Age Defying Nutrition
(This is an excerpt from a University Of Metaphysical Sciences course at www.umsonline.org, please feel free to visit the school website)
Written by Tristan Anderson
The quest to extend life-span has brought forth a plethora of ideas and
practices. The Taoists in China sought to create a magical pill that
when ingested would lead to immortality. Yogis in India have created
various practices with herbs, meditation, and rest to rejuvenate the
body to a youthful state. Many of the people mentioned in the
Old-Testament were said to have lived into their 900’s due to living in
communion with God. In this section of the course we will take a look
at how nutrition might aid in the process of defying age. This topic is
too vast to cover all the nutritional aspects that might help in
extending life, but we will look at three major modern discoveries that
may assist us in living healthy long lives, as well a special “food”
that seems to have rejuvenating and almost magical properties.
Free-Radicals
Modern science has detected that atoms have the ability to lose an
electron and thus become unstable. These atoms are called
free-radicals. Once an atom is unstable it searches for the nearest
atom in order to take an electron from it, and this once again
stabilizes the atom. However, free-radicals produce a chain reaction
where atoms keep stealing an electron from each other, which eventually
leads to the disruption of a living cell. Researchers on free-radicals
have concluded that free-radical damage may be one the major factors in
aging and degeneration of the body. The good news is that modern
science has also been able to detect certain elements in food which
counteract free-radical damage. These elements are known as
antioxidants. Antioxidants lend an electron to these unstable atoms,
while not becoming a free-radical. They are stable in either state.
Some of the major antioxidants are vitamins C and E, and the minerals
zinc and selenium. The key discovery here is that by eating a diet high
in antioxidants we can prevent free-radical damage and thus prevent
cellular damage and increased aging.
The number
one antioxidant food is the goji berry. This amazing little red berry
is now available at many health food stores and on-line stores. Its
power as an antioxidant is overwhelmingly more than any other food
studied thus far. Consider these numbers, called orac units, which is
the measure of the antioxidant’s ability to stabilize free-radicals.
Food Orac Units
(http://www.extremehealthusa.com/goji-berries.html)
Goji berry 25,300
Prunes 5,700
Raisins 2,830
Spinach 1,260
Brussel Sprouts 980
Broccoli 890
Oranges 750
Cherries 670
The evidence from this is clear. In order to prevent free-radical damage, eat lots of fruits and vegetables and consider adding goji berries into your diet as well. These foods realign and regenerate our cells and contribute to life long health.
Under-eating
The next modern discovery that has been shown to produce age defying
effects is the principle of under-eating. It has been found that your
lifespan is extended if you eat only 2/3 of what you normally eat. This
concept may be new to you since we are constantly bombarded with the
idea that we need an excessive amount of calories through a massive
amount of food. Has anyone ever tried to eat all the recommended
servings of food listed in the food pyramid? That’s a lot of food!
Opposite to this trend, which has created an overwhelming number of
people considered overweight, is the idea of eating super nutritious
food in small amounts. It is important to point out that under-eating
of non-nutritious foods is not a health path. They must be foods that
are good for you. Otherwise, you will suffer from malnutrition.
It is clear that most people in this country do not absorb or digest
their food as well as is possible. This is partially because of heavy
food processing and cooking which destroys digestive enzymes in food.
Another major factor is that people eat so much food. Enzyme-deficient
foods eaten in excessive quantities put a great strain on the body.
After years of this type of diet the body loses more and more
life-force and shows this visibly through the various signs of
aging.
Many modern progressive nutritionists are presenting another path. This
path involves choosing foods that are rich in nutrients and still have
their enzymes intact. If you are going to under-eat, you must be sure
you are getting enough enzymes to digest the food. Eating this
enzyme-rich food allows us to eat less because we are getting more.
These foods include fruits, vegetables, soaked nuts and seeds, sprouted
grains, sea vegetables, and others. Basically, anything that is vegan
and raw (live). As Gabriel Cousens, M.D. points out in Spiritual Nutrition (2005),under-eating
nutritious foods produces vibrant health, less strain on the digestive
system, and dramatic increase in longevity. He cites personal
experience, the experience of his clients, and many experiments that
were done to prove that eating a small amount of nutritious foods
increases longevity.
Human Growth Hormone
The third modern discovery we will explore in relation to defying age
is Human Growth Hormone (HGH). HGH is a chemical protein hormone that
is released in the body from the pituitary gland. Its main functions
are to promote growth, cell reproduction, stimulate the immune system,
and keep us youthful. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Growth_hormone)
When we are young this hormone is produced in abundance. Generally, the
older we get the less human growth hormone we release into the body.
However, it doesn’t have to be this way. The amazing discovery that has
been made is that there are ways to stimulate the pituitary gland to
release more HGH and thus defy aging. At this point I want to stress
that synthetic unnatural ways of stimulating HGH, such as the many
products you can find on the internet, have not been thoroughly
researched or scientifically validated. Your safest bet, as with most,
if not all forms of healing, is to go as natural as possible.
There are several factors that have been shown to stimulate the release
of HGH such as meditation, the beginning stages of sleep (first two
hours), certain kinds of exercise, living a healthy life, and certain
foods. In terms of food, researchers have shown that protein plays an
important role. By daily consumption of foods that supply us with high
quality protein, we assist our bodies in HGH release. There are various
theories on high quality protein, but I feel it is important to mention
that the Max Planck Institute in Germany found that cooking foods makes
around fifty percent of protein unusable or un-absorbable. This may be
a reason why people in the U.S. are having significant drops in HGH
release even though they are eating a lot of protein. People rarely eat
raw protein in this country, which can come from algae, nuts and seeds,
green leafy vegetables, sprouts, or raw meat (if you consider this
appropriate). Goji berries contain 19 amino acids and have been shown
to be one of the most effective foods at stimulating HGH release.
More research is being done on HGH each day. So far humans have found
HGH to have a direct correlation to aging. Therefore, we would do well
to assist our bodies in its release if we wish to live long. One way to
do it with supplements is to take L-Arginine, L-Ornithine and L-Lysine
together right before you go to sleep. These have been found to
stimulate HGH levels during the first two hours in your sleep cycle.
These are amino acids that are precursors to protein and also HGH. It
is best to give your body precursors if possible rather than HGH
itself. Note from Tristan: I was trying to make the point that food is
probably the safest way to increase HGH and that supplements can be
dangerous. I don’t recommend using them, so I wouldn’t want to put all
the stuff after aging into the paper.
Monatomic Minerals
If
this information is new to you consider this an auspicious moment to
learn about a discovery that could dramatically shift human
consciousness and increase longevity. According to http://www.inspiredliving.com/energy-medicine/monatomic-minerals.htm monatomic
minerals are “single-state atomic minerals that have not evolved into
the complex atomic structure characteristic of metallic minerals. The
electrons of a monatomic mineral exist in a high spin state. Minerals
in the platinum group of elements that are in their monatomic state are
reported to have superconductive and anti-gravitational properties.”
Monatomic minerals are found as a white powder in volcanic soils,
places meteorites are believed to have hit, and ancient sea beds. They
are also found in foods that grow near these areas. Research has shown
that plants can absorb monatomic minerals from the soil. Trace amounts
can be found in almost any food, but higher concentrations of it appear
in foods like aloe vera, carrots, ginko, blue-green algae, St. John’s
wart, grapes, and cacao. (http://www.earthspectrum.com/minerals.htm)
Many researchers believe that this white powder is synonymous with a
substance described by ancient cultures. The Egyptians called it White
Gold, in the Old Testament it is called Manna, some alchemists called
it the Philosophers Stone, and some believe that Soma in the Vedic
tradition was also monatomic minerals.
These minerals can be ingested as the pure white powder or one can eat
foods with small amounts of it. It is a highly natural substance. Our
brain has around 5% of monatomic minerals in it, and these minerals are
found all over the earth. People who have taken the pure powder have
reported such things as increased mental clarity, feelings of expansion
and access to higher Universal knowledge, increased intuitive powers
and sixth sense stimulation, increased feelings of Universal flow and
serendipity, increased ability to deal with stressful situations from a
higher perspective, deeper prayer and meditative states, and greater
insights into self and life situations. (http://www.inspiredliving.com/energy-medicine/etherium-white-gold.htm)
These are not the typical reports one might give after eating a mineral
powder. Obviously, we are dealing with something very special and
magical.
Other reports claim that when the powder
is ingested the energetic field that the monatomic minerals hold
rebuild and realign the body’s energetic field. We begin to resonate at
a higher frequency. People have even reported being cured of cancer.
How this relates to longevity is probably becoming obvious.
In order to live long and healthful we must assist the body in
maintaining its main functions of taking in nutrients and expelling
wastes. If this process is disrupted by not getting adequate nutrients
or not being able to expel wastes, we begin to lose vitality and
consequently age.
David Wolfe reminds us in Eating For Beauty (2002),
“The miraculous thing about us is that we are dynamic beings. We
rebuild ourselves constantly. General wisdom holds that 98% of the
atoms in our body are replaced in two years. Studies have shown that
100% of our atomic structure is replaced within seven years!” (89) Who
we become in the future is dependent on our choices now. You will have
an entirely new body in seven years, so choose wisely what you want to
use to build that new body.
Monatomic minerals,
HGH, eating high antioxidant foods, and undereating with super
nutritious foods, are just some of the ways to help bring our body back
into a state of increased health and flow, yet it is still up to each
one of us to assist the body in maintaining this state. This is where
nutrition as well as all the other courses in this program play such an
important role. Enjoy the process!