Wilhelm Reich discovered, which is the real determinant of what's good for us. We naturally go through a cycle of tension-charge-discharge-relaxation in every experience. If we get stuck at any one of the 4 phases, the energy that isn't released leads to illness.

 

So in the experience of eating, the 4 beats are hunger, eating, digestion and contentment. We have to get all the way through to the relaxation phase, which is the feeling of contentment or fulfillment. Not just feeling full or satisfied on the continuum of attraction. That we all know how to do! That's where we go to about 3 1/2 and then back to 1 again. If you're eating unconscoiusly, or If you impose on yourself a diet that you think is best for you, but you're not getting that sense of contentment, then neither are going to lead to health.

 

Of course it takes time to shift over from the attraction continuum to resonance. And it's fine to start with dietary guidelines that you may not relish for a while. But at some point you get a glimmer of resonance and begin to experience the full 4-beat cycle if the diet is right for you.

 

Best,

Karen

Edited October 24, 2007 by karen

[gendao]

I sort of always wondered why I always lost weight when I went overseas...no matter how much I ate.

 

I think walking is a huge part of it. In fact, after coming back and getting sedentary again...I missed walking so much that I started going out and walking 30 minutes almost everyday.

 

Wow, it really does wonders! Helps to clear the mind, breaking a light sweat helps to detox and the low-intensity prolonged activity definitely helps to burn fat off as well. But less is more here. I think walking is actually better than running or lifting weights for 30 minutes. Although I may do it on the balls of my feet and throw in some short jogs too just to add a bit of intensity. But (my guess is) anything too strenuous may burn blood sugar instead of adipose and possibly stimulate appetite later.

 

Really, it's amazing what a difference something this small can make. But it does show how the "unnoticeable" elimination of so many of these "small things" in our modernized lifestyles can add up to quite a lot!

[Yoda]

You can search taobums for calorie restriction and fasting.

 

I tried eating every other day about a year ago and it worked out great in the beginning, but then my body got tired of the stress of changing gears so often. There's no way I'd practice CR... like Karen said... no relaxation there for me. My only hope is some form of intermittent fasting, which is consistent with what Karen said about needing to feel both hunger and satisfaction.

 

There's eatqod.com which is a good resource for intermittent fasting.

 

Right now, I'm fasting on Mondays. It makes me see how much I eat out of empty habit as a way to change my energy state rather than true hunger. My theory is that fasting one day a week will reduce the amount I eat the rest of the week. I just meditate in lieu of eat on Mondays.

 

We'll see. For me, it's not too hardcore and I rarely have social occasions on Mondays, so hopefully it'll work out.

 

Sounds like a way cool website Karen is working on!

[mYTHmAKER]

I am undergoing a fast now following a bout of influenza over this weekend (natural purge/colonblow lol)...

Thoughts, experiences, or comments?

 

You say you are fasting. What are you takining into your body during this time?

[karen]

Sounds like a way cool website Karen is working on!

 

Thanks, but it's the same basic website, which Sean and Leslie designed for me! I just made a few changes because I like to change looks periodically

 

I'll be offering the food charts very soon, as a separate product, in addition to my regular consulting services. The software is incredibly powerful, and I'm very excited to start using it!

 

-Karen

[nightwatchdog]

You say you are fasting. What are you takining into your body during this time?

 

I've broken my fast already now, but at the time I wasn't taking anything in, just pushing out for two days until my ailementary canal was completly empty. I enjoyed the feeling, so following two days of recovery where I ate normally, but much more mindfully than usual, I fasted again for 24 hours, again eating nothing. I drank a glass or two of lukewarm water.

[Wun Yuen Gong]

There is a few books on fasting and detox by Daniel Reid. Tao of Detox, health sex and longevity!

[nightwatchdog]

Thank you for the link.

 

Bodhi

[mYTHmAKER]

I've broken my fast already now, but at the time I wasn't taking anything in, just pushing out for two days until my ailementary canal was completly empty. I enjoyed the feeling, so following two days of recovery where I ate normally, but much more mindfully than usual, I fasted again for 24 hours, again eating nothing. I drank a glass or two of lukewarm water.

 

You should drink drink 8- 10 glasses of water. Slowly sipping a little at a time.

However do not force yourself to drink.

Helps remove toxins and stops you from becoming dehydrated.