Farewell to Coffee and Rich Food

A rich, delicious cup of coffee used to be my favorite; I liked to treat myself to one from time to time. But now I can no longer love it, so I have had to give it up.

Last year, before the college entrance exam, I relied on coffee to stay awake and focused while reviewing. Toward the end I noticed my eyelid twitching involuntarily. I looked it up online and learned it was from drinking too much coffee, so I quit. After a break, the twitching stopped. But once you are used to coffee, it is like an old friend — after a long gap, you miss it now and then.

So, once the twitching stopped, I started drinking it occasionally again. But as soon as I resumed, the eyelid began to twitch again. That finally convinced me coffee was not for me. I set about quitting in earnest, except that sometimes in class, when drowsiness became unbearable, I would still crave a cup to wake me up.

But after abstaining for a while, every time I had coffee I felt unwell. So I finally made up my mind: even if I fell asleep in class, I would not drink it. Strangely, once I forbade it, I stopped feeling sleepy in class.

Last Sunday at home, the craving struck and I could not resist brewing a cup. Big mistake. Sunday night at school I was up to use the toilet seven or eight times, and Monday I felt out of sorts. Coffee is diuretic, and its diuretic effect on me is especially strong — so much so that I suspect someone with my constitution could use coffee to treat edematous conditions.

Now I finally know I am not the sort of person who should drink coffee. In life there are always things we must reluctantly let go of; this time I am saying goodbye to coffee for good. As for tea, it has long since proved harmful rather than helpful to me. I have tried every kind of tea, and each one makes me unwell, so now I drink only cooled boiled water.

Many other habits must also be gradually set aside, because the body changes quietly with age. High-protein, high-fat, high-sugar foods now burden my stomach and intestines; I dare not eat much of them. Total food intake must also shrink, because metabolism slows and fewer calories are needed. If daily intake exceeds expenditure, the surplus turns to fat and causes fatty liver.

So now in the cafeteria I order one fewer dish at each meal and ask the server to give me less rice. After this change, my body feels much lighter. After meals I take a walk around campus or nap in the dorm for a while, making sure I feel comfortable.

I am about to reach the age of fifty. Confucius said, "At fifty I knew the mandate of Heaven," though he did not explain further. I think he may have meant that at fifty one understands the importance of following the laws of nature. No matter how arrogant a person may be, he cannot defy the natural laws of birth, aging, illness, and death.

It is just that when young, driven by desire, we do now and then ignore those laws, squandering our health and leaving a mess to clean up in midlife. Fifty is the turning point at which most people settle accounts. Our most important immune organ, the thymus, atrophies into a lump of fat by fifty; the central canal of the spinal cord has already closed off by fifty. How we abused our bodies in the first half of life, the body will abuse us in the second. Heaven's cycle is just; the retribution is exact.

For a good quality of life after fifty, one must be highly disciplined. Do not eat what should not be eaten, drink what should not be drunk, or do what should not be done; conduct oneself as reasonably as possible and stay out of trouble. Aim for a light body and a cheerful mind, and for feet planted firmly on the ground, walking steadily and far.