SIX PACK

FLAT STOMACH, FLAT BELLY

Weight loss and exercise, calorie consumption and metabolism,  food processing and diet plans,  eating healthy and vitamin supplementation have all taken on a different form over the "past 30 years".  Everyone seems to be a health expert, everyone is giving weight loss advice and everyone seems to have the answers. Yet obesity and overweight has climbed the ladder to become the fifth leading cause of global deaths. No less than 2.8 million adults die annually, because of obesity and overweight.  Can it be because the advice out there is tainted?

Death is morbid but a natural consequence of life. We will all eventually die but many people kill themselves or rather eat themselves to death. Yes, food is good, food is tasty and food is necessary but there are good foods and bad foods and the wrong advice followed, can lead to dire consequences. Cancer is a leading cause of death worldwide and responsible for approximately seven and a half million deaths annually. Ischaemic heart disease is the second leading cause of death globally. Stroke / cerebrovascular disease is the third and lower respiratory tract infections the fourth. And to reiterate, obesity and overweight is the fifth leading cause of global deaths.

Having said that, let me qualify why I had to write about these morbid things. In order to live a healthy life and naturally have a six pack and a flat stomach we only need five things but I will just cover the first four for now. The first and most important is "Fresh Air". If the average person is deprived of air for more than 7 minutes then we may as well call-in the undertakers since he or she will die of suffocation. The second vital ingredient for life is "Clean Drinking Water", considering our bodies consist of approximately 79% water.  If the average person is deprived of water for more than 15 days, dehydration can lead to kidney failure, the consequence of which is death.  The third vital ingredient for continued life is "Beauty Sleep". Sufficient sleep restores our regenerates our energy levels. If the average person is deprived of sleep for more than 11 days, psychosis sets-in with a very high possibility of  death and even though no scientific studies were done on humans, this was proven with lab animals. The fourth requirement is "Nourishing Food". It appears from the observation of hunger strikers that humans can survive without a morsel of food for 30-40 days, as long as they drink water, Thereafter severe symptoms of starvation sets-in and death can occur anywhere between 45­ to 61 days.

Mahatma Gandhi on his  21-day hunger strike.

To take this a little further, wild beasts of prey like a lions or a tigers makes a kill once a week, have a hearty meal, then leave what they can't eat to other wild animals and scavengers. Wild animals only eat when they are hungry. It is only us humans who insist on three square meals per day everyday, at prescribed times, then to make matters worse we adopt pets and we feed them as many times as humans eat and what humans eat, only to see pudgy domesticated cats, dogs, and hamsters in virtually every household. No self respecting wild cat or dog or even hamster would dream of looking pudgy or fat, because instinctively they know what moderation is. In fact we can learn from them.

I am not suggesting, neither recommending starvation, even though most obese and overweight people are overeaten they are non-the-less undernourished. Many of them are constantly tired, deficient in concentration and can't wait to have their next meal. The main reason being, that the bulk of their energy is used by their digestive system to process the food in their gut,  leaving them with very little energy to function with. 

What we need to learn, is to control our food intake and only eat natural foods, avoid processed foods especially sugar and soda containing aspartame. Over the "past 30 years" cigarette smoking, car fumes, industrial processes and food processing factories have polluted the air with toxic chemicals. But  regardless of this,  we need to make a conscious effort every morning after the trees has done their magic to breath fresh air and  inhale deeply and often. We also need to make the conscious decision to drink water throughout the day  and not live on tea and coffee and soda. Our bodies need clean water to its thang. Suck on this, try doing your laundry in coffee, tea and soda without adding any water and see if your laundry comes clean. Our bodies can filter the coffee, tea and soda in order to get clean water with which to do the necessary body processes but it takes a lot of energy to do so. See for  yourself how unjust you are to your body by depriving it of water.  We also need to avoid smoking and consuming alcohol, substitute them for fruit but avoid drinking fruit juices. Eat your fruit don't drink it. For example, 2 glasses of grape juice can equate to more than a kilo of grapes which is a meal in itself. Implying that your entire weekly fructose intake is consumed in a single drink.  The same applies to a glass of apple juice which can be equivalent to 5 apples. Likewise 4 oranges to a glass of orange juice.

To come back to the top five causes of death globally. Cancer is the generic term for a group of diseases that can affect any part of the human body where mutation spread rapidly. This is referred to as metastasis and is a major cause of death. Carcinogens are chemicals that cause Cancer by causing mutations. Carcinogens are often introduced into the body through drinking alcohol, smoking tobacco and other  dietary risks. Sugar is carcinogenic, trans fats found in snack chips are carcinogenic, aspartame based sweeteners are carcinogenic,  plastic bottles made with acrylamide and or xylene are carcinogenic, ultraviolet and ionizing radiation are carcinogenic (excessive sunbathing and tanning booths). Infections from certain viruses, bacteria or parasites are also carcinogenic and ageing also makes one susceptible to Cancer.

Ischaemic heart disease is the second highest cause of death globally and characterized as a diseases that narrows the coronary arteries, reduces the flow of oxygenated blood to the heart. No fresh air in the blood, smoking, high cholesterol, overweight, obesity and  excessively eating  meat are the key causes. However Ischaemic heart disease can be controlled even reversed by using prescribed blood pressure medication, physical exercise  and a healthy diet.

Stroke / cerebrovascular disease is the third highest cause of global death. Essentially cerebrovascular disease is similar to Ischaemic heart disease but with stroke victims, it's not their heart but their brain or certain parts of the brain that is deprived of oxygenated blood resulting in disturbance of cerebral function and causing physical  disability. No fresh air in the blood, smoking, high cholesterol, overweight, obesity, excessively eating  meat and excessive levels of salt in their diet are the key causes.

Lower respiratory track infections affect the sinuses, the throat, the airways and lungs causing  a tight feeling in your chest alongside breathlessness,  wheezing, sore throat,  fever, chills and headaches. Lower respiratory infections which are caused by respiratory syncytial virus can lead to bronchiolitis, which cause inflammation of the bronchial tubes. Bronchiolitis is a self-limiting illness and normally the immune system will take care of it.

Other than lower respiratory tract infections, all the other causes of death can be attributed to factors stemming from poor diet, improper breathing and overeating resulting and especially overweight and obesity. So before we can start with, of even think of getting a flat belly with a six pack abs, we have to revisit our eating habits and our sugar intake, as well as expel all carcinogens from our diet. Six packs need fresh air and loads of physical energy to burn the fat.