Anne Riley Reads DINA - Notes on Chapter 9

Welcome to my notes on Chapter 9 – FIT or DIE

In Chapter 9, we find that even the medical specialists cannot make sense of Sara’s condition. She had anomalies but none of them make sense. The doctors are confused!

In this chapter we also discuss the second characteristic of life that makes it so different from anything before, FIT. As we know, EVERYTHING must fit into its environment to last. Only stable units ever last to make larger units. But even if atoms or molecules break up, they are still intact in a way that allows them to be re-formed. But life does not work that way. Life, being inherently more complex than inert matter, has to jump through a few more hoops to make sure it lasts.

Every time things get more complex, their ability to last becomes more precarious. Life is a perfect example of this. Every living thing eventually dies. Every. Single. One. Why? Because life is always changing and sooner or later some change is going to happen that a life form cannot survive. The only way life on earth can continue is for a life form to produce offspring with slightly different characteristics that will outlast its parent and produce a new generation with slightly different characteristics that will outlast its parent. Well, maybe there were other ways, but this is the way life evolved on Earth. Even then, this does not guarantee survival. It just increases the CHANCES of survival.

Remember we talked about change? Change is a basic characteristic of the universe and this Earth. If a living being is going to live, it must conform to the conditions of the earth. Since those conditions are always changing, there is no guarantee a life form will continue to conform. But if the offspring vary, meaning, they have different characteristics, maybe one or more of them will have a better chance of conforming to new conditions.

You can see that this is a pretty iffy scenario. Every life form just throws out changes in whatever way it can in hopes that one of their offspring will match unknown future conditions. Yikes. That doesn’t seem like a very promising prospect. But that is how it works. And it has worked. Billions and billions of species have lived on this earth at one time or another. To do that, they had to fit the conditions of the earth at this time. Scientists estimate there are about 8.7 million species alive today. That number is way higher if you start counting all the one-celled organisms. There are a lot of those. All of us, humans being just one, exist because we fit the conditions of the earth as it is today.

So, let’s talk about current events.

Let me start with a story.

Let’s say you are an average 26-year-old in America. You have lived all of your life in the 21^st century. Your diet consists of a lot of ultra-processed foods and has since you were little. You never had a weight problem compared to your peers, but you can’t say you are in the best shape either.

Fast forward. Now you are age 55. You haven’t really changed your diet or activity level much in the intervening years. It’s not really your fault, you tell yourself. You had a job, and kids and a house and not enough time for all the things that you thought were important. Still, you feel crappy. You have aches and pains. You can’t walk too much without breathing hard. You don’t sleep well. You are tired all the time. You’ve gained 40 pounds since your 20’s. What is going on?

So, let’s look at your body as an environment. You have 35 trillion cells that are grouped into tissues and organs and muscles to make your body work. When you eat something, that food is broken down and sent out to every single cell so that it can be fed and continue to do its job. What you have been doing for the last 50 years is changing your body’s environment through eating and activity, or lack thereof. By eating ultra processed foods filled with sugar and carbohydrates, you have been providing your body with lots of energy but not enough of the fiber and proteins needed to build your body parts and regulate the distribution of nutrients to all of your body parts. By living a sedentary lifestyle your body works less efficiently. Your heart pumps blood more slowly, your muscles are weak, your metabolism is slow; generally everything works but just does not work that well. You didn’t notice it much when you were younger. Your cells were re-generating at a quick pace and, frankly, you were busy, maybe too busy to notice. But now, you are older. Your cells are getting to the point where they are not going to re-generate any more. Your systems are slowing down. Your body environment is changing and not for the better. Your cells have been trying to tell you. The aches and pains, the breathing difficulties? These are signals the cells are giving off that says things are not going well, that damage is being done. But your brain can override those messages by giving them different meanings. I’m just getting old you tell yourself.

When you go to the doctor, she says you are at risk for serious disease and a shortened life unless you change the way you live. You are instructed to eat foods with more protein and fiber and less sugar and fat. More fruits and vegetables, less cookies and burgers. No, you say, forget it, I like the way things are, I don’t want to change. The doctor sighs. It is not the first time she has heard this.