Last update - 00:00 08/02/2007
Eating Well / 40. To run or to walk?
By Rachel Talshir
I am frequently asked: What else is there besides proper nutrition? Because all 39 of the previous columns focused on food, it's natural that I'm asked whether I believe that changing eating habits is enough to improve one's lifestyle. After all, people say, there are a few more things that affect health, too. What about exercise, meditation, rest, vacations? And medicines? Cosmetics?
All the methods of proper nutrition stipulate that in addition to changes in foods consumed and in the methods of cooking them, it is necessary to make a few other changes as well. One of the first of these is physical activity. The Kingston method, for example, includes a recommendation to walk every day. Walking, as the naturopath Eli Strauss explained to me, gives the body a kind of "internal massage" that it generally is deprived of in activities associated with modern life. In addition, this method also recommends a regular body massage once a week, because this eliminates tension, relaxes the muscles, improves blood circulation, is calming and, as such, serves as a preventive "medicine."
But even before this, the very decision to take care of the body and pamper it once a week is a meaningful step toward bettering one's overall well-being and one's health. The question is, which types of physical activity - some of which are trendy and transient - should we choose? For example, working out in a gym seems to me problematic in the same way that a crash diet is: It's an extreme regime that in many cases is not founded on daily activity per se, rather on a few hours a week of intensive activity. It's natural, then, that most of the methods which advocate a healthful lifestyle treat physical activity as part of a routine, and not some form of time-bound torture that then gives you the right to two days or a week of doing nothing.
Most of the methods are averse to drugs and food additives. Some of them also rule out medicinal herbs. According to the Kingston method, for example, wheatgrass juice is not a worthwhile food. The logic behind this opposition is the same one that underlies the objections to gym workouts: This juice contains tremendous quantities of vitamins. Drinking it is supposed to make up for accumulated deficiencies and to atone for wrongs that are done to the body during the rest of the day. The Kingston principle is uniform and consistent: It rejects any sort of extreme activity, and in its place promotes constancy and moderation throughout the day.
Most of the methods are also averse to the products of the conventional cosmetics industry. The source of this aversion lies in the skeptical attitude toward every product that promises miracles by means of active substances that work "instantly." Most of the purveyors of healthful nutrition believe that proper eating is beneficial to the skin and improves one's appearance far more than all kinds of expensive creams made from seaweed or whatever, because there is no way that the amazing qualities supposedly embodied in the creams will work by means of simply rubbing them on oneself.
According to the healthful food methods, tired skin, acne, wrinkles, faded hair color and cracked nails are signs that the body as a whole is not getting what it needs; to eliminate such phenomena the problem itself has to be addressed, not only the symptoms. Therefore, the consumption of vegetables, fruits and helpful fats, and the avoidance of caffeine, salt and alcohol, are more useful than applying any cosmetic cream. In fact, some of the regimes maintain that cosmetic products are not only not beneficial, they are positively harmful.
For those among us - and I am one of them - who can't get along without the goodies sold at the exquisite cosmetics counters, the suggestion is to purchase only products of companies that use natural substances. Even if they are not beneficial, they will not be harmful, either. To improve the health of the skin there are those who recommend brushing it daily with a hard brush made of natural hair!
Something else to avoid are caustic detergents and pesticides. A substance that kills cockroaches and other bugs is harmful to people. What's the alternative? Mosquitoes flee from places where there is a bush, even a branch, of medicinal geranium. I tried it and it works. And cockroaches are also said to avoid areas covered with baking soda. (I tried that, too, but it didn't work.)
Some natural, healthful regimes suggest ceremonies and prayer rituals aimed at bringing about spiritual changes. Others propose that you move from the city to a rural area, to choose a place where the air is free of toxins, to grow your own food. Some urge people to distance themselves from negative energy, choose their words carefully, think positively and wear clothes made of natural fabrics. I know from conversations with people who made the move to healthful foods that in the wake of doing so, they noticed changes in other areas of life as well.
People who are careful about their food start to be careful about other things, too. If you consume and chew food with moderation, you gradually act with moderation toward other people. People who were impulsive become more restrained; people who were impertinent become polite.