Who Wants to Live Forever?

So, you want to become an immortal? This is a path that has been practiced by Taoist masters, sages, yogis and hermits for centuries. Is there a reason for the search for Immortality, one beyond living forever? After all, who wants to live forever without a purpose? I think that would be a terrible waste of time.

This man was said to be  256 year old. Notice the root in his hand.

Even if one ascribes to the idea of reincarnation as a path to living forever, to what end I ask?  My Tibetan Buddhist teachers taught me that this life has two primary purposes; to evolve and be helpful. 

Evolving can be sort of selfish "I want to become a Higher Being". the other more altruistic, "I want to be helpful" relieving the suffering of self and others.

But there are ways, methods, if not to cause one to live forever, to extend our lives and their quality far beyond the norm.

Before I get into offering a list of so-called super foods and herbs let me first get practical with you. Our bodies are wonderful and resilient creations, but we should not expect anything to last long when not cared for and abused.  Mindless living is the most causative factor in the development of disease and by extension a shortened life span. We must be mindful of how we live, what we eat, not only through our mouths but also via all the gates of our body; mouth, eyes, ears, nose and tongue.

We must sleep well, move well, and look upon things that bless us, inhale beauty and not noxious flumes and listen to sweet calming sounds, sounds closer to nature and less like war.  Loud, sharp noises send us into a war zone; firing up our fight flight mechanism, cause our adrenals to pour our cortisol, accelerating our heart and raising our blood pressure. All this is harmful. This state was never meant to be lived in, this state was meant to save our lives when we were prey, when we were more primitive, when men ate men, killed each other for food, mates, land (oh what’s changed?). The point is, these states of mind steal days and even years of our lives.

Concerning food. I will only offer very general rules because  everyone is in a different place health wise and some just do better on one food than another. So I suggest eating “real food” in moderation. Real food being any food you can recognizes for what it is without an ingredients label, food grown organically and to vary what you eat over time. Try to eat seasonally and foods that are native to your location. Doing so will offer balance more readily, for your body knows where it is, knows what best for it, nature knew “the people here would need to eat this”. Today it is not so, we can easily eat everything everyday or one thing forever. Please understand balance is required.  

Also please remember proteins and carbs don’t like to be severely heated. Doing so converts these very important foods into harmful denatured “products”. Heated proteins get carcinogenic due to changes in their molecular integrity; reduced digestibility and increased nitrogen waste. The reduced digestibility of cooked proteins increase the load of nitrogenous waste material reaching the colon via fermentation to ammonia and phenols – both of which are cancer promoting. Other processes just as bad occur when we super heat (BBQ, Roasting) carbs and dairy. Please treat your foods kindly, don’t change them too much. I’m not advocating a 100% Raw Diet, instead a 70% cooked diet, one that has been cooked to make the food more bioavailable but doesn’t change the food into a poison.

Being awake to all these suggestions will offer you a leg up on most westerners and at the very least a better chance of living longer and living those years well, not on six different pharmaceuticals and with a very limited ability for “enjoy" life to the fullest. Living in Florida I see too many men and women my age (66) who can’t function. They live like OLD PEOPLE. There is no need for that.

Now for the magic pills… There are none. But there are a few herbs, when taken as a tonic, that will offer you more years. Years you may not achieve without them, but please don’t make the mistake in believing you can ignore the first part of this blog and jump to the last and gain results. I promise you you’ll only harm yourself.

You can make a decoction (boil them) of these herbs and drink a small amount everyday for the rest of your life. This is not a magic pill, this is something that slowly builds you up and keeps you there.

Wild reishi, chaga and turkey tail mushroom, and he shou wu (foti) decocted in fresh clean water. Spring water is the best. This is a good start. I suggest if you are willing to do this right and long term you find a licensed and experienced herbalist to guide you. There are many other herbs that also help, but they must be prescribed only after a consultation for everything is not for everyone and what might help you may kill someone else. Be wise.

I offer reasonably priced herb consults at my office or on the phone. I’m here for you and live what I say. I’m the real deal.

Be well…gi