Rule A: Health Requires “Flow”

Master JinBodhi [MJB]: Flow is essential.
Human life is just like the earth—it’s dynamic and constantly in motion. Without that “circulation,” we’d be less nourished and find ourselves stagnating.

When we talk about health, emphasis is often placed on the absorption of needed nutrients; however, elimination is just as important. It’s wrong to assume that the more energy we ingest, the better. We’re animate creations, and need to constantly renew ourselves; then everything can work properly—we require both accumulation and release. Only if there is an appropriate flow through the body, can we truly be healthy.

Meditation & Health Magazine [Q]: How do we encourage “flow” with diet?

MJB: It varies from person to person, but there are a few basic principles.
First, make sure that your diet has sufficient nutrient and calorie intake, opting for foods that are easy to digest and absorb.

If foods are rich in fat, protein or calories, but are also difficult to digest, then they will not circulate through the system well. Whatever remains for too long without moving causes the body to absorb in excess. Eventually, the digestive system becomes over-burdened, leading to indigestion, constipation, obesity, elevated blood pressure, high blood fat and increased cholesterol.

Another consideration is fiber.

Fiber is harder to absorb, but encourages peristalsis, the rhythmic contraction of the stomach and intestines. These contractions encourage the flow of food through the body, reducing the time it takes to digest a meal, improving elimination, and contributing to healthy flow through the digestive system. Additionally, foods high in fiber prevent excessive calorie intake, so are a very healthy for people dealing with obesity. Still, everyone should be aware of their own physique and its limits. It can’t be assumed that the more fiber a person eats, the healthier they will be. Not everyone can properly handle foods rich in fiber.

Most leafy greens are very healthy. They can promote increased oxygen in the body. As a result, blood stays cleaner and renews itself continually, discouraging the accumulation of fat in the body and blood vessels.

Nutritionist [N]: Keeping a normal routine of elimination is essential in order to stay healthy. Otherwise, many health problems surface, such as those mentioned by Master JinBodhi. To keep that regularity, it is important to consume a certain amount of fiber-rich food. These foods are not easy to digest and have a slower progress through the body. As a result, they create a sensation of being full that lasts longer—beneficial for people who have a tendency to overeat. Dietary fiber soaks up a lot of water in the large intestine, which relieves constipation. However, too much fiber requires an increase in water consumption for that same reason; otherwise, it may aggravate constipation concerns.

Furthermore, fiber combines with certain chemical compounds, such as cholesterol and some minerals... That’s why it helps lower cholesterol.

Regardless, it’s essential to be aware of fiber-intake on a daily basis. Usually, vegetables, fruits and grains are rich in fiber. Higher quantities of fiber can be found in leafy greens, apples, oats, wheat bran and beans.

Now, for most people, the recommended amount of fiber per day is 20-35 grams, but for infants and those with poor digestive function it should be proportionately reduced.

Rule B: A Regular Diet

Q: For those who have a regular schedule, should meals be eaten at set times, or whenever hunger strikes?

MJB: Food intake should comply with the body’s needs. Personally, I prefer “to eat nothing when not hungry.” However, that’s hard to do in reality. If you eat three meals a day, try your best to divide nutritional intake evenly—also, bear in mind that over-indulging is counter productive. Don’t eat till you’re full: stop when you feel about 50-80% satisfied—that’s best.

Binge-eating will lead to a build up of fat—like a road with congested traffic, there’s a build-up throughout the system. When that happens, people aren’t too lively and tend to feel very low energy.

N: Nutritionists continue to contend over the issue of how many meals a person should eat each day. One of the major reasons for this debate is that meal frequency has been closely linked to weight loss. Some nutritionists believe that we should eat the three meals a day we’ve traditionally eaten—that avoiding change will prevent metabolic upset. Others believe that five or six smaller meals should be eaten daily.

That’s because eating less, but more can speed up the body’s metabolism. There has been no final consensus as to which approach is the most beneficial.

Currently, there is another theory similar to Master JinBodhi’s, “refrain from eating when not hungry.” However, in practice this is often challenging. Furthermore, for those who work a fixed schedule, it’s often impossible. As a result, it’s highly recommended that we eat at fixed times. Otherwise, it becomes too easy to miss meals, ending up excessively hungry, which encourages unhealthy over-eating at the next opportunity. Also, when people are ravenous, they eat whatever falls in front of them, whatever is easiest and quickest. When that happens, they forget about health altogether.

Rule C: Direct and Natural Nutrition from our Food

Q: What is the most direct and natural way to get the nutrients we need?
MJB: I’ve got two suggestions.
First, a nutritionally balanced diet should vary in accordance with the seasons. The ancient Chinese believed that man was affected by and inseparable from nature—which should be taken into account when it comes to diet. For instance, people in warmer climates do best to eat fruits and vegetables as they come into season. Those foods are exactly what is most needed given the climate at that time of year.

Nowadays, there are all kinds of greenhouse and imported foods sitting next to local, freshly grown ones in stores. The fresh are always the best.

Ideally, eat with the season… unless of course you live in an extreme climate in which there is nothing to eat at certain times of the year. Then you should eat what you need to get all your nutrients.

Second, eat as much raw food as possible. More of nature’s energy is preserved in raw vegetables. The energy is more viable if the food is unprocessed—it’s purer and absorbs more directly… meaning it’s healthier.

Even foods that need to be cooked, should be prepared as simply as possible. There’s a big loss of nutrients in highly-processed food, so avoid deep frying, stir frying and roasting food. Steaming, boiling and eating it raw is much healthier. Of course, you can still stir-fry sometimes—after all, some nutrients are best absorbed after they’ve been cooked in specific ways.

N: There are a lot of vitamins and minerals in vegetables. Many vitamins, such as Vitamin C, B1, B2, B6, B12, and B3, are water soluble. Vitamin C and B1 are the most likely to become depleted in cooking. The longer you heat them, the more damaged they become.

Even if you drink the water you boil vegetables in, you’ll hardly get any vitamin C, because it will have broken down.

Q: Are all vegetables edible raw?

MJB: No, not all veggies can be eaten uncooked, but most can. We need to be extremely cautious with some of them, especially potatoes and bean sprouts. Germinating potatoes are no longer fresh, and produce a harmful substance that can result in an oxygen deficiency in the brain. Uncooked bean sprouts can also be very harmful.

N: Some vegetables are easier to absorb, and thus healthier, after they’ve been cooked. Carrots are rich in β-carotene, which must be converted into vitamin A before it can be efficiently absorbed by the body. The nutrients in carrots are poorly absorbed if they’re eaten raw; the cooking process releases β-carotene from the protein to which it is attached. Cooking oil can help, as these nutrients are best dissolved in oil. Bean products are popular—soy in particular; however, there are some compounds in soy that bond with and neutralize nutrients easily. If these bonding compounds are cooked, then they are much less effective, meaning the nutrients remain available.

Rule D: Original Simplicity—The Ideal Eating Environment

MJB: The environment in which we eat affects health greatly. The colors of the dining table and dishware should be as calming as possible. If they’re baroquely decorated, they excite the nerves. The simpler the dishware, the better it will be for us.

Some restaurants are decorated in resplendent colors and full of glittering paraphernalia.

Stimulating surroundings of that kind excite people, encouraging them to eat more than they need. It can be hard enough to resist the temptation to over-eat without also fighting the influence of an over-active eating environment. Many people are unaware of the subtle and invisible influence exerted by their surroundings.

N: This question goes far beyond the current conventions nutrition science. Personally, however, I am of a similar mind—considering the environment in which we eat is part of a healthy diet. Firstly, it influences mood; secondly, it may affect how much is eaten.

Recently, I took a trip to South Korea—I noted that there was a remarkable contrast between the traditional Korean diet and the popular Korean BBQs. The former is composed of various vegetable dishes. Each item is put on a small plate of its own. The dishes are light and mild, unless you add hot peppers. These traditional Korean restaurants have a simple, almost unsophisticated elegance about them—eating in them is a great pleasure and I never felt like eating more than I needed there.

Contrarily, in Korean BBQ establishments, everything is served on large plates. The constant hustle is agitating and definitely promotes eating more. For that reason, eating environment is crucial consideration in the maintenance of a healthy diet.

Rule E: Dining Habits–Plain and Simple

MJB: Since time immemorial, the Chinese have been obsessed with food—we use every kind of condiment imaginable, as well as the basics like sugar, salt, oil, and MSG. Additionally, we use many, many spices—pepper, garlic, scallions and any other. Yet, too great an emphasis on condiments can be bad for health. Often people find themselves highly agitated after eating, so I advise meditation practitioners not to eat too much spicy food.

Q: Spicy food is popular—people say that it gets their stomachs going, helping them eat well. Can you comment?

MJB: Such habits are mainly psychological, or matters of social custom.

Unfortunately, many of these customs are unhealthy.

Previously in China, it was common for people to say: “A man’s life is no better than a dog’s, unless he drinks and smokes.” This is by no means true. It’s just an expression made up by drinkers and smokers to justify their habits. Once a saying like that becomes widespread, people take it as fact, even though it’s just nonsense!

Thus, not all eating habits are good and many lead away from the concept of dietary balance. People often eat spicy food to stimulate their appetite when they don’t feel hungry. That’s unhealthy, too. You shouldn’t normally force yourself to eat.
Of course not all spicy food is unhealthy. For instance, garlic can kill germs and some hot peppers can increase the amount of oxygen in the blood.

Eat spicy food when it’s beneficial.

People in some regions have a penchant for spice. Hot pepper is extremely popular in Sichuan, Hunan, Guizhou, and Hubei, particularly because of climatic conditions that encourage their consumption. That’s totally different—it’s healthy and useful to eat spicy food in those areas.

Nonetheless, a simple, plain diet helps foster a better balance in the body. As for spicy food, I’m not implying that we should take it off the menu altogether. Just ask yourself if it’s beneficial, and if it is go ahead and eat it. However, don’t do it for the sake of taste alone. After all, spicy food can be very bad for your health in the long run.

N: The chives, hot peppers, pepper powders, as well as strong tea, alcohol, and all kinds of caffeinated soft drinks are stringent stimulants. They can lead to blood vessel contraction, congestion, dropsy, and damage of the mucous membranes. If you’re addicted to salty food with a stronger flavor, you may have an excessive build-up of sodium ions in the body. This can result in high blood pressure, increasing your risks of cardiovascular disease, kidney failure, and stroke.

Scientific evidence suggests that, if we feed babies food high in salt during the first six months of life, by the time they are six months old, their average blood pressure is significantly higher than those babies who’d had a low-salt diet. A 15-year follow-up shows that the blood pressure of the former group remained higher than that of the latter. This clearly indicates that dietary influences last a long time.

In summary, everything that Master JinBodhi and I have discussed today just emphasizes the importance of dietary awareness, taking four factors into account—“flow” through the body, moderate intake, appropriate preparation and eating environment.