Review: Ancient Secret Of The Fountain Of Youth By Peter Kelder

I’m so impressed with this little book that I feel obligated to introduce it to you. It’s a small book of a 100 pages or so, no frills. The simplicity and its longevity (the current version was first published in 1985. It says the book was first published in the 1930s) show there is something remarkable about the book.

I’m often disappointed with books that come with so many frills. Quite often, the latter half of the book is a rehash of the first half so I can just scan through quickly once I read 50 to 60% of the book. It leaves me wondering why the author had to do this — if you only have material to fill 100 pages, write 100 pages and be done with it. Making it to 200 pages by being redundant doesn’t add any more value.

So when this book got right to the point that this is about toning the seven chakras and raising their speed, and immediately went to the business of explaining the five rites (yoga-like exercises), I was impressed. I took out my exercise mat just as fast.

The five rites (well, there are additional two if you want to become what the author calls “superman / superwoman”) are simple. The author maintains they are of Tibetan origin. I’m doing the three repetitions of each as the book recommends. The goal is to do twenty-one reps of each, which probably takes about twenty minutes or so. They are not difficult, although some takes a bit of getting use to.

You can read this book in a few hours. But of course, the “secret” is in doing the thing every day. Try it for yourself.

And if you have tried this, let me know what you think. Did it help you improve health and rejuvenate? What do you think about physical immortality?

Detox Your Body And Mind

In the previous post Eat For Your Health And Spirituality, I suggested you explore your own best way to eat by consulting with your body. I don’t think it’s a good idea to let someone else — whether they are professional nutritionist or spiritual leader — decide that for you. Because each of us is different. And because you are responsible for your truth. (Of course, this is not just about diet — don’t buy into someone’s else’s truth just because he or she has a nice title or reputation).

Learning from the pros and more experienced people is good, but you make your own final decision.

Now here is one caution in doing so. Are you really free to make your own decision? Or is your decision influenced by internalized ideas and years’ of habits that have taken roots in your body? (Photo credit)

Addictive thinking

Most of us are addicted to certain substances and behaviors. It doesn’t matter if the substance is legal or not (that’s another aspect of the problem) — if you are conditioned to do / eat whether you really want to or not, then you are addicted.

All addiction share one common patten of thinking: It tries to justify itself. Whether your addiction is to drugs, alcohol, sugar, caffeine, or something more specific like hamburgers or fries or chocolate or ice cream, while the substance and the behavior pattern is in you, you are not really making your own decisions. Your addiction is making your decisions.

So, in order to make your own decision, you need to detox yourself. Otherwise, it will be like, “Okay, I’m going to eat meat. Let’s collect all the supporting data that justifies meat eating. Which famous spiritual leaders eat meat? Which nutritionists support meat?” Pretty soon, you do have a very strong argument how wonderful meat is.

My experiment with caffeine

Let me explain by example. I used to drink a small coffee almost every day. I could say I didn’t particularly like coffee, but I was in the habit of going to coffee shops anyway.

To find out if caffeine is really okay or not for me, I decided to stay away from it for a while. In theory, there are both studies that supports caffeine and cautions its negative effects on health. And as long as I keep drinking coffee, I naturally tend to listen to comforting opinion that says caffeine is fine. Further, I have no problem making a long list of famous coffee drinkers who seem to be quite fine.

But none of such things really matter. The best, most fair way to find out my truth with caffeine is to distant myself from it.

If I felt no change without caffeine, at least it’s not doing any wrong. If I felt better without caffeine, then I know caffeine is not good for me. If I felt bad without caffeine, then I need to figure out if it’s withdrawal symptoms or deficiency symptoms.

For withdrawal symptoms to calm down, it usually takes two to four weeks, so I decided to stay away from caffeine at least two weeks. No coffee, no tea, no soda, no chocolate.

Bam. I had horrible headache in the first few days of withdrawal. Then, it cleared like a magic. By the end of two week experiment, I didn’t even think about coffee.

In this case, it was obvious that the initial negative effect was withdrawal symptoms. And if a substance gives withdrawal symptoms, we know it is not good for our physical and emotional health.

How to do find out if a certain food is affecting you or not

So whether it’s meat, dairy, eggs, soy, wheat, sugary foods, or specific junk foods, the best way to find out the true effects of the food on YOU is to stay away from it for at least two weeks. Come on, I’m not saying forever. You can always go back to your old eating habit if you so decide.

Think of it as an experiment, not a diet change.

Now if the food in question is addictive, you are likely to have withdrawal symptoms and cravings. Deal with it one day at a time. It’s only for two weeks. Or you may be ready to go without it, like me waking up to be vegetarian one day, with no cravings or withdrawal symptoms.

Major detox

If you are more ambitious, you might want to do a major detox to cleanse your system. This will reset your overall food preference.

Water fasting would be ideal because it insulates you from all kinds of foods and their effects. Second best would be juice fasting. Third best would be to eat only vegetables with limited amount of carb vegs and fruits. (There is practically zero evidence that low carb vegetables such as greens can have negative effects on our health.)

You might want to use detox supplements like this along with controlling the food intake. Detox bath, such as adding 1 – 2 cups epsom salt, may help, too.

I’m currently doing the third option (eating plant foods only, paired with supplement and occasional detox bath).

What happens when you eat “bad” food when your system is clean

Here is an anecdote you can take amusement from. And a caution.

I ate cheesecake two days ago. I finally completed the draft of my eBook, so I was in a mood for celebration, and . . . my mind led me to cheesecake. Old habit dies hard.

It didn’t taste as good as I though it would. Oh, well.

Next morning, I had terrible stomachache. And embarrassing trips to bathroom. My head felt cloudy, and I had to take a nap afterwards. Ouch!

I didn’t have such a reaction when I was eating dairy often. It means my system is getting clean that even a bit of nasty stuff can cause major results. This is good — this way, my system is protecting itself. But it’s uncomfortable.

(Just to let you know — I know the cheesecake wasn’t spoiled. If it were, my system would have rejected it at the mouth, by automatically spitting it out, or at least at the stomach, by vomiting. I know this because my system does this with most of the fish sold in America or non-organic milk.)

Think about it — if you ingest a slightly toxic substance, which would be an effective way to protect your system, quickly getting rid of it or doing nothing? In the latter, the toxin stays in your system, your liver has to work hard, and still most of the toxins accumulate in your system. (And you may have though I’m the “weak” “sensitive” type. . . the truth is I’m healthier than the people who are okay with compromised foods.)

Detoxing and freeing your mind

The important point is this is not just about physical health. As I said in the beginning of this article, this is about freeing our mind. When we are physically addicted, our mind is addicted as well.

And my experience says detoxing the mind takes even longer than detoxing the body. My body is already out of cheesecake – the sugar and fat just don’t taste very good any more. But the conditioning in my mind still led me to have one. (Okay, lesson’s learned.)

How does our belief affect our health?

Just one more thing. Dr Bruce Lipton makes a big point about the placebo effect in his book The Biology of Belief. So, are all the effects of good eating really coming from our mind? For instance, raw food diet is all the rage now. There are so many stories of miraculous healing with raw foods, from obesity to cancer and other degenerative diseases.

Is it really raw foods that’s doing the good (physically), or is it because we hear these wonderful stories about raw foods and believe in them that bring out the miracles?

I don’t really know. I’d say, if it’s a positive effect, I care little if the cause was purely physical (foods) or belief. Or the mix of both.

I do think we are wise to be careful with negative beliefs. So if you are going to eat something that’s supposed to be no good to your health, have complete belief that the food is good for you. If you have any doubt or hesitation, even in the subconscious level, it can negatively affect you.

Dr Lipton says, in one of the YouTube video, “Belief is like pregnancy. You either believe or not.” Wanting to believe is not belief. Belief is simple and clear.

If you don’t 100% believe your food is good for you, you might want to change your eating habit.

So what do you think? Did this article inspire you to quit any foods or habits that you are addicted to? Please share in the comment.

Update: Here is a great article that beautifully explains the emotional side of food addiction. I think it helps a lot to understand our relationship with foods.
What Food Is Not at Choosing Raw

Eat For Your Health And Spirituality

Physicality and spirituality are one. Quantum physics finally found it. On the sub-atomic quantum level, matter and energy are one. They are interchangeable, and they are both at the same time.

I’m no scientist, but I can see it, as so many others have before the scientific discovery — science is only catching up and still has a long way to fully comprehend this connection.

So we can improve our physical health with spiritual awareness or sharpen our awareness with physical behavior changes. Physical behavior as mundane and everyday as eating. (Photo credit)

My quest for the best way to eat

I’ve been interested in foods all my life. Coming from an old-fashioned family in the old world, I knew foods were not just about numbers such as calorie but also about family and cultural connection, appreciation for nature and others’ labors, and even more importantly, about one’s own sense of love and nurture of their being.

What has confused me is the actual HOW.

Are there better ways to eat? For instance, is vegetarianism better for our health and spirituality than carnivorism? I got strong responses to that post. One commenter insisted on the health benefit of eating meat and how vegetarianism didn’t work for her. I respect her experience and opinion. I’d say, however, if you are eating meat, please choose humanely raised and slaughtered meat (most meat on the market is not). There is even a book called The Compassionate Carnivore. I don’t know much about farming practices, and if this commenter or the author of this book feel good, both emotionally and physically, about eating meat, that’s fine.

I’ve also been reading about and experimenting with raw foods (raw vegetables, fruits, nuts, and seeds) because I think it may have a lot to do with developing lightbody. The sun grows plants. Animals eat plants. So I wondered if eating closer to the sun may help in the transition.

Now I’m still learning, but I’d like to share some of my experiences in my quest for the ultimate eating habit.

My background

A lot of things have happened since I had the Ascension soul shift in January this year, including changes in my eating preference. Before I discuss my recent adventures and learning, I want to talk where I was before this.

I was eating some meat. A lot less than typical Americans eat, however. I probably ate average of 3 ounces (85 gram) a day, typically in soups, stir fries, omelet, etc. And I chose organic meat whenever I could, and most of the meat was poultry.

I would have been happier to eat fish, but when I was living in Ohio and Tennessee, fresh fish was hard to find even at specialty market, so I learned to steer away from it.

I also ate eggs and dairy (fermented dairy like cheese and yoghurt) regularly.

And I had fair amount of sugary foods. I have sweet tooth, I admit. And having coffee with biscotti or pastry was a way to relax for me.

I never had sodas. And I don’t remember when was the last time I had any alcoholic drinks. Being so small (5’1”), alcohol works really fast on me, and I never really liked it. Of course, no drugs.

I woke up to find myself vegetarian

One day in January, I found that I just couldn’t eat meat any longer. The idea felt bad, and on the few occasions I (my ego) made myself eat meat, I got sick. Pretty soon, eggs and dairies dropped off my shopping list as well.

I was curious what I could safely eat from here on, so I looked around the bookstores and the internet. It wasn’t long before I found the concept of eating raw. I made some attempts to eat this way — at first, it was hard because it triggered my sugar craving. Something was very intriguing about eating raw, however, so I kept trying. . .

I increased my raw rate in the last few months. I also quit caffeine. This started as a simple experiment. I read both positive and negative opinions about caffeine, so I thought I just see it for myself. “Let’s get off caffeine for a while to see how I feel.” I got a horrible headache in the first several days of no coffee, no tea, no chocolate. That made me think. If I have withdrawal symptoms like this, maybe caffeine is no good. So I never went back.

The pitfalls in discussing eating habit

I think we often get caught up in discussing eating habit because we focus so much on the WHAT. Like: is meat okay to eat or not? Is plant-based foods better than animal-based? This is an easy way to be confused with judgment calls.

My feeling is that, the timing we eat, the amount we eat, and the manner and attitude we eat all matters just as much as the kind of foods we eat. Further, there are related issues like how we eliminate waste (elimination is as important as assimilation), how we breathe (we cannot assimilate foods without oxygen. In a sense, breathing is more fundamental than eating — we eat only a few times a day, but we never stop breathing), and how we use our body (exercise and more). Discussing only about what to eat is a big mistake.

Quantum Eating by Tonya Zavasta

I found a book titled Quantum Eating: The Ultimate Elixir of Youth. The author, Tonya Zavasta, is a raw food advocate. What’s interesting about this book, despite her quirky writing style, is she talks a lot more than the WHAT of eating raw.

Tonya Zavasta supports caloric restriction diet (CR). Caloric restriction diet is not a new idea — there are many lab studies which show how eating less contributes to the longevity and wellness of the animals. She also insists on eating in the morning and dry fasting from 2 pm to the next day’s breakfast.

Whoa! Now that’s a challenge big enough to embrace. ^_^

I’m glad I read this book because, even though I read a few articles on calorie restriction diet, I never read about someone who has been practicing it for many years. She says her caloric intake is less than her caloric output. And from the tone of her writing, I guess her weight is stable. So she is getting energy from somewhere other than foods — light / prana.

(What I don’t understand is why she doesn’t move forward to become a breatharian. She knows digestion is taxing to our body. She can already assimilate energy from non-food source. It would be a logical next step to reduce the food intake further to ultimately go 100% on light.)

She also maintains the body that has been on raw foods for a long time is significantly different. For instance, she says her white blood count is low. Not because she has leukemia but because her body is so cleansed that there is little reason her immune system need to build so many white bloods.

Is there an ultimate way to boost your health and spirituality?

So. Do I have a recommendation on how to eat your way to health and spirituality? No for two reasons. One, because each of us is unique. What works for me or for some authority may not work for you. Two, because I think the search and the learning in it is just as important for your growth as the practice of your ultimate eating.

Having said this, I can share my current eating plan. Remember, this is something in progress — I might change my plan, and I may deviate from my plan. So this is strictly for your reference and amusement only. And again, I’m not saying this is the ultimate way to eat.

How I eat now

Breakfast
Green smoothie (say, one banana, some blueberries, one cup of kale and cilantro mix)

Mid morning snack
Quarter cup of sprouted pumpkin seeds
Maybe some more fruits, like an apple.

Lunch
Green soup (say, a small avocado, a small zucchini, one cup spinach, some dried sea vegetable, salt, cayenne)
Raw crackers or Manna bread (sprouted grain bread)

Mid afternoon snack
I might have a Larabar or another smoothie (maybe fruit smothie)

Dinner (Yes, I’m still eating dinner at this time)
Salad (a big handful of salad mix, a small tomato, lemon tahini dressing)
A glass of hemp protein mix

Lunch is the largest meal. Even when I was eating the old way, I found that, if I eat substantial lunch, I don’t eat much later and felt better.

Thoughts on nutrition

I’m taking hemp protein mix to supplement my protein intake. When hemp? Because I’m not interested in whey (milk protein) and I don’t hear good things about soy. I admit I cringed and resisted the idea at first — hemp? Are you telling me to drink drug? But no, the hemp sold as food or supplement has no chemical that alters your mood and perception.

Some say hemp is a complete protein. I checked it here, and it turns out hemp lacks the essential amino acid lysine, just like most grains and nuts protein. So this is where pumpkin seeds come into. (Other good plant sources of lysine are beans, buckwheat, quinoa, and amaranth. The last three are treated like grains, but they are really grass seeds, like pumpkin seeds. Eating amaranth raw is supposed to be no good.)

The above menu provides 40 gram of protein, which is just what I need. Nutritional Data has a tool to find out your personal nutrition requirement. My plan also fills most of the bill of my other nutritional requirements (including calorie, so this is not CR), but I’m taking supplements of multi, calcium, and iron / vitamin B12 to be sure. I choose supplements that is made of foods. For instance, most calcium supplements are ground limestone. I don’t like the idea of eating rocks, so I choose supplement that utilizes a certain kind of algae.

Let your body make the final decision on food and nutrition

However, I don’t believe in the idea of absolute nutritional requirements we must follow. I think all these requirements are guidelines, and we are best to check with our own body to decide what and how much we eat. Because nobody knows exactly what happens when foods enter YOUR body. Each of us has different metabolism.

For me, I was suffering from cranker-sore like dry lips before I started taking lysine rich foods. So this tells me something was lacking in my diet, and Nutritional Data website was a great resource to find the right foods for this essential amino acid.

I steer away from sugar for the same reason, because my body doesn’t seem to respond well. When I eat sweets, I feel dried up later. And it’s a weird thirst that water doesn’t seem to quell. (My last blood test said I have nothing to worry about diabetes.) When I don’t eat sugar, I feel fine.

Change of my taste

I might also add that my taste is changing. Cooked foods just don’t taste so good when I do eat them occasionally. Even dehydrated “raw” bars don’t taste so good — an apple tastes a lot better. So I’m into simple, primitive style raw foods, not gourmet raw foods. (What an irony — I used to be an accomplished cook.)

Going forward, I might try fasting, maybe next spring. Spring is the most natural season to detox. I want to bring changes gradually although my body seems to be doing its own thing at its pace.

Effects on my health and spirituality

In a sense, my body is guiding my awareness in what to eat and how much. Now the question is “Is this way of eating helping me in my health and spirituality?”

Health, yes. I didn’t have any serious diagnosis before, but I had minor annoyances. For instance, I use to wake up every night to go to bathroom. This seldom happens these days — I sleep through until morning. (I guess you may be wondering about my age. I’m 48. The picture on the sidebar is from four years ago. I’m sorry it’s dated — I will see if I can get new photos taken soon.)

I also had dry eye. My eye doctor told me to use moisturizing eye drops several times a day. I don’t need it these days. I also feel well rested and relaxed, but this may be not just about my eating but also my quieter environment after I moved a month ago.

The effect on my spirituality is harder to measure. I do feel more peaceful and loving in a stable way.

Resources

If you are interested in learning more about vegetarian / vegan / raw foods, here are some great websites:

Meatless Monday How about going vegetarian just one day a week? It’s a gentle start.
Crazy Sexy Life By the author of Crazy Sexy Cancer Tips
Evolving Wellness Evita has a solid science background and often discusses vegetarian benefits.
In The Raw Fun and informative blog on eating raw.
Choosing Raw Another great blog on eating raw.

What do you think about eating – physicality and spirituality? Please share your thoughts in the comment. Thank you.

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