Health

Everybody likes rich things.  I like the taste of a perfectly marbled steak, or of beer or cheese as the next guy.  Personally, I've chosen not to consume these things, not because I don't like them, but because I choose long term happiness over instant gratification.  This wasn't an easy decision to come to, I struggled with it for my whole life, the world certainly doesn't make it easy.  And as young people, our higher brain functions are still developing; our ability to make temporal and group decisions over immediate and individual decisions is constantly developing.

Recently, I have learned that it actually costs less to eat a plant-based diet over an animal product diet.  Overall, it costs a farmer more per calorie eaten by humans to maintain the animals, and the food for the animals.  This is a very interesting point, because it removes the main excuse for using animals for food.  As long as we're clear that we're doing it because we enjoy it, and that it's a luxury not an essential, then I believe we can better mix balance to choices.  

I once knew a doctor whose primary discourse was on promoting an egg-free diet.  Personally, I feel that eggs are the least of many evils in farming, because chickens are going to lay eggs whether we eat them or not.  This is not consistent with milking, for example, where cows do not naturally give milk unless there is offspring present.  Chickens and cows have evolved and have been selectively bred in captivity, so it appears they have no other purpose.  Humans are omnivorous, which means we can choose.

Plant-based diets have shown to be more effective than most drugs in solving a wide variety of health problems.  The government should incentivize this at the absolute very least.  Agriculture lobbyist misinformation is just par for the mega-economy course.  We're just understanding this now, in these decades; the world is ripe for change.

In a typical suburban neighborhood, there is enough asphalt and concrete in roads reserving the space where we can sow gardens to feed everyone.

I urge individuals to research the nutritional profile of Swiss Chard, which I have recently come to love, here in Buenos Aires, in the absence of easy to find Spinach.  

The body's primary energy currency is called ATP.  ATP is made by the body from fat and sugar, not protein.  The more healthy fat and sugar we source in natural form like fruit and nuts, the more naturally they will coexist with vitamins and minerals.  Hamburgers, chocolate bars and potato chips all have rich ATP profiles, so it's no wonder we love them, however their enriched ingredients create imbalance.  

I once heard a doctor say that nobody ever comes in with a protein deficiency.  

Personally I like to use a spreadsheet that tells me the exact amino, vitamin and nutrient profile of everything I eat so that I can be sure I'm getting everything I need. By doing so, I can consume fewer calories overall, and in general not feel hungry.  My body starts to trust me.  This is completely unreasonable for every individual to handle on their own, especially young individuals.

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Drugs and alcohol are extremely dangerous and are absolutely not necessary.  In meaninglessness and strife, they numb our desperation for dignity and joy.

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We are hard on ourselves in a world where science and information are poignant reminders about what horrible things we do to ourselves - but remember, it's not our fault.  The best of us have been able to organize and maintain a busy family's healthy lifestyle, but with the cost of homeownership, rent, and repair now spiraling out of control, healthy diet may not be a priority.

Food security is a great phrase because it resonates with people - Food. Security.  It resonates because the food is intertwined in the most complex human biological and security with the most complex psychological functions.  In some regions where groups live, food cannot be grown and for sure this is a food security emergency that needs real solutions, but it also has meaning where food is abundant but too expensive - too expensive to have prepared in a healthy manner and delivered - sounds like a first world problem, right? It is.  In the so-called first world, our elaborate infrastructure is collapsing from beneath us faster than we frantically maintain it, leaving little to no time for deprioritized bio-issues like nutrition.  

I wish someone would just plan, shop, and prepare a tasty variety of healthy meals for me and my family each day.  In fact, some people pay for that service.  But it's not just food I need help with, it's every aspect of life aside from my chosen profession.  Most men historically have imagined that a wife would solve this problem, or a slave, but I'm happy to say we've moved past that into a new and confusing post-nuclear family limbo where everyone suffers equally.  People in the modern world are surprised to find out that a move-in partner is not able or willing to take care of them, but in the vacuum of a better idea, ideality bubbles repeatedly grow & burst.

When the bubble bursts, we're all displaced again, destroying all the psychological foundation we worked to build.  Many people choose to be alone.

Collectivism is designed to provide stable foundational security so that we can focus on healthy personal relationships.  If foundational security (food, housing, etc) is dependent on personal relationships, we have unhealthy attachments.  

Romantic love is also a human need, but must rest atop a stable foundation.