A Holistic Approach

Have you noticed how majority of our social interactions revolve around food? A family often congregates around the dinner table, where we often trade stories about our day, our neighbors or our relatives. We speak of "dining out" or "coming over for a few drinks." Watching a movie with friends just wouldn't be complete without at least getting together for a snack at a fastfood joint or for coffee at Starbucks.

In a sense, this should be no wonder, because while exercise is very important, it only determines 20% of our health. The remaining 80% is determined by food, or more appropriately, proper nutrition. I suppose this is why people unconsciously place such importance on food, especially in social gatherings. However, most of us fail not only in the quantity of food we eat, but also on the types of food that we ingest (as evidenced by the rising rates of obesity and the upsurge of chronic diseases such as diabetes and heart disease). Just because majority of our health is determined by food doesn't mean that we need to eat a lot of it or spend so much time eating.

Nevertheless, it is just the nature of the current reality we live in that maintaining one's physical health requires so much effort. While medical science has helped spawn the business of conventional medical practice, it has also helped more people understand the relationship certain nutrients have between each other and the health of the physical body.

For instance, Vitamin D3 is essential for calcium absorption and also strengthens our immune system. Calcium is also important in order to maintain a healthy bone density. However, medical findings show that it's actually calcium that can harden in the arteries, thus causing atherosclerosis. Vitamin D3 can actually worsen this condition because it makes the body absorb calcium better. If you want to avoid this situation, then you need to take Vitamin K2 along with Vitamin D3 and calcium. Vitamin K2 prevents the calcium from forming in the arteries, so that calcium goes to the bones instead of the heart.

Vitamin K2 is found in fermented foods such as natto and unpasteurized cheese. However, not everyone has access to fermented food, so most likely you would need to take Vitamin K2 as a supplement.

The above information is available at the website of Dr. Mercola. You can use the search function to research a lot of articles pertaining to different health issues and how to manage them without immediately resorting to prescription drugs or surgery.

One of Dr. Mercola's recurring advice is to reduce, if not totally eliminate, refined grains and fructose from one's diet. His recommendations have to do with how refined grains and fructose are metabolized by the body. To quote from Dr. Mercola's article:

If you need to lose weight, or if you want to avoid diabetes and heart disease, fructose is one type of sugar you’ll want to avoid, particularly in the form of high-fructose corn syrup.

Part of what makes HFCS such a dangerous sweetener is that it is metabolized to fat in your body far more rapidly than any other sugar.

According to Dr. Elizabeth Parks, associate professor of clinical nutrition at UT Southwestern Medical Center and lead author of a study on fructose, published in the Journal of Nutrition just last year:

    "Our study shows for the first time the surprising speed with which humans make body fat from fructose. Once you start the process of fat synthesis from fructose, it's hard to slow it down. The bottom line of this study is that fructose very quickly gets made into fat in your body."

This occurs because most fats are formed in your liver, and when sugar enters your liver, it decides whether to store it, burn it or turn it into fat. Fructose, however, bypasses this process and simply turns into fat.

Additionally, there’s hard empirical evidence showing that refined man-made fructose like HFCS metabolizes to triglycerides and adipose tissue, not blood glucose. And one of the most thorough scientific analyses published to date on this topic found that fructose consumption leads to decreased signaling to your central nervous system from the hormones leptin and insulin.

Because insulin and leptin act as key signals in regulating how much food you eat, as well as your body weight, this suggests that dietary fructose may contribute to increased food intake and weight gain.

Decreased insulin and leptin signaling is also a main cause of diabetes and a host of other obesity-related conditions.

Since most processed food are hidden sources of sugar, it really is better to avoid eating processed food as much as possible and just eat home-cooked, organic food.

Unfortunately, people on the spiritual path are not immune to getting waylaid by the nutritional disasters we inadvertently eat everyday. I say this based on personal experience and through interaction with other people on the spiritual path.

Perhaps in our zeal to protect the environment, heal Mother Earth and to raise our vibrations and consciousness, we have neglected the role that the physical body plays. In my case, I mistakenly thought that my spiritual practice would also automatically translate into a better physical body without having to exert the same effort at achieving physical health as any other person normally would.

I've come to realize that stewardship of Mother Earth begins with stewardship of our own body. After all, our physical bodies are made up of the same materials that Mother Earth is made of (carbon, magnesium, copper, iron, etc.). This means that educating oneself about what exactly makes the physical body healthier is just as important as what one does for others and the environment. In this case, the focus is on nutrition not only because it determines 80% of our physical health, but because our ingrained habits have made the eating (and cooking) of food into an activity that often takes center stage in our lives.

To give an example, if you were a salesman and your car breaks down every few miles, how effective a salesman will you be? Since the body is the vehicle of the soul, the vehicle needs to be in good enough condition in order to be of better service to others. We don't need to become an athlete but we should at least have normal health and energy. Even the Bible agrees, because the body is said to be the Temple of the Holy Spirit.

This now leads me to one other aspect of Dr. Mercola's health recommendations. He advises that people should eat right for their nutritional type. According to Dr. Mercola, people may be classified as Protein types, Carbohydrate types or Mixed types. These types of people metabolize food differently, so the types of food they eat as well as the way they eat them differ. For example, Protein types would do well on an Atkins type diet and they need to take lots of healthy fats. Carbohydrate types would do well on a Fit for Life type (vegetarian) diet and they do not metabolize fat so well (although they still need a certain amount of healthy fats). Mixing up the diets would spell disaster and frequently lead to sickness and reduced energy (it's like the case of one person's food being another's poison). But note though that whatever your nutritional type, you need a combination of protein, carbohydrates and healthy fats. The difference lies in the proportion of each. If you would like to know more about Nutritional Typing and to take the free online test to determine your nutritional type, you may follow this link.

Now, for those on the spiritual path, I know what you're thinking: What if I'm a vegetarian but find out I'm a Protein type? This does present a conundrum, doesn't it? Most spiritual traditions advocate a full vegetarian diet for one reason or the other. However, it's already one's choice on how to handle one's own physical health. I myself am a Protein type and I tried the diet recommendations (I only eat chicken and fish though) and so far I do notice that I feel better after eating, that I don't have as much of those food cravings immediately after a meal (if you still feel hungry after eating a full meal, or you suddenly feel lethargic after eating, it's a sign that you're likely not eating right for your nutritional type).

Just going on a slight tangent, I encountered one site that advocates against full vegetarianism. He says vegetarian diets are not appropriate nowadays because of the changed nutritional content of the soil. He may have some conclusions that go against conventional wisdom so they may be hard to accept, but his thoughts are well argued. Either way, it's an interesting read and he offers even more explanations why he doesn't recommend a full vegan diet.

Going back to the conundrum of what to do if one's nutritional type is not compatible with a vegetarian diet, in the Bible Jesus did say that what comes out of the mouth is more important than what goes in the body. This is in reference to a question posed about the eating of proscribed foods (prohibited foods in Judaism are listed in Deuteronomy I think; allowable foods are called kosher).

The esoteric explanation of Jesus' words is that being of good character is more important than being a vegetarian. Master Choa himself said that it is useless to be a vegetarian if one lies or slanders other people or is otherwise nasty to others. Dirty food only dirties the physical body, but injurious words dirty the soul.

Still, what I'm saying is that this is your body you're talking about, so only you can decide what you think is best for you. Whatever lifestyle you choose to follow, learn to listen to the signals your body is giving you.

The question of one's diet is not an easy thing to resolve, but I hope this article has provided you with enough (pardon the pun) food for thought.