.jpg){kind=small}
To je tema, ki me zanima in se z njo srečujem vsakodnevno. Kljub temu, da prihajam iz enega najbolj poseljenih mest na svetu, Hong Konga, kjer so ljudje pod velikim finančnim pritiskom, njihov delovni urnik je daljši kot evropski, pa je procent tistih, ki trpijo z depresijo ali anksioznosti veliko manjši kot tu, v mirni, zeleni državici v Evropi. Poskušam preučiti razloge. Izbira je zagotovo eden izmed njih, saj gre najbrž večina ljudi v Hong Kongu z motnjami v razpoloženju do psihiatra ali svetovalca. Drugi razlog je, da se preprosto pogovarjajo o nespečnosti ali splošni utrujenosti, ne da bi se dotaknili teme depresije, saj je to še vedno nekakšen tabu in znak šibke družbe. Ampak vseeno, delala sem na oddelku za psihiatrijo Univerze v Hong Kongu kar nekaj časa in se srečevala z mnogimi duševno bolnimi in klinično depresivnimi ljudmi. Ti ljudje pa so precej drugačni od večine mojih slovenskih pacientov. Mučile so jih samomorilne misli, paranoja, hude nespečnosti, težka in zapletena osebna življenja,... Veliko Slovencev, kot vidim, je aktivnih, s srečnimi družinami, s strani vlade je bolje poskrbljeno za socialni vidik družbe, živijo v stanovanjih obdani z naravno. V Hong Kongu ravno taka skupina ljudi ne sodi med tiste rizične, ki bi lahko imeli težave z duševnim zdravjem. V času dveh let, sem z opazovanjem prišla do ugotovitev in možnih krivcev: prehranjevalne navade in prekomerna športna aktivnost.
Od koder prihajam, imamo zelo natančno časovno razporeditev in vsebino obrokov. Zajtrk naj bi bil vedno med 6.00 in 9.00 uro, kosilo med 12.00 in 14.00 in večerja med 18.00 in 20.00. Večina obrokov je kuhanih toplih obrokov, npr. pečeni rezanci ali riževa juha za zajtrk, kosilo in večerja pa sta si podobna, riž, zelenjava in meso. Sladice niso del obroka ampak, če že, bolj kot prigrizek. Občasno se je kakšno sladko pecivo - v smislu buhtljev za zajtrk ali pa po okusu sladko juho za kosilo ali večerjo (ampak narejeno iz zelenjave). Tako si lahko predstavljate, kaj je bil moj prvi kulturni šok, ko sem prišla v Slovenijo, prehranjevalne navade. Mnogo Slovencev se prehranjuje glede na službeni urnik, tako večina je zajtrk zgodaj zjutraj, malico okoli 10.00 in še en obrok okoli 16.00 ali kasneje. Glede na TKM biološko uro, sistem želodca in malega črevesja nadzorujeta telo med 7.00 in 9.00 ter 12.00 in 13.00, takrat je tudi optimalni čas za prebavo in absorpcijo. Uživanje hrane ob manj primerni uri za telo, seveda ne bo takoj povzročilo težav. Predstavljajte pa si, da obdelujete vrt, sadite/sejete v napačnem mesecu, ali dobite na koncu enak pridelek, kot če bi to naredili v primernem času?
Tudi v izbiri hrane je velika razlika med Slovenci in prebivalci Hong Kongom (in na splošno LRK). Že od malega sem bila naučena, da ne smemo jesti preveč surove oz. nekuhane hrane. V sodobni prehrambeni miselnosti in znanosti pravijo, da hrana ohrani največ hranil, kadar je surova, saj temperatura in kuhanje lahko škoduje ali uniči strukturo in hranilne vrednosti. Ne dvomim, da strokovnjaki za prehrano vejo veliko in najbolje o dejstvih in strukturah hrane. Kot izvajalka TKM, pa se bojim, da imamo drugačne poglede na to. TKM obravnava naravo hrane in kako človek reagira nanjo, medtem ko znanost temelji na uporabi mehanskih, kemičnih metod, meritev za razumevanje sestave, strukture snovi. Z drugimi besedami, znanost se osredotoča na zunanje in strukturne zadeve; TKM pa se osredotoča na notranje spremembe in interakcije med naravami. Lahko primerjamo hranilne snovi z denarjem. Veliko je hranilnih vrednosti v hrani, tako kot je veliko denarja na banki. Ali to pomeni, da če je več denarja v banki mimo katere greste, boste tudi vi imeli posledično več denarja? Sliši se čudno kajne? Jesti več hrane z visokimi hranilnimi vrednostmi, ne pomeni nujno, da v naše telo vnašamo uporabno energijo.
V našem telesu obstajajo energijske enote, ki podpirajo običajne funkcije. Prav tako obstajajo različna področja v našem telesu, ki so odgovorna za določene funkcije. Tradicionalna kitajska filozofija misli, da je naše telo kot vlada ali ogromno podjetje. Sistem srca je vodilni cesar, šef odgovoren za duhovnost in um, medtem ko sta želodec in vranica odgovorna za `prihodke´, sistem ledvic pa je zadolžen za varčevanje. Ko povežemo vse točke v celoto, dobimo jasno sliko. Anksioznost je zgolj stanje izčrpanosti, ki prizadene sistem srca in s tem duševnost in um. Izčrpanost, ki ga povzroči nizki vnos energije (dieta za izgubo teže, dieta z manj ogljikovih hidratov ali nepravilno vegetarijansko prehranjevanje), prekomerna poraba energije (pretirana ali neustrezna telesna vadba) ali slabo ohranjanje energije v telesu (genetika ali dolgotrajno pomanjkanje energije).
Enkrat ko najdemo pravi razlog, lahko iščemo pravo zdravilo. Večini mojih strank se je razpoloženje uravnovesilo in izboljšalo takoj, ko smo povečali vnos energije. Kakšni težji primeri rabijo kdaj dodatno okrepitev sistema ledvic. Največji izziv pa je vedno čas. Za nekoga, ki je v izredno anksioznem stanju, nima dovolj moči za odločnost s strani sistema srca, da bi sledili celotnemu zdravljenju. Mislim, da je pomembno deliti moje ugotovitve. Če opazite težave v razpoloženju ali anksioznost pri prijateljih, družinskih članih, je lažje najprej opozoriti na prehrano in poiskati pomoč.
___________________________
My observation on the relations between low carb diet, weight losing, exercising and anxiety
This is a topic that interests me from daily practice. Despite coming from one of the busiest city in the world, Hong Kong, where people suffer from tremendous financial pressure and extremely long working hours, the percentage of depression and anxiety patients that I encounter are much higher here, a peaceful and green small city in the central Europe. I try to look into reasons. Selection bias is of course one of them because most people in Hong Kong with mood disorder probably have gone to a psychiatrist or a counselor. Another reason is that they simply talk about insomnia or general fatigue without touching the situation of depression because it sounds like a taboo or sign of weakness in the society. But still, I worked at the department of Psychiatry in the University of Hong Kong for a period of time where I encounter many mentally ill and clinically depressed people. These people are still so much unlike the majority of my Slovenian patients. They have suicidal thoughts, paranoia, intense insomnia, difficult and complicated personal lives. Many Slovenians as I see are active, with a happy family, social society is well protected by the government, living in a house with lots of nature, which from where I come from, are the group least likely to suffer from depression and anxiety.
With an observation for two years, I might have found some clues--- Diet and over exercise.
From where I come from, we have a very straight timetable and content of meals. Always breakfast around 6-9am, lunch 12-2pm, dinner 6-8pm. Most of them are hot meals, like fried noodle or rice congee in the morning, lunch and dinner are similar with rice, vegetable and meat. Dessert is not often but more like a snack. We just eat sweet buns in the morning as breakfast or sweet soup after lunch or dinner occasionally. So one cultural shock I encounter in Slovenian is the diet habit. Many of them eat according to work schedule, so they can only eat at very early in the morning, 10am and 4pm. According the the TCM biologically clock, 7-9, 12-13 is the time which Stomach system or Small intestine is in charge making these time the optimal for digestion and absorption. Eating at a less optimal time will not cause problem immediately of course. But imagine a person trying to doing gardening at a less suitable season and time of the day, we must put in extra effort but still yield less.
The choice of food is another huge difference. I was taught since I was a child that we should not eat too much raw food. The contradicts with the modern nutritional science that food preserve the most nutrition when they are raw because the heat in cooking process damages certain structure or nutrition dissolved into water. I have no doubt that nutritionist knows the best about the hard facts and structure of each food. But as a TCM practitioner, I am afraid that our focuses are different. TCM look at food’s nature and the human reaction to that, while science is basically a method of dehumanization using all mechanical, chemical measure to understand the structure of a substance. In other words, science focus on the external and structural matter; TCM focus on the internal changes and nature interactions. We can also say nutrition as money. They are many nutrition in food, just like there are much money in a bank. Does it mean the more money in a bank that you pass by will make you richer in your pocket? Sounds silly, right? This is the point. Having more nutrition in food, does not necessarily means putting more useful energy in our body.
There are some energy units in our body to support the normal functions and there are different sections in our body being responsible of certain functions. The ancient Chinese philosophy thinks that our body is just like a government, or a giant enterprise in the modern world. The Heart system is the mastermind emperor in charge of spiritual mind while the Stomach and Spleen is charge of revenue, and Kidney system in charge of saving. So when we connect all the dots, the picture is clear. Anxiety is simply a state of exhaustion that ends up affecting the Heart system’s normal control of spiritual mind. The exhaustion caused by low energy input (in weight losing diet or low crab or improper vegetarian diet), over using of energy (excessive or inappropriate physical exercise or low energy preserve (genetics or long term deprivation of energy).
Once we look at the right reason then we can look for the right cure. A majority of my clients have mood stabilization as soon as the energy input is boosted up. Some extremely difficult cases might need extra Kidney strengthening. The biggest challenging is indeed time. It is because for someone who is at extremely anxious state, they might not have the determination power from the heart system to follow through the whole treatment. I think that it is important to share my findings, so if anyone notice their friends and family suffering from anxiety or mood issues, it is easier to draw their attention to diet and seeking assistance.