From Digital Journal See what hyper-couponing gets you? Wally's already down on it's knees, and looking for profits overseas.
"Extreme couponing appears to be a growing trend and in the current state of our nation's economy, who can blame coupon lovers for wanting to save money? Apparently WalMart can.
A Boise, Idaho woman claims she has been banned for life from the conglomerate retail chain, WalMart. It wasn't just one store that barred her from shopping there, but every store in the United States. The reason it happened was an argument over coupons.
April Cuevas, who has taken up the appropriately-titled hobby of "extreme couponing" in order to save money, stated that she was informed WalMart's policy known as "Ad Match" had undergone changes the previous week. As such, she took it upon herself to discuss these matters with one of the store managers and see if she could get a better grasp on the concept.
She also decided to video record it all on her iPhone - from which an argument transpired.
According to a statement to Fox 12 Idaho, Cuevas said "the action wasn't welcomed by the WalMart manager..." who told her she had to "...pay full price [for] the groceries or leave." Cuevas complied with the order, but after that strange happenings began to take place.
On another trip to the store, Cuevas was oblivious to the fact that she was being followed until her 16-year-old daughter said so. Apparently, an employee pursued her through the parking lot and gave her the ultimatum to go back to the store due to the fact she had committed a crime.
She then went to a gas station and contacted authorities.
Cuevas gave them a report stating the plain-clothes employee said to her, "you're leaving the scene of a crime." She also said that she had no idea the retail giant had prohibited her from ever entering any Walmart in the country for the rest of her life until the police officer let her know. Apparently the store managed to reach the cops before April could.
The issue may not have even been the coupons themselves and Cuevas said she couldn't help but ponder the idea that it could have been the argument, or the recording of video footage with her iPhone that ended up getting her banned. Her suspicion - as well as her husband's - is that it was the video.
Rennie Cuevas - April's husband - said he is frightened that WalMart will attempt to ban him as well for asserting his views on their policies. And with the economy the way it is, April said penny pinching is all but crucial.
Ultimately, April Cuevas just wants to know one thing and one thing only: why WalMart would go to such extremes as to ban her from every store in America. "I didn't do anything wrong..." she said, "... and I would also like to go back to WalMart."
One question: WHY? Walmart has already been shown to be the lousiest place on earth to grocery shop from as far as prices go, and your constant infestation with armloads of coupons and price match requests only serves to have them raise prices YET AGAIN on the rest of us to compensate for your deals. Think of what you do as legal shoplifting. Banning you from all their stores stops you in your tracks, because they cannot afford the losses you cause.
Go home and start a garden, for God's sake! Shop at thrift stores for the non-food items, and start saving some REAL money.
Thursday, June 30, 2011
If You Mix Starches and Proteins in the Same Meal, Your Stomach May Not Produce Enough Stomach Acids to Digest It
From AllVoices. This reads more like a blog article or PR campaign than an actual article, and I looked into the book referenced within it--someone's in desperate need of book sales. Nevertheless, the information's good, but forgo the book itself--some readers say it's incoherent self-published diatribe with some useful nuggets of information only in the first half of the book. Even the editing supposedly sucks! I didn't bother linking to it.
"Is there enough protein in your stomach to digest your food? Or are excess carbohydrates containing high amounts of starches or sugars inhibiting the production of hydrochloric acid in your stomach needed for digestion? Are you mixing starches and proteins at the same meal, such as steak, hot dogs, or burgers with potato salad and bread which could inhibit the production of enough hydrochloric acid to digest your food properly? (For further information, there is an excellent book on nutrition which is highly recommended on this topic, Primal Body, Primal Mind, Beyond the Paleo Diet for Total Health and a Longer Life, by Nora T. Gedgaudas, CNS, CNT.)
Brittle nails can be a first sign of not having enough stomach acid to digest food properly. One Sacramento retiree, in her seventies, has acid reflux and brittle nails. She recently added canned salmon and eggs to her diet which had been vegan for the past 20 years. The problem of the acid reflux burning her esophagus and stomach each time she lies down at bedtime is not enough acid in her stomach to properly digest food. This, in turn has created a situation of insomnia.
Yet she found when she eats a quarter teaspoon of yellow mustard before bedtime just before brushing her teeth, the acid reflux is not as severe. She's also helped herself by taking a quarter teaspoon of green papaya powder in water before bedtime. She also takes a probiotic, such as coconut milk kefir. But is this enough to help restore her stomach's ability to produce enough hydrochloric acid to digest food?
Here are some of the reasons why many people, especially older adults, may not have enough hydrochloric stomach acid. First, you need to have the presence of proteins in your stomach before hydrochloric acid can be produced in the amounts necessary for proper digestion. A totally vegan or vegetarian diet if containing too many starches and sugars, even fruit sugars, can be a common cause of hydrochloric acid insufficiency, which in turn may cause brittle nails and possibly hair loss.
A low-functioning thyroid, also known as thyroid hypofunction, possibly caused by low acid levels in the stomach (hydrochloric acid insufficiency) in turn may suppress the production of a hormone called gastrin which you need to signal your body to produce hydrochloric acid to digest food. In addition, deficiencies of vitamin B1, zinc, and vitamin C also are necessary in order for hydrochloric acid to be produced in your stomach.
For example, if you eat too much food at one meal or even if you eat starches with protein such as potatoes and meat or fish and bread, hydrochloric acid production may be inhibited. In other cases, you may not be absorbing vitamin B1, zinc. or vitamin C from foods or even from your supplements. If your supplements are in tablet form, they may not dissolve. That's why nurses sometimes call undigested vitamins "bedpan bullets." The entire pill is excreted without being dissolved, let alone absorbed so your body would be able to produce enough hydrochloric acid in the first place to keep food from rotting instead of being digested.
On one hand, you have those touting vegan and vegetarian diets saying the plant and fruit-based foods are needed to switch off cancer cells from reproducing. For example, the anthocynanins in black foods such as black beans, black rice, black quinoa and other dark-colored foods that help to prevent tumor cells from growing blood vessels and reproducing. And on the other hand you have nutritionists insisting people need enough fat and protein to create the hydrochloric acid to digest foods and possibly prevent acid reflux from happening due to the stomach not producing enough acid for proper digestion.
Another problem is drinking too much alcohol, even stress from work or relationships can cause acid reflux as well as anxiety around eating. That's one reason why some people prefer to eat alone because eating with another person present causes stress enough to bring about acid reflux or other digestive issues. The way to solve this type of problem is to find a way for older people who have lost the ability of their stomach to produce enough hydrochloric acid to digest food properly. The common belief is that the older you are, the less your stomach is able to produce enough hydrochloric acid, and the first symptoms usually are brittle nails, hair loss, or acid reflux.
Sometimes, women lose the hair of the outer corners of their eyebrows, but this problem also can be attributed to low thyroid. And in some cases, thyroid issues, can in turn develop due to not have enough hydrochloric acid to digest food. But if you take supplements of hydrochloric acid, you could burn out your esophagus. The stomach has to be coaxed to develop enough digestive enzymes on its own, through changes in diet. If some people don't eat certain proteins and fats long enough, the stomach stops making the proper amount of acid to digest food in the normal way that doesn't create acid reflux when you lie down at bedtime.
Another issue with older adults is that their teeth are too weak to properly chew the food or the teeth are missing. The way to solve that problem is to use a blender to chew the food until they can find a way to replace their teeth or focus on soft foods. If food isn't chewed enough, the stomach requires a lot more hydrochloric acid, which it may not be able to produce. So the food sits in the stomach, rots, and turns to acid reflux issues. The chewing helps to break down the protein in your food.
In digestion, a pH value of about 0.8, which is high acid is needed to signal your stomach's pyloric valve to finish digestion your food. When food is digested, it empties into your duodenum. But if you don't have enough hydrochloric acid, the gastric emptying is stopped, perhaps for the rest of the day. The food rots, and acid reflux happens. One result is you are not absorbing the nutrients, vitamins, and minerals needed for your body that's in the food you just ate. The undigested food is toxic to your body.
The big issue with some nutritionists is whether the human body needs meat and fish or not for optimum health. You certainly don't want animal protein full of mercury, harmful E-coli, and other toxins. On the other hand, you need to decide whether the human body thrives on fats and proteins or whether cancer and tumor cells are switched off from reproducing by creating new blood vessels by a diet high in plants. There's a common adage among some nutritionists that red meats switch on cancer cells and plant foods switch off cancer cells. On the other hand, ancestral foods focused on animal proteins and fats along with some seasonal greens and berries or similar wild vegetables.
What's best for your body? The answer is what type of diet allows you as you age to produce enough hydrochloric acid to digest your food properly so the fermenting food in your stomach doesn't cause other degenerative and inflammatory-related diseases? Remember that the stomach is there to produce acid.
There's also a hormone called cholecystokinin, which finds the fats, stimulates your gallbladder to produce enough bile to emulsify the fats. Now you have another controversy, whether your blood type, body shape, finger prints, and other genetic manifestations of body proportions such as limbs, waist size, and torso length, which controls whether or not your body contains an enzyme that takes cholesterol from meat fats out of your bloodstream and puts it where it belongs.
Digestion is complicated. But the key point is when you start having acid reflux, brittle nails, hair loss, and possibly low thyroid function problems, it may possibly be related to whether your stomach is producing enough hydrochloric acid to properly digest your food. Don't let food rot in your stomach and form toxins and inflammation throughout your body, for example, in your joints."
I wrote about digestion years ago here--it wasn't as specific about WHAT you ate, but more about how your body deals with it.
As for dealing with poor digestion (acid reflux, swollen joints, etc.), you can easily remedy this with supplements (Pancreatin, Bromelain, and Papaya Enzymes come to mind), vinegar in your cooking ("Courage the Cowardly Dog" watchers will relate to Muriel's cooking, and the "touch of vinegar" she put into EVERYTHING) and/or salad dressings, or eating pickled foods as part of your meal, probiotics (in food or supplement form--refrigerated is best, like yogurt, kefir, or even refrigerated pills), or just eat more meat and less starch, if the object is to raise your pH to a more acidic level. Yellow mustard has vinegar in it, and that's why one person found relief taking it before bedtime--eating pineapple or papaya will also do this (this is where bromelain and papaya enzyme comes from).
On the other hand, you can also deal with this problem pharmacologically, and get acid reflux pills to tell your stomach to stop pumping out this stuff, then eat veggies, drink lemonade, and pop calcium carbonate all day to keep your system otherwise alkalinized.
Believe me, the other way's better. Poor digestion leads to something that isn't mentioned above: osteoporosis. If you aren't digesting calcium-rich foods properly, chances are highly likely you aren't digesting those calcium supplements either...or any other supplement. Osteoporosis also occurs when your acid is too high, and your body starts robbing calcium from your bones to cool the acid fire. Gout is another side-effect of poor digestion, and is remedied the same way: naturally alkalinizing the blood by avoiding most starches, including alkaline-forming foods, and limiting acid-forming foods.
How to test your saliva pH.
Acidic foods = meats, grains, and legumes. One "bean" that isn't acidic all the way through the digestive process is lentils--they start out acidic, but then change to alkaline as they get digested and pass out of the stomach. Sweet potatoes are another food that plays switcheroo in the stomach. Lentils and sweet potatoes are still starches, no matter what the pH ends up being, and are loaded with sugars you don't want in your body. Meat and coconut are about the only low-carb acidic foods that I know of in existence.
Here is something I found from the Separation Diet:
The rest of the diet is too ludicrous to mention here. If you just eliminate the starches, none of this is really an issue. Most low-carb diets leave starchy foods out, like the Paleo diet for example.
"Is there enough protein in your stomach to digest your food? Or are excess carbohydrates containing high amounts of starches or sugars inhibiting the production of hydrochloric acid in your stomach needed for digestion? Are you mixing starches and proteins at the same meal, such as steak, hot dogs, or burgers with potato salad and bread which could inhibit the production of enough hydrochloric acid to digest your food properly? (For further information, there is an excellent book on nutrition which is highly recommended on this topic, Primal Body, Primal Mind, Beyond the Paleo Diet for Total Health and a Longer Life, by Nora T. Gedgaudas, CNS, CNT.)
Brittle nails can be a first sign of not having enough stomach acid to digest food properly. One Sacramento retiree, in her seventies, has acid reflux and brittle nails. She recently added canned salmon and eggs to her diet which had been vegan for the past 20 years. The problem of the acid reflux burning her esophagus and stomach each time she lies down at bedtime is not enough acid in her stomach to properly digest food. This, in turn has created a situation of insomnia.
Yet she found when she eats a quarter teaspoon of yellow mustard before bedtime just before brushing her teeth, the acid reflux is not as severe. She's also helped herself by taking a quarter teaspoon of green papaya powder in water before bedtime. She also takes a probiotic, such as coconut milk kefir. But is this enough to help restore her stomach's ability to produce enough hydrochloric acid to digest food?
Here are some of the reasons why many people, especially older adults, may not have enough hydrochloric stomach acid. First, you need to have the presence of proteins in your stomach before hydrochloric acid can be produced in the amounts necessary for proper digestion. A totally vegan or vegetarian diet if containing too many starches and sugars, even fruit sugars, can be a common cause of hydrochloric acid insufficiency, which in turn may cause brittle nails and possibly hair loss.
A low-functioning thyroid, also known as thyroid hypofunction, possibly caused by low acid levels in the stomach (hydrochloric acid insufficiency) in turn may suppress the production of a hormone called gastrin which you need to signal your body to produce hydrochloric acid to digest food. In addition, deficiencies of vitamin B1, zinc, and vitamin C also are necessary in order for hydrochloric acid to be produced in your stomach.
For example, if you eat too much food at one meal or even if you eat starches with protein such as potatoes and meat or fish and bread, hydrochloric acid production may be inhibited. In other cases, you may not be absorbing vitamin B1, zinc. or vitamin C from foods or even from your supplements. If your supplements are in tablet form, they may not dissolve. That's why nurses sometimes call undigested vitamins "bedpan bullets." The entire pill is excreted without being dissolved, let alone absorbed so your body would be able to produce enough hydrochloric acid in the first place to keep food from rotting instead of being digested.
On one hand, you have those touting vegan and vegetarian diets saying the plant and fruit-based foods are needed to switch off cancer cells from reproducing. For example, the anthocynanins in black foods such as black beans, black rice, black quinoa and other dark-colored foods that help to prevent tumor cells from growing blood vessels and reproducing. And on the other hand you have nutritionists insisting people need enough fat and protein to create the hydrochloric acid to digest foods and possibly prevent acid reflux from happening due to the stomach not producing enough acid for proper digestion.
Another problem is drinking too much alcohol, even stress from work or relationships can cause acid reflux as well as anxiety around eating. That's one reason why some people prefer to eat alone because eating with another person present causes stress enough to bring about acid reflux or other digestive issues. The way to solve this type of problem is to find a way for older people who have lost the ability of their stomach to produce enough hydrochloric acid to digest food properly. The common belief is that the older you are, the less your stomach is able to produce enough hydrochloric acid, and the first symptoms usually are brittle nails, hair loss, or acid reflux.
Sometimes, women lose the hair of the outer corners of their eyebrows, but this problem also can be attributed to low thyroid. And in some cases, thyroid issues, can in turn develop due to not have enough hydrochloric acid to digest food. But if you take supplements of hydrochloric acid, you could burn out your esophagus. The stomach has to be coaxed to develop enough digestive enzymes on its own, through changes in diet. If some people don't eat certain proteins and fats long enough, the stomach stops making the proper amount of acid to digest food in the normal way that doesn't create acid reflux when you lie down at bedtime.
Another issue with older adults is that their teeth are too weak to properly chew the food or the teeth are missing. The way to solve that problem is to use a blender to chew the food until they can find a way to replace their teeth or focus on soft foods. If food isn't chewed enough, the stomach requires a lot more hydrochloric acid, which it may not be able to produce. So the food sits in the stomach, rots, and turns to acid reflux issues. The chewing helps to break down the protein in your food.
In digestion, a pH value of about 0.8, which is high acid is needed to signal your stomach's pyloric valve to finish digestion your food. When food is digested, it empties into your duodenum. But if you don't have enough hydrochloric acid, the gastric emptying is stopped, perhaps for the rest of the day. The food rots, and acid reflux happens. One result is you are not absorbing the nutrients, vitamins, and minerals needed for your body that's in the food you just ate. The undigested food is toxic to your body.
The big issue with some nutritionists is whether the human body needs meat and fish or not for optimum health. You certainly don't want animal protein full of mercury, harmful E-coli, and other toxins. On the other hand, you need to decide whether the human body thrives on fats and proteins or whether cancer and tumor cells are switched off from reproducing by creating new blood vessels by a diet high in plants. There's a common adage among some nutritionists that red meats switch on cancer cells and plant foods switch off cancer cells. On the other hand, ancestral foods focused on animal proteins and fats along with some seasonal greens and berries or similar wild vegetables.
What's best for your body? The answer is what type of diet allows you as you age to produce enough hydrochloric acid to digest your food properly so the fermenting food in your stomach doesn't cause other degenerative and inflammatory-related diseases? Remember that the stomach is there to produce acid.
There's also a hormone called cholecystokinin, which finds the fats, stimulates your gallbladder to produce enough bile to emulsify the fats. Now you have another controversy, whether your blood type, body shape, finger prints, and other genetic manifestations of body proportions such as limbs, waist size, and torso length, which controls whether or not your body contains an enzyme that takes cholesterol from meat fats out of your bloodstream and puts it where it belongs.
Digestion is complicated. But the key point is when you start having acid reflux, brittle nails, hair loss, and possibly low thyroid function problems, it may possibly be related to whether your stomach is producing enough hydrochloric acid to properly digest your food. Don't let food rot in your stomach and form toxins and inflammation throughout your body, for example, in your joints."
I wrote about digestion years ago here--it wasn't as specific about WHAT you ate, but more about how your body deals with it.
How to test your saliva pH.
Acidic foods = meats, grains, and legumes. One "bean" that isn't acidic all the way through the digestive process is lentils--they start out acidic, but then change to alkaline as they get digested and pass out of the stomach. Sweet potatoes are another food that plays switcheroo in the stomach. Lentils and sweet potatoes are still starches, no matter what the pH ends up being, and are loaded with sugars you don't want in your body. Meat and coconut are about the only low-carb acidic foods that I know of in existence.
Here is something I found from the Separation Diet:
"Protein containing foods and carbohydrate containing foods should be kept strictly separate from one another (hence the term food separation).
Separating these foods leads to improved digestion: proteins can be broken down more easily without carbohydrates, and vice versa.
According to Dr. Hay, acid forming foods (e.g. meat, fish, cheese) and alkaline forming foods (e.g. fruit, vegetables) should not be eaten at the same time. However there are also neutral foods (e.g. yoghurt, milk) which according to Hay mix well with proteins and carbohydrates whereas proteins and carbohydrates eaten together can lead to fermentation in the small intestine.
Not combining proteins and starches at the same meal is the main principle of the diet. Proteins are concentrated animal proteins such as meat, poultry, fish and cheese. Carbohydrates are concentrated starches such as grains, cereals, bread, potatoes, and sugars.
You can use the Separation Diet in combination with any other diet, eg. blood type etc. How it works:
Digestion of Proteins
Proteins need an acid medium for digestion. When animal proteins are eaten, hydrochloric acid is produced in stomach, which activates the enzyme pepsin, which splits and digests proteins. This process can only take place in a wholly acid medium. This acid medium is neutralized by the presence of a high starch or sugar with its accompanying alkalies, and the proteins are incompletely digested.
Digestion of Starches
Carbohydrates need an alkaline medium for digestion. This process begins in the mouth with the enzyme ptyalin, which starts to break down the starches before they enter the small intestine, where they are further reduced, and where main digestion takes place. The presence of meat or other acid-compelling foods, or acid fruits, upsets the alkaline medium necessary for the intestinal digestion of starches.
Problems arising from mixing proteins and starches
In brief, when high starches and high proteins are mixed at the same meal, there is too much acid to allow continued alkaline reduction of the starch, and too little acid to start digestion of the protein. This can result in a wide range of health problems."
The rest of the diet is too ludicrous to mention here. If you just eliminate the starches, none of this is really an issue. Most low-carb diets leave starchy foods out, like the Paleo diet for example.
Approaching Age 100, and Still Gardens Daily
From the Arizona Daily Star. Must be the dry heat.
Photo is from last May.
"Vivienne Terrell will celebrate her 100th birthday on Wednesday (July 6), surrounded by family and friends at a Tucson restaurant.
Terrell was born in Fort Worth, Texas, and moved to Tucson in October 2002. She is independent and enjoys tending her garden.
Her pride in gardening was instilled by her grandmother, whom she adored. As a child, Terrell caught fireflies and put them on her hair, pretending they were diamonds.
Terrell started high school when she was 12 and entered college in Marshall, Texas, in 1930. In 1939, she graduated from Lincoln University in Jefferson, Mo., where she was crowned "Miss Lincoln."
She has friends across the United States with whom she corresponds and talks on the phone.
Terrell also enjoys painting, and gives her work to her friends. Every now and then, she enjoys a lunch out with her friends and visits museums or art galleries and sees other things Tucson has to offer.
Terrell was married to the late Joe Terrell, the love of her life. She has a son, Joseph, and a granddaughter, Miro."
"Vivienne Terrell will celebrate her 100th birthday on Wednesday (July 6), surrounded by family and friends at a Tucson restaurant.
Terrell was born in Fort Worth, Texas, and moved to Tucson in October 2002. She is independent and enjoys tending her garden.
Her pride in gardening was instilled by her grandmother, whom she adored. As a child, Terrell caught fireflies and put them on her hair, pretending they were diamonds.
Terrell started high school when she was 12 and entered college in Marshall, Texas, in 1930. In 1939, she graduated from Lincoln University in Jefferson, Mo., where she was crowned "Miss Lincoln."
She has friends across the United States with whom she corresponds and talks on the phone.
Terrell also enjoys painting, and gives her work to her friends. Every now and then, she enjoys a lunch out with her friends and visits museums or art galleries and sees other things Tucson has to offer.
Terrell was married to the late Joe Terrell, the love of her life. She has a son, Joseph, and a granddaughter, Miro."
Preventing Type 2 Diabetes Saves Money
From HealthDay News. I have to give another "DUH!" award away. Anyone who uses insulin can attest to this fact, seeing how many out there right now are having to choose between medicine and food. After 9 years of caring for diabetic cats, I can tell you it saves money, time, and stress from having to be on the alert for signs 24/7.
"Preventing type 2 diabetes not only improves an individual's quality of life, it also saves quite a bit of money.
By treating people who were at high risk for developing type 2 diabetes, researchers reduced medical costs by $2,600 for each person enrolled in a lifestyle changes group, and by $1,500 for each of those taking the diabetes drug metformin over the course of 10 years.
But when the savings in medical care were balanced against the costs of the interventions, metformin saved $30 over 10 years, while the lifestyle intervention cost $1,700 over the same time span.
"Compared to doing nothing to prevent type 2 diabetes, metformin is cost-saving as an intervention. Lifestyle intervention, though not cost-saving, is cost-effective," Dr. William Herman, a study author and professor of medicine and epidemiology at the University of Michigan, told an American Diabetes Association (ADA) press conference.
Herman noted that during the 10-year study follow-up, lifestyle intervention reduced the rate of diabetes by 34 percent, while metformin reduced the rate of type 2 diabetes by 18 percent.
Herman was scheduled to present the study's findings on Tuesday at the ADA's Scientific Sessions in San Diego.
The data for this study came from the Diabetes Prevention Program, which included more than 3,000 people who were at high risk of developing type 2 diabetes. They were all overweight and were considered to have pre-diabetes. They also had additional risk factors for developing type 2 diabetes.
The participants were randomly placed into one of three groups: lifestyle intervention, metformin treatment or placebo pills.
The lifestyle intervention group received one-on-one training in diet, exercise and behavioral modification. The goal was to lose 7 percent of body weight and to exercise at least 150 minutes a week. The metformin group was given 850 milligrams of the drug twice daily, and the placebo group received inactive placebo pills to take twice a day.
The initial phase of the study lasted three years, and found that lifestyle interventions reduced the rate of diabetes by 58 percent, while metformin dropped the incidence of diabetes by 31 percent, according to Herman.
The researchers continued to follow the study participants for the next seven years so they could assess economic costs. Herman said the current study doesn't take into account whether or not people continued on their prescribed regimens, just at the groups they had initially been in.
When the researchers reviewed the data to assess what the cost was per quality of life-adjusted year, they found that metformin was still cost saving, while lifestyle interventions required an investment.
Herman said the costs put metformin in the same category of interventions that you "broadly apply without question," such as prenatal care, childhood immunizations and flu shots for people over 65 years old. Lifestyle interventions, on the other hand, were in the same cost category per quality of life-adjusted year as high blood pressure medications for those with high diastolic (the bottom number) blood pressure, cholesterol-lowering medications for people who've already had a heart attack, and the use of heart medications known as beta blockers.
"Both of these are effective interventions, and both should be made available to at-risk individuals," said Herman.
"With pre-diabetes, the sooner we intervene, the better," said Dr. Joel Zonszein, director of the clinical diabetes program at Montefiore Medical Center in New York City. "If we wait until someone has type 2, it may be too long. In general, it's cost effective. Treating complications is more costly."
Because one-on-one lifestyle intervention training can be quite costly, and may not be paid for by insurance companies, Zonszein's center developed group classes for people with type 2 diabetes that met for several hours every quarter. They compared this group to people receiving one-on-one training. The researchers found that both groups were able to reduce their long-term blood sugar control. Zonszein's findings were presented in a poster at the ADA meeting.
Herman said that his group expected that the costs of lifestyle intervention would come down, probably through group interventions instead of one-on-one training.
"Doing lifestyle interventions as a group intervention may be less expensive, and may be more effective because of the social bonding aspect," he said."
Unfortunately, there is no metformin for cats.
When I started out on the diabetic journey, insulin costs $30 for branded bottles, and $15 for generic. When I ended my journey, generic insulin had risen to $25/bottle, so I figure branded must have been about $60/bottle by then. Needles hadn't changed much as long as I bought them in bulk from Sam's--$13 and change for a box of 100, which lasted me almost 2 months until my second diabetic cat turned up. Then, a box of 100 wasn't even lasting 30 days.
As far as I know, the cost of needles is still the same, or may have risen a few cents to offset shipping fuel costs.
It could've been much worse--at least both cats ended up needing the same type of insulin. I could very easily have had to buy two separate types, costing even more.
Translate this into human needs, which may require 30+ units of insulin/shot, and as many as three shots daily, and you're racking up quite a bill, even with generics. My cats only needed a maximum of 6 units twice daily.
Then there's the blood glucose meters and test strips--the meters are cheaper than the strips! Some people have to test themselves multiple times a day, so a box of 100 strips can cost $100 and not last very long. Lancets are cheap, as long as you don't go high-tech with the pen-types.
Then, if the diabetes isn't well controlled, it may lead to heart problems, kidney problems, eye problems, neuropathy, etc., which only add to the medication cost woes--heart meds are more expensive than insulin, especially for cats. Ever have a cat on Plavix?
Yes, preventing diabetes does save money. Preventing ANY CHRONIC DISEASE saves money! Doing something as simple as giving up grains and beans can do wonders for you, and is one hell of a lot cheaper than gastric bypass surgery.
"Preventing type 2 diabetes not only improves an individual's quality of life, it also saves quite a bit of money.
By treating people who were at high risk for developing type 2 diabetes, researchers reduced medical costs by $2,600 for each person enrolled in a lifestyle changes group, and by $1,500 for each of those taking the diabetes drug metformin over the course of 10 years.
But when the savings in medical care were balanced against the costs of the interventions, metformin saved $30 over 10 years, while the lifestyle intervention cost $1,700 over the same time span.
Herman noted that during the 10-year study follow-up, lifestyle intervention reduced the rate of diabetes by 34 percent, while metformin reduced the rate of type 2 diabetes by 18 percent.
Herman was scheduled to present the study's findings on Tuesday at the ADA's Scientific Sessions in San Diego.
The participants were randomly placed into one of three groups: lifestyle intervention, metformin treatment or placebo pills.
The lifestyle intervention group received one-on-one training in diet, exercise and behavioral modification. The goal was to lose 7 percent of body weight and to exercise at least 150 minutes a week. The metformin group was given 850 milligrams of the drug twice daily, and the placebo group received inactive placebo pills to take twice a day.
The researchers continued to follow the study participants for the next seven years so they could assess economic costs. Herman said the current study doesn't take into account whether or not people continued on their prescribed regimens, just at the groups they had initially been in.
When the researchers reviewed the data to assess what the cost was per quality of life-adjusted year, they found that metformin was still cost saving, while lifestyle interventions required an investment.
"Both of these are effective interventions, and both should be made available to at-risk individuals," said Herman.
"With pre-diabetes, the sooner we intervene, the better," said Dr. Joel Zonszein, director of the clinical diabetes program at Montefiore Medical Center in New York City. "If we wait until someone has type 2, it may be too long. In general, it's cost effective. Treating complications is more costly."
Because one-on-one lifestyle intervention training can be quite costly, and may not be paid for by insurance companies, Zonszein's center developed group classes for people with type 2 diabetes that met for several hours every quarter. They compared this group to people receiving one-on-one training. The researchers found that both groups were able to reduce their long-term blood sugar control. Zonszein's findings were presented in a poster at the ADA meeting.
Herman said that his group expected that the costs of lifestyle intervention would come down, probably through group interventions instead of one-on-one training.
"Doing lifestyle interventions as a group intervention may be less expensive, and may be more effective because of the social bonding aspect," he said."
Unfortunately, there is no metformin for cats.
When I started out on the diabetic journey, insulin costs $30 for branded bottles, and $15 for generic. When I ended my journey, generic insulin had risen to $25/bottle, so I figure branded must have been about $60/bottle by then. Needles hadn't changed much as long as I bought them in bulk from Sam's--$13 and change for a box of 100, which lasted me almost 2 months until my second diabetic cat turned up. Then, a box of 100 wasn't even lasting 30 days.
As far as I know, the cost of needles is still the same, or may have risen a few cents to offset shipping fuel costs.
It could've been much worse--at least both cats ended up needing the same type of insulin. I could very easily have had to buy two separate types, costing even more.
Translate this into human needs, which may require 30+ units of insulin/shot, and as many as three shots daily, and you're racking up quite a bill, even with generics. My cats only needed a maximum of 6 units twice daily.
Then there's the blood glucose meters and test strips--the meters are cheaper than the strips! Some people have to test themselves multiple times a day, so a box of 100 strips can cost $100 and not last very long. Lancets are cheap, as long as you don't go high-tech with the pen-types.
Then, if the diabetes isn't well controlled, it may lead to heart problems, kidney problems, eye problems, neuropathy, etc., which only add to the medication cost woes--heart meds are more expensive than insulin, especially for cats. Ever have a cat on Plavix?
Yes, preventing diabetes does save money. Preventing ANY CHRONIC DISEASE saves money! Doing something as simple as giving up grains and beans can do wonders for you, and is one hell of a lot cheaper than gastric bypass surgery.
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Is That Cat Chow or Chicken Fried Rice? Take the Ingredients Quiz and Find Out
From Slate magazine.
"Consider the cheese curl, or the microwavable dinner, or beef jerky. These foods are not just tasty: They are scientifically optimized to be shelf-stable, perfectly consistent in taste from serving to serving, filling, addictive, savory, and cheap. Achieving all those goals requires more than a handful of pantry items—it requires state-of-the art production techniques and a serious helping of laboratory chemicals. So while most of us could identify our favorite homemade dishes from ingredients alone (olives, garlic, capers, linguine … sounds like puttanesca!), we would be hopelessly lost trying to recognize our favorite snacks.
Nevertheless, Slate challenges you to do just that. We give you a list of ingredients; you select the correct grocery-store foodstuff from a lineup. (If you're right, your guess will turn green and you'll be able to move on to the next set of ingredients; otherwise, it will turn red. Keep trying until you get it right.) At the end of the quiz, you can compare your results with those of other Slate readers."
Click on the link above to take the quiz.
"Consider the cheese curl, or the microwavable dinner, or beef jerky. These foods are not just tasty: They are scientifically optimized to be shelf-stable, perfectly consistent in taste from serving to serving, filling, addictive, savory, and cheap. Achieving all those goals requires more than a handful of pantry items—it requires state-of-the art production techniques and a serious helping of laboratory chemicals. So while most of us could identify our favorite homemade dishes from ingredients alone (olives, garlic, capers, linguine … sounds like puttanesca!), we would be hopelessly lost trying to recognize our favorite snacks.
Nevertheless, Slate challenges you to do just that. We give you a list of ingredients; you select the correct grocery-store foodstuff from a lineup. (If you're right, your guess will turn green and you'll be able to move on to the next set of ingredients; otherwise, it will turn red. Keep trying until you get it right.) At the end of the quiz, you can compare your results with those of other Slate readers."
Click on the link above to take the quiz.
A Technological Leap Forward...to Old-Time Farming
From the Sioux City Journal (IA). Photos still not uploading.
"Peter McDonald assigns his 9-year-old twin boys the tricky task of erecting a mesh fence in one part of the family farm, then tramps across lushly carpeted fields for a daily evaluation of his grass-chomping cows and sheep.
But first, there's ... Hello! A hundred head-bobbing turkeys interrupt their foraging for bugs and clover-leaf morsels to hurtle across the pasture to greet him.
Behind this wholesome agrarian drama with its "Old McDonald" echoes from long ago is a determined effort to crystallize the definition of grass-based livestock farming.
A father of nine with a picaresque past and a famous brother in Hollywood, this 57-year-old McDonald allows his assortment of amiable animals to loiter outdoors all day over a dense mix of grasses untainted by chemical fertilizers.
While his pigs and poultry get needed supplements of organic grain, his Finn-Suffolk sheep, Belted Galloway bull, cross-bred Angus beef cattle and a Jersey milk cow named Rosie eat only grass.
Eating large quantities of forage year-round is what cud-chewing animals are built to do, providing them all the nourishment they need to thrive and reproduce, McDonald points out. It's better for the animals, the humans who consume them, and the planet, he says.
"Feeding ruminant animals anything but grass is biologically, nutritionally wrong," he says.
Mechanized farming methods that roared in after World War II steered many animals into crowded feedlots, shifting them to a diet of industrial corn to grow them more quickly and cheaply. McDonald's gripe isn't with conventional American agriculture, but with other small-scale farmers who fatten their herds on grain, then label their meat "grass-fed."
"If you're giving them grain, you should tell everybody you're doing it," he said.
"The term is being used to misguide folks into thinking that a cow is fed only grass," he says, his pale blue eyes gleaming, "when in reality it's also fed 14 pounds of corn a day."
Standard organic farming allows four-stomach ruminants such as cows to be fed grain, while animals can be called "free-range" simply by having access to the outdoors. The government's rules don't always specify how big a space animals should have or whether it's on pasture or concrete.
"Outdoors, on grass, in the sunshine — that's what I consider 'free-range,'" says McDonald, whose 220-acre farm nestles in a bucolic thumb of land framed by lakes in central New York's Finger Lakes region.
"I'm not saying tighten the regulations. I'm saying, buy from us or someone else but know the questions to ask. Cut through the fancy words, food marketed as 'free-range, natural, beyond organic.' It's a sad testimony to human nature, but there are those who would say they're organic when they've not even achieved the threshold."
Critics counter that McDonald's back-to-basics model — heritage breeds on a niche farm determined to stay small — results in pricey food that's out of reach of most Americans.
Andy Alexander, 58, who runs an 800-sheep farm and sold McDonald his first ewes in 1991, commends him for drawing customers who "evidently enjoy the warm and fuzzy part and are willing to pay a premium. But alternatively produced food is not going to replace conventional agriculture as far as feeding the masses."
Susan Eckhardt, 42, who owns 450-acre Brykill Farm in the Hudson Valley, says her pasture-raised Charolais cattle get hand-blended organic grain rations as well as hay "when it starts to get cold out, when there's no grass!
"All of this nonsense about how this is bad for them or toxic, give me a break!" she said.
Wholesaler George Cubillas sympathizes with farmers who go to great lengths to raise animals exclusively on grass only to find they're competing with rivals "using the grass-fed term loosely." But he finds it's hard to get restaurants to carry their products.
"I could be a purist all I want but I have to make a living, and the bottom line is my (patrons') customers prefer high-quality, grain-fattened meat," he says.
McDonald counters that his beef is leaner and more flavorful while acknowledging that the fattier, grain-fed version can be tenderer.
After buying a hobby farm on the cheap 20 years ago, McDonald quit his career as a video producer a decade later and, with escalating success, is doing his bit to propel "fresh, local and above all clean food" farming into a postindustrial boom age.
Nationwide, organic-food sales topped $26 billion in 2010, the Organic Trade Association says. Roughly 900 of New York's 36,000 farms are certified organic and several hundred more like McDonald's Farm match that description but dispense with certification.
McDonald was resolute from the start on animal welfare. No antibiotics, hormones, synthetic vitamins. No notching of ears. No rings in the pigs' snouts. No unnecessary stress. Or, to borrow his savvy motto: They have a great life but one bad day.
It took much longer to make a living catering to "an even smaller group of consumers concerned not only with how an animal's raised but what it eats," he says.
After years of experimenting, McDonald dispensed with commercial accounts and took aim at a high-end formula that relies on a mere 50 regular customers and a few hundred drop-ins at the Ithaca Farmers Market. While invariably more expensive — chicken is $5 a pound, beef $18 — McDonald says his prices reflect the food's unsubsidized true value and are cheaper than choice cuts in upscale stores.
Friends say his loquacious charm and eagerness to delve into detail are crucial in marketing his goods. "Not all farmers are anywhere as eloquent as he is in communicating why we want what he has," says Laura Villanti, 46, a longtime customer.
Using selective breeding within the herds, McDonald manages 130 cattle, 40 sheep and 50 hogs. The pace will quicken in summer with the arrival of 5,000 broiler chicks and 350 young turkeys. All animals are rotated through 12 fields to break up the parasite cycle by natural means, but McDonald also leans heavily on modern tools, from plastic hoop houses to Internet tips.
"Great innovations benefit us, but we don't have to do what the corporate farmer's doing — growing animals as fast as possible on the least amount of feed," he says. "My way is nature's way. You can't make the farm 10 times bigger and expect 10 times the success. When you try to do too much, you cut corners."
His iridescent-feathered turkeys, a Narragansett-wild mix, are an uncommon sight liable to stop traffic as they throng at the farm's rim alongside a two-lane blacktop.
"Turkeys really are very inquisitive, gregarious, social creatures, far more than chickens," McDonald observed last November as the last of his 350 birds roamed a grassy paddock. "The first day, they run from you. The rest of their lives, they run toward you."
Now, after a quiet winter cycle with only sheep, cattle, laying hens and rabbits to care for, his grass is springing up fast. There's enough work for a young army, and McDonald sends his 11-year-old out early to check on a ewe pregnant with twins.
"She had had one, but one was still in there," Matthew recounts as his three enthralled younger brothers gather at the kitchen table between morning chores and homeschooling. "I'm glad I brought an extra pair of gloves."
As McDonald tucks into a homegrown lunch of hickory smoked bacon and brown bread with butter the color of marigolds, the conversation turns to his brother, Christopher, who sometimes rides upstate on his Harley. The children rattle off his movie roles, beginning with golf-pro buffoon Shooter McGavin in "Happy Gilmore," an Adam Sandler comedy. "I like 'Flubber' — that's a good movie," pipes in James, 7, to giggles.
"We had a pact early on about which one of us would be a high-paid actor, recognizable in every town in the world, or be an organic farmer. And I won," McDonald says."
"Peter McDonald assigns his 9-year-old twin boys the tricky task of erecting a mesh fence in one part of the family farm, then tramps across lushly carpeted fields for a daily evaluation of his grass-chomping cows and sheep.
But first, there's ... Hello! A hundred head-bobbing turkeys interrupt their foraging for bugs and clover-leaf morsels to hurtle across the pasture to greet him.
Behind this wholesome agrarian drama with its "Old McDonald" echoes from long ago is a determined effort to crystallize the definition of grass-based livestock farming.
A father of nine with a picaresque past and a famous brother in Hollywood, this 57-year-old McDonald allows his assortment of amiable animals to loiter outdoors all day over a dense mix of grasses untainted by chemical fertilizers.
While his pigs and poultry get needed supplements of organic grain, his Finn-Suffolk sheep, Belted Galloway bull, cross-bred Angus beef cattle and a Jersey milk cow named Rosie eat only grass.
Eating large quantities of forage year-round is what cud-chewing animals are built to do, providing them all the nourishment they need to thrive and reproduce, McDonald points out. It's better for the animals, the humans who consume them, and the planet, he says.
"Feeding ruminant animals anything but grass is biologically, nutritionally wrong," he says.
Mechanized farming methods that roared in after World War II steered many animals into crowded feedlots, shifting them to a diet of industrial corn to grow them more quickly and cheaply. McDonald's gripe isn't with conventional American agriculture, but with other small-scale farmers who fatten their herds on grain, then label their meat "grass-fed."
"If you're giving them grain, you should tell everybody you're doing it," he said.
"The term is being used to misguide folks into thinking that a cow is fed only grass," he says, his pale blue eyes gleaming, "when in reality it's also fed 14 pounds of corn a day."
Standard organic farming allows four-stomach ruminants such as cows to be fed grain, while animals can be called "free-range" simply by having access to the outdoors. The government's rules don't always specify how big a space animals should have or whether it's on pasture or concrete.
"Outdoors, on grass, in the sunshine — that's what I consider 'free-range,'" says McDonald, whose 220-acre farm nestles in a bucolic thumb of land framed by lakes in central New York's Finger Lakes region.
"I'm not saying tighten the regulations. I'm saying, buy from us or someone else but know the questions to ask. Cut through the fancy words, food marketed as 'free-range, natural, beyond organic.' It's a sad testimony to human nature, but there are those who would say they're organic when they've not even achieved the threshold."
Critics counter that McDonald's back-to-basics model — heritage breeds on a niche farm determined to stay small — results in pricey food that's out of reach of most Americans.
Andy Alexander, 58, who runs an 800-sheep farm and sold McDonald his first ewes in 1991, commends him for drawing customers who "evidently enjoy the warm and fuzzy part and are willing to pay a premium. But alternatively produced food is not going to replace conventional agriculture as far as feeding the masses."
Susan Eckhardt, 42, who owns 450-acre Brykill Farm in the Hudson Valley, says her pasture-raised Charolais cattle get hand-blended organic grain rations as well as hay "when it starts to get cold out, when there's no grass!
"All of this nonsense about how this is bad for them or toxic, give me a break!" she said.
Wholesaler George Cubillas sympathizes with farmers who go to great lengths to raise animals exclusively on grass only to find they're competing with rivals "using the grass-fed term loosely." But he finds it's hard to get restaurants to carry their products.
"I could be a purist all I want but I have to make a living, and the bottom line is my (patrons') customers prefer high-quality, grain-fattened meat," he says.
McDonald counters that his beef is leaner and more flavorful while acknowledging that the fattier, grain-fed version can be tenderer.
After buying a hobby farm on the cheap 20 years ago, McDonald quit his career as a video producer a decade later and, with escalating success, is doing his bit to propel "fresh, local and above all clean food" farming into a postindustrial boom age.
Nationwide, organic-food sales topped $26 billion in 2010, the Organic Trade Association says. Roughly 900 of New York's 36,000 farms are certified organic and several hundred more like McDonald's Farm match that description but dispense with certification.
McDonald was resolute from the start on animal welfare. No antibiotics, hormones, synthetic vitamins. No notching of ears. No rings in the pigs' snouts. No unnecessary stress. Or, to borrow his savvy motto: They have a great life but one bad day.
It took much longer to make a living catering to "an even smaller group of consumers concerned not only with how an animal's raised but what it eats," he says.
After years of experimenting, McDonald dispensed with commercial accounts and took aim at a high-end formula that relies on a mere 50 regular customers and a few hundred drop-ins at the Ithaca Farmers Market. While invariably more expensive — chicken is $5 a pound, beef $18 — McDonald says his prices reflect the food's unsubsidized true value and are cheaper than choice cuts in upscale stores.
Friends say his loquacious charm and eagerness to delve into detail are crucial in marketing his goods. "Not all farmers are anywhere as eloquent as he is in communicating why we want what he has," says Laura Villanti, 46, a longtime customer.
Using selective breeding within the herds, McDonald manages 130 cattle, 40 sheep and 50 hogs. The pace will quicken in summer with the arrival of 5,000 broiler chicks and 350 young turkeys. All animals are rotated through 12 fields to break up the parasite cycle by natural means, but McDonald also leans heavily on modern tools, from plastic hoop houses to Internet tips.
"Great innovations benefit us, but we don't have to do what the corporate farmer's doing — growing animals as fast as possible on the least amount of feed," he says. "My way is nature's way. You can't make the farm 10 times bigger and expect 10 times the success. When you try to do too much, you cut corners."
His iridescent-feathered turkeys, a Narragansett-wild mix, are an uncommon sight liable to stop traffic as they throng at the farm's rim alongside a two-lane blacktop.
"Turkeys really are very inquisitive, gregarious, social creatures, far more than chickens," McDonald observed last November as the last of his 350 birds roamed a grassy paddock. "The first day, they run from you. The rest of their lives, they run toward you."
Now, after a quiet winter cycle with only sheep, cattle, laying hens and rabbits to care for, his grass is springing up fast. There's enough work for a young army, and McDonald sends his 11-year-old out early to check on a ewe pregnant with twins.
"She had had one, but one was still in there," Matthew recounts as his three enthralled younger brothers gather at the kitchen table between morning chores and homeschooling. "I'm glad I brought an extra pair of gloves."
As McDonald tucks into a homegrown lunch of hickory smoked bacon and brown bread with butter the color of marigolds, the conversation turns to his brother, Christopher, who sometimes rides upstate on his Harley. The children rattle off his movie roles, beginning with golf-pro buffoon Shooter McGavin in "Happy Gilmore," an Adam Sandler comedy. "I like 'Flubber' — that's a good movie," pipes in James, 7, to giggles.
"We had a pact early on about which one of us would be a high-paid actor, recognizable in every town in the world, or be an organic farmer. And I won," McDonald says."
"Do Life" Urges Americans to Turn Things Around
From Yahoo Health. Sorry--photos won't upload.
"Can a blog by an overweight, depressed American introvert who reinvented himself as an Ironman and public speaker start a grassroots campaign that leads to lasting lifestyle changes in a country known for excess?
The latest test, on June 22, gathered nearly 75 strangers in Washington, D.C. who finished an unofficial 5K (five-kilometer) race around the US capital's National Mall park.
And this was no ordinary congregation -- among the participants, they have lost a collective 1,350 pounds, quit smoking, changed careers, removed themselves from debt and ended drug and alcohol addictions.
It's only the early days of a 31-city summer tour to create a support network for people trying to reclaim their lives in a nation with well-documented weight and addiction problems.
After four hours, 3.1 miles and a bonding dinner, the D.C. runners left as friends.
They are members of the "Do Life" movement, an idea founder Ben Davis says is about using health and fitness to find happiness, connect with family and friends and start lifelong relationships.
Davis, 25, began the Tumblr blog "Ben Does Life" in December 2008 to document his weight loss.
Soon, he found that his ongoing transformation from 358-pound (162-kilogram) depressed introvert to 230-pound (104-kilogram) marathon runner, Ironman and public speaker had inspired thousands worldwide to change their lives.
Davis and other participants in the D.C. 5K event stressed, however, that "doing life" is a universal concept.
"Not everybody needs to lose 150 pounds," Davis said. "Some people have other addictions, other things in life that they're struggling with, and we found that in a lot of ways, you have to find a way to replace those areas of your life with something positive."
George Washington University student Estee Gabel, who began following "Ben Does Life" after watching Davis' popular inspirational YouTube video, applies this motto on the water.
"(Doing life) definitely is rowing for me, because even though that's how I get my exercise, it's also when I have the most peace of mind and when I have the most time to focus on myself," she said.
Others, like Avi Kempler, use the mantra as a second chance. Kempler joined Weight Watchers in 2007 after his father was diagnosed with cancer.
"I was ashamed to go be with my family because I didn't want them to know how big I was," he said.
"I missed a lot of memories with my father and my grandmother, who died five months apart from each other. Be active and do whatever you can to be happy, because you know, life is really just too short."
For Kempler, "doing life" is really about taking responsibility for decisions and making the necessary changes in all aspects of life.
"It doesn't matter if you're losing weight like Ben says, or trying to get off drugs or drinking or smoking or get out of debt," he said.
"Everything is about taking that first step. I was 396 pounds (180 kilograms). I was $20,000 in credit card debt. I was a smoker, smoked a pack and a half a day. Now, I have no credit card debt, I weigh 230 pounds (104 kilograms) and I haven't smoked for three years."
To spread the movement, Davis -- along with his father, John, and brother, Jed -- founded Do Life, Inc. in January.
"Anybody can take this message and apply it to their life, and so we turned 'Ben Does Life' into 'Do Life'," Davis said.
"It became sort of a message and a motto that people have applied to their lives and said, 'This is how I'm doing life. Maybe I'm not running a marathon but I'm out there every day with my kids, walking and jogging,' and that's what it's about."
This summer, the three Davis men are driving 12,000 miles across America and Canada to host the first annual Do Life Tour from June 18-July 27. The tour is a series of free, untimed run/walk 5K events in 31 cities that invite people to meet for exercise and a post-run meal.
Davis said the 5K distance works into the Do Life message in that it's a good starting goal, and that it is the first race for many tour participants, however unofficial.
The tour's estimated 420 attendees through nine cities have lost a total of 7,883 pounds (3,576 kilograms), according to Davis, who is surprised and humbled by the enthusiastic response and said the D.C. event "blew all of our expectations out of the water."
"Honestly, for a grassroots movement, this was phenomenal," Kempler said. "For about 70 people to come out, do a 5K together, come to eat, hang out -- I mean, we're D.C. -- everyone's busy.
"This is a big city, and for this many people to show up because of a website, Ben's gotta feel good about that, and I hope he does, because there's such camaraderie just talking with everybody. It's such a blast."
This is what the pro-life movement ought to be about!
"Can a blog by an overweight, depressed American introvert who reinvented himself as an Ironman and public speaker start a grassroots campaign that leads to lasting lifestyle changes in a country known for excess?
The latest test, on June 22, gathered nearly 75 strangers in Washington, D.C. who finished an unofficial 5K (five-kilometer) race around the US capital's National Mall park.
And this was no ordinary congregation -- among the participants, they have lost a collective 1,350 pounds, quit smoking, changed careers, removed themselves from debt and ended drug and alcohol addictions.
It's only the early days of a 31-city summer tour to create a support network for people trying to reclaim their lives in a nation with well-documented weight and addiction problems.
After four hours, 3.1 miles and a bonding dinner, the D.C. runners left as friends.
They are members of the "Do Life" movement, an idea founder Ben Davis says is about using health and fitness to find happiness, connect with family and friends and start lifelong relationships.
Davis, 25, began the Tumblr blog "Ben Does Life" in December 2008 to document his weight loss.
Soon, he found that his ongoing transformation from 358-pound (162-kilogram) depressed introvert to 230-pound (104-kilogram) marathon runner, Ironman and public speaker had inspired thousands worldwide to change their lives.
Davis and other participants in the D.C. 5K event stressed, however, that "doing life" is a universal concept.
"Not everybody needs to lose 150 pounds," Davis said. "Some people have other addictions, other things in life that they're struggling with, and we found that in a lot of ways, you have to find a way to replace those areas of your life with something positive."
George Washington University student Estee Gabel, who began following "Ben Does Life" after watching Davis' popular inspirational YouTube video, applies this motto on the water.
"(Doing life) definitely is rowing for me, because even though that's how I get my exercise, it's also when I have the most peace of mind and when I have the most time to focus on myself," she said.
Others, like Avi Kempler, use the mantra as a second chance. Kempler joined Weight Watchers in 2007 after his father was diagnosed with cancer.
"I was ashamed to go be with my family because I didn't want them to know how big I was," he said.
"I missed a lot of memories with my father and my grandmother, who died five months apart from each other. Be active and do whatever you can to be happy, because you know, life is really just too short."
For Kempler, "doing life" is really about taking responsibility for decisions and making the necessary changes in all aspects of life.
"It doesn't matter if you're losing weight like Ben says, or trying to get off drugs or drinking or smoking or get out of debt," he said.
"Everything is about taking that first step. I was 396 pounds (180 kilograms). I was $20,000 in credit card debt. I was a smoker, smoked a pack and a half a day. Now, I have no credit card debt, I weigh 230 pounds (104 kilograms) and I haven't smoked for three years."
To spread the movement, Davis -- along with his father, John, and brother, Jed -- founded Do Life, Inc. in January.
"Anybody can take this message and apply it to their life, and so we turned 'Ben Does Life' into 'Do Life'," Davis said.
"It became sort of a message and a motto that people have applied to their lives and said, 'This is how I'm doing life. Maybe I'm not running a marathon but I'm out there every day with my kids, walking and jogging,' and that's what it's about."
This summer, the three Davis men are driving 12,000 miles across America and Canada to host the first annual Do Life Tour from June 18-July 27. The tour is a series of free, untimed run/walk 5K events in 31 cities that invite people to meet for exercise and a post-run meal.
Davis said the 5K distance works into the Do Life message in that it's a good starting goal, and that it is the first race for many tour participants, however unofficial.
The tour's estimated 420 attendees through nine cities have lost a total of 7,883 pounds (3,576 kilograms), according to Davis, who is surprised and humbled by the enthusiastic response and said the D.C. event "blew all of our expectations out of the water."
"Honestly, for a grassroots movement, this was phenomenal," Kempler said. "For about 70 people to come out, do a 5K together, come to eat, hang out -- I mean, we're D.C. -- everyone's busy.
"This is a big city, and for this many people to show up because of a website, Ben's gotta feel good about that, and I hope he does, because there's such camaraderie just talking with everybody. It's such a blast."
This is what the pro-life movement ought to be about!
Sunday, June 26, 2011
No More Junk Food --Little-Known Nonprofit Has Big Influence on What America Eats
From the Detroit Free Press (MI). Paleos and low-carbers, there's hope!
"Once a month or so, Lynda Gayle of Royal Oak opens her mail to find what's said to be the world's largest-circulation newsletter on health.
"I've taken it for years," says Gayle, 62, a pharmaceutical sales representative.
Nutrition Action has 16 pages and no ads. But at $24 for 10 issues a year, Gayle and 850,000 others find advice on nutrition that's blunt and backed by science -- giving good grades to some foods while excoriating others, brand by brand.
"They'll take a class of products, like cereals or yogurts, and go through the pros and cons. I've had some revelations," says Gayle, who doesn't shrink from the occasional steak or decadent dessert but stocks her kitchen mainly with the whole-grain, vegetable-rich inventory that the newsletter blesses.
The newsletter's publisher is the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a nonprofit group nudged into being in 1971 by Ralph Nader. It's advice that Gayle welcomes but that many in the food and restaurant business despise, especially when they find their products skewered in the newsletter's back-page "Food Porn" feature. Even more, the corporate masters of big food and big chain restaurants despise CSPI, which is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year but remains little known outside its base in Washington, D.C. The center has put four decades into influencing the foods we eat, the advertising we see and the labels we read.
This month, CSPI is cheering Uncle Sam for introducing the Healthy Eating Plate, unveiled June 2 by the U.S. Department of Agriculture with first lady Michelle Obama in attendance. CSPI calls it a big improvement over the old food pyramid for giving Americans sensible advice on what to eat.
Almost from the day the pyramid was introduced in 1992, CSPI hammered it as "a missed opportunity," "a kid-friendly flop" and, in 2005, "more complicated than it needs to be" when the USDA replaced the one pyramid with 12 for 12 different diets.
The Plate keeps it simple, so that a mom and her 5-year-old both get it.
"You can look at it and just go -- ooh -- half of what I eat should be fruits and vegetables," CSPI communications director Jeff Cronin says. "Nobody's doing that. Many Americans might be filling a quarter of their plate with fruit and vegetables, and the rest is meat and cheese and French fries."
If CSPI has one overall message, the Plate echoes it. For optimal health, weight loss and energy, Americans need to crowd out junk food and fat with far bigger servings of fruit and vegetables than they're getting.
Critics have called CSPI alarmist, opinionated and worse.
"It's not a watchdog -- it's an attack dog, savaging restaurants, disparaging adults' food choices, discouraging even moderate alcohol consumption," says the Center for Consumer Freedom, also in Washington, D.C. That's another nonprofit group, funded by food and restaurant companies that choose to be anonymous, according to senior research associate J. Justin Wilson.
The group runs CSPIscam.com, a Web site devoted to discrediting CSPI.
"We believe in consumers being exposed to as many options as possible and making choices for themselves. CSPI believes in greater limitations on choices and government control," Wilson says.
By staying rigorously independent, CSPI made a fan out of Dr. Tom Rifai, medical director of metabolic nutrition and weight management at St. Joseph Mercy Hospital in Pontiac.
"Most people's impression of CSPI is it's a nefarious group with power and all kinds of less than ideal sources of income, which is not true," Rifai says. About 85% of CSPI's income comes from newsletter subscriptions; the rest comes from donations by individuals and from grants, CSPI officials say.
Rifai, who advised Michigan's Andiamo restaurant chain on its Andiamo Lean! entrées, says CSPI has been his "spiritual inspiration." He hosted an Andiamo dinner when CSPI founder and executive director Mike Jacobson was in Detroit last winter, and their salmon and whitefish meals had CSPI's chief smacking his lips, Rifai recalls.
One of CSPI's recent campaigns is for a tax on soft drinks. The counter-campaign by the beverage industry includes a woman putting cartons of soda pop in a grocery cart with a voice-over about the right of every American to drink pop tax-free. The soft-drink industry has far more lobbyists and mouthpieces than CSPI's staff of 55. Helping level the playing field is a three-year, $650,000 grant to CSPI awarded in March by the Troy-based Kresge Foundation. The money supports CSPI's push to get Americans drinking more water and less pop, in part because soft drinks are the only food or beverage irrefutably linked by research to obesity, including childhood weight problems, foundation officials say.
Another more recent target is grains. But pasta must be safe, right?
Wrong, says CSPI Director of Nutrition Bonnie Liebman.
"We're eating way too much plain white pasta, along with plain white bread, pizza crust, pita chips, waffle cones, macaroni and cheese. And a lot of this is in restaurants" because such foods have a high profit margin, Liebman says.
U.S. consumption of calories from grains jumped 45% since 1970 -- roughly double our increase in fats and sugars, she says, citing FDA statistics. CSPI is all for moderate servings of high-fiber, low-fat, whole-grain foods -- except it says that so few are available in restaurants and supermarkets. What to do? Substitute legumes, such as lentil soup or a salad with garbanzo beans, Liebman says.
Rushing off recently to host a dinner party, she said, "I usually do offer a baguette, but the grains have become a much smaller portion of the meal."
We can't expect dietary miracles overnight as far as a national policy goes (the political horse is always the last one out of the barn in the speed-of-life race), but at least SOMEONE is looking at grains and their connection to the obesity epidemic. How long did it take to brainwash us all into believing this stuff was good for us--about 50 years? My engineer husband dismantled the Food Guide Pyramid about 5 years ago, and I myself stuck a sword into the heart of the salt and sugar allowances. If everyone took these things to heart and practiced them, grocery store chains and food processors, not to mention farmers themselves, would be out of business (unless farmers switched to growing useful produce)...well, maybe not the farmers, because they could grow our fuel instead of our food. We can do that for ourselves!
Farm subsidies = vote buying.
As for the "gluten-free junk" sign above, that's what finally got me to leave grains completely--the cost of these pseudo-grains, plus the fact that the carb load wasn't any better in these than it was for wheat-based flour products...then they started bothering me allergen-wise just like dairy, tomatoes, and oranges. It shouldn't matter if you're buying toaster pastries made from millet flour or wheat--it's STILL JUNK FOOD! This is the kind of hypocrisy I face every time I go into my health foods store: rows and rows of convenience foods made from different types of flours, some more junkier than others, but all beloved by people supposedly saving the planet by eating better--it comes from a health food store, so it must be healthy, right? Nope. Frozen microwave burritos, boxes of cereal, frozen pizzas, and "ice creams" are crap food no matter what they're made from, or who makes them! You're just paying more for them at a health food store.
The label says organic, so it must be good for me. NOT!
Paleos and low-carbers: maybe sometime in your kids' or grandkids' lifetimes, the evil nature of starches will become widely known and accepted as national dietary policy. Look how long it took CSPI to get THIS far, and acknowledge that "white foods" and soda are harmful?
They want to tax soda--I want to tax all processed foods, starting with fast food and drive-thru windows.
"Once a month or so, Lynda Gayle of Royal Oak opens her mail to find what's said to be the world's largest-circulation newsletter on health.
"I've taken it for years," says Gayle, 62, a pharmaceutical sales representative.
"They'll take a class of products, like cereals or yogurts, and go through the pros and cons. I've had some revelations," says Gayle, who doesn't shrink from the occasional steak or decadent dessert but stocks her kitchen mainly with the whole-grain, vegetable-rich inventory that the newsletter blesses.
This month, CSPI is cheering Uncle Sam for introducing the Healthy Eating Plate, unveiled June 2 by the U.S. Department of Agriculture with first lady Michelle Obama in attendance. CSPI calls it a big improvement over the old food pyramid for giving Americans sensible advice on what to eat.
Almost from the day the pyramid was introduced in 1992, CSPI hammered it as "a missed opportunity," "a kid-friendly flop" and, in 2005, "more complicated than it needs to be" when the USDA replaced the one pyramid with 12 for 12 different diets.
"You can look at it and just go -- ooh -- half of what I eat should be fruits and vegetables," CSPI communications director Jeff Cronin says. "Nobody's doing that. Many Americans might be filling a quarter of their plate with fruit and vegetables, and the rest is meat and cheese and French fries."
If CSPI has one overall message, the Plate echoes it. For optimal health, weight loss and energy, Americans need to crowd out junk food and fat with far bigger servings of fruit and vegetables than they're getting.
Critics have called CSPI alarmist, opinionated and worse.
"It's not a watchdog -- it's an attack dog, savaging restaurants, disparaging adults' food choices, discouraging even moderate alcohol consumption," says the Center for Consumer Freedom, also in Washington, D.C. That's another nonprofit group, funded by food and restaurant companies that choose to be anonymous, according to senior research associate J. Justin Wilson.
The group runs CSPIscam.com, a Web site devoted to discrediting CSPI.
"We believe in consumers being exposed to as many options as possible and making choices for themselves. CSPI believes in greater limitations on choices and government control," Wilson says.
By staying rigorously independent, CSPI made a fan out of Dr. Tom Rifai, medical director of metabolic nutrition and weight management at St. Joseph Mercy Hospital in Pontiac.
Rifai, who advised Michigan's Andiamo restaurant chain on its Andiamo Lean! entrées, says CSPI has been his "spiritual inspiration." He hosted an Andiamo dinner when CSPI founder and executive director Mike Jacobson was in Detroit last winter, and their salmon and whitefish meals had CSPI's chief smacking his lips, Rifai recalls.
Another more recent target is grains. But pasta must be safe, right?
Wrong, says CSPI Director of Nutrition Bonnie Liebman.
"We're eating way too much plain white pasta, along with plain white bread, pizza crust, pita chips, waffle cones, macaroni and cheese. And a lot of this is in restaurants" because such foods have a high profit margin, Liebman says.
Rushing off recently to host a dinner party, she said, "I usually do offer a baguette, but the grains have become a much smaller portion of the meal."
We can't expect dietary miracles overnight as far as a national policy goes (the political horse is always the last one out of the barn in the speed-of-life race), but at least SOMEONE is looking at grains and their connection to the obesity epidemic. How long did it take to brainwash us all into believing this stuff was good for us--about 50 years? My engineer husband dismantled the Food Guide Pyramid about 5 years ago, and I myself stuck a sword into the heart of the salt and sugar allowances. If everyone took these things to heart and practiced them, grocery store chains and food processors, not to mention farmers themselves, would be out of business (unless farmers switched to growing useful produce)...well, maybe not the farmers, because they could grow our fuel instead of our food. We can do that for ourselves!
Farm subsidies = vote buying.
As for the "gluten-free junk" sign above, that's what finally got me to leave grains completely--the cost of these pseudo-grains, plus the fact that the carb load wasn't any better in these than it was for wheat-based flour products...then they started bothering me allergen-wise just like dairy, tomatoes, and oranges. It shouldn't matter if you're buying toaster pastries made from millet flour or wheat--it's STILL JUNK FOOD! This is the kind of hypocrisy I face every time I go into my health foods store: rows and rows of convenience foods made from different types of flours, some more junkier than others, but all beloved by people supposedly saving the planet by eating better--it comes from a health food store, so it must be healthy, right? Nope. Frozen microwave burritos, boxes of cereal, frozen pizzas, and "ice creams" are crap food no matter what they're made from, or who makes them! You're just paying more for them at a health food store.
The label says organic, so it must be good for me. NOT!
Paleos and low-carbers: maybe sometime in your kids' or grandkids' lifetimes, the evil nature of starches will become widely known and accepted as national dietary policy. Look how long it took CSPI to get THIS far, and acknowledge that "white foods" and soda are harmful?
They want to tax soda--I want to tax all processed foods, starting with fast food and drive-thru windows.
The Great Corn Con
From the NY Times. This is where food and fuel collide--you ask me, they can take all the corn, soy, grains, potatoes, beans, and legumes and use them to produce fuel, instead of using them to pollute our bodies! It's cheaper to replace belts and hoses than it is to replace organs, or have gastric bypass surgery.
"FEELING the need for an example of government policy run amok? Look no further than the box of cornflakes on your kitchen shelf. In its myriad corn-related interventions, Washington has managed simultaneously to help drive up food prices and add tens of billions of dollars to the deficit, while arguably increasing energy use and harming the environment.
Even in a crowd of rising food and commodity costs, corn stands out, its price having doubled in less than a year to a record $7.87 per bushel in early June. Booming global demand has overtaken stagnant supply.
But rather than ameliorate the problem, the government has exacerbated it, reducing food supply to a hungry world. Thanks to Washington, 4 of every 10 ears of corn grown in America — the source of 40 percent of the world’s production — are shunted into ethanol, a gasoline substitute that imperceptibly nicks our energy problem. Larded onto that are $11 billion a year of government subsidies to the corn complex.
Corn is hardly some minor agricultural product for breakfast cereal. It’s America’s largest crop, dwarfing wheat and soybeans. A small portion of production goes for human consumption; about 40 percent feeds cows, pigs, turkeys and chickens. Diverting 40 percent to ethanol has disagreeable consequences for food. In just a year, the price of bacon has soared by 24 percent.
To some, the contours of the ethanol story may be familiar. Almost since Iowa — our biggest corn-producing state — grabbed the lead position in the presidential sweepstakes four decades ago, support for the biofuel has been nearly a prerequisite for politicians seeking the presidency.
Those hopefuls have seen no need for a foolish consistency. John McCain and John Kerry were against ethanol subsidies, then as candidates were for them. Having lost the presidency, Mr. McCain is now against them again. Al Gore was for ethanol before he was against it. This time, one hopeful is experimenting with counter-programming: as governor of corn-producing Minnesota, Tim Pawlenty pushed for subsidies before he embraced a “straight talk” strategy.
Eating up just a tenth of the corn crop as recently as 2004, ethanol was turbocharged by legislation in 2005 and 2007 that set specific requirements for its use in gasoline, mandating steep rises from year to year. Yet another government bureaucracy was born to enforce the quotas.
To ease the pain, Congress threw in a 45-cents-a-gallon subsidy ($6 billion a year); to add another layer of protection, it imposed a tariff on imported ethanol of 54 cents a gallon. That successfully shut off cheap imports, produced more efficiently from sugar cane, principally from Brazil.
Here is perhaps the most incredible part: Because of the subsidy, ethanol became cheaper than gasoline, and so we sent 397 million gallons of ethanol overseas last year. America is simultaneously importing costly foreign oil and subsidizing the export of its equivalent.
That’s not all. Ethanol packs less punch than gasoline and uses considerable energy in its production process. All told, each gallon of gasoline that is displaced costs the Treasury $1.78 in subsidies and lost tax revenue.
Nor does ethanol live up to its environmental promises. The Congressional Budget Office found that reducing carbon dioxide emissions by using ethanol costs at least $750 per ton of carbon dioxide, wildly more than other methods. What is more, making corn ethanol consumes vast quantities of water and increases smog.
Then there’s energy efficiency. Studies reach widely varying conclusions on that issue. While some show a small saving in fossil fuels, others calculate that ethanol consumes more energy than it produces.
Corn growers and other farmers have long exercised outsize influence, thanks in part to the Senate’s structural tilt toward rural states. The ethanol giveaway represents a 21st-century add-on to a dizzying patchwork of programs for farmers. Under one, corn growers receive “direct payments” — $1.75 billion in 2010 — whether they grow corn or not. Washington also subsidizes crop insurance, at a cost of another $1.75 billion last year. That may have made sense when low corn prices made farming a marginal business, but no longer.
At long last, the enormity of the nation’s budget deficit has added momentum to the forces of reason. While only a symbolic move, the Senate recently voted 73 to 27 to end ethanol subsidies. That alone helped push corn prices down to $7 per bushel. Incredibly, the White House criticized the action — could key farm states have been on the minds of the president’s advisers?
Even farm advocates like former Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman agree that the situation must be fixed. Reports filtering out of the budget talks currently under way suggest that agriculture subsidies sit prominently on the chopping block. The time is ripe."
This is just like the Big Pharma/medical industrial complex, only with corn and politics. There's money in them there ears, and politicians aim to get it no matter what they have to do or say.
I say do away with ALL crop subsidies, and let us pay what the stuff is really worth--I bet we couldn't afford most foods, but then we could go back to gardening, and eating real foods that actually count toward our overall nutrition, limiting caloric intake along the way.
We're swimming in food to the point of major support to Third World countries. Why don't we just go over there and teach THEM how to grow enough food to drown in? Then, we could export our medical industrial complex production to these same countries, and bolster our economy without ever having to poison our own populace with excess calories and carbs, and medical politics.
Funny how China is making the jump to electric cars while not even getting generationally-steeped in the gas-burners. Of course, they can probably afford to plug those cars in over there!
"FEELING the need for an example of government policy run amok? Look no further than the box of cornflakes on your kitchen shelf. In its myriad corn-related interventions, Washington has managed simultaneously to help drive up food prices and add tens of billions of dollars to the deficit, while arguably increasing energy use and harming the environment.
Even in a crowd of rising food and commodity costs, corn stands out, its price having doubled in less than a year to a record $7.87 per bushel in early June. Booming global demand has overtaken stagnant supply.
But rather than ameliorate the problem, the government has exacerbated it, reducing food supply to a hungry world. Thanks to Washington, 4 of every 10 ears of corn grown in America — the source of 40 percent of the world’s production — are shunted into ethanol, a gasoline substitute that imperceptibly nicks our energy problem. Larded onto that are $11 billion a year of government subsidies to the corn complex.
Corn is hardly some minor agricultural product for breakfast cereal. It’s America’s largest crop, dwarfing wheat and soybeans. A small portion of production goes for human consumption; about 40 percent feeds cows, pigs, turkeys and chickens. Diverting 40 percent to ethanol has disagreeable consequences for food. In just a year, the price of bacon has soared by 24 percent.
To some, the contours of the ethanol story may be familiar. Almost since Iowa — our biggest corn-producing state — grabbed the lead position in the presidential sweepstakes four decades ago, support for the biofuel has been nearly a prerequisite for politicians seeking the presidency.
Those hopefuls have seen no need for a foolish consistency. John McCain and John Kerry were against ethanol subsidies, then as candidates were for them. Having lost the presidency, Mr. McCain is now against them again. Al Gore was for ethanol before he was against it. This time, one hopeful is experimenting with counter-programming: as governor of corn-producing Minnesota, Tim Pawlenty pushed for subsidies before he embraced a “straight talk” strategy.
Eating up just a tenth of the corn crop as recently as 2004, ethanol was turbocharged by legislation in 2005 and 2007 that set specific requirements for its use in gasoline, mandating steep rises from year to year. Yet another government bureaucracy was born to enforce the quotas.
To ease the pain, Congress threw in a 45-cents-a-gallon subsidy ($6 billion a year); to add another layer of protection, it imposed a tariff on imported ethanol of 54 cents a gallon. That successfully shut off cheap imports, produced more efficiently from sugar cane, principally from Brazil.
Here is perhaps the most incredible part: Because of the subsidy, ethanol became cheaper than gasoline, and so we sent 397 million gallons of ethanol overseas last year. America is simultaneously importing costly foreign oil and subsidizing the export of its equivalent.
That’s not all. Ethanol packs less punch than gasoline and uses considerable energy in its production process. All told, each gallon of gasoline that is displaced costs the Treasury $1.78 in subsidies and lost tax revenue.
Nor does ethanol live up to its environmental promises. The Congressional Budget Office found that reducing carbon dioxide emissions by using ethanol costs at least $750 per ton of carbon dioxide, wildly more than other methods. What is more, making corn ethanol consumes vast quantities of water and increases smog.
Then there’s energy efficiency. Studies reach widely varying conclusions on that issue. While some show a small saving in fossil fuels, others calculate that ethanol consumes more energy than it produces.
Corn growers and other farmers have long exercised outsize influence, thanks in part to the Senate’s structural tilt toward rural states. The ethanol giveaway represents a 21st-century add-on to a dizzying patchwork of programs for farmers. Under one, corn growers receive “direct payments” — $1.75 billion in 2010 — whether they grow corn or not. Washington also subsidizes crop insurance, at a cost of another $1.75 billion last year. That may have made sense when low corn prices made farming a marginal business, but no longer.
At long last, the enormity of the nation’s budget deficit has added momentum to the forces of reason. While only a symbolic move, the Senate recently voted 73 to 27 to end ethanol subsidies. That alone helped push corn prices down to $7 per bushel. Incredibly, the White House criticized the action — could key farm states have been on the minds of the president’s advisers?
Even farm advocates like former Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman agree that the situation must be fixed. Reports filtering out of the budget talks currently under way suggest that agriculture subsidies sit prominently on the chopping block. The time is ripe."
This is just like the Big Pharma/medical industrial complex, only with corn and politics. There's money in them there ears, and politicians aim to get it no matter what they have to do or say.
I say do away with ALL crop subsidies, and let us pay what the stuff is really worth--I bet we couldn't afford most foods, but then we could go back to gardening, and eating real foods that actually count toward our overall nutrition, limiting caloric intake along the way.
We're swimming in food to the point of major support to Third World countries. Why don't we just go over there and teach THEM how to grow enough food to drown in? Then, we could export our medical industrial complex production to these same countries, and bolster our economy without ever having to poison our own populace with excess calories and carbs, and medical politics.
Funny how China is making the jump to electric cars while not even getting generationally-steeped in the gas-burners. Of course, they can probably afford to plug those cars in over there!
Saturday, June 25, 2011
Very Low Calorie Diet May Reverse Diabetes
From WebMD. I"m not going to publish this article, because I don't want to offend your intelligence. A restriction of calories ALWAYS reduces intake of sugar, salt, calories, etc., leading to a reduction and reversal of diseases associated with macronutrient overload.
This is my big "DUH!" moment to WebMD. If you wish to read this article, please click on the link above.
The article will not go so far as to tell you HOW a reduced calorie diet reduces diabetes, but I will: if you reduce food intake, you're certainly reducing carb intake. Reduced carb intake makes your body burn through on-board carbs first, then starts working on your fat stores, starting with internal organs (namely, the pancreas and liver--beneficial for diabetics). The more you reduce your caloric intake, the faster this process happens...but then you may starve yourself to death. Steady use of a reduced-calorie diet for a period of time will get the ball rolling, and once you've reached the fat-burning stage, you may add back calories just as long as they aren't carb calories.
This is how the Paleo diet works, only slower. By naturally selecting higher-nutrition, lower-calorie foods (like produce and organ meats), you are effectively reducing your total caloric intake without sacrifice, and without much notice. You're also reducing your total intake of carbs, which over time, makes your body burn fat for energy instead of carbs (because it isn't getting enough to live on any more).
You may have read or heard about the much-hyped HCG diet, where you get daily shots of a female hormone that mimicks pregnancy, coupled with a 500-calorie diet. Yes, people are losing tons of weight right, left, and sideways on this diet, but the shots can cost hundreds, and aren't covered by insurance.
What you won't read about this diet: it works even without the shots, but just on the 500-calorie diet for the reason I outlined above. Less calories and carbs IN means less calories and carbs ON. The shots are merely a money-maker for the doctors. Birth control pills should accomplish the same thing if you can take them.
The horrible truth to be seen from all this is that the 1200 calories a day recommendation we've all been getting from our lovely government may be twice what some of us need each day. 800 calories daily is supposed to be a starvation diet, but is it really when you're 100 lbs. or more overweight, and have plenty of nutrient-filled fat reserves to sustain you for months or even years?
Ethiopians probably don't even get 800 calories in a day, unless they live off of UN relief supplies, which are high-carb and low-nutrient.
Using foods high in fiber and nutrients, 800 calories a day can be quite filling, and so can 500 calories/day. It saves calories, money, prep/cooking time, energy (both personal and utility), and food storage space as well as your life if you need to use it.
This is my big "DUH!" moment to WebMD. If you wish to read this article, please click on the link above.
The article will not go so far as to tell you HOW a reduced calorie diet reduces diabetes, but I will: if you reduce food intake, you're certainly reducing carb intake. Reduced carb intake makes your body burn through on-board carbs first, then starts working on your fat stores, starting with internal organs (namely, the pancreas and liver--beneficial for diabetics). The more you reduce your caloric intake, the faster this process happens...but then you may starve yourself to death. Steady use of a reduced-calorie diet for a period of time will get the ball rolling, and once you've reached the fat-burning stage, you may add back calories just as long as they aren't carb calories.
This is how the Paleo diet works, only slower. By naturally selecting higher-nutrition, lower-calorie foods (like produce and organ meats), you are effectively reducing your total caloric intake without sacrifice, and without much notice. You're also reducing your total intake of carbs, which over time, makes your body burn fat for energy instead of carbs (because it isn't getting enough to live on any more).
You may have read or heard about the much-hyped HCG diet, where you get daily shots of a female hormone that mimicks pregnancy, coupled with a 500-calorie diet. Yes, people are losing tons of weight right, left, and sideways on this diet, but the shots can cost hundreds, and aren't covered by insurance.
What you won't read about this diet: it works even without the shots, but just on the 500-calorie diet for the reason I outlined above. Less calories and carbs IN means less calories and carbs ON. The shots are merely a money-maker for the doctors. Birth control pills should accomplish the same thing if you can take them.
The horrible truth to be seen from all this is that the 1200 calories a day recommendation we've all been getting from our lovely government may be twice what some of us need each day. 800 calories daily is supposed to be a starvation diet, but is it really when you're 100 lbs. or more overweight, and have plenty of nutrient-filled fat reserves to sustain you for months or even years?
Ethiopians probably don't even get 800 calories in a day, unless they live off of UN relief supplies, which are high-carb and low-nutrient.
Using foods high in fiber and nutrients, 800 calories a day can be quite filling, and so can 500 calories/day. It saves calories, money, prep/cooking time, energy (both personal and utility), and food storage space as well as your life if you need to use it.
More Autism Diagnoses in High-Tech Areas
From Yahoo Health. I'm guessing it may be for three reasons: 1. Tech workers are apt to have better health coverage, so more "billable" diagnoses are made, or 2. tech worker families rely on convenience foods more heavily than their lesser counterparts because they can afford them, or 3. exposure to silicon, and whatever other substances/chemicals are used in the high-tech industry. It could even be all three working together.
"Autism experts have long noted that they meet a lot of engineers and computer programmers who have autistic children compared to, say, salespeople. A new study suggests there may be merit to those observations.
Researchers from Cambridge University in England found that nearly three times as many children were diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder in a region of the Netherlands known as a center of high-tech industry than in two other regions with fewer high-tech jobs.
The possible explanation: Autism is highly heritable -- meaning, it runs in families -- and has a strong genetic component related to a trait called "systemizing," which is a skill for analyzing how systems work and creating them. Workers in high-tech industries -- engineering and computing, for example -- tend to excel at systemizing.
"The theory is that people with autism may have a relative strength in systemizing, or the drive to analyze how systems work, how systems behave, how you can control them and build new ones," said study co-author Rosa Hoekstra, a visiting scientist with the Autism Research Center at Cambridge and an assistant professor of psychology at the Open University in Milton Keynes, England. "In the engineer or physicist or mathematician, these traits are advantageous, but it might cause difficulties in the children and show up as a clinical diagnosis of autism."
Some parents of autistic children have personality traits that are similar to those of autistic people, though not to the degree that they would be considered autistic, she added.
"They can function in society, but they have some personality or cognitive characteristics that are consistent with autism, such as a real preference for routines, or some social difficulties," Hoekstra said.
The study, published June 17 online in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, has implications for the distribution of services to autistic children, the authors said.
For the study, researchers asked schools in three regions of the Netherlands -- Eindhoven, Haarlem and Utrecht -- for statistics on children with an autism spectrum disorder. Children with autism often struggle with communication and social interactions, exhibit repetitive behaviors and have strong but narrow interests.
All three regions are similar in population size and socioeconomics, but Eindhoven is the Netherland's information technology hub. It's home to Eindhoven University of Technology, the High Tech Campus Eindhoven, and several technology companies, including Philips, ASML, IBM and ATOS Origin.
About 30 percent of jobs in Eindhoven are in technology or ICT compared to 16 percent in Haarlem and 17 percent in Utrecht.
The schools provided diagnostic information on more than 62,500 children. About 2.3 percent (or 229 for every 10,000) children in Eindhoven had autism, almost three times as many as in Haarlem (84 per 10,000) and four times as many as in Utrecht (57 per 10,000).
The rate in the United States is estimated to be about 1 percent.
Dr. Gary Goldstein, president and CEO of the Kennedy Krieger Institute in Baltimore, said the findings mirror his experiences with parents of autistic children. "I haven't met that many high-end people in sales with children with autism, but I met all these very successful people in the backroom processing the data," he said.
And while a doubling or a tripling of the risk is "enormous" in statistical terms, parents should also rest assured that it still means the vast majority of children -- 98 percent -- born to engineers or high-tech types will not have autism.
Researchers acknowledged their study had limitations, including the possibility that parents in the high-tech region were more attuned to the signs of autism and that the kids were more likely to be diagnosed, and that they relied on numbers from the schools but were unable to examine the kids themselves.
They are planning a follow-up study to test for other factors that might explain their finding.
Prior research has found that the mothers of children with autism are more likely to work in highly technical occupations, that autism is more common among the siblings of mathematics students, and that autism is more common among children who have fathers or grandfathers who worked as engineers, according to background information in the study.
"This suggests some link between a talent for systemizing and autism," Hoekstra said."
If you notice the autism cycle chart above, it has an acidic blood pH entry, which can be normalized with more fruits and vegetables in the diet, as well as additional calcium. Produce acts as a detox for most built-up toxins, but chelation therapy may be required for stuff not affected by the food detox. The Paleo diet would go a long way in eliminating toxic levels of sugar, sodium, and other harmful levels of buildup, but stuff someone may be exposed to at a computer chip factory or a science lab could need something stronger, then a maintenance diet similar to the Paleo diet.
I do know that autism and Alzheimer's are related, and sugar is the common denominator. Both may be symptoms of toxin overloads.
"Autism experts have long noted that they meet a lot of engineers and computer programmers who have autistic children compared to, say, salespeople. A new study suggests there may be merit to those observations.
Researchers from Cambridge University in England found that nearly three times as many children were diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder in a region of the Netherlands known as a center of high-tech industry than in two other regions with fewer high-tech jobs.
The possible explanation: Autism is highly heritable -- meaning, it runs in families -- and has a strong genetic component related to a trait called "systemizing," which is a skill for analyzing how systems work and creating them. Workers in high-tech industries -- engineering and computing, for example -- tend to excel at systemizing.
"The theory is that people with autism may have a relative strength in systemizing, or the drive to analyze how systems work, how systems behave, how you can control them and build new ones," said study co-author Rosa Hoekstra, a visiting scientist with the Autism Research Center at Cambridge and an assistant professor of psychology at the Open University in Milton Keynes, England. "In the engineer or physicist or mathematician, these traits are advantageous, but it might cause difficulties in the children and show up as a clinical diagnosis of autism."
Some parents of autistic children have personality traits that are similar to those of autistic people, though not to the degree that they would be considered autistic, she added.
"They can function in society, but they have some personality or cognitive characteristics that are consistent with autism, such as a real preference for routines, or some social difficulties," Hoekstra said.
The study, published June 17 online in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, has implications for the distribution of services to autistic children, the authors said.
For the study, researchers asked schools in three regions of the Netherlands -- Eindhoven, Haarlem and Utrecht -- for statistics on children with an autism spectrum disorder. Children with autism often struggle with communication and social interactions, exhibit repetitive behaviors and have strong but narrow interests.
All three regions are similar in population size and socioeconomics, but Eindhoven is the Netherland's information technology hub. It's home to Eindhoven University of Technology, the High Tech Campus Eindhoven, and several technology companies, including Philips, ASML, IBM and ATOS Origin.
About 30 percent of jobs in Eindhoven are in technology or ICT compared to 16 percent in Haarlem and 17 percent in Utrecht.
The schools provided diagnostic information on more than 62,500 children. About 2.3 percent (or 229 for every 10,000) children in Eindhoven had autism, almost three times as many as in Haarlem (84 per 10,000) and four times as many as in Utrecht (57 per 10,000).
The rate in the United States is estimated to be about 1 percent.
Dr. Gary Goldstein, president and CEO of the Kennedy Krieger Institute in Baltimore, said the findings mirror his experiences with parents of autistic children. "I haven't met that many high-end people in sales with children with autism, but I met all these very successful people in the backroom processing the data," he said.
And while a doubling or a tripling of the risk is "enormous" in statistical terms, parents should also rest assured that it still means the vast majority of children -- 98 percent -- born to engineers or high-tech types will not have autism.
Researchers acknowledged their study had limitations, including the possibility that parents in the high-tech region were more attuned to the signs of autism and that the kids were more likely to be diagnosed, and that they relied on numbers from the schools but were unable to examine the kids themselves.
They are planning a follow-up study to test for other factors that might explain their finding.
Prior research has found that the mothers of children with autism are more likely to work in highly technical occupations, that autism is more common among the siblings of mathematics students, and that autism is more common among children who have fathers or grandfathers who worked as engineers, according to background information in the study.
"This suggests some link between a talent for systemizing and autism," Hoekstra said."
If you notice the autism cycle chart above, it has an acidic blood pH entry, which can be normalized with more fruits and vegetables in the diet, as well as additional calcium. Produce acts as a detox for most built-up toxins, but chelation therapy may be required for stuff not affected by the food detox. The Paleo diet would go a long way in eliminating toxic levels of sugar, sodium, and other harmful levels of buildup, but stuff someone may be exposed to at a computer chip factory or a science lab could need something stronger, then a maintenance diet similar to the Paleo diet.
I do know that autism and Alzheimer's are related, and sugar is the common denominator. Both may be symptoms of toxin overloads.
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Quality of Food Affects Weight Loss
From the Times of India.
"What you eat is said to have a greater impact on weight gain than other lifestyle factors such as exercise, a TV couch-potato existence or the amount of sleep you get each night.
Experts at Harvard School of Public Health in America revealed that small lifestyle changes can make all the difference to staying in shape rather than becoming overweight or obese.
But they said focusing on calories alone would not keep you slim.Instead, the best way to stay a healthy weight is eat nutritious and filling foods of good quality, especially when it comes to carbohydrates.
"An average adult gains about 1lb per year. Because the weight gain is so gradual and occurs over many years, it has been difficult for scientists and for individuals themselves to understand the specific factors that may be responsible," the Daily Express quoted study co-author Dr Dariush Mozaffaria as saying.
"Small dietary and other lifestyle changes can together make a big difference – for bad or good. This makes it easy to gain weight unintentionally, but also demonstrates the tremendous opportunity for prevention.
A handful of the right lifestyle changes will go a long way," Mozaffaria said.
The findings have been published in the New England Journal of Medicine."
Organ meats
Higher quality foods usually mean more fiber and improved nutrition.
"What you eat is said to have a greater impact on weight gain than other lifestyle factors such as exercise, a TV couch-potato existence or the amount of sleep you get each night.
Experts at Harvard School of Public Health in America revealed that small lifestyle changes can make all the difference to staying in shape rather than becoming overweight or obese.
But they said focusing on calories alone would not keep you slim.Instead, the best way to stay a healthy weight is eat nutritious and filling foods of good quality, especially when it comes to carbohydrates.
"An average adult gains about 1lb per year. Because the weight gain is so gradual and occurs over many years, it has been difficult for scientists and for individuals themselves to understand the specific factors that may be responsible," the Daily Express quoted study co-author Dr Dariush Mozaffaria as saying.
"Small dietary and other lifestyle changes can together make a big difference – for bad or good. This makes it easy to gain weight unintentionally, but also demonstrates the tremendous opportunity for prevention.
A handful of the right lifestyle changes will go a long way," Mozaffaria said.
The findings have been published in the New England Journal of Medicine."
To Salt , or Not to Salt--That is the Question
From Healthwise.
"A new eight year long European study concludes that salt consumption is not dangerous and may in fact be beneficial. This is certainly contrary to advice from American Medical Association, American Heart Association and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, which says higher sodium consumption can increase the risk of heart disease. It’s not unusual to see differing opinions, but what are we ordinary folks to make of the controversy?
The study followed 3,681 middle-aged Europeans who did not have high blood pressure or heart disease at the start of the study. They were divided into three groups: low salt; moderate salt; and high salt consumption. There were 50 deaths in the low salt group, 24 in the moderate consumption group and only 10 in the high consumption group. In fact, the heart disease risk in the low consumption group was 56% higher in the low salt group. What they concluded was that the less salt the participants ate, the more likely they would die from heart disease.
“The optimal level of salt in our diets has been a controversial subject for at least 20 years,” say co-authors Dian Griesel, Ph.D. and Tom Griesel of the new book, TurboCharged: Accelerate Your Fat Burning Metabolism, Get Lean Fast and Leave Diet and Exercise Rules in the Dust (BSH, 2011). The problem they say generally boils down to the effect (or lack thereof) salt has on blood pressure.
Wench's note: after checking this book out on Amazon's "search this book" feature, this method is very similar to the Paleo diet, but with milder exercises.
“There is no disagreement that high blood pressure (even moderately high) is a risk factor for heart disease and stroke,” say the Griesels. “However, salt consumption does not seem to have the same effect on everyone. In addition, there is usually no distinction on the type of salt used. There are many naturally harvested salts that also contain many trace minerals, which undoubtedly have an effect. Medical literature on salt consumption (like many other things) is inconsistent.”
The main take away from all this is the importance of knowing what your blood pressure is and making an effort to do whatever is necessary to have consistent readings in the healthy range of 120/70 or less. If you are a person who is sensitive to salt consumption, a reduction is definitely needed or perhaps even a switch to a natural alternative like sea salt might help. But beware of hidden salt. The biggest source of salt in our diet is the refined and processed foods purchased at the grocery store along with food served in restaurants, particularly fast-food which amounts to about 75% of salt consumption for the average person."
All things are individual--if you have high blood sugar, you're sensitive to sugar in all forms. If you have hypertension, you're sensitive to salt in all forms. There are no maximum levels set for the general population, but there are maximums for sensitive people: no more than 6 grams/serving for sugar, and no more than 500mg./day for salt. These should serve as minimums for normal people.
Merely eating real foods will do wonders for lowering your intake of both salt and sugar. You shouldn't have to add sugar and salt to it. If you do to make it palatable, quit eating/drinking it!
SUGAR IS THE ROOT CAUSE OF HEART DISEASE, NOT SALT!!
"A new eight year long European study concludes that salt consumption is not dangerous and may in fact be beneficial. This is certainly contrary to advice from American Medical Association, American Heart Association and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, which says higher sodium consumption can increase the risk of heart disease. It’s not unusual to see differing opinions, but what are we ordinary folks to make of the controversy?
The study followed 3,681 middle-aged Europeans who did not have high blood pressure or heart disease at the start of the study. They were divided into three groups: low salt; moderate salt; and high salt consumption. There were 50 deaths in the low salt group, 24 in the moderate consumption group and only 10 in the high consumption group. In fact, the heart disease risk in the low consumption group was 56% higher in the low salt group. What they concluded was that the less salt the participants ate, the more likely they would die from heart disease.
“The optimal level of salt in our diets has been a controversial subject for at least 20 years,” say co-authors Dian Griesel, Ph.D. and Tom Griesel of the new book, TurboCharged: Accelerate Your Fat Burning Metabolism, Get Lean Fast and Leave Diet and Exercise Rules in the Dust (BSH, 2011). The problem they say generally boils down to the effect (or lack thereof) salt has on blood pressure.
Wench's note: after checking this book out on Amazon's "search this book" feature, this method is very similar to the Paleo diet, but with milder exercises.
“There is no disagreement that high blood pressure (even moderately high) is a risk factor for heart disease and stroke,” say the Griesels. “However, salt consumption does not seem to have the same effect on everyone. In addition, there is usually no distinction on the type of salt used. There are many naturally harvested salts that also contain many trace minerals, which undoubtedly have an effect. Medical literature on salt consumption (like many other things) is inconsistent.”
The main take away from all this is the importance of knowing what your blood pressure is and making an effort to do whatever is necessary to have consistent readings in the healthy range of 120/70 or less. If you are a person who is sensitive to salt consumption, a reduction is definitely needed or perhaps even a switch to a natural alternative like sea salt might help. But beware of hidden salt. The biggest source of salt in our diet is the refined and processed foods purchased at the grocery store along with food served in restaurants, particularly fast-food which amounts to about 75% of salt consumption for the average person."
All things are individual--if you have high blood sugar, you're sensitive to sugar in all forms. If you have hypertension, you're sensitive to salt in all forms. There are no maximum levels set for the general population, but there are maximums for sensitive people: no more than 6 grams/serving for sugar, and no more than 500mg./day for salt. These should serve as minimums for normal people.
Merely eating real foods will do wonders for lowering your intake of both salt and sugar. You shouldn't have to add sugar and salt to it. If you do to make it palatable, quit eating/drinking it!
SUGAR IS THE ROOT CAUSE OF HEART DISEASE, NOT SALT!!
Prison Inmates Take Advantage of Jail Gardening Classes
From WFIE-14 (KY).
"Inmates in Hopkins Co. are getting a chance to gain some life skills. A new program is teaching them the art of gardening.
"I've never raised a garden quite this big but I'm learning a lot more things now than I ever have," says inmate Scotty Parrot.
Parrott is part of the Master's Gardner program and says every week, he can't wait to learn about all things horticulture, including planting the jail's very own tomato garden.
"We're starting to see a little bit of the fruit produced from the work we've done, so that's kind of a benefit that we're learning. You know if you work hard for something it'll produce."
Each week is a different topic. Classes range from basic botany, to plant diseases, to landscape design.
Hopkins Co. Horticulture Extension Agent Andy Rideout says teaching is the main priority.
"We try to give them an overall picture of horticulture in general and it's skill sets basically."
One main project is maintaining the jail's tomato garden. As the fruit grows, the jail uses them for meals and so does the community.
"The excess, they give to Salvation Army or to local charities and so forth."
Rideout says the county sees another benefit through the program because inmates use their skills to spruce areas around town.
"It plays a huge effect on drawing in industries and drawing in quality people to live and work in Madisonville."
At the end of the 12-week program, each inmate will test to receive their master Gardner's certificate giving them opportunities to work at vegetable gardens, golf courses, or other landscaping businesses.
Parrott says he can't wait to see where these skills will take him."
Does this mean the prison will become self-sufficient when it comes to food and taxpayer dollars? Does this mean ALL prisons (except SuperMax ones) have the ability to become more self-sufficient when it comes to food and taxpayer dollars?
Now they can finally do something to earn their keep besides stamping out license plates, sewing prison garb, and picking up trash on the side of the road for pennies a day...to buy cigarettes with. Better nutrition through better foods means better thinking and impulse control, and less mental illness, which is what got most of these folks in prison to begin with.
I think we may be looking at our answer to illegal farm worker shortages. If these prisoners are learning to garden, and coming out of jail/prison with gardening/horticulture certification, there's no reason why they can't go to work in the fields to help bring this country's economy back!
"Inmates in Hopkins Co. are getting a chance to gain some life skills. A new program is teaching them the art of gardening.
"I've never raised a garden quite this big but I'm learning a lot more things now than I ever have," says inmate Scotty Parrot.
Parrott is part of the Master's Gardner program and says every week, he can't wait to learn about all things horticulture, including planting the jail's very own tomato garden.
"We're starting to see a little bit of the fruit produced from the work we've done, so that's kind of a benefit that we're learning. You know if you work hard for something it'll produce."
Each week is a different topic. Classes range from basic botany, to plant diseases, to landscape design.
Hopkins Co. Horticulture Extension Agent Andy Rideout says teaching is the main priority.
"We try to give them an overall picture of horticulture in general and it's skill sets basically."
One main project is maintaining the jail's tomato garden. As the fruit grows, the jail uses them for meals and so does the community.
"The excess, they give to Salvation Army or to local charities and so forth."
Rideout says the county sees another benefit through the program because inmates use their skills to spruce areas around town.
"It plays a huge effect on drawing in industries and drawing in quality people to live and work in Madisonville."
At the end of the 12-week program, each inmate will test to receive their master Gardner's certificate giving them opportunities to work at vegetable gardens, golf courses, or other landscaping businesses.
Parrott says he can't wait to see where these skills will take him."
Does this mean the prison will become self-sufficient when it comes to food and taxpayer dollars? Does this mean ALL prisons (except SuperMax ones) have the ability to become more self-sufficient when it comes to food and taxpayer dollars?
Now they can finally do something to earn their keep besides stamping out license plates, sewing prison garb, and picking up trash on the side of the road for pennies a day...to buy cigarettes with. Better nutrition through better foods means better thinking and impulse control, and less mental illness, which is what got most of these folks in prison to begin with.
I think we may be looking at our answer to illegal farm worker shortages. If these prisoners are learning to garden, and coming out of jail/prison with gardening/horticulture certification, there's no reason why they can't go to work in the fields to help bring this country's economy back!
Simple Saliva Test Can Determine Your "Real" Age
From HealthDay News. Great--so when is it coming to a drug store near me?
"A new test that uses a saliva sample to predict a person's age within a five-year range could prove useful in solving crimes and improving patient care, University of California, Los Angeles geneticists say.
Their test focuses on a process called methylation, a chemical modification of one of the four building blocks that make up DNA.
"While genes partly shape how our body ages, environmental influences also can change our DNA as we age. Methylation patterns shift as we grow older and contribute to aging-related disease," principal investigator Dr. Eric Vilain, a professor of human genetics, pediatrics and urology, said in a UCLA news release.
He and his colleagues analyzed saliva samples from 34 pairs of identical male twins, aged 21 to 55, and identified 88 sites on their DNA that strongly linked methylation to age. They replicated their findings in 31 men and 29 women, aged 18 to 70, in the general population.
The team then created a predictive model using two of the three genes with the strongest age-related link to methylation. When they entered the data from the saliva samples taken from the twins and people in the other group, the test correctly predicted their ages within five years.
"Methylation's relationship with age is so strong that we can identify how old someone is by examining just two of the 3 billion building blocks that make up our genome," study author Sven Bocklandt, a former UCLA geneticist now at Bioline, said in the university release.
The research appears online June 22 in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Physicians might use this test to evaluate patients' risk of age-related diseases, the researchers suggested.
"Doctors could predict your medical risk for a particular disease and customize treatment based on your DNA's true biological age, as opposed to how old you are," Vilain said. "By eliminating costly and unnecessary tests, we could target those patients who really need them."
In addition, police could test traces of saliva found at a crime scene, such as that on a coffee cup or cigarette, to get an idea of a criminal suspect's age."
I see the risk of discrimination here. Soon, when you go for a job interview, you'll be asked to pee in a cup for drug testing, then open your mouth for a cheek swab to determine your potential health insurance load on the employer, or if you're even eligible for health insurance.
So what IS methylation in the first place? I'll show you.
From Lupus Girl: "Methylation is a key biochemical process that is essential for the proper function of almost all of your body's systems. It occurs billions of times every second; it helps repair your DNA on a daily basis; it controls homocysteine (an unhealthy compound that can damage blood vessels); it helps recycle molecules needed for detoxification; and it helps maintain mood and keep inflammation in check.
To keep methylation running smoothly you need optimal levels of B vitamins. Without enough B vitamins methylation breaks down, and the results can be catastrophic. In these cases we see more birth defects like spina bifida (as with the Chinese babies), more cases of Down's syndrome, and more miscarriage.
A breakdown in methylation also puts you at higher risk for conditions like osteoporosis, diabetes, cervical dysplasia and cancer, colon cancer, lung cancer, depression, pediatric cognitive dysfunction ( mood and other behavioral disorders), dementia, and stroke. And like Mr. Roberts and Mr. McNally, you may be at higher risk for cardiovascular disease.
To avoid all of these problems, the key is to maximize methylation. That means avoiding the things that cause your methylation to break down, testing to find out how well your methylation is working, and including the things that support proper methylation. Let’s look at how to do that. To find out if your methylation process is optimal, ask your doctor for the following tests:
1. Complete blood count. Large red blood cells or anemia can be a sign of poor methylation. Red blood cells with a mean corpuscular volume (MCV) greater than 95 can signal a methylation problem.
2. Homocysteine (also known as C-reactive protein). This is one of the most important tests you can ask for. The normal level is less than 13, but the ideal level is likely between 6 and 8.
3. Serum or urinary methylmalonic acid. This is a more specific test for vitamin B12 insufficiency. Your levels may be elevated even if you have a normal serum vitamin B12 or homocysteine level.
4. Specific urinary amino acids. These can be used to look for unusual metabolism disorders involving vitamins B6 or B12 or folate, which may not show up just by checking methylmalonic acid or homocysteine.
Just as there are many causes of poor methylation, there are lots of things that support its proper functioning. Here's how to maximize methylation -- and prevent conditions like heart disease, cancer, dementia, depression, and more:
1. Eat more dark, leafy greens. You want to eat at least l cup a day of vegetables like bok choy, escarole, Swiss chard, kale, watercress, spinach, or dandelion, mustard, collard, or beet greens. These are among the most abundant sources of the nutrients needed for optimal methylation.
2. Get more Bs in your diet. Good food sources include sunflower seeds and wheat germ (vitamin B6); fish and eggs (vitamin B6 and B12); cheese (B12); beans and walnuts (vitamin B6 and folate); leafy dark green vegetables; asparagus, almonds, and whole grains (folate); and liver (all three).
Wench's note: I take a B-50 complex.
3. Minimize animal protein, sugar, and saturated fat. Animal protein directly increases homocysteine. Sugar and saturated fat deplete your body's vitamin stores.
Wench's note: Homocysteine is a measure of inflammation in the system, and if you eat enough Omega-3 and anti-inflammatory foods in your diet, homocysteine isn't an issue, so you can eat your meat and saturated fat, as long as it contains an Omega-3 component, like grass-fed meats, avocados, macadamias, and coconut.
4. Avoid processed foods and canned foods. These are depleted in vitamins.
5. Avoid caffeine. Excess amounts can deplete your B vitamin levels.
6. Limit alcohol to 3 drinks a week. More than this can deplete your B vitamin levels.
7. Don't smoke. As noted above, smoking inactivates vitamin B6.
8. Avoid medications that interfere with methylation.
9. Keep the bacteria in your gut healthy. Take probiotic supplements and use other measures to make sure the bacteria in your gut are healthy so you can properly absorb the vitamins you do get.
10. Improve stomach acid. Use herbal digestives (bitters) or taking supplemental HCl.
Wench's note: I use a product called Pancreatin, which contains all types of digestives to dissolve all kinds of foods. Some digestives only handle fruit, while others handle fat, and still others are for protein. Pancreatin is an all-in-one that handles everything. The older you get, the less digestive juices you produce on your own, so call in the cavalry when you need it.
11. Take supplements that prevent damage from homocysteine. Antioxidants protect you from homocysteine damage. Also make sure you support methylation with supplements like magnesium and zinc.
Wench's note: if you eat enough Omega-3s in the form of fish, anti-inflammatory produce, and macadamias, you don't really need supplements. If you want a supplement on top of all this, take fish oil. Use aspirin and stronger drugs as a last resort. A multivitamin should provide you with sufficient magnesium and zinc, but if not, consider 500 mg. magnesium supplements. Zinc is too easy to overdose on, so I don't recommend supplementing for it unless you have specific needs.
12. Supplement to help support proper homocysteine metabolism. Talk to your doctor to determine the best doses and forms for you. Here are a few suggestions:
• Folate (folic acid): Amounts can vary based on individual needs from 200 mcg to 1 mg. Some people may also need to take preformed folate (folinic acid or 5 formylTHF) to bypass some of the steps in activating folic acid.
• Vitamin B6: Take 2 to 5 mg a day. Some people may need up to 250 mg or even special "active" B6 (pyridoxyl-5-phosphate) to achieve the greatest effect. Doses higher than 500 mg may cause nerve injury.
• Vitamin B12: Doses of 500 mcg may be needed to protect against heart disease. Oral vitamin B12 isn't well absorbed; you may need up to 1 or 2 mg daily. Ask your doctor about B12 shots.
Wench's note: sublingual B-12 pills or drops that bypass the digestive issues are widely available at health food stores or online.
• Betaine: This amino acid derivative is needed in doses from 500 to 3,000 mg a day, depending on the person."
If you eat a good produce-rich diet, add a few odd supplements here and there, and mind your Omega-3s, you can safely skip this saliva test, it turns out. Your methylation should be just fine.
"A new test that uses a saliva sample to predict a person's age within a five-year range could prove useful in solving crimes and improving patient care, University of California, Los Angeles geneticists say.
Their test focuses on a process called methylation, a chemical modification of one of the four building blocks that make up DNA.
"While genes partly shape how our body ages, environmental influences also can change our DNA as we age. Methylation patterns shift as we grow older and contribute to aging-related disease," principal investigator Dr. Eric Vilain, a professor of human genetics, pediatrics and urology, said in a UCLA news release.
He and his colleagues analyzed saliva samples from 34 pairs of identical male twins, aged 21 to 55, and identified 88 sites on their DNA that strongly linked methylation to age. They replicated their findings in 31 men and 29 women, aged 18 to 70, in the general population.
The team then created a predictive model using two of the three genes with the strongest age-related link to methylation. When they entered the data from the saliva samples taken from the twins and people in the other group, the test correctly predicted their ages within five years.
"Methylation's relationship with age is so strong that we can identify how old someone is by examining just two of the 3 billion building blocks that make up our genome," study author Sven Bocklandt, a former UCLA geneticist now at Bioline, said in the university release.
The research appears online June 22 in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Physicians might use this test to evaluate patients' risk of age-related diseases, the researchers suggested.
"Doctors could predict your medical risk for a particular disease and customize treatment based on your DNA's true biological age, as opposed to how old you are," Vilain said. "By eliminating costly and unnecessary tests, we could target those patients who really need them."
In addition, police could test traces of saliva found at a crime scene, such as that on a coffee cup or cigarette, to get an idea of a criminal suspect's age."
I see the risk of discrimination here. Soon, when you go for a job interview, you'll be asked to pee in a cup for drug testing, then open your mouth for a cheek swab to determine your potential health insurance load on the employer, or if you're even eligible for health insurance.
So what IS methylation in the first place? I'll show you.
To keep methylation running smoothly you need optimal levels of B vitamins. Without enough B vitamins methylation breaks down, and the results can be catastrophic. In these cases we see more birth defects like spina bifida (as with the Chinese babies), more cases of Down's syndrome, and more miscarriage.
A breakdown in methylation also puts you at higher risk for conditions like osteoporosis, diabetes, cervical dysplasia and cancer, colon cancer, lung cancer, depression, pediatric cognitive dysfunction ( mood and other behavioral disorders), dementia, and stroke. And like Mr. Roberts and Mr. McNally, you may be at higher risk for cardiovascular disease.
To avoid all of these problems, the key is to maximize methylation. That means avoiding the things that cause your methylation to break down, testing to find out how well your methylation is working, and including the things that support proper methylation. Let’s look at how to do that. To find out if your methylation process is optimal, ask your doctor for the following tests:
1. Complete blood count. Large red blood cells or anemia can be a sign of poor methylation. Red blood cells with a mean corpuscular volume (MCV) greater than 95 can signal a methylation problem.
2. Homocysteine (also known as C-reactive protein). This is one of the most important tests you can ask for. The normal level is less than 13, but the ideal level is likely between 6 and 8.
3. Serum or urinary methylmalonic acid. This is a more specific test for vitamin B12 insufficiency. Your levels may be elevated even if you have a normal serum vitamin B12 or homocysteine level.
4. Specific urinary amino acids. These can be used to look for unusual metabolism disorders involving vitamins B6 or B12 or folate, which may not show up just by checking methylmalonic acid or homocysteine.
Just as there are many causes of poor methylation, there are lots of things that support its proper functioning. Here's how to maximize methylation -- and prevent conditions like heart disease, cancer, dementia, depression, and more:
1. Eat more dark, leafy greens. You want to eat at least l cup a day of vegetables like bok choy, escarole, Swiss chard, kale, watercress, spinach, or dandelion, mustard, collard, or beet greens. These are among the most abundant sources of the nutrients needed for optimal methylation.
2. Get more Bs in your diet. Good food sources include sunflower seeds and wheat germ (vitamin B6); fish and eggs (vitamin B6 and B12); cheese (B12); beans and walnuts (vitamin B6 and folate); leafy dark green vegetables; asparagus, almonds, and whole grains (folate); and liver (all three).
Wench's note: I take a B-50 complex.
3. Minimize animal protein, sugar, and saturated fat. Animal protein directly increases homocysteine. Sugar and saturated fat deplete your body's vitamin stores.
Wench's note: Homocysteine is a measure of inflammation in the system, and if you eat enough Omega-3 and anti-inflammatory foods in your diet, homocysteine isn't an issue, so you can eat your meat and saturated fat, as long as it contains an Omega-3 component, like grass-fed meats, avocados, macadamias, and coconut.
4. Avoid processed foods and canned foods. These are depleted in vitamins.
5. Avoid caffeine. Excess amounts can deplete your B vitamin levels.
6. Limit alcohol to 3 drinks a week. More than this can deplete your B vitamin levels.
7. Don't smoke. As noted above, smoking inactivates vitamin B6.
8. Avoid medications that interfere with methylation.
9. Keep the bacteria in your gut healthy. Take probiotic supplements and use other measures to make sure the bacteria in your gut are healthy so you can properly absorb the vitamins you do get.
10. Improve stomach acid. Use herbal digestives (bitters) or taking supplemental HCl.
Wench's note: I use a product called Pancreatin, which contains all types of digestives to dissolve all kinds of foods. Some digestives only handle fruit, while others handle fat, and still others are for protein. Pancreatin is an all-in-one that handles everything. The older you get, the less digestive juices you produce on your own, so call in the cavalry when you need it.
11. Take supplements that prevent damage from homocysteine. Antioxidants protect you from homocysteine damage. Also make sure you support methylation with supplements like magnesium and zinc.
Wench's note: if you eat enough Omega-3s in the form of fish, anti-inflammatory produce, and macadamias, you don't really need supplements. If you want a supplement on top of all this, take fish oil. Use aspirin and stronger drugs as a last resort. A multivitamin should provide you with sufficient magnesium and zinc, but if not, consider 500 mg. magnesium supplements. Zinc is too easy to overdose on, so I don't recommend supplementing for it unless you have specific needs.
12. Supplement to help support proper homocysteine metabolism. Talk to your doctor to determine the best doses and forms for you. Here are a few suggestions:
• Folate (folic acid): Amounts can vary based on individual needs from 200 mcg to 1 mg. Some people may also need to take preformed folate (folinic acid or 5 formylTHF) to bypass some of the steps in activating folic acid.
• Vitamin B6: Take 2 to 5 mg a day. Some people may need up to 250 mg or even special "active" B6 (pyridoxyl-5-phosphate) to achieve the greatest effect. Doses higher than 500 mg may cause nerve injury.
• Vitamin B12: Doses of 500 mcg may be needed to protect against heart disease. Oral vitamin B12 isn't well absorbed; you may need up to 1 or 2 mg daily. Ask your doctor about B12 shots.
Wench's note: sublingual B-12 pills or drops that bypass the digestive issues are widely available at health food stores or online.
• Betaine: This amino acid derivative is needed in doses from 500 to 3,000 mg a day, depending on the person."
If you eat a good produce-rich diet, add a few odd supplements here and there, and mind your Omega-3s, you can safely skip this saliva test, it turns out. Your methylation should be just fine.
Potato Chips are Piling on the Pounds, Study Finds
From Yahoo Health. I was just looking this up yesterday--it has to do with "resistant starches."
"Blame the potato chip. It's the biggest demon behind that pound-a-year weight creep that plagues many of us, a major diet study found. Bigger than soda, candy and ice cream.
And the reason is partly that old advertising cliche: You can't eat just one.
"They're very tasty and they have a very good texture. People generally don't take one or two chips. They have a whole bag," said obesity expert Dr. F. Xavier Pi-Sunyer of the St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital Center in New York.
What we eat and how much of it we consume has far more impact than exercise and most other habits do on long-term weight gain, according to the study by Harvard University scientists. It's the most comprehensive look yet at the effect of individual foods and lifestyle choices like sleep time and quitting smoking.
The results are in Thursday's New England Journal of Medicine.
Weight problems are epidemic. Two-thirds of American adults are overweight or obese. Childhood obesity has tripled in the past three decades. Pounds often are packed on gradually over decades, and many people struggle to limit weight gain without realizing what's causing it.
The new study finds food choices are key. The message: Eat more fruits, vegetables, whole grains and nuts. Cut back on potatoes, red meat, sweets and soda.
"There is no magic bullet for weight control," said one study leader, Dr. Frank Hu. "Diet and exercise are important for preventing weight gain, but diet clearly plays a bigger role."
Doctors analyzed changes in diet and lifestyle habits of 120,877 people from three long-running medical studies. All were health professionals and not obese at the start. Their weight was measured every four years for up to two decades, and they detailed their diet on questionnaires.
On average, participants gained nearly 17 pounds over the 20-year period.
For each four-year period, food choices contributed nearly 4 pounds. Exercise, for those who did it, cut less than 2 pounds.
Potato chips were the biggest dietary offender. Each daily serving containing 1 ounce (about 15 chips and 160 calories) led to a 1.69-pound uptick over four years. That's compared to sweets and desserts, which added 0.41 pound.
For starchy potatoes other than chips, the gain was 1.28 pounds. Within the spud group, french fries were worse for the waist than boiled, baked or mashed potatoes. That's because a serving of large fries contains between 500 to 600 calories compared with a serving of a large baked potato at 280 calories.
Soda added a pound over four years. Eating more fruits and vegetables and other unprocessed foods led to less weight gain, probably because they are fiber-rich and make people feel fuller.
For each four-year period, these factors had these effects on weight:
• An alcoholic drink a day, 0.41-pound increase.
• Watching an hour of TV a day, 0.31-pound increase.
• Recently quitting smoking, 5-pound increase.
People who slept more or less than six to eight hours a night gained more weight.
The study was funded by the National Institutes of Health and a foundation. Several researchers reported receiving fees from drug and nutrition companies.
"Humans naturally like fat and sweet," said Dr. David Heber, director of the UCLA Center for Human Nutrition, who had no role in the study. "That's why we always tell people to eat their fruits and vegetables."
Pi-Sunyer, who also wasn't involved in the research, said the study gives useful advice.
"It's hard to lose weight once you gain it," he said. "Anything that will give people a clue about what might prevent weight gain if they follow through with it is helpful."
The federal government earlier this year issued new dietary guidelines advising people to eat smarter. This month, it ditched the food pyramid — the longtime symbol of healthy eating — in favor of a dinner plate divided into four sections containing fruits, vegetables, protein and grains."
Potatoes that are eaten hot, or heated, cooled, then eaten provide less starch to digest than potatoes that have been processed, cooled, and stayed cool until serving. More on resistant starches.
A tip from my dietician: red potatoes contain less starch than any other type. If you eat potatoes, get the red ones, and do not peel them.
Resistant starches still contain sugar, and are not completely resistant to digestion! This is why the Paleo diet excludes them...well, that, and these foods didn't exist back in caveman times. I'm allergic to all but potatoes, so to me, they are the enemy. Potatoes may as well be an enemy too.
Sugar is still everyone's enemy, and it doesn't matter how you get it. To me, the only truly resistant starch is pure fiber, and the best source is through raw produce with the skin on, like fruits and veggies. The sources that are both eaten minus the peel and fit the Paleo diet are avocado and coconut--they are high in resistant fiber.
"Blame the potato chip. It's the biggest demon behind that pound-a-year weight creep that plagues many of us, a major diet study found. Bigger than soda, candy and ice cream.
And the reason is partly that old advertising cliche: You can't eat just one.
"They're very tasty and they have a very good texture. People generally don't take one or two chips. They have a whole bag," said obesity expert Dr. F. Xavier Pi-Sunyer of the St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital Center in New York.
The results are in Thursday's New England Journal of Medicine.
Weight problems are epidemic. Two-thirds of American adults are overweight or obese. Childhood obesity has tripled in the past three decades. Pounds often are packed on gradually over decades, and many people struggle to limit weight gain without realizing what's causing it.
"There is no magic bullet for weight control," said one study leader, Dr. Frank Hu. "Diet and exercise are important for preventing weight gain, but diet clearly plays a bigger role."
Doctors analyzed changes in diet and lifestyle habits of 120,877 people from three long-running medical studies. All were health professionals and not obese at the start. Their weight was measured every four years for up to two decades, and they detailed their diet on questionnaires.
On average, participants gained nearly 17 pounds over the 20-year period.
For each four-year period, food choices contributed nearly 4 pounds. Exercise, for those who did it, cut less than 2 pounds.
For starchy potatoes other than chips, the gain was 1.28 pounds. Within the spud group, french fries were worse for the waist than boiled, baked or mashed potatoes. That's because a serving of large fries contains between 500 to 600 calories compared with a serving of a large baked potato at 280 calories.
Soda added a pound over four years. Eating more fruits and vegetables and other unprocessed foods led to less weight gain, probably because they are fiber-rich and make people feel fuller.
For each four-year period, these factors had these effects on weight:
• An alcoholic drink a day, 0.41-pound increase.
• Watching an hour of TV a day, 0.31-pound increase.
• Recently quitting smoking, 5-pound increase.
People who slept more or less than six to eight hours a night gained more weight.
"Humans naturally like fat and sweet," said Dr. David Heber, director of the UCLA Center for Human Nutrition, who had no role in the study. "That's why we always tell people to eat their fruits and vegetables."
Pi-Sunyer, who also wasn't involved in the research, said the study gives useful advice.
"It's hard to lose weight once you gain it," he said. "Anything that will give people a clue about what might prevent weight gain if they follow through with it is helpful."
The federal government earlier this year issued new dietary guidelines advising people to eat smarter. This month, it ditched the food pyramid — the longtime symbol of healthy eating — in favor of a dinner plate divided into four sections containing fruits, vegetables, protein and grains."
A tip from my dietician: red potatoes contain less starch than any other type. If you eat potatoes, get the red ones, and do not peel them.
Resistant starches still contain sugar, and are not completely resistant to digestion! This is why the Paleo diet excludes them...well, that, and these foods didn't exist back in caveman times. I'm allergic to all but potatoes, so to me, they are the enemy. Potatoes may as well be an enemy too.
Sugar is still everyone's enemy, and it doesn't matter how you get it. To me, the only truly resistant starch is pure fiber, and the best source is through raw produce with the skin on, like fruits and veggies. The sources that are both eaten minus the peel and fit the Paleo diet are avocado and coconut--they are high in resistant fiber.
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