Diet choices and digestion – ‘To Meat or not to Meat’
In 2016 I wrote this as a supplement to my colleague Michael Gills’ newsletter, and his article: To Meat or not to Meat?
In the Physiology of Traditional Chinese Medicine there is a concept of “Shen”. Healthy Shen happens when there is a positive reflection of health that in some way can be ‘seen’ in the face and ’spirit’ of a person who is feeling integrated, happy, and in a state of well-being.
In Chinese medical terms Shen is what naturally arises, in an atmospheric radiant way, from a healthy interplay between “Jing” and “Qi”.
“Jing” is the material aspect of Nature generally – it’s our structure internally, and its what’s taken in that has form, including the food itself.
“Qi” is the function – the process – the transformative of food and air into nourishment. So its digestive fire (and respiratory ability), that transforms food (and oxygen) into blood. Through this natural process, we all transform (Qi) food (Jing), and when we do this what arises is our Spirit (Shen) seen and felt as the joy of life’s circulation moving through our bodies and gives rise to abundant Health.
From a Chinese medical point of view, any discussion of appropriate diet, vegetarian, paleo, or otherwise, is incomplete without taking into account a few factors that are often left out of dietary advice. It’s not only the modern cultural idea of what is healthy that is important, and today that is that the food is (relatively) free of toxins and has good nutritional profile according to the standards of the examiner. But it’s also about appetite – and one’s assimilative power matched up to that appetite. Kind of basic, and also mysterious. Improving that connection benefits longevity and health without striving for food puritism.
We’ve all had the experience of eating what was ‘supposed’ to be healthy and feeling bloated, uncomfortable, and perhaps ill as a result. Often its simply the case of having too much of a good thing – we’ve overloaded our own capacity. But sometimes it’s because it wasn’t really ‘right’ for us – some of us can know that intuitively, but also there are guidelines that can be followed based on Traditional diet approaches.
Conversely we have eaten food that would seem to be absolutely on the ‘no’ list, but didn’t seem to be a problem at the time. Certainly there is a relation between the frequency and amount of effort we put into these encounters and if we can ‘get away with it’ and yet… It is true that some people seem to be more affected by diet than others. But also, being a little sensitive might serve us well in the long run, a little reluctant to overdo might be key.
So in some ways life, eating, nutrition, is an experiment in melding appetite and desire with our own real capacity for digestion – as it stands. A continuous blood-making experiment of being a human – how’s it rolling?
What makes that a diet that is more attuned to a certain individual for that person’s ultimate health? There is a relationship between the best diet and one’s constitution, activity, and condition. Generally in a multi-activity life situation (not on retreat) where one is seeking constancy in that active life it’s recommended that a small amount of regular grain (rice) be used as the fulcrum to build a diet around, a touchstone. Not necessarily for its concentrated nutritional profile – but because it acts as a neutral ‘bulking’ agent, carrying along the essential nutrients/fats to be released slowly through the system. Having vegetables or perhaps something a little pickled can assist in that movement by providing the vitality (green) of the digested food. Varied protein source are recommended – non-meat and meat, and in some cases meat is perhaps a great choice. Particularly if one is ‘blood deficient’ or tending to anemia, or recently injured. For those experiencing the excess patterns of our times – high blood pressure and/or cholesterol, fatty liver, etc., then reducing or eliminating meat is a great choice as well.
Diet can also be prescribed as a function of a clients’ activity – one must take into account the sedentary or active nature of the client. A diet high in unrefined raw food may not work well at all for a client who is mostly desk-bound, and has weak assimilating fire. Conversely that diet might work better for a Type-A with high blood pressure, easily angered, and blessed with apparently an ‘iron’ stomach. Some very athletic types think they can get away with eating granola and protein bars as they are very actively engaged – but find that there isn’t much nourishment there – despite the organic label and the list of ingredients having every possible phytonutrient.
Often we are encouraged to get more and more concentrated with the nutrients in our diets, take more and more supplements – this can be taken too far as well. It may be that it is important to take things in a diluted, or in a soup form, when we are digestively stressed. Traditional diets tend to emphasize more soup, slow cooking, as a mainstay – especially following debility or digestive blowout. Also diets can vary greatly dependent on someone’s condition – so that proper medical diagnosis can also be a determining factor in choosing appropriate diet.
Again sometimes very basic idea that is missed in the discussion of healthy diet is that of “appetite”. In the West we have often been taught to suppress appetite and too often I’ve had clients who said when I asked if they had an appetite they’ve laughed and said it was ‘too good’! Perhaps appetite, or even desire generally, isn’t the ‘problem’ as much as some attention give to exploring appetite to even nourish a deeper desire.
Many people think they have an ‘appetite’ for junk food – unhealthy carbohydrates, refined flours, sugar, etc. But after they have been eating more healthy for a period of type, their appetite changes and they find that the pump cheese at 7-11 no longer seem to have the same kind of ‘attraction’ as before. And the vegetables become not only attractive as an idea, but found appetizing, if time and attitude shifts to really appreciating them.
If our appetite is lively and open, we have a more vivid interest in the world and nature generally. Our appetite includes food, rest, people (social), and ideas. We possess a sense of response – of adventure without reckless eating as distracted entertainment. Getting there might be a process of simplifying diet, letting go of unhealthy foods, and if needed using herbs and so on that can aid with assimilation and strengthening the body. Much better way to go than the ‘slippery slope’ of modern pharmaceutical approaches to digestive disharmony.