in the modern West, where — unlike many indigenous and Eastern cultures — we tend to be culturally avoidant of talking about death or having curiosity about it, leading it to be an existential fear for many. So many of the texts that have stood the test of time — spanning Rumi, Khalil Gibran, Hafiz, Marcus Aurelius, Yogananda, Seneca, Lao-tzu, Thích Nhất Hạnh, and more — implore us to examine death and trust that it is both natural and not to be feared.
The truth: we should consider listening to the medical system if we have an acute issue like a life-threatening infection or broken bone. But when it comes to the chronic conditions that plague our lives, we should question almost every institution regarding nutrition or chronic disease advice. All you need to do is follow the money and incentives.
But the medicalization of chronic disease in the past fifty years has been an abject failure. Today, we’ve siloed diseases and have a treatment for everything: High cholesterol? See a cardiologist for a statin. High fasting glucose? See an endocrinologist for metformin. ADHD? See a neurologist for Adderall. Depressed? See a psychiatrist for a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI). Can’t sleep? See a sleep specialist for Ambien. Pain? See a pain specialist for an opioid. PCOS? See an OB-GYN for clomiphene. Erectile dysfunction? See a urologist for Viagra. Overweight? See an obesity specialist for Wegovy. Sinus infections? See an ENT for an antibiotic or surgery. But what nobody talks about — what I think many doctors don’t even realize — is that the rates of all these conditions are going up at the exact time we are spending trillions of dollars to “treat them.
Refined Added Sugar Refined added sugar causes astronomically more deaths and disability per year than COVID-19 and fentanyl overdoses combined. We need to see refined added sugar for what it is: an addictive, dangerous drug that has been included in 74 percent of foods in the U.S. food system and for which the body needs zero grams in a lifetime. Of all the levers most damaging our cells and preventing Good Energy, I believe the worst offender may be added sugar. This substance has become a mainstay of food that we and our children eat regularly. As Dr. Robert Lustig has noted, sugar shows up on labels in fifty-six different names and sneaks in everywhere. While dozens of types of refined sugar are added to foods, chief among the offenders is high-fructose corn syrup,
I reflect that the mitochondria that process energy from food to animate our tissues are inherited entirely from our mothers, passed down through millennia in an endless progression of nesting dolls along a matrilineal line. The mitochondria from the sperm essentially melt upon fertilization with an egg, while our mother’s mitochondria persist and create all the energy we need to do everything.
Metabolic syndrome is clinically defined as having three or more of the following traits: Fasting glucose of 100 mg/dL or higher A waistline of more than 35 inches for women and 40 inches for men HDL cholesterol less than 40 mg/dL for men and 50 mg/dL for women Triglycerides of 150 mg/dL or higher Blood pressure of 130/85 mmHg or higher
Almonds Allspice, dried Amla berries, dried Apples Artichokes Asparagus Bay leaves, dried Basil, dried Black beans Black chokeberries Black elderberries Black pepper, dried Blackberries Black tea Blueberries Broccoli Capers Caraway seeds, dried Cayenne pepper, dried Celery leaves, dried Cherries Chives, dried Chili, dried Cinnamon bark, dried Clove, dried Cocoa powder Coffee beans Cumin, dried Curry powder Dandelion leaves, dried Dark chocolate Dill, fresh or dried Fennel leaves, dried Fennel seeds, dried Ginger, fresh or dried Green mint, dried Green olives, with stone Green tea Hazelnut Kalamata olives, with stone Lavender, dried Mustard seed, dried Nutmeg, dried Oregano, fresh or dried Paprika, dried Peaches Pecans Peppermint, dried Pistachios Plums Pomegranate, whole Red lettuce Red onion Rose flower, dried Rosemary, fresh or dried Saffron, dried Shallots Spinach Strawberries Tempeh Thyme, dried Turmeric, dried Vanilla seeds Walnuts White beans Wild marjoram leaves, dried
According to Dr. Mark Hyman, “the triglyceride-to-HDL ratio is the best way to check for insulin resistance other than the insulin response test. According to a paper published in Circulation, the most powerful test to predict your risk of a heart attack is the ratio of your triglycerides to HDL. If the ratio is high, your risk for a heart attack increases sixteen-fold — or 1,600 percent! This is because triglycerides go up and HDL (or ‘good cholesterol’) goes down with diabesity.