Modern hunting and gathering
It’s been my habit for decades to eat nothing much until late afternoon, even though I start my day early. This goes against the norm that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Sure, this may be a little stressful to my body, but that turns out to be a good thing. As with most things, it isn’t the “what” that matters, it is the “how much” straw that breaks the camels back.
Consider this excerpt from Science News. (Google [Anti-aging: A little stress may keep cells youthful].)
The study focused on individual cells, but for whole organisms, the finding could shed light on a link between stress and life span. “A little bit of stress can actually prolong life,” says molecular biologist Richard Morimoto of Northwestern, a study coauthor. Mild stress activates the heat shock response but does not harm the cells, he adds.
One mild stress that can activate the heat-shock response is a calorie-restricted diet, which has been shown to extend the life of all species tested so far, including mice and dogs. Calorie-restricted diets increase the levels of Sirtuin 1, or SIRT1, an aging-related protein. “
Ancient hunting & gathering
In her wisdom, Nature employs hunger as an essential tool for evolution. What is desire, but imagined hungers? Therefore, I find keeping myself on the hungry side helps moderate the imagined hungers and focus on priorities. The offshoot hungers of desire, lust, and expectations are less likely to draw me in when I’m feeling primal hunger. The weaker those trivial hungers are, the easier it is to Have little thought of self and as few desires as possible, as chapter 19 advises. Then, as chapter 7 suggests, Is it not because he is without thought of self that he is able to accomplish his private ends?
One negative result of civilization is a ready access to food. All I need do is go to the store to feed hunger. The ability to satiate hunger so quickly paves the way for the trivial hungers to take over. Millennia ago, before the agricultural revolution, our ancestors experienced ‘fulfilling’ hunger. Like animals the world over, their hunger was fully utilized in the day-in day-out pursuit of food. Ah, those were the days! Then again, medical care was scant back then. As always, something lost, something gained. The loss is less troublesome when I allow myself to feel hungry.