Ok, so this is going to be one of my stranger posts. It's based off of an idea that suddenly coalesced in my brain and it wouldn't let go, so I'm going to put it down on here, and if it somehow turns out to be scientifically possible, or maybe I just haven't seen the studies on it yet, I'd like to know I came up with it on my own... sort of.
Anyway, it began with this thing that my wife jokingly said to me before. She says that orange juice is my life's blood. I drink a LOT of OJ. It is my go to drink most of the time, and whenever I'm feeling a little under the weather (which in and of itself is rare) I would just drink more and recover pretty quickly. I've rarely had an illness that has laid me out for longer than a day or so, and I'm generally in good health. Some of this may be a placebo effect, but I think we all know someone who is generally unusually healthy, despite not having what could be considered healthful habits. So it got me to thinking. What if our bodies are more attuned to a specific vitamin, or amino acid or something, and getting that particular need filled before others will lead to better overall health?
I may not have phrased that as clearly as I had hoped, so let me try to explain a little better. There is a general belief that eating a healthful diet, as determined by some medical body or other, will lead to a healthy life. However, this isn't true for everyone. Some people can eat "normal" levels of vegetables, fruits, meats, fish, grains, fibers, etc., and still have health issues. Cholesterol levels, heart disease, bad immune systems, all of these things are always blamed on genetic issues, predispositions, or some other vague thing that can't be explained. What if it was simpler than that? What if there was something that you as an individual could do that would lead to better health?
Something that we have to remember when approaching this is that everyone is different. We all react to different things differently, whether mentally or physically. With that in mind, I think that every individual person's body requires more of a specific vitamin, amino acid, chemical, or whatever, as opposed to a general diet for wellness. Yes, you would still need to eat a decent diet, but if you were to get your fill of that specific thing that you need, you wouldn't need to overcompensate with other things, leading to a generally healthier life.
It gets a little convoluted here, so bear with me a little. This makes sense to me because if you think about it, there are a lot of people overeating because they feel that they are trying to fulfill some need, and eating is the way to get it. If they're eating all these things, and yet still barely getting the exact substance that they need that their body is craving, that would lead to a greater craving or desire to satiate whatever that need would be. That would just lead to more eating, because they may be getting some of what they need, but not enough to fulfill them.
To put it another way, think of the difference in gasoline octanes. Most cars can run on the general stuff. Low octane fuel is fine for most cars. But there are some cars that need the higher octane stuff because their engines are designed to use that more efficiently. If you use the low octane stuff, you get less efficiency out of the engine, and actually end up doing damage. Think of that as the same thing for your body. Most people can run on the general stuff and get along fine, but there are some bodies that require a different type of fuel, something more specific to their makeup, and that would help them run better, but if they don't get it, they could end up with any number of issues, whether it's obesity, illnesses, or just a generally lower level of health.
Now the problem of course is I have no way of proving this. It's just general speculation on my part, but it makes sense in a way. We all know that person who drinks a ton of alcohol, eats like a horse, never works out, yet is fully functional, maybe not in the best shape, but far from slovenly, and is rarely sick. At the same time, we know people who do every diet in the world, work out religiously, get regular checkups, but something is always wrong with them medically. It may be a situation where person A is by some dumb chance getting that thing they need while person B isn't because it isn't within the range of what they're doing. There is some evidence to support this idea, since there are diseases that require you to eat high amounts of carbs in order not to get debilitating symptoms, or require you to intake high amounts of protein in order to function properly. General guidelines would say that either idea is nuts, yet it's still required in order for that person who has that illness to function properly. Why not take it further and break it down to the most basic level? There is also precedent for this idea because when your body is craving certain nutrients, you will do basically anything to get them. Like one of the stories I saw on the Discovery channel or The Learning Channel (before they became all about bad reality shows) where someone was lost at sea, and would regularly eat the eyes and the bones of the fish he caught instead of the meat of the fish because his body required the calcium and some other protein or amino acid that only the eyes could provide. Not exactly something you would think to do, but the need of his body and the access that he had led to that particular scenario.
It would be an interesting study to run, to see if this might be the case. It could revolutionize the health and wellness industry, not to mention the medical industry. It would be the greatest form of preventative medicine, since you'd be less likely to get sick as long as you were able to get what you needed easily. Then that could lead to pursuit of other things, as health wouldn't be as much of an issue, and would actually help poorer nations, since they could concentrate on what they need instead of just shotgunning ideas. No, I don't think this would eliminate all disease, but it might be able to take care of the more common ones, and less days where you're sick mean more days that you can do what you want and what you need. If a test could be formulated to quickly and easily determine what bit of nutrition you needed, it would save everyone a lot of time and resources. They have genetic testing that can tell whether you're more prone to certain types of cancer, so this test wouldn't be so far off.
I know there haven't been a lot of specifics in this, and like I said, it's more to do with the fact that this is some vague idea I had. It likely has no merit in actual science, but hey, ideas have to come from somewhere, and if it bears out, I can always say I had that idea early on. Besides, this is just a blog where the detritus in my head comes to settle, so this is sometimes what you end up with. Some of my pseudo-science. Anyway, if anyone knows of any similar ideas being explored by actual scientific minds, I'd love to know, so feel free to send me links. I'm always up for reading something new and interesting.
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