Circadian Prescription

[Ollie]

Whilst reading Detoxification and Healing by Sidney Baker I came across a reference to an earlier book, three years earlier, The Circadian Prescription by Sidney Baker with Karen Baar, the ideas resonated with me so I bought the book.

A few ‘taster’ quotes from the book.

In the past, food was thought to be a source of the protein, carbohydrates, and fat needed for energy as well as a provider of other nutrients, like vitamins and minerals. But food is also information.

… For now, to optimize your circadian harmony, you need only remember that the work your body does in the morning requires raw materials that are provided by protein and that nighttime chores need carbohydrates.

You can’t really hear the music of the orchestra that is your body. But science tells us that there is a sequence, a beat, a rhythm. When you’re healthy, members of the orchestra play in harmony; when that harmony is missing, health deteriorates. Eating is the single most important activity in which you engage where timing is important. That’s why diet is the cornerstone of the Circadian Prescription.

Remember what the C’s said about playing together in tune in an orchestra?!?

What does all this have to do with rhythm? These plant-derived nutrients [phytochemicals in flaxseeds and certain other foods] permit animals to stay in synchrony with the seasons. You are healthiest when you live in harmony with the cadence of many rhythms. Circadian rhythm is the most obvious, but other examples include the monthly menstral cycle as well as the yearly rotation of spring, summer, winter, and fall.

Something our Paleo-ancestors knew and understood well.

So far I’ve described two different rhythms related to diet. The first is circadian rhythm, which is directly connected with your need for protein in the daytime and carbohydrates in the evening. The second rhythm, indirectly linked to the phytonutrient content of certain foods, is the cycle of the seasons. Regardless of the time of the year, these phytonutrients contain information that is healthy for your reproduction system.

But life revolves around a multitude of predictable rhythms. All vital bodily functions are rhythmic. They are ultimately anchored in the earth’s rhythms, most notably the day and night cycle, the lunar month, the seasons, and the year. I say anchored because the earth’s rhythms hold us in an inescapable embrace; our connection to them is fundamental.

When various rhythms in your body are tuned to eachother just as your diet is tuned to the day and the night cycle, you achieve rhythmic integration. In this state your body is in balance, and you suffer when the rhythms fall out of synchrony. (Syn mens “together” and “chrony” means ‘in time,” so synchrony means “together in time.”) Rhythmic disintegration is poisonous.

As well as getting back in touch with nature, the book indicates when to take food and supplements, it covers overcoming jet-lag and dealing with shift patterns. I can recommend the book, and I’m already putting certain parts of the information contained in the book into practice.

 

[theos]

Thanks for the info, Trevrizent. I added it to my wish list.

 

[Ollie]

Thanks for the info, Trevrizent. I added it to my wish list.

Yes, I have 3 boxes full of 'my wish list' waiting to be read! The trouble is as another book is referenced, if it resonates with me I go and buy it. :D

 

[Buddy]

I haven't read "The Circadian Prescription" or anything like that, but years ago, when I looked into biorythms, I became a believer in patterns, rhythms and flows, regardless of whether the biorhythm calculations were accurate or not.

I also don't think 'Spirit' is inherently either malicious or benevolent, although its action can be obstructive or supportive of our personal desires. Maybe it is simply the Universe driving towards wherever it must go - the means by which the Sun Absolute, located at the end of time, demands that the Universe bring it into being.

If this view is allowable in our cosmlogical model, then one of the great inside out misunderstandings of esoteric ideas is probably the way some people think "going with the flow" is a cute excuse for slothful, unthinking, herd animal behaviour, instead of a serious business which can cost everything except the end result - and which they often have to have a Shaman's or Initiate's viewpoint to even appreciate!

That said, when a person's full, interconnected awareness is aligned with the self organizing tendency of the Universe, they can probably enjoy the same kind of random assistance (from the Universe) as they move towards their Aims that water molecules seem to enjoy if you were to watch a backwards film of a water sprinkler (inspired by Richard Feynman).

I believe that's why the C's have been so patient and forebearing with their deliveries of clues and info. A person needs to be in touch with their flow and events need to be guided or powered by said flow and not rushed or forced.

Just a few thoughts I had while reading this thread. Thanks for sharing that, Trevrizent! :)

 

[lainey]

Thanks for sharing, sounds like an interesting book. I'll look it up!