Vegetarianism, collapsed lung and stretching

[peavalu]

Hello doc!

I would be happy if you could take the time to answer a few questions about my health.

1. I train wushu for many hours every weekday, and I do not eat meat (including chicken and seafood). I haven't been eating meat for a few years now, but it has been worrying me a little since I started doing wushu. My Chinese wushu friends keep telling me that I have to start eating meat and that I won't be able to build the explosive power needed for wushu when I eat like I do. I eat egg and drink milk, and since I live in China I eat doufu every day as well in order to get protein. People often say that protein is one of the hardest things to get enough of if you don't eat meat. What different kinds of proteins are there? Any difference between the protein found in egg and milk and the protein in meat? How about plant protein? What other things are there in meat that should be harder to find in a vegetarian diet? I eat a lot of different vegetables, a lot of rice and either doufu or egg (or both) every day. I don't want to eat meat, but if it interfers with my training too much I would maybe consider it. What do you think?

2. I've been having some problems with my lungs since I started doing wushu a couple of years ago. After training hard I often feel a slight pain while breathing, not a sharp pain, more like the pain you feel in your muscles when you train hard after a period of rest. Twice I had what doctors call pneumothorax, or collapsed lung (http://www2.ecureme.com/emyhealth/data/Pneumothorax.asp), once quite recently, about a month and a half ago, and I can still feel it since it's not totally healed yet. I am quite tall and thin, 184 cm and around 75 kgs, and I heard it happens mostly to young men with my body type. But what causes this? I read about the Marfan syndrome (http://www.americanheart.org/present...dentifier=4672), and it might be possible that I have a mild version of that. Or maybe I was just born with weak lungs for some reason, or maybe it's that I haven't been training very hard earlier in my life. Could it be that I don't eat meat and therefore lack some kind of vitamin or so? Do you think that there is anything I could do to strengthen my lungs? This has been worrying me a lot lately.

3. My last question is about stretching. I try to stretch hard every day. Some say stretch every day, and some say that you should rest from stretching one or a couple of days a week. What's your opinion?

Thanks,

Hannes

[zachsan]

one thing that a vegetarian diet definitely can't supply is true happiness. true happiness can only be found in steak.

[Edge]

Hannes, everything you ever needed to know about stretching is here:

http://www.stadion.com/column.html

[daodejing]

Allright, so here's the deal on vegetarianism. From a TCM perspective, long term vegetarianism usually leads to blood defiency (xue xu). This can cause various problems including symptoms such as fatigue, pale complexion, decreased circulation resulting in cold extremities and possibly numbness of the extremities. Also, the blood provides the material ballast for the spirit (shen). One of my proffessors theorizes that the real reason monks refrain from meat is not a moral issue, but a way to expedite spiritual transformation by removing the shen's ballast so that it will rise up. Suffice it to say, vegetarianism is bad for athletes in most cases. Start eating more seafood. If you're cold most of the time, eat chicken. If the blood deficiency symptoms are bad, eat some beef. But if you've been vegetarian for a while, just start slow with fish.

As for pneumothorax, the most common cause is puncturing the thoracic cavity with a sharp object. They haven't taught us how to treat pneumothorax, they simply tell us what not to do with needles so we don't cause one. Doc, you're up at bat.

[Nightstrike]

And from what i'v read, cause my mom is almost a nutritionalist, if you are a vegetarian, there are certian things you need in your diet that are only really found in meat.

[Fa Hui]

It's easy to be a vegetarian as a monk. In fact you don't realize you are one. But as a monk/nun, your physical movement is reduced more than it is as a layperson. When I disrobed I knew that I could not continue being a vegetrian because it lacked certain things that I would need in my daily life out here. Particularly since I was going to start training more in the martial arts, it became a necessity for me to have things that would be good for the body and keep it strong.

[doc]

I've got a lot to say on this issue. Gonna be a couple of days though, starting to head out....

[peavalu]

Thanks everyone! And doc, I look forward to your answer.
daodejing, can you explain the blood defiency issue a bit further? What causes it, in particular?

[daodejing]

Blood deficiency can, like every pathogenic pattern in chinese medicine, be caused by a vast array of problems. I'll try to cover the simple ones. Also, I should note that while the western diagnosis of anemia may be similar in theory to blood deficiency, having blood defeciency does not mean you have anemia. As far as I know however, having anemia definately means you have blood deficiency (sickle cell anemia would be an example of blood deficiency with blood stagnation in the channels).

Second of all, in the interest of saving space and letters, I'll refer to blood deficiency by its vastly shorter chinese name from now on, "xue xu" (xu being deficiency, xue being blood). Usual causes of xue xu are chronic qi xu or yin xu. Chronic Qi deficiency, expecially in organs which pertain to the creation of xue, like the spleen, heart, and liver, can lead to xue xu over time. For example, in a pattern where the spleen is deficient and cannot adequately transform and transport food essences into food Qi, the deficient spleen qi will have a great deal of trouble making blood out of the food qi. In cases of yin deficiency, we see patients with variety of dryness and heat symptoms which stem from a lack of body fluids. One definition of yin xu is "the inability to properly transform dietary fluids into body fluids". Obviously, problems with production of body fluids can turn into problems with creating blood, and thus chronic yin xu can metamorphose into xue xu.

In the instance of vegetarianism, we must remember that blood has several functions. Two of the main functions of blood in TCM are to nourish the body and provide the material ballast for the shen. It is said that the "Xue houses the shen". Now, if you are eating a poor diet, and even if you began with a healthy spleen, your body will not be able to create all food qi it needs to maintain a proper balance. Often this will first lead to spleen qi xu, but over time it can manifest as xue xu. This kind of longterm blood deficency in vegetarians often overlaps western diagnosises such as chronic vitamin b12 deficiency. Not to mention that female vegetarians in the U.S. have a tendency to become anemic over time.

But all this is refferring mostly to the normal populace. If you eat a proper vegetarian diet and spend all your time sitting, standing, practicing qigong, and doing soft internal martial arts, while living in a clean place, you might never develop the pattern known as blood deficiency. Everything is relative. The hardest thing for many people to grasp after they begin to understand yin and yang, is that yin does not exist, nor does yang. They are relative terms used to describe a subjective state of imbalance. Anywho, I hope that helps.

[doc]

I haven't forgotten about this. I've just been busy traveling, and getting adjusted. I'll have a response to this soon. Sorry about the delay.

[fanzi]

Meat contains Vitamin B12 which is a necessary element in blood production, deficient Vitamin B12 can result in Pernicious Anemia.
This shouldn't be a concern for you since you eat eggs which contain B12 and highly absorbable protein. I love eggs, I think they have lots of Qi. By TCM they tonify qi, blood, and yin. The yolks tonify yang qi and the whites tonify yin. Soy as you know is also a great source of protein and by tcm tonifies qi and yin. Besides protein and B12, I can't see what you're missing by not eating meat.
A multivatamin can be an insurance pill to ensure that one is getting a full spectrum of vitamins and minerals.

Do you feel tired when you train or that you just don't have a lot of power? Getting that "explosive power" I believe involves healthy nutrition for sure, but also just practicing and getting to know your own body and movements. With awareness of your body and qi you can direct your energy in an explosive fashion. "Explosive power" is not solely dependent on nutrition. Gong Fu is hard work over time and explosiveness is deveopled.

Fanzi

[peavalu]

Thanks a lot! And its ok doc, I still look forward to your answer.

[doc]

I remember her distinctly.

Dark brown hair, slender, gentle figure, with an obvious concern for an almost constant immaculate appearance. She most definitely was slim, slim to the point where her breasts did not match her body. No doubt a wonder bra and some padding, to go along with the impeccable makeup. Fingernails that looked like they had been designed by Picasso himself. She was a woman who, in her mind, was destined to have a faultless appearance.

Just like every other Jewish American Princess I've ever met in Long Island, New York.

"I'm a vegetarian", she said, in a most vainglorious manner, as she munched on her salad.

I was starting to notice other things about this woman, a friend, of a wife of my friend's brother. I was looking deeper than the makeup, deeper than the padding, deeper than the expensive clothing which adorned her thin weedy shape.

"Do you like salads?" I had noticed that she ate a lot of them.

"That's all I eat. I told you, I'm a vegetarian", she lashed back, in a persnickety sorty of way.

I've been here before. I've seen this far too many times. The "I'm a vegetarian" story. And, it's usually the same presentation. Never fails. But this woman, uppish and snooty, was just a bit different. I had her diagnosed without even laying a hand on her. Not that I'd want to, mind you. I'm not into foam filled brassieres.

I had noticed a couple of things about her during the day. For one, she always appeared to be weak. Ill. Without strength. Always had to sit down, didn't seem to have much of an exercise tolerance. And, she was pale. Deathly pale.

Being a vegetarian is not always good for a young menstruating woman.

I couldn't see through the lavish paint that was on her fingernails, but, I did notice that her conjunctiva were pale. Anemic pale. I asked her if ever ate meat. Or, at least, a multivitamin.

"I don't need a multivitamin. I get everything I need from my greens. I told you, I'm a vegetarian...."

And not a very good one at that. As, a lot of them are.

Unless you really know what you're doing, you don't do well as a vegetarian. Most people approach the whole concept of "improving one's health with vegetarianism", in a very, very wrong way. One that can be very harmful, as this young woman had demonstrated to me. She was not only getting inadequate protein intake, her iron intake, which can be done appropriately as a vegetarian, was absymal. Her self induced anemia was really causing her problems.

There are some problems associated with vegetarianism, and gong fu. Or, any strenuous exercise for that matter. For one, protein intake can be seriously diminished, which, in turn, can lead to improper muscle repair after exercise. Strenous exercise such as gong fu can lead to microscopic tears in the muscle fibers, tears which undergo immediate repair after the exertion is over. Inadequate amino acid ingestion or availability can lead to improper or poor muscle fiber repair. Most vegetarians fail to ingest all the necessary amino acids that their muscles need; however, there are some vegetarians that are savvy enough to eat the proper vegetables, soy, and other things that give them all of the necessary amino acids. Most commonly ingested vegetarian diets in America are lacking in two or three necessary amino acids, the names of which escape me right now. I'm not sure if soy (tofu) contains all of the amino acids necessary for good muscle health. My leaning is more towards it's being inadequate, not only in variety of amino acids, but in amount ingested in a typical diet.

Vegetarian diets are also harmful if they do not include enough carbohydrates. Carbs are necessary for energy, liver glycogen stores can be depleted within hours, sometimes after a good night's sleep. Failing to replenish these stores with carbohydrate ingestion can lead to fatigue. It can also lead to muscle breakdown, as, if the body starts to enter a near starvation state, as is commonly seen with our familiar "vegetarians", muscle breakdown and protein metabolism occurs. Inadequate sugar stores in this state leads to more protein metabolism, and, a system wide metabolic acidosis. A severe lack of sugar can lead to altered body chemistry and ill health.

Poor vegetarians are also lacking in iron and other minerals. This can lead to anemia, poor healing, and diminshed immune function. Also, the fiber load in the intestines can lead to diarrhea, bloating, and a generalized feeling of discomfort, which is not good for someone looking to undertake harsh exercise.

Chinese vegetarian diets tend to be more protein rich than American ones, because of the soy bean that is ingested. It's fine for most people, but for those of you who are serious athletes, the protein ingestion with these diets will tend to be inadequate. Unless you really know what you're doing, you're not going to get all of the essential amino acids necessary for proper muscle building or repair. A diet that includes fish and meat, along with enough simple and complex carbohydrates to provide energy and prevent further muscle breakdown, is far more appropriate for the athlete looking to start some sort of training program.

There are no different kinds of protein, as you're thinking. Protein is made up of amino acids; once you ingest protein, regardless of the source, it is broken down in the gut into amino acid chains. The body then takes those amino acids and uses them as it wishes. The problem is, you need all the amino acids that you find in meat, for good stable muscle health. Most vegetarian diets are lacking in two or three of these essential amino acids. In fact, you can get these amino acids in some vegetables, but I can't remember their names. They are not commonly eaten in most American vegetarian diets. And, for those who exert themselves with exercise, getting enough of these amino acids through veggie intake, is going to be tough. The amount that you'd have to eat, would cause more problems than it's worth because of the increased fiber load. Trying to get adequate amino acids through milk ingestion is also going to be difficult, because the fat load from the milk would be relatively high, and, would also be a health issue in and of itself. Besides, lactose ingestion in older males can lead to severe bloating and diarrhea, due to lactase deficiency.

Eggs are a good protein source, but again, the amount of amino acids that you get out of them, is not much, compared to a healthy fish or meat containing diet.

If you're serious about improving your muscular strength and ability, in my opinion, you have to eat meat or fish. I personally eat a lot of fish now, along with a small amount of carbohydrates, as little fat as possible, and enough fiber to keep the body happy. I also supplement my diet with fish oil, as I am a firm believer that eicanosoids found in high quality fish oil are terribly good for you. Also, a good multivitamin that contains minerals is a must. Carbohydrates, such as rice, are necessary for energy, and for prevention of carbohyrate starvation states which cause unnecessary muscle breakdown. Too much protein without adequate fiber intake can lead to constipation, which can diminsh exercise ability. And of course, fluid and electrolyte replenishment is a must. Fluids without adequate sodium or potassium replacement can lead to serious health issues.

We have to discuss the Marfan's issue. This is an important component of your question. It's a concern because of what you describe. More later....

[zachsan]

that was impressive, doc. i mean, the way you went from the whole private eye thing to the medical opinion thing. that's no small feat.

[daodejing]

Doc, if it makes you feel any better, almost all of the people who enter my school as vegetarians are eating meat by the time they graduate. Usually they start with small amounts of raw fish to get the proper enzymes back into the GI tract.