Secret 40: Jog Your Memory

If you want to stay young and healthy, don't just exercise your body. Exercise your mind! Do you remember the last time you solved a crossword puzzle? How about the last time you played Scrabble, Sudoku, chess or traveled overseas?  

Your brain benefits from workouts just like your body. Having to completely reorient yourself in a new environment will give your brain cells a heady boost. When was the last time you traveled to a country in which you did not speak the language? You don't have to move overseas for good to stretch your brain; even if you are abroad (wherever this may be for you) for just three months, learning your way around, navigating a new town, maybe even picking up the fundamentals of a new language - you will exercise your mind. Try following directions without the aid of an English-speaking GPS. If traveling is not your passion but you still want to keep your brain sharp, try varying your routine - whether it is a familiar route you take every day, or the way you choose to solve a problem. Be creative.

download a brain tease from the Internet free of charge

The bad news is that our memories start to fade once we reach adulthood (which may occur at differing times depending on the individual - reaching adulthood, that is). The good news is that you have the power to slow down this decline. Of course the ability to forget can be extremely beneficial, and letting go of painful memories and other annoyances that no longer serve you is a valuable survival skill. But memory is a useful asset, too, as you probably would like to be able to remember where you left your wallet, your car keys, your passport, or, more importantly your latest electronic gadget ("What did you do with MY IPad?" is a common exclamation in our home) or how many children or grandchildren you have. Of the 100 billion or so brain cells that constitute our incredible brains at birth, we lose around 50,000 a day ("hey, have you seen 50,000 of my brain cells lying around somewhere? I cannot remember where I put them").  50,000 out of 100 billion - if the government lost $50,000 per day or $18 million per year, wouldn't our economy be in much better shape? And that's not all. Supporting those 100 billion or so neurons are ten times as many glial cells. That's a lot of cells.  By the age of twenty, a human being has about 150,000 km of pathways in the brain. These pathways are known as myelinated axons (quick brain warm-up: 150,000 km are how many miles?)  Think you have too many cells up there? If losing 50,000 cells per day is not enough, you can accelerate this loss by sniffing paint, taking drugs, and exposing yourself to other forms of air pollution (alcohol won't do it, that just damages your liver.)

So how do you feed this amazing brain? The brain is the hungriest organ in your body; it consumes 20% of the energy used by your body. Since the blood-brain barrier protects your brain from the blood stream and does not allow fatty acids to cross, the main source of energy for the brain is blood glucose. To function at optimal levels, the brain is dependent on two criteria: an ample amount of energy and a constant amount of energy.

i. An ample amount of readily available glucose is necessary to maintain mental acuity. When glucose levels in the blood are low, for example during Ramadan or other times of fasting, the brain obtains its energy from ketones. These water-soluble fatty acid by-products are made by the liver. When I worked in Singapore, I was struck by how much my Muslim colleagues would slow down at work during Ramadan. Fasting during daylight hours drastically affected productivity. 

ii. The importance of a steady flow of energy to the brain is most apparent when someone suffers a stroke.  The energy supply is suddenly cut off, and damage is immediate and can be irreversible and hugely debilitating. While strokes are the second-leading cause of death in Western countries. they are preventable. If you follow a Mediterranean diet, you are half as likely to suffer a stroke.

Assuming that the brain obtains an ample and constant supply of energy, what can you do to stem the ageing of the brain? Here are some options that can help keep the brain younger:

• being intellectually active i.e. brain games, reading, playing bridge, playing chess, taking part in stand-up impromptu comedy, learning a new skill or subject, picking up another language
• exercise, as this helps detoxification
• having a positive outlook on life
• engaging in intricate manual work such as stitching, carving netsukes or composing. One of our most cherished possessions is a large, wood cutting board.  If you were to come across this at a flea market, you would not give it a second glance. However, if you had a great grandfather who had made this board at the age of 100 years, it becomes a treasured heirloom. Maybe the fact that he kept working with his hands allowed him to reach an advanced age
• being an active member of one's community (being popular and sought after)
• enjoying a brain-friendly diet high in omega-3s and antioxidants, and low in refined carbohydrates

Is it moving?  Think about it.

Since you are probably on-line while reading this, you might want to check out www.luminosity.com.  Maybe one or the other game might strike your fancy? 

Just like physical exercise, find some mental exercise that you can be passionate about. You will more likely pursue this with enough vigor and enthusiasm to give your brain a thorough and regular workout and keep you going for many, many years to come.

Secret 39: Get Your Daily Dose of Sunshine

The sun can kill, but without our sun life on Earth would not exist. Sunshine is another great example of the importance of moderation. Sunshine affects our health and well-being, and is used by the body to produce an important hormone: Vitamin D: You may know that Vitamin D is also called the 'sunshine vitamin'. Vitamin D can be obtained through diet, especially fatty fish such as salmon (100 g. of cooked salmon provide about 350 IU Vit. D), tuna, eel, mackerel and sardines, but ten to twenty minutes of exposure to sunlight for people with skin that burns easily (or three to six times more if you have darker skin) will allow your body to produce enough Vit. D to cover your needs. Simply put, cholesterol in the skin, when exposed to sunshine, forms Vit D. To be more precise 7-dehydrocholesterol, present in mammalian skin, when stimulated by UVB rays (270 nm to 300 nm wavelength) changes into a Vit. D precursor. During long, dark winter days you may wish to add dietary sources of Vit. D such as eggs (a mid-size egg provides 20 IU) or, better yet, cod liver oil (one tablespoon = 1360 IU).

a Vitamin D feast

Beare claims that adequate levels of Vit. D protect against 'cancer, TB, osteoporosis, multiple sclerosis and hypertension. So why not simply supplement with mega doses of Vit. D to stave off these undesirable conditions? Studies on Vit. D supplementation have so far been inconclusive and contentious. Also, Vit. D is fat-soluble, and excessive amounts of Vit. D are not excreted like water-soluble vitamins such as C but are stored in the body and can be toxic. So how much Vit. D does a healthy body need? The health departments of different countries recommend different levels of dietary Vit. D.  But they do seem to agree that the upper acceptable limit of Vit. D supplementation is 4000 IU. Beare is more conservative. She urges half this amount or no more than 2000 I.Us per day for adults. First symptoms of Vit. D overexposure are nausea, vomiting and constipation. Long-term intake of excessive Vit. D leads to irreversible kidney damage. Note that if you supplement Vit. D, your body will still be manufacturing this hormone when you expose your skin to UVB. Can you overdose on Vitamin D if you stay in the sun too long? No. You will increase your possibility of developing skin cancer, but the body will destroy any excess sun-produced Vit. D once equilibrium had been reached. And, as stated above, this happens within ten to twenty minutes in light-skinned humans. Also note that sunscreen with levels as low as SPF 8 will block out more than 90% of UVB rays and thus prevent Vit. D formation. Make sure you use a sunscreen that:
i. does not contain unnecessary toxic chemicals (see http://www.ewg.org/skindeep/ for one possible classification system)
ii. also blocks UVA (UVB changes skin cholesterol to Vit. D, and Vit. D can protect the skin from precancerous changes, but if your sunscreen blocks UVB and not UVA, you are left with very little protection!)

If you are not a fan of sunscreen just stay in the shade and cover up. Or enjoy the sun when it is closer to the horizon.

Enjoy the sun setting over the Pacific

When the sun is high in the sky use an umbrella. Umbrellas are more effective than caps and hats at protecting you from the sun and can make a nice accessory to compliment your attire....

Low levels of Vit. D, on the other hand, cause rickets and may exacerbate multiple sclerosis. 

So what roles does Vit. D play in your health? First and foremost, as a hormone it regulates the concentration of calcium and phosphate in your blood. This affects bone growth and development. Vit. D also modulates cell growth, reduces inflammation and increases glutathione levels. Glutathione is an important antioxidant and is a critical element in iron metabolism. 

In Western countries milk, orange juice and cereal are often supplemented with Vitamin D. One way milk is enhanced with Vit. D is by exposing it to UVB radiation.  This procedure is also used to increase Vit. D levels in mushrooms.

But back to sunshine. Beare states that all five long-living populations live in sunny climates. Some of the benefits of sunshine include:

• improved mood: melatonin is built up during dark, winter months and may lead to SAD or seasonal affective disorder. Sunshine inhibits the formation of melatonin.
• better sleep-wake cycles or circadian rhythms: one of the constituents of sunshine is blue light (wavelength 460 nm to 480 nm) and blue light suppresses melatonin. Melatonin is also called 'the hormone of the darkness' and increases sleepiness. 
• Vit. D production

So get your ten to twenty minutes of sunshine in the morning or late afternoon, use a sunscreen with UVA protection at lunch, and enjoy some salmon or mackerel!

Secret 38: Exercise, exercise, exercise

To live is to move and to move is to be alive. Secret 38 is a wonderful sequel to secret 36 'detoxify'. Not only do we want to ensure that our bodies are being provided with the best nutrients possible, but we also want to ensure that our bodies are effectively eliminating toxins. And a most effective way to aid this detoxification is by helping every cell of our body release all unwanted and undesirable material. This we achieve by revving up our circulation. Exercise is a most effective way to enhance delivery and removal of waste products at the cellular, tissue and organ level.  And if you are not at  ideal weight and you burn more calories than you eat, you may be able to dissolve some fatty tissue and with it stored toxins. Just make sure that you provide your body with plenty of clean water so that the toxins that have been dislodged can also easily be excreted and do not simply settle down and stay in some other corner of your body.

The Swiss ball is a powerful tool to improve balance and strength

Some of the benefits of exercise include:

• mood elevation
• improved lymphatic function
• reduced cancer risk esp. colon cancer in men and breast cancer in women
• lowered LDL cholesterol levels 
• lowered blood pressure
• stronger circulation
• stronger waste drainage
• lower risk of osteoporosis
• slower aging due to stimulation of the growth hormone
• stronger immune system
• lower blood glucose levels
• less anxiety and depression
• and, according to a study quoted by Sally Beare, a higher IQ

The beauty of exercise is that it can be done anywhere, and at any time (for example, yoga under your office desk). And you can start exercising at any age. It is never too late to start moving. The benefits are swift, even if you have been sedentary most of your life.  If you have been sedentary, start slowly.  Walk more. Take the stairs slowly. Build up gradually. Beare recommends 1/2 to one hour of somewhat strenuous exercise most days of the week. Even while watching TV you can do push-ups and sit-ups (yes, you can!). The best types of exercise simulate movements that we do naturally and activities that involve our entire body (muscular, circulatory, lymphatic, nervous, immune, skeletal) such as brisk walking, swimming, or dancing. You will want to do some combination of strength training and aerobic exercise (the latter makes us breathless). By the way, yoga is considered an aerobic activity since deep breathing helps oxygenate the tissues. It enhances blood and lymph flow, and if you do yoga in a heated, humid studio, detoxification is greatly enhanced by sweating. Just make sure to drink enough water before and after to flush out any dislodged toxins. 

Martial arts

Deep breathing improves detoxification during any kind of exercise. Exhale your stress and tension. And, most important of all, choose an exercise that you greatly enjoy. There are so many different kinds to choose from: hiking, martial arts, Pilates, yoga, belly dancing, Zumba, tai chi, archery, horseback riding, sailing, surfing, cycling, soccer, basketball, golf, diving, swimming, gymnastics, climbing...  Individual sports, team sports. For those of us who are musical, exercising to music can increase the fun aspect. The main thing is to combine movement with an activity you love to do. 

Beare makes an important comment about exercising: just like eating, you want to exercise in moderation. While Iron Man and triathlons sound like worthy goals, exercising too much or too intensely can harm the body by releasing the stress hormone cortisol, increasing the amount of age-accelerating free radicals and inflammatory prostaglandins, and weakening the immune system. Female athletes in child-bearing age are known to stop menstruating. Your healthiest choice is moderate, pleasurable, regular exercise that enhances detoxification and improves coordination, flexibility, stamina and feelings of well-being. As you move more you will feel more alive. The main thing is to do something you enjoy and do it regularly.  After a while it becomes something you cannot imagine living without.  A good friend, a steady companion.

Zumba: aerobic movement to a catchy international beat

Secret 37: ‘Supplement Your Diet’ or better, 'Eat Your Colors!’

Supplements: do we really need them?

Secret 37 is titled: “Supplement Your Diet”. The premise is that vitamins and minerals are essential, we are not obtaining the necessary amounts via our diet, so taking these in synthetic form in doses much higher than any of our ancestors ever have is essential to our health.

First of all, the five long-living people described by Sally Beare are not reading without glasses at an old age because the supplement industry has discovered their existence.  In fact, the centenarians are healthier than specimens adhering to the Standard American diet because they are obtaining ample supplies of nutrients through their diet. So should we just mindlessly swallow chemical substitutes to make up for our careless dietary choices?  Is this the answer to our health problems?

Let me turn the question around.  Ever since synthetic vitamins and minerals have been available on the market, has the health of Americans greatly improved?

Secondly, the supplement industry is a multi-million dollar industry that can assign a generous amount of its juicy margins towards marketing. “You are not obtaining the necessary vitamins in the necessary doses – take multis and enjoy great health!” and “our soils have been so depleted that even if you eat a healthy diet you will be deficient (note: ‘healthy diet’ is very loosely defined – processed juices in the store claim to be ‘healthy’ even when the main ingredient is sugar and little, if anything of the original nutrients of the original fruit is kept since the juice has been reconstituted from water and concentrate powder).

The supplement industry is not as regulated as the food industry and I suspect it is an immensely profitable industry. Sally Beare suggests that official government guidelines cover the bare minimum and that a healthy person needs to supplement to obtain the necessary amount. “In order for our bodies to function optimally, we need at least 17 minerals and 13 vitamins, as well as protein, fiber, carbohydrate and the right fats”.  I would argue that we need many more substances than the handful identified by Beare. We most likely need substances found in fruit and vegetables that have not been officially identified yet.  Also, while we like to state the functions of individual vitamins, our bodies are complex systems and a very finely orchestrated mélange of necessary nutrients need to be available to our bodies for optimal functioning. For example: the presence of vitamin C enhances iron absorption, vitamin C increases levels of glutathione.

Beare’s admonition that ‘you need to take supplements’ is based on some of the following arguments:

       The produce available at supermarkets is excessively low in nutrients. One of the reasons for this is because the produce is harvested before it is ripe. Another is that the longer the produce travels and sits on the shelf, the lower the nutrient content.  Beare cites an example of ‘an orange you buy at the supermarket can have zero vitamin C’. Is this really true (goodness, how OLD is that orange? If that orange were lying on the ground no animal would stop to nibble at it since it has long lost any scent) and if so, how representative is this statement of oranges in supermarkets in general?  She also cites an example of ‘magnesium levels in carrots have dropped by 75% in the last few decades’.  What objective scientific studies support this statement?  Without analyzing store-bought carrots, I would suggest:

i.                    as much as possible eat produce that has been recently harvested i.e. eat local as much as possible. 

ii.                   as much as possible, choose organic.  Since this produce does not have the aid of chemicals to enhance its shelf life, it deteriorates much faster than conventionally handled produce and this would imply that the organic produce you choose in the store has been harvested more recently and would thus have a higher nutrient density

iii.        whenever possible, plant your own produce and use self-made compost as fertilizer (hopefully compost made of organic waste?)

iv.                  ensure that a large proportion of your diet consists of unprocessed food.  Try to eat ‘single ingredients’ or produce that has been steamed, that has a bit of olive oil added to it rather than TV dinners that consists of an unpronounceable, chemical alphabet

v.                     juice -- as in juice your own vegetables and fruit.  Every healthy kitchen needs a few gadgets; one of these is a juicer. To ensure that you obtain high levels of nutrients, throw various organic vegetables and some fruit in a juicer.  If you do not want to lose the precious fiber and do not want to add this to your compost heap, add the leftover fiber to soups.

vi.                     buy directly from farms or join a food coop.

vii.                 mix your food sources.  If you always purchase from one farmer, buy the same vegetable from another farmer as soils will vary and produce reflects the soil in which it grew.

What you put in your mouth is YOUR choice. You can choose a highly processed, nutrient poor diet and help subsidize the supplement industry by reacting to their fear-inspiring claims, or you can carefully select a diet that ensures the highest amount of nutrient delivery possible.

Here are some great nutritional sources for various anti-oxidants and minerals:

Vitamin A: orange, red and dark green vegetables and fruit such as carrots, apricots, spinach; liver and cod liver oil

Vitamin B-complex:

Folic acid: green leafy vegetables, cruciferous vegetables, nuts and seeds, fish, poultry, red meat, organ meat, mushrooms

            Vitamin B6: seafood, poultry, nuts, sweet potatoes, bananas

            Vitamin B12: fish, poultry, meat

Vitamin C: oranges, grapefruit, pomelo and other citrus fruit; broccoli, cauliflower and other cruciferous vegetables; blueberries, strawberries, raspberries and other berries, red peppers

Vitamin E: avocado, olive oil, fish oil, peanuts, hazel nuts, Brazil nuts and other nuts

Chromium: whole grains, nuts, seeds

Magnesium: broccoli, green leafy vegetables, nuts, seeds

Selenium:  garlic, asparagus, Brazil nuts, seafood and whole grains

Zinc: garlic, green leafy vegetables, seafood such as oysters, poultry, meat, whole grains, nuts, seeds

Alpha lipoic acid: broccoli, spinach and other dark green leafy vegetables

Coenzyme Q10: mackerel, sardines, organ meats

Glutathione: avocado, asparagus, cruciferous vegetables, watermelon

What you choose to put in your digestive tract is your choice.

Our salivary glands work in conjunction with our senses.  Which whets your appetite?

This:

Or this:

Secret 36: Spring-Clean with Juices and Saunas

This is my favorite chapter. A more accurate title would be “Secret 36: Detoxify”. As mentioned in my blog on water (Secret 34), an elegant and simple way of viewing illness and health is as follows:

Health: Toxins into body < toxins removed from body

Illness: Toxins into body > toxins excreted from body

A body that is able to successfully detoxify is healthier than a body that is compromised by toxins. A body that is provided with freshly harvested, organic, nutrient-rich food has a rich and powerful detoxification toolkit available to rid itself of toxins. Illness is a sign that the body is overloaded with toxins and can no longer cleanse or heal itself.  In the early 1920ies, Scottish surgeon Sir William Arbuthnot-Lane summarized it in the following manner: “There is but one disease, and that is not sufficient drainage”. ¹

So what are these toxins, how do they enter our bodies, and how does our body rid itself of them?

Points of entry include the skin (air), mouth (food/air/water), nose (air, gases), and senses (visual, olfactory, touch).

We expose our bodies to a slew of toxins, knowingly and unknowingly, and often repeatedly and with good intention (but often undesirable consequences):

•   cosmetics and toiletries (especially those used on a regular basis: soap, deodorant, shaving cream, toothpaste, shampoo, make-up) ² 
•   medicines (especially those that are used daily for extended periods of time)
•   the effluents and by-products of toxic waste sites (these zones are often off-limits for permanent residential use, so instead are used for playgrounds, churches or fitness centers. If you find a large, empty plot in the middle of a densely populated area, you might ponder why this ’valuable’ land is empty)
•   GMOs or genetically modified organisms. In the U.S., most foods that contain canola, corn or soybean are highly likely to be GMO foods unless these three ingredients are specifically labeled as ‘USDA certified organic’. The U.S. consumer is not protected by clear labeling of GMO ingredients; in fact, most consumers in the U.S. are unaware that the food they are purchasing in the grocery aisles contains GMO ingredients. Employees of Whole Foods, (a natural foods supermarket chain in the U.S.) have told me in all sincerity that their grocery store is GMO free. Doctors are often just as uninformed as employees of health food stores. I once asked a doctor I was seeing for a general check-up about her thoughts on GMO food. She asked me:"what is GMO?"
•    household cleaners
•    pesticides
•    cigarettes
•   'food' containing artificial flavorings, additives, colorings, trans fats, high fructose corn syrup, nutritionally-void, filler substances and other substances that never have previously been alive
•   casual drugs (and not so casual drugs. The recent, regrettable death of Whitney Houston comes to mind)
•    excessive alcohol (Amy Winehouse?)
•   car exhaust (this tends to be especially noticeable in large, Western cities on Monday mornings)
•     other air pollution
•     water pollution
•     soil pollution
•     heavy metals
•     carcinogens
•    by-products created by the interaction of packaging and packaged foods (canned food, water bottles, juices in plastic bottles)
•   EMR (electromagnetic radiation) or radio frequency radiation from cell phone towers and microwave ovens. At 580 to 1,000 mW/cm² the U.S. cell phone tower standard is one of the worst in the world. In Australia this is 200 mW/cm², Italy and Russia 10 mW/cm², Switzerland at 4 mW/cm², and Austria at 0.1 microwatts (pulsed)
•     proximity to high voltage power lines in residential areas and near schools
•     emissions from digital clocks and wireless electronic devices
•     materials used in clothing, detergents used to wash clothes, fumes
•     fire retardant materials used in children’s night clothes
•     building materials used in homes, offices, and schools (i.e. asbestos)
•     chemicals in carpets, paints, and furniture
•    the non-thermal effects of radio frequency radiation (in other words, long-term, chronic exposure to low levels of radiation).

     Organs of detoxification: spleen, liver, kidneys, skin, lymphatic system, immune    system, heart, our minds (the benefit of positive thoughts, the power of knowledge;   reading the latest scientific literature about insidious pollutants and how to protect  yourself).

     Points of exit: urine, stool, exhaled air, sweat, spit, mucus, phlegm, breast milk (?). surgical excision of cancerous tumors, words, emotions, positive thinking, laughter.

 Activities to reduce the toxic burden on your body:

•    drink lots of clean water
•    take care of your immune system
•    provide your body with adequate rest and ample, deep, undisturbed sleep
•    enjoy nutritious food (fresh, organic vegetables, legumes and fruit, loose-leaf teas esp. herbal teas or green tea, cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage; garlic and onion)
•     obtain enough fiber (bran, oatmeal, vegetables, fruit, legumes)
•     breathe clean air (ventilate your home if the outdoor air is less polluted than the indoor air)
•     engage in  physical exercise
•    expose your body to different temperatures in rapid succession or for an extended period of time (Kneipp bath, cold and hot showers, sauna 160 F, Turkish bath 115 F, hot yoga at 105 F and 40% humidity)
•    fast (water, juice) 
•    have a colonic irrigation or enema (if you do not have one or more daily stool movements, you might want to try this once, or just buy a juicer and drink fresh vegetable/fruit juices several times a week
•    choose a positive attitude
•    seek out companionship (humans, pets)
•    build a steadfast, strong emotional support group
•    engage in hobbies (activities that provide you pleasure and joy and do not harm others)
•    laugh long and hard
•    choose positive, inspiring, uplifting literature and other sources of entertainment
•    take advantage of any and every occasion to gather and celebrate with fellow humans
•    seek out festivities and festivals, ‘fiestas’
•      cough
•    sneeze
•    spit
•    play or enjoy listening to music
•    avoid your exposure to toxins!
•    educate yourself about detoxification

You are not alone when you are trying to protect your health. Some U.S. government agencies that are responsible for protecting the health of the general public include:

•     U.S. Federal Communications Commission: in charge of setting standards for    radiation from cell phone tower exposure
•     U.S. Department of Agriculture
•    Food and Drug Administration
•    Environmental Protection Agency

Although these powerful, wealthy agencies were set up to protect health, it remains a sad fact that food, politics and profits are close companions. Many people who work for these agencies are former, present, or future employees of the companies they are supposed to regulate. This can be a source of conflicting interests. For example Donald Rumsfeld, twice U.S. Secretary of State, was the president of G.D. Searle and led the legalization of the artificial sweetener aspartame. He was the chairman of biopharmaceutical company Gilead Sciences. In 1985 Searle was sold to Monsanto, a company much maligned by health food advocates. (Rumsfeld purportedly earned over $1 million from this sale). 

Also, government guidelines are not set in stone and are not immune to financial pressure exerted by lobbyists and special interest groups. Substances such as asbestos, nicotine, and thalidomide were once declared ‘safe’ for human health. Currently cell phone emissions are claimed to be ‘safe’.

Bottom line: try to reduce your exposure to toxins through awareness and deliberate actions, help the body cleanse itself as much as possible, and educate yourself on the actual dangers and healthy options.

¹ The zealous surgeon went as far as removing colons from patients in order to help them detoxify. But that is another story. For most of Sir William Arbuthnot-Lane’s surgical career, his approach to health was more moderate and beneficial.

²Just for fun, gather together all the toiletries and cosmetics in your home.  Then check the health/toxicity rating of each product that you use on a regular basis at http://www.ewg.org/skindeep.  The first time I did this, our average rating was five out of ten (ten being the most toxic, zero being the safest rating).  I have since switched to products with ratings of two and lower.  Note: just because a shampoo or moisturizing cream states that it is ‘organic’ does not mean that it is safe.

Secret 35: Combine Your Foods

When Sally Beare wrote the original "the live-longer diet" that was published by Piatkus in the UK in 2003, it only contained 15 secrets. For the 2006 publication of "50 Secrets of the World's Longest Living People', the list of secrets, as the title implies, was expanded to fifty. Some of the new secrets seem superfluous and seem to have been created simply to reach the promise in the title. Even Sally Beare seems hesitant about strongly endorsing Secret 35. Basically, this secret states that is may be smart to combine/not to combine certain foods in order to enhance assimilation of nutrients during digestion or to minimize exposure to toxins due to faster movement through the intestines. There may be some truth in this as, for example, common lore states that combining a food that contains Vitamin C (such as a lemon) when consuming a food that contains iron (such as meat) enhances the uptake of iron. The idea of combining foods such as proteins, fats, starches, vegetables and fruit dates back to the 1900s, when an overweight, middle-aged American doctor by the name of William Howard Hay decided that the root cause of his health problems lay in his intestines.  According to Beare Dr. Hays proclaimed that: "Death begins in the colon" (I thought this wisdom dates back to the Greeks).  This may well be true, since the digestive system is the first point of contact between our bodies and our major source of energy (one could argue that oxygen enters our bodies via our lungs and ambient heat enters our bodies via the skin, however, our main source of energy still comes in via mouth and throat). 

Pizza: a popular staple in Italy, not an option for those who adhere to the Hay diet

Hay's main premise is not to combine protein with carbs in the same meal.

Really?  You should not eat carbs with proteins?  How about Asians who enjoy rice and fish or rice and tofu?  Italians who enjoy pasta and shrimp? Americans who like starting their day with cereal and milk? Germans who enjoy cheese on bread?  Moroccans who like couscous with chicken or beans? Are so many cultures around the world getting it wrong? Or was Hays just not eating his vegetables and pigging out on junk food instead?

Fish and rice -not allowed on the Hays diet (and don't dream of adding a few drops of lemon to that salmon).  

The main tenets of the Hay diet are:

• do not combine protein and carbs and acid-containing foods
• eat more vegetables and fruit, less protein, carbs and fat
• replace highly processed foods such as white sugar and white flour with whole grain, less processed versions
• wait four hours between meals

Nope. sorry, not allowed either if you are on the Hay diet...

I prefer listening to my body. It has nearly 50 years of experience and has digested tons of food. In contrast to the Hay's rules, I enjoy my salmon with a few drops of lemon. The lemon seems to aid digestion, and the Vitamin C may enhance the uptake of iron from the salmon (and my anemic body needs iron). I choose to adhere to my own food combinations. One combination I avoid, simply because it does not feel good to me, is a meal that consists of different types of meats mixed together (as on a BBQ skewer). I prefer eating fish, chicken, beef, lamb etc. separately. Another combination I avoid is one that is very popular in the U.S.: peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Uggh! I prefer a peanut butter banana 'sandwich' without bread i.e. I slice the banana length-wise and spread the peanut butter between the two halves. Delicious! (Hay would approve). When eating a hamburger, I never eat both halves of the bun. But my all-time favorite is a combination very few fellow humans care to share: bread with hard cheese and honey. Yum!  I am sure you have your unique, favorite combinations. A combination my husband likes is a martini with olives (he can even enjoy it without the olives). Maybe some of your favorite combinations are Hay-friendly, others less so.  Whatever works for you.

So in conclusion, Secret 35 in '50 Secrets' seems to be an empty stuffer rather than a serious recommendation.  My suggestion? Combine foods the way that works best for your body!

Secret 34: Drink Water – the Most Essential Nutrient

Water. This is by far the most difficult blog to write. I have been struggling with this blog for over a month.

Life as we know it would not exist without water. The human body is, for the most part, water. At a recent health assessment I was informed that I consist of 80 lbs. of water. 80 pounds of water!  Since so much of what we are is water, and since water is a prerequisite for life, it seems that supplying our bodies with the right amount of excellent water is a precursor to a long and healthy life.

T

The gift of life 

Water plays many essential roles in the human body. It is the ‘brew’ in which life-giving chemical reactions occur. Water ensures that our body temperature remains within the ideal range for our enzymes to function. It is the body's postal service and one of the body's communication systems.  It plays a huge role in waste management. I would like to emphasize the importance of water as a detoxifier. My theory about illness is simple: many illnesses are caused and exacerbated by the body’s inability to effectively rid itself of toxins. Don’t get me wrong. The body is superbly efficient at detoxifying - through the skin, the liver, the urinary system - via sweat (exercise), urine (by drinking enough water) and deep breaths (exhaling); however, our environment and the so-called ‘food’ we eat is so low in nutrients and so laden with worthless, controversial additives that our bodies are overwhelmed and struggle to cleanse themselves. A study more than two decades ago of the breast milk of mothers in Hong Kong showed that the first nutrient babies were receiving was laden with chemicals. What a challenging start to life. And it only gets worse... If toxins in > toxins out, eventually something has to give. And instead of examining the lack of healthy nutrients in our food and facilitating detoxification by providing our bodies with the tools¹ they need, we simply add to the chemical burden by supplementing with costly unregulated supplements and, if that fails, medicating² and thereby even further burdening our overworked, nutrient-starved livers.

The five healthy, long-living people described by Sally Beare all have access to pure, natural water from mountain springs, glaciers or rivers. The water they drink has been filtered through layers of sediment and is rich in minerals such as calcium, manganese and zinc. It helps keep their bodies alkaline and it has a low surface tension. How does this compare to the stuff we drink? What do we drink: coffee (filtered through paper that may be releasing carcinogens), tea (from tea bags stiffened with epichlorohydrin), soda pop consisting of synthetic chemicals, juices made of colorings and flavorings, milk laden with hormones and synthetic vitamin D, processed soups with chemicals leached from cans, alcohol mixed with pesticides – how pure is our liquid intake?

Water touches all aspects of our life

Assuming that your main fluid intake is water rather than flavored, colored drinks and hot, sugar-laden, caffeinated boosters, how do you know that the water you are drinking is safe? The five senses of our body can only detect so many toxins. In the last century human beings have learned to manufacture a slew of processed foods laden with chemicals that do not grow on plants but instead are synthesized in plants. How safe is tap water really? Our municipal water provider will insist that the water is safe to drink. Do we take the time and pay the extra cost to have our tap water tested by an independent, third party? How about water bottled in plastic bottles?³ Do chemicals from the container really leach into the water if you leave your water bottle exposed to the sun in a car? What about drinking fountains in schools and other public places? Are these simply attached to the main water system or is this water filtered? How hygienic is it to drink from a fountain that another person’s mouth has accidentally touched? How often are the filters in water filtration machines in supermarkets cleaned and do these filters really extract all harmful substances? These are some things to ponder and to explore in future blog posts.

Yet these are not the only questions related to our most essential and precious source of life - water. What about the following:

What is the ideal temperature at which to consume water? 

In China I used to be laughed at if I chose water that was room temperature or below. Water thermos’ were ubiquitous and were constantly being filled with boiling water. In the U.S., on the other hand, I often have to request for water without ice. The author of "50 Secrets", Sally Beare recommends avoiding ice-cold water as “this is not compatible with your body temperature”.

And is it true that one should not drink during meals but drink water outside of meal times, as my Singaporean friend admonished me?  Beare also warns against mixing drink and food, "as water would just dilute digestive juices."

And finally, how much water should we drink? The personal trainer doing my health assessment advised me to drink 100 oz. of water a day. 100 oz.? Sally Beare recommends one ounce per two pounds of body weight (or 30% less than the previous recommendation). Beare and others state that thirst is a late indicator of dehydration. The color of urine – dark meaning dehydrated, clearer meaning sufficiently hydrated – has been mentioned as being a more accurate measure than thirst. Quantity does matter. Colorado, a very arid state in parts, has a higher percentage of premature births due to dehydration.  Expectant mothers are advised to drink more water to ensure that births happen closer to term.

Water = Life

Water touches so many parts of our lives and deserves greater in-depth objective, scientific analysis. For now I suggest:

• Be vigilant about the quality of your chosen source(s) of water
• Help your body detoxify by drinking plenty of pure water, exercising regularly to release toxins via sweat, and by trying to limit the amount of unnecessary pesticides and other chemical intake by choosing freshly harvested, organically grown food over processed food.

If you do not like the taste of water but would like to add flavor, make your own juices by investing in a juicer. Or try this simply recipe for delicious homemade cranberry juice that does not take any more time than boiling a cup of water:

Easy to make yourself

Add 12 oz. of fresh cranberries to a quart of boiling water. Within minutes the cranberries will pop. Immediately strain the mixture through a sieve. Add up to one cup of your favorite sweetener (depends on your taste) and briefly boil the liquid one more time. Enjoy!

¹Clean air, pure water, unadulterated food rich in vitamins and minerals

² Dare I mention chemotherapy and radiation (which strikes me as trying to kill a rabbit by carpet-bombing the entire field)? 

³The cover of “50 Secrets of the World’s Longest Living People” depicts a plastic water bottle. Perhaps the editors would consider replacing the image of the plastic bottle with that of a clear glass jug filled with water in a future edition?