500words – Page 7 – Chew Digest

It Takes Time to Turn Life Around

Try to wrap your head around the following statement.

𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘕𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘶 𝘦𝘷𝘰𝘭𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭, 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘴, 𝘥𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘱𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘣𝘺 𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘩𝘪𝘦𝘴. 𝘕𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘢 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘤𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘤 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘣𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘶 𝘢 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘢𝘴𝘵, 𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘦𝘹𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘵 𝘧𝘳𝘶𝘪𝘵 𝘥𝘪𝘦𝘵.

“𝘕𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦’𝘴 𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘴 𝘨𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘭𝘰𝘸, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦.” -Arnold Ehret

There is no quick fix to a lifetime of egregious error. If one lives for decades filled with toxic environmental exposures, e.g., sugar, candy, junk food, fast food, processed food, alcohol, tobacco, and drugs(prescription or not), one cannot expect to turn their ship around in a short period of time.

I used to be that guy, and I’ve been living a life of recovery for some 6.5 years and counting. I finally, after all this time, feel like I am somewhat headed in the right direction. Not 30, 60, or 90 days of change, but a consistent, long-term, steady leaning in the right direction away from a lifetime of bad decisions. Almost 7 years now. I guess it’s true what they say. Slow and steady wins the race.

If you, like me, decide you want to make some meaningful changes toward a better, longer, and healthier life, remember that the long game is where your focus should be, and a transition will likely be the healthiest way to achieve your life-long change.

In my opinion, the one thing you can do to start that will make the biggest overall difference is to remove sugar, candy, junk food, fast food, and processed food. These are likely the worst offenders that, when removed, will allow your body to start repairing and rejuvenating itself the fastest. Of course, alcohol, tobacco, caffeine, and any other drugs related to addiction will need to be addressed as they are also a hindrance to recovery, repair, and rejuvenation.

To be fair, alcohol is right up there with these top 5 that I mentioned quitting first and, in some cases, might need to be addressed first. Especially if you were anything like me. I started off by removing alcohol first, and then I removed sugar, candy, junk food, fast food, and processed food a little over a year later. All these things have helped me recover my life. Alcohol is the only one that I quit cold turkey.

Eventually, I even when on to remove all animal-based food sources. But even that didn’t happen overnight. I started off by removing all things dairy. Milk, cheese, and butter in the spring of 2019 followed by beef and pork products later that year. Over the following year in 2020, I ended up removing chicken, turkey, fish, and eggs. But even those were staggered over that full year. First chicken, then turkey. The last form of meat to go was fish, which, frankly, I didn’t eat much of anyways and then toward the end of 2020, I decided to take a break from eggs to see what it would be like to be completely whole-food/plant-based for a month. I never looked back. I have not had any reason to.

At this point, I’ve had no animal-based foods in almost 2 years, and all is well. To my delight, I found out that our body doesn’t need cow, pig, fish, or fowl proteins to live a long healthy life. We need human proteins, and it is our liver that creates these for us if we provide it with all of the building blocks(amino acids) it needs. All of which we can get from plant-based sources along with our body’s own catabolic or recycling processes by which it recovers old cell parts that have completed their normal life cycle, returning previously used amino acids back into our body’s amino acid pool. Our body is totally into recycling…8)

All this to say that any meaningful, long last change is going to take some time and investment, but the reward is well worth the effort as the payoff is more quality and quantity time for our future selves to spend however we best see fit.

And time is our most valuable asset.

How Zen Found Me

While driving around the charming streets of Long Beach California, the second-largest city in Los Angeles County, zen found me in the front seat of my 2015 Toyota Prius. At least that’s how it seems to me. I imagine it is much like what a musician experiences with their instrument of choice after many years of practice and professional playing. It’s like a switch flipped one day and now for the most part I feel like I’m just along for the ride as I flow from one ride to the next.

As an Uber driver, I find myself spending most of my time behind the wheel in the city where I was born. One of the benefits is that I know where all the potholes and unruly bumps are to be found. Most of the time I miss them, but occasionally they do creep up on me when I look away from the road for a moment to check the navigation or a song title. Such is life.

After 12,500 rides I can look back and see that somewhere around 10,000 rides things changed. I would say that I went from being reactive to simply responsive. Things that would have bothered me previously stopped bothering me. At first, I would have described it as though I had simply grown numb to the whole driving experience. It’s more like I quit being surprised by the unexpected behaviors of others around me. Of course, the potholes still bother me because the only time I hit them is when I glance away from the road for a moment. I’m just not so sure I will ever be able to get used to them.

I consume, therefore I am

How old is the basis for my belief about my Creator?

My experience is like a lot of yours if you are Christian. I know about God because of the testimony of Felt Board Jesus brought to colorful life on Sunday mornings.

The historical Jesus lived about 2000 years ago. About 2000 years before our common understanding of the human microbiome that consists of countless species of microbes of all sorts in every nook and cranny of our body. Some 1600 years before Galileo Galilei perfected the first device known as a microscope.

2000 years ago people were living in a world where they could NOT see the microbial life all throughout their bodies but they could feel and sometimes see the effects. Like the wind, they could not see the wind but they could see and feel the effects of it.

To them this was part and parcel with what they called the supernatural or the unseen realm. However in the passage of time that which was supernatural or divine slowly began to be organized into kingdom, division, class, order, family, genus, and species of different microbial life. That which was once demonic and Legion is now better understood as disease process remedied by the removal of unclean things.

So what if that still small voice, that thing that motivates you towards good will and compassion were simply a result of the universe of things that call us home communicating? Every time we get a craving for something we are experiencing this very thing. If we are doing something that is expanding and promoting life we are sent pleasure messages. If we are behaving in a way that is subtracting from life we are sent pain messages.

So what other messages are there? Have you ever tried to record and categorize them? We all know our favorites. Drink that beer, eat that Snickers, drink that Pepsi, etc.
Kind of makes us look like deaf and blind cavemen when you consider how many billions of different species are able to communicate within us at any given time.

I don’t believe in a literal creation week less than 10,000 years ago by any means. I’m as much of an evolutionary biologist as can be when it comes to my understanding of how we got here.

I don’t know where the first act of creation started and I don’t know that creating will ever end, but I am pretty sure that we are here by the will of the things that fill our innermost being with their life; their essence. And the best part is when I run my life through this framework it just seems to fit.

I assume that my body is not my own. That I am the least of all my brethren. I make up only 1% of the DNA and only 10% of the cells are human. That my body is the Garden of Eatin for all those little microbial lives that find me the host with the most.

What if our body itself is their food and it is our job to keep serving up the banquet?

In 460 BC Hippocrates identified phtisis (the Greek word meaning “consumption”) as the most widespread disease of his day and observed that it was almost always fatal. YIKES!!!
Kind of ironic that a disease called consumption would be the result of a lack of proper nourishment hindered by faulty consumption.

All that to say I no longer eat for myself. I do put food in my body but it is food that I know my gut microbes want first and foremost. I don’t ever want them looking around for snacks.

Life is much easier when I am a good steward of the body(gift) I have been given.

Fasting, Longevity, and Workaholism.

Hi, my name is Michael and I’m a workaholic…LoL

I really do enjoy working 7 days a week, however, that can get exhausting; not just physically, but also emotionally. So I’ve been trying something a little different. Working 7 days a week, but then taking a 4-day break once a month. I may eventually try to focus my work attention a little more to get to the point where I can do that twice a month. Work 10 days on and then 4 days off.

This time around; on this 4-day break, I decided to fast. Just water for 72 hours. Woooooof. Knocked me the hell out. But now that I am 64 hours into it I am feeling much better and well cleansed. My skin looks wonderful and what little inflammation I had has reset back to what it should be.

I may even consider doing this once a month. Ironically if I did it would save me at least 10% on my monthly food bill. Not a bad savings in times like this. And as a benefit, it is well known in the scientific and medical community/literature that a 72-hour fast or prolonged fasting can lead to regeneration of the cells of your immune system. Imagine; resetting your immune system so that it can fight a better fight leading to better health and ultimately greater longevity.

I decided on 72 hours because I’ve gone much longer before. That and I had 4 days off to deal with the yucky feelings. My understanding is that those yucky feelings(keto flu) are a result of the body catabolizing its own, what we call stored fats. I imagine this is where the body stores a lot of the toxins that it can’t process now for processing later should we choose to do something beneficial like fasting. Which likely would have been a default thing that we have lost in time because of this world of plenty we have been enjoying for decades.

So I imagine the reason we begin feeling better after a few days is that our body has had a chance to clear out the toxins that were stored up for later processing which is accomplished through the act of fasting.

P.S. I’ve been doing a 12/12 feeding schedule for quite some time now. That seems to offer the best benefits overall. Metabolic and other health concerns arise when going above or below the 12-hour feeding window.

I know I’ve spoken to you guys a lot about eating certain ways and how important it is, but I really want you guys to know that longevity of years is and should be the ultimate goal. But even more with a body that looks and feels no more than 24.

We’ve been given by right of birth a gift of a potential 120 years of time that we are miserably failing to attain, and why anyone wouldn’t want to live to 120 years or more is beyond me. Especially if we could do it with a body that is functionally 24 years of age.

I do want to and plan to live to 120. I do realize that I am likely going to have to bury a lot of people I love that don’t want to live a lifestyle that lends towards that end, but I, at this point, cannot see it any other way. I want to fully appreciate the gift we have all been given. Why shouldn’t we?

I am going to try. Why not try it with me?

What is Cancer and How Do We End Up There?

What is Cancer?

According to most sources, cancer is defined as a disease. A disease in which some of the body’s cells grow in an uncontrolled manner often times spreading to other parts of the body.

I would like to offer a different perspective.

I would like to suggest that it is not a disease in and of itself but one of many stages of a logical process that takes time to develop. It is not something that simply happens to an individual by chance, but an end-stage of a long process that has a growth that is organic and measurable in nature.

If someone finds themselves in a situation where they are what we call being diagnosed with cancer it’s not by chance. It is a logical process that can be observed, usually over many years, if one knows what evidence to look for that leads to that diagnosis.

All that to say, that cancer is not the problem, but a sign of a body that has been in a state of disease for quite some time.

How do we end up there?

That depends on a number of factors in the overall equation of a life form. It primarily depends on the state of the soil in which the seed is planted by the farmer. The soil in this case would be the mother’s womb. And the seed would be the germ(sperm) placed by the farmer(biological father) within that soil.

One might ask, what does the mother’s body have to do with someone being diagnosed with cancer?

I am not sure that most would have a good answer for this, but I believe after almost 5 years of research on the subjects of human physiology and disease pathology that I have gained some unique insights that might very well shed some light on this question. Insights that I might have otherwise missed had I not looked at the human body as a microcosm, within a comparative framework of Earth as a whole eco-system. A smaller version of Earth. A microscopic version of the Earth as a whole considering we are quite literally made from the dust of the Earth and to that dust we will again return.

I chose this framework by which to examine the human condition because of our self-imposed limitations on observing how the human body works at scale. We cannot simply cut open a finely tuned human body to observe how a heart beats or how a brain thinks. We can only observe it from the outside looking in and rather blindly at that.

So what can the earth(land) tell us about how the human body works?

It has been said for millennia that a good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. This I would suggest is the basis by which we can better understand how someone can end up with a diagnosis of cancer at any point within the framework of life from birth to death at the ripe old age of 120.

I imagine some of you are beginning to see the point that I am trying to make. That cancer does not simply befall us, but that it is something that is cultured over a long period of time. If this is what you were thinking, I would have to agree with you. No matter what stage of life we find ourselves in a diagnosis of cancer should come as no surprise. It, in my opinion, is something that we should by now be able to see coming from a distance and that we’ve had the answers for quite some time. We just didn’t realize it.

A better way to understand this might be to look at this is in reverse. As in, what would life look like for someone that would never end up in a place where they were said to have cancer. A life of ease, rather than a life marked with evidence of disease or DIS-ease.

One example of this can be found in the efforts of Dr. Francis Marion Pottenger, Jr., an early twentieth century physician from Monrovia, California. In his research, he discovered that when an animal(cat) consumes an uncooked diet according to their species specific requirements, that they don’t end up in a state of disease. On the other hand, an animal(cat) fed a diet that consists of processed foods ended up with all manner of disease much like we human’s do.

To Be Continued…

A Beneficial Addiction?

It is truly an awful thing to admit, salt shaker in hand, that we have warped our minds into such an obsession for this flavor crystal that only an act of providence can remove it from us. Or is it possible that it is simply so much of a necessary part of our existence that our body ensures its consumption by rewarding us greatly for fulfilling its desire?

No other kind of bankruptcy or depth of depravity has no man known like this one. Salt…now become our rapacious creditor, phone in hand, bleeding us, extracting all of our self-sufficient precious hydration and will to resist its demands, leading us that we should follow. Or is it precisely a key component that our body needs to properly move hydration about the body as our body in its infinite wisdom sees fit? Most likely yes and yes.

Little did I know almost 5 years ago when I walked into that room(A.A.) and admitted that I was an alcoholic that it would be just the beginning of my journey to find better answers to how I could have ended up in that room with a bunch of other salty alcoholics would end where it did. In the salt mines.[EDITING]

I believe I have found the mother of all addictions, the true foundation, the pillar of all things impulsive, compulsive and reactionary. The way that I feel today after almost 3 months with no added salt is free; like a genie from a bottle after a few thousand years. Truly free to live and thrive; lacking no potential.

I am under the impression that for the maximum amount of joy and potential that this body has to offer us as its lucky conscious passenger, that we should only ever put anything in it that it has evolved with for all of its existence.

Anything man has added to that equation over the last few hundred years has done nothing but hinder our progress and turn us into human jerky, preserved in sodium chloride, twice embalmed, ready for the undertaker well in advance, whose job will be easy in light of our love affair with salt and all things convenient.

Welcome to the club, I’m Mike and I’ve been salted…8)

Why Niacin?

It is not that nutritional supplements cure anything; it is that specific nutritional deficiencies result in all manner of diseases that can be reversed if sufficient nutrition is achieved through required nutrient assimilation. Our body has needs that don’t always align with our desires. Desires that should always take the back seat in light of our body’s requirements.

My research leads me to believe that supplementary Niacin(nicotinic acid) may promote growth and tissue repair by depressing the growth of microbes or parasites that are toxic or steal nutrients from the host, leading to increased nutrient utilization and reduced energy investment in maintaining immune responses within the GI tract.

KATA SARX(According to the Flesh)

I like to think of our body as the agency or consciousness that has been evolving for tens of thousands of years before my consciousness was ever aware of its existence. That my body or any of our bodies are temporary manifestations of the foundational, colonial pool of genetic life, we call homo sapien.

Our genetics and our immediate environment direct our biological differences regarding visible characteristics, physiology, disease susceptibility, mental abilities, body size, and life span. Though individual bodies vary in many ways, two humans no matter how different they appear are more than 99% alike. The greatest degree of genetic variation exists between males and females. Any married human can point out every single damn difference.

As such, I have come to understand that our body exists in and of itself and my consciousness of it and what I can do is completely at the will and pleasure of our body.

Consider our stem cells. Our body contains within itself the cause of itself, and it is precisely the foundation by which we can even have consciousness. And our individual consciousness is very fortunate to get to take a part of this continuum of humanity by which we get to but for a moment experience what we call Life.

That being said, I believe we of the upper order consciousness have strayed into a way of error that is costing us greatly.

Another thing about my body I have come to understand is that there are very likely certain immutable rules that we have lost track of in the bustle of modernization and we are really beginning to see the consequences of that. And no matter how much we wish ourselves into longevity and wellness I don’t see wavering in its ways just so we can do whatever we want with it.

I’ve found that my body is not my own and that it has constraints that really should be followed. I’ve learned to listen carefully and it quite plainly tells me what is good and what is right. And its messages are simple; pleasure and pain.

Our body already knows ahead of time all the possible steps each and every one of us will take at any given moment because it has seen it all before. And because of this deeply ingrained wisdom whatever happens, good or bad, its response is the correct one.

And if you bring into the temple of your body the things it desires it can even heal you spontaneously from all manner of things; including cancer.

My body has a way. It is unchanging, and I have learned to submit my ways to it as the authority of me as its mouth’s gatekeeper…😎

www.michaeljloomis.com

Our Heart is NOT A PUMP!

A prediction…Tuesday, May 17, 2022

I predict that eventually, our understanding of our cardiovascular and pulmonary functions will reveal that the heart is not a pump and that we do not necessarily get our oxygen at the cellular level from our lungs through the act of breathing.

That the O2 found in our blood is a result of cellular respiration and metabolism, that the role of the heart is a flow restrictor and momentum orchestrator that acts as a blood pressure regulator to protect the filter organs from excess pressures that could possibly result in damage.

That the purpose of our lungs is to bring oxygen into our bloodstream but to scrub the carbon from our blood which is a byproduct of cellular metabolism. During the process of cellular respiration, carbon dioxide is given off as a waste product that then enters back into the vein side of the capillary beds, which causes the pressure, propelling the blood forward towards the filtering organs that service our vascular system, leaving behind the O2 from the carbon scrubbing process of the lungs, enriching our blood with the O2 we need.

And that the atmosphere that we breathe into our lungs serves the purpose of removing the carbon from the blood via a pressure gradient by combining it with the O2 we inhale only to find itself back out into the atmosphere to complete its job in feeding mother nature’s plants its needed C02.

I acknowledge that I am not the first to suggest that the heart is not a pump. That is nothing new. However, I may be the first to suggest the role of CO2 re-entering the vein side of the capillary beds as the mechanism that begins the forward momentum of the carbon-rich veinous blood and the scrubbing action of the lungs.

It is common knowledge that there is an exchange in the lungs in which carbon is removed from the body into the atmosphere; what I am adding for clarification is that there is no need to suggest that O2 is also being brought back into general circulation in the alveoli.

This would be a really good reason to keep your B.M.I. at 18.5 and never above 24.9. The greater the body mass index, the greater level of resources the body will have to spend to ultimately clear the additional CO2 levels that result from the additional cellular mass. Increased CO2 levels result in a lower pH requiring the body to spend resources to remedy the pH imbalance.

The stuff I think of while hauling asses…😎

On To More Rewards

Many years ago I would say I lost my way. Or, perhaps the powers that be saw an opportunity in me to be a good example for others. So on I went about my merry way barely making two sober-minded decisions a day and few of them ever were when I was sober, because, who has time for that…LoL

Whether it was alcohol, a 1-pound bag of Skittles, a HUGE bowl of salty/buttery popcorn, or any other thing in life I could add to my equation to stimulate me was on the menu most of the time. Sober-minded decisions were not being made.

I found it first took a clean, sober body before my mind was able to make sober-minded decisions…😎.

I love how ultimately it is my body that goes before me and if I walk in its ways, following its paths of righteousness, I find myself missing the mark less and less. Oh…And I don’t miss my old life one bit.

It has taken me 50 years to become the person I’ve always wanted to be. I believe I finally understand what it means to truly love myself and I’m ready for another century to learn more, serve more, to live more. Because LIFE is the reward.

I could have missed the pain but then I would have missed the dance according to Garth Brooks. I couldn’t say it better.

I’ve spent the last five years recovering from a life of excess consumption of many things that were not beneficial for my overall life and wellbeing. I am grateful for every day that I have before me and I am very happy that I began listening to my body.

When I began this journey I thought I was just giving up drinking but it has been so much more than that. A return to a fullness of life and a life much more abundant.

Our body speaks to us continuously if we listen. It whispers but sometimes it floods. And it has two messages; pleasure and pain. One for when you do things the wrong way leading to death and the other pleasure(reward) for doing things the right way leading to life.

I have found that life is much easier living in a state of reward…😎

And I thank you all for letting me tell this story.

On to more rewards.