Bolivia - Walk like an Inca

So we just got back from a week and a half away in the state of La Paz (I say state because it is, contrary to popular belief, not just a city). After a few days of catching up with old friends and hanging out in some old haunts (bars, markets, you name it – I love that town), and then attending the national rugby championship (Cochabamba kicked Peru’s butt, but then proceeded to get whooped by La Paz), we headed for Copacabana (Lake Titicaca) and the Isla del Sol, birthplace of the Inca empire.

So the Isla del Sol is a big deal because, according to Inca religion, the first Inca - Manco Capac - emerged from a prominent crag in a large sandstone outcrop known as Titikala (the Sacred Rock). Manco Capac was the son of Inti and Mama Quilla, the Andean deities of the sun and moon, respectively. Legend has it that the ancient people of the province were without light in the sky for many days and grew frightened of the darkness. Finally, the people saw the Sun emerge from the crag and believed it was the Sun's dwelling place. A temple was built at this rock and later expanded by the 10th Inca, who built a convent for mamaconas (chosen women) and a tambo (inn) for visiting pilgrims. Sunrise and sunset were spectacular, and staying on the island is totally worth it.

…in usual Bolivia fashion however, we got stuck in Copacabana for an extra night due to protests about local government in a village that lies on the road back to La Paz. Ni que hacer! It gave us a chance to indulge in some fine food at La Cupula hotel, overlooking the little harbor. With some chatting and extra dinero to pad the deal, we got back to town the next day via independently contracted taxis.

Next was a bigger endeavor, the Choro trek. This lasts 3 days and begins at the cold Cumbre (4725m) just above La Paz, passes Abra Chucura (4859m), and ends in a warm, tropical village of Chairo at 1750m. It’s 70km long, over which you descend about 3km in altitude. Suffice it to say that going downhill got old, but there were several uphill climbs, which strangely I was grateful for as it used an entirely different set of muscles. Conversation spanned the usual trekking spectrum - weather, philosophy, and then food (tuna and noodles leave much to be desired) – but mostly weather, because instead of being rained on, we were actually stuck IN the rain cloud for about half of the time (the rainy season started early this year).

In brief, this trek allows you to follow the steps of the Inca from a barren, cold and rugged terrain down a beautifully preserved stone path into the subtropical vegetation of the Yungas, where you see citrus, banana trees, coffee and coca plantations, colorful birds and butterflies. It’s less travelled than the other Inca trails of the Cordillera region – frankly, we didn’t see more than 5 people along the way, and to my delight there wasn’t as much garbage along the way either (I understand the more transited treks are shocking in that regard). Once we arrived to Chairo we took a bus to Coroico, the “hub” of the Yungas region. Here, we ate ate ate like chanchitos...oddly, but much to our delight, there is an established connection with European settlers (French, Dutch, Swiss, German) here. All of the above offer amazing food with a gourmet touch, everything from fresh organic bread, to bitter chocolate and delicious coffee, to llama in tamarind sauces (all at very low prices). If I hadn’t had to come back to Cochabamba, I’d still be there now...

Click here to see my photos.

Metabolism & weight

Metabolism is the process by which your body converts calories into the energy it needs to function, in other words the rate at which you burn the calories you consume.

People often say that a slim person's metabolism “must be fast” because they are able to burn calories faster; and that an overweight person's metabolism “must be slow” because they burn calories slower. This is not necessarily the case.

Three factors determine your weight: metabolism, diet, and exercise. Though largely genetically determined, your metabolism is directly impacted by the combination of your diet and physical activity. Therefore, we can say that diet and exercise are what ultimately determine your weight (unless you suffer from a medical condition, such as hypothyroid). And so, understanding your weight is a question of simple mathematics: if you eat more calories than you burn, you will gain weight. If you burn more calories than you eat, you will lose weight.

Your body needs energy (calories) for 3 reasons:

1. Basic needs. Even when your body is at rest, it requires energy for the basics, such as fuel for organs, breathing, circulating blood, adjusting hormone levels, growing and repairing cells. The rate at which you burn calories for these functions is called your basal metabolic rate (BMR). About 3/4 of the calories you consume are used for this.
2. Food processing. Your body uses about 1/10 of the calories you consume to digest, absorb, transport and store what you eat.
3. Physical activity. The rest of the calories you consume are burned via physical activity.

Apart from physical activity, other factors affect how many calories your body will burn:

1. Body size and composition. The larger you are, the more calories your body will burn. Muscle burns more calories than fat does, therefore if you are lean, you will burn more calories.
2. Age. Older people tend to have less muscle and more fat. Metabolism also slows naturally with age. Together this means that the elderly burn fewer calories.
3. Sex. Men usually have less body fat and more muscle than women of the same age and weight. This is why men generally burn more calories than women, and why they can generally eat more without gaining weight.
4. Genetics. You were born with an approximate basal metabolic rate (BMR) that will, unless you make certain lifestyle choices, maintain itself.

Consciously, you can only alter your metabolism via diet and exercise. This is because diet and exercise alter your body composition, and therefore the rate at which you burn calories.

To boost your metabolism, follow these simple steps:

· Practice moderate aerobic/cardiovascular activity 3-5 times a week. This causes your body to use its fat (stored energy) for fuel, and prevent further fat accumulation.

· Seek to build muscle mass, because muscle burns more calories than fat. You can do this by lifting weights and consuming more protein (carbohydrates and fat are not muscle-builders).

· Eat foods with less fat and more nutrients: lean meats, whole grains, low-fat dairy, fresh fruits and vegetables.

· Eat 5-6 times a day, in small portions. This prevents your body from storing excess calories as fat. Do not skip meals as this trains your body to store whatever it is that you do eat, when you finally do.

· Avoid stimulants like coffee, tea and cigarettes which alter your appetite.

· Avoid processed/packaged foods that have hidden calories and chemicals. A good rule is to “avoid foods your grandmother wouldn’t recognize”, in other words try to eat food in its most basic form.

· Do not use dietary supplements that claim to “speed up your metabolism”. They may produce undesirable or even dangerous side effects such as heart failure or weight gain later in life – manufacturers do not have to prove that their products are safe or effective.

Nature has the best recipe for success: Celebrate food. Enjoy your body. Don't abuse either. Ain't that hard, people.

Alternative Medicine: juice detoxing

What

A detox diet is a food intake plan that aims to remove accumulated toxic substances from the body (N.B.: in the context of alternative medicine, the term “toxin” refers non-specifically to any substance that can potentially cause ill health, ranging anywhere from trace amounts of pesticides to common food items like refined sugar or additives like artificial sweeteners and MSG; it is a loose and unscientific term). Detox diets are commonly done after periods of over-indulgence or the consumption of non-nutritious or processed foods. These diets usually suggest that water, fruits and vegetables (in their most unprocessed and un-genetically modified form) compose a majority of one's food intake, eliminating stimulants and alcohol completely.

Juice fasting is a type of fasting in which the practitioner consumes only fruit and vegetable juices, anywhere from several days up to two weeks. Proponents believe that abstaining from solid food allows the body to recover from damage and fatigue caused by the relentless stress of digestion. They hold that, while fasting, less energy is expended on digestion of foods, so there is more energy available for the rest of the body to expel toxins. Because this is an arduous and rather painful process, juice fasts are often marketed together with supplements and support groups.

Why

In addition to a general “clean out”, other common reasons for undergoing juice fasts include the pursuit of religious/spiritual goals, weight loss and attempting to wean one’s self from unhealthy habits, such as smoking, soda, overeating, caffeine addiction, etc. Some more serious practitioners use juice fasting as an alternative to conventional medical practices, such as a healing technique for pain, cancer, depression, arthritis, severe infections that failed antibiotics, autoimmune diseases and many other diseases. They are often conducted on a regular, often monthly, basis.

However, medical experts generally regard juice fasting and detox diets as a fad that is less effective than drinking a glass of water. They are generally harmless (so long as no nutritional deficiency results), but a waste of money. The idea that an avalanche of vitamins, minerals, and laxatives taken over a short-term can have a long-lasting benefit for the body is viewed as a marketing myth that lacks factual evidence. Furthermore it is generally held that such cleansing is unnecessary, as the human body is naturally capable of maintaining itself, with several organs dedicated to cleansing the blood and the gut.

How

As toxins are believed to lie within many of the human body's glands and organs, some practitioners, when devising their juice diet, attempt to target the liver, the kidneys, the urinary tract, the skin, the gallbladder, the brain, the immune system, etc. The length and frequencies of fasts also vary: some take part in annual week-long (or longer) periods of fasting, some take monthly, shorter (two or three days) periods of fasting. Some fasts even involve trips to spa resorts (people are making some good money off of this fad in Thailand).

How do you do it? Get out your juicer, block off a few days for inactivity, and get creative with the following (most commonly used in juice detoxes):

1. Vegetables - celery, cucumber, tomato, bell pepper, broccoli, cabbage

2. Greens - parsley, kale, beet greens, chard, spinach, dandelion leaf

3. Root vegetables - carrots, beets, sweet potatoes

4. Fruit - grapes, apples, citrus, açai berry, cranberry, pineapple

5. Herbs- yucca root, fennel, spearmint, peppermint, basil, ginger, garlic, green onion, chili pepper, fresh turmeric root, milk thistle, cayenne

6. Wheatgrass & spirulina

Fasters must take care to maintain their intake of vitamins and nutrients. Additionally, the juices from highly acidic fruits can upset the body's natural pH balance, so first-timers should be wary. Because pure juice contains little to no fiber, elimination may become difficult.

Some individuals should be careful before performing juice fasting. These include the malnourished and underweight; pregnant or lactating mothers; advanced cancer patients; individuals with poor immunity; individuals who have recently undergone surgery; individuals who suffer from stomach ulcers, low blood pressure, excessive fatigue, or diabetes; and children. It's also possible for a juice such as grapefruit to interact badly with certain prescription drugs.

My account

So, I did my research and decided to give it a shot – get past all the glossy women’s magazine rhetoric. Initially I set out to do 3 days but after 2, I decided enough was enough (going to bed hungry = no fun).

Day 1- Breakfast: Spinach/celery/carrot. Snack: Pomegranate. Lunch: Carrot/apple. Dinner: Grape. Craploads of water.

Day 2 – Breakfast: Grape. Snack: Radish. Lunch: Cabbage, Broccoli, Mint. Snack: Apple. Dinner: Apple/peach/pomegranate. Craploads of (unsweetened) herbal tea.

Generally, though more towards day 2, I was pretty tired, grouchy and lightheaded. I missed chewing, and the sensation of having a full belly (or rather, one that stayed full for more than 15 minutes). Another thing I missed was having something to look forward to: the day is just one long, arduous process with no respites or rewards. I also had to stay at home most of the time in order to be near my trusty juicer (not to mention the bathroom). Activity-wise I generally lay pretty low, despite some light yoga/pilates sessions. Depending on where you live, this can actually a pretty expensive endeavor, since it takes a lot of fruit & veg to make a substantial glass of juice. No, I didn’t reach enlightenment; yes, my skin sort of broke out; and yes, my stomach shrunk like woah (my first solid meal afterward was delicious, but I was full before I knew it).

My two cents: at the end of it I felt pretty clean, but then – how much of that was psychological? Personally I believe that wellbeing is a matter of balanced lifestyle, not extreme or corrective measures. I'd even go so far as to say that it’s possible to be too clean: by not indulging every now and then, you'll have a much harder time coping, physically and mentally, when you do deviate from your puritan ways. Yayyy indulgence!