The perfect diet

[Julius777]

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

Edited May 31, 2020 by Julius777

[senseless virtue]

2 hours ago, Julius777 said:

Thanks for any knowledge you submit

 

Do you think the perfection you seek is either a state of accumulated knowledge or a view of wisdom?

 

Modern nutritionists can be really holistic in their approach which is commendable, and in my opinion the best of them train their clients to tune into their bodies, and they encourage to listen to the body and feel it instead of first advising about particular dieting plans to follow.

 

Having a self-correcting intuitive insight into your body's needs could certainly take you far in finding your optimal diet and eating habits to support it.

Edited May 31, 2020 by virtue

[Julius777]

12 minutes ago, virtue said:

Do you think the perfection you seek is either a state of accumulated knowledge or a view of wisdom?

 

To achieve perfection, wisdom is needed.

But to get in a solid condition, accumulated knowledge should be attained beforehand.

[silent thunder]

My experiences with my teachers have led to an experience close to what virtue describes.

 

Intuitive self inquiry.  Listening to the body's signals, submitting to its innate wisdom are natural, unsought derivatives and progressions of cultivation. 

 

The body (and all of Nature) as I experience it now, is always communicating.  It's me who strains to hear at times.  Through the patience and persistence of intention and of my practice, I have come to calm down and quiet enough it seems, to now readily hear and thus be able to respond to the signals that are always being shared.

 

My former fundamentalist ways with food have relaxed considerably with this listening and experience.  But I now have refined my diet to have avoided a lifetime of three pharmaceutical prescriptions for blood pressure, cholesterol and sugar levels.

 

 

Far more important now to my overall health, than anything I ever consumed as food is what I allow my mind to consume in the forms of media, news and what i allow my mind to ruminate on throughout the day.

 

Quote

Take great care what you allow yourself to think... this becomes your reality.

 

Food for thought.

Food for body.

 

I find it's either medicine, or slow acting poison.  Both will heavily influence the body's path and thus... the mind and my own awareness as well.

Edited May 31, 2020 by silent thunder
added the quote

[oak]

There was this quote on a book about aphrodisiac cuisine that I've read in my teens: "god made the food and the devil the seasoning".

 

Lately I've been thinking of making a diet move towards having my food as simple _ altough cooked_ as possible. Animals have their food as simple as possible,  right? Almost all : )

 

It will be a challenge though living in a family with some of the best cooks I've ever met. My wife's deceased dog, rotten spoiled would have spiced food and would refuse to eat anything not properly seasoned : )

 

Flavour the flavourless...would someone advise...

Edited June 1, 2020 by oak

[senseless virtue]

The use of nutrition ranges from having a stable healthy diet to wanting better health. Fasting and detoxing are special topics that link perfect lifestyle and perfect eating habits together. My two cents.

Edited December 30, 2023 by senseless virtue

[MuadDib]

Humans differ very little in terms of dna, but we differ immensely in terms of the variety of gut bacteria we carry. We get our first stock of the bacteria from our mother, and then we absorb the rest through the food and drinks we consume. And the variety of bacteria we carry play a big role in determining which foods are good sustenance for us and which are intolerable.

 

Beyond the main guidelines (avoid processed food etc), every person's optimal diet will be unique. One dietician wrote that since we get our first batch of gut bacteria from our mother, and most genetical dispositions are similar in close family members, we should observe our close family members. What do the ones who are having health problems eating? Try avoid those foods. What do those healthy family members eating? Try including those foods in your diet. As others mentioned above, it is a trial and error process. It is not too hard though, if you are observant.

[silent thunder]

Well said MuadDib.  Gut Biome structure and composition is vital.  Learn to support your blood type with your food choices. 

There's a growing body of research that indicates heart diseases are derived from the presence or absence of certain gut bacteria.

 

And remember that in 90 days, you can rework your blood chemistry and replace your gut biome.

 

I shifted my blood chemistry and gut biome with minimal training and avoided a lifetime of three pharmaceuticals, using foods from my local Farmer's Market.  Cholesterol, sugar and blood pressure all reversed out of concerning levels and into normal range in 90 days.  The only things my market didn't have were Goji berries and cordyceps for my process.

 

It was so effective, my GP was left gobsmacked at my results.  He asked me to write up a detailed summary of my process so he could emulate it in his own home.

 

 

[Creation]

On 6/2/2020 at 1:29 PM, silent thunder said:

It was so effective, my GP was left gobsmacked at my results.  He asked me to write up a detailed summary of my process so he could emulate it in his own home.

Would you be willing to share about this process?

 

I haven't looked into this kind of thing before, but it has just become a priority for me.  I just consulted with Ayurvedic practitioner with inner vision siddhi (the one Earl Grey and virtue are always recommending to people) who told me I have weak digestion and it's causing a lot of inflammation in my body.  (An aside - since you just mentioned it in the tea thread, he recommended gynostemma for the inflammation, along with dietary changes and digestion supporting forumlas.)

 

_/\_

[silent thunder]

10 minutes ago, Creation said:

Would you be willing to share about this process?

 

I developed an irregular heartbeat while under anasthesia for a minor surgery.

 

For quite some time I had been eating without any concerns, much regard or strong focus and my blood work reflected as much.

 

While consulting heart specialists for treatment, it was discovered that I had high blood sugar, cholesterol and blood pressure.  They recommended permanent pharmaceuticals (as is their wont).  I declined, having recently and (synchronistically) just spent time learning about altering blood chemistry and gut bacterial biome structure.  I told my GP to give me 90 days to try my method out and if it didn't work, I'd start the pills.

 

I cut out the occasional beer and wine.

I cut my meat intake by 50%.

I cut out all processed foods, wheat and sugars.

 

I had a smoothie for breakfast and lunch that included:

Apple with seeds, cucumber, strawberries, lime with the pith, goji berries, cordyceps, cilantro, mint, raw corn, half a raw beet, 16 oz of distilled water and half an avocado with the pit.  Pulverized that in my Blend-tec 3horsepower blender for 2 minutes.  This collection of foods focuses on high phytochemical presence (the pith in the limes, the avocado pit, the red juice in the beets, etc)

 

I upped my physical regime but not intensely, I already work in construction and get plenty of physical training while working.

 

After 90 days the blood tests came back and when Dr Guba saw my results he was pretty shocked, all levels dropped well into normal ranges, no pills required, using simple foods (aside from goji and cordyceps) from any farmer's market and cutting out processed stuff.  Gotta make sure the strawberries are organic though, as they have a porous skin and absorb any pesticides sprayed on them.

 

Sugar and cheese addiction was the most intense of all the changes.  Really striking how much my body craved those two.

 

 

[Creation]

@silent thunderWonderful, thanks. I was advised to cut out sugar, lactose, and gluten. I'll look into phytochemicals, more smoothie ingredient variety, and cutting out the little alcohol I drink.

 

Maybe this is a dense thing to ask, but what makes a food "processed"? For instance, I found a low sugar gluten free organic granola to eat for breakfast - would you consider that processed because it's prepackaged? What about an organic greens and plant based protein powder in smoothies in addition to whole food ingredients?

Edited June 4, 2020 by Creation

[silent thunder]

What constitutes processed food is a really great question.   I don't consider myself to have a definitive answer. 

 

disclaimer: I don't consider myself an authority on nutrition; I'm an artist by trade.  And as I've explored this, I find nutritionists don't often agree on what's good for folks, as what's healthy seems to change with the seasons (i hear eggs are considered healthy again).  I've learned over time, what my body responds well to and what it rejects.

 

As to processing and what that means.  I identify pretty closely with the definitions offered in this article by Dr Kalie.

 

I share her notions of four basic levels of processing.

 

Unprocessed: Simple, natural foods in their natural unadulterated state.  Take a cucumber out of your garden, or the Market, wash it off and eat it.  Clean natural food.  Same goes for animal and fish proteins that haven't been treated with anti-biotics and hormone infusions.  Wild caught fish, non-hormone treated meat.  I no longer eat red meat, but we regularly eat untreated chicken, wild caught fish, turkey and pork.  Unprocessed foods burn clean and provide energy and protection, bolster the wei qi field.  Natural foods are like preventative medicine to me.  Herbs are wonderful sources of natural food medicine.  We keep an herb garden in our kitchen and on our balcony.  It's quite impressive how much one can cultivate in a small space.  Fruits, nuts, veggies, natural meats all are unprocessed to me.

 

Lightly Processed: to me these are foods treated for transport and protected through packaging.  Foods such as pre-packaged salads where they inject nitrogen into the package to prevent spoiling in transit, I consider lightly processed and readily eat.  The nature of the food is not changed and remains natural.  Prepackaged washed spinach vs canned creamed spinach, is an example to me of the difference between light and ultra.

 

Processed: foods with some added ingredients for preserving, taste, appeal, foods that are pre-cooked and canned, I consider processed.  The food has been altered through a process, usually added ingredients for preserving, cooking, canning are all processing and don't necessarily have to be negative to your body.  We're all different.  But the ingredient list is a good indicator for me as to how processed something is, the more ingredients added increases how altered the food is to me.  Sodium and Sugar, Oils and Preservatives being the most common.  Added flavoring, canning processes.  Deli meats, sausages, etc.  These are in my sometimes category as my body is sensitive to sodium and sugar particularly (high blood pressure and insulin resistance).  Not daily, but once in a while.  Like eating out.  I consider any restaurant food to be processed as there's no way to definitively know the source and preparation... so it's in my sometimes category.

 

 

Ultra Processed:

 

Ultra-processed foods are no longer food to me.  They will fill the hole when you're hungry, but they are so adulterated and infused with unnatural ingredients that they are more akin to slow acting poison, than food.  The body has to work hard just to get them through the system and they bring a host of side effects over time.  Blood pressure, cholesterol, sugar levels, weight gain (one method the body uses with toxins to minimize the effect on the system is to store them in fat), so ultra processed foods will cause weight gain and a host of ill effects.

 

They are chemical shit storms to me and I avoid them entirely.  Usually come in boxes with bright colors.  They are heavily altered foods with a slew of added ingredients like artificial flavors, colors, additives for appeal and consistency, heavy preservatives and a host of chemical additives.  Meats with hormone infusions.  Dairy from cows infused with hormones and antibiotics.  They often sell themselves as Fat Free and Sugar Free (sugar substitutes are a total chemical nightmare).   For the record, i find fat to be an amazing food for fuel and does not make me fat.  Sugar makes people fat, fat burns clean (but I'm kind of alone in this it seems).

 

Dairy is one we avoid as well.  We cut it out of our house years ago, after much resistance by my wife when our son was young... Milk does not do a body good and there is ample evidence available on this if one digs.  And I dug, I had to provide much research to convince my gal to stop feeding it to our son daily.  Turns out she was the one who benefited most when we cut it out (she has Crohn's and dairy is a nightmare of inflammation in her system).

 

Milk when looked at neutrally, of itself, is a reproductive enzyme from another mammal's endocrine system.  It's an enzyme that is meant to turn a 60lb calf into an 1800 lb cow in a couple years.  Even adult cows can't drink cow's milk once their system has matured... so why do humans?  Humans don't even drink human milk once we've matured.  So we avoid it.  Particularly if you're female and have your own reproductive system... the hormones from another mammal in your system just seems a bad idea at the core to me. 

 

I have relaxed in recent years compared to when this process first started.  I was for a long time a mindless eater.  Anything went.  

 

When the ramifications of that became clear in my health, I transitioned and became a food fundamentalist for a couple years.  But quite literally I realized that my old diet was slow acting poison and through adjustments I was able to then use food as medicine to treat and reverse my adverse health conditions and then continue use it to provide a framework of preventative health support. 

 

Once healthy and vital again, I relaxed a bit and now enjoy even on occasion a nice sharp aged goat cheese, we eat out at restaurants somewhat regularly.

 

Interesting to note that when first tranisitioning out of processed foods as a regular part of my diet...  sugar and cheese were the hardest to kick.  Sugar has similar receptor triggers to cocaine and cheese is quite similar to heroin in how it lights up receptors in the pleasure centers of the brain.  Anyone who's ever cut sugar out cold turkey can attest to this reality on day two or three of detox.

 

Again, all this is just my opinion based on my experience and that of the nutritionists I agree with.

Your mileage may vary, always listen to your own system.  There is so much innate wisdom in the body.

 

In recent years, my body has begun craving emptiness as it once craved ice cream... asking me to fast regularly.

Edited June 4, 2020 by silent thunder
clarify a poorly phrased sentence, deleted some repeated content

[Damneron]

On 5/31/2020 at 11:26 AM, Julius777 said:

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

Though my unheathly relationship with junk food is a process that I am working on, I find that sticking to whole single-ingredient foods for an extended period of time is almost always an excellent choice. Now there is individual variance in all of our bodies and for me personally my body responds well to a lower carbohydrate diet with a lot of emphasis on cultivar vegetables, chicken and beef. Recently I've been experimenting with different types of veggies and switching out beef for seafood like salmon and shrimp. My opinion is to ignore most studies and experiment with foods that improve your energy levels, motility, gut health and sleep. Studies are great for general knowledge but at the end of the day nobody else in the world has your body except you. 

 

(If anyone disagrees I would love to have a friendly discussion on this, I love talking about nutrition!)  

[Liam]

Plenty obsessed with nutrition and its effects on (/creation of) the body. I've spent the last 10 years researching and experimenting with my body/food in response to media, studies, ideals, culturals, any kind of persuasion that promised perfect health. All of these promises are hypotheses, some scientific, some idealistic, some just plain ridiculous.

 

Personally, my journey with food started with indiscriminate ("normal") eating as a child, then calorie counting as a teenager, veganism as an anorexic, whole-food-plant-based (HCLF) and vegan keto (LCHF) as an orthorexic, sattvic/Ayurvedic as a yoga teacher, Buddhist/TCM vegetarian. I've also played around with Mediterranean, Blue Zone and other cultural diets. The only way of eating that I will ever subscribe to came from Michael Pollan's Food Rules: An Eater's Manual; "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants."

 

What I've come to learn, but have yet to actualise, is that each body is to an extent individual. Each one has the same basis as a living being that is made of the same elements but is influenced by its genes, upbringing and environment. Instead of trying to change my body to follow an ideal of eating, I just go day by day learning to listen to my body - how I feel about/before/during/after a particular food or meal. The "perfect" diet is one that will get you and your body to wherever it is you are going and that takes some experimentation.

[fankuang]

Chee Soo , (A Uk Taoist Master) taught ‘Ch’ang Ming’ , Taoist dietary therapy. He also wrote a book about  it ;

 

The Tao Of Long Life : The Art Of Ch’ang Ming.....

 

 

 

There’s some information on Wikipedia.

 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ch'ang_Ming

Edited August 28, 2020 by fankuang
Update re:book

[Taomeow]

2 hours ago, fankuang said:

Chee Soo , (A Uk Taoist Master) taught ‘Ch’ang Ming’ , Taoist dietary therapy. He also wrote a book about  it ;

 

The Tao Of Long Life : The Art Of Ch’ang Ming.....

 

 

 

There’s some information on Wikipedia.

 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ch'ang_Ming

 

Not the taoist tradition, this.  New age/hipster tradition.  

 

 

[Gerard]

On 22/08/2020 at 5:20 PM, Liam said:

The "perfect" diet is one that will get you and your body to wherever it is you are going and that takes some experimentation.

Yes according to your animal/Yin sign; eg. Metal Snake, Wood Tiger, Fire Rooster...

 

But generally speaking this is what everyone should be taking good note of:

Nutrition for every season

 

TCM: Understanding The Role Of The Spleen

 

High and frequent intake of raw, cold and spicy foods can damage the spleen and result in dampness accumulation. If dampness in the spleen is already present, certain foods like dairy products, processed foods, alcohol, sugars and sweeteners are said to exacerbate the situation.

This is a no-no in Taoism, common sense and healthy living.

 

Cold foods include drinks too.
 

 

Also very good advice for Liver supporting diet during the spring, when the new energies of the year start to awaken. Everything is flowing nicely and that can be overwhelming for some:

 

Love Your Liver: Lessons From Chinese Medicine (TCM)

 

Edit:

 

1. Eating in an agitated state, emotionality unstable, angry, stressed, in a rush and the like is a recipe for disaster. Not only you'll damage the Spleen but also stagnate the Liver.
 

2. Eating to feeling full. No.

 

3. Eating at night. No.

 

4. Start the day with a full, healthy and nourishing meal; in other words, eat breakfast like a king. Yes.

 

Edited September 3, 2020 by Gerard

[Victor]

Could meal timing also be related to body type, as diet is (probably?)?

Anyway nice thread, searching and experimenting with diet is one of the most interesting things that can be done! It's fun for the body and the mind

 

Have a nice evening

[liminal_luke]

9 minutes ago, Victor said:

Could meal timing also be related to body type, as diet is (probably?)?

Anyway nice thread, searching and experimenting with diet is one of the most interesting things that can be done! It's fun for the body and the mind

 

Have a nice evening

 

As you note, biochemical individuality is often overlooked by those searching for the "perfect diet."  I´m not sure there is a perfect diet for all humanity.  There are only diets more or less suited for particular people.