This is a discussion of the condition of low-energy and fatigue, and more generally, of energy production and dissipation in the body.
The body is constantly producing and dissipating energy, and it tries to keep these in balance and even build a surplus of energy if possible.
Each of the six trillion or so cells in the body is an energy factory. Every cell produces energy, and the process of organic chemistry by which the cells do this is quite complicated indeed.
Because the process of energy production in each cell is so complex, it is subject to being degraded. Degraded by what? Basically, by a process of increasing pollution in the cell from toxins.
The toxins that increasingly hinder the cell's complex machinery come from two sources, endogenous and exogenous, that is, inside and outside.
The body produces toxins in large amounts just in the course of doing its complicated business. The most important process in the body, that of producing energy, produces a number of interim or waste products, among which are the justly famous and damaging free radicals.
Free radicals are highly corrosive and are capable of doing serious damage to cellular machiny. Of course the body has agents whose job is to neutralise free radicals, but these agents can get gradually overwhelmed if free radicals are produced in larger than normal amounts.
What produces free radicals in large amounts? Diets too high in fat. Diets too high in protein. The process of "burning" these elements for energy is extra complicated, and produces many extra toxins. A diet that includes animal foods in almost any form inherently tends to supply too much fat, protein and toxic by-products.
Diets high in refined products like sugar and white flour and other factory-refined products also produce excess free radicals, but from a different source. Refined foods don't contain enough micro-nutrients like vitamins and minerals and other phyto-chemicals, so the cellular machinery gets damaged that way.
Diets high in cooked food also produce free radicals as compared to diets high in raw foods. Foods such as raw fruits and vegeatables in general tend to be very "clean burning" in the body and produce few toxins.
It's worth noting that all of the healthiest peoples on earth eat diets that are 98% vegan or greater, very low in refinement, and containing lots of raw fruits and vegetables. They eat their plant-based foods very close to the way that nature produced them, and their diets are below 10% fat and 10% protein by calories, tremendously lower than is common in industrialized societies.
There are also many sources of exogenous pollution. There are numerous chemical additives in foods. There are also pesticides and herbicides, heavy metals and dioxin compounds. There is pollution in the air and water. There are x-ray and radiation sources.
All of these sources and others contribute to the build-up of toxins and pollution in the cellular machinery, and in particular the delicate cellular machinery concerned with producing energy.
Thus anyone experiencing lack of energy must first look at de-toxification. This doesn't mean using outside agents. None are needed; the body itself does the detoxification in all its forms. What we do is supply the body the conditions for de-toxification, and the body does the rest.
The basic conditions for the body to de-toxify are extra rest and sleep, and a diet that is high in raw, unrefined, low-fat plant-based foods. For instance, if we become a vegan or a fruitarian for awhile the body is able to de-toxify more because it is receiving fewer toxins and expending less energy on digestion.
If we want to take the de-toxification process further or more rapidly, we can do a fast. This can be a short fast of a few days or a longer supervised fast, and it can be a water fast or a juice fast. The subject of fasting is a big one in itself; for more info on it, please consult the books The Natural Way or Handbook For Humans.
Second, the person experiencing a lack of energy must look to the process of conserving energy. What this means is getting greater rest and sleep, and consciously avoiding situations that can utilize or drain a lot of energy.
In the financial markets there is a saying among professionals: "They slide faster than they glide." What they mean is that a market can take a long time to build itself on the upside, but can plummet on the downside much more quickly.
The same principle applies elsewhere. It can take months or years to build an office building, for instance, yet it can be demolished in seconds. "They slide faster than they glide."
This applies to energy production and dissipation in the body. Energy accumulates in the body through a slow, patient process of eating right, getting good rest and sleep and so forth, yet this slow accumulation of energy can be quickly dissipated.
By what? By anything that places a large stress on the body. For instance, it can be strenuous physical activity. Sometimes people who are experiencing a lack of energy engage in strenuous activities to demonstrate or prove how much energy they have. Such demonstrations of strength in energy-low people can be rapidly lowering the body's energy account even while the "proof" is proceeding.
Conversely, when we're lying in bed and resting and looking weak, that is when we're gaining energy. That is when the body can and does apply extra energy elsewhere in the process of de-toxifying and rebuilding itself.
Other situations that can rapidly lower the energy account are situations of stress, such as emotional stress or getting too cold or overwork and so on. It pays to become very conscious of such energy-depleting situations and avoid them in favor of situations that are calming and relaxing.
Thus can the body de-toxify and rebuild itself, cell by cell. As this happens, the cellular machiny, including the energy machinery, becomes more efficient and productive. And the inner energy account slowly rises.
And externally, we experience this as a long-term rise in our general energy level.
—jim sloman, for 2/2/01 for Feb 2
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