In this chapter, Dr. Lipman continues the journey of adding good activity and motion while removing bad food items like caffeine and gluten-based products. He takes a similar approach of easing us into the changes, such as identifying the excess energy we use by having poor posture, requiring our digestive system to work harder by eating gluten and taxing our nervous system excessively with caffeine. The central theme still revolves around restoring our natural rhythm by working to resolve the imbalances in our bodies and in our diets.
I enjoyed the section on improving posture to prevent muscle aches, joint pains, neck pain or back pain. It turns out that back pain is the most frequent condition that people seek medical care for and bad posture could be a major reason. This chapter provides a simple test to look for asymmetry or imbalance in our major muscle groups and find aches or tension that need to be corrected. Muscle has a special relationship with the brain because it keeps its own memory. A ballet instructor tells her students that it is important to learn the correct technique in the beginning because muscle memory develops quickly. If they fail to use correct technique at the beginning, they must unlearn the muscle movement and relearn later. It appears that Dr. Lipman is telling us that we must unlearn our bad posture and retrain our muscles to adopt a healthier posture.
It was hard for me to remove caffeine and gluten from my daily diet, but it was easy to follow the instructions in Daily Beat 10 and vitalize my diet with colorful fruits and vegetables that are rich in phytonutrients. In California, so many vegetables and fruits – like strawberries, cherries and apricots – are now in season. It is easy to enjoy fresh fruits and buy at the local market. It is also easy to grow your own garden and get the vegetables one step removed from the land in the freshest condition and highest content of phytonutrients. This week NBC News announced that 43 million families will be growing vegetables in their own garden, which is an increase of 20% from the previous year. That is good news.
When I was in college, I did basic research to identify plant flavonoids (they provide color to corn) and my professor, Dr. Mikula, would tell us about the important role they played in protecting the plants from harmful bacteria or bugs. The researchers at the UCLA Center for Human Nutrition are discovering that some phytonutrients may have protective functions in humans. The more color a plant has, the richer the phytonutrient load and anti-oxidant potential. The researchers have discovered over 20,000 beneficial chemicals in fruits and vegetables. That is a lot of protection!
Along with a good spinal reset and better posture, these are some of the fun facts you will find in this chapter. Next week we will review Week 3 – Adapt.
Dr. Tony Linares
