I read this quote a few weeks ago and it’s been stuck with me ever since:

While you’re thinking about that quote for a second, allow me to share what I’m drinking this week:

It’s one of my favorite Japanese teas: genmaicha. It’s pronounced exactly like it’s spelled. Even if you don’t like teas, I highly recommend finding a way to smell this one. Genmaicha is a blend of roasted brown rice and green tea (most times sencha), so it combines that fresh grassy flavor along with the sugar & starch from the rice creating this amazing warm, full, and nutty flavor. Once steeped, the tea produces a light yellow hue making it look almost golden in color. And trust me, it’s 1000x better than sencha.

🫖Our History With Health

Here’s the thing, I don’t really blame you, or me, or anyone for the way we think about food/health/and our current relationship with it. The only thing I blame: the FDA and our society for continuing to push us in this awful direction. Really - it’s one of the few things that makes me mad these days.

Before I begin, I think deep down, we all know how important health is. We all know we have to eat right, workout, avoid temptations, take care of our mental health, and also take the time to rest and relax. But why is it so hard to actually do so?

Firstly, most of us growing up were trained to believe of food as a reward. We were told “you’ll get ice cream, once you finish washing the dishes” creating this conception in our head that ice cream was something worth deserving, that ice cream was supposed to be yummy, and something you wanted more than anything. I sometimes wonder if there were parents/kids that grew up with saying/hearing “you’ll get carrots, once you finish your chores.” What would happen to our perception to healthy foods then?

Second, the negative image we have around healthy food is that it tastes bad. So many times I go out with my friends and they go “blechh, I don’t want vegan healthy food - all healthy food tastes disgusting” We’ve been constantly trained, mentally to think so. What if we start enjoying these flavors instead? What if we appreciated raw flavors of the vegetables instead or the different textures of grains.

Third, food has been a way for us to fill that empty void inside of us. Before the era of TikTok and Gaming, it was food that provided instant gratification. No wonder people start craving cookies or ice cream after a break-up or a tough day at work.

Fourth, the FDA has been pretty lenient on food guidelines. You all must already know the soda industry has continuously raised sugar levels creating a constant craving of sweetness. Not only that, fast food is so much cheaper than healthy food. Adding to it, there’s a gazillion billboards all over the country wanting you to have more.

And Fifth, as the quote suggests, we are so focused on making money, earning titles, switching jobs, feeling validated that we tend to ignore and forget about the most important thing in life: our freaking health. Let’s not sacrifice that anymore.

So again, I don’t really blame you and unfortunately as individuals, there’s little we can do to improve the conditions we live in. What we can do is take control of our individual lives and maybe just a little bit influence those around us.

🦘 Now Is The Time To Act

That quote above by Dalai Lama really baffles me. He really is correct. The one sure thing we know in life is that taking care of our health (mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual) literally has a direct correlation to us living a longer, happier, peaceful life. YET! we choose to ignore those exact things and go out drinking, smoking, eating cheese fries, playing video games, and feel bad about ourselves as we spend hours online.

I’m in my late 20s now and I’m seeing peers all around me having health problems, where doctors are straight up prescribing them medicine to stay on track. That’s so sad.

As a late-20-something, I don’t think we can wait any longer, and I honestly wish I’d started taking this stuff more seriously earlier. It only gets harder and harder to correct the course later on.

📝 The 4 Pillars to Health

As you’re thinking about your own life, please think of all 4 aspects of health:

1. Spiritual - are you taking the time to be one with yourself, understanding who you are? Do you have a positive community surrounding you? What about creating value and meaning to your life?

2. Mental - are you exercising your brain enough? Challenging it in the best of ways, spending some time with logical thinking as well as taking on creative skills?

3. Emotional - are you balancing out your emotions? Taking the time to cry if you need to cry, understanding the reason behind your anger, and regulating your moods

4. Physical - Are you exercising? Lifting? Running? Whatever your mode of workout is, try to sweat a few times a week. Make that minimum and see how you feel

📖 My Relationship With Health

My story has been a bit all over the place. Maybe you can relate to this, maybe you can’t - I’d really like to know so please let me know.

I grew up vegetarian, mostly health in terms of diet and with an emphasis of working out, especially in high school and college with sports. The area that was not being taken care of was always the mental/emotional aspect. I actually continued to ignore that side of myself, until 4-5 years ago. I didn’t realize how harmful this was until I started healing myself. One thing I’ll tell you: healing takes time. And sometimes, you have to heal not just for yourself but also for your ancestors.

My focus on health before that was all around ‘looking good’. I felt the need to always look good in college. Maybe most teenagers go through this. And while this reason can cause a lot of that emotional stress, it did motivate me to work out physically. It started with a toxic relationship to health which I then had to transform into something I actually wanted to do.

Over the years, I continued the focus on physical (shifting my perspective slowly) and added in the importance of eating healthier. Shortly, I started realizing just how important mental health is. I took up yoga, breathwork, surrounded myself with positive minded individuals, and changed my lifestyle. [A BIG PART OF THIS WAS MY EMPHASIS ON CONSISTENT SLEEP]

The most recent change for me has been spirituality. If you’d met me 2 years ago, I would’ve laughed at this. Now, I believe it’s one of the biggest reasons I feel full.

While I’m not perfect and by no means have I hacked it all, I found it beneficial to add in one pillar at a time to my ‘norm’. It was important I treat these changes not as fads but as a part of my personality, as a part of who I now am.

Okay I could go on and on but this newsletter is getting kinda long. I’ll share more when the time comes, until then, here are some resources for you all.

p.s. I’ve been doing a 1-month fast and I’ve learned so much from it! Day 14/30 as of today.

💡 Some Resources For You

1. Breath - a book by James Nestor that shares the importance, history, and benefits of breathwork

2. Insight Timer AND Waking Up - both apps to help focus on meditating

3. Yuka AND Think Dirty - both apps to help you evaluate what you’re putting into your body. You can use these to scan ice cream packs, tortilla chip brands, and even your shampoo to see what kind of ingredients and chemicals are in your products.

4. Noom - haven’t used it myself but a platform to help connect you to a dietician and reach your health goals.

📝 Closing Notes

I’m still working on it…. my latest focus has been on: rest & recovery. I’m finally realizing rest & recovery are just as important as working out. If 50% of your time is spent stressing out, take the other 50% of your time to relax. Easier said than done of course. If you have any other tips for me as I’m still on this journey with you, please do let me know!