Let's Talk About Nutrition
I see a lot of conversation on Newstalkers about how the nanny state is trying to control what its citizens are consuming, and I have to laugh. The truth is, in general we are doing an abysmal job of feeding ourselves in a manner that is good for us. We whine incessantly about the cost of healthcare, while we actively allow diabetes and heart disease to creep into our lives by gorging on the SAD (Standard American Diet). The SAD is purely a function of the profit game in the processed food industry.Fat, sugar and salt is killing us at an alarming rate, and causing healthcare costs to skyrocket, even for those of us who do manage to eat healthy but still have to pitch in to an insurance industry that covers those who simply dont care about what they are shoving down their throats. The processed food industry is a rat race, with all the competitors seeking to find the cheapest, most addictive combinations of fat, salt and sugar, and market it in the most aggressive manner possible. The ads and labels are deliberately deceiving, and you can rest assured that any of the scientists, corporate executives or advertising executives who are involved in this unholy competition would ever put these products in their families cupboards.I know all about the SAD, because I lived off of it for decades. When I was young, I was active and never obese. While my mother made me eat my vegetables, which I hated, our meals were not the healthiest, but at least some of them were made from whole foods. The convenience of processed food made its way into her heart, and we ate many a meal that came from a box. The fridge always had soda in it (although we called it pop in Ohio), and I remember frequently dumping a spoonful of sugar into my Pepsi because I liked to watch it fizz. The thought of that makes me ill now.As I grew into adulthood, my time became occupied with a full time job and single parenthood, leaving little time for the kind of activity that kept me slim in my youth. I wasnt fat, but I was definitely heavier. I didnt grow up with healthy eating habits, and consequently I didnt raise my kids with an emphasis on eating healthy. Luckily, they had a good metabolism like I did at their age, and they were quite fit growing up.Eventually, the nest was empty, and I relocated to the DC area for a job. Eventually, I found the lady I wanted to spend the rest of my life with, and our union ended up with us owning a fantastic house in a great neighborhood, but me enduring a daily commute of 90 minutes each way. Her commute is much shorter, but thats how the cookie crumbled for me. My day now begins at 4:45am, and I arrive home around 6:30pm, which leaves very little time for a fitness routine, especially considering the full day at work sitting on my ass, accompanied by three hours of sitting on my ass in the car. Combine that with the SAD, and youve got a health crisis in the making, which is exactly what happened.One day I noticed that I was becoming thirstier than normal, which led to drinking more fluids, which led to urinating more frequently. It only got worse, until it was impossible to make it home without stopping somewhere in the 90 minutes of rush hour mayhem, which can be very nerve wracking experience. I went to the doctor, and you guessed it Type 2 Diabetes. I was put on meds, but not insulin, and my doctor made it clear that most Americans who get that far end up taking some form of meds for the rest of their life, a concept which bothered me greatly.Since then, I have done a great amount of research on Diabetes. What I found was that it seems like if you ask ten people what is the best diet for dealing with diabetes, you are likely to get at least twelve different answers. I have a coworker who was similarly diagnosed only a couple months after I was, and he agrees with that assessment. I decided to take a different approach, and to research diets that simply focused on healthy eating.For one month, I went on the Fast Metabolism Diet. It was rough for the first couple days, but I quickly found that healthy food is actually tasty. Soon I realized that it also makes you feel much more energized, and the pounds just starting falling off even though I was eating three meals and two snacks a day. After that month, I repeated the diet for another month, but added back in the moderate wine intake that I really missed. In all, I lost 30 pounds and my blood sugar was completely back to normal. I stopped taking the meds for a few weeks and had my blood work done, which is the only way to definitively verify the presence of diabetes, and there was no longer any trace of diabetes, so I went off the meds for good.That was several months ago, and I have no desire to go back to eating the fast food and processed garbage that paved the way to the crisis. That doesnt mean that I dont enjoy the occasional restaurant meal, or an occasional stop at Baskin Robbins the fact is, I can now eat anything I want to eat, but I truly dont even want to eat the bad stuff on a regular basis. I eat and enjoy more fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds and lean meats in a single day now than I used in eat in an entire month prior to getting sick. Im re-filling the vegetable drawer in the fridge a couple times a week, instead of plucking out the rotten stuff in it every month. Those of you who cant imagine eating this way, I guarantee you that it is not the awful experience that you are picturing in your mind. On the contrary, its a whole new world of eating pleasure, accompanied by so many people asking did you lose some weight? that it starts to become a annoying question.The moral of this story, is that we should be encouraging these kinds of eating habits, along with regular fitness, in the youth of this country. If parents arent doing it, thats not so much their fault, they are just repeating the routines they were brought up on. But if thats the case, we shouldnt be warring against the government over attempts to stem bad eating decisions while the kids are on their watch. And the younger, the better. Once kids get too old, my experience has been that they will shun your healthy eating suggestions out of sheer attitude, and out of their assertion of independence. We have an obese teen in the house, my step daughter, whose diet consists mainly of cheese, white bread, pasta, orange juice, and anything loaded with processed fat and sugar. She also is on meds for ADD, and had year-long scare with seizures of unknown origin. My contention is that all of that could be the result of one of the worst diets imaginable, combined with a serious lack of exercise. I have given up on trying to impose better eating habits on her, as she only takes offense and our relationship degrades over it. Unfortunately for her, she will probably learn the error of her ways the same way I did by a health crisis. Hopefully she will have the ambition to find the cure that doesnt come in the form of a prescription.
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Hey Hal,
Your schedule definitely gets in the way of exercise, not so much diet.
I'd recommend wearing a pedometer. You may not be able to get 10,000 steps a day in, but you sure could figure out how many steps you are actually taking, and then take measures to add 20-30%. It's really easy to add steps. That seems like a drop in the bucket, but it's not, and it sounds to me like you really need to add something in that category. Pedometers aren't expensive, and this is something that perhaps you should be more curious about, given your limited time to do exercise.
I'm sure you've looked at diets up and down, but there is one that I've lived by for more years than I can count. I'm a fat guy in a not-fat guy's body. I'm 5'8" 165 lbs., but I can be 210 on a bet. No shit. The diet that I'm referring to is called Fat Smash. There have been 2 books published, with 3 7-day regimens to work from. I follow it religiously (I guess I'm just that way, LOL), and keep my weight in a very good place.
The diet consists of simple, logical meals, that will keep your weight down and keep you eating healthy. I think the only thing in the diet that's processed are the veggie burgers. I enjoy those, but they are processed. You can make your own, but it seems to me that you're a little strapped for time in that regard. I'm not sure from the article if you have a weight issue, but you can add calories. The book helps out with that.
The author is Dr. Ian K. Smith. It's a skinny book, with more eating suggestions than actual advice. Kinda leaves you with key knowledge, and lots of room to go your own way. I'm not sure this is what you were looking for, but I hope you figure out what's best for you.
Get healthy, and stay there.
I'm always looking for book suggestion on this topic, so thanks for that. As you can imagine, I have little time for reading so I tend to go for the audiobook version. Gotta salvage something out of the 3 hours a day I'm on my ass in the car.
Hal,
Excellent article and I think it belongs on the front page. Everyone benefits from better health and a healthy way of life.
My recipe for steak-drenching contained ketchup, water, and vinegar, in equal amounts. Season to taste. I know there is sugar in Ketchup, but it is only 1/4 cup... Other than that, Yep, most of my recipes are from my Grandma.
I've got a heart healthy cookbook, and while good, it is an annoying book. Fix this, fix that, then serve over rice. But they never tell you, ahead of time, to make rice. Another unpleasant surprise.
I find nutritional wisdom confusing. One minute coffee is bad for you, then it's good for you. Same with eggs, chocolate, etc. And on and on! Kind of hard to figure out.
I've been interested in nutrition for a long time, taken a lot of courses and read a lot. One of the things I've noticed is that for some people, their nutritional approach is like a religion. They believe their approach is the right one--- and the other approaches are "wrong". And, some followers any given particular approach even love to prostelytize!
At first I too tried to find the "right" style of eating and other healthy practices as well (exercises, supplements, "super-foods", meditation, Yoga, etc).. After a while I realized, that while their are some general principles (if all you eat is junk food all day and never move the odds are your health will not be good)-- I have come to the conclusion that some approaches really work well for some people and not others. Unfortunately
NT cut off the end of my comment. What I said was that unfortunately it seems that for many people the only way to find what nutritional approach works is by actually trying a few.
I really don't cook any more, unless we are at our camper and I have time. We eat out a lot, and while I try to eat healthy, sometimes, it is hard. Then again, a LOT of restaurants offer heart healthy meals, senior's portions, etc.
I don't like my kitchen. Whoever designed it, needs to be thumped. Obviously, they never cooked! Plus, thanks to the ex, everything in my kitchen is white. EGAD.
I think wheat products are one of the worst things many people can eat and if you look in the grocery store is loaded with wheat products. I rarely eat out these days.
I'm certainly not a diet guru by any means. I think a good diet, exercise and little stress are the three basic building blocks to a healthy life.
I bought a juicer awhile back and each morning I start with an apple, a portion of cucumber, a couple of strawberries, maybe a plum, a carrot and some protein powder. I vary it up quite extensively with spinach leaves, chard, banana and several other things I find in the refrigerator.
I rarely eat bread and I love bread. I rarely eat red meat, usually fish or chicken, much more fish than chicken. I eat bell peppers with eggs as well.
I find my hardest thing is my irregular hours and miles sitting on my butt driving so much hinders me, but I've taken on a new strategy while not typing but talking on the phone, I walk inside the house. I'm going to wear the rugs out. If I'm on the phone and not tied down I walk even if it is in my home. I also wear a pedometer and it is amazing how much distance you can cover while talking to someone on the phone. I could buy one of those whatever you call them walking machines, but I don't think so.
Movement is the ticket in my opinion. The more the better whatever it is. I also feel I have good genes as I use to stay with my great grand parents and my family generally lives into their 90's. That's enough for me. Of course nearly everything they ate they grew or raised.