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.