DIGESTION
Moderation
Suffering is antithesis to living. We should theoretically ingest only those things that are of the highest benefit to us at all times. The problem is that perceptively, desirability is inversely proportional to benefit. In other words, the better it tastes, the worse it is for you and vice versa. To ingest appropriately requires self-discipline which requires strong will. Having a strong will is not a birthright, not a genetic guarantee and therefore must be worked on all of the time. This is why maintaining beneficial ingestion is difficult. This difficulty is exponentially increased if one believes in absolution in opposition to S-PC(beta). The answer is to moderate. The division of the daily ingestion should be the most tolerable ratio of benefit to desirability.
A Thought on Choice and Self-Denial
Fundamentally, what ingestion represents is the addition of external energy to the internal system. We do not have the capacity to generate enough internal energy to satisfy the needs of the body and mind. We need to source more from the environment. Indeed, this is potentially the most important work done on a daily basis. Energy is classified to us in units known as calories. A "calorie" of energy can be obtained from three general sources, protein, fat, or carbohydrates. These are the large building blocks of energy containing matter that make up what we eat (in addition to other elemental properties such as minerals, water, or indigestible fibre and elemental complexes such as vitamins and externally sourced hormones). According to modern medicine, we require protein and fat to survive, they are essential to life. These two sources of calories must be ingested on a regular basis. Carbohydrates are not essential but are sought after as they have historically been such a boost of energy that they allow for us to have the power to perform great feats such as have the extra resources to adapt larger brains. They are so useful that over time, our mind-body system has adapted a taste for them which is attached to the pleasure centre of the brain much like the need to procreate. By attaching it to the pleasure centre like that, we have confused ourselves into thinking that carbohydrate ingestion is of vital importance to life (like reproduction is), thus, we sought it out, we learned how to make more and more of it and steadily it became the most prevalent source of energy now known. What was once a bonus, opportunistic treasure, is now a ubiquitous staple. Yet you can choose. You can learn to moderate and allow the carbohydrates to become bonus once again but this does not need to be a situation of punishment and denial. Suffering is antithesis to living. Carbohydrates should not become a source of negative thoughts and emotions. If they are seen for what they truly are (bonus) and treated as what they are (opportunistic bonus) then moderation does not become a self-loathing practice.
Suffering is antithesis to living. We should theoretically ingest only those things that are of the highest benefit to us at all times. The problem is that perceptively, desirability is inversely proportional to benefit. In other words, the better it tastes, the worse it is for you and vice versa. To ingest appropriately requires self-discipline which requires strong will. Having a strong will is not a birthright, not a genetic guarantee and therefore must be worked on all of the time. This is why maintaining beneficial ingestion is difficult. This difficulty is exponentially increased if one believes in absolution in opposition to S-PC(beta). The answer is to moderate. The division of the daily ingestion should be the most tolerable ratio of benefit to desirability.
A Thought on Choice and Self-Denial
Fundamentally, what ingestion represents is the addition of external energy to the internal system. We do not have the capacity to generate enough internal energy to satisfy the needs of the body and mind. We need to source more from the environment. Indeed, this is potentially the most important work done on a daily basis. Energy is classified to us in units known as calories. A "calorie" of energy can be obtained from three general sources, protein, fat, or carbohydrates. These are the large building blocks of energy containing matter that make up what we eat (in addition to other elemental properties such as minerals, water, or indigestible fibre and elemental complexes such as vitamins and externally sourced hormones). According to modern medicine, we require protein and fat to survive, they are essential to life. These two sources of calories must be ingested on a regular basis. Carbohydrates are not essential but are sought after as they have historically been such a boost of energy that they allow for us to have the power to perform great feats such as have the extra resources to adapt larger brains. They are so useful that over time, our mind-body system has adapted a taste for them which is attached to the pleasure centre of the brain much like the need to procreate. By attaching it to the pleasure centre like that, we have confused ourselves into thinking that carbohydrate ingestion is of vital importance to life (like reproduction is), thus, we sought it out, we learned how to make more and more of it and steadily it became the most prevalent source of energy now known. What was once a bonus, opportunistic treasure, is now a ubiquitous staple. Yet you can choose. You can learn to moderate and allow the carbohydrates to become bonus once again but this does not need to be a situation of punishment and denial. Suffering is antithesis to living. Carbohydrates should not become a source of negative thoughts and emotions. If they are seen for what they truly are (bonus) and treated as what they are (opportunistic bonus) then moderation does not become a self-loathing practice.
Timing
It has been an applied thought across the modern world that three meals a day is the proper ingestion rate. This thought only began with the industrial revolution. It has more to do with portioning non-work time amidst work time and absolutely nothing to do with a proper diet. The true timing of ingestion is controlled by your own digestive system. A mechanical action that takes place in your stomach sends an internal signal to your mind. This causes a hormonal reaction to be sent back to the body. This entire process is known to us as hunger. If your body causes hunger, that is the time to give it what it wants. The number of times that you feel hungry in a day is irrelevant and should not be ignored but it is necessary to adhere to discipline when it comes to hunger. Sating the feeling of hunger every time can lead into a negative feedback (eating at every slight feeling of hunger, thirst, desire, sadness, etc.). To avoid this pitfall, it is important to allow the sensation of hunger to fully set in. Eating should not occur at the beginning of the sensation but near the end of the sensation. Following this discipline will insure that the sensation felt is indeed hunger and nothing else.
A Thought on Hunger Control
When a baby cries, its mother's body and mind will react on such a profound level that it will cause her to bypass some of her own self-preservation instincts. That is how powerful some signals can be. Hunger is one of those signals that can be strong enough to override our logical mind and cause us to make less than ideal decisions. A baby soon learns that if it cries, it will receive attention. With this knowledge, it can increase the duration and frequency of crying in order to increase the frequency of attention. Hunger can do the same thing. We can deceive ourselves. Our mind can fool itself into producing the reaction known as hunger. It typically does this as a response to a mild (non-life threatening) negative situation (loneliness, depression, anxiety). We do not feel the same way about thirst. Water does not defend itself and the vast majority of the planet is water thus less difficult to find and acquire so no need for the urgency that is felt with hunger. It is this urgency that we can learn to control. The body will react and produce the sensation. There is nothing (beyond eating) that can change this so the focus needs to be on the mind and learning to control the feelings. The urgency can be diminished with a simple understanding. If you do not eat, you will not die. If you do not eat at each instance of hunger but rather hold yourself firm until the sensation passes, you can teach yourself that urgency is not required. With careful practice, the mind can treat hunger using the logical aspects as opposed to the illogical and hunger becomes a necessary but controlled signal.
It has been an applied thought across the modern world that three meals a day is the proper ingestion rate. This thought only began with the industrial revolution. It has more to do with portioning non-work time amidst work time and absolutely nothing to do with a proper diet. The true timing of ingestion is controlled by your own digestive system. A mechanical action that takes place in your stomach sends an internal signal to your mind. This causes a hormonal reaction to be sent back to the body. This entire process is known to us as hunger. If your body causes hunger, that is the time to give it what it wants. The number of times that you feel hungry in a day is irrelevant and should not be ignored but it is necessary to adhere to discipline when it comes to hunger. Sating the feeling of hunger every time can lead into a negative feedback (eating at every slight feeling of hunger, thirst, desire, sadness, etc.). To avoid this pitfall, it is important to allow the sensation of hunger to fully set in. Eating should not occur at the beginning of the sensation but near the end of the sensation. Following this discipline will insure that the sensation felt is indeed hunger and nothing else.
A Thought on Hunger Control
When a baby cries, its mother's body and mind will react on such a profound level that it will cause her to bypass some of her own self-preservation instincts. That is how powerful some signals can be. Hunger is one of those signals that can be strong enough to override our logical mind and cause us to make less than ideal decisions. A baby soon learns that if it cries, it will receive attention. With this knowledge, it can increase the duration and frequency of crying in order to increase the frequency of attention. Hunger can do the same thing. We can deceive ourselves. Our mind can fool itself into producing the reaction known as hunger. It typically does this as a response to a mild (non-life threatening) negative situation (loneliness, depression, anxiety). We do not feel the same way about thirst. Water does not defend itself and the vast majority of the planet is water thus less difficult to find and acquire so no need for the urgency that is felt with hunger. It is this urgency that we can learn to control. The body will react and produce the sensation. There is nothing (beyond eating) that can change this so the focus needs to be on the mind and learning to control the feelings. The urgency can be diminished with a simple understanding. If you do not eat, you will not die. If you do not eat at each instance of hunger but rather hold yourself firm until the sensation passes, you can teach yourself that urgency is not required. With careful practice, the mind can treat hunger using the logical aspects as opposed to the illogical and hunger becomes a necessary but controlled signal.
Amount
The body attempts to maintain equilibrium through a state known as homeostasis. Homeostasis is a balance of all concentration gradients within the body’s systems. Maintaining homeostasis (the feeling of normal) requires energy. This is known as maintenance energy. It is the bare minimum amount of calories that must be ingested in order to survive. This amount is dependent upon age, body mass, metabolism and daily routine. The generalist theory states that 2,000 calories should be ingested in a day at minimum. This is an absolute number in contradiction with S-PC(beta) and is therefore meaningless. Instead, it should be considered the start point for determining the individualized daily intake amount. Through self-experimentation, one should reduce or increase this number steadily until the true number is determined (homeostasis maintained). This is the amount that should be considered the maintenance amount for the given day. From there, it can be adjusted across a spectrum as indicated by S-PC(beta) when energy demands increase (laborious effort, need to calorie load for a long duration) or downwards (resting state or stillness required).
A Thought on Attention
How does one calculate daily recommended calorie intake? How does one perform mathematics with biology? Science does it by examining a population and postulating a spectrum then selectively choosing the centre of the spectrum as the best choice. This works for a population but you are not a population. You are an individual. Perhaps attempting mathematics should be superseded by practicing attentiveness. Our body has the ability to communicate needs to the mind. The mind in turn can influence the body to act in a manner that satisfies both the mind and body. The communication link exists but the signals may be indiscernible if we exist in an environment full of noise (over stimulation from unnecessary signals). Imagine yourself in front of a screen, mindlessly shoving food into your mouth without any knowledge of how much you just ate or what you just ate, or even your level of satiety. With such noise, are you able to acknowledge your body's need for protein? What would that signal feel like? Is it a craving for meat? Would you even know that you received the signal unless you were paying attention? Learning to pay attention to our own signals with precedence over external signals will allow us to make more informed decisions that impact how we interact with our environment. Yet, we cannot ignore the environment as it is filled with opposition that we must avoid. Thus, it should be a formatted system in which hunger occurs, the mind chooses to remove the body to the safest environment so that external attention can be diminished and allow for the external signals to be amplified by attentiveness. In a way, this could cause the hunger signal to shift its intended reaction away from urgency towards attentiveness (with the side effect of reducing external stress).
The body attempts to maintain equilibrium through a state known as homeostasis. Homeostasis is a balance of all concentration gradients within the body’s systems. Maintaining homeostasis (the feeling of normal) requires energy. This is known as maintenance energy. It is the bare minimum amount of calories that must be ingested in order to survive. This amount is dependent upon age, body mass, metabolism and daily routine. The generalist theory states that 2,000 calories should be ingested in a day at minimum. This is an absolute number in contradiction with S-PC(beta) and is therefore meaningless. Instead, it should be considered the start point for determining the individualized daily intake amount. Through self-experimentation, one should reduce or increase this number steadily until the true number is determined (homeostasis maintained). This is the amount that should be considered the maintenance amount for the given day. From there, it can be adjusted across a spectrum as indicated by S-PC(beta) when energy demands increase (laborious effort, need to calorie load for a long duration) or downwards (resting state or stillness required).
A Thought on Attention
How does one calculate daily recommended calorie intake? How does one perform mathematics with biology? Science does it by examining a population and postulating a spectrum then selectively choosing the centre of the spectrum as the best choice. This works for a population but you are not a population. You are an individual. Perhaps attempting mathematics should be superseded by practicing attentiveness. Our body has the ability to communicate needs to the mind. The mind in turn can influence the body to act in a manner that satisfies both the mind and body. The communication link exists but the signals may be indiscernible if we exist in an environment full of noise (over stimulation from unnecessary signals). Imagine yourself in front of a screen, mindlessly shoving food into your mouth without any knowledge of how much you just ate or what you just ate, or even your level of satiety. With such noise, are you able to acknowledge your body's need for protein? What would that signal feel like? Is it a craving for meat? Would you even know that you received the signal unless you were paying attention? Learning to pay attention to our own signals with precedence over external signals will allow us to make more informed decisions that impact how we interact with our environment. Yet, we cannot ignore the environment as it is filled with opposition that we must avoid. Thus, it should be a formatted system in which hunger occurs, the mind chooses to remove the body to the safest environment so that external attention can be diminished and allow for the external signals to be amplified by attentiveness. In a way, this could cause the hunger signal to shift its intended reaction away from urgency towards attentiveness (with the side effect of reducing external stress).
Practicum
Eat, but accept what it is that you eat. Every thing that you put into your mouth should already be fully understood. If you pour black sugar liquid into your mouth but find beets disgusting, you have not gained knowledge on what you put in your mouth. Knowledge is required when it comes to eating. The reason that knowledge is required is we are not eating solely for our own benefit. In order for digestion to occur, we must receive assistance from bacteria (foreign bodies housed within the digestive system of the body). the bacteria that exist within us proliferate depending upon what materials pass through the digestive system. Different bacteria species are adapted to proliferate with the presence of specific materials. The higher the amount of specific materials passing through the system, the higher the population of those specific bacteria there will be. What does this mean for you? The more of certain foods that you eat, the more adapted to those foods your digestive system will become. If you eat carbohydrates (sugar) frequently then your digestive population will mainly be those species adapted to carbohydrates. There is only so much space within your digestive system thus higher amounts of one species means lower amounts of other species. With a poor diversity comes poor digestion. With poor digestion comes poor energy sequestration and ultimately degradation of the self. The goal is always optimization of the self, therefore, we must "adapt" our digestive population in order to increase the efficiency of our body to sequester energy and materials from the external sources (food). To maintain optimal diversity requires eating diverse foods therefore our diet needs to change regularly. We should not eat the same things on the same days or reduce our selections. This may seem easy to do but keep in mind that, for instance, all potatoes are potatoes not matter what shape they might be, All wheat is wheat no matter what shape it may be. Diversify your menu, try new things often, take opportunities as they present themselves to add novelty to your life.
At the same time that we can modify the bacterial population, we can work towards diminishing the culling of the population by ingesting toxins. Food, as we know it, comes in formats that are digestible as is. Our digestive system has adapted over time to be capable of processing foods as they are found in the environment. There is no requirement for any food to be processed prior to ingestion. We do not even require food to be heated.
The process of heating foods has two common effects, the chemical dismantling of difficult to digest elements (cellulose in plants) and the chemical reduction of long chain starches into short chain sugars. What this means is that heating food allows for us to pull more nutrition out of a plant source and transforms certain foods from long lasting energy sources into fast acting energy bursts. Unless you are strictly eating only high-cellulose vegetation, you do not need to heat your food. Unless you are in immediate need of energy, you do not need to heat your food. Try to eat your food as it is, as it can be found in the natural environment. Try to rely on your digestive system doing its work as it is intended to.
Since heating food is not always possible or desirable, processing it into an easier to digest state is the alternative popular action. To break food items down without heat requires either mechanical or chemical intervention (often both). Foods can be pre-macerated to the point that you no longer need to employ your own digestive system (no need to chew, therefore no need for teeth or jaw musculature eventually) or they can be altered by adding non-food related chemicals so that indigestible components are broken similar to the heating process. The chemicals must then be ingested with the foods and pass through the digestive system and ultimately interact with the bacterial population. This often yields negative effects on the population as intolerant species die off leaving a gap in our digestive capabilities. In the vein attempt to make food more appealing, we are making it into a source of internal stress that ultimately decreases our own ability to live optimally.
Either through unemployment or toxicity from foreign chemicals, the bacterial population can be severely altered in negative ways all under the auspices of making life easier. Processed food is unnecessary and should be avoided unless the environment makes them necessary.
Eat, but accept what it is that you eat. Every thing that you put into your mouth should already be fully understood. If you pour black sugar liquid into your mouth but find beets disgusting, you have not gained knowledge on what you put in your mouth. Knowledge is required when it comes to eating. The reason that knowledge is required is we are not eating solely for our own benefit. In order for digestion to occur, we must receive assistance from bacteria (foreign bodies housed within the digestive system of the body). the bacteria that exist within us proliferate depending upon what materials pass through the digestive system. Different bacteria species are adapted to proliferate with the presence of specific materials. The higher the amount of specific materials passing through the system, the higher the population of those specific bacteria there will be. What does this mean for you? The more of certain foods that you eat, the more adapted to those foods your digestive system will become. If you eat carbohydrates (sugar) frequently then your digestive population will mainly be those species adapted to carbohydrates. There is only so much space within your digestive system thus higher amounts of one species means lower amounts of other species. With a poor diversity comes poor digestion. With poor digestion comes poor energy sequestration and ultimately degradation of the self. The goal is always optimization of the self, therefore, we must "adapt" our digestive population in order to increase the efficiency of our body to sequester energy and materials from the external sources (food). To maintain optimal diversity requires eating diverse foods therefore our diet needs to change regularly. We should not eat the same things on the same days or reduce our selections. This may seem easy to do but keep in mind that, for instance, all potatoes are potatoes not matter what shape they might be, All wheat is wheat no matter what shape it may be. Diversify your menu, try new things often, take opportunities as they present themselves to add novelty to your life.
At the same time that we can modify the bacterial population, we can work towards diminishing the culling of the population by ingesting toxins. Food, as we know it, comes in formats that are digestible as is. Our digestive system has adapted over time to be capable of processing foods as they are found in the environment. There is no requirement for any food to be processed prior to ingestion. We do not even require food to be heated.
The process of heating foods has two common effects, the chemical dismantling of difficult to digest elements (cellulose in plants) and the chemical reduction of long chain starches into short chain sugars. What this means is that heating food allows for us to pull more nutrition out of a plant source and transforms certain foods from long lasting energy sources into fast acting energy bursts. Unless you are strictly eating only high-cellulose vegetation, you do not need to heat your food. Unless you are in immediate need of energy, you do not need to heat your food. Try to eat your food as it is, as it can be found in the natural environment. Try to rely on your digestive system doing its work as it is intended to.
Since heating food is not always possible or desirable, processing it into an easier to digest state is the alternative popular action. To break food items down without heat requires either mechanical or chemical intervention (often both). Foods can be pre-macerated to the point that you no longer need to employ your own digestive system (no need to chew, therefore no need for teeth or jaw musculature eventually) or they can be altered by adding non-food related chemicals so that indigestible components are broken similar to the heating process. The chemicals must then be ingested with the foods and pass through the digestive system and ultimately interact with the bacterial population. This often yields negative effects on the population as intolerant species die off leaving a gap in our digestive capabilities. In the vein attempt to make food more appealing, we are making it into a source of internal stress that ultimately decreases our own ability to live optimally.
Either through unemployment or toxicity from foreign chemicals, the bacterial population can be severely altered in negative ways all under the auspices of making life easier. Processed food is unnecessary and should be avoided unless the environment makes them necessary.
My Digestion
Since food and eating are tied closely to pleasure, I try to tie the pleasurable foods with the more pleasurable portions of the the day. When I sit with family to eat is when I eat the more desirable meal. Knowing this, I can work backwards.
A large portion of the diet needs to be nutrient dense vegetation yet as noted above, foods that are highly nutritious tend to be not very palatable. I therefore tie the vegetation to the least pleasurable portion of the day. The vegetation has a ratio of 3:1 dark green leafy plants to other vegetables. I try to make sure that the mixture contains multiple colours (colours coincide with nutrient concentrations). I have a pre-measured bowl (I know how much it contains) that I can fill with vegetation and any supplementation (added protein items or herbs). When it is time to eat, I will add an oil (avocado, coconut or olive) and depending upon level of thirst (which hints at my blood pressure) I can add salt. In addition to this main meal, I will add a small amount of berries, the darker the colour the better (again indicates what it contains). This much plant matter is difficult to digest so it is satiating for a long period of time and employs my digestive system to its maximum potential.
The pleasurable meal of the day can now be anything (within moderation and in accordance with the amount of energy expended within the day) since the other meals were highly disciplined. In addition to this, a fast day will be added randomly to allow for the digestive system to relax and recover (just as the rest of the body does with a work routine).
A large portion of the diet needs to be nutrient dense vegetation yet as noted above, foods that are highly nutritious tend to be not very palatable. I therefore tie the vegetation to the least pleasurable portion of the day. The vegetation has a ratio of 3:1 dark green leafy plants to other vegetables. I try to make sure that the mixture contains multiple colours (colours coincide with nutrient concentrations). I have a pre-measured bowl (I know how much it contains) that I can fill with vegetation and any supplementation (added protein items or herbs). When it is time to eat, I will add an oil (avocado, coconut or olive) and depending upon level of thirst (which hints at my blood pressure) I can add salt. In addition to this main meal, I will add a small amount of berries, the darker the colour the better (again indicates what it contains). This much plant matter is difficult to digest so it is satiating for a long period of time and employs my digestive system to its maximum potential.
The pleasurable meal of the day can now be anything (within moderation and in accordance with the amount of energy expended within the day) since the other meals were highly disciplined. In addition to this, a fast day will be added randomly to allow for the digestive system to relax and recover (just as the rest of the body does with a work routine).