diet – Chew Digest

Try This Trick to Lose Weight

Trouble losing weight? Trouble keeping it off?

I dare you to try this. And if nothing changes in 90 days, you can return to doing things as you were. No harm, no foul.

1. Remove all foods that contain milk, cheese, or butter.

2. Reduce the amount of animal-based proteins(meat and eggs) to less than 10% of your caloric intake.

3. Let all of the produce you eat appear on your plate the way it did when it was harvested. In other words, not processed in any way. Cooking vegetables, legumes, and potatoes(tubers/roots) is okay.

4. Don’t eat carbohydrates UNLESS they are in their original form as mother nature created them. Of these, you can eat as many as you like. Syrup and refined sugars are the problems, not whole fruits, vegetables, and legumes.

The reason why this kind of eating plan works is because of the nutrient density of foods when consumed in this manner. Animal-sourced foods are extremely dense and packed with nutrients, while produce is comparatively low in nutrients. By consuming a whole-food diet where ALL of the plant fiber remains intact, you will find that it is the intact fiber itself that is the caloric rate limiting mechanism that will keep you from consuming too many nutrients. This will also eliminate all processed junk foods from your plate.

Continue further if you would like to understand why this works…

Nutrient density is the problem. Our body needs just the right amount of all of the good stuff. Not too little, and not too much.

Overnutrition, or consuming an excess of nutrients or calories, can lead to several health problems, including:

Obesity: Consuming more calories than the body needs can cause weight gain and eventually lead to obesity, which is a major risk factor for several chronic diseases.
Type 2 diabetes: Overconsumption of calories, especially from simple carbohydrates and sugars, can lead to insulin resistance, a condition where the body can’t use insulin effectively. This can eventually lead to type 2 diabetes.
Cardiovascular disease: A diet high in saturated and trans fats, cholesterol, and salt, and low in fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, can lead to high blood pressure, high cholesterol levels, and atherosclerosis, all of which increase the risk of heart disease and stroke.
Fatty liver disease: Overnutrition can cause the liver to store excess fat, leading to nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), which can progress to more serious liver damage.
Certain cancers: Overnutrition can also increase the risk of certain cancers, such as breast, colon, and prostate cancer.
Kidney disease: Consuming excessive amounts of protein can put a strain on the kidneys, leading to kidney disease and kidney stones.

The answer. Nutrient Restriction.

Caloric restriction refers to reducing calorie intake while maintaining proper nutrition to promote better health and longevity. Here are some potential benefits of caloric restriction:

Increased lifespan: Studies in animals have shown that caloric restriction can extend lifespan by up to 50%.
Improved metabolic health: Caloric restriction has been shown to improve insulin sensitivity and reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and cancer.
Reduced inflammation: Caloric restriction may reduce inflammation in the body, which is associated with many chronic diseases.
Improved brain function: Caloric restriction has been shown to improve cognitive function and reduce the risk of age-related cognitive decline.
Delayed aging: Caloric restriction has been shown to delay many age-related changes, including oxidative stress and DNA damage.
Protection against age-related diseases: Caloric restriction has been shown to reduce the risk of many age-related diseases, including cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, and Parkinson’s disease.

Saturday Morning Reflections – April 1, 2023

The more I learn about the human body, physiology, and disease pathology, the more I am convinced that there is no one diet that will fit all.

Yet, here we are on F-Book where influencers abound, preaching their own take on diet and lifestyle in a way that would make most believe that there actually is a one size fits all diet and lifestyle. And these individuals might actually believe their own press.

I speak from experience because I’ve done my fair share over the years.

We are all as different internally as we are all different externally and visibly.

If one wishes to live a longer and healthier life, I highly recommend reading the book The Blue Zones and implementing the diets and lifestyles of the people that are written about in this book.

For me, that looks like a whole-food diet coupled with daily exercise and lots of stretching, topped off with a full-body lymphatic massage(self).

There will be individuals you meet who can thrive on a vegan diet, a frugivore diet, a pescatarian diet, and so on. Personally, I would steer clear of keto and carnivore diets for anything other than weight loss, and only for a limited time. These last two do work really well at helping individuals lose weight, but in the long run they will result in deficiencies and malnourishment.

And most importantly, LISTEN TO YOU BODY!!!

When it comes to diet and lifestyle choices, it has two messages for you pleasure and pain. If you are doing things the wrong way, you will find yourself in a state of discomfort or even acute pain. If you are doing things the right way, your body will reward you with dopamine. Narcotic use excluded…LoL

Pulling Teeth and Popping Pills…

…is not the answer for us or our children. We’ve got a problem that lay squarely on the shoulders of us parents that began when we were kids.

When I was a kid we were lucky to get to go through the Taco Bell drive-thru maybe 1-2 times per month. And that wasn’t getting all the fancy stuff they have on the menus these days. Fancy back then was the Burrito Supreme. I always wanted that, but always rolled away with a regular old burrito, and if mom was feeling spendy I was lucky enough to get sourcream on it for an extra 25 cents. And McDonald’s? That was for special occasions like your birthday and maybe a handful of other times throughout the year.

Growing up in the 1970’s and 80’s were fun for me. Lots of good times and not a lot to worry about. Mom was a stay-at-home mom that always had our meals prepared for us to find waiting for us on schedule. Of course, we would always bug mom and dad when we were out shopping, asking if we could stop at Taco Bell or McDonald’s, but the usual response was that we were eating at Mom’s Place. Of course, there were always some processed foods thrown in the mix but not at the level we see people eating today. The microwave oven was a new invention when I was a kid and the idea of being able to make a single hotdog in a bun wrapped in a paper towel nuked for 30 seconds was the greatest thing since sliced bread.

Occasionally, we would have something processed like Tater-tot’s added into the mix with all of the other foods that mom was making from scratch, but it was the exception, not the rule. But then came the turn that changed everything. And it came when I was put in a position to choose on my own. It likely began in jr. high or what they now call middle school when I started going to school with money in my pocket and no oversight into what I was buying at break or lunchtime. And by the time I was in high school I was well on my way to paving the new road to a new age of culinary misgivings.

In high school, I was given $22.50 per week in allowance and lunch money which really gave me the freedom to start eating more the way that I wanted to eat. And frankly, I didn’t waste any time joining the workforce. I was making my own money beginning somewhere around age 14 which really didn’t help me in my own dietary decision-making process. I could now afford to eat whatever I wanted when mom and dad weren’t around. And then after I graduated from high school, all bets were off on my ever eating the way I had been raised to eat, at mom’s table.

When high school came to an end I was in no hurry to do anything quickly. I just wanted to take that first summer off and do a whole lot of nothing, which is exactly what I did. That fall I began working full time at Circuit City in Lakewood as a car stereo installer. Boy, that full-time income sure did bring a lot more freedom in life and that meant that I was expanding my eating window to include more good stuff from places like Jack in the Box, Little Caesars, McDonald’s, and the like, and I had no interest in looking back to what mom was making for dinner.

I met my first wife Tanya in the early months of 1992 and by that time we were literally bathing ourselves in junk food by the pound. We had almost no constraint. The following year we were married and out living on our own doing what we knew best, which was not cooking our dinners at home and what little foods we did stock our refrigerator and cabinets with were not health foods by any means. Just more flavorful junk. Clearly, we had little idea just how bad this was going to come back to haunt us. And then we became parents ourselves and our children began eating what we were eating. All junk, all the time.

We knew that this was not the way we were raised to eat. We had been told such, but there was a disconnect to the reality that I believe would ultimately pave the way for my having an advanced metabolic disease that would come to roost some 25 years later. It didn’t happen quickly but was a long slow process that was deceptively progressive separating the sewing of the seed from the fruit that was brought forth. It’s no wonder we don’t see the connection between ingested foods and the resulting ill-health. It doesn’t happen overnight. And one of the things that frighten me the most is what will be happening to our children and grandchildren as a result of this dietary shift that happened in my generation. Our children are now suffering from advanced metabolic diseases that were once known as adult-onset diseases like what we now call Type-2 Diabetes. It used to be called Adult-Onset Diabetes, but then when children started suffering from it we simply renamed it for better fit and finish.

I know for me it wasn’t a matter of not having the intellect to understand why I should have been eating a diet that contained much more if not solely plant-based whole foods, it just wasn’t spoken of broadly when I was growing up. There were no classes in any of the schooling that I took that would have in any way described my way of eating as unhealthy. There also wasn’t any learning that I participated in that explained how the human body works the way I understand it today. That doesn’t mean that it didn’t exist, I just wasn’t aware of it, nor was I specifically looking for those answers.

I suppose if there was someone I respected that would have described to me directly what would happen to me physically as a result of my eating habits, I would have chosen a different path. If someone had taken the time to sit down and describe in simple terms that a fourteen-year-old could understand that a body has certain specific needs to live a full and healthy life I might have chosen a different course. Instead, I chose Dr. Pepper and Funyuns or Munchos. Slurpee’s and Cool Ranch Doritos. Good times, good times. Or so I thought.

I wonder if I would have followed a different path had I met someone like me when I was 18 that would have shared with me what I share with those in my car every day. What if would have met someone like me, a teacher of human physiology and disease pathology that would have taken 15 minutes to share the information that I share. Would I have listened and actually taken action? I don’t know. It really does seem that something tragic needs to happen in someone’s life before they will choose to make a significant change for the better.

-Michael J. Loomis

My Gift To You

My gift to you. If you eat something today, don’t eat it again tomorrow. Rotate your daily food intake, both solid and liquid. Yes, including your coffee and even your healthy fruits and vegetables. And here is why.

We go to a convenient store and buy a gallon of milk, a tub of butter, a loaf of bread, and a block of cheese. Then we go about eating these things every day until they are gone because we don’t want them to go bad. We spent good money on them and they are good when consumed together as well. And this is also true for the healthiest of organic whole foods.

When you eat the same thing day after day it will ultimately end in a small intestinal bacterial overgrowth and inflammation even if it remains subclinical for many years. By the time it shows up on the radar and we go to the doctor we have become so far disconnected timewise from the inception of the cause, that we fail to see the connection between this dietary action and the disease it causes. And then we downplay it by calling it love handles.

Don’t be hard on yourself. Just eat smarter. And if you insist on eating anything animal eat it only once every 4th day allowing only one kind of animal product in your body at a time. Watch what will happen.

P.S. Regarding any kind of dairy product, I cannot in good conscience put my stamp of approval on it no matter what kind of animal it came from or what kind of processing or fermentation has been applied to it. No mammal is designed to consume its mother’s milk beyond infancy much less into adulthood or from another species of mammal.

P.S.S. The problem with eating anything animal lies within our body’s response to our consumption of it. It results in an immediate immune response. Some might call this lactose intolerance while others lack the vital energy to do anything in response to the toxic effects the animal products have on the body. But that does not mean that there isn’t a problem. That just means you are not experiencing it today. That doesn’t mean you won’t forever. It may just take time to show up as an ulcer, SIBO, colitis, or some other ailment that will likely require medical intervention if you choose to stay your dietary course.

500 Words – Raw Vegan Requiem -873-

I recently spent a full year on a raw vegan journey after I found a group on Facebook that promoted Natural Hygiene that promoted a diet that was not only vegan but one that followed a diet primarily based on fruit and gentle leafy greens. I also decided to remove garlic, onions, caffeine, dark chocolate, even added salt, and bore deeply into eating mostly fruit and salads as suggested by this aforementioned group. The only exception was a small amount of homemade hummus added to my salads in place of dressing. So I guess if someone wanted to nitpick a little they could say that I was only 98% raw vegan. There is too much evidence and data demonstrating that those that live the longest eat legumes on a daily basis. That and I just make good hummus.

I feel it was a worthwhile endeavor that allowed me to learn firsthand a lot about how the human body functions when exposed to a raw vegan lifestyle over a long period of time. Not something a lot of people can say. An its overall cleansing effects on my body were well worth the time and effort. I am grateful for what it did for me and I still believe that it was the right thing to do.

Would I recommend this diet to everyone? Not necessarily. It would depend on the individual and what their diet had been like for the year leading up to their wanting to take on such an endeavor. If they had been a strict vegetarian for a year first then by all means. I wouldn’t see any problem in making the shift. If they were omnivores, I would suggest transitioning to a vegetarian diet for a good six months beforehand. I believe healthy and gradual transitions are the best way to find success in dietary changes.

These days I am no longer a raw vegan for a number of reasons, but most importantly is because there is no evidence that it is the best way to go about getting to 120 years of age with a body that looks and feels no more than 34. Aside from the fact that there is no evidence to suggest that such a hygienic Edenic diet would do such, my main concern with the raw vegan or even fruitarian diet is that it is too easy on the body ultimately resulting in a more fragile state of existence, premature decline, and lower mortality overall.

Humans did not become the dominant species by eating a perfect or overly hygienic diet. On the contrary, it is because of much adversity and stress in our lives that brought us to where we are today.

An all-fruit diet in today’s world is problematic because we just don’t have access to enough variety on any given day to have a wide enough diversity of nutrients to make it even feasible to get enough of what we need, in the way our body would need it for our body to thrive.

And then there is the overly-hygienic state that an all-fruit diet will land your body in that would ultimately leave you with a microbiome that has diminished diversity which is not a good place to be. Our body and mind need to be exposed to small amounts and diversity of stress on a regular basis to maintain a strong state that can better deal with unforeseen future adverse situations. An overly hygienic, or sterile state is not a good place for a human or any other organic life form to be found outside of a sterile or hygienic environment. And none of us live in a cleanroom. We live in a diverse world filled with much adversity and as such our body needs exposure to adversity and even small amounts of environmental stress to remain anti-fragile and strong when unforeseen future adversity should arise.

To be clear, I am still a vegan by definition because it provides us with the greatest opportunity to make it to 120 years with a body that looks and feels no more than 34. However, I don’t believe that we need to limit ourselves to a raw diet and that adding certain plant-based foods that need to be cooked first is an important part of greater longevity and a fuller life experience. They provide a necessary and beneficial derivation through mild adversity that strengthens the body overall.

So rather than arguing about which version of vegan diet is better for every individual, I can say with all certainty that there are other principles that are more important than a list of approved foods that exclude things like cooked legumes, sweet potatoes, and cruciferous veggies. Clearly, some plant-based/whole food is better at cleansing the body than others, but there does come a point where a complex living system can become too hygienic and the needle of health starts pointing in a negative direction. A Natural Hygiene diet is the best for cleansing, but not good for overall longevity and to suggest that it can be a permanent lifestyle is overreaching. A bridge too far.

Adversity and variation are what build a strong and robust body that will make it further down the road while avoiding any states of disease.

Racquetballs, Lipids(fats), and Cellular Health

Everything that we put in our mouths influences our cellular health and function. And it is the nutrients, or foods, that we eat that, after being assimilated, become the building blocks of our cellular and metabolic structures.

Back in the year 1997, I remember a very distinct conversation I had with a friend of the family by the name of Jim Brice. I had just started working out at 24 Hour Fitness and he was the only person I knew that was somewhat of a health guru. Back then we called them health nuts.

I contacted him because I was wanting more information about protein and how I could build bigger muscles without having to spend too much money on a bunch of unnecessary supplements. He moved the conversation pretty quickly from protein powders to cellular structure and why building healthy cells was the first step to building bigger muscles. What he said next has stuck with me for the last 25 years. And he painted a brilliant word picture to illustrate.

He told me that our cells need to be like brand new racquetballs and as soon as he said that, I knew exactly what he meant.

If you are not familiar, let me explain. A brand new racquetball is shipped directly from the manufacturer, packaged in a vacuum-sealed container, to ensure the highest quality product for its intended use. A brand new racquetball is soft, supple, pliable, yet rigid in structure. When the package is opened, it whooshes as the outside air rushes inside. And that is when a racquetball is at its highest useful quality. If you’ve ever held one in your hand, you’ll know what I’m talking about. It’s all downhill from there though as the ball begins to oxidize as pliability gives way to structural rigidity.

When attempting to understand how sufficient fats are necessary to maintain cellular health and therefore, whole creature health, one needs to first understand what our cells are made up of.

1. 1. Fats
  2. Proteins
  3. Carbohydrates
  4. Vitamins
  5. Minerals

This does not only apply to humans, but it also applies to the foods that we eat. We, quite literally, are what we eat. Or so we’ve been told. But it may actually be more accurate to say that we are what our microbiome eats, which of course is the foods that we eat. That is to say that we are or should be considering first and foremost that there is an intermediate step between our stomach and the nutrients that find their way into our bloodstream. And that intermediate step consists of many trillion micro-organisms and organelles that inhabit our intestinal tract just below our stomach.

So, in a sense, when we feed ourselves, we are technically acting as a banquet server for those intermediary life forms that participate in the digestion process that allows us to assimilate the nutrients from our food.

This brings me to that dreaded F word that is lacking in many whole-food/plant-based diets. Fats. Some would suggest that we don’t need to consume what they refer to as overt fats, like avocado, nuts, seeds, and oils. However, our internal cellular structures require these to function properly. They are necessary and deficiencies will eventually show up. Not right away, but over time. It may even take a good year before we start noticing changes on the surface. That thing we see in the mirror.

The following is an extensive list. I personally abstain from a number of things on this list. Those things will be marked with an asterisk(*).

- - avocadoes
  - canola oil*
  - cashews*
  - olive oil
  - peanut butter*
  - peanuts*
  - sesame oil*
  - sesame seeds
  - chia seeds
  - corn oil*
  - fish (especially fatty fish, for Omega-3 fatty acid)***
  - pumpkin seeds
  - sunflower oil*
  - sunflower seeds
  - safflower
  - soybean oil*
  - walnuts

The reason why fats are important is that they help maintain a semi-permeable state of our cellular structures, allowing pliability and nutrient transport across the cellular barrier. In contrast, saturated fats do not function in like manner. They result in the cellular membranes becoming rigid. This is not optimal in that it results in the limited functionality of our cells.

All this to say that we need to be consuming a sufficient amount of fats in our daily diet. But not just any fats. We need to be consuming a sufficient amount of the right kind of fats. And I’m sure you noticed that the list above was primarily plant-based. The exception is fatty fish which this author DOES NOT recommend for optimal health for those on a whole-food/plant-based diet. However, there is some research that would suggest a very small amount once per week may provide some additional benefits to those 65 years of age and above.

–Michael J. Loomis

Fat’s, Carbs, Confusion, and Misconceptions

A gram of carbohydrates contains 4 calories. A gram of fat contains 9 calories.
Carbohydrates and fats are not the same things, but they are not as different as some might believe or even teach.

Fats are organic compounds that, LIKE CARBOHYDRATES, are composed of the elements carbon (C), hydrogen (H), and oxygen (O), arranged to form molecules.

Fats, like carbohydrates, are composed of the same elements. Their elements are simply arranged differently for a reason. Both are used for energy within the body, but for different purposes and processes in fueling and sustaining the whole human creature.

While simple carbohydrates(Carbon-Oxygen-Hydrogen) are the body’s primary source of fuel that requires the least amount of metabolic energy to assimilate, fats(Carbon-Oxygen-Hydrogen) have to be broken down into fatty acids for assimilation.

Where they differ is that fats are broken down into fatty acids to make cell linings and hormones. Carbohydrates both simple and starchy are not.

Carbohydrates are water-soluble and are the most readily available source of dietary energy for all living creatures great and small. Fats on the other hand are not soluble in water but require other organic enzymes to break them down. Fats are also the way our body stores energy for later use when carbohydrates may not be readily available.

Our body needs a lot of energy to do all of its work and it is important that we get enough of ALL of the kinds of energy that our body needs, from both carbohydrates and fats. Not just one or the other.

Carbohydrates are the simplest fuel source for our body that we can equate to gasoline for our cars. Where fats are like the crude oil that our refineries use in the refining process that ultimately provides us with gasoline for our cars. And just like in our crude oil refineries our body draws other necessary and useful elements from the fats we consume that are necessary and beneficial for overall human health and wellness. Just think of all the other wonderfully useful petroleum products we have that we take for granted from a barrel of crude aside from the gasoline that we put in our cars. Things like paint, makeup, clothing, shampoo, conditioner, and even the lenses for our glasses, just to name a few.

Carbohydrates are like gasoline and fats are like the crude oil by which gasoline can be extracted along with other useful components. This is why fats contain 9 calories per gram versus carbohydrates containing only 4 calories per gram.

And this is why it is important to get ENOUGH of the RIGHT KIND of energy sources from both carbohydrates and fats. Again, not just one or the other. If we are not consuming enough of the right kinds of fats our body cannot maintain proper cellular structure and overall cellular health, wellbeing, and ultimately the desired longevity of years free from disease.

And when it comes to functionality they also each contribute to different processes. Like different players on the same baseball team. Fats also help in assimilating vitamins like A, D, E, K, while the glucose converted by the metabolism of carbohydrates fuels this process.

Fats also assist in regulating things like hormone production and protecting organs as a whole and at the cellular level. Fats also help in maintaining a steady body temperature. Whereas, the undigestable fiber in carbohydrates helps maintain blood sugar levels, cholesterol levels and is a major contributor to removing waste from our body, which fats cannot do.

So, as you can see fats and carbohydrates are both very important components in the body’s overall activities that require energy and they both serve different purposes within the bigger picture of life.

Around 20-35 percent of our dietary intake should be from fats and 60-75 percent of our dietary intake should be from carbohydrates. This amount will fluctuate based on our body’s needs at any given point in time.

There are a lot of well-meaning teachers on our modern social networks and elsewhere that suggest diets that are too low in what we call fats. As I said, they mean well, and they can be 100% correct about everything else they suggest about the foods we eat, but ultimately miss the bigger picture, leaving their students in an eventual malnourished state.

Please be sure to do your own research. Don’t just listen to talking heads and do what they simply say to do. Not even me. Invest your own time, your greatest asset of all into your own knowledge of this or any other subject. If you do, I can assure you that you will value your convictions and decisions to a much higher level than the ones that were given to you at no cost. We humans just don’t tend to value that which we do not invest in. Invest in your education, it will always pay you rich dividends.

What Has Changed?

Since some of you asked, I thought I would answer like this.

What has your experience been since moving away from a raw vegan “fruitarian” lifestyle/diet?

Two BIG changes that I feel are a move in the right direction are…

Better bowel movements
No more trips mid-night trips to the bathroom

I really had no expectations that these two things would take place. But frankly, both are tremendously beneficial results in my book. My bowels appear to be much happier and I’m getting a better quality of sleep. There are a couple of reasons for this that I will explain below. My gut just feels more at peace. It’s kind of hard to explain.

What foods I have changed.

Sweet Potatoes
Vegetable Soup
Daily Green Boost

What else I have changed.

I start my day with my largest caloric intake so that by the end of the day my body is better able to find rest before I go to sleep at night. I start heavier at breakfast(break fast) and then I go lighter as the day goes on. I am currently on a rotation where I have a large salad one day, a big bowl of vegetable soup the next day, and a big bowl of sweet potatoes on the third day. This makes the most amount of sense to me. It’s also easier.

On the days I eat my salads and soups, I supplement Daily Green Boost with bananas mashed up along with shelled hemp seeds and chia seeds. It’s like a deep dark green banana-flavored tapioca pudding. I know some will decry foul with my combining fruits with fats, but I would disagree on a physiological level. Our body in its infinite wisdom combines both lingual lipase and alpha-amylase in our salivary glands together precisely for the digestion of both starches and fats. And nature wouldn’t create a perfect fruit like an avocado which contains both fats and carbohydrates if they weren’t supposed to be consumed at the same time. But alas there will be some that suggest we shouldn’t be eating avocados. I disagree with them on this point as well. Just don’t eat too much avocado in one sitting. Go easy on this wonderful fruit.

On the days I eat sweet potatoes, I will have a large and hydrating banana and berry smoothie for lunch with coconut water and coconut milk combined with Daily Green Boost.

I still eat fruit throughout the day, but just not as much. I also have changed my eating window to something called Time-Restricted Feeding. Some of you may call it Intermittent Fasting, but I believe the former is a better way of understanding what it is that is happening physiologically. Because until someone stops putting calories into their body, they are not fasting. And I believe that even the use of the word fasting implies some greater benefit or inflated sense of reality that in the long run will hinder its adherents down a path that is of limited success and possibly other systemic failures including gallstone formation, which I will address later.

Therefore, I suggest that we would best be served to use the most accurate terminology, not only in this endeavor but in all things we do, because it is our own internal dialogue that ultimately matters the most.

Intermittent Fasting as most are calling it has gained much popularity as a mode of beneficial lifestyle change, but I believe that there is still much confusion out there about how to properly execute it as a program.

Once again, I want to stress the importance of calling it what it really is. Time-Restricted feeding.

One teacher, Dr. David Sinclair of Harvard University, whom I highly respect for his hard work in helping people not only overcome disease but also live longer lives practices an extreme version of this by limiting their eating to one meal per day. Most, however, limit their eating window to somewhere between 6 and 8 hours. And it is reported that this method produces favorable results. I on the other hand tend to agree with Dr. Valter Longo of the University of Southern California(USC), that the optimal feeding window is something more along the lines of 12 hours per day, and that it be held to consistently for the greatest outcome.

Though I don’t remember the exact reasoning from his fabulous book, The Longevity Diet, I do remember that he had one especially good reason for 12 hours per day being the optimal feeding window. Preventing gallstone formation.

How does gallstone formation happen?

Our bodies are very conservative and seem to be rather fond of the fruits of their labor. Bile(gall) is one of them. Bile is a yellowish-brown to a dark-green solution that is continually produced in the liver that serves to digest fats in the small intestine. And it’s as if our body refuses to waste this product, bile, that is created by storing and concentrating it in our gallbladder until the next time we partake in a meal. While being stored in the gallbladder, the bile is further concentrated by the removal of water. Hence, the formation of gallstones if it is stored for too long before being used again.

The solution is simple and should be quite obvious. Eating even a small amount of food that contains fat sends a message to the gallbladder to release bile so that it can do the work it was created for. If you are not eating for 18 hours a day or eating a diet that consists of little or no fat, you are just asking for gallstones and a strong possibility of surgical intervention to have your gallbladder removed according to Dr. Longo. A course of action that further hinders our body’s ability to attain its fullest potential of 120 healthy years.

As well, though researchers haven’t figured out exactly why studies do indicate that there is a correlation between those that forego breakfast having a much greater incidence of disease and overall mortality.

So to wrap this up, there are clear problems related to shortened feeding windows of 6 to 8 hours that can lead to gallstone formation and a possible need for surgical intervention. And on the other end of the spectrum for those eating 15 hours a day or more, other metabolic problems begin to arise along with sleeping disorders related to the practice.

My advice is similar to Dr. Valter Longo’s. Simply follow the rhythm of the equatorial sun as balance is always found in the middle. If it cannot be kissed by the sun before entering your mouth, don’t let it kiss your lips. Just remember 12 and 12.

As I promised above my thoughts on why my urinary and bowel movements have improved as I have implemented these changes.

As I mentioned in my prior two short essays, “Why Am I No Longer a Raw Vegan?” & “Fruit, Soups and Salads“, there is a proper balance of electrolytes that ultimately keep our body in a state of euhydration(sufficient hydration).

If you have ENOUGH of ALL of the electrolytes that the body requires, it will remain in a greater state of ease and homeostasis. Our bowels will move like they are supposed to and when they are supposed to because our hydration levels will be optimized. Our urinary frequency will be reduced because our kidneys will not be having to work overtime to constantly be reducing the amounts of some electrolytes to balance out ALL of them. No more insignificant visits to the bathroom and especially the ones in the middle of the night. Why? Because our body will be in a state of homeostasis where it can find rest and work on its healing and restorative processes.

Finally, Time-Restricted Feeding isn’t a quick fix as much as it is a long-term lifestyle that is part of why the Blue Zones even exist and why those in these demographics are living longer more robust lives. Not only are they eating more of the right things, but their eating patterns are inherently more aligned with what nature intended for a body with a potential to live an active 120 years.

And if you need to lose weight, don’t change the foods you eat or restrict the window by which you feed; simply eat less over the same 12-hour span.

*Why Am I No Longer a Raw Vegan?

Why am I no longer a raw vegan?

Simply put…Insufficient electrolytes and subsequent imbalances. Not enough of ALL of the needed electrolytes, with excesses of some, like potassium.

Water and electrolytes are essential to our health. Electrolytes take on a positive or negative charge when they dissolve in your body fluid. This enables them to conduct electricity and move electrical charges or signals throughout your body. These charges are crucial to many functions that keep you alive, including the operation of your brain, nerves, and muscles, and the creation of new tissue.

Simply put, bad things happen over long frames of time that often go unnoticed because of the slow crawl towards the disease states of these deficiencies.

I am not suggesting salting your foods by any means. But I am suggesting looking at the ways to get ENOUGH of ALL of the needed electrolytes for OPTIMAL human functionality and longevity of years.

And a raw vegan diet in my humble opinion is not a way to accomplish that end.

I intend to attend my birthday at 120 years with a body that looks and feels no more than a robust 34. And I will do what it takes to get there. Even admitting when I have been wrong in practice.

See you in 2092.

*Fruitarian vs. Centenarian

“Blessed are the flexible, for they shall not be broken.”

I’ve been studying human physiology and disease pathology for the last 4.5 years. A part of that study has been dedicated to observing the practices of the longest living people on Earth. Our centenarians. Groups of people that live in these specific five places called Blue Zones.

1. Okinawa, Japan
2. Sardinia, Italy
3. Nicoya, Costa Rica
4. Ikaria, Greece
5. Loma Linda, California.

There are a number of things that they have in common. One of them is a whole-food/plant-based diet. To be a little more specific, people in these so-called Blue Zones typically eat a 95% plant-based diet that’s rich in legumes, whole grains, vegetables, and nuts, all of which can help reduce the risk of death.

Strangely…None of these groups are fruitarians.

In late 2020, I was introduced to a practice called Natural Hygiene. The natural hygiene diet is a system of healthy living whereby moral, physical, and environmental pollution is strictly avoided, and natural, healthy food is chosen in preference over processed foods. The principle is to provide everything the body needs to be healthy and to avoid anything that may hinder health and well-being.

One of the hallmarks of this system, as it is practiced today, is a diet that primarily consists of juicy sweet fruit and gentle leafy greens. Small amounts of nuts and seeds are also on the approved list. This system also tends to focus on a practice called food combining and also the opposite which is mono-meals where only one kind of fruit is eaten until the consumer is full and then rotating through a variety of fruits and gentle leafy greens.

I have been practicing this way of eating for the past year myself and have found it to be very VERY beneficial in its ability to help the body heal and cleanse itself from the inside out. This will always be a part of my dietary practice.

But is eating this way what the human body needs to find its way to its fullest potential of living to 120 years and possibly well beyond to a place above 144 with a body that looks no more than today’s middle age?

I cannot say for sure, because there are no models that exist outside of religious texts that demonstrate this much less suggest this. And those practitioners that have been promoting this way of eating over the last 100-150 years have never themselves accomplished our fullest human longevity potential, much less in large communities. Or even small groups for that matter. Most haven’t even lived any longer than any average Joe that didn’t have any particular practice, but those in the Blue Zones have.

For me, I will continue on looking for better answers, and practicing what I preach. I will be continually pressing into the practices of what I can observe is working in the each and everyday practices of those that also practice what they preach. But I will not be so stubborn as to ignore the proofs that exist in our day in favor of rigid structures of beliefs in contrast to actual evidence of that which actually brings forth fruit.

I will continue to learn, grow and adapt. A wise man I knew once said, “Blessed are the flexible, for they shall not be broken.” Thanks for the wisdom Chuck(Smith).