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(Professor Lee Gyeho's 'Restoration of the Basics, Restoration of Health')
(Lecture 8: Stress, Enemy of Immunity)
Until now, we have discussed ways
to boost our immunity to fight off viruses like COVID
But today, let’s talk about the enemy of immunity,
which is stress
Being stressed out
Do you all get stressed?
Sure
If you’re living in Korea, there’s no way to avoid it,
no matter your age
From little kids to seniors,
everyone’s dealing with it
Everyone gets stressed out
Regardless of age
Beginning from elementary to high school
student get stress because of the college entrance exam
What about university students in their 20s?
They’re stressed about finding a job
As soon as they start college, the clock is ticking toward graduation,
and they’re under pressure to find work
Now, let’s say they get a job What's the stress in their 30s?
Marriage, right?
Social expectations and work pressures as well
And if they’re married, what comes next?
Parenting stress
People in their 40s and 50s?
What about people in their 40s?
Job security
In their 50s?
Stress about retirement
And by their 60s?
Nowadays, a big stressor for people in their 60s is
babysitting grandkids
It has practically become a obligation
In the past, helping out with grandkids was a favor, but now it’s almost expected
Because life’s tough for their kids,
and they want to help out
So, what’s the bottom line?
We’re living in a society where stress is nearly impossible to avoid
Alright, let’s take a look at the different types of stress
There are two kinds
'Distress' and 'Eustress'
Distress is negative stress
What about eustress? It is positive stress
This is what negative stress look like
So, the difference is like this
Let’s say you’re heading to a café for a blind date
You’re excited, maybe a little nervous
What kind of stress is that?
Positive stress, right?
Now, imagine going to that same café, but this time, you’re meeting a creditor
What kind of stress is that?
Negative stress
But unfortunately, people in Korea are dealing with
the negative kind
Negative stress
And even within that,
there’s chronic stress,
that builds up over a long time
And then there is acute stress,
like stress you get when you’re driving, and someone cuts you off
Which one do you think is worse?
Chronic stress is way more serious
It has a much more negative impact on the body
There’s been a ton of research on stress worldwide, right?
Especially in the medical field
In the U.S., they've done a lot of studies on stress
One recent study had some interesting results
An American medical school conducted a study where
at the end of every year, they asked about 20,000 people two questions
First, 'How much stress did you experience this year?'
with options like 'a lot,' 'moderate,' or 'a little'
They wanted to measure how much stress people were dealing with
And second, 'Do you believe stress is bad for your health?'
'Do you think it's not related to health?'
In other words, 'Do you think stress negatively impacts your health?'
They ran this survey for 8 years, asking 20,000 people each year
Naturally, some people passed away during that time
And found out that people who reported high stress levels died more
It means people who answered they got a lot of stress died more
But
here's the interesting part
Among those who passed away,
people who believed stress was harmful to their health died more
People who answered there's no relation between stress and health died less
So what does this tell us?
It means the stress itself is important,
but how a person handles that stress makes a big difference
How you view stress affects whether it harms your body more or less
Right?
So why did people who thought, 'Stress isn’t a big deal,' live longer?
Harvard Medical School dug into this
They found that
when a person experiences stress, it triggers stress hormones
These stress hormones are harmful
because they actually speed up the growth of cancer cells
Someone who might develop cancer in 30 or 40 years without stress
could see it progress faster if they’re under a lot of stress
You know, stress itself isn't a carcinogenic factor
It doesn’t create cancer
But stress speeds up the growth of cancer cells
So, why do people with a positive outlook seem to suffer less from stress?
Studies show that when you’re stressed, your body releases many harmful hormones
When stress triggers bad hormones,
it also triggers good hormones to help protect us from the harmful effects
This good hormones are called oxytocin
It’s released with the bad hormones
to help cushion the stress effects on your body
(Acts as a neurotransmitter in brain,) Do you know when oxytocin is released?
(influencing bonding, and motherlove) You get it from hugging someone
or when a mother breastfeeds her baby
It flows more when there’s love and connection between people
Way more
So, to handle stress, it’s important not to leave a stressed person alone
The key is they need people around them,
and not be left alone
This has been backed by recent studies
So, if you know someone struggling with stress, what’s the first step?
Don’t leave them alone
When someone offers words of comfort or love,
Oxytocin given by God is created
and helps block negative effects of stress
That is the first key
What do you usually do to handle stress?
Talk it out with a friend?
Watch a scary movie?
What do you think most Koreans do?
They get a drink
Just getting together for a drink after a stressful day
And?
You get a sleep
Working out
Go traveling
Or for those with faith, praying
and reading the Bible
There are a lot of ways people try to cope
But most of these methods
do not have a great effect
It's not that they have no useless
I mean there is almost no effect
They help a little bit
It's true that they can help a bit mentally or psychologically
But as true stress relievers, they're just not that effective
See, to really know if you’re stressed,
you’d have to go to a hospital and get a blood or urine test
They’d measure the concentration of active oxygen in your blood or urine
If the levels are high, that’s a sign you’re stressed
You’ve heard of active oxygen, right?
They’re substances that naturally form in our body
When they’re at normal levels, they work with immune cells
to attack anything harmful that enters
Active oxygen is highly reactive
It can oxidize or change other substances chemically
But when they build up too much,
they start going after the good stuff in your body,
causing all sorts of issues
It even causes genetic mutation
and also makes cancer cell
So, it’s okay to have an average amount of active oxygen in the body,
but when you get too stressed, that’s when it becomes a problem
So, when you’re stressed, what happens in your body?
Active oxygen levels shoot up
But that extra free active oxygen doesn't go away just because you have a drink,
or watch a horror movie
It does mentally, right?
But chatting with a friend doesn't mean that active oxygen will disappear
Sure, they might help partially
Do you understand what I mean?
Do you know the worst way to handle stress?
Drinking alcohol
People think they’re relieving stress by drinking,
but that’s a total misconception
I mentioned this in the last lecture
When you drink,
it’s the alcohol numbing your brain, making you feel bold
and talkative,
like you’re handling the stress But you actually didn't
Because when you drink, alcohol breaks down into vinegar
But it doesn’t just produce good stuff, there are harmful byproducts, too
And when you drink, that harmful thing comes out
It is carcinogen called 'acetaldehyde'
So here you are, stressed out,
your body produces active oxygen that can lead to cancer,
then you drink alcohol, creating even more carcinogens
Does that sound like a good idea?
Absolutely not
Never try to deal with stress through drinking
Why? It only makes things worse, but feels better
Why? You're numbed out
You can't think straight
Drinking is the worst way to handle stress
Anyway, most of these methods aren’t all that effective
Now, do you think God knew that we’d end up dealing with stress?
Of course He did
He knew we would be selfish
'chasing their own desires and doing things their way'
So, knowing that constant stress would be a problem,
God set up a solution for us
By day 3, He had it all set
On the first day, God created light
By day 2, God created the expanse and separated the waters
And what did He create on the third day?
All the plants, seeds, and fruit
So, remember how I said stress creates active oxygen in our body?
Well, active oxygen is chemically acidic
And to neutralize acid, what do you need?
Alkaline
All those colorful veggies and fruits' main component is alkaline,
making them natural antioxidants
So, when you’re stressed,
eating colorful fruits and veggies works
The antioxidants in them get digested in about two hours, enter bloodstream,
and then what?
They chemically neutralize active oxygen
After that, go watch a horror movie,
go on a trip,
do your Bible study,
or hit the gym
What do people who work out usually do?
They stress out on Monday but work out on the weekend
So they’re dealing with all that active oxygen damage on weekdays,
then hit the gym on Saturday thinking, 'I relieved my stress,' a misconception
What’s the first thing you need to do when you’re stressed?
Grab those colorful veggies and fruits
They’ll digest in two hours, go to your bloodstream,
and neutralize that active oxygen
And who set this all up?
God did, when?
From the very start, why?
Out of love,
knowing we’d stress ourselves out
and try all kinds of useless ways to relieve it
Do you understand?
That’s why He made those plants on day three
Active oxygen forms during food metabolism or from UV exposure,
and it really spikes when you’re stressed
The capacity to neutralize active oxygen is measured by something called ORAC
Active oxygen absorbance capacity
It is recommended to get around 3,000 to 5,000 ORAC per day
It's about the amount of color food you should eat
Science backs this up
Now let's talk about tomatoes
Do you know why tomatoes are red?
You know it's red
I once asked this question
during a session in the countryside
And this elderly lady in the back raised her hand and said,
"They’re red because they’re embarrassed"
We all had a good laugh
People get that humor when they get old
It’s so heartwarming
to see that kind of humor
Now, the reason tomatoes are red is
tomatoes have compounds that neutralize active oxygen
Each color in fruits and veggies has its own unique antioxidant
Red is lycopene
Purple is anthocyanin
They all have unique structures, but their function is the same
Neutralizing active oxygen
Now, when I say eat color foods,
you get why it's important, right?
I recommended to have color foods whenever you're stressed
The thing is,
the antioxidant in tomatoes, lycopene, is fat-soluble
It only dissolves in oil
So if you eat a plain tomato
the lycopene doesn’t get absorbed well
Instead, it can actually cause your gut to work harder,
creating bubbles and gas
That’s why people in other countries
always eat tomatoes with olive oil
Think about pizza or pasta, they have olive oil and a tomato base
You even have to know whether the antioxidants are fat or water-soluble
It is complicated, right?
But you know, I always come up with what?
Solutions
So, after today’s lecture
you might think, 'Okay, lycopene in tomatoes'
'is fat-soluble, so I should eat with oil'
Now, imagine serving sliced tomatoes
with a little side of sesame oil for dipping when guests come over
What would they think?
'Huh?'
'I mean, I heard of dipping tomatoes in sugar or salt,'
'but dipping them in sesame oil? What's going on here?'
They will think something's not right
That's when you have to use a little God-given wisdom
How?
When you eat color food, don't think about whether it's fat-soluble or water-soluble
Always eat a nut
Eat nuts like walnuts, pine nuts, almonds, or peanuts along with them
Nuts are high in fats
When you eat nuts, your body
releases lots of fat-breaking substances
which help 100% absorb the fat-soluble nutrients in color foods
So, no need to worry about fat-soluble versus water-soluble anymore
Just have one nut
But remember, don't eat too much
Not too many, okay?
Now, whenever I give this talk, I ask the married something
Are you married?
Do you fight with your husband or wife?
Of course they do, everyone fights
Who doesn't have a little fight?
Next time you do, you have to do 'beginning food fight'
How?
When you argue, both you and your spouse build up
active oxygen in your blood
And usually, we just let it linger,
which eventually leaves some damage in the body
So, from now on, after a fight, all of you watching today should try this
Once the argument’s over, take a moment,
grab an apple, and eat a slice each
Neutralize that active oxygen from the argument
You might still be a little ticked off
But it's not like you plan on divorcing after every argument, right?
When active oxygen builds up, you have to get rid of it, right?
So, after the fight, what should you do?
Share a piece of color food with each other
If it was a big fight, go for two
The more you eat, the better it works
But you know the best way, right?
Eat it before the fight even starts
Why?
Once you start arguing, that active oxygen is already causing trouble in your body
Color foods take about two hours to digest
and get into your bloodstream
I just don’t like active oxygen running around causing trouble
So, how long before the argument should you eat?
Yes, 2 hours before
So, eat colored food 2 hours before a fight?
Or it's better to just avoid the fight
after eating it
But here’s where a little wisdom comes in
Let’s say tomorrow morning, you know there’s unavoidable stress waiting for you
Maybe you'll get punished
You know that you'll get stressed out
So what should you do at breakfast?
Load up on color foods
Fill your blood with antioxidants to prepare for the stress
You’ll feel those antioxidants kicking in,
neutralizing active oxygen the second it forms
It’s not just about how much stress you face
It’s all about how many antioxidants
you have in your system
when that stress hits
That’s what really decides your fate
Got it?
This is where God-given wisdom comes in
Let’s be prepared
Anytime stress hits, let’s make sure we’ve got what we need to handle it
Did you get it?
Alright, here's the situation
You're driving, and suddenly, someone bumps into you
You get mad, right?
And then you think, 'I should be eating some color food,'
But, there is no color food in your car
In that case, you need emergency supplies, 'Vitamin C'
Yes, emergency Vitamin C
It's perfect for situations like that
But if you leave Vitamin C in a car too long, especially in the summer,
it can oxidize and turn yellow
So, always check to make sure it’s still white
Because oxidized Vitamin C isn’t doing you any good
But Vitamin C, it’s just the pure stuff
It’s just Vitamin C, nothing else
It works as a quick fix when you need it
Do you know which vegetable has the most Vitamin C?
Pepper, it has the most Vitamin C per gram
Like cucumber peppers or bell peppers
So, if you're watching this, even though it’s a bit late,
but if you go to a garden center, you can grab some pepper seedlings
Or, if not, you can grow them on your apartment balcony next year
You can plant two seedlings in one pot
A single pepper seedling costs about 200 to 500 KRW ($0.14~0.36)
If one seedling grows two stems, you can eat them all summer
If you’ve got a family of four, just plant four seedlings,
and they'll keep growing
It would be good to plant some pepper seedlings on your balcony
So, after a fight with your spouse, head outside,
pick some peppers, and if you’re mad, pick even more
You’ve got plenty
I think 35 sqft is enough for a person
350 sqft for one person becomes too much work
But with just 35 sqft,
you can easily grow all kinds of color foods, like cherry tomatoes
Right on your balcony
And this way is?
The wise way that God gave to us
The reason I’m showing you this slide is
because these days, people are really getting into barley grass,
matcha, and powdered green tea
These are concentrated,
so you should only have a certain amount
Just because something is good for you doesn’t mean you should overdo it
Especially with powdered green tea, I'm not really a fan of taking too much
Green tea is supposed to be brewed from the leaves,
not be eaten as a powder
Especially in Korea, people add
green tea powder to ice cream, bread, or rice cakes, and consume it a lot
Surprisingly, green tea powder contains a lot of aluminum
So, you've got to be careful with it
The American Cancer Society has this slogan, "5 A DAY"
meaning if you eat five different colors
of food a day, you will never get cancer
T-cells kill about 45% of the COVID virus
But when the activity of these T-cells drops,
that’s when we start worrying, and makes your immune system work less
We’re all stressing out way too much nowadays
A man named Ernie Jelaski analyzed it
and found that 40% of the things we worry about will never happen
30% are about things that already happened
22% are really tiny stuff
4% are things we can’t change no matter how much we worry
So out of 100 things we worry about,
95 of them are not worth stressing over
So, if you have 100 worries, let go of 96
And you know, to boost T-cells,
you have to live positively
Research from A DAY found that
when you laugh, the activity of T-cells increases by 200 times,
and they kill millions of COVID cells
Millions of cells
So if you’re still worried about COVID
Just laugh
Seriously, just laugh
When God created Adam and Eve, what’s the first place He made them live?
The Garden of Eden
Do you know what “Eden” means?
It means joy
What does God want for us?
He wants us to live with joy
Even though things are tough and we’re in pain, what’s the message?
Live with joy
That is God’s command to us
A command
And while living joyfully, God will work His plan
How I fulfill my purpose, how I live my life
That's just human thinking
If we live joyfully,
God will guide us
So let’s live joyfully
Okay?
How about we try, with some clapping?
Let's laugh together
Try laughing
Shall we?
Two hundred T-cell's activity just increased,
and they wiped out millions of COVID-19 viruses
That’s real
But here in Korea, we are too focused on
the fear around COVID
I think we need to change the atmosphere
Let’s be joyful
Right?
But does it actually work to live joyfully?
Not always
We’re living way too serious right now
So I try my best to live happily,
looking for entertaining or joyful news through the internet or my phone
and train myself to focus on the good
Why? Because it's hard to do
When you come across something funny, you want to share it with someone
You get to remember it and share it with others
But here’s the thing
Even a story is really funny, people get annoyed when it's too long
Keep it short
If it’s too long, they’ll get frustrated
For example
when you wake up in the morning,
where do you wash first?
Which part do you wash first?
Where?
Your scalp
Well, for me, I close my eyes first ('wash,' 'close' sounds same in Korean)
Some of you might be like, 'What is he talking about?'
But hey, even these silly jokes
get your T-cells active
This is how you fight off viruses like COVID
It's the basic way to follow God’s command
Without joy, God doesn’t work in your life
Things just don’t flow right
No matter what’s going on, you need to get that joy back from God
These days, there are so many videos
and photos online
Let me show you just one photo before I wrap up today’s lecture
It’s of a young couple, in their 30s
They’re both working,
and the wife sends a text to her husband
It goes like this,
"Honey, I got stuck with overtime today, so I won’t be able to cook dinner tonight"
"When you get home,"
"peel half of the potatoes on the balcony and boil them"
"Let's eat that with some kimchi"
She sent this message
So the husband goes home, checks potatoes on the balcony,
and sure enough, he peels exactly half of the potatoes
Half of each potato
So after you laugh, what happens?
Your T-cells go up by 200 times, and wipe out all those COVID viruses
That’s how we should live
This is the command God gave us
I have a big family, so I buy lots of veggies in bulk from the market
I wash them and store them in the fridge, but some get moldy or the color changes
Is it okay to cut off the spoiled parts and eat the rest if that happens?
Or do the nutrients break down if I keep vegetables for too long?
First off, just because you store veggies for a while don't destroy nutrients
The real problem is the type of mold
Some molds are harmful to humans
The ones that grow on veggies are often the bad kind
When mold shows up, it’s not just visible parts you need to worry about
The spores can spread out
So, what’s the most important thing?
Don’t store veggies until they mold
Even if it’s a hassle,
you should buy them in smaller amounts, use them up, and buy fresh ones regularly
Keeping veggies until they get moldy
isn't saving money
It's actually wasteful
A bit of color change is fine
For example,
For example, when you tear cabbage leaves, they turn brown
That's not a problem
You can just have them
Because it's just part of the process
These days, I’m really into growing veggies on my balcony
I’m doing hydroponics with green onions and lettuce
But is it safe to eat veggies grown this way?
And what should I watch out for when eating home-grown veggies?
Personally, I don’t really recommend hydroponics
I think it’s better to grow them in soil
Hydroponics uses water,
but you have to add nutrients artificially
You mix 4 to 6 nutrients artificially
to make the plants look nice
and grow well
So, veggies need to be grown in soil
Even if you do hydroponics,
microbes can still grow
So, in the summer, put the veggies in water mixed with vinegar and soju
When you put that in a bit,
it helps you kill off any bacteria
For food safety, especially in summer, a quick soak in diluted vinegar water
before eating can help prevent from food poisoning
I’ve been stressing about my weight lately
Because of COVID, I had to stay home, and put on a few pounds
Yes, people don't move much nowadays
So I’ve started eating low-calorie foods like konjac noodles and buckwheat
But I'm curious if they are really effective for weight loss,
and how healthy they are
This ties in with something
I talked about in a previous lecture
on Korean traditional fermented foods
Foods like konjac or buckwheat are good,
but they’re not a solution
They’re low in calories, sure
But they don’t maximize natural health benefits
So, gaining weight usually means one thing
You've been eating too much
Even if you’re enjoying low-calorie noodles or buckwheat,
You won't lose weight
You might eat a little sometimes
It’s always a balance of
what you eat and how much you move
I think it's important to eat less
It’s true that everyone’s struggling,
feeling challenged and uncertain because of COVID
But even in the middle of all this chaos,
I believe God has a plan for each of us
for what He wants us to do
It’s not about what the government or what anyone else tells us
We each have something
God wants us to act on
For the past 8 lectures,
I talked about what each person should do
Of course, it’s not a perfect solution
Doing these 8 things won’t magically fix everything
But these 8 steps can give us
the confidence to start
Since this approach is based on what I believe God has given us,
I hope each of you can try these 8 steps in your own life
Despite the tough times, I hope everyone
lives in a way that brings victory through God
Thank you for listening to all 8 of my lectures
I'll wrap up my lecture here
Thank you