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!