At the end of Enlightenweight there is the following recap summarizing the key points of the entire book:
“To warm and dry: Pungent, bland and bitter foods combined with sweating and breathing as though you are yawning.
To warm and moisten: Pungent, Salty sweet and oily foods combined with breathing like you are yawning. Continue reading
(Reading time-4 minutes)
Just as trees sigh in the wind and seaweed undulates in the ocean, you too are subject to natural rhythms. Your body changes with the climate and weather. Changes in temperature and moisture affect blood circulation and hormone production. The conditions in the outside environment will influence what you come into contact with. This can greatly influence your health, memory, and even your personality. The weather affects everyone. By studying how it affects you, you can better understand how to adapt to change.
Heat
There are three main sources of heat in the human body:
Heat produced from the metabolism of human cells
Heat produced from the metabolisms of microbiota
Heat you absorb from radiation.
Warm soup, sunshine, and a crackling fire can all introduce heat into the body. They work in concert to heat you from within. When you feel too hot, you lose your appetite. This is because the process of digestion generates heat. Your body doesn’t want you to overheat so it reduces your appetite to help you cool down. To further avoid overheating, it makes you feel tired to keep you from moving too much. The heart begins pumping hard to send blood circulation to the surface of the body where it can cool off. This can contribute to heat rash and makes heat particularly dangerous for those with heart problems. Because your body wants to reduce its metabolism and get water, you naturally feel more inclined to eat fruits and vegetables to stay hydrated and cool off. These foods require your body to do less work compared to eating peppery beef jerky. Your body cools down when you breathe, sweat, urinate, and defecate. The faster these processes happen, the easier it is to cool down. Continue reading
“You are made of Heaven and Earth-a delicate combination of gasses and microbial dust merged into an elegantly integrated whole….Master your microbiome and the world will become your garden, your pharmacy, and your playground.”- Enlightenweight
After 3 years and countless revisions it’s finally ready. We wanted to offer 3 versions.
Version 1: Kindle (Available now)
Version 2: Paper (Available now)
Version 3: Audiobook (Expected completion within the year.)
Enjoy,
Andrew Miles L.Ac and Qiu Xuelan Ph.D
Reading time : 2.5 min
Cold and Moist
The animals in a temperate forest sing, but not with the complexity of their tropical cousins. The flowers bloom and fruits ripen, but more modestly than their tropical counterparts. Cool weather slows the collective metabolism. There is less density of life and less competition than the tropics.
There are certainly areas of the body that should be swampy, but when this extends into areas which are meant to be dry, it creates problems. Sedentary living reduces fluid metabolism. This can lead to water retention. When the internal microbiome becomes cold and damp, it overloads your water transport mechanisms. It doesn’t matter how much water you are drinking. What is important is that your body is distributing all of the water you absorb. Continue reading
Andrew Miles, DOM & Xuelan Qiu, PhD 