nutrition, food, diet.
[an error occurred while processing this directive]What are you eating? How the dubya could the old adage "you are what you eat" NOT be true, at least with regard to your molecular constitution?
"Although we experience ourselves as a stable form, our body is constantly breaking itself down and rebuilding itself, much more than many of us realized." As Deepak Chopra, M.D. explains, our skin is new every month, our liver every six weeks, and even our brain, with all those valuable cells storing acquired knowledge, changes its content of carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen about every twelve months. Day after day, as we inhale and exhale, we give off what were our cells, and take in elements from other organisms to create new cells. "All of us," observes Chopra, "are much more like a river than anything frozen in time and space" (Deepak Chopra 1992).
The Lincoln Logs -- the very building blocks -- for all those new cells obviously come from whatever we take in: the food we eat, the liquids we imbibe, the air (and its particulate matter) we breathe, the substances absorbed through the skin, and so on.
I am going to put a few delicious recipes on this site. For now, there are but two: a mean vegetable bean stew (thanks, Prof) and a recipe for tabouli salad.
Check your BMI (body mass index). Please note that the BMI is a general guide only. It has been shown to be misleading in many cases. For example, those with a lot of muscle tissue might to fall into an obese category! I think the BMI tends to be most accurate for those with normal body types and those with a small- to average-sized bone structure.
"The human body is more precious than the rarest gem. Cherish your body; it is yours for one time only...a thing of beauty that passes away."-- Tsong Khapa
What does nutrition have to do with spirituality?
more bang for your buck.
A food makes it to this list only after being praised time and time again, per reputable sources, as being very good for you. Animal products will not make it onto this list very easily, with the notable exception of the incredible omega-3 oils found in coldwater fish like sardines, mackerel, tuna, and salmon (my favorite).
- Almonds
- Blueberries
- Broccoli
- Carbohydrates
- Fiber
- Allium: Garlic, Onions
- Kale
- Lycopene: Cooked Tomatoes, Watermelon, Red Grapefruit
- Omega-3 Fatty Acid
- Soy milk, other soy products
- Spinach
"We must include the sacredness of the body if we are to be wise."-- Jack Kornfield
vegerarians and vegans, vitamins and minerals.
- How to Identify the Good Fats
- Protein Without Meat
- Iron
- Iron -- a Miavita feature
"Hope you enjoyed your meal -- it's only gas and chemicals. We thought that you'd prefer something [that] nature made."-- Scarecrow People, by XTC; Andy Partridge, Lyrics
herbs that may have a relaxing effect.
- chamomile.
- passionflower.
- valerian root. I take two or three capsules in the evening about an hour before I want to sleep.
- kava kava. I no longer use this herb due to studies that show it can be hard on the liver.
ap article: eat less, live longer, study says.
WASHINGTON (AP), August 10,2002. -- Science has known for 70 years that lab mice and rats live longer if they eat less food. Now, for the first time, researchers have evidence that the same may be true for people.
In a study appearing Friday in the journal Science, George S. Roth and colleagues at the National Institute on Aging say they have preliminary evidence that biological markers that help rodents live much longer than normal may have the same effect on humans.
Even if the evidence proves to be correct -- which is not certain -- it is unknown how much longer people might live.
The biological markers -- lower temperature, lower insulin levels and a steady level of a steroid hormone called DHEAs -- all occur in restricted-diet rodents that live about 40 percent longer than other rodents on a normal diet, Roth said. The same biological markers have now been found in men who are living longest in a continuing study in Baltimore on human aging.
"This means that the biological characteristics of animals that are on calorie-restricted diets seem to apply to longevity in people," Roth said.
But Roth cautioned that the results should be considered "preliminary" and that nobody should start starving in hopes of living longer. Instead, he said, the study gives only tantalizing hints that are worthy of further investigation about helping people to extend life.
Other experts said the study offers new hope about science some day finding ways to slow aging and extend life.
"The study doesn't absolutely prove anything, but it suggests that the same mechanisms that operate in calorie-restricted animals can operate in humans," said Stephen R. Spindler, a human life span researcher at the University of California, Riverside. "It increases the likelihood that we will find pharmaceuticals that will mimic this effect."
Roth and his co-authors drew their preliminary conclusions from the combination of studies on aging rodents, a 15-year study on aging monkeys, and the continuing project called the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging, which follows the life span of people.
The monkey study, conducted at the National Institute of Aging, is designed to test the longevity effects of calorie restriction on a subhuman primate that is closer biological relative to humans than are rodents.
The study started in 1987, but Roth said that since Rhesus monkeys can live for 25 years, it may take four or five years more before the results are final. Statistically, at least half of the monkeys will have to complete their normal life span before the data is considered significant, said Roth.
The same is true of the Baltimore study on aging people.
But Roth said he and his team gathered preliminary conclusions by looking at early trends in the deaths of both the monkeys and the men. The researchers also divided men in the Baltimore study into two groups based on measurements of the key biomarkers _ temperature, insulin and DHEAS levels -- that were characteristic of the superaged lab rodents.
Roth said the men whose biomarkers were similar to those of the calorie-restricted, long-lived rodents were dying at a much slower rate than were men with other biomarker measurements.
Roth said none of the Baltimore study's men is known to be on restricted diets, but clearly some are enjoying the same life span benefit that calorie restriction gave the laboratory animals. Researchers are not sure why.
"Whatever it is, they have those biological characteristics and they seem to live longer," said Roth. "It looks like that if you have any one of those markers, it is good for a couple of extra years."
In the monkeys, Roth said those on reduced feeding since the study started are dying at a rate that is about half that of the monkeys receiving a full food ration. He said all of the animals are fed the same nutritionally balanced food, but the longer-lived group gets 30 percent less.
Although the findings suggested that a diet restriction of 30 percent or 40 percent could extend life, Roth said, "This is not practical for most people" and could be unhealthy.
Instead, he said the aging studies may lead to finding drugs that could mimic the effects and life span benefits of calorie restriction.
Spindler agreed, saying the study by Roth and his colleagues "gives us reason to hope."
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