Sometimes, I Even Agree With Dr. Oz

I don’t always agree with Dr. Oz.  I really liked his documentaries on Netflix, but when he got his own show, it seemed he started hawking products I don’t endorse. Maybe he is just really thrilled with them, I have been known to talk about products in this blog that just knock my socks off, but supplements to help weight loss are almost always bunk, or dangerous.

This article, published in Women’s day online, is the advice that he himself follows. Everything in the article is something either I do, or would do if I wanted to lose weight. If you don’t want to follow the link, it is as follows:

1. Eat the same breakfast every day (I do)
2. Make dinners in bulk and freeze some. (I do, with only two of us, so any dinner is bulk!)
3. Don’t buy everything fresh ( I freeze the fresh when it is in season, too)
4. Find an activity you love. (Or two, or three!)
5. Have a small portion of a treat. ( chocolate, almost daily.)
6. If you hate to exercise, walking is good too. ( Or walking + exercise is even better)

You can see, there are no secrets here, just good solid information.

 

The Cost of Obesity

Obesity isn’t a joke. It isn’t a moral issue. Right now, it is hardly a personal issue. We have, though our ingenuity and perseverance created a situation where it is the fastest growing health problem in the world. Other than subsaharan Africa, we have managed to export this problem to the entire world. Blame it on Henry Ford, blame it on McDonald’s, blame it on computers, whatever you blame it on, we can now eat more calories than we need through most of the world on a daily basis.

What prompted this post is an article on the Motley fool on the top 5 diseases caused by obesity. One of the sad things is that the Motley Fool is a financial website, and while it was decrying the effects of obesity, it was also speculating on which drug manufacturer would benefit from all this misery. And misery is the correct word. “Fat and happy” is a false notion. Maybe back in the day, when being fat meant you weren’t starving, but now people aren’t happy being fat. They may be happy in spite of it, but not because of it.

I keep mentioning it, as I believe it is central to my position in writing. I got into fitness as both my parents died of heart disease. Not from obesity, but smoking, and really bad genes. As of this point, I can’t change my genes, but I can control everything else. My central thesis for this blog is that it is about health and quality of life, not appearance. Of course, reading the motley Fool makes you realize it has a huge impact on society and economics as well. We all get hugely upset, and rightfully so, when people are diagnosed with cancer. 12 of the most commonly diagnosed cancers are largely impacted by obesity. Heart disease, stroke, diabetes and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease round out the top 5.

 

How much work can someone this size perform?

Add to that the cost to society of obesity. There was a link from the first article I referenced to this one, the top ten costs of obesity in America. These two articles together point out that this is not about “choice”, and people having to “police themselves”.  I don’t know how I feel about Mayor Bloomburg’s soda ban. If you want to make a difference legislatively, ban soda all together. I’m worried that it’s a case of the genie being let out of the bottle. 20 years ago, would you have seen every one competing with the latte’s and frappacino’s, with each one having more calories than the next? Maybe teaching kids to use calorie tracking software and measuring their portions in health class and teaching about calorie awareness will help? I don’t know if there is one quick and easy answer. Shaming manufacturers? People say there is a stigma to being fat, but it isn’t stopping this trend. People love food. People really love sweet, fatty food. Manufactures are only too happy to capitalize on that. Who do we address? The consumer? The producer?

Gotta Love it!

Every time I read one of these inspirational stories, I have to share it. This time it’s a guy who wanted to lose weight and didn’t have much money.  These kinds of stories reinforce my belief that it does not require a lot to live healthy. If you want to make excuses,  make them, but don’t tell me the poor can’t eat well, or if you can’t afford to join a gym, then you can’t lose weight. The biggest part of losing weight is not eating junk. Eating less in general doesn’t hurt, but if you are eating less, it is more important to not eat junk, because every calorie needs to count for nutrition. I mean, why are you eating in the first place? Shouldn’t it be to give your body what it needs for optimum health? Read the article, it even has menu ideas.

 

Do Supplements Really Help?

Here is yet another article informing us that taking pills will not solve our problems. Even the highly touted fish oil, the one that to my knowledge no one has ever said anything negative about, appears to be ineffective against preventing heart disease if it is already established, or if you are at really high risk. Here is the money quote, in my opinion:

The results do show that people can’t rely on a pill to make up for a bad diet, she said.

“It is sort of like breaking a fish oil capsule over a hot fudge sundae and expecting the effect of the calories and saturated fat to go away,” she said.

We’ve gone through this in the past, with vitamin c and e, where when people eat diets high in these vitamins, they have less disease and greater health, but the same health benefits don’t apply to taking those vitamins in pill form. You can’t eat a poor diet and expect pills to make up the difference, and as far as we can tell, pills don’t have the same effect as the substance does in food.

Having said all this, I do take some supplements. Some I think do help, although it could be the placebo effect. I also eat a very healthy diet. As I’ve mentioned before, I have a strong genetic predisposition to heart disease, so I am doing an experiment of 1 to see if I can counteract that with diet and exercise. I experiment with supplements on three criteria- Is there any scientific evidence supporting their claims? Is it expensive? Is there any possibility of harm? Most I’ve dropped, as I see no difference. The joint supplements do seem to help, so those I continue. And yes, I do fish oil, along with my healthy diet, as it does no harm and is inexpensive.

People are Amazing

I think we need good news on a regular basis to uplift our spirits and help us to have a better attitude towards our fellow beings. God said to love our neighbor as ourselves, and that can be difficult at times. My obsession with fitness extends to all aspects of health, and mental health is one aspect that is part of the big picture. Hobbies are one of those things that seem to make people better. Most hobbies make us more active and give us motivation for our lives.

When I see what people do for fun, and how much mental and physical effort they put into it, I’m so impressed. When most people think of hobbies, they might think of sports, either team sports, or ones like swimming, biking or hiking. In your public parks, you might see people playing frisbee golf, Can-Jam, flying kites or radio operated planes. Some hobbies are so extreme you only seldom see them, like hot air balloons or ultra-lites. Rock climbing and horse back riding won’t be in every public park, but they are also hobbies for many people.

I just can’t get over how much of people’s spare time, money and effort go into their hobbies. I think it is a wonderful thing. When I look at the difference between people who have hobbies and those who don’t, I see a marked difference in the quality of life. Those without hobbies seem less interested in their own lives, less satisfied, and overall less happy. Those who have hobbies seem to stay interested in life in later years, and have better health overall.

The buckskinner Rendevous that I attended this past weekend is what prompted this post. I am always amazed at how much goes into this particular hobby. It requires a great deal of effort and equipment, along with a love of, and knowledge of, history. Here are two participants:In case you aren’t thinking about how much is involved, everything has to be period correct, from the late 1700′s- mid 1800′s. (pre civil war). They have to obtain all of the equipment, which obviously isn’t manufactured anymore, so they need to make much of it themselves.

Here I am, with another participant, demonstrating spinning on a great wheel. Spinning, knitting and weaving are my hobbies, so that’s how I got into this. I borrowed the clothing from another participant. Talking with the woman pictured here, I found out beside Buckskinner rendevous and Civil War reenactors, there are also WW II reenactors and even some Vietnam as well.

We have two choices in life, We can ride  along, swept onward by the clock and calendar, bobbing across the top of life like a cork, or we can dive in, participating fully, experiencing as much as we can. You can easily see what my opinion is, I think the more you put into life, the more you get out of it. If nothing else, having hobbies makes you a more fascinating person, and keeps you out of mischief!

Reasonable Cause… and Effect

Some of you may already know that we live in controversial times. The level of mistrust in our government, and the breakdown in common culture has led to a place where people are angry, fearful and suspicious. We don’t trust our public institutions. Whether you are on the health side of things, railing against “Big Ag”, Monsanto, “Big Sugar”, the high fructose conspiracy, or GMO’s, or, if you are on the second amendment side, worrying about a government gun seizure, there is a lot of fear and anger brewing.

My question is how much is justified, and how much is simply rumor and fear mongering? How much is truly conspiracy theory worthy, and how much is just disagreements on what constitutes the public good? For example, lets take GMO’s. We have been genetically modifying our food since agriculture began by selectively breeding, storing seeds, etc. Farmers farmed to feed their families, and traded the surplus for goods and services.  In the 70′s, we had the “green revolution” for an overview, I quote Wikipedia:

Green Revolution refers to a series of research, development, and technology transfer initiatives, occurring between the 1940s and the late 1970s, that increased agriculture production around the world, beginning most markedly in the late 1960s. It forms a part of the ‘neo-colonial’ system of agriculture wherein agriculture was viewed as more of a commercial sector than a subsistence one.^[1]

The initiatives, led by Norman Borlaug, the “Father of the Green Revolution” credited with saving over a billion people from starvation, involved the development of high-yielding varieties of cereal grains, expansion of irrigation infrastructure, modernization of management techniques, distribution of hybridized seeds, synthetic fertilizers, and pesticides to farmers.

One of the primary sentences in that quote is that agriculture became more of a commercial sector than a subsistence one.  This is vitally important, as cities could not have attained the population densities they have without this. The fact that most of us don’t have to farm is a result of the change in farming practice. There is a backlash against this now, as the logical extension is GMO’s and Monsanto. If you are constantly striving to produce more food, at less cost, the choices you make may not be the best in other respects, like ethics or quality. On the other hand, starvation is far less common in the world than it used to be. Even third world nations are having obesity problems. Not dying of hunger is a good thing in my book. So is “Big Ag” is evil or beneficent? Are they conspiring to take over the world or trying to feed a constantly growing population? Is it possible someone could use the power of these large conglomerates to “enslave” us, and to what end?

The gun right debate is similar. Gun technology has vastly improved since the founding fathers fought it out in the 1700′s. We have far more capacity to hurt each other than they did. However, for the most part, gun violence has gone down. Because of modern media, and sick people’s desire to create a huge scene, it appears to be the opposite, than gun violence is increasing. The media and politicians react to this by  saying we must “do something”. Gun owners see this as the end to liberty. Some go so far as to think that some of these tragedies are instigated by the government, in order to create public support for gun seizures.  It is true, that if only the government has guns, they can rule by force. However, is that what those in power intend?  Or intend or not, could that be what happens?

So, are our worst fears groundless? Or do we live in a world where the people around us have evil designs, wanting to take over and control us? Wether they have any intentions of doing so, does the law of unintended consequences dictate that it will occur?

Do spend our money on bunkers and dried food? Just like the saying “a stopped watch is right twice a day”, really bad things happening could justify all our paranoia. Does that mean we should invest all our money in body armor and heirloom seeds? Where is the line between prudent caution and rampant paranoia? I don’t have the answer, other than to say so far everyone who said the world was going to end has been wrong in general, but he was right for the people of Pompeii. Personally, I don’t believe in massive conspiracies. I’ve seen no evidence that people are that smart, or organized. However to quote the title of Robert Bork’s book, “Slouching Towards Gomorrah”, we could easily be haphazardly sliding towards our own destruction. I’ve seen no evidence in my lifetime that we are capable of foreseeing the results of our actions and I see that as the real danger, rather than thinking that our fellow human beings are out to get us.

If, as some believe, 9/11 and the Boston Marathon bombing were done by our government to “distract” us, or any other reason, then it is a world of such petty and unthinkable evil that I could not even begin to comprehend it. In that case all one can say is “come now Lord Jesus”, because I certainly don’t want to survive in the bunker with the rats. Two or four legged.

Read This, Read This, Read This

There, did I say it enough? I always try to write informative and helpful blogs, but Charlotte, from The Great Fitness Experiment is a professional blogger, and it shows. What I want you to read is her post: Eating Disorders Make You skinny” and Other Popular ED Myths, Debunked.  I want you to read it as eating disorders are sneaky, pervasive and more common than you think. Many people who don’t have full blown eating disorders do engage in disordered eating from time to time. (How’s that for a convoluted sentence?) In other words, we can all have food issues from time to time. Most of us have a very hard time looking at food as fuel, and instead, see it as a reward, punishment, sin, indulgence, temptation, comfort and on and on. Even if it is a full blown addiction, it is one we can’t escape, since we need to eat to live.

I think I’ve mentioned before, my mother was anorectic, and it contributed to her early demise. I flirted with it as a teenager and young adult, and fortunately escaped. Anorexia is a frightening, deadly disease, and bulimia isn’t far behind. There are other eating disorders- binge eating and orthorexia (the obsession with healthy eating), as well as other behaviors that don’t fall into the larger catagories- like only eating a limited number of foods, refusing to eat in front of other people, etc. These diseases are hard to diagnose, hard to confront and easy to disguise until it is too late. While most sufferers don’t die from their disease, they are suffering, mentally, physically and spiritually. No one wants their life to be miserable and tortured, but it is hard to see what you are doing to yourself until it is too late.

If you have any concerns that you might have an eating disorder, or someone you care about does, please read this, and use it as a springboard into a discussion or to get help.

Let the Buyer Beware

I’m always looking for new podcasts on health and fitness. It is such a rapidly growing and changing feild that there is no end things to learn about and new information. However, there is a lot of junk out there. One of the new podcasts I sampled is an example of the junk that is out there. It’s called “Duke and the Doctor” . They are entertaining, and there is some fact mixed in with the sales pitch, but make no mistake, they are hawking products and that is the entire thrust of the show.

Here are my problems with their show and the products they are selling:

1. They are selling “natural” remedies to any and all complaints- any time you take an ingredient and make a pill out of it, it is no longer “natural”.
2. Their products are all formulas, not individual ingredients. Do you really need all those other components? How do they work together? If you are allergic, which one are you allergic to?
3. They are selling their remedies as cures for illness. While many herbs do cure illness, most simply support your health for your body to take care of itself
4. They do mention the real health facts of most of the questions they get- the importance of diet and exercise to most any problem, but then gloss over it to get to selling their solution.
5. It’s still the mindset that a pill will solve all your problems.

Does this look natural to you?

People- unless you are eating fresh herbs, there are no “natural” remedies.  The fact that they are made from natural ingredients doesn’t mean much. So are fruit loops, and no one is calling them natural. We need to be honest and smart about what we put in our bodies. Do I take “supplements” to help problems? Yes. Do I think they are safer than what the drug companies sell? Not necessarily. The health food industry is an industry, just like the drug companies. Just like the drug companies, they make money selling drugs. You are buying them to affect your bodily processes- they are drugs. Is a vitamin safer than any other concoction? That depends. If you are on blood thinners, vitamin K can stop them from working. You can o.d. on fat soluable vitamins. Also,  how do the natural drug companies get their vitamin D? E? K? Is the source safe? You would be hard pressed to eat enough carrots to get too much beta caratene, but you can pop a handfull of pills easy enough. Fitday has a blog that covers some of the issues.

In the episode I was listening to, they were comparing an energy drink to coffee, saying that Starbucks coffee had more caffeine than the energy drink, and that the drink was going to market itself as a beverage, rather than an energy supplement, do avoid all the stringent oversight about the amount of caffeine in their product. The hosts made the comment that it proved that the supplement industry was more regulated. Than what? Than food? People, when we say the supplement industry has less stringent regulations, we aren’t comparing it to food regulations, but to drug regulations.

I don’t mind if people who put podcasts out sell products. Everyone has to make a living, and most of the podcasters who sell health products really believe in those products. I do mind if that is the main thrust of the show, and the answer to every question. I have tried some products that seem almost miraculous, but I don’t think pills are the main answer to most questions. Get your diet right, exercise regularly, with thoughtful care, and you’ll find many of your problems go away on their own.

 

The Home Gym

I think this is a little more than $100 dollars

I’m prompted to write this after reading this great blog article on how to have a great home gym for under $100 dollars. I got excited about it, as it is a list of items I can totally get behind. The author, Kevin Larrabee, put together the same list I would, and I have everything he lists except the iron gym, as I have a permanent bar in my basement. His premise is that even if you belong to a gym, you might not be able to get there all the time, and you should be able to get a workout in, no matter what.

I am a big believer in joining a gym for many reasons. First, you get to know people, which puts a subtle pressure of accountability on you. Second, if you are trying new things, it never hurts to have other people around to spot you, or call 911 if you do something stupid. Third, a lot of home equipment is not very safe, where commercial gym equipment is very sturdy and inspected often. Last, the gym will offer more equipment than most of us could ever afford to buy.

I use very few machines at the gym, and I’m not a big fan of machines. I think they have their place for rehab and if you  need to make one muscle big for bodybuilding competition. I can’t argue that you can target one particular muscle better with some of those machines. I use the squat rack, the pull up bar, the cables, swiss ball, bosu, the kettle bells, dumbbells, and barbels. That is still a lot of equipment, that I wouldn’t even have room for at home. The other big plus of the gym is space. I don’t have a large house, so there are many things I just don’t have room to do.

Now that this sounds like an ad for joining the gym, I’ll let you know, for general fitness, you can do everything you need to do without doing so. First, read the article I linked to, so you know what I’m talking about. The ab roller is the best ab exercise going. The sliders can be used for so many exercises, you could work your whole body with just those. If you need ideas, just check out you tube. The iron gym and stretchy band covers most of your upper body workout. the stretchy bands can also be used for myriads of exercises. They sell other types that have handles that can be used band squats, anti rotation lunges, rotation presses, etc, etc.  I would add at least some 10 lb dumbbells to this list. You can use dumbbells instead of kettlebells and medicine balls for most exercises. (Please don’t use the dumbbells to substitute in medicine ball slams!)

50,000 Centenarians? By George, I Think They’re on to Something.

Not bad for 114

Shine must have some pretty good stuff, since I keep being prompted to write after something I read there. This article on the oldest living woman is another example. Do you want to know how important diet is to your health? Compare Okinowan life expectancy, rates of diabetes, cancer, and heart disease with ours.

I’ve discussed how we study the effects of diets on health before. We can’t ethically lock people up, give them various diets and see how they do. People also lie about what they eat, often simply to try to please the researchers. Fortunately, people have naturally different diets, depending on where they live. One of the most common ways to study the effects of diets is to look at what people are eating and see what the results are. Which leads me to this quote in the Shine article:

The Japanese diet is the iPod of food,” Naomi Moriyama, co-author of Japanese Women Don’t Get Old or Fat: Secrets of My Mother’s Tokyo Kitchen told Web MD. “It concentrates the magnificent energy of food into a compact and pleasurable size.”

The typical Japanese person consumes about 25 percent less calories per day than the average American. The base of their diet is vegetables and fish, a great source of omega-3 fats, which are excellent for heart health. Because their meals are largely vegetarian, they eat very little red meat, which can lead to health problems if eaten regularly.

The results of a 25-year study of the longest living group of Japanese people, the Okinawans, revealed that their traditional diet of rice, soy, and vegetables could be the reason that, on average, Okinawan women live to be 86 years old.

I hate to break it to the paleo people (people who eat what they believe our paleolithic ate: meat, vegetables, fruit and nuts), but limiting your consumption of red meat does equate to a longer life span. Having said that, people who follow any sort of diet regimen tend to be healthier, since they are making conscious choices about what to eat.

Here is a link to the article that is also linked above, discussing why Okinowans live so long, and breaking down some of the study information. *Warning* It reads more like an infomercial than a study summary, so do take what is said with a grain of salt. However, there is nothing discussed in the summary that I would disagree with doing in your life. Eat more veggies. If you have the opportunity, try some seaweed. Eat more beans and rice and less meat. Exercise more. Eat less, period. Last, meditate or do other things to reduce your stress level. The above link is to InsidersHealth, which seems to be a decent source of information

Lets face it, you can’t blame it on your genes. What you eat does matter, as does exercise. Knowing that, you can still decide not to do anything, not everyone wants to live a long, healthy life. People know smoking is bad, and they still do it every day, choosing the negative consequences as they price they want to pay. I know many people who would rather live the lifestyle they have now, with its attending illness, rather than choose better.