No, according to this anecdotal article at NYT. For instance…
“Then there is Jerome Rodale, founder of the publishing empire dedicated to health. In 1971, Dick Cavett invited Mr. Rodale onto his TV show after reading a New York Times Magazine article that called him “the guru of the organic food cult.” Mr. Rodale, 72, took his chair next to Mr. Cavett, proclaimed that he would live to be 100, and then made a snoring sound and died.”
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Posted in Longevity
We can usually get reasonably-priced avocados in Arizona
My weight is 162.2 lb (73.7 kg), same as last week. In case this is your first visit here, my weight at the outset was 175.5 lb (79.8 kg).
Have you figured out we like canned mandarin oranges?
Not sure where I’m going with this. I still feel good and am happy with my weight. Unclear if my weight loss has plateaued. I still can’t see my six-pack abs, and I’m not sure I want to make a commitment to reveal them. That would require some serious calorie restriction, I think. I’ll stay the course for another week.
The black bug-like dots are chia seeds
I fell off the wagon on Easter. We ate take-home Chinese food to save time. I followed that with too many cookies and chocolates. That filled my glycogen tanks to the top, I’m sure. But I skipped my next meal, so no harm done. When your glycogen stores are repleted, any excess calories are stored as fat.
You’d pay a lot for this at a restaurant
Taco salad
Posted in Salads
I worry about harmful chemicals in our food.
From CNN:
“Dining out frequently is known to increase one’s intake of unhealthy sugars and fats. But a new study suggests that there’s another reason to eat at home more often: phthalates.
Phthalates are potentially harmful chemicals found in hundreds of consumer products, including perfumes, hair sprays, shampoos and the plastics used in food processing and packaging.
Consumption of these chemicals has been linked to birth defects in young boys as well as behavioral problems and obesity in older children and adults. Exposure in utero can alter the development of the male reproductive tract, resulting in incomplete descent of one or both testicles.
Scientists also suspect that the chemicals can disrupt hormones and may cause fertility problems. They’ve connected them to childhood obesity, asthma, neurological problems, cardiovascular issues and even cancer.”
Source: Another reason why eating out might be bad for you – CNN
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Posted in Uncategorized
Two cups of raw Brussels sprouts salad
My weight today is 162.2 lb (73.7 kg). One week ago it was 166.6 lb (75.7 kg) and two weeks ago was 164 lb (74.4 kg). I started the experiment at 175.5 lb (79.8 kg).
…with 4 oz sous vide chicken breast
My family bought me an expensive belt for Christmas, and now it fits! I’m sure my suit pants fit again, so I’m ready for another funeral or deposition.
Greek salad with canned salmon
This cost me $6 at Safeway
I feel good. Workouts are going well without diminution of performance, which I take as evidence for preservation of muscle despite weight loss. I get occasional nocturnal leg cramps, but not enough that I would take a potassium or calcium supplement. Unexpectedly, during this experiment I’ve had two episodes of constipation as bad as any I’ve ever had in my life. And two episodes of diarrhea. Go figure.
One of our favorite go-to salads
For the record, around Week 5 I started taking a multivitamin and vitamin D 1000 IU supplement, “just to be sure.” So a total of 1800 IU vitamin D; I may not need that much. I haven’t been spending time in the sun since my hiking is on hold. I also take 800 mg/day of magnesium oxide, which I had started previously to help keep a lid on my blood pressure.
We don’t absorb magnesium supplements very well. P.D. Mangan says mag citrate is the most absorbable formulation.
My diet compliance is waning a bit. I’ve grabbed a few handfuls of nuts between salad meals. Should be munching a protein food instead.
Oh yeah. I ate five of these. They were a present from my daughter. How could I turn them down?
I do miss alcohol. But I think I’ve been more productive without it. I had a glass of wine on Valentine’s Day and my wedding anniversary.
Workplace temptation, successfully resisted
Like everybody else, I have to deal with temptation.
Don’t ask me where I’m going with this experiment. I don’t know. I’m curious about where my weight will settle and whether I’ll see my six-pack abs then.
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Posted in Salads
Sous vide chicken and sautéed sugar snap peas. Chicken is a good source of high biologic value protein.
P.D. Mangan makes an argument for high-protein diets for those hoping to shed pounds of fat:
In humans, data collected from 38 different trials of food consumption that used widely varying intakes of protein, from 8 to 54% of energy, showed: “Percent dietary protein was negatively associated with total energy intake (F = 6.9, P < 0.0001) irrespective of whether carbohydrate (F = 0, P = 0.7) or fat (F = 0, P = 0.5) were the diluents of protein. The analysis strongly supports a role for protein leverage in lean, overweight and obese humans.”
In obese humans, substitution of carbohydrate with protein leads to far greater weight loss, nearly twice as much.
In a human trial, decreasing the percentage of protein in food from 15% to 10% led to increased calorie intake of 12%. However, increasing the protein percentage from 15 to 25% did not affect calorie intake, which shows that humans may target a certain amount of protein, and eat no more or less when they get it.
There’s more at the link.
Source: Higher Protein for Greater Weight Loss – Rogue Health and Fitness
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Posted in Weight Loss
Julia Belluz has interesting article at Vox regarding low-fat and low-carb diet success over the course of 12 months. Her focus is on a few individuals who participated and were outliers.
As I read this, I was reminded that successful long-term weight management starts and ends in the kitchen. It also took me back to 2009, when I determined that low-carb diets were just as legitimate as low-fat.
I don’t recall the author mentioning the typical pattern with 12-month weight loss studies: most folks lose significant weight in the first few month, then at six months they start gaining it back. Cuz they go back to their old eating habits. Sure, diets don’t work………..if you don’t follow them.
From Ms. Belluz:
As a longtime health reporter, I see new diet studies just about every week, and I’ve noticed a few patterns emerge from the data. In even the most rigorous scientific experiments, people tend to lose little weight on average. All diets, whether they’re low in fat or carbs, perform about equally miserably on average in the long term.
But there’s always quite a bit of variability among participants in these studies.Just check out this chart from a fascinating February study called DIETFITS, which was published in JAMA by researchers at Stanford.
The randomized controlled trial involved 609 participants who were assigned to follow either a low-carb or a low-fat diet, centered on fresh and high-quality foods, for one year. The study was rigorous; enrollees were educated about food and nutrition at 22 group sessions. They were also closely monitored by researchers, counselors, and dietitians, who checked their weight, waist circumference, blood pressure, cholesterol, and other metabolic measures throughout the year.
Overall, dieters in both groups lost a similar amount of weight on average — 11 pounds in the low-fat group, 13 pounds in the low-carb group — suggesting different diets perform comparably. But as you can see in the chart, hidden within the averages were strong variations in individual responses. Some people lost more than 60 pounds, and others gained more than 20 during the year.
Read the whole thing. It’s not long.
Source: Why do dieters succeed or fail? The answers have little to do with food. – Vox
Posted in Low-Carb Eating, Weight Loss
Chronic low back pain patients were some of the most difficult to manage back when I had an office-based medical practice. From The Australian:
Most cases respond to simple physical and psychological therapies aimed at keeping people active and able to stay at work, according to a series of papers published in The Lancet.
Instead experts claim many back pain sufferers are wrongly being treated in hospital emergency departments, referred for scans or surgery, encouraged to rest and stop work, and prescribed powerful opioid pain killers.Co-author, University of Sydney author Professor Chris Maher said millions of people across the world are getting the wrong care for low back pain.
“More care does not mean better care. More aggressive treatments for low back pain have little proven benefit and have the potential to make things significantly worse for patients,” Professor Maher warned.
“Evidence suggests that low back pain should be managed in primary care, with the first line of treatment being education and advice to keep active and at work.”However, in reality, a high proportion of patients worldwide are treated in emergency departments, encouraged to rest and stop work, are commonly referred for scans or surgery, or prescribed pain killers including opioids, which are discouraged for treating low back pain.”
Source: Back pain being mismanaged, warn experts
I suspect back extension exercises are a key preventative measure.
One of the article’s quoted experts said it’s important to address obesity. I’m doing my best.
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Posted in Low Back Pain
Santorini, Greek seaside
The Mediterranean diet shows remarkable staying power as one of the most healthful ways of eating. For instance:
A diet with a name that conjures up memories of suppers in the sunshine, the Mediterranean diet plan celebrates the fresh, colourful produce of a region that boasts an enviable life expectancy. Hence why it has been heralded as one of the world’s best diets – but what makes Med cuisine so healthy?
What is a Mediterranean diet? The diet plan consists mostly of fruit, vegetables, whole grains, pasta, rice and olive oil, with a moderate amount of cheese, wine, yogurt, nuts, fish, eggs, poultry and pulses, and meat thrown in.
Unlike our diet in the UK, which tends to be very high in saturated fats (pies, pastries, meats, pizza and take away foods like kebabs and burgers), the Mediterranean diet includes more monounsaturated fats, such as plant oils, nuts, seeds and oily fish.
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Too many calories in this chef salad?
My weight today is 166.6 lb (75.7 kg), compared to 164 lb (74.4 kg) last week. Not sure if the gain is real or not. Don’t care much at this point, but it’s interesting. If real, it must be calorie-related. Too many nuts? Too much cheese?
{Weight the next day, March 21, was 165.2 lb.)
Not pictured: olive oil vinaigrette I dressed it with
I put together a Brussels sprouts salad that was horrible. The vinaigrette had too much lemon juice, lemon zest, salt, and pepper. The salad had too much red onion. I’ll tinker with the recipe and get back with you if I can get it right.
A work meal: Chicken salad on a bed of spinach and romaine lettuce plus tomatoes
My wife’s dinner
Caprese salad
Temptation in a shared office
Posted in Salads
Click the link below for details. It’s a long article but could save you thousands of dollars unless you’re covered by one of the semi-socialized health insurance schemes like Medicare, Tricare, or Medicaid.
The author knows what he’s talking about. The only potential error I found is where he says federal law requires every U.S. healthcare provider must always charge the same fee for each specific service (CPT code). In other words, they can’t charge one person less or more than someone else. As far as I know, that only applies to Medicare (and Medicaid?) patients.
If you buy a lot of healthcare services, you must read this article.
In a nutshell, the author does this when he needs non-emergency services:
Here we go, step by step:
1) I usually prefer to skip the added expense of going to a GP or family practice intermediary just to get a referral to a specialist that can actually help, especially when I can determine what medical specialty is likely to be most helpful for by medical condition by visiting the website of the American Board of Medical Specialties. (Is your ignition system acting up, your suspension riding a little rough, need new tires, brakes squeaking, transmission grinding?) http://www.abms.org/member-boards/specialty-subspecialty-certificates/
2) Use the links on abms.org to visit the appropriate specialty board’s website, and then use their “find a physician” with the sub-specialty likely to be most helpful for the condition.
3) Start calling the sub-specialty physician offices listed, tell them you are a prospective new patient, and ask to speak to the Business Office Manager. Ask him or her the following questions: a) “Do you accept Medicare and/or Medicaid insurance?” If yes, then… b) “Super! Do you accept cash payment at the time of service?” If yes, then… c) “Great! Then, of course, you will accept as payment in full, the Medicaid allowable, but paid in cash by me to you, directly, at the time of service? Correct?” If yes, then (e). If no then (d). d) “I guess I understand. Well, then surely you will at least accept as payment the Medicare allowable, paid in cash by me to you, directly, at the time of service? If yes, then (e). If no then conclude the call, because you cannot fix stupid. e) “Thank you! Can you please tell me what the estimated amount is for an office visit, using this fee schedule, so I can know how much money to bring, and please make a note on my account that we have negotiated a Single Case Agreement for me to pay these rates to you, in cash, at the time of service? f) Tell him or her your specific reason for the visit (I am leaking red fluid on the floor of my garage) and that you want to be fully prepared for the visit. Ask what diagnostic tests, if any, are usually required for this type of problem, lab, X-ray, CT, MRI, ultrasound, etc., and which ones would probably need to be done outside the physician’s clinic? g) Make sure to get the business office manager’s name and contact information, and the appointment time and date.
Source: How to negotiate directly with physicians and hospitals. | Zero Hedge | Zero Hedge
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Posted in Healthcare Reform
Click the pic to purchase at Amazon.com. E-book versions also available at Smashwords.com.
Advanced Mediterranean Diet 