Recently I met Sumit Nanda, a man who has a very interesting story about his journey to finding sustainable good health. Throughout his childhood, his teens and even his twenties, one health issue kept cropping up after another. As he began developing multiple chronic illness,  he was told, "Your parents have these diseases, so you have them too ... it is genetic."  For a period in time, he believed that there wasn't much he could do about it. He became a daily pill popper but continued to get worse. Fortunately, he came across a solution. Now, he has more energy, better sleep and much better health than in his twenties.  Along the way, he lost an impressive 20kg.  (Scroll down to see his transformation!)

How did Sumit get well?  He followed the ancient principles of Ayurveda, where they respect your bio-individuality.  Based on your body type, they identify what you really need. Applying the belief that food is medicine, he worked with his body's natural circardian rhythms on when to eat and what to eat through the day, looking also at what was available, based on the weather and season. He believes that you can reverse age naturally, along with many age-related illness. He's walking proof.

Sumit isn't the only person proposing that you can reverse age naturally. There are others advocating this strongly too.  Examples include Blue Zone Communities and if you haven't heard of them, you should!  Here's more information about who and what they are.

In 2004, National Geographic teamed up with some of the world's best longevity researchers.  They looked at places where people not only live the longest but also have incredibly good quality of life, practically right to the end.  They were nicknamed Blue Zone communities. Which communities were identified? Barbadia (Sardinia, Italy),  Ikaria (Greece), Okinawa (Japan), Seventh Day Aventists @ Loma Linda (California, USA), Nicoya (Costa Rica) 

One of the results of the documentary, was the setting up of the Blue Zones Project!  What does the project aim to do?  Reverse Engineering Longevity! So, what do people living in Blue Zone communities do?  Nine things: 

1. They eat wisely. Natural, nutrient-dense food that is available to their local communities and eating what's in season. They eat food designed by nature to be be good for them based on different physical demands created by seasonal weather. And yes, there is a strong bias towards plant-based foods.
2. They follow the 80% rule.  This means they eat small meals -- typically till they are 80% full (the Japanese are well known for this).  Often these communities have bigger meals earlier in the day, eating more lightly in the evenings.
3. They know how to "downshift" - they relax and unwind, to manage day to day stress.  They do this through naps, practicing gratitude or having "happy hour" (See point #4)
   
4. They practice wine at 5 - yes, they drink a small or moderate amount of alcohol or wine to unwind, typically at the end of the working day.  They unwind.
5. They move naturally.  They don't consciously exercise, but they use they are physically active as part of every day life, right through advanced years of age.
6. They live with purpose.  They have a reason to get up in the morning.  "Retirement" is often a word that doesn't exist in their communities.
   
7. They create right tribes.  They have communities or groups that support healthy behaviors - from food, to moving, to socializing, to having additional support.
8. They put loved ones first. Beyond having a life partner, giving children time and love, this notion of putting loved ones first, included parents and grandparents. 
9. They belong to faith-based communities.  Attending 4 times a month leads to 4-14 years longer in life expectancy. 

How many of these do you practice?

Coming back to Sumit, many of his eating principles (described on and off camera) mirror the first two points above found in Blue Zone.  You can find out more about Ayurveda and how he got well in the video below.

I am looking forward to hearing more about your thoughts or personal experiences on reversing aging naturally.  Thank you for reading my blog.

#reverseaging #bluezoneproject #longlife #longevity #holisticwellness #ayurveda #EGAjuiceclinic #juicing #circadianrythms #bodytype #ashwaganda #tumeric #moringa #amla #antioxidants #foodasmedicine #foodismedicine #letfoodbethymedicine #hippocrates #naturalhealing #naturaltherapies #curingchronicillnesses #antiaging #anti-aging #goldenmilk #goingoffmeds #glowinggoodhealth #juicefast #howtoloseweight #howtoregainenergy

Today’s blog is going to be a bit different.  I normally blog about topics that relate to Eating Well, Being Well.  But wellness goes beyond what we eat.  It is also about your emotional and psychological wellness.  What’s sparking this slight shift in topic?   
 
Nearly a year back, on Sept 12th 2015, I flew to Manila to join the Amazing Food Challenge, Fun the Philippines Season 3.  You have no idea how petrified I was at the time.  Most people think that I am an extrovert, but at heart, I am not. I sit in the middle of being an extrovert and introvert.  As a little girl, I would shyly hide behind her mother’s skirt at other children’s birthday parties.  
 
Deciding to join a reality TV show was definitely not the path in life I had ever anticipated but, what’s life if you don’t put yourself out of your comfort zone and grow?
 
In Episode 1, I was incredibly ashamed at my choices and behavior.  Few people realize that it took months for me to deal with my mistakes. I had frequent flashbacks that made me cringe, panic and feel really awful.  As more than one friend put it bluntly, “You were clearly positioned as the Evil One in Episode 1.”
 
So what happened in Episode 1?
 
Callie fell off her bike, I flew past her on my shaky bike and I didn’t stop to help her.  Then, to make matters worse, I genuinely forgot to mention this to anyone when I arrived at the next station.  (I have a terrible working memory – a friend used to joke that if I had a child, I would accidentally leave my baby behind in a mall.  Fortunately, I have spared my son, Dillon from this experience!).  Fortunately, Callie and I talked that evening about what had transpired.  I apologized and asked her to forgive me.  She was generous enough to do so, and we are still friends one year on.  Thank you, Callie.
 
Then, in the first cooking challenge in Banaue, our team didn’t share any of our kaffir lime leaves with Tri.  Poor Tri.   Our host, Aaron, was delighted!  He whooped with excitement!  He kept reminding us that it was a competition and one small thing like sharing a prized ingredient would make or break us at the judges table.   We fell for it and I felt really awful.  Hanson, my team mate, finally fessed up to Tri that it was his decision, not mine.  At the time, I was the deliverer of the message and got the flak for it!  Thankfully, Tri’s still a terrific buddy. 
 
After that experience, both Hanson and I told the rest of the teams that if anyone wanted anything from our cooking station, all they had to do was ask and we would share.  For the rest of the show, we shared ingredients whenever we were asked. We also shared one of our cooking fires with Tri & Callie.  And Fauzan was also kind enough to share ingredients with us when we didn’t have enough.

Where did this journey to being well begin? 

At 10, while being measured by a tailor for a mouse costume for a ballet performance, I was made aware for the first time that my measurements were not “mouse-like”. I was certainly larger than the other girl-mice in the performance.  It didn’t matter to the tailor that I was 2 to 3 years older than the other “mice”, I just had a large waist according to Madam Tailor.  So the 10 year old in me, sucked in her tummy during measurement taking, only to end up with a tailored costume that looked even tighter on me than it should have.  I looked more like Porky Pig on stage than a mouse.  Looking back, I can see the humor in this! 

At 12, I started one crazy diet after another.  At 12 I stunted my growth.  At 12 I wanted to understand how to lose weight and keep it off.  Unfortunately, I didn’t keep it off. I would lose the same 2 kilos (around 5lbs) and regain it over and over again.  Sometimes, I would gain an extra 2 kilos after I stopped my diet.

As I approach my 45th birthday, my weight and body are stable. I like my size. I like my weight. I like my health.  I am 1.6m tall and generally weight 46-47kg on most days.  I seldom fall ill, even when I am around people who are down with colds and fevers.  I like the surprising amount and wide variety of foods that I can eat – not just salads, but hearty foods like chicken, steak, burgers and fries.   And I enjoy being well.

​If you are interested in finding out how I reboosted my metabolic rate and rebalanced key hormones in my body that now allow me to eat more and much better than I have in years,  follow me on my blog as I reveal what I did and what I do now to maintain my overall well-being.