Last year I discovered self-help guru Tony Robbins - a guy whom I like to describe as the *mind over matter* dude.
Many people no doubt scoff at Robbins, the *informercial* guy from the late 90s but I just read another of his books - Unlimited Power : The New Science Of Personal Achievement - and came across some fascinating heath/body stuff that I'd never read before.
Ever hear of *food combining"? I certainly hadn't. It's a digestive theory that asserts certain foods (e.g. meat and potatoes) shouldn't be eaten at the same time because some necessitate a stomach acid for proper digestion....while some foods demand a stomach base (alkali?) for proper digestion. For example, the American staple combo of meat and potatoes is to be avoided.
Why? Because the acid and bases supposedly neutralize each other and make your body work harder to digest.....leading to bloating (ever felt that???) and other stomach issues (*out of your brains* farting!) In his book Robbins even said that eating a ton of incompatible sh*t food can even lead to a bad night's sleep if you eat late and your body is working overtime (several hours) to digest while you are sleeping.
I'm sure that those overweight doctors and the medical establishment have a study that debunks this....
BUT if anyone has stomach issues they'd be crazy not to experiment with separating their foods according to this *quack* theory. I myself don't think I have but am willing to give it a whirl and see what happens.
There's also a snippet in the book about the lymph system, body cell waste products, and proper breathing.
Now I myself have been unable to stop shallow, mouth-breathing for quite a while now. But Tony has a method that seems to be clicking with me. Breathe in deeply, hold your breath for 4-times as long, and then breathe out slowly for twice as long as your inhaled. When I do this....I can really feel the inhale get deep down into my stomach.
Okay we're still here on the beach (Ocean City, NJ)....and I just missed the sunrise writing this post. As my son would say, "WHAT AN EPIC FAIL!!!"
See also:
Moronic Respiration
Breathe-Right?
6 comments:
The gracies of brazilian Ju-jitsu fame are also proponents of food combining.
Food combining was popularized by Herbert Shelton of the Hygeniec movement in the early part of the 20th century. The Hygenic movement was valid in theory - which was that the body should be able to heal itself and stay healthy through proper eating and rest. No stimulants, drugs or even "natural" treatments chiropractic allowed.
It failed in reality because Shelton and followers were heavily vegetarian/fruitarian (and died of Parkinsons - no fat diet, go figure). Shelton was even nominated for president on the Vegetarian Party ticket.
Food combining has never been validated through scientific study, that I know of, and some modern health theorists (Ray Peat for example) decry it.
But, anecdotally, my parents pursued it for a while (without the vegetarian/fruitarian overtones) and the summer we strictly practiced it was the summer I felt better than any other time. After a couple months I noticed a complete absence of those little aches and pains, headaches and stomach discomforts that plague us all from time to time. Then I went back to college and they gradually returned :-)
Literary note, Gene Stratton Porter discusses food combining in her book "Keeper of the Bees".
Oops : Shelton died of Parkinsons - not all his followers (that I know of anyway).
The Vegetarian Party ticket???
Hah!
Eating healthy can be a LOT OF WORK - a major pain in the butt.
On many levels it's a lot easier to direct that energy at exercise, methinks.
The anti-dairy propaganda is tough to dismiss (in Tony's book). Nobody really questions why *milk is good* in much the same way no one ever questions if *school is necessary*.
I've tried the healthy eating regimen a few times....but it didn't take. I'll keep trying though.
Anon,
The only Brazilians I'm familiar with...are a couple (smokin' hot) cleaning ladies!
the whole point of being white is that we're lactose tolerant.
Food combining makes a certain amount of sense, though so do a lot of the other fads that have come and gone. Meat and potatoes works for me.
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