The Game-Changers: Three Health-Related Lifestyle Modifications I Wish I Had Embraced When I Was Younger

In late 2019, I had this nagging feeling that my sense of wellness could use an upgrade. And the subsequent Covid-19 pandemic that swept over the globe really didn’t help.

The world became quite small, with no travel and little time to write or exercise. I recall in the early months of the pandemic wandering the alleyways of our neighbourhood with my wife and son to get some outdoor time while still avoiding other people on the busier streets.  The upside to the pandemic is that I got to spend a lot of time with my son, who has sadly now lived one fifth of his life in a pandemic.

But time doesn’t stand still. And even in a pandemic, we need to keep learning and evolving.  This post focuses on three health-related things I dialed into prior to and during the pandemic that I wish I had done decades earlier. So as much as I’m writing this to you, I’m also writing this post to my younger self — in case I stumble onto it while time-travelling through a cosmic wormhole. Two of these things — intermittent fasting and going mostly veggie — I wrote about while still in the early stages of my adaptation. But I think it’s worth revisiting two years later.

Intermittent Fasting: In early 2020, I travelled down the path of intermittent fasting (“IF”), and I’ve never looked back. Literally, I think it has been one of the most important health decisions I’ve ever made (See my post:  http://vicarious-traveller.com/intermittent-fasting/). There are many forms of IF, but what has worked for me so far is taking a break from food for 13-16 hours a day, with an 8-11 hour eating window. 

As I wrote about in my original post, the benefits of IF are many, including reducing insulin resistance, which can help protect against type 2 diabetes. It helps bump up HGH (human growth hormone), which supports muscle growth and fat loss (by releasing more of the fat burning hormone norepinephrine). Research also shows it has a positive impact on gene expression (related to longevity and protection against disease). IF has the added bonus of increasing your metabolic rate, reducing inflammation, and possibly improving brain health.

It took a month or so to make the adjustment so that I didn’t feel like I was starving myself in the mornings. But once I broke through that barrier, I felt calmer and more clear-headed in the “unfed” state, when my body was using its fat reserves to fuel my morning.

With the body’s more efficient use of fat for fuel instead of glycogen, I can run or bike for hours in an unfed state and finish up strong. Even with all the benefits, however, it’s best to speak to a medical professional before taking up IF, as it isn’t recommended for everyone.

Mostly Veggie: Around the same time that I changed the timing of when I ate, I also changed what I ate. I became a “mostly-veggie,” meaning I only eat meat once to four times a month – which is usually chicken and occasionally bacon!

Read the original post here: http://vicarious-traveller.com/plant-based-eating/.

Not only is a plant-based diet better for the environment, but it helps with digestion and inflammation. Two years in, I’m still grateful I made the move. I don’t feel like I’m missing out on anything, and my energy is definitely more consistent, particularly on days that I stick to plants and don’t indulge in, say, potato chips or leftover Halloween candy (Yes, it’s the end of January, and we still have leftovers!).  

More recently, I read Fiber Fueled by Dr. Will Bulsiewicz, and it was something of a game changer in the way it made me think about food consumption and overall health (his writing style is a bit distracting, but the science is solid). When we eat, we aren’t just feeding our bodies, we are feeding our stomach flora. And stomach flora are the true gatekeepers to good health. If you feed your body whole fibre-rich foods, you’re feeding the good bacteria in the gut, which will grow in number and improve over-all health. If you eat processed foods and large quantities of meats and dairy, you are feeding the not-so-good bacteria, which will grow in number and can lead to inflammation, leaky gut, and a wide range of long-term health issues.

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The main take away for me is that each type of plant food we consume will feed a specific type of bacteria in the gut. There is health in diversity, so the more variety you consume of high-fibre fruits and veggies, whole grains, legumes, nuts, and naturally fermented foods like Miso, the healthier the stomach flora and hopefully the healthier you are. By the way, chia, flax, and hemp seeds are all great sources of fibre and can be added to pretty much every meal.

Even when I go off-script by eating cheese and eggs or drinking the occasional beer — none of which are apparently good for the gut biome — I make sure I’m also eating that rainbow variety of fibre-rich foods to counter any ill-effects so that the good flora in my gut continues to flourish.

Nose Breathing: Breathing is fundamental to human existence, and a great many mammals breathe predominantly through their noses (or blow holes!). But some of us humans rely more heavily on mouth-breathing (sometimes for medical reasons like a deviated septum). This can negatively impact everything from dental health to heart health. Some research has shown that mouth breathing in children can lead to physiological changes, including the underdevelopment of bone structures in the face and the narrowing of airways.

Of course, some high intensity endeavours actually require mouth breathing to deal with the high oxygen demands being placed on the body. I try to tackle my low intensity runs and bike rides with a focus on nose-breathing. Admittedly, it took months for that to feel comfortable. Beyond a certain intensity, of course, the body demands more oxygen, and the mouth obliges…

The benefits of nose breathing include adding moisture and warmth to the air before going into the lungs, which is particularly important in colder climes. Nose breathing also works as a natural air purifier, reducing the lungs’ exposure to allergens and dust. But perhaps the pièce de résistance of nose breathing is that it triggers the production of Nitric Oxide (“NO”) in the paranasal sinuses. Mouth breathing does not produce NO.

Why is NO a big deal? It’s vasodilator, which improves blood flow to the organs and decreases blood pressure. It also assists with immune defence, digestion, and even regulation of the bladder. This is an incredibly powerful tool for good health in athletes and non-athletes alike. Conversely, low NO levels are linked to high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, dementia, and IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome).

The good news: many vegetables, especially beets, are high in nitrates, which get converted by the body into NO.

A fascinating look at mouth breathing can be found in George Catlin’s Shut Your Mouth – And Save Your life, which was published way back in 1870. Although dated in many ways (particularly in the racist and belittling ways he characterizes indigenous groups in the Americas), Catlin made some astounding observations, particularly as it related to indigenous people throughout the Americas that he met and lived with during his years of travel. He claimed that they were nose breathers and even trained their infants to keep their mouths closed and breathe through their noses. Catlin noted that the jaws and teeth of first nations people were infinitely healthier than the Europeans, who he considered predominantly mouth breathers. He also found infant mortality statistically far higher in England than among indigenous communities, which he blamed on bad breathing habits, particularly at night (the book can be found online as a free pdf download).

A more modern take on breathing can be found in the pages of Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art by James Nestor. It was after reading this book in early 2021 that I began to focus on keeping my mouth shut and breathing through my nose.

There’s a lot to explore with nose breathing, but I won’t go into detail on techniques here, as there are plenty of more qualified sources online and at your local yoga studio. But I will say, almost one year in, I feel that nose-breathing has helped improve many things, including my concentration. And even if I wake up tired, ten minutes of conscious nose breathing can really help remove the cobwebs. It also seems to have improved the circulation in my feet, which have a long history of going white when cold.

Another, more controversial, technique that I’ve adopted is mouth-taping at night. This is done with a strip of medical tape placed either vertically or horizontally over the lips (I use 3M Micropore tape from the pharmacy). Of course, I recommend you speak to a professional before doing this.

And why did I start mouth taping, you ask? Well, for years I would periodically gasp awake at night fighting for breath.  In the mornings, I would wake with headaches, dry mouth, and even chest pains. It got to the point that I thought that I may die in my sleep (I would sometimes go to bed exhausted but dreading the uncertainty of night).

When I read up on mouth taping, which encourages nose breathing and helps keep the jaw closed and the tongue from rolling back and blocking the airway (sleep apnea), I figured I had nothing to lose (and everything to gain). The first night I tried taping my mouth, my wife literally thought I had lost my mind (what cultish bandwagon was I on this time?). The next morning, though, she noted that I hadn’t snored. And more importantly, I didn’t wake up with a bone-dry mouth, chest pains, or headache. I do recommend moisturizing your lips before applying the tape, so as not to injury the skin of the lips when removing.

If I’m particularly congested, then I will run salt water through my nostrils before bed to open up the nasal passages. If I really can’t breathe through my nose, however, then I skip the mouth tape altogether.

One last anecdotal observation: Since the age of 18 or so, I’ve suffered seasonal allergies and occasionally relied on medication to tamp down the symptoms. Since taking up conscious nose breathing almost a year ago, my symptoms have largely disappeared, and I think I’ve only used allergy meds once or twice.

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Interestingly, intermittent fasting, a plant-based diet, and nose breathing are all understood to reduce inflammation and improve the body’s stress response, which are the cause of a great many ailments. Done in combination, this triptych has lots of potential benefit.  

So even if my younger self never discovers this post, I’m still grateful to have adopted these practices in my 50s. Is this trinity a silver bullet to protect our health?  I don’t know, but I do feel that they are part of a solid foundation for true wellness — even in the midst of the ongoing challenges we face living through a pandemic.