I’ve been waffling on putting a “Health Tip” piece together as it seems as though there are a plethora of health gurus at the public’s disposal. Please make note that I do not consider myself a “health guru” nor a guru of anything for that matter. I’m simply a person that has basic questions about systems… the human body, society, and everything else in between.
When it comes to health or wellness, I believe that much like a house, the foundation must be of great strength to withstand stress. In my opinion, the three most important points in terms of building a rock solid foundation for health comprise of 3 keys: sleep, shitting, and respiratory patterns.
This doesn’t equate to concepts such as environmental exposure, dietary influences, stress levels, and exercise as not being important. These factors are obviously crucial but in my eyes are secondary compared to the first three keys (yet very much intertwined).
Let us list the foundation of factors of health in order of importance.
1. Sleep (1 & 2 are basically equal in my eyes)
2. Shitting (1 & 2 are basically equal in my eyes)
3. Respiratory Patterns
4. Environmental Exposure
5. Stress Management
6. Diet
7. Movement (Exercise)
Now let me propose my general perspective on what we’ve come to understand as the human immune system.
It’s been cited that the majority (70% to 80%) of a person’s entire immune system resides in the digestive tract. The average height for a full grown male has been cited at around 5 foot 6 inches tall. The size of the small intestines in an average person is roughly 20 feet long and about 1 inch in diameter. The length of the large intestines/colon of an average person is roughly 5 feet.
The lymphatic system comprises of lymphatic vessels that carry a clear fluid called lymph towards the heart. Lymphoid organs that play specialized roles in the system are the thymus, spleen, tonsils, and appendix. The relationship between the immune system and the lymphatic system are intimately intertwined being that they both share various organs and physiological functions.
In a 2005 study in the journal Alimentary Pharmacology & Therapeutics the following was cited: “The human intestine is the largest mass of lymphoid tissue in the body, containing over 106 lymphocytes/g of tissue.”
Based on this short outline of the immune system location and it’s integration with the lymphatic system, it would appear that the health of a person’s digestive system would be an extremely important factor in terms of well being. The average person has 4 times as much gut length (30 feet) as their total height (5’6″ tall). It’d seem illogical to attempt to address virtually any disease without focusing on the primary location of the immune & lymphatic systems… the entire “gut”.
In 1993, the journal Digestive Diseases and Sciences would publish the results of a one-month diary study on 23 adults with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). The results found a significant correlation between morning IBS symptoms and the quality of the prior night’s sleep. A less strong but still significant correlation was found between evening IBS symptoms and the quality of the prior night’s sleep.
A 2011 review in the Journal of Neurogastroenterology and Motility would outline numerous studies showcasing increases in irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) following sleep disturbance.
This brings us to the first concept of health…
1. Sleep
If disturbed sleep leads to inflammation of the digestive tract and the digestive tract is the where the majority of the immune system is located, it wouldn’t seem illogical to make high-quality sleep a distinct priority for wellness. Mind you this is only one facet of the importance of sleep that is being touched upon as there are numerous systemic benefits (bone, nervous system, brain) of good sleep integrity which I won’t go into.
*It does seem important to note that the blood flow of the liver (the body’s largest filtration organ) is nearly 50% greater at 3am compared to 3pm.
A recent 2017 study published in the journal Neuron would make headlines such as “Deep Sleep May Act as the Fountain of Youth in Old Age”. One of the researchers was quoted as stating, “Nearly every disease killing us in later life has a causal link to lack of sleep. We’ve done a good job of extending life span, but a poor job of extending our health span. We now see sleep, and improving sleep, as a new pathway for helping remedy that.”
While I don’t disagree with these sentiments I would take it a step further and state… nearly every disease killing us earlier and later in life has a casual link to lack of sleep.
It might just be my delusional opinion but it seems as though observing the natural world is quite important when a person is looking to optimize their sleep patterns. If we strip away all the modern aspects of life and imagine ourselves as “cave people”, we can assume that when the sun sets, the only light available would be provided by the moon and stars (assuming we haven’t created a source of fire by then). This would equate to very low light conditions that obviously changes our EEG patterns which equate with specific hormonal/neurotransmitter release that coincide with sedation. If we break this natural occurrence by exposing ourselves to lights following the sunset, we break the patterns of the natural world. This is even more extreme when we shove our faces into a “blue screen” (cell phone, television, computer) minutes before we attempt to fall asleep. There are many studies showcasing the effects of blue light on pineal gland function and circadian disruption.
I understand that in this modern world, it would be deemed a bit unrealistic to turn off all the lights and refrain from electronic usage once the sun has set. However, I propose (based on my own experiences) that you provide at least 45 minutes of low-light conditions prior to your desired sleep time. Example: you would ideally like to sleep at 9pm so beginning at 8:15pm, you refrain from bright light exposure, computer, television, and phone usage. This “runway” will allow your body to adjust properly and allow it to transition into the sleep state.
Many “biohackers” (not sure what that really means) seem to embrace the use of blue-blocker/dark tinted glasses as a way to use electronic devices during the evening to nullify the ill effects of blue light. While they provide some benefits, it is the mental/emotional stimulation experienced from these devices that also have effects that must be taken into consideration. The best glasses in the world won’t alleviate cortisol surges from engaging in arguments on social media.
Tips: Try your bests to block out any and all light in your sleeping quarters. I’m referring to any and all sources of light including small ones like the blinking of a surge protector. If you utilize a Wi-fi router for internet, unplug it during the night and/or move it as far away from where you lay your head as possible. Electric blankets are also a big “no no”.
Pro-tip: If you have given yourself 45 minutes of electronic free time prior to sleep and have blocked out all light sources just prior… and you’re still having problems falling asleep, I’d suggest increasing the amount of time without electronics and integrating some audio stimulus. The YouTube channel titled “NuMeditationMusic” provides hundreds of free audio tracks for relaxation… something akin to a baby’s lullaby (for adults). If the music by itself doesn’t help, then your next step is to integrate guided meditations and hypnosis tracks to help you sleep. There are many excellent ones found on YouTube for free.
(There are some highly rated natural supplements available on the market but I won’t go into supplementation tips until the very end of this piece.)
2. Shitting
On Monday I think that sleeping is the most important thing in terms of your health. On Tuesday I think that shitting is the most important thing in terms of your health.
I flip flop on these two points but in reality, they are both equally important as foundations to any person’s health. A person who doesn’t sleep well and doesn’t shit well is on the fast track to developing “disease” of various kinds.
The question is… how do you know if you are shitting well?
It boils down to the size of your bowel movements in relation to your food intake, the frequency of your movements, and the shape of them. Without getting too graphic, if you have large movements with good shape (thickness) and minimal effort… that is considered ideal. Anything that deviates from this could be considered an issue. Sleep quality, diet composition, and respiratory patterns/stress all have a direct impact on inflammatory levels of the gut and your subsequent ability to defecate. The longer your shitting deviates from being optimal, the greater the “issue” that is building up and could be a sign of B-12 deficiency (liver integrity) among other things.
In general you should be able to gauge how much you are defecating in relation to how much food you intake. If you eat pancakes & eggs for breakfast, a hamburger & fries for lunch, and steak & potatoes for dinner while you only shit out a few pebbles the next day… chances are you’re building up impacted feces as well as lymphatic stagnation/congestion. This is an extreme example but lesser versions of this can take place constantly which leads to a myriad of systemic health complications.
Tip: If you are currently having irregular bowel movements, shapes, and straining, I’d look into utilizing the Vitamin C flush protocol I outlined in the piece “DC Shift Reset”. This protocol basically utilizes Vitamin C as a laxative and fiber to provide bulk in an attempt to reshape and purge the digestive tract. You might need to do multiple Vitamin C flushes and combine them with liquid fasting in order to get your bowel movements in order.
The liver is the key organ in regulating cholesterol levels in the body and converting it to bile. Bile is critical to digestion and the absorption of nutrients in the small intestines. A 1973 study published in Science observed that Vitamin C controls cholesterol transformation to bile acids in guinea pigs. A 2006 review in the Journal of Chiropractic Medicine compiled data from 51 experimental studies observing an inverse relationship between Vitamin C levels and cholesterol levels in humans.
While I cite dietary influences as the 6th pillar of health, it is obviously intimately intertwined with the quality of your digestion and defecating integrity. The multi-pronged changes in gut motility, inflammation, and residual impaction are obviously quite different when comparing a large green salad & a bowl of fruit compared to a cheeseburger, french fries, and a strawberry milkshake. I respect the intellect of you readers enough to not be compelled to “convince” you all that junky food equates to a pretty unoptimized gut environment.
The whole “calorie in, calorie out” mentality is severely outdated and an overly simplistic thought process.
(An image example of spastic contractions coinciding with “IBS”)
A recent 2017 study published in the journal Nature observed that older African Killifish that consumed microbes of younger fish extended their lifespan by 37%. While this study has yet to be replicated in humans, it alludes to the fact that we are just beginning to understand the importance of a healthy gut in terms of lifespan, quality, and immunity.
3. Respiration Rate
It took me quite a while to grasp the significance of maintaining an optimal respiratory pattern during our waking state. It’s something we take for granted as we don’t consciously monitor our breathing yet we still remain alive. However, the main question is… are we living alive optimally?
You’re reading this right now and I can already tell that you are breathing sporadically. Your breathing rhythm is not deep or relaxed on a consistent basis.
What’s the big deal you say?
Well… the body will always find a way to maintain homeostasis and in order to keep the blood in optimal parameters, it will utilize the various tools at it’s disposal. The lungs generally provide the quickest and strongest buffering tool in the body. However, when our respiration rate is less than optimal, our body will utilize the various buffering organs such as the pancreas and kidneys to maintain pH homeostasis. Forcing these organs to engage in unnecessary activities due to inadequate respiration rhythm seems like a sub optimal and inefficient endeavor.
This also includes the fact that keeping your body chronically under-oxygenated with elevated CO2 loads likely induces changes in genetic expression that could equate with “disease”.
A 2017 study published in the journal Nature revealed a new discovery regarding lung function in mice (and likely humans). The study revealed that the lungs play a key role in blood production generating more than 10 million platelets per hour. This equates to the majority of platelets in circulation which goes against the long-held belief that bone marrow produces all of our blood components. The researchers also discovered that a previously unknown pool of blood stem cells generates the platelets inside the lung tissue. These cells were incorrectly assumed to mainly reside in bone marrow until this recent discovery.
A 2017 study published in Science found the definitive calming effect from slow, rhythmic respiration rates in mice. The study would outline the parts of the brain that were effected by altered respiratory function. On the flip side a 2009 study published in the journal Cell observed that increased carbon dioxide levels in the blood can lead to increased anxiety and elicit a fear response coinciding with stress hormone release. Shallow breathing and overeating directly lead to increased carbon dioxide levels.
A 1994 study in the European Journal of Applied Physiological and Occupational Physiology observed that voluntary hyperventilation for 20 minutes increased white blood cell (WBC) and thrombocyte levels in adult humans. White blood cells are key cells of the immune system involved in protecting the body against infectious disease. While WBC’s have long been cited to be produced and derived from hematopoietic stem cells in the bone marrow, the recent study in Nature alludes to the fact that WBC’s are likely produced in lung tissue as well.
While these handful of studies give an overview of the importance of the lungs and respiration rates, in no way does it attempt to summarize the virtually infinite changes that take place systemically from altered breathing patterns. From changing one’s own hormonal secretion via altered EEG patterns to generating CSF movement and production… breathing plays a critical role in virtually every system of the body.
I believe this video offers an easy starting point with which to calibrate your constant breath depth and rhythm throughout the day. It’s based on averaging about 6 relatively deep breaths per minute.
While it will undoubtedly be a challenge at first to maintain this respiration depth and rate consistently throughout the day, it provides a glimpse of the distinct differences between your “normal” respiration rate and an optimal one. I’d suggest start slow by doing mundane tasks (vacuuming, cutting fruit, etc.) while attempting to maintain this 6 breaths per minute pattern.
As outlined in the piece titled “DC Shift Reset”, there are a handful of studies (1,2,3) showcasing a relationship between gastrointestinal activity, obesity, and lung capacity. While I segmented this article into sections addressing a perspective on health optimization, you might begin to understand that no section is truly that separate from the other.
(I speculate that prolonged respiratory cycles during sleep provides stimulatory effects for gastrointestinal lymphatic fluid movement. Without this prolonged breath cycle, there could be a lessening of the lymph flow leading to stagnation and subsequent inflammation.)
Sleep affects gastrointestinal inflammation… gastrointestinal inflammation affects respiratory function… and respiratory rates affect hormonal secretion/stress levels which affect gastrointestinal function and inflammation. This is why I find it a little disconcerting that our modern medical system is comprised of specialists that do not seem to apply their knowledge in a fluid, systemic manner.
4. Environmental Exposure
The environment comprises of everything outside of the body and everything that comes in contact with the body via the 5 senses (6 or more if you’re esoterically inclined).
Air quality is considered a key environmental factor that plays a definitive role on a person’s health. This includes the air outside of the home dwelling (with which we have limited to no control over) and inside the home (where we do have some control over). I don’t know if dust masks provide any protection when you are in public. However, the air quality inside your home is something that you do have some control over (generally depending on the overall quality directly outside of the home). It’d seem as though a combination of plants and air purifiers might offer some help.
Water quality might be one of the most important and overlooked aspects of environmental exposure. This comprises of the water we use to take a shower, cook, and drink. The water source with which you shower with is very key as the skin is the largest organ of the body and is capable of absorbing whatever particulates are in the water. This could be magnified when a heat element (hot shower) is utilized. A recent report by Reuters found that thousands of places have been verified to be distributing water quality worse than that seen in the Flint, Michigan debacle. While a reverse osmosis filter for your shower water would be optimal… they are also expensive and cumbersome. By comparison a shower filter is relatively cheap and easy to install alongside offering some help in water purification. You can also get your water tested utilizing a kit. I’d suggest keeping your showers as short as possible using only lukewarm water.
Electromagnetic fields are invisible to the naked eye (in an average state of consciousness) but that hardly means they don’t exist. There are numerous studies showcasing the effects of EMF on cellular function and disruption. Unfortunately due to technological advances, humans are literally exposed to an ocean of EMF based on wifi signals, cell phone towers, and satellite signals. It is generally inevitable but one of the main keys is to do your best to alleviate EMF exposure while you sleep. Ideally you want your Wifi router, smart meter, and electronic devices away from your bed as you sleep.
Sunlight has been vilified for many years with a misunderstood relationship with skin cancer. This piece will not delve into the details of why I believe it to be a vastly misconstrued link proposed between sun exposure and health risks. While I don’t believe that exposing oneself to the sun until you are burnt to a crisp offers any health benefits, I do believe that daily sun exposure is key in providing metabolic stability and optimization. Using basic logic and judgement would be key in this situation with short time frames (10-15 minutes) of sun basking utilized initially during morning and sunset hours. Once your body has adjusted to receiving sunlight you can prolong these sessions accordingly. I don’t see much use for sunscreen from a basic adaptive biological level perspective.
The type of noise you expose yourself to has a definitive impact on your EEG activity which ultimately has a measurable effect on hormonal secretion. The music you listen to would obviously be intertwined with this perspective so choose your music accordingly.
Smell and scents are overlooked in many regards in terms of wellness. However, there are many studies showcasing the EEG changes based on exposure to essential oils and aromatherapy. This leads me to believe that this is an overlooked yet important input to the body. If there lies scents that provide beneficial aspects to a person there lies the probability that there are scents that are detrimental as well.
Any products that touches your skin including clothes, cosmetic/hair products, your mouth (including root canals/amalgams), deodorant, and the bed you sleep on has the ability to affect your biology based on chronic exposure. This is not about developing hypochondriac-like tendencies but more so about being aware of factors than can affect your well-being and adjusting your exposure based on your current status.
5. Stress
Maintaining a breathing pattern of 6 breaths per minute based on the video above will provide optimized brain chemistry in order to cope with stressful environments. Stress and breathing patterns are intimately intertwined so being conscious of retaining an optimized respiratory style is of utmost importance in terms of stress alleviation.
In many cases, stressful environments are virtually unavoidable as a person’s occupation encompasses the majority of their waking hours. While extreme cases might warrant switching occupations, in many cases how we handle the stress is the most important factor. Creating a healthy foundation via good digestion/defecation, high quality sleep, conscious breathing, a nutritious diet, and full body movement exercises will allow you to better cope with highly stressful environments. By contrast… constant “happy hour” tendencies, anxiety based eating, ambien-induced sleeping, and chronic “panic” breathing provide an internal environment ripe for systemic malfunction.
6. Diet
Vegetarian, Raw Vegan, Paleo, Caveman, Atkins, Mediterranean… these are all terms that some of you might be aware of in your quest to attain optimized health. It seems as though each type of diet has their devoted set of followers claiming that their diet is the one and only optimal one for top notch well being.
If these diets are so different from one another… how can this be?
Maybe the effectiveness of these diets is the ultimate placebo effect?
To be honest, I’m not a huge fan of giving dietary advice being that there is such a polarization in terms of “right” and “wrong”. However, I can provide some general guidelines which might serve as general parameters.
A. Liquids
Avoid drinking anything other than high quality, purified water (there’s much debate about the optimal type of water… reverse osmosis, structured, distilled, spring), high quality tea, and/or freshly pressed/blended vegetable & fruit juices. No pasteurized juices, sodas, coffee, alcohol, or dairy.
B. Real Food
Avoid eating anything processed as much as possible… example: potato chips, candy, cookies, pastries, hot dogs, and anything deep fried. Focus on foods you must “process” yourself such as whole vegetables, fruits, legumes, nuts, and a limited amount of meat (preferably fish or chicken).
C. Vegetables
50% of your diet from vegetables with 50% of it cooked & 50% of it raw (salads/juices/smoothies).
D. The Balance
Split the remaining 50% of your diet between fruits, meat, nuts, and any other type of ‘whole food’ you enjoy.
E. Timing
Meal timing should be based on your desire to eat (only if you are sleeping and shitting well). Eating out of habit or anxiety… or worse yet because you are told to eat 3 meals a day with snacks in between is a ludicrous notion.
These are general guidelines but obviously modern lifestyles of happy hour and hamburgers are part of the “American way”. I’d state that if you feel generally well, use these 5 points as general guidelines but if you are not feeling well, abide by these 5 points a bit stricter.
An example of an effective transitional diet for the average person who has long dined on processed food is as follows:
Week #1: Your first meal (breakfast) will consist of… 32 ounces of a juice smoothie consisting of carrot juice, lemon juice, apple juice, and blending in lettuce/kale. Limit all other liquids to high quality, purified water and organic sources of tea. Eat whatever you like for the rest of the day.
Week#2: Repeat the same breakfast and type of liquid restrictions. Eat whatever you want throughout the rest of the day but include 2 cups of steamed green vegetables (spinach, broccoli, bok choy, etc.) with each meal.
Week#3: Repeat everything from week 2 except instead of 2 cups of steamed green vegetables, include 4-5 cups of steamed vegetables with each meal. Also add the equivalent of 2 cups of your favorite fruit (banana is an herb not a fruit) anytime during the day.
I’ve witnessed this type of transitional diet to be very effective in changing the palate of long-time chunk food aficionados. By the end of the third week, something “clicks” and their body and taste buds actually begin to enjoy the vegetable consumption while craving junk subsides. Over time the transition becomes more pronounced and the shift is in motion…
I think it’s important to note that a whole food, vegan diet can differ tremendously from a vegetarian diet. Traditionally speaking, a vegetarian diet can encompass any food that simply isn’t derived from animal source. This could include items such as french fries, oreos, potato chips, sodas, alcohol, pastries, cookies… you get the point. That’s quite different than a person who consumes salads, fruits, steamed vegetables, and juice/smoothies.
For those that might not be aware… there are plenty of legitimate studies and reviews showcasing the positive effects of integrating a whole, plant-based diet into a person’s lifestyle: High Blood Pressure (1, 2, 3, 4, 5), Diabetes (1, 2, 3, 4, 5), Arthritis (1, 2, 3, 4), Cancer (1 & 2).
Tip: Upon waking, drink 16 ounces of water and avoid late night snacking as it can disrupt your sleeping. The main emphasis regarding any meal plan you want to devise comprises of eating less not more. Gluttony is within itself immensely unhealthy and I’ve seen people who ate less than “healthy” retain longevity based on limiting consumption altogether.
7. Movement
I don’t use the word exercise as it’s a term that is limiting in my view. Movement comprises of moving the body in various manners including strength training, cardiovascular/circulatory exertion, and stretching.
Unless you’re a professional athlete, I don’t believe that prolonged forms of exertion provide many benefits to the body. If you are currently experiencing moderate to severe health complications, strenuous exercise should be avoided altogether. In regards to optimizing one’s health in terms of strength training… whole body exercises such as burpees, dips, push-ups, pull-ups, sit-ups, squats, and lunges provide plenty of resistance and benefits. These movements encourage the flow of lymphatic fluid throughout the body which is beneficial to removing stagnant waste throughout the system.
For cardiovascular/circulatory exertion I believe that 20 minutes is enough time to push your body to a manageable level of strain. Jogging, running, swimming, elliptical machine, cycling, and rowing can all provide enough strain to help increase circulatory efficiency.
Stretching has long been associated with disciplines such as Yoga. There appears to be a scientific basis to this based on cortical homonculus properties in which a neuron in the brain correlates with a specific pixel in the body. Utilizing stretching and the holding of those stretches coupled with 5 or 6 deep breaths seems to help release tension points throughout the body that appear to correlate with specific parts of the brain.
These 7 points are what I believe to be key in terms of a fairly unequivocal foundation for health. If implemented in the proper order I do believe they provide an effective, safe way to provide an optimized health plan for the average person. Through observation I have noticed a tendency for many medical and healthcare practitioners to equate the amount of exercise and dietary restrictions with the perception of a “healthy” lifestyle. Unfortunately I believe this to be a fallacy if the rest of the points are not in order especially as it pertains to exercise.
A person who doesn’t sleep well, has chronic digestive issues, is consistently exposed to environmental toxins, and is consistently under a lot of stress can be put in a potentially dangerous situation if they begin exercising vigorously in an attempt to become “healthy”. They would be much better off if they stabilized themselves for at least 5 to 6 weeks ensuring their foundation provided the base to exercise moderately. There is a reason that exercise is the last concept of health on this list…
There have been many a person who “looked” tremendously “fit” but ended up dying suddenly due to underlying conditions. In many of these cases, the person’s diet was considered “optimal” further confounding the medical establishment. When looking past the surface concepts of health (diet and exercise), in many cases the culprit or combination of culprits could be identified clearly based on the other pillars of health cited above.
(George Burns was a famous comedian who lived to 100 years of age and was well known for being a cigar aficionado. Burns would also reportedly indulge in alcohol and rich foods. The “George Burns Argument” is utilized by much of the public as “proof” that longevity and health are simply genetic or luck of the draw. While “surface logic” perspective might appear to validate this notion, a deeper look might offer some answers. While we cannot decipher how well Burns defecated on a regular basis, from numerous newspaper clippings dating back to the 1960s it seems as though he did make it a priority to nap regularly during the day. Based on vintage photographs of Burns it also didn’t appear that he was gluttonous in terms of his food consumption as he maintained a small frame throughout his life. Being a life-long comedian would undoubtedly play a significant role in his hormonal balance based on the constant exposure to humorous material. In essence, it wouldn’t be overly surprising to see a person that slept well, napped regularly, maintained low stress hormone levels, laughed alot, and avoided over indulging in rich foods to be able to retain longevity. While much of this is speculation, it’s also speculative to assume Burns smoked 15 cigars a day, ate a T-bone steak every night, and drank vodka martinis until he passed out regularly. There is so much we do not know about famous people so to use them as examples in arguments for or against something is rather primitive. Nevertheless here is a famous quote from Burns and something to contemplate… “The difference between a good performance and a great performance is a nap.”)
(In a thought process similar to “The George Burns Argument” lies the “Steve Jobs Argument”. In regards to Jobs… many people will state that he is proof that utilizing alternative treatments to reverse cancer is simply not effective. It’s been well documented that Jobs’ diet was largely vegetarian based. From a narrow perspective, the failure of his diet to address his disease provides enough evidence for some to state that diet has no bearing on longevity. However, when the lifestyle of Jobs is analyzed utilizing the 7 pillars outlined above, it seems as though sleep, stress, environmental exposure, and possibly respiratory patterns were far from optimal. He was known to have quite an aggressive attitude which leads me to speculate that his stress hormone levels remained elevated for prolonged periods of time. A 2015 article in the tech blog Mashable would outline the fact that Jobs was extremely over-stressed when he was the CEO of 2 companies (Apple/Pixar) simultaneously. He even mentioned in his biography that this situation might have played a role in him developing and dying from pancreatic cancer. Much like Burns there is much speculation regarding the daily regimen of celebrities but to attribute Jobs’ death to a lack of efficacy of natural reversal of disease is to be ignorant of the layers that constitute wellness. There is no diet in the world that will overcome the destruction of a chronic high-stress, sleep deprived lifestyle. In the same exact vein there is no chemotherapy, surgery, radiation, or pharmaceutical option that will overcome the destructive nature of this same lifestyle. By now it should be relatively clear that wellness is multi-pronged and multi-layered.)
Glutathione is considered to be an essential antioxidant produced within the body and utilized by virtually every cell. There are hundreds of studies supporting the notion that a deficiency in glutathione correlates with a sub-par internal environment and disease while elevated levels coincide with longevity. If a person is not entirely healthy there is the potentiality that they are already glutathione deficient so it should be noted that prolonged, strenuous exercise further depletes glutathione levels temporarily. A 2017 study in the journal Free Radical Research observed that acute intense exercise induces increased reactive oxygen species and inflammation in the liver. This puts an unhealthy person at risk of suffering a heart attack, stroke, or developing blood clots.
Melatonin is also an endogenously produced antioxidant that serves to benefit the body. As we’ve touched upon in the past at DMT Quest, while the mainstream perspective is that melatonin levels are circadian based, we believe that they are predominantly EEG based. Adding to the fact that melatonin is a regulator of glutathione only adds to the importance of maintaining a proper respiratory pattern to generate the proper EEG state to optimize melatonin levels throughout the day which subsequently optimizes glutathione levels.
Yes… there are many pieces to the puzzle.
Supplementation
While I believe that supplementation can be very useful in certain, specific situations, I prefer to utilize them as infrequent as possible for various reasons. One of those reasons is that it perpetuates our societal habitual tendencies to “pop pills” for wellness. Secondly… there is a cost associated in going down the rabbit hole of supplements. I’ve seen first hand people spend upwards of $500 a month or more on various supplements while discarding the rest of the foundation of health with very limited results.
The formal definition of the word supplement is something that completes or enhances something else when added to it. Unfortunately it feels like many people misinterpret the meaning of supplements as supplants.
In any case, here are a list of supplements that I feel might add some definitive benefits if you are finding some difficulties especially with sleep.
Driftoff by Zhou Nutrition
ZMA-5 by SNAC
Sleep Remedy by Doc Parsley
Thyroid Support by Zhou Nutrition
UP4 Probiotics by UAS Labs
Organic Whole Psyllium Husk by Organic India
Liposomal Glutathione by LivOn Laboratories
Liposomal Vitamin C by LivOn Laboratories
If you’ve tried some Vitamin C flushes and still cannot seem to get a proper bowel movement rhythm going, it might be worth looking into getting a temporary series of B-12 injections. Peristalsis is the “involuntary constriction and relaxation of the muscles of the intestine or another canal, creating wavelike movements that push the contents of the canal forward”. B-12 deficiency has been indirectly correlated with irregularities in peristaltic function in the intestines. Groupon (search “B12 injections”) usually features many holistic clinics that offer B12 shots. I have found that oral B-12 simply does not have the timely impact that intramuscular injections offer.
I tried to keep this piece as succinct and as straight-forward as possible. The human body is infinitely complex but it doesn’t necessarily mean that optimizing one’s health has to be. In certain cases of severe health malfunctions I can see were the use of IV therapies, near infrared saunas, enemas/colonics, osteopathic adjustments, acupuncture, oxygen chambers, specialized supplementation (enzymes, minerals, herbs, vitamins), and various electromagnetic based treatments would offer assistance on top of the foundation presented above. In fact, if the situation were really bad I would extend many of the pillars further including prolonged nightly sleep of 10 hours or more, napping throughout the day, strict exposure to meditative/relaxing music, virtually no exposure to blue light, prolonged focus of maintaining a respiratory pattern of 6 breaths per minute, sponge bathing with distilled water, a diet consisting of 70 to 80% vegetables, and being extremely conscious of any potentially harmful environmental exposures listed above.
If anyone were to question the “science-based” effectiveness of what has been laid out thus far… simply have them do the opposite for 3 weeks and see how they feel following that time frame. Have them sleep for 4 hours per night, spend the majority of their waking hours stressed out in front of a blue screen, eat hamburgers, french fries, and a milkshake for lunch everyday while drinking alcohol at night.
Unfortunately this proposed lifestyle isn’t that different than what many Americans experience on a constant basis.
And we wonder why there is an ever increasing health crisis taking place today… and NO it’s not a genetic problem which is a severely outdated theory these days.
PS. Having outlined my perspective on the pillars of what would constitute the foundation for good health, it is somewhat self explanatory why I would question the use of something like chemotherapy, radiation, or any singularly proposed pathway towards wellness. If none of these “medicines” address gastrointestinal integrity, sleep optimization, melatonin levels, glutathione levels, alleviating stress, respiratory function, nutritional optimization, or lymphatic flow maximization… what is the comprehensive pathway with which wellness is expected to be realized? There is also the emerging field of “immunotherapy” that is touted to be the next innovative aspect of cancer treatment that is described as using our body’s own immune system to help fight cancer. Like we covered in the beginning… if the majority of the immune system is located in the gastrointestinal tract… what are the exact mechanisms with which “immunotherapy” will address digestive integrity, lymphatic flow, nutrient absorption, gut motility, and fecal impaction? If “immunotherapy” fails to positively stimulate changes across all those parameters, I fail to see the thought process of how it would work in reality regardless of how many PhD’s, MD’s, CBD’s, and MckeyD’s tout it as the future of medicine. If stimulating immune system response comprises of concepts such as stimulating white blood cell production and increasing melatonin/gluathione levels… is it absolutely crazy to believe that what we’ve outlined above offers a form of natural, endogenous immunotherapy?
E-mail me at dmtquest@gmail.com with any comments or questions. You can also follow us at Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter.