Should Theism embrace evolutionary reforms?

Is it not expedient for the religions to embrace evolutionary reforms for the humanity to live in peace and harmony?

To propitiate the almighty, the practice of sacrificing human life during the period of epic was later limited to animal sacrifices; in most of the altars, this also has been shunned; some may even suspect the sanctity on the ritual practice of pouring milk over the deity or offerings of flowers and fruits in Agni; Changes in the offing are visible across the way these rituals are being performed! The realisation, that the almighty is after all may not be bothered over the finer details, is percolating across the spectrum of masses! Would he waver in bestowing blessings if those are offered to the needy and poor mortals? Would this not bring a revolution in our ways of praying, if the religious heads themselves start advising the hard liners? Does anyone have the courage and wherewithal to take it forward?

Have you ever faced the dilemma of conflict between your own judgement and the societal customs – whether to trace the beaten path laid out in religious scriptures and the ones customarily followed in ‘your section’ of the society or boldly choose your independent opinion on the basis of your own assessment and experience? Why should one be apologetic for acting as per conscience which might not conform to the diktats of the society, provided its not being, of course, illegal?

It is not uncommon for religious pedagogues to unabashedly plead some part of their scriptures as unacceptable as they must be prevailing in that era under compelling circumstances but not any more now, while some other part should apply, in their opinion, ‘religiously’ without any adaptation? This ambivalence is endemic in all the religious faiths, be it Judaism, Christianity, Hinduism, etc., Could this selective approach survive any longer? Would any such insistence not tantamount to brainwashing?

There are some faiths that would not renounce some religious dictums even though their conscience plead abjuring them! Religious indoctrination at an early age could have propelled them in this direction resisting reversal later when reasons reign supreme! To quote Sam Harris in The End of Faith: Each new generation of children is taught that religious propositions need not be justified in the way that all others must, as the civilisation is still besieged by the armies of the preposterous.

Would the society take you kindly if you express dissents of such sorts? But, Would such cultures survive if they do not evolve and adapt themselves with knowledge accruing in the increasingly interdependent societal interactions?

Would cultures wither at all and lose their identity if they are amenable for such ‘mutations’? But the time tested Evolutionary principles of Darwin profess such mutations, as the successful survival strategy!

Nurture Gut-Microbes for a Healthy Living

Why should we say, ‘Gut feeling’, to express ‘an intuition without a logical rationale’? Has GUT, the commonly used term for the gastrointestinal tract, got any relation to the mind?

‘Gut’, derived from the old English word ‘guttas’ literally means ‘bowels’, is generally used to refer the whole of alimentary canal, starting from esophagus, stomach, intestines and rectum. As stomach is considered the seat of emotions (secretion of bile, for example, under extreme mental stress), this phrase might have been coined, stomach being the primary organ in the ‘gut’. But the understanding of the influence of stomach on mind is only of recent origin. This arises from the revelation of bacterial ecology in the gut playing a role on the well-being of the whole body including the mind.

William Beaumont, who pioneered the physiology of digestion in the nineteenth century, was the first to suggest the presence of ‘microbes’ in the alimentary canal. Later the Nobel laureate Joshua Lederberg, a molecular biologist, kindled interest in the genetics of microbes in the gut, ‘microbiome’. While human genome has only about 23000 genes, the gene count of bacteria that the body harbours, is over a million. These gut bacteria start inhabiting the time the baby comes out of the womb and continues to influence till the death. What is surprising is that this ecosystem not only affects the health of the body it cohabits, but also influences the future generations by imprinting the human genome.

Over eons of evolution, microbial DNA hasn’t simply lived side by side with the DNA of living creatures but has infiltrated it, becoming an integral part. It is ironical but true that the twentieth century man, who spent most of the time figuring out how to fight the microbes (as it was considered the reason for illnesses), in the twenty-first century he has understood the inevitability of harmoniously and advantageously coexisting with them!

Is it true that ‘your fate is sealed the day you are born: it is in your genes?’ No, it is not! It is now understood that the ‘methyl group’ signatures in the DNA of your gene, apart from the inherited code sequences of Adenine, Guanine, Thymine and Cytosine (A, G, T, C) decide as an ‘on-off switch’ during the ‘cell division’ by replication. The formation of this ‘marker switch’ as well as the timing of when it would get activated or deactivated, is rather mysterious! There could be a variety of reasons such as the chemical environment, mental health, exercise, meditation, dietary habits, and the cohabiting microbial activities in the cell during the life time of the living subject. This behaviour of these markers, may perhaps explain the astonishing successes in cases of patients reporting freak ‘wonder cures’! Extensive genetic research is in progress to understand how the DNA is methylated, activated and deactivated.

Thus the microbial activity which is dependent on the dietary regimes, can influence the human genome leading to the subject’s health. Due to this supervisory role from the gut, reversal or at least delay is in sight for certain disorders of genetic origin: such as obesity, diabetes, cancers, Alzheimer, schizophrenia, autism etc.,

From this discourse, it is only prudent to nurture the eco-friendly gut system: First is to nourish the existing microbes with ‘prebiotics’; that helps the gut bacteria produce nutrients for your colon cells leading to a healthier digestive system; these are basically fibres such as oatmeal, pulpy orange juice, whole grain cereal etc., Alternately, one can take ‘live bacteria’ in the form of ‘probiotics’, that are foods prepared by bacterial fermentation such as yogurt, kefir, sauerkraut, tempeh and kimchi; If you are inclined in ‘sophistication’ and believe in ‘costlier’ things would be more beneficial, then there are supplements. But the impact of these supplements that contain around billion bacteria on the gut ecology, that is already infested with 100 trillion, is only to be seen!

With this understanding of ‘influence’ of microbial world within, would you discount the food such as ‘fatty’ butter, coconut oil, palm oil, ghee, cheese or ‘gluten’ rich wheat, rye, spelt and barley, which have been traditionally taken for centuries by your forefathers, as ‘poisons’?Would your own and gut genetic evolution betray you? There could be rare cases of allergic responses to some type of food; some are even allergic to life saving antibiotics; but that has not become the yardstick for total banishment! Isn’t it preferable to relish ‘Informed-Eating‘ than throttle the choices by the ‘over-hyped nutrition fads’?

Even though the understanding has not yet become ripe, at least does your ‘Gut feeling’ now accept the rationale in the eastern adage ‘food (around you) is the elixir of life‘. Those who shun the time-tested ‘morsels’ in the hope of disease free eternal life, live in an utopian world! Isn’t the natural evolution more adaptive to the ever changing environment than these ‘much publicised doyens of diet’!

Credits:

1. Super genes, Deepak Chopra & Rudolpf E. Tanzi, Penguin Random House LLC, New York, 2015

2. The Gluten Lie and other myths about what you eat, Alan Leviovitz, Reagan Arts, NY, 2015

Ekadasi, Ramzan and Ketosis

Is there any science in fasting? Could the ritual, prevalent since the vedic times, of Hindus practising Ekadasi, have evolved after a careful understanding of body metabolism? Could an evolving civilisation have enforced the regimen through religion after recognising the benefits as the anthropologist always vouch that religion is a better tool to enforce discipline in a society? The answer is perhaps, yes, if one carefully study the evolution.

Evolutionary Lag: The early caveman was a forager who was hunting for food before he learnt farming. Since, as a hunter, he may have to sustain for days without food, a mechanism of storing the fat which can be expended at the time of starvation must have triggered in the genetic evolution. This uncertain irregular fat rich food metabolism that evolved over thousands of years might have faced evolutionary lag when farming societies became the norm of living colonies. With stability of food resources, the society went an ever hungry spree with food intakes exceeding moderation. The result is sugary starch became the body’s primary fuel source while fat took the secondary role with body not capable of coping up. The excess sugar got accumulated as fats to be burnt when the body needs energy. But such occasions became rare with society becoming Increasingly affluent.

Whether evolution could cope up with this change? Perhaps not, if one study the extent of affliction of modern illnesses. Frequent eating, along with an overemphasis on carb-rich and sugary foods, causes a reduced ability to burn fat. The reliance on sugar creates massive blood sugar spikes, inflammation, hormone imbalance, and ultimately many of the chronic diseases that plague our society today.

Science of Fasting: If one carefully studies the body metabolism, the solution to of conundrum for restoring health, appears to be apparent. It is like this: Liver converts carbs to sugar for body’s energy needs. While there is lack of carbohydrates, liver enables metabolism of fat to be converted unto ketones. This secondary metabolism, called Ketosis, sets in whenever sugar is not readily available. In the cellular energy metabolism, ketones are able to create much greater amounts of energy per molecule than glucose. At the same time, burning fat does not create the same insulin and blood sugar response that burning sugar does. Many people even feel more energized and focused when the brain gets to run on ketones, made from fat. People report a feeling of feeling of less hungry, gaining control over cravings, and often experiencing a much more stable emotional state, when they go into ketosis. Other benefits include improved hormone balance, lowered inflammation and improved brain health.

According to a recent study conducted by scientists at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology and Kyoto University in Japan, occasional fasting can boost people’s metabolism. In the four subjects that they investigated, they found that while fasting, in 58hrs, there is in an increase in the metabolites that are responsible for increasing longevity and reversing the signs of ageing. The study also suggests that fasting increased the metabolism of purine and pyrimidine – chemical substances which play pivotal roles on gene expression and protein synthesis. This change can also promote homeostasis in cells, which serve to alter their gene expression according to environmental influences.

How do you get into ketosis, one needs a low level of the fat-storing hormone insulin: for this choose a ketogenic diet under prescription or adopt a choose a low-carb diet or have a brief period of periodical fasting. The low intake of carbohydrates also directly reduces glucose oxidation, called “glycolysis”, that neurons activate stress proteins to lower oxidant levels and stabilize mitochondria. The energy requirement is met through ketones that are derived from the liver primarily from fatty acids in the diet or body fat. These ketones – hydroxybutyrate (BHB), acetoacetate and acetone – are released into the bloodstream, taken up by the brain and other organs, shuttled into the “energy factory” mitochondria and used up as fuel.

A recent study found enhanced expression of genes encoding for mitochondrial enzymes and energy metabolism in the hippocampus, a part of the brain important for learning and memory. Hippocampal cells often degenerate in age-related brain diseases, leading to cognitive dysfunction and memory loss. With increased energy reserve, neurons may be able to ward off disease stressors that would usually exhaust and kill the cell.

Excess BHB and acetoacetate are excreted from urine, while acetone, due to its volatile nature, is breathed out. Meanwhile, blood glucose remains physiologically normal due to the glucose derived from certain amino acids and the breakdown of fatty acids, thus low blood sugar is avoided!

Thus, Ketones directly inhibit the production of violent molecules and enhance their breakdown through increasing the activity of glutathione peroxidase, a part of our innate anti-oxidant system.

Therapeutic Benefits of Ketosis: To a layman, Paleolithic and ketogenic food are nearly the same, with keto diet being a subset of paleo. Generally keto diets are targeted for fighting a certain body condition while paleo may be for general wellness regimen.

Both the diets prohibit cereals, grains and processed food. While a ketogenic diet, typically restricts carb to 50 g per day, with fat over 75%, proteins around 20%, there is no such limits in paleo.

Various ketogenic diet have been used to successfully to treat drug-resistant epilepsy in children since the biblical ages. Emerging evidence from animal models and clinical trials suggest keto may be therapeutically used in many other neurological disorders, including head ache, neurodegenerative diseases, sleep disorders, bipolar disorder, autism and brain cancer.

A word of caution: When an individual is unable to produce insulin, sugar cannot get into the cells. As a response, the body drastically upregulates ketone production. In this state, there is both an extremely elevated blood sugar and blood ketone level simultaneously. This state, called Ketoacidosis, is a severe malfunction of the body, with excessive and unregulated production of ketones. This leads to symptoms like nausea, vomiting and stomach pain followed by confusion and finally coma. It requires urgent medical treatment, as it can potentially be fatal.

A piece of advice: As these carb rich food habits damage our bodies, we may be progressively losing the ability to produce ketones. By adopting a more ketogenic style of eating, we may reverse this damage and revert back to the efficient fat-burning machines we were meant to be!

Instead of regular ketogenic diet, periodic fasting would produce ketones, to tone up your system. Ramzan for Muslims is Ekadasi for Hindus and is ketogenic food for dietitians!

Don’t underestimate your ancestors for their lack of scientific knowledge: experience teaches better lessons; modern man is yet to decipher many more rituals…..!

Paleolithic diets – Panacea for all Maladies of Modern era?

The buzz word, for fighting hypertension and diabetes without medicines, is to follow ‘Paleolithic diet’. This prompted a search for the information available on this topic in the public domain for initiating a ‘healthy’ discussion!

Not only for BP and insulin dependent diabetes, but even for obesity and polycystic ovaries, same is the remedy. For those habituated to the modern food habits with carbohydrates, proteins, oils and fats, this prescription is a bit hard to ‘digest’.

Founding theory

A paleo diet is a dietary plan based on foods similar to what might have been eaten during the Paleolithic (Stone Age) era, which dates from approximately 2.5 million to 10,000 years ago. The aim of a paleo diet is to return to a way of eating that’s more like what early humans ate. The diet’s reasoning is that the human body is genetically mismatched to the modern diet that emerged with farming practices — an idea known as the discordance hypothesis (data on whether they were afflicted by BP and diabetes is anyway unknown!) Farming changed what people ate and established dairy, grains and legumes as additional staples in the human diet. This relatively late and rapid change in diet, according to the hypothesis, outpaced the body’s ability to adapt. This mismatch is believed to be a contributing factor to the prevalence of obesity, diabetes and heart disease today.

Researchers argue that the underlying hypothesis of the paleo diet may oversimplify the story of how humans adapted to changes in diet. The nutritional needs of the Paleolithic man may be different from the present age man, since he has to move always for food unlike the present day man and hence is not sedentary. Genetic research has shown that notable evolutionary changes continued after the Paleolithic era, including diet-related changes, such as an increase in the number of genes related to the breakdown of dietary starches.

Diet

In this dietary plan, it is recommended to take, Fruits, Vegetables, Nuts and seeds, Lean meats, especially grass-fed animals or wild game, Fish, especially those rich in omega-3 fatty acids, such as salmon, mackerel and albacore tuna, Oils from fruits and nuts, such as olive oil or walnut oil.

Those to be avoided are, Grains, such as wheat, oats and barley, Legumes, such as beans, lentils, peanuts and pea, Dairy products, Refined sugar, Salt, Potatoes and Highly processed foods in general.

Risk factors

A paleo diet may help you lose weight or maintain your weight. It may also have other beneficial health effects. However, there are no long-term clinical studies about the benefits and potential risks of the diet. Following risk factors need consideration:

1. Low to moderate carbohydrate intake: Paleo calls for the exclusion of cereal grains – wheat, rye, barley, oats, corn and brown rice, to name a few. These are great sources of fiber, B vitamins, iron, magnesium and selenium. Grains help our bodies control blood sugar, lower cholesterol and fight the risk of chronic diseases. Consistent low carbohydrate intake may lead to an overuse of fat for energy, also known as ketosis. Ketosis occurs when by-products of fat breakdown, called ketones, build up in the bloodstream. High levels of ketones can lead to dehydration and eventually coma due to severe metabolic abnormalities.

2. Restriction of dairy products: Dairy restriction can lead to deficiencies in calcium and vitamin D, which are critical to bone health.

3. Generous Intake of Saturated fats: Consuming the Paleo Diet-recommended amount of saturated fats can increase the risk of kidney and heart disease, as well as certain cancers. What about for those having tendency to form kidney and gall bladder stones?

4. High intake of red meat and high fat meat: Past and current research suggests that a heightened level of high fat meat and saturated fat can increase LDL (bad cholesterol) and the risk of bowel cancer. As per the American Heart Association, an adult should consume a total of ~13 grams of saturated fat per day. On a Paleo diet, saturated fat intake can approach upwards of 50 grams per day.

A word of caution

The long term effect on the health due to the absence of whole grains and legumes in the diet which are considered good sources of fiber, vitamins and other nutrients and also the absence of dairy products, which are good sources of protein and calcium are yet to be assessed.

In the end, eating like our ancestors isn’t required to live a healthy lifestyle; in fact, it could even cause adverse effects. While those living millions of years ago may have gotten by on this diet, evolution has altered our genetic makeup and how we digest food.

The other most important point is there is no evidence of their status of health. As the Paleolithic man could not have been a vegetarian, how to replicate the model for today’s pure vegetarians?

Also, would they have been healthier than you and me?

Conclusion

Before passing a judgement, let me add the favourable experiences of my close relative who is a staunch vegetarian. He had been long an insulin dependent diabetic medication with insulin dosages that slowly kept climbing up. He switched over to Palaeolithic dietary plan under a learned physician who is an experimentalist on this himself. He is perfectly healthy and would happily recommend to both ailing and otherwise friends.

But there shall be a clear understanding that there is no ‘one size fit all’. These regimens shall be strictly under the supervision of a dietitian with periodical monitoring of body parameters. In many cases only affluent can follow without risk. The bottom line is that it is a promising alternative to the present day indiscriminate medications with questionable quality of life.

With all the scientific knowledge and gadgets, the present day men are better equipped for any mid course corrections.

The old adage says, ‘Food is medicine‘ but unfortunately in todays’ life one takes medicine instead of food!

Race between Civilisation and Biological Evolution

The modern day diseases like diabetes, hypertension etc., are primarily due to mismatch between evolution and socio-cultural behaviour. Darwin’s theory of Evolution explains the adaptation of human evolution over thousands’ of years – the evolution closely adapting to the progress of civilisation; his emergency response systems, for a situation like a tiger or enemy approaching him, triggering adrenaline and cortisol to enable him to fight, flight and fright reaction. In today’s protected society such dangers appear in the form of everyday stress, may be in conflicts in the family, or work or in the society, but the expending of these harmones do not happen, resulting in the triggering of immune system mismatch leading to such lifestyle diseases. The civilisation has far overtaken his biological evolution.

While fighting the symptoms of these diseases by medications would be inappropriate as they would only result in suppression of the immune system, moderating the dietary habits along with expecting less from the society, only can be the panacea.

This requires a cultural change that shall start from home and alma mater. Giving less weightage to Competitive compared to team spirit, compulsory meditation and yoga to make it as a daily ritual like brushing the teeth, explaining the evils of rat-race in the society, teaching virtues of modest living, are a few that should form part of the curriculum.

Alas…Our generation is a lost one… somehow we want to win over the other.. as an individual or as a cultural entity…at least let the future generation enjoy the life and lead a peaceful life …