So I decided to do a Daoist diet for a month

[Phoenix3]

I see a lot of dislike on here for gluten, grains, dairy, and other foods that supposedly cause inflammation, so I wanted to see if my health would improve if I cut out all meat, all dairy, and all grains from my diet for 3 weeks. I’m a man in his early 20’s. No health issues.

 

I was also completely celibate during those 3 weeks.

 

I had a lot of vegetable smoothies (not eaten raw, as it’s bad for the stomach and spleen qi), a lot of hot soups, lots of spinach, kale, carrots, and fruit. All organic and freshly brought. To ensure I didn’t lose too much fat, I used coconut yogurt, coconut oil and olive oil (all organic) in my foods wherever possible.

 

There is nothing really much to speak of apart from during this diet, diarrohea was common (I had it 3 times, and I barely ever have it usually), it was much tougher to get sleep, I felt much weaker and after the second week I was starting to really want some nice high-carbohydrate foods and meat.

 

i went to see a chinese medicine doctor during the end of my diet. Apparently my heart was very yang, my kidneys were very, very yang, my liver (wood element?) was running out of fire (or something along those lines, I can’t remember exactly), and almost all organs were deficient in yin. He recommended I come off my diet immediately, so I did. He didn’t recommend any herbs as he thought my body would be better suited to consumimg yin foods rather than medicinal herbs, so he gave me a list of foods I could eat and recommended I sleep before midnight to better replenish yin.

 

When I came off this diet, I had some cereal, some bread, some pasta, and I felt fine. It felt good for my body. Some people on this forum claim bread and grains are like poison for the body, but that wasn’t my experience at all.

 

Also I recently watched the news about one of the world’s oldest men. He said the secret for his old age was porridge every day. Yet so many people here think eating dairy with grains (cereal) is the worst thing ever. Didn’t do him much harm!

 

However, it was very cleansing for my body. My skin looked much better, and my gut feels cleansed and refreshed. I won’t be doing it again though.

Edited April 14, 2018 by Phoenix3

[silent thunder]

Good for you mate!  How empowering to begin to really engage with what you eat and how it affects you.

Six years ago, I had a heart issue and the doctors wanted me to go on a series of pharmaceuticals for the rest of my life.

Instead, I studied food healing techniques and employed them with determination.  In 90 days, I completely reworked my blood chemistry using only foods found at a local farmer's market and was able to avoid any pharmaceuticals.

 

It's remarkable how quickly my body, and anyone's for that matter, can respond to a change in food.

It's also remarkable to me, that what can make one person flourish, can make me quite feeble... or what worked for me in my twenties, is untenable now.

 

We are rather complex.

 

I explained the importance of good quality food to my son, when he was very young and it worked very well for him. 

 

I used legos as an analogy.  I made a man out of legos and handed it to him.

 

Ok bud, so here is your body.  It's made of lots of small parts that work together.

Life is always decaying and growing... always.  It never stops.  No breaks. 

So, every day, parts of my body decay and break down.   (i removed a few pieces)

but then i eat some food and that food goes in my body and it grows whole again...

 

What happens if I stop eating?  (pulled a few more pieces out of the lego man)

eventually... kaput... no good right?

 

so I have to eat to keep growing, to stay healthy and strong.  (replaced the missing legos with some of a different color and size)

 

but what happens if I stop eating good strong quality food?

 

Since the only things my body can use to replace what has decayed, is what I choose to replace it with when I eat.  If I don't eat good quality food and only eat junky, fluffy and bad quality food... my body will not be like it was... it will be weak and sickly.

 

(I took several parts of the lego man away and instead of giving him lego parts to replace them... I gave him a piece of tape and some chewing gum with cat hair in it and told him to remake the lego man like it was... he stared at me with appropriate confusion) 

 

"That's not possible dad."

"exactly"  I said.

 

It's just like that simple with our bodies.  Our bodies are made up of trillions of individual cells.  Each day some die off and need to be replaced.  If we give our bodies strong food, good pieces to work with... it will refashion and maintain itself and you'll be strong and healthy.

 

If you give it chewing gum and tape... the outcome is not so good.

 

My body will only be as strong as the quality of the food I give it to work with... I didn't get into the quality of breath at that time.  Though I have come to understand, that through my breath, it is possible to transmute even substandard foods to positive results, but that is a lesson for later

 

Thanks for sharing your findings mate.  You reminded me of a powerful lesson.

 

Edited April 14, 2018 by silent thunder
reworded a sentence for clarity

[Aetherous]

Thanks for reporting back with your experience!

[dawei]

good topic.. and it plays out in a few ways... as ultimately, IMO, the body gets conditioned to a degree...  if I were to stop eating proteins from meat and fish, I have problems. But, the Blood Type Diet Book really explained my blood type dependencies in a way that was completely correct.   I'm not saying it is correct for everyone... just take your time to read if there is something that makes sense for yourself.

 

Don't just follow the tribe rule.

 

 

[SirYuri]

i'm actually in a gluten-free and dairy free for years already and 70% raw vegan diet for 2 years now. i only eat fruits the entire day. I used to be 100% Raw fruits but the energy surge is too much as if I'm always in a meditative state..  so i toned it down a bit and added cooked food to ground me here. This kind of diet keeps your body pure and alkaline which makes the you sensitive to earth and spiritual energies which in turn makes you stronger if properly combined with a internal practice. 

[Liberius Ultorus]

I think that you changed your diet too extremely too quickly. My diet went from root beer and taco bell to meat, vegetables, fruit, and nuts while only drinking water, kombucha, unsweet green tea, and pre-workouts over the course of four years. I also went from a completely sedentary life style at 140 with 25% body fat to jogging, wrestling, calisthenics, and olympic lifting at 205 with 12% body fat.

That's 105 lbs of lean weight and 35 pounds of fat 

to

180 lean and 25 fat

but over the course of 4 years. With Neigong meditation. 

Shocking your body like that is no good.

Next week, go every other two days with no dairy and see how you feel. 
Increase that to 4 days on, 2 off.
6 on, 2 off.
Then remove it completely.

the same with carbs, or fountain drinks, or whatever.

The Yin deficiency can be resolved by pulling Yin up from the Earth by the soles of your feet.

Also, be sure to check what of your five element indicators (ears, nose, mouth, tongue, and eyes) are giving your problems. Eat accordingly, but not solely. 

 

[Gerard]

Bravo OP!

 

More Science and less Taoist superstition and grains fairy tales.

 

SCIENCE:

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huangdi_Neijing

 

"...if people wanted to obtain health and longevity, they should eat food with “five colors, five tastes, and five fragrances.” (Huangdi Neijing)

 

http://www.visiontimes.com/2017/10/24/the-science-behind-each-bite.html

 

Piwei Lun

 

"He noted that during that time many people fell ill and died, mostly because of irregular eating and drinking, or anxieties and exhaustion, as their stomachs and spleens became deficient and weak."

 

[Rara]

A shock to the system cutting everything at once, I'd imagine. Also, I think it's how we've genetically evolved.

 

I started a similar thread the other day and realise without grain, I'd probably die.

[Rara]

On 14/06/2018 at 5:30 AM, Gerard said:

Bravo OP!

 

More Science and less Taoist superstition and grains fairy tales.

 

Maybe Zhuangzi has been taken too literally by a lot of people...just found this: https://personaltao.com/taoist-diet/

[futuredaze]

The anti-grain thing is a bit excessive.  Rice is one of the most balancing foods (so Ive heard but can also validate by experience), and I enjoy millet and oats on occasion.  Even wheat can be helpful but it is heavy and something I try to use minimally.  Taoism is more about harmony and moderation less about extremes.... but it is good to experiment.  I do good with mininal meat and grains.

[vonkrankenhaus]

Only a very small percentage of people actually has a problem with gluten in grains.

 

The rest are likely reacting to the glyphosate used in growing and ripening various grains.

 

The idea of forgoing food, grains, etc - this is about old time mountain cultivators, who could mummify themselves with pine resin and stuff like that. It's part of a whole specific process.

 

It isn't general dietary advice.

 

General dietary advice today should be:
Avoid poison sold as food. Learn what is a food and what is a weapon.
Eat only whole natural foods, ideally grown and processed only by hand, by you or your family.

 

And learn about the YinYang of food, learn Wu Xing of food, etc.

 

 

 

 

- VonKrankenhaus

[Gerard]

BUT the best diet in the world cannot fix the power of thoughts and  emotions. Negative thinking will have a profound effect in your system and so do other emotions like anger, hatred, lust, etc. To the point that they will shape your reality:

 

"What they have found is that our emotions can shape our physical reality at the molecular level."

 

Emotions Shape Our Physical Reality

 

Molecular only? Your future and your  next rebirth. Like ripples that extend outside when you drop a stone in the middle of a pond until they reach the shore. If your current life is right in the middle of the pond imagine how far those ripples will go and so will your thoughts and emotions. The consequences will be felt in the future.

 

Mind creates reality.

 

As important as the Yin-Yang principle.

 

These two are the First Noble Truths in my philosophical-energetic system of practice and living. The most important of them all.

 

You create your own world and the next one, and the next one and so on.

 

[vonkrankenhaus]

19 hours ago, Gerard said:

BUT the best diet in the world cannot fix the power of thoughts and  emotions.

 

I agree about Mind and Reality, and mind influence in physical conditions.

 

But consider what is doing the thinking, and where emotions are coming from.

 

What are these made of? How are they made and maintained?

 

What happens to them with no food at all?

 

If we do not eat at all for 9 years, what are our thoughts and emotions after that?

 

What is left to have angry or sad, or plans for a holiday?

 

Because with no food there is no brain and no body and no organs and no hormones with which to have thoughts and emotions.

 

 

 

 

 

-VonKrankenhaus

[Gerard]

Please use your common sense! Have I ever said humans shouldn't eat or eat only one bowl of rice per day?

 

Read the first paragraph, namely the first two lines which is very clearly mentioned in that article (final paragraph):

 

"This research, though, reminds us to view our emotions with the same respect as our food — as something that can shape our own existence."

 

 

Edited June 21, 2018 by Gerard