giving is good for your health

Having just finished Lynne McTaggart's new book The Power of Eight, which compiles ten years of research on intention experiments, it becomes evident that giving is more health inducing than receiving.  Time and again, the author observed, with skepticism at first, how participants in her intention groups healed more so when they sent healing intentions than when they received healing intentions.  Wow!  Goes so much against our grain of thinking.

Research had already shown that volunteering is good for you, and that a good social network promotes longevity.  But Lynne's experiments now indicate clearly that, "it is better for your health to do the giving," and that, "giving also appears to be central to longevity."  She also refers to what psychologists call the "helper's high," feeling great when you do good.

Over the decade her research was conducted about two thirds of her participants healed as a byproduct (if that is a way to express this phenomenon)  of engaging in sending regular healing intentions to others.  Just wow!  So, instead of wishing or praying for your own healing, or having others send you healing thoughts, looks like an easy way to heal is to send healing thoughts to others.  Give in order to get!  That takes a shift in thinking.  

oh those lectins

Looks like lectins are culpable of just about any disease, from auto-immune, to heart, to diabetes, to anything inflammatory, digestive, and even respiratory.  Turns out that lectins destroy our gut inhabitants and intestinal wall, causing havoc all over the body because the immune system collapses.  Lectins, and gluten is only one of many, albeit supposedly not the worst one, are toxic plant proteins that protect seeds from germinating too early and animals from eating them. 

Turns out that some food preparation techniques were developed to remove lectins, but we forgot about them - techniques like fermentation, soaking nuts and grains before consumption, peeling and deseeding peppers and tomatoes, pressure cooking beans and quinoa.  But there is more to the lectin story.         

I am currently reading Steven Gundry's The Plant Paradox.  Dairy is another pitfall (don't consume dairy from the ubiquitous northern European Holstein cows, only from southern European cows); grains, and in particular whole grains, are out because of the particularly toxic lectins in the bran (if you must eat bread, white sour dough is it, and no whole wheat pasta either).  Another one of Gundry's gripes is the nightshade family (peppers, eggplant, tomatoes, potatoes), and lastly squashes and beans.  These last three vegetable families were only brought from the New to the Old world about five hundred years ago, and therefore our digestive systems have not developed a tolerance to the lectins in them, hence their toxicity to most of us.  Digestive systems adapt over thousands and even millions of years, so five hundred years is nothing.

It sounds like this diet is a true panacea, and the book is a must-read not only for all healthcare practitioners, dieticians and nutritionists, but pretty much everybody else as well.  Will keep you posted, trying it myself.

we need people

Going it alone is not the way to a long and fulfilled life.  We live longer when we have a good social network, and emotional support from friends and family is not only an important quality of life component, but also better for your health and mental wellbeing.  With life expectancy on the up and up our prospects for a long life are further improving if we can develop and maintain a solid social network.

 But building one, and then keeping it alive, takes work.  It's pretty easy to make friends anywhere you go on a regular basis, where you run into the same people over and over.  Any committee in your community, that does something that tickles your fancy, will do, any organization with regular meetings, any cultural or sports activity around town, all sorts of school activities (if you are a parent of younger children), church or temple of course, gyms and exercise classes, community events - so many opportunities.  For retired people volunteering is really meaningful because it feels good to help and be useful.

Maintaining your network is key to remaining engaged and always having a good social network to draw on.  In order to get invited you need to invite, in order to have a conversation you need to engage, in order to remain in your friends' minds you need to remind them.  And kindness follows you.  Call, send birthday wishes, ask your friends to do something with you, drop by their house for tea, offer your help.   It's reciprocal.  If you don't reach out they may forget you or think you are not interested. 

barefooting it

             I forgot about walking barefoot.  My kids walk around the house barefoot all the time.  And my sister reminded me when she came to visit recently.  Walking barefoot frees the feet of their unnatural shoesy confines.  Walking barefoot is grounding.  Walking barefoot outside is even more grounding.  Grounding techniques do just that - connecting us to the ground in order to rebalance the mind and reconnect us with the earth.  In addition, walking barefoot outdoors - on grass, sand, or even more adventurous ground - lets us absorb negative ions.  Negative ions counter all the positive ions electronics spew out (Himalayan salt lamps also generate negative ions and counter the effects of electronics - see a recent post on that).

            So, take your shoes and socks off while the weather is warm, and go for a barefoot walk outside.  As little as five minutes a day is beneficial.

rebooting your system

             Sometimes your system needs a reboot.  Mine does and I am doing a one-day liquid fast as I write this.  Did you know that 60% of your daily energy consumption goes towards running your digestive system and the digestion of solid foods?  That only leaves 40% for everything else - work, play, heal.  If you can free that 60% up for a short period of time by refraining from solid foods for a day or two it can do wonders for cleansing and healing your body.  Drinking lots of liquids during that time - vegetable juices, green juices, fruit juices always in moderation because of the high sugar content, broth, lemon water with a bit of maple syrup, some tea, lots of water -  literally reboots your system, cleans you out, gives your digestive tract a break, and frees up that energy for healing your body.

            It's interesting to note that many religions include fasting in one form or another in their rituals.   Some people are religious about regular fasts (pun intended), such as a liquid day a month; some people fast for two or three days whenever they feel their system needs it.  Fasting is a time honored practice that makes a lot of sense, although it's not indicated for everyone (so make sure you consult your health care practitioner for advice if you've never done this and have doubts or questions).

            Why not give it a try?  It will leave you energized.

just vinegar

             Or almost.  Vinegar, water and a drop of liquid soap for wood floors, Bon Ami scouring powder for sinks and shower tiles, baking soda and vinegar for shower doors, vinegar for the toilets, wet sponge, and sometimes a drop of soap, for countertops and cabinet fronts, vinegar and water for glass tops. That's pretty much all I use for cleaning my house.

            No harsh chemicals, no artificial scents, no nonsense, and inexpensive.   And I bet you that my house is as clean as yours.

no size fits all

            You are unique, your digestive system is unique, your food preferences are unique, your constitution, in combination with ethnic provenance and health history, is unique. 

            It's ok to critically read books on diet trends (paleo, ketogenic, vegan, vegetarian, flexitarian, ethnic), or on nutrition, in order to become informed on the state of our food and its profound influence on our wellbeing.  But then you need to test these theories mindfully on your own body to understand what agrees with you and what doesn't, what aggravates certain conditions or alleviates them, what gives you energy, what regulates your weight, what helps you heal.  The one exception I'll take is refined sugar.  It's not good for anybody.  Period.

            We like to simplify and standardize, but imagine what would happen if some diet fundamentalist prescribed the same diet for all seven billion people on this planet?  Digestive systems have adapted over hundreds and thousands of years to what is available geographically.  Prescribe a vegetarian diet to an Inuit, or an Inuit diet to a Hindu - ok, these are extreme analogies - and they would likely become ill.

            So, take all you read, all that people say, with a grain of salt - then see what really applies to your own condition and constitution.   Although I had already cut out a lot of grain from my diet (and lost quite a bit of weight in the process) I am currently trying this gluten-free thing.  I'm really not convinced this is necessary for me - we'll see, hoping to prove myself wrong.  No diet applies to all - which one is the right one for you?

love thyself

            At the beginning of a flight they often announce that, should oxygen masks be required, mothers put theirs on before helping their child.  We need to be in a good place in order to be nice to others and help each other.  A modicum of self-care, therefore, is not egoistic or self-centered, or even a luxury, but a smart thing -  as a grounding base and for basic physical and mental wellbeing. 

            Self-care does not mean that you are supposed to spend gobs of money on massages, lunches out, facials and manicures, or toys for the boys - those are all excuses for spending money, unless you've got lots of it.  Self-care is special time with yourself, away from family, away from chores - for mental sanity and balance.   You can practice self-care in many different ways, many of them without spending a dime.  Going for a contemplative walk by yourself can be self-care, simply making yourself a cup of tea and taking a break in the middle of the day could be self-care (one of my favorites), having a regular meditation session is definitely self-care, if you are a busy parent date night out with your partner is self-care, if you are a busy business person date night out with your partner is self-care, taking  a weekend nap can be self-care, going to bed early on occasion is self-care, taking a long leisurely bath is self-care.   It's good to get away from rut and chores, and just think about your own enjoyment for a bit.

            We are also better able to love others when we love ourselves first, able to give more if we are in a good place.  I suppose you have you heard that one before.  Do you have a regular self-care practice?

your beautiful microbiome

            All the fauna in your system, all those micro-creatures, have garnered much attention lately.  There used to be a time, not so long ago, when we thought killing all the little creatures, internally and externally, as in taking antibiotics or sterilizing everything in your home, was the way to go - the Lysterine and Chlorox way.  We took hygiene to the extreme, inside and out.

            Now we are learning that we are living in dependent coexistence with our microbiome, which is the entirety of all the little microorganisms in our body.  We are beginning to understand that a well populated and diverse gut and intestinal microbiome is the basis for a healthy immune system.  Hence fermented foods have become all the rage - yogurt, kombucha, Sauerkraut, kimchi, miso, pickled vegetables, sourdough bread - because they all add to and diversify our gut bacteria.

            In that regard researchers noticed that Amish children, who grow up in a farming environment, are less susceptible to the more and more prevalent asthma and allergies that children experience who spend much of their time indoors.

            So, cultivate your microbiome, don't sweat the small stuff, such as a piece of bread that fell on the floor or a lettuce leaf that still has a bit of dirt on it, it all helps to "grow more hair on your chest" or strengthen your immune system.  Please revisit two earlier blog posts on fermented foods and sauerkraut and kimchi..

lots of salt

             We all know by now that ingesting too much salt by eating processed and prepared foods is bad for us.  But lots of salt around you may potentially have beneficial effects.  Think Himalayan salt lamps, or salt spa treatments.  One of my friends swears by the beautiful pink salt lamp in her bedroom.  Salt lamps are supposed to promote negative ionization of the air and, for one, counteract the electro smog caused by our household electronics.  Read here what we know about the science behind salt lamps. 

            Salt spas or salt caves have been around Europe and Japan for a while, and are starting to become more popular over here.    Inhaling salt air supposedly improves asthma and other afflictions of the respiratory system; it's called halotherapy - read more about the potential benefits of this therapy.   I guess that was always the idea behind seaside vacations.  Of course, if you live on the coast you don't need a salt spa.

            Although I haven't tried either I'm intrigued.  I never discount alternative therapies simply because mainstream derides something out of lack of understanding, knowledge, scientific context, or belief system rigidity.  Do you have a salt lamp at home?