Let food be your medicine?
This new study shows that feces from a human with schizophrenia “gives” a similar condition to MICE when the feces is transplanted. http://advances.sciencemag.org/content/5/2/eaau8317
Think about that. The interaction between our gut biome (bacteria collection) and our brains is so strong that the mix of bacteria in our guts is predictive for mental conditions.
Our biome is determined by a number of variables – do you know what they are? Do the people you trust to “prescribe” drugs for you know what they are?
Do you know how your mental and gut systems interact with each other?
Have you noticed that when you alter your diet for a while, you often find your mental state changed? Perhaps when you travel? Or in the holidays?
Do you know what foods will help your biome have a nice health mix, and which foods lead towards too many of the bacteria that release output that may give you schizophrenia or depression or inflammation?
You may know about the supplements that have been marketed to you – and some vitamin knowledge… And that depending on your research – fat or sugar or protein or salt or water or chemicals or whatever is your enemy or friend. But you are likely only pa rtially correct, at best.
Apart from your biome, did you know that humans need MOTION for vitality.
How much – a freaking bucketload – every day. Exercise is nice, and can give us motion – but ideally we need a bloody good shakeup every day. RIGOUROUS motion. We need it to pump the gunk around our bodies so it can be “cleansed” and secreted. (Called the lymphatic system). it is our drainage system separate to our blood system.
AND – our digestive system likes it – a lot. What is the biggest selling (and growing) category of “over the counter” medicines in pharmacies and supermarkets? Yep – indigestion relief. Worth billions.
And prescription items like PPI’s (proton pump inhibitors) – that turn DOWN your stomach acid production – following the WRONG THEORY that heartburn/reflux is “caused” by you producing too much acid. These drugs do reduce your symptoms, but also reduce your ability to digest food. (Remember that biome relies on you to pre-digest their food.) [Most indigestion is due to a SHORTAGE of stomach acid – which means the food stays there for longer and is not well digested, and produces a stack more gas and pressure.]
And you likely do not chew your food enough – and gobble dinner like a starving dog. Digestion begins in your mouth – full of enzymes and is high pH to get more of the starch you eat broken down BEFORE it reaches your stomach! Eat too fast means that the starch you ate hits your stomach (acidic or low pH) before it is broken down. Your stomach has low pH – which it needs to break down protein (that nice steak) – but this is not ideal for dealing with unprepared starch digestion. Eat slowly.
And you like eat when you are a bit “stressed” or rushed. Ever heard of the Sympathetic and Parasympathetic Nervous systems? Maybe you have. Sympathetic is fight, flight and freeze – and produces adrenalin for you. Para-sympathetic is “repair, feed, breed”. This one repairs you, rests you, and allows you to digest your food (so your biome is happy!) But your PARAsympathetic system does not operate much when the SYMPATHETIC system is on (it is designed to protect you from environmental threats).
So if you are eating (or recovering or trying to produce offspring) when you are stressed – guess what? Does not work so well. You produce LESS stomach acid when stressed – and that gives you indigestion/gas. Angry biome. Poor sleep. Faster aging. Unhappy brains. Nothing good.
And this in turn feed the huge market for digestion “aids”.
And likely you will find that your overall level of inflammation in your body is near the top of the scale. Bad digestion, unbalanced biomes, increased hyperventilation, and a reflex that makes you want to eat sugar all the time means that you don’t feel good. You get allergies. You get belly fat. You don’t feel like exercise (or motion) – just feel like eating more sweeties and coffee – and some poor quality sleep.
Then you realize you are not on a good track – and you go to change. But what do you do? Who can you trust to include the most important 20% (that gives you 80% results)? Your doctor? The internet? Your personal trainer? Your dietitian? Daytime TV? Best-selling book?
I have dived deeply into all of these over the decades. My family considers me to be obsessed.
Another problem is that everyone who has ever read a book (or a summary or seen the TV bite) believes they are “qualified” to give advice. Maybe that is true. It just depends on whether you want good results.
This is a very long post – so let’s cut to something you can use today.
Our bodies are a series of connected systems. Each affects all of the others. And each system will act to cover up the errors or changes in other systems. With this in mind – just choose one or two systems to work with at time – the effects will flow to all.
1. Start with recognizing that YOU control what goes into your body. Who is in charge? You also control the RATE that you put food in, and WHEN you do it. Just you because you feel a little pang of hunger – does not mean you MUST eat. Who is in charge?
- In effect this means that must EAT SLOWLY. Count how many chews you do per mouthful of food and DOUBLE it. Aim for 50. While you are chewing, put the knife and fork DOWN on the dish. Do NOT prepare the next bite. Do that after you swallow.
- ENJOY your food. Take a moment with bite to sense the flavours. You claim to eat what you do because you enjoy it, right? Slow down and actually do that. Relax with it. You may find you make different food choices when you do this action – vegetables get better! Sweeties fade a little.
- CONTROL your portions. Your stomach is NOT big – but it has probably stretched a bit to get used to your giant meals. Aim for a protein amount (eg meat) the size of the palm of your hand, and everything else being 3x that. Stop just a little bit short of feeling totally satisfied! (Seriously! Totally satisfied equals overfull for most of us).
- STOP drinking COLA of any kind, including diet colas. Drink water, not too much, enough.
2. RELAX before you eat. Learn to meditate – it is not difficult. I will cover some tips in another post. As a start, just stop and be still for 3 minutes. Sit quietly. Don’t talk. Just sit. Think of something good that happened today, or in the past. Just chill. And then eat. Do not drink alcohol at this point. Have a glass of wine with dinner – but as FOOD not as a drug crutch.
Enough for now.
Cheers
James
http://advances.sciencemag.org/content/5/2/eaau8317