Today I am simmering some tomato basil soup with plenty of garlic and cream. The sun is out, windows are open, Fred Couples is kicking some major rear at Masters. Enjoy this link: http://cavegirleats.com/2012/03/30/nutrition-in-100-words-version-2-0/
Superbowl 2012
Sadly, I have filed Superbowl 2012 right next to the Republican primary saga. Having been pummeled continuously with commentary, largely meaningless, for what, fourteen days now? All possible enjoyment is gone. For the most part, as a Bears fan, I could enjoy a match-up where I largely had no skin in the game. But, alas, this hype has exceeded my capacity to simply enjoy it.
Nugget Fest – An Example of Impotence
Ok, by you probably have heard this story reported somewhere. A girl eats chicken nuggets of various origin for the majority of her life and now she is suffering health issues as a late teen. It doesn’t take a genius to say, no kidding. Where were the parents in this sojourn of individual expression?
In our live-and-let-live post modern world of “I’m ok you’re ok,” I can just see a parent shrugging their shoulders and saying “It’s just what they eat.” “I can’t get them to eat anything else.” In fact, I’ve heard this before in other contexts. “Oh, all Johnny eats is peanut butter and jelly.” “Susie just likes her pizza.” This is more a reflection of impotent parents rather than what a child can tolerate from a dietary perspective.
As a youngster I can remember absolutely hating maybe 30% of the foods I love now. Same for my siblings. Same for my kids. My two youngest kids’ favorite foods are curried anything with a side of sautéed onions. Yes, they’ll eat sugared chocolate if offered. But they only get that option once in a very long while. Was it difficult for us as parents to cultivate that taste for real food? Not especially. It did have its moments as everything. But, doing something else was not an option. Courage, parents, courage. A polite but firm direction for your kids is required. It is a contest of wills. You can prevail. Not by crushing the weaker a subject in an emotional tirade, but by being firm, consistent and loving. And by not budging. Start early. Start today.
This is more a parenting story offered up through the lens of a sick teenager.
Sugar – It’s The New “Fat”
I blew into my forties still very much active and exercising and watching what I eat. But no matter what I did, I was putting on weight; little by little. My BMI went over twenty-six, heading toward twenty-seven. As a tall guy, I hid my weight well. ”Your not fat!” I heard it all the time. And, I guess I wasn’t fat, but I knew deep down I was heading there. And I wasn’t alone.
My work peers of my age are getting heavier, too. Even the ones exercising, the avid runners are getting heavier. As a disciplined person, eating less and getting more exercise – the golden rule was easy, except it didn’t work. I just can’t run the miles anymore. Take a look at the “Six Pack” banner picture. The far left picture is a picture of me at the time I was running about ten miles a week, lifting three times a week, and eating a balanced diet. No junk food. This was also on the “Weston A. Price” Style of eating. I was healthy, but getting fatter.
About two years ago, I went low carb for a month, just to see what would happen. I still ate al la Weston A. Price, just a low carb variation. The month turned into a year, turned into two years. Along the way I picked up the “primal” or “paleo” literature and figured I could lift less and back off the running. Now I lift about twice a week and run – almost never. As you can see from the progression of the pictures, the weight is going the right direction.
What changed? Was it attitude? Attitude was part of it. I was mad as hell and not going to take it. But it was also finding the right information; and that was power. I am not hungry. I eat great full flavor foods, plenty of yummy full fat dishes. I should add, heart healthy fats. Speaking of eating full fat foods and avoiding the carbohydrates, you should see what that has done to my cholesterol level. Total cholesterol has come way down. It wasn’t too terribly high to start with, either.
So my experience is this: Just eat real food. No junk food. Cut back on the bread and starch. Eat lots and lots of vegetables, and as much meat as you can. Sugar. It’s the new “fat.” Avoid it like the plague.
Big Pharma: Rejoice! You Have A New Celeb in Paula
You know it wasn’t the butter that gave Paula Deen the dreaded diabetes. Take that to the bank. This was not a “Magic Johnson” type revelation, for those of you old enough to remember that. According to the National Diabetes Fact Sheet 1.9 million new cases of diabetes were diagnosed in people aged 20 years and older in 2010 alone. While we don’t and probably won’t know Ms. Deen’s genetic disposition and other contributing factors, a carbohydrate fueled life most likely contributed to and ensured the inevitable. That being said, not all type 2 diabetics are over weight and not all over weight people have type 2 diabetes. Judge not…
What kills me though, is while it is a huge blessing that pharmaceutical industry can offer needed insulin, the medical community still encourages the very habits that lead to insulin resistance thus exacerbating the diabetic condition. Drop into the website of the Mayo Clinic for their dietary recommendations regarding a diet to control symptoms. Featured prominently are the foods to avoid and why. ”Diabetes increases your risk of heart disease and stroke by accelerating the development of clogged and hardened arteries. Foods containing the following can work against your goal of a heart-healthy diet.” They go on to encourage the avoidance of: saturated fats, cholesterol, and sodium. Regarding carbohydrates, they encourage sensitivity to the amount and timing of consuming carbohydrates but do not encourage patients to limit carbohydrate intake. Essentially they encourage the patient to keep them level and routine. This advice will ensure a continued revenue stream.
So the beat goes on. What is the definition of insanity? I’m wondering of Emeril is going to sign with Pfizer, Roche, J&J or GSK? And Wilford Brimley…
Diets Are Like New Girl Friends
This is perhaps the funniest thing I’ve seen in a long time. As I’ve been a low carb guy heading into the third year, this post from the blog: 180degreehealth completely resonates with me. Check out the complete post here: Diets are like new girl friends.
Diets are like new girl friends:
3) You are 100% convinced you’ve found something that you can do for the rest of your life
5) You bring it home for the Holidays and make your family feel uncomfortable
20) You start to cheat and feel really bad about it
22) You keep hearing that it’s your fault that things aren’t going well
4) You go on and on talking to your friends about it until they are sure you have gone crazy
2) You announce it to everyone on Facebook
The Economics of a Disease
The following set of statistics are cited from Mark A. Hyman, MD in his article listed here: Diabetes: An Emerging Risk Factor. They are also referenced in Chris Kresser article.
“The direct and indirect costs of diabetes in America in 2007 amounted to $174 billion. The cost of obesity is also significant, amounting to $113 billion every year. During the past 10 years, these two conditions cost America alone a total of $3 trillion. That’s three times the estimated cost of fixing our entire health care system! Between 2009 and 2034, the number of people with diagnosed and undiagnosed diabetes will increase from 23.7 mil- lion to 44.1 million in the United States. During the same period, annual diabetes-related spending is expected to increase from $113 billion to $336 billion (2007 dollars).”
Does anyone see a problem here? That is just the economic impact. What about what a pain in the rear it is to know you have a 25% chance of getting it. From the CDC fact sheet: 10.9 million, or 26.9% of all people in the 65 years and older age group have diabetes. If you look at all this critically, you soon come to the realization that this is a relatively new phenomena in the west. It didn’t used to be this way.
Success Breeds Success??
Two Christmas parties down and two to go. This is the first year I’ve successfully avoided eating any junk food. Not some junk food, but any junk food. It also is comes on the heals of a solid eight months of eating clean on this low carb cum paleo approach I’ve been on for the past 18 months.
I have heard the phrase “success breads success” and have experienced it myself in various ways, but this is new for me in the junk food realm. Usually at some point I succumb to something after three or four weeks. This time, I have a few (two or three) planned ahead experience reserved. A helping of pumpkin pie at Christmas dinner is an example.
I think the greatest thing, though, is not having the cravings or my typical “entitlement” approach to sampling everything.” It is here that I really am beginning to be aware of my addiction; I guess you could call it, to sugar. I don’t say that lightly. I didn’t go through a whole lot of sugar products but it would be perhaps a once a week binge triggered largely by stress. Or sometimes it would be triggered by that thought in the mind that a certain treat would taste good. What I suspected earlier and know now, is that a craving was so much more a mental thing than a taste thing. Those wonderfully smelling baked treats with frosting would trigger this euphoric feeling and subsequent compulsion to consume it. Consuming the treat would not be as euphoric as the anticipation and often would leave me feeling horrible. I’m just glad for me it was sugar and not alcohol. I enjoy a brew or a glass of red, but I don’t have that same relationship with alcohol that I have with sugar. Hello, I’m Joe Six Pack and I am a sugarholic.
Insert here, my knowledge about what sugar and excessive carbs do to our metabolism and our ability to pack on pounds. Tack on to it, just what carbs I’m talking about. Add to it our knowledge about what yummy fats and protein do to our ability to feel satiated and more importantly, our enjoyment of eating them and our ability to metabolize that energy rather than pack it on as pounds. Finely, I consider my experiment of this new way of eating; enjoying it, and watching some pounds vanish without exercise. It is mind-boggling. This whole composite experience diminishes sugar’s grip on my life, or rather, my grip on sugar I never knew I had.
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Diets (You should eat this, not that) seem to have a lot in common with religion. (Which is probably not too shocking given the personal commitment required of both). In my young or old age, (I’m a mid-forty something) I’ve seen sugar vilified in the 70s, fat crucified starting in the 80s along with praise of high carb. I remember the Zone diet in the 90s was it? And the resurgence of the Atkins low carb in the 00s. Now we have paleo and primal.
One commonality of all these approaches is a general agreement that eating garbage is probably not too good for you. Nobody would argue that chips, pop, ice cream, sugar laden sweets, processed foods provide a health benefit, and certainly in the quantities we consume them today.
That being said, it is still disturbing to look at macro trends in the US regarding obesity. Take a look at US obesity trends by state from 1985 – 2010. Check this data out: “In 2010, no state had a prevalence of obesity less than 20%. Thirty-six states had a prevalence of 25% or more; 12 of these states (Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and West Virginia) had a prevalence of 30% or more.” (CDC publication) I happen to live in Michigan and also travel out-of-state frequently. I look around and my personal experience certainly corroborates that data.
Tightly coupled with that is diabetes data. Check this out: Among U.S. residents aged 65 years and older, 26.9% had diabetes in 2010. And this one simply kills me: In 2005–2008, based on fasting glucose or hemoglobin A1c levels, 35% of U.S. adults aged 20 years or older had prediabetes (50% of adults aged 65 years or older). Applying this percentage to the entire U.S. population in 2010 yields an estimated 79 million American adults aged 20 years or older with pre diabetes. (CDC diabetes data)
You get the impression, that despite huge attention to health and fitness in the past 30 years, there has been little to no demonstrable positive impact on the health of the U.S. population. In fact, that data shows a great movement toward the negative. On a personal level, I came to the realization that despite my “healthy” habits according to conventional wisdom, as I hit my 40s, the natural aging process seemed to force an inevitability on me that I was doomed to accept. However, my “degradation” in health seemed to stop rather dramatically over the last two years and in fact is rebounding; slowly in some areas, quite fast in other areas. I still like a belly full, hate being hungry. I dislike obsessing about food and proportions, so I don’t. What I have found, however, is that a careful examination of “diets” which we really should call “approaches to eating”, seems to yield some profitable data. Specific definable populations right here in the U.S. seem to experience positive movement in health which run completely contrary to the macro trend data.
This blog is one attempt to look critically nutritional data and personal application of some conclusions that seem to stand in stark contrast to where the general population is headed. I share them with you to offer one more data point. Criticism is a healthy construct. Question seeking understanding, not belligerence. There is a reason for everything, often we just need more understanding. Everything has a cause, even if the event of the cause is allusive. A causal chain cannot be of infinite length.
I Don’t Have A Six Pack
This blog is about some health and fitness ideas as it applies to real life. I’m a forty something dad and husband with kids and full-time job. I am not a gym rat, I’ve been trying to be healthy following conventional wisdom that last fifteen years. I’ve never been fat although I was starting to knock on that door about two years ago when I topped out at 220 lbs.
The banner pictures were snapped as an experiment when I started looking at low carb approach a la Atkins about two years ago.