More on diets... and gaining weight.

One of the many things that call my fascination is the issue of weight loss/gain. There are many, many aspects to these. From the image related ones to the health related ones, going through psychological, cultural, etc. etc.

I am not an expert on the topic. However, it is interesting that the research I have done usually brings more information on suggestions and ideas for people wanting to loose weight, not gain it. Have you ever talked to someone that wants to actually gain weight? They would tell you that it is very, very difficult. Some have attempted to eat all day (in fact some do eat quite a lot) but they just cannot gain weight.

So this post has my total support for them, not the weight loosers. Must say, though, I wonder if the key for both is the same. By accident I found a comment on a you tube video that mentioned some system (they didn't talk about the specifics) that helped people loose weight through working directly with the hypothalamus.

This is totally new for me (although it is pretty obvious when you look at it closer). The hypothalamus is the one that regulates some functions related to metabolism and the Autonomic Nervous System. In relation to weight, it sets the 'program' that specifies the 'normal' weight for that person (whatever that may be, even if it does not seem 'normal' nor 'healthy').

I was reading wikipedia (which, yes I admit is the basic of basics, but can give a general idea on something). It says the following:

The hypothalamus is responsible for certain metabolic processes and other activities of the Autonomic Nervous System. It synthesizes and secretes neurohormones, often called hypothalamic-releasing hormones, and these in turn stimulate or inhibit the secretion of pituitary hormones. The hypothalamus controls body temperature, hunger, thirst, ^[1] fatigue, anger, and circadian cycles.

The hypothalamus is a complex region in the brain of humans, and even small nuclei within the hypothalamus are involved in many different functions. The paraventricular nucleus for instance contains oxytocin and vasopressin (also called antidiuretic hormone) neurons which project to the posterior pituitary, but also contains neurons that regulate ACTH and TSH secretion (which project to the anterior pituitary), gastric reflexes, maternal behavior, blood pressure, feeding, immune responses, and temperature.


As I said before, I know very little about the topic, which seems immense, so I will post some open questions that perhaps will seem odd, but might bring some clarity in the future.

The questions come from thinking about a person I met recently, and linking this person's case to other people I have seen that cannot gain weight. They also arise from combining my interests in astrology and emotional issues and my general interest in people's issues. Some, however, are just questions to which I would have to write a whole treatise if I wanted to explain how I came up with them.

I'll call the person in this case 'FB'. FB is someone that cannot put on weight. FB is usually hungry and eats quite often, not limiting the diet, except for red meat, which only is included very rarely.
When talking to FB, a single woman in her 30s, other possible clues come to the surface. She mentions that she doesn't have a good relationship with her mother and that she has trouble sleeping at nights. She also says that she often has trouble digesting food and that she feels tired despite taking a nap in the afternoons.

From an astrology perspective, an astrological influence that seem to jump out is the moon. The moon has to do with nurturing (this includes food), the mother, and deep rest and letting go.

Now thinking about another couple of cases (one of them a man), they also had issues related with their mothers. In his case, his mother died when he was young, leading to deep grief and loss. In her case her mother was absent through her childhood due to work.

So, my questions:

- could there be a relationship between the hypothalamus and the moon astrological force?
- is it possible that by working out the mother issues these people carry, their weight would go up?
- what is really happening in the hypothalamus of these people or people like them?
- what could be done in the hypothalamus to change and influence a different 'normal' weight and a metabolic balance that will target their perfect weight?
- could genetics be the main factor here?

Suddenly I am fascinated with the hypothalamus.

Perhaps someone with more knowledge will read this one day and point to something that might be a key to solving the issue of weight gain or loss in this case.

Food, health and freedom

Food is one of those things that most people tend to underestimate. It is so much part of being human that we either give it too much importance or completely neglect it.

Throughout my life I have been changing my diet. As a teenager I would eat anything, (including lots of chocolates) and I would gain or loose weight accordingly. I think I ate a bit too much though.
Later in life I became vegetarian (only cheese and eggs included), then I changed to the blood type diet (according to which I was incidentally supposed to be vegetarian) and so on.

With all these said, there have been times when I am so immersed in whatever I am doing that I completely forget to eat. There have also been times when I have found eating such a weird experience. A particular time I remember, working in a company that had a dining room for their employees, I sat there with my selection of food and looked around the room. Everyone was munching away, sharing stories (or gossip) and I thought 'how strange this is that we humans have to put some foreign matter into this thing called mouth to be able to live'. Bizarre.

As time passed by. I lost quite some weight and muscle (probably as a result of lack of exercise). Weight that I have not been able to put on. I decided to go back to eating protein. I started with chicken and fish and every now and then sea food (it was too strong for my palate). Red meat has not been an option, unless I really, really crave it, which is almost never.

The thing is, food is a vital part of inhabiting a human body (unless you are an ultra advanced yogi). However as time has passed I realized that instead of following some external diet, I need to tune into my body and see what it needs. This way it is possible to eat whatever one wants instead of following a set of external rules. The problem with this approach for some people is that they are so out of tune with it, that it is almost impossible to know what is the best thing to eat.

A question I ask myself often is, what would it take to be free of the food slavery. My answer to this has been, let the body eat what it needs. Freedom... !

Lately I have been exploring the idea of trying the raw foods diet, despite the fact that Ayurvedic doctors have advised me to eat cooked food. So in the process of deciding if this is something my body needs/wants I have been exploring what is available on the net. My main intention is to do a thorough detox as I feel I have accumulated all sorts of things that are not supporting my body's well being.

A list of resources to come.