WCK - watch your lifestyle and diet!

[chusauli]

Oftimes, WCK is too economical in movement. What I mean by that, is for your health, you need to supplement it with proper diet and nutrition, and supplementary exercises. Modern man does not walk enough and problems modern WCK has is health.

Here is something related to diet from Jamie Oliver:

http://www.foodmatters.tv/_webapp_378864/Jamie_Oliver_Speaks_out_on_Obesity_and_Disease

The founders ate what they ate, but probably had shorter lives due to war, famine, disease, but they had to do things on the Red Boats by hand and walked more than us. I will say that what is done today as "Chinese Food" is overindulgent in fat, oils, sugar. MSG, salt/sodium, and simple carbs.

Too many carbs like rice, noodles/pasta, pho, buns/bao, bread, breadsticks, cake, cookies, chips, soft drinks and juices load up the body with too much sugar that can be detrimental to your health. This easily leads to overweight, obesity and eventually, diabetes.

What Hawkins Cheung always said to me was, "If you survive, your art survives..." It has strong wisdom behind it.

Many WCK teachers see the pounds coming on as they age and have to consistently do something to change their eating habits, build lean muscle, and rest properly. By eating poorly, it leads to many modern diseases like hypertension, high cholesterol, metabolic syndrome, obesity, coronary artery disease, hypothyroidism, diabetes, and cancer. Diabetes (usually type II in overweight or obese individuals) can lead to blindness, neuropathy, impotence, etc. It is important to maintain a healthy BMI.

For example, WSL passed on due to a brain aneurysm (stroke) - it usually means that his diet was not that good, and he smoked and drank alcohol.

Yip Man died at 79 due to throat cancer, which is diet related and due to toxins in the food. Cantonese often like to eat preserved foods like salted fish, preserved eggs, stinky tofu, etc. which are full of cancer causing chemicals.

Bruce Lee's favorite dish of Oyster Beef on rice is full of sodium, carbs and preservatives. Drinking raw beef juice is also not a good idea... some of his diet ideas were very poor.

Late nights talking, extensive Mah Jong, many Dim Sum sessions with students is detrimental to health, as are bobas, sugar cane juices, and shave ices Chinese like. And eating late at night after class is very unhealthy and leaves for bad digestion problems, like diverticulitis, bowel cancer, ulcerative colitis. Gambling, along with smoking and drinking, it is a very dirty habit that some Cantonese enjoy and detrimental to health.

Juicing is also unhealthy as it releases tons of sugar in your system at once. I shudder to think of the many cokes and snapples I drank after long workouts in my youth. Plain old water or unsweetened ice tea would have been better.

It is good to be conscious about health.

[yellow aster]

Good advice for us aging wing chun practioners.

[chusauli]

One thing I forgot to mention is instant Ramen is also very unhealthy - we often adopt what our teachers eat - and that stuff in excess will kill you and has very little beneficial nutritional value.

Chinese love congee (jook) and Soup noodles like Wonton Mien, CharSiu Mien, etc., as well as rice dishes like Char Siu Fan, Siu Ngaap Fan - they are loaded with sodium, fat and excessive carbs!

Anyone boasting they are a rice tub (Fan Tung) - eating 3 - 4 bowls of rice? Eat a lot less rice (1/2 bowl) and live healthier!

[LoneTiger108]

Well, I'm messed up :o;):D

[anerlich]

It is good to be conscious about health.

I agree. I will be taking my nutritional advice from professional nutritionists rather than WC practitioners, however. The latters' track record re longevity ain't all that great. The Gracie diet seems to have better results, but I'm not going down that path either.

No offence.


And eating late at night after class is very unhealthy and leaves for bad digestion problems, like diverticulitis, bowel cancer, ulcerative colitis.

Opinions vary on this. One school of dietary thought has it that different people subsist better on different meal schedules and one size does not fit all. I personally eat a small breakfast and lunch, and have a large meal at night after training, and according to that school of though that is fine for my body type. If I ate before training, I feel that would be worse for my health and it would definitely affect the quality of my training (some sessions would have me spewing it all back up). I had a full physical, at age 55, two weeks ago and everything is fine. Many of my training buds follow similar patterns and are hardly plagued by digestive problems, let alone dropping like flies from bowel cancer.

IMO training hard sorts out a lot of stuff. You have to eat and sleep reasonably well to sustain it, and if you smoke, get hammered on alcohol every night or follow other unhealthy pursuits you won't be able to keep up.

IMO trying to be too restrictive or too particular in what you eat can be as bad as eating whatever junk is at hand. I've met some people who are vegan and are excellent athletes, but I know from experience I personally would fail to thrive on their diet.


we often adopt what our teachers eat

Not in my experience. IMO we adopt what our parents eat and what advertising rams down our throats.


Many WCK teachers see the pounds coming on as they age

Not me nor my teacher. Many WCK teachers they see the pounds coming on because they are slack. Becoming a fat b@stard as you age is a choice, not an inevitability. I have a pretty reasonable six pack and am still the same weight I was 30 years ago. From what I've seen of Phil Redmond in vids, etc. he's not exactly a bloated whale either.

[Lee Chiang Po]

One thing I forgot to mention is instant Ramen is also very unhealthy - we often adopt what our teachers eat - and that stuff in excess will kill you and has very little beneficial nutritional value.

Chinese love congee (jook) and Soup noodles like Wonton Mien, CharSiu Mien, etc., as well as rice dishes like Char Siu Fan, Siu Ngaap Fan - they are loaded with sodium, fat and excessive carbs!

Anyone boasting they are a rice tub (Fan Tung) - eating 3 - 4 bowls of rice? Eat a lot less rice (1/2 bowl) and live healthier!


I love rice any way prepared, but eat very little of it. Today I ate chicken breast cut into bits, sauted with cabbage, carrots, red and green peppers, cayene peppers, seasoned with some black and white pepper, sesamie oil and soy sauce, low sodium. Didnt have onion or garlic to put into it. Sugar in any form should be taken from whole fruit rather than processed. The industry today uses corn suger in the form of syrup to sweeten and cook with because it will not crystalize like cane sugar does. Anything to do with corn I will not eat. I will consume it in the form of bourbon though. I think that to eat healthy you need to learn what is good and bad, and cook from scratch so you know what is in it. The fast food industry has made America obese, diabetic, and heart challenged. We fed the bear by buying it. They should legalize marijuana and outlaw commercially prepared foods.

[chusauli]

I agree. I will be taking my nutritional advice from professional nutritionists rather than WC practitioners, however. The latters' track record re longevity ain't all that great. The Gracie diet seems to have better results, but I'm not going down that path either.

No offence.


None taken! I am a licensed Acupuncturist in CA and not a registered Dietician or Nutritionist. Our practice can include nutrition, as it relates to Oriental medicine is based upon a dietary system which holds that basic flavors have special relationship to the internal organs. (Act (section 4937(b)) and I can recommend
Drugless Substances to promote health, and prescribe nutritional advice which includes the use of drugless substances. (Includes plants and vegetative material, but may include some mineral and animal products.) But these must be (1) used as a dietary supplements, and (2) they must be drugless. As enumerated in the Act (section 4937(b)). (BTW, I am not giving anyone specific nutritional advice here, just starting a conversation about Diet and Lifestyle related to WCK...)

Gracie diet looks to me as having its roots in Ayurveda. It does make sense.



Opinions vary on this. One school of dietary thought has it that different people subsist better on different meal schedules and one size does not fit all. I personally eat a small breakfast and lunch, and have a large meal at night after training, and according to that school of though that is fine for my body type. If I ate before training, I feel that would be worse for my health and it would definitely affect the quality of my training (some sessions would have me spewing it all back up). I had a full physical, at age 55, two weeks ago and everything is fine. Many of my training buds follow similar patterns and are hardly plagued by digestive problems, let alone dropping like flies from bowel cancer.

I am really speaking about people overindulging late at night after class, when a light meal would do. Also, I would guesstimate the obesity issue to be more of a USA (30.6%) problem than Australian (21.7%). You can always know the Europeans on vacation by speedos, Aussies are generally fitter, Canadians are pretty good, but you can readily spot the Americans (unfortunately).

If you have a body type of lean muscle (do your cardio, weight train), eat your veggies, and don't overindulge in carbs, you don't have to worry. Bowel Cancer in the USA is more of a reality, in 2006, the American Cancer Society predicted 148,610 men and women (72,800 men and 75,810 women) would be diagnosed with colon cancer and 55,170 men and women will die of colon cancer. That's a lot. I'm sure the number is less in Australia.



IMO training hard sorts out a lot of stuff. You have to eat and sleep reasonably well to sustain it, and if you smoke, get hammered on alcohol every night or follow other unhealthy pursuits you won't be able to keep up.

Yup.




Not in my experience. IMO we adopt what our parents eat.

Not me nor my teacher. Many WCK teachers they see the pounds coming on because they are slack. Becoming a fat b@stard as you age is a choice, not an inevitability. I'm still the same weight I was 30 years ago.

In the Chinese subculture, we went out with the Sifu almost every night to chow down and then have late night chit chat. So I guess its a bit different with you. I know Rick Spain to exercise well and eat well - he was an athlete. He had the drive, did his weight training and road work and then did his martial arts.

I agree, there is no inevitability - you dictate your choices.

[chusauli]

I love rice any way prepared, but eat very little of it. Today I ate chicken breast cut into bits, sauted with cabbage, carrots, red and green peppers, cayene peppers, seasoned with some black and white pepper, sesamie oil and soy sauce, low sodium. Didnt have onion or garlic to put into it. Sugar in any form should be taken from whole fruit rather than processed. The industry today uses corn suger in the form of syrup to sweeten and cook with because it will not crystalize like cane sugar does. Anything to do with corn I will not eat. I will consume it in the form of bourbon though. I think that to eat healthy you need to learn what is good and bad, and cook from scratch so you know what is in it. The fast food industry has made America obese, diabetic, and heart challenged. We fed the bear by buying it. They should legalize marijuana and outlaw commercially prepared foods.

Hi LCP, there has been recent ads to push High fructose corn syrup as a "natural" substance, but it is known to aid in belly fat, according to some studies.

I would avoid it personally.

[chusauli]

Well, I'm messed up :o;):D

Dude, you can change it - go get some nutritional advice specific to you. And get an annual checkup with bloodwork.

[anerlich]

Robert,

Fair enough.


That's a lot. I'm sure the number is less in Australia.

It is enough to be a concern here. The government here makes a token effort by offering free BC tests to citizens when they turn 50, 55, and 65. My doctor recommended annual tests after 50 via a private organisation, and I have followed that recommendation. BC sounds like an extremely unpleasant way to die.

I don't think we've reached US levels just yet, but there is concern here that we are moving steadily towards the top of the ranks of the world's fattest citizens. We might even make the medals if there were a Fat B@stard Olympics.

[Sardinkahnikov]

Good advice for us aging wing chun practioners.

I think it's even more important to the younger practitioners, who still have time to avoid lots of health-related issues.

Nice thread. Good nutrition is very important. In order to contribute, I'll share the advice that my mom gave me: eat broccoli.:)

[k gledhill]

Okinawans have on average the healthiest long lives on the planet, fish, fish and more fish. :D

[anerlich]

fish, fish and more fish.

But monitor your mercury levels.

[Knifefighter]

The most biggest risk factor for disease and early death is lack of physical fitness.

That being said, staying healthy and fit is a relatively simple three step process.

- Do 1-3 hours of moderate to vigorous physical activity on most days.

- Eat a diet that is mainly whole grains, legumes, vegetable and fruit, supplemented with small to moderate amounts of lean meats and fish and some non-fat dairy.

- Dump the supplements. Supplements are a great way to slowly poison your body.

[Dave McKinnon]

Hi

Look into Paleo or Primal eating.

Grains and Legumes are B.S. and the biggest indicator of health and longevity in the U.S. is belly fat (especially in men). Fitness is important too, especially in regards to having cardio and muscle reserves for when we are ill. Being able to walk vigorously for an hour a day, lift heavy things and do a little sprinting means we can recover more quickly from injury and as we age will prolong our health and vitality.

Look at Marksdailyapple.com, Paleo diet, neanderthin etc.

Our ancestors may have had a shorter lifespan due to disease, accidents, war, wild animals etc. However, the hunter gatherers of 10,000 years ago who lived till there 30's tended to have longer lifespans by 3 - 4 years and larger brains to boot. There is lots of research out there to support what I am saying and lots of lobbies against it.

Dave McKinnon

[Knifefighter]

Hi

Look into Paleo or Primal eating.

Grains and Legumes are B.S. and the biggest indicator of health and longevity in the U.S. is belly fat (especially in men). Fitness is important too, especially in regards to having cardio and muscle reserves for when we are ill. Being able to walk vigorously for an hour a day, lift heavy things and do a little sprinting means we can recover more quickly from injury and as we age will prolong our health and vitality.

Look at Marksdailyapple.com, Paleo diet, neanderthin etc.

Our ancestors may have had a shorter lifespan due to disease, accidents, war, wild animals etc. However, the hunter gatherers of 10,000 years ago who lived till there 30's tended to have longer lifespans by 3 - 4 years and larger brains to boot. There is lots of research out there to support what I am saying and lots of lobbies against it.

Dave McKinnon

Please point to the studies in peer reviewed scientific journals pointing to the efficacy of the Paleo diet and showing that legumes and whole grains are "b.s."

And fitness or lack therof is the chief indicator of almost all health risks.

[anerlich]

and the biggest indicator of health and longevity in the U.S. is belly fat (especially in men).

I assume this means belly fat is an indicator of health risk, and not the lack of it? The above doesn't actually say whether belly fat is good or bad for your health.

[Dave McKinnon]

Knifefighter do your own research! There are books and papers published by anthropologists as well as some modern research showing that many modern diseases did not appear till grains entered our diets. Also beans and grains contain peroxins (sp) an anti-nutrient that is no bueno in large amounts. Along with beans and grains, the usual suspects of dairy, sugar and many types of vegetable oils have inflammatory affects on the body. New research finds carbohydrates from processed foods and grains may be a contributing factor to small LDLs. Something else for you to look into.

But try an experiment... Eat Paleo for 45 days, you will be leaner stronger and have better recovery from your workouts. All that protein, good fat and slow absorbing complex crabs is good for the body but you may feel like crap at first as you kick the complex carbs and your body detoxes.

As for belly fat, it is well documented that a lower hip to waste ratio or less belly fat is healthy. Even in subjects who were overweight, the ratio seemed to be a major indicator for many diseases.

[IRONMONK]

- Dump the supplements. Supplements are a great way to slowly poison your body.

Do you have source/studies proving this?

[sanjuro_ronin]

Moderation is the key, in all things it seems.
Eat foods that are prepared by you, eat them in moderation, eat them in a balanced way, monitor your body for changes when eating a certain way.
If you feel less energitic or gassy or less "well", then whatever changes you made are not working for you ( though they may work for others).
Body shapes and body fat % are not as important as people that want to sell you things make them out to be.
A six pack does not equal healthy, it equal low body fat , that's all.

KF makes a good point, our ability to do something athletic is a direct example of how healthy we are, if you get winded running to the bus, that is not a good sign, if you get winded WALKING up 4 flights of stairs, that is not a good sign, if it takes you a long time to catch your breath, that is not a good sign.

If you eat well and balanced there is no need to supplement anything.

[Knifefighter]

Do you have source/studies proving this?

Just check the published research over the years. Generally, you'll see a variety of negative health effects from supplementation.

BTW, you can see the latest example of this in the last issue of Consumer Reports showing excessive levels of heavy metals in several supplements.

[kung fu fighter]

Oftimes, WCK is too economical in movement. What I mean by that, is for your health, you need to supplement it with proper diet and nutrition, and supplementary exercises. Modern man does not walk enough and problems modern WCK has is health.

Here is something related to diet from Jamie Oliver:

http://www.foodmatters.tv/_webapp_378864/Jamie_Oliver_Speaks_out_on_Obesity_and_Disease

The founders ate what they ate, but probably had shorter lives due to war, famine, disease, but they had to do things on the Red Boats by hand and walked more than us. I will say that what is done today as "Chinese Food" is overindulgent in fat, oils, sugar. MSG, salt/sodium, and simple carbs.

Too many simple carbs like rice, noodles/pasta, pho, buns/bao, bread, breadsticks, cake, cookies, chips, soft drinks and juices load up the body with too much sugar that can be detrimental to your health. This easily leads to overweight, obesity and eventually, diabetes.

What Hawkins Cheung always said to me was, "If you survive, your art survives..." It has strong wisdom behind it.

Many WCK teachers see the pounds coming on as they age and have to consistently do something to change their eating habits, build lean muscle, and rest properly. By eating poorly, it leads to many modern diseases like hypertension, high cholesterol, metabolic syndrome, obesity, coronary artery disease, hypothyroidism, diabetes, and cancer. Diabetes (usually type II in overweight or obese individuals) can lead to blindness, neuropathy, impotence, etc. It is important to maintain a healthy BMI.

For example, WSL passed on due to a brain aneurysm (stroke) - it usually means that his diet was not that good, and he smoked and drank alcohol.

Yip Man died at 79 due to throat cancer, which is diet related and due to toxins in the food. Cantonese often like to eat preserved foods like salted fish, preserved eggs, stinky tofu, etc. which are full of cancer causing chemicals.

Bruce Lee's favorite dish of Oyster Beef on rice is full of sodium, carbs and preservatives. Drinking raw beef juice is also not a good idea... some of his diet ideas were very poor.

Late nights talking, extensive Mah Jong, many Dim Sum sessions with students is detrimental to health, as are bobas, sugar cane juices, and shave ices Chinese like. And eating late at night after class is very unhealthy and leaves for bad digestion problems, like diverticulitis, bowel cancer, ulcerative colitis. Gambling, along with smoking and drinking, it is a very dirty habit that some Cantonese enjoy and detrimental to health.

Juicing is also unhealthy as it releases tons of sugar in your system at once. I shudder to think of the many cokes and snapples I drank after long workouts in my youth. Plain old water or unsweetened ice tea would have been better.

It is good to be conscious about health.

I agree 100%! You guys should thank Robert for his great advice. i have always felt this way. That's why I supplement my wing chun training with weight training and Muai thai and BJJ. Along with joging and stationary bike. i also don't eat white flour and sugar.

[chusauli]

Knifefighter/Dale is right. Its true, many supplements are unnecessary and have high levels of heavy metals through processing.

Iron supplements can kill you, and you mainly p!ss away your B-Vitamins. Calcium is one of the biggest farces of all. Multivitamins can actually harm you, especially in taking large amounts of Vitamin A...do your research, but better yet, find a nutritionist or RD.

Excessive protein or high protein diets can hurt you. Very little protein is necessary for survival, let alone good health. Americans eat too much of it and it goes down the toilet! And it is a carcinogen and detrimental to the kidneys in large amounts.

Whole grains is better than enriched white flour, but the new farce. Humans and humanoids were hunters and gatherers initially, and basically ate what they gathered and did not plant grains. Grains aided in the development of society/civilization. Legumes were probably added along the way - the hiding of soy in our foods is why many men get moobs these days :eek: .

When people ask me about brown rice better than white, it is in a way, but also a misleading farce - its still a carb, with a smaller glycemic index.

Eat your green leafy veggies mostly (yes, the bitter stuff like: bok choy, broccoli, romaine lettuce, kale, mesclun, mustard greens, spinach, turnip greens, watercress, collard greens – best bet: Gourmet salad greens), some protein and fat, and some legumes. Cut down on a lot of fruit - it can make you a diabetic, too. Occasionally, eat some simple carbs in moderation. But YMMV depending on your body type and diseases. Since I regularly see diabetes, cancer, CAD, Parkinson's and other diseases, I know diets that can help the sick and help them recover. Diet/nutrition and exercise are the 2 biggest areas you can have over your health.

[Knifefighter]

Cut down on a lot of fruit - it can make you a diabetic, too.

Please point to even one scientific study published in a peer-reviewed journal that supports this assertion.

BTW, many members of the Gracie clans eat mostly fruit. Not one case of diabetes has ever been seen in any of those members who follow this regimen.

[Ultimatewingchun]

This is correct. Pure fruits and vegetables are excellent. It's external sugars that have to carefully monitored.

[chusauli]

Dale,

You can do your own research with journals. Here's something I just pulled off the internet:

http://www.drmirkin.com/public/ezine042609.html

and

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/diabetes/AN01691

I've personally had patients who were diagnosed with metabolic syndrome (borderline Diabetic) overindulge in fruits and become full blown diabetics. I'm not saying eating a normal amount of fruit will harm you, but overindulging can cause problems. Look at the amounts on the Mayo Clinic, and see if you're overdoing it.

Many think that fruit juices are safe, but they're dangerous for diabetics or those with metabolic syndrome. The incidence of high fructose corn syrup hidden in foods and soft drinks in our diets is also causing obesity.

http://care.diabetesjournals.org/content/31/7/1311.full

Regarding the Gracie Diet, I think its a bit more balanced than what you are saying - there is a pairing of fruit with other foods which can balance out the ingestion of excess sugar and insulin.

Again moderation is key.

[Knifefighter]

When people ask me about brown rice better than white, it is in a way, but also a misleading farce - its still a simple carb, with a smaller glycemic index..

All grains are made up mostly of complex carbohydrates (so are vegetables). The only difference between a whole grain and a processed one is the fiber that comes from the bran and germ that is retained in whole grains. Glucose, maltose, fructose, and sucrose are simple carbohydrates and are only found when they are separated from plant materials.

BTW, the majority of fuel needed for exercise and neural function must come from carbohydrate.

[Knifefighter]

Dale,

You can do your own research with journals. Here's something I just pulled off the internet:

http://www.drmirkin.com/public/ezine042609.html]

This was about increased risk from fruit juice.


http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/diabetes/AN01691
This was about people with diabetes already established. There was nothing to suggest high fruit intake caused Type 2 diabetes. You do know that outside factors do not cause Type 1, right?


Many think that fruit juices are safe, but they're dangerous for diabetics or those with metabolic syndrome. The incidence of high fructose corn syrup hidden in foods and soft drinks in our diets is also causing obesity.

http://care.diabetesjournals.org/content/31/7/1311.full

Yes, fruit juices are not much better than sodas (other than the fact that they often have antioxidant flavanoids). However, there is a world of difference between fruit juices and whole fruits.

Please learn the difference between processed simple carbohydrates and unprocessed, complex ones that are in whole, fiber-rich, unprocessed foods before making unfounded pronouncements that these foods cause disease.

[Knifefighter]

Speaking of causative factors for type 2 diabetes (which is, basically, a malfunction of the cells' glucose uptake ability), the main causative factors are obesity and inactivity. Type 2 diabetes often disappears once a person has gotten body fat and fitness to healthy levels.

[chusauli]

You do need carbs, but too many are overindulging in simple carbs or unaware they're taking in too many. Excessive carbs like chips, pizza, bread, breadsticks, pasta, rice, buns, muffins, cakes, cookies, tortillas, burritos, tacos, soft drinks, fruit juices – these are carbs with little nutritional value. You need complex carbs (vegetables and fruits) to stay alive, roughly 30-40% per meal - but overdoing with these empty carbs is unnecessary.

But if you go over, with having more calories than you burn, you start to store as fat.

Also fat comes from toxins in the body. But this is more TCM and Ayurvedic tradition.

[sanjuro_ronin]

Hey, be nice to my pasta and bread !
Oh that seafood linguine with white wine...or some nice warm Italian bread with butter...mmmmm

[chusauli]

This was about increased risk from fruit juice.


This was about people with diabetes already established. There was nothing to suggest high fruit intake caused Type 2 diabetes. You do know that outside factors do not cause Type 1, right?

Of course. My point is overindulgence, not moderate fruit intake.



Yes, fruit juices are not much better than sodas (other than the fact that they often have antioxidant flavanoids). However, there is a world of difference between fruit juices and whole fruits.

Please learn the difference between processed simple carbohydrates and unprocessed, complex ones that are in whole, fiber-rich, unprocessed foods before making unfounded pronouncements that these foods cause disease.

Please, again, my point is overindulgence. And if you saw patients in the clinic, you'd know what I meant.

It takes a lot of junk to cause qualifying contestants in The Biggest Loser.

[chusauli]

Hey, be nice to my pasta and bread !
Oh that seafood linguine with white wine...or some nice warm Italian bread with butter...mmmmm

Hey, who doesn't love that?! Everything in moderation, including moderation.

[sanjuro_ronin]

Here is the thing though, over indulgence in anything, even water, can be harmful.
Fad diets the advocate a juice only or fruit only or even veggie only, can get some people into some serious health issues.

There was that lady that lives over 100 and "all" she ate was yogurt and there was that guy that lived to be over 100 and drank vodka everyday, and that other guy over 100 that never at a vegetable.

You always have to discount stuff like that, if there is ONE secret to good health then it is good living:
Be active,
Eat good food in moderation
Drink in moderation
Be happy
Love animals and have a pet.
Have family and friends and LIKE them.

[chusauli]

Paul,

I would add:

Sleep/Proper Rest
Moderate Stress
Healthy emotions
Genetic factors - avoiding pulling triggers
Clean Environment
Avoiding toxins, preservatives, artificial flavors/colors/sweeteners, pollutions, EMF exposure
Avoiding trauma/injury
Constant education

[anerlich]

You guys should thank Robert for his great advice.

I'll thank him for the parts of it that are correct, but much of his advice is disputed and (see below) I believe some of it to be wrong.

I don't go to a doctor or nutritionist for advice on Wing Chun or self defense. I don't seek health advice from WC practitioners either.


Body shapes and body fat % are not as important as people that want to sell you things make them out to be.
A six pack does not equal healthy, it equal low body fat , that's all.

Sounds like something only a fat b@stard would say (j/k)


Calcium is one of the biggest farces of all.

My wife comes from a family with history of osteoporosis and we went through quite a lot of research and consultation with specialists when a test showed she was somewhat at risk. The matter is fairly complicated and mixed up with Vitamin D ingestion and other things, but at the risk of being too blunt I can say with total confidence your statement above is way too glib, sweeping and overgeneralised. I would agree that calcium supplementation is probably only of benefit if you have specific medical conditions.

[chusauli]

Quote:
Calcium is one of the biggest farces of all.

My wife comes from a family with history of osteoporosis and we went through quite a lot of research and consultation with specialists when a test showed she was somewhat at risk. The matter is fairly complicated and mixed up with Vitamin D ingestion and other things, but at the risk of being too blunt I can say with total confidence your statement above is way too glib, sweeping and overgeneralised. I would agree that calcium supplementation is probably only of benefit if you have specific medical conditions.


If you need clarification, let's discuss. Ask me what I mean, and I can clarify. No wonder we have the same types of parallel discussions regarding WCK. You don't understand the same clinical context in which I speak. :)

Here's what I mean about Calcium being a farce, and I mean it for women who are largely self medicating and have no signs of osteopenia or osteoporosis, not a specific medical condition:

If you take Calcium supplementation without weightbearing exercise, there is no need for the body to uptake Calcium. Basically, you are sh!tt!ing your Calcium away (and probably giving yourself constipation or hard stools)! You will not be benefiting your bones in anyway if you have osteopenia or osteoporosis by not doing exercise.

And if you have a healthy diet with dairy and dark, green, leafy veggies, and bone soups, and get a reasonable amount of sunshine, and regular weightbearing exercise, you don't need the Calcium or Vitamin D! All of that is a means to sell that supplementation!

Theoretical non clinicians beware!

[anerlich]

If you need clarification, let's discuss. Ask me what I mean, and I can clarify.

Look, you made a bald, glib statement that totally BEGGED clarification. IMO that placed the onus on you to clarify.

Which you did.


You don't understand the same clinical context in which I speak.

Oh, spare me.

You do acupuncture and TCM. Nothing wrong with that but your expertise hardly crosses the spectrum of modern dietary science.

If you were my wife's doctor in a CLINICAL CONTEXT and said "Calcium supplementation is a total farce" you'd be running the risk of a malpractice suit.


Theoretical non clinicians beware

Good advice to anyone seeking, and EVERYONE giving, dietary and lifestyle advice on tihs forum.

[chusauli]

Andrew,

You must be having a hard day! Lighten up dude! :)

I agree, this is a discussion board. If you have a medical problem, do seek medical intervention and a local medical practitioner. This discussion board/chat room should not be a place to get medical advice for your specific condition. I'm not giving any specific for anyone's condition, nor did I diagnose or treat anyone here. We're just WCK guys shooting the breeze on a Thursday afternoon and having a good time.

FWIW, I have studied clinical nutrition, Western, Chinese and Ayurvedic. Certainly, there are Ortho-molecular Biology giants, and other nutritionists who know a lot more and get great clinical effect. I don't claim to be one. And the more you study in the field of nutrition, the more you will find major conflicts and politics over certain practices. Kind of like WCK. :)

[Knifefighter]

FWIW, I have studied clinical nutrition, Western, Chinese and Ayurvedic.

Yet you didn't know the difference between simple and complex carbohydrates, something you would learn in a college nutrition 101 class.

I have a problem with "professionals" dispensing nutritional advice when they don't even know the very basics of nutritional science.

[chusauli]

Dale,

I certainly know the difference. The perceived not knowing is in your head.

What makes me laugh is these assumptions.

[Knifefighter]

Dale,

I certainly know the difference. The perceived not knowing is in your head.

What makes me laugh is these assumptions.

If you know, then you are deliberately lying to your clients by telling them rice is a simple carbohydrate:

When people ask me about brown rice better than white, it is in a way, but also a misleading farce - its still a simple carb, with a smaller glycemic index.

So which is it? Did you not know, or have you been misleading people?

[chusauli]

You're right!

I made a mistake! Thank you for pointing out my typo.

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/002469.htm

[Ultimatewingchun]

Sits down with a bag of potato chips (ahhh, I mean...legumes)...and waits !!! :D

[Wu Wei Wu]

Came across the Blue Zones stuff a while ago;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W92F-iTImG4

***p.s. meditation seems to be important component in health/wellness.

Suki

[Lee Chiang Po]

Hi

Look into Paleo or Primal eating.

Grains and Legumes are B.S. and the biggest indicator of health and longevity in the U.S. is belly fat (especially in men). Fitness is important too, especially in regards to having cardio and muscle reserves for when we are ill. Being able to walk vigorously for an hour a day, lift heavy things and do a little sprinting means we can recover more quickly from injury and as we age will prolong our health and vitality.

Look at Marksdailyapple.com, Paleo diet, neanderthin etc.

Our ancestors may have had a shorter lifespan due to disease, accidents, war, wild animals etc. However, the hunter gatherers of 10,000 years ago who lived till there 30's tended to have longer lifespans by 3 - 4 years and larger brains to boot. There is lots of research out there to support what I am saying and lots of lobbies against it.

Dave McKinnon

I have the book, Neanderthin. The auther is an old friend of mine. In this area, and in most areas, fish were the main diet of people. Fish, small mammals, birds, and the occasional large animal, nuts, berries, and the occasional green veggie. The human evolved to eat this way. If we put a wild animal in a cage we would strive to feed it exactly what it would eat in the wild, but we tend to shove poisons down our own necks.

[Lee Chiang Po]

There is always going to be conflict over what constitutes a natural diet. Not much has changed in the past 10,000 years, so here is a test. Go out into the woods and start scrounging up foods. See if you can come up with enough grains to make bread. How about fresh fruit? Even if it were not seasonal, how many times have you walked up on enough fruit to load up on? Nuts would be about all you could find in abundance that would keep over time. Berries in season. Birds and eggs when in season, but fish could provide year around.
Diabetes, arthritis, obesety, and many other so called diseases have proven to be diseases of the auto immune system. Why would your own immune system attack itself? Adult onset diabetes is now simply called type 2 and it involves children below their teen years. It was unheard of in 1900. But then sugar consumption averaged about 2.5 pounds a year. Care to guess how much the average person eats per year today? There is good reason that diabetes, heart disease, arthritis, and obesity are so promenent today, and that is because so many people think a well balanced diet is safe. If whole grains, fruit several times a day, and dairy 2 or 3 times a day were good for you, those fat a$$es would be healthy.

[wtxs]

They should legalize marijuana and outlaw commercially prepared foods.

Aaahh ... a man after my own heart, bring back the buddha sticks!:p:cool::D

[sanjuro_ronin]

Lets put things in perspective shall we, Paleotic man had nothing on modern man, he was smaller, weaker and lived less.
Modern sport athletes push the pinacle of human physical achievement, they do NOT do it on a "paleo" diet.

[chusauli]

I think the person will have to decide what works for them best. Variations on Adkins, Zone Diet, South Beach, Raw Foods, Blood Type, Paleo run about. Some have better effect for a certain body type.

A general formula is taking burning more calories than what you tke in will result in weight loss. But weight should not me the only factor one looks for in judging health. Things like BMI, muscle mass, blood tests, lipid panels, glucose tests, thyroid panels, blood pressure, and colonoscopy are very important to really judge health and diagnose disease.

[anerlich]

They should legalize marijuana and outlaw commercially prepared foods.

If you legalise dope but outlaw foods like doritos, rocky road, tootsie rolls, chocolate honeycombs and the like, you will have a riot on your hands after the first legal smokers get the munchies.:D

[chusauli]

If you legalise dope but outlaw foods like doritos, rocky road, tootsie rolls, chocolate honeycombs and the like, you will have a riot on your hands after the first legal smokers get the munchies.:D


LOL! Great!!!

Marijuana is great for cancer patients. I have seen my cancer patients taking it for pain, poor appetite, and nausea from chemo, and it has some benefit.

[Wayfaring]

I think the person will have to decide what works for them best. Variations on Adkins, Zone Diet, South Beach, Raw Foods, Blood Type, Paleo run about. Some have better effect for a certain body type.

A general formula is taking burning more calories than what you tke in will result in weight loss. But weight should not me the only factor one looks for in judging health. Things like BMI, muscle mass, blood tests, lipid panels, glucose tests, thyroid panels, blood pressure, and colonoscopy are very important to really judge health and diagnose disease.

I actually like that someone started a lifestyle thread, with a lot of great practical examples. People's diets will be a matter of opinion, but eating "clean" and living a lifestyle that promotes long-term health is an excellent thing to discuss and incorporate.

[chusauli]

I was a big pho and rice eater and in between that I'd eat buns, soup noodles, italian pasta, soft drinks, tea with cream and sugar, Snapple Ice Teas and sodas, and other junk food. I learned a hard lesson to cut down on all of that and benefited greatly.

Mark Cheng introduced me to Kettlebells a few years back and I've been addicted since. In the quest to do different workouts, I incorporated running, and other exercises with free weights, Hindu Squats/push ups (thanks to Alan Orr via Matt Furey) and the like and found that a lot of old school training was better than what I used to do in gyms on various machines for me.

We have a saying in Chinese Medicine, "Before 40, you cheat disease; After 40, disease cheats you." There is a truth to that. Good diet and regular healthy exercise is key.

[sanjuro_ronin]

Hi Sanjuro,

Your last post, while true in certain known cases of malnutrition and starvation, has been generally discounted on the whole. Pre-Industrial man and Paleolithic man in particular are considered to have been much more muscular than us.

Not only did pre-industrial men eat differently; they behaved differently. They did much more physical exercise than we did, and by looking at the bone record paleontologists have determined that Neanderthal and Paleo Man were incredibly muscular. This article (http://news.discovery.com/archaeology/neanderthal-hormones-strong-arms.html#mkcpgn=rssnws1) discusses their musculature in greater detail.

Looking at the actual nutritional intake of our ancestors, we see that they ate a diet remarkably rich in Iron, something like 3-5x more Iron than what we're told to have in our diets. Researchers believe that the high Iron diet relates to their increased musculature and their increased levels of dangerous physical activity, as well as the concomitant risk of blood loss.

When Western Doctors started doing anatomical dissections on humans, they primarily dissected young (<40) deceased persons. Not long after the Industrial revolution, the dissection results began to change: medical research dissections gradually shifted from the young men and women with pre-industrial lifestyles to older men and women with post-industrial lifestyles because people were living longer (primarily the result of better hygiene.)

Results of the new, modern dissections became the standard model for human anatomy (remember the book "Gray's anatomy?") and information from the old dissections fell into disuse. Medical historians have recently compared the old dissections to the new, "normal" bodies of modern man and have discovered that, on the whole, pre-industrial man would have been considered to "suffer" from Muscular Hypertrophy! In actuality, however, it's understood that modern man suffers from muscular HYPOtrophy because of the modern sedentary lifestyle that is so popular these days. Moreover, it's not that big of a stretch to consider that Neanderthal and Paleo Man may have been hypertrophic even by pre-agricultural standards.

As such, I believe that a healthy paleolithic human would be much more muscular than us, and would eat accordingly. I also think that if we try to eat like our ancestors, we'd better be ready to behave like them as well... such a high Iron content in such a sedentary lifestyle as the modern lifestyle would quickly cause problems for most people.

Our best bet is to up our exercise and to eat fresh foods as much as possible. I'll also recommend Sam Graci's THE FOOD CONNECTION (http://www.amazon.com/Food-Connection-Right-Time/dp/1553350081) as a good start to healthier eating - you'd be surprised how important meal scheduling is!

Its great to have all those theories, but what do the facts tell us?
What is the current world record for the 100 meter? what was it 50 years ago?
What do you think it was 1000 years ago?
Again, its fine to theorize what MAY h ave been, but we don't discount what IS because of theory.