A martial arts instructor of mine recently introduced me to Daoism and Daoist philosophy, and Ive become fascinated with this dietary school of thought known as Trophology.
Trophology, in short, is the science of food combining for the goal of absorbing the maximum amount of energy from food with the minimal amount of digestive strain. Secondary to this, is the idea that any and all health related conditions can be prevented and / or cured by strict adherence to the rules of trophology, and furthermore, the further one strays from these rules the further one risks health ailments from colds to cancer.
Other similar schools of thought are the Gerson theory, Ayurvedic mecidine, and the philosophy of Hippocrates.
The Daoist dietary philosophy relates to contemporary Paleo Diet theory as well. Cooked foods are minimized, meat is drastically reduced (relative to most Western diets), everything is organic, vegetables are the most common elements, and raw and fresh are the primary focus. The reason being is that raw foods contain their own enzymes for digestion, which allows the work done by our complex digestive system to be lessened, which leads to faster and far more saturated levels of nutrient absorption, which in turn leads to a healthy body. The consequences of imbalance in food groups, such as excess nutrient poor and enzyme-less processed food, meat, pasteurized products, refined grains, and chemical preservatives leads to imbalances of digestive enzyme production by the body, excess production of unnecessary stomach acids, purification of undigested food in the bowels, poor health of the various digestive organs, and imbalances in other bodily systems like metabolism, production of proteins and cellular repair, immuno defense, etc. Its long been theorized that the body has its own natural defenses against cancer as well, and these sort of diets claim they can eliminate most of the risk, save for exposure to the ceaseless amounts of damaging elements in complex urban societies.
Ive been doing a diet like this for a few months now. First and foremost, its extremely difficult for a Westerner with an appetite fiercer than the barbarians at Romes gate. Ive had to maintain disciplines ive never known, and deny myself anything resembling "comfort food" altogether. So by that, you can imagine, that Western diets are about as in violation of the laws of trophology as can possibly be.
The results, however, are astounding. Meditating in the morning allows me to gather such resources of energy, I dont even need coffee anymore (I used to drink about 120-150mg caffeine every day). Its sometimes like that feeling you get on just the right amount of acid, where youre conscious of every single cell in your body, just for moments. Ill admit i still drink tea and coffee cuz I freggin love em and thats that, but I dont depend on them to start my day as I used to. I have unbelievable stamina now, and honestly feel a stronger sense of mental clarity most of the time. Knock on wood, I havent had a cold in close to a year. I can train about 2x as much/harder during the week as I used to.
Ive always keen to any theory that civilization is harmful to humans and the Earth, and have a wild spirit inside me that wants to just live in the jungle all the time. Dieting like this is hard, ESPECIALLY IF CANNABIS IS PART OF YOUR LIFESTYLE, but if you feel your body after a few weeks of it, you feel like a tiger all day. Its amazing how much we weigh ourselves down by neglecting dietary sciences, but most of the contemporary dietary theories out there dont take into consideration a few simple things; That our digestive system has been evolving in our phylogenetic path for millions and millions of years, and adapting to millions of years of a pre-civilization Earth, our closest relatives have had 4 or 5 million years of adapting their diets to a pre-civilization Earth, our particular species many hundred thousands of years, and our modern bodies only have had about 12,000 years to adapt to the phenomenon known as "Agriculture," about 60 years to adapt to chemistry and industry in modern food, and only just a few years of adapting to genetically modified foods. Despite what Republicans tout on TV, the USA has some of the worst, if not all of the worst, health problems in the developed world. A few weeks outside of the typical menu can really open your eyes to the way your body was intended to be.
But holy shit, I want to eat a 12oz beef burger with melted cheddar, pickles, tomatoes, lettuce, onion, whole what bun, thick ass steak fries, ketchup and mayo so fucking bad. Thats the first thing im doing right after my next tournament, gonna be like dope.
Anyone ever explored Trophology?
Trophology, in short, is the science of food combining for the goal of absorbing the maximum amount of energy from food with the minimal amount of digestive strain. Secondary to this, is the idea that any and all health related conditions can be prevented and / or cured by strict adherence to the rules of trophology, and furthermore, the further one strays from these rules the further one risks health ailments from colds to cancer.
Other similar schools of thought are the Gerson theory, Ayurvedic mecidine, and the philosophy of Hippocrates.
The Daoist dietary philosophy relates to contemporary Paleo Diet theory as well. Cooked foods are minimized, meat is drastically reduced (relative to most Western diets), everything is organic, vegetables are the most common elements, and raw and fresh are the primary focus. The reason being is that raw foods contain their own enzymes for digestion, which allows the work done by our complex digestive system to be lessened, which leads to faster and far more saturated levels of nutrient absorption, which in turn leads to a healthy body. The consequences of imbalance in food groups, such as excess nutrient poor and enzyme-less processed food, meat, pasteurized products, refined grains, and chemical preservatives leads to imbalances of digestive enzyme production by the body, excess production of unnecessary stomach acids, purification of undigested food in the bowels, poor health of the various digestive organs, and imbalances in other bodily systems like metabolism, production of proteins and cellular repair, immuno defense, etc. Its long been theorized that the body has its own natural defenses against cancer as well, and these sort of diets claim they can eliminate most of the risk, save for exposure to the ceaseless amounts of damaging elements in complex urban societies.
Ive been doing a diet like this for a few months now. First and foremost, its extremely difficult for a Westerner with an appetite fiercer than the barbarians at Romes gate. Ive had to maintain disciplines ive never known, and deny myself anything resembling "comfort food" altogether. So by that, you can imagine, that Western diets are about as in violation of the laws of trophology as can possibly be.
The results, however, are astounding. Meditating in the morning allows me to gather such resources of energy, I dont even need coffee anymore (I used to drink about 120-150mg caffeine every day). Its sometimes like that feeling you get on just the right amount of acid, where youre conscious of every single cell in your body, just for moments. Ill admit i still drink tea and coffee cuz I freggin love em and thats that, but I dont depend on them to start my day as I used to. I have unbelievable stamina now, and honestly feel a stronger sense of mental clarity most of the time. Knock on wood, I havent had a cold in close to a year. I can train about 2x as much/harder during the week as I used to.
Ive always keen to any theory that civilization is harmful to humans and the Earth, and have a wild spirit inside me that wants to just live in the jungle all the time. Dieting like this is hard, ESPECIALLY IF CANNABIS IS PART OF YOUR LIFESTYLE, but if you feel your body after a few weeks of it, you feel like a tiger all day. Its amazing how much we weigh ourselves down by neglecting dietary sciences, but most of the contemporary dietary theories out there dont take into consideration a few simple things; That our digestive system has been evolving in our phylogenetic path for millions and millions of years, and adapting to millions of years of a pre-civilization Earth, our closest relatives have had 4 or 5 million years of adapting their diets to a pre-civilization Earth, our particular species many hundred thousands of years, and our modern bodies only have had about 12,000 years to adapt to the phenomenon known as "Agriculture," about 60 years to adapt to chemistry and industry in modern food, and only just a few years of adapting to genetically modified foods. Despite what Republicans tout on TV, the USA has some of the worst, if not all of the worst, health problems in the developed world. A few weeks outside of the typical menu can really open your eyes to the way your body was intended to be.
But holy shit, I want to eat a 12oz beef burger with melted cheddar, pickles, tomatoes, lettuce, onion, whole what bun, thick ass steak fries, ketchup and mayo so fucking bad. Thats the first thing im doing right after my next tournament, gonna be like dope.
Anyone ever explored Trophology?
