Health

health

Moringa

Over the last few months I’ve been binge listening to several podcasts related to health. This and the next few posts will be a distillation of what I’ve learnt, a sort of Cliff Notes for myself.

I’ve mostly fallen in love with 2 people, Dr. Peter Attia and Dr. Rhonda Patrick, and the guests they interview in their respective podcasts.

Living in the western world lends me certain affordances, such as breathing unpolluted air, access to good quality produce, the availability of a variety of supplements and the ability to train at a good gym. So, I can make no excuses. All I need to do is REALLY understand and internalize the habits that will maximize my chances for prolonged good physical health.

Essential 2

There are two main things I came away with

  • There is much to be gained from deliberately choosing what vegetables I eat
  • Certain supplements can be tremendously beneficial and it is important to understand why you are taking them

What I mean by deliberately choosing my vegetables is this – I already do eat a good assortment of vegetables in a given week. But, after understanding the benefits and mechanisms of Sulforaphane, Magnesium and other elements in the human body, I’m compelled to choose moringa and broccoli-sprouts over cabbage, broccoli or other cruciferous vegetables for its potency of Sulforaphane. I now understand why and how much Magnesium I need and what quantity of green leafy vegetables I have to eat to meet the recommended daily values.

Now, with the supplement industry being unregulated and with reports of how impure they can be, it was easy to dismiss supplements as unnecessary and conclude that they don’t benefit me in any meaningful way. But on understanding the mechanisms triggered by Vitamin D and Omega-3, it is clear how fundamentally essential some of these supplements are for maintaining health.

List of 10

In summary, this is what I’ve come up with – my list of 10.

Habits

  • Adequate sleep
  • A mix of high-intensity and weight training
  • Sauna

Eating

  • Lots of green leafy and cruciferous vegetables – for natural sources of Sulforaphane, Magnesium and the million other vitamins and minerals we don’t know about
  • Intermittent fasting – restricting feeding window to 8-9 hours and giving your gut a break for the remaining 15-16 hours

Supplements

My thanks

Our clinical understanding of the effect of foods we eat, air we breath, and other modalities like sauna, cryotherapy and meditation on our body is increasing at a rapid clip. I’m indebted to folks like Dr. Attia and Dr. Patrick for simplifying these studies and bringing important learnings to the masses.