"The mind is your greatest weapon" I read this quote anonymously written by some philosopher who either had a flair for creating random thoughtful insights or had tangibly experienced the power of this weapon. This quandary existed with me only till I started practicing martial arts. Martial arts have a way with minds. Not only do they make your body flexible, but your mind too. Applying your brute physical force to kill is not difficult. Controlling that power is. How we use our internal energy or ‘Qi’ draws that big bold line between a bouncer and a martial artist! Martial art is way beyond the depiction of super-flexible heroes flying 10 feet up in the air and knocking out baddies. A martial artist carries an entire monastery inside; there cannot be more tranquility and control elsewhere. The union of physical and internal energy, harmony of yin and yang and the ultimate equilibrium of movement, endurance and self-control forms the doctrine of martial arts. A common point of contest is whether martial art endows us with mindful control or are people with a disciplined psyche more equipped to learn martial art. Like an elastic which cannot show how much it can stretch till it is actually pulled across, mind can display its tensile power only when acid-tested! There is practically nothing that a mind cannot achieve if tendered value, practice and discipline. Martial art offers exactly that. You do not need a perfect body or an ingenious mind to be a martial artist, rather your body and mind will sculpt up naturally during your tryst with a martial art. Martial art is never fought. It is played; it is imbibed; it is practiced. Not only is it an incredible form of exercise, but also a conduit for holistic development. Martial arts employs 3 basic principles:
Armed (swordsmanship, kalaripayat) or unarmed (muay thai), combat-oriented (mixed martial arts, boxing, wrestling, etc.) or spirituality oriented (tai chi), martial arts has been an intense subject of cognitive neuroscience, ingraining a profound understanding of the relationships between your internals and externals. Your opponent, surroundings, your body and mind, the elements of universe, your ontology of judgment, loss and victory, fear, submission, and eventually the metaphysics of life and death, all make up the external you integrate with. "The best fighters are never angry" A martial artist is often conceived to be a robust, insistent, temperamental and aggressive person ready to punch your face or deliver a choke on slightest trigger, someone to keep one-arm-distance away. But contrary to this very prejudiced view, he or she exudes exceptionally calm and assertive energy, a deeper perception, lack of aggression and a non-conflicting demeanour. Martial art doesn't teach you to kill. It teaches you to control your powers to safeguard life. And this wisdom doesn’t develop overnight; it comes effortlessly only with persistence and practice. But despite having a universal acknowledgment of these assets, why is martial art not a part of our lifestyle? Either it is the fear of injury or lack of cognizance towards its long-term benefits that makes martial art more of a hobby than a lifestyle practice. Out of a vast pedigree of martial arts, one can choose the type best suited to his/her individual disposition. Nevertheless, it takes an enormous amount of commitment and devotion to accomplish it. The connect between body and soul is unfathomable. Like the body that has its split second of life and death, the mind too has its moment of truth. It is only by invigorating mindfulness that this connect can be established. Practicing martial art is not just empowering, but also enlightening. Never to forget, it is an art. A form of art, which requires the inscrutable balance of a strong mind and a fit body. Not only does it teach you self defense but also self-control. Tai chi stands as a classic example of cultivating life energy and creating internal force by blending meditation and exercise. As a result of this interplay between movement- and breath-control, the level of mental acuity and tranquility Tai chi infuses is mind blowing, literally! Every form of martial art ushers mental, emotional, and spiritual discipline into the player which no other physical activity or sport can. It isn’t called movement meditation just frivolously! Martial Art is all about building up power to act and mental strength to decide when to and when not to use that power. It is not to awaken the beast inside you, but to manifest the best in and out of you. The World Health Organization defines Health as a "state of complete physical, mental, and social well being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity” and the primary source for health, functionality and sustenance of life is food. The nutrients provided by food are required not only for physical vigor but also for mental and emotional wellness. The brain utilizes nutrients for its structural integrity and functioning. What we eat affects the way we feel and conversely, the way we feel often pushes us towards certain types of food. An unhealthy diet regimen, starvation or binging can lead to severe mood fluctuations and very often psychological distress. Similarly, a rough day or an emotionally draining phase can easily incite cravings for chocolates or sugary foods to provide instant blood glucose spikes giving a sense of satisfaction, thereby launching a vicious cycle that eventually causes systemic dysfunctions. The 'Science' and 'Signs' of Happiness It’s all about the feel! Our mood can determine how we perceive, act and react and the brain dictates us what or how to feel. Which raises the next obvious question as to what ordinates our cerebrum or is the brain a self-reliant organ. On a scale of 1 to 10 how surprised will you be to know that there exists a phenomenal connection between our gut and our brain? Whatever gets into our gastrointestinal system mandates how our brain directs the penumbra of mood and behaviour. So what exactly goes on inside our brain that correlates our choice of food with our mood? There lies a neurological circuitry that connects food to mood! To decipher this, we need to first understand how the complex network of nerve cells consolidates our central nervous system to the body through neurotransmission of signals to and fro. Neurotransmission is nothing but transmission of signaling molecules or chemical messengers called neurotransmitters from one neuron to another target neuron/muscle cell/gland cell across synaptic junctions to get the desired response. This signal can be of physiological functions, pain, hunger or emotions, etc. As microscopic as it may sound, neurotransmission is nevertheless an energy-consuming process.Since food is the fuel for our body functions, it directly regulates production, secretion, availability, and action of neurotransmitters too. There are more than 100 neurotransmitters identified till date, of which a few directly regulate mood and one's emotional/mental state. A quick glance over these, their mode of action and their response characteristics to nutrition, would help elucidate the neurobiology of wellness.
There are some more substances that play a substantial role in optimizing neurotransmitter levels and influencing our mental well-being.
Food for Thought
Isn’t it astonishing to see the opulence of food options available for improving and sustaining our mental health? Yet, unfortunately these choices are not exploited liberally enough. Mental health is undeniably the most crucial facet of our overall well-being. We may be free of physical ailments but even a modest warp in our emotional or mental state can derail us. Mood is very frivolously spoken of; a person with the quintessential 'mood-swings' is often a subject of disparage, humour and mockery. Hardly anyone, for that matter, the patron himself/herself, would try to fathom out the cause and consequences of his/her state, let aside remediating it! Our mood can determine where we channelize our energy and intellect, use our physical strength and maintain the mind-body balance. And the nutrition we absorb from the food we eat determines the way our mood curves. Food is, ergo, the best prophylactic as well as a therapeutic commodity for our mood. Lastly, it is not just what we eat but also how we eat that affects the action of nutrients on the brain. The age-old injunction to “enjoy the food you eat and eat slowly” should not be undervalued. Eating the right kind of food, at the right time, and in the right way, is paramount to address and employ its benefits. A piece of dark chocolate gulped down as you hurry out for work at 9am will show little to no benefit. Rather, grab a piece as you play with your kids, or sit with your besties or cuddle with your partner, or just slow down your racing feet, savour its delicacy and feel the endorphins exuding through your blood stream! An anxious mother walks into a paediatrician’s clinic with her 2 year old hyperactive son for a customary checkup. Her first concern (which no longer baffles the doctor) is “My son is not gaining weight. I try to feed him every 2 hours but he is refusing to eat. Is he healthy?”. On a closer examination, the paediatrician observes the child’s weight to be dangling in the lower quartile of his ideal weight category. He smiles at the mother and exclaims, “Your son is perfectly healthy, sound and active. I am glad someone brought in a thin child today; and that, I do not need to prescribe a weight loss diet chart for a 2 year old!” We unfortunately belong to a society where the health, wellness and growth of an infant and a child are measured with the figures on the weighing scale and the thickness of skin folds! Excessive formula feeding, incorrect eating pattern and choices, physical inactivity and of course, not to rule out genetics and ethnicity, have been a few causes of childhood obesity. Physical activity and nutrition and are the foremost aspects for growth and development of children. Easy access to media and indoor entertainment, too little outdoor activity, mindless overfeeding and extravagant binging, and poor nutritional quality of food has turned spirited dynamic little imps into sluggish unhealthy youngsters. Children are fed to fill their tummies rather than to fulfill their nutrient requirements. And these children grow up into equally unhealthy adults plagued with multiple metabolic and psychological disorders. Dating back to days where the sole available nutrition source for an infant was mother’s breast milk and home cooked food, limited access to junk food and high physical activity played a positive role in building up immunity and providing adequate nutrition for growth. With passing decades, a plethora of quick-fix, instant, palatable meal options and a drastic decline in physical activity lead to an alarming incidence of unhealthy weight gain, obesity and debilitating life conditions in children as young as 5-10 years of age. And with the prevalence of overweight and obesity surging manifold every year, children and adolescents have to be put on weight loss diet plans to combat this monstrous evil and reform healthy habits. Overweight and obese children are likely to remain obese through adulthood and susceptible to a myriad of infirmities like diabetes, hypertension, hypercholesterolaemia, fatty liver, gastro-oesophageal reflux disease, asthma, sleep apnea, immune disorders, lower hip/back pain, arthritis, bowed leg, flat feet, muscle weakness, behavioural disorder, menstrual abnormalities and PCOS, cardiovascular disorders and even cancer. Obesity at a young age only amplifies the psychological miseries an adolescent is likely to go through later in life. 8 out of every 10 obese kids suffer from poor self esteem and depression as a result of being bullied, few even go ahead to develop headaches and intracranial pressure, which turns severe during adulthood and may require critical intervention. More about the complications of childhood obesity can be cited at https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/childhood-obesity/symptoms-causes/syc-20354827 http://700childrens.nationwidechildrens.org/complications-of-childhood-obesity/ While fundamental lifestyle patterns in children are more feasible to buckle down, genetic factors can be tough opponents! Mutations in LEP (the hunger hormone leptin) and its receptor LEPR, genes from the hypothalamic leptin-melanocortin pathway like POMC-ADCY3, PCSK1, MC4R, BDNF, and other gene loci like NTRK2B and SIM1 are implicated in severe childhood obesity and confer strong susceptibility to adulthood obesity. Gene-environment interaction studies reveal that with sustained healthy lifestyle practices, the adverse effects of these mutations can be suppressed to a large extent, or at least delayed, if not abrogated. Additional information about the genetics and epigenetics of childhood obesity can be acquired from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3639324/ World health organization has acknowledged obesity as one of the most afflictive health conditions. The statistics are unnerving. On an average, 1 in every 5 children from primary school are overweight/obese and by the time they leave primary school, the ratio goes down to 1:3! Almost 50% of all overweight children lesser than 5 years of age hail from Asia with India scoring the second position after China across the globe. Child nutrition, lifestyle and dietetics is a rapidly growing field and has attracted the attention of researchers to understand the mechanism of this vicious cycle engulfing the quality of life of millions worldwide. Ironically, childhood obesity is an issue that can be tackled at its elementary level at home. Adults/parents or caregivers have to put in basic, yet conscious efforts towards inculcating healthy eating habits and establishing active lifestyle by not only mentoring their children but also setting examples. To start with, understanding the nutritional requirement of a child as early as his/her infancy is of absolute importance; understanding that by feeding empty calories to a child will only debilitate growth and health; recognizing the need to provide a balanced diet with appropriate portion control and not overfeeding children with calories ad libitum; staying involved and participatory in most of their choices; and last but not the least, encouraging plenty of physical activity to keep their mind and body agile. Eggs are increasingly used nowadays without the egg yolk as we falsely believe that yolk contributes to increase in body weight of an individual. A new study has found that this practice of discarding the egg yolk to maximize dietary protein intake is disadvantageous.
In reality, egg yolk contains protein and some other nutrients that are not present in egg whites. The yolk also is said to contain a component that helps the body to utilize the available protein in the muscles. The study further suggests that eating protein that is naturally available, like in egg yolk, is more advantageous to our muscles instead of acquiring protein from isolated protein sources as discussed at https://www.sciencedaily.com/. Study Environment & Results The study involved 10 men who performed resistance training exercise and then consumed egg whites containing 18 grams of protein or whole eggs. Researchers injected these individuals with two important amino acids and took repetitive blood and muscle biopsy samples to study their appearance and the effect of these amino acids in protein synthesis in muscles before and after resistance exercise and training. Eating whole eggs or only the egg white provided an individual with the same amount of dietary amino acids in the blood, almost 60-70% was available to build new muscle protein. But, measure of protein synthesis in the muscle offered a drastically different response-eating whole eggs immediately after resistance training lead to greater muscle-protein synthesis than eating egg whites. This study shows that simply adding fat to a protein source in the diet after exercise is not going to boost protein synthesis in any way. Recently, nutritionists and dietitians have been stressing the importance of protein nutrition and even research shows that we need more protein in the diet than that we assumed to be enough for our body sometime back. To fulfill this need, inexpensive protein sources work best and eating egg protein in its natural environmental existence is more useful that getting isolated protein. |
AuthorDietitian & Nutritionist Dr. Nafeesa Imteyaz. Archives
May 2020
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