1. The "why" behind our reasoning for not attempting to vigorously swim or engage in any other highly
intense form of exercise goes back to the physiology of a part of our body's nervous system called
the Autonomic.
First off, we must establish a clear understanding of howthe digestion/absorption processes work in
our gut which may have an adverse effect on any activity done in the following few hours post-meal.
Digestion is actually an elaborate process that takes a good 3-4 hours approximately to fully
complete so when majority of fitness trainers provide recommendations as to when we should be
exercising after eating, the food components of a meal need time to be broken down and the meal
size matters as well!
Without getting into all the gastric juices and physiology of digesting foodstuffs, I would like to simply
point out that digestion requires energy (ATP) and could potentially be an energy limiter in terms of
ability to perform your exercise to your maximum potential and in some cases may lead to an upset
stomach or GI symptoms.
Generally, the recommendations would be to begin exercise 15-30 minutes after a shake, 1-2 hours
after a small meal(~200-400 Kcal), & 2-3 hours after large meal(~400-600Kcal). The reason Ifeel
the need to speak about the digestive process here is because the gut-brain axis reveals how it is
tied directly to our nervous system which I also believe is one large reason for our high frequency of
Neurological disorders in our nation. Does it make sense to you that this could be the case?
The Autonomic Nervous System or ANS contains two divisions, the Sympathetic and
Parasympathetic. The sympathetic division is referred to as "fight or flight" division since an
increased rate of nerve impulses responds by elevating heart rate, blood pressure, and circulation
for activities like exercise or sexual stimulation that have an excitatory effect while the
parasympathetic division causes an increase rate of nerve impulses to lower heart rate and focus on
rest and digestion states of being. I find it interesting that emotions play a key role here because our
body has physiological responses to our emotions when heightened that will either cause heart rate
& blood pressure to rise up or go down!
As we learned about the brain in the previous chapter, the limbic system is where emotional
responses are derived from and can cause some physical changes in the body since the brain-body
are intertwined. Some might say the brain is in the body and the body is in the brain. Western
medicinal practice focuses largely on the physiological changes which occur for good reason as they
are highly important to be aware of and very complex, however, a large part of my future focus
professionally and writing will be in the fascinating and often neglected area of tying the Emotional
centers of the brain to these physiological bodily responses. I think nervous system disorders
represent a huge chunk of the "chronic dis-ease pie" in the great country of America and within the
science of Psycho-Neuro-Immunology this is an area worth diving into at a further depth to discover
and uncover possible methods of healing at the source or root of dysfunction. Any thoughts come
up?
In the science world, it was not that long ago when we thought the emotional, psychological, and
physical physiology were segregated rather than integrated. Idon't know about you while I for one

2. am interested to see what the next 5-10 years of research holds for discovery in integrated healing
strategies tying these three components together holistically.