In Fitness and in Health

Fitness and health, health and fitness, seem to be synonyms at some level. How can one be fit but not healthy or healthy but not fit? Well, dear readers, one can be “healthy” but "not fit" or “fit” but "not healthy". I may belong to the first group, as far as I know. I may be healthy too. Oh, I have the odd pain here and there, the occasional bout of suffering, but these, unfortunately, are part of being alive. There may be individuals out there who are also bereft of these niceties of existence, but they would belong to a class of their own. Most people learn to cope with these two “almost” unavoidable conditions.

I do not take any medications, unless supplements are considered as such, which they are not in the sense of a fix-something-right-away treatment, which many medications do not either. I take potassium citrate (2 g per meal) to maintain the kidneys’ pH on the basic side (over 7), which is better for the kidneys and also prevents most potential kidney stones from forming.

B₁₂ (cyanocobalamin; 2,000 mcg per week) is another supplement, notwithstanding the B₁₂ that I already get from various foods. Nutritional yeast, sardines, and small mackerels are tasty and healthy sources, as well as various meats, but the latter have to be organic to be of any value given that the regular varieties are full of unhealthy hormones and toxins. The same applies to eggs. Only organic eggs are healthy.

Coconut oil (1 teaspoon per day apart from frying with it) is amazing. Patients with Alzheimer’s disease (diabetes type 3) have shown significant improvements after receiving coconut oil daily. Coconut milk, coconut butter, everything coconut is tasty and healthy. The coconut is the best fruit after the avocado. However, it is imperative for the coconut oil, milk, etc. to be organic.

DHA (docosahexaenoic acid; 1,000 mg per day, which is equivalent to 1 g) is an omega-3 fatty acid, and an essential one at that, having also shown its role in decreasing the risk of Alzheimer’s disease.

R-ALA (R Alpha-lipoic acid; 300 mg per day) is a naturally occurring dithiol compound that is wildly synthesised in the mitochondrion by plants and animals. Physiologically, it helps protect mitochondria from oxidative attacks.

Resveratrol (200 mg per day) is well known as a biologically active compound synthesised by plants undergoing infectious or ionising radiation. In plants, resveratrol serves as an ultraviolet protectant and plays a role as a defence compound against pathogen infection, injury, and abiotic stresses. It is present in over 70 types of plants, including grape skins, grape seeds, cassia seeds, and white tea.

Turmeric (about 1 g per day) is more than great in cooking. Curcumin is the main constituent of turmeric (Curcuma longa). Turmeric has been widely used as a spice in foods and for therapeutic applications such as anti-inflammatory, antihyperlipidemic (oxidized cholesterol-lowering), and antimicrobial activities.

D₃ (about 3,000 IU per day) is not a vitamin, with the best source stemming from the Sun’s rays reacting with compounds in our skin. Moderation is, of course, highly advised if one gets it from the Sun, and thus 10-15 minutes of sunshine per day is more than sufficient. It is also important to take it with K₂ (100 mcg), a vitamin that helps our bodies to absorb D₃.

Eating healthy foods may render one healthy without these supplements, except that the amounts that are required in most cases cannot be derived from one’s daily meals. DHA, R-ALA, and resveratrol are the best examples. And those that follow the OMAD (one meal a day) method for its health benefits, cannot get all the required nutrients in one meal, unless supplements are included. I follow the TMAD (two meals a day) plan, which allows one to be as healthy, but an optimal 16-hour “fasting” has to be maintained every day. It is, after all, the keto way. In this so-called fast, one can drink water (plain or with some lemon or lime), tea, coffee (no milk and only erythritol as the sugar), and a few other clean winners. Our digestive system does not process these as food but as water, thus not requiring all its organs and processes to be set in motion. Any amount of food during that “fasting” period nullifies the effects (wellbeing, weight loss, ketogenic state) of this intermittent fasting.

What about fitness?

Is it necessary? Yes! Of course! Do I exercise? No! I have an exercise bike that I dust every week. It seems that I am betting that my good health can be maintained and even improved just by eating healthily and never, ever cheating. One can of course eat unhealthily once in a while, but fully understanding what occurs within one’s body when one cheats, evaporates (at least in my case) any primordial craving for some good or bad food. And water often voids the feeling of hunger.

Exercise is a celebration of what your body can do. Not a punishment for what you ate. Anonymous

Tell that to my body because my mind refuses to listen!