As I do research on ways to clean up my diet, I keep stumbling upon little gems like this. It drives me crazy!
The article is from 2007, so the Farm Bill it mentions has already come and gone, but it’s a clear illustration of how broken the American outlook on nutrition is. Lobbyists for the big agribusiness like Monsanto, ConAgra along with self-motivated government officials are killing us with their subsidies to meat and grain producing farmers.
The government also purchases surplus foods like cheese, milk, pork, and beef for distribution to food assistance programs—including school lunches. The government is not required to purchase nutritious foods.
Scott Jurek (back middle), myself (black shirt with orange sleeves) and some running friends
Runners are awesome
The running store that I coach for is very friendly with Brooks. I like to think that it’s because we’re all-around damn fine people to hang out with. But it’s probably due to the fact that we’re their top retailer within the specialty running store category on the East Coast (not including FootLocker, WalMart, etc.). Who knows? Regardless, because of our relationship with them, we get some special Brooks perks.
The perks usually involve them sending us free shoes or discounts on shorts. Last week, however, completely surpassed any freebie footwear. They...
My LLMD is suspicious that part of my brainfog issues stem from chronic neurotoxins. To sniff out the possibility, he asked me to check out ChronicNeurotoxins.com. It’s a site created and run by Dr. Shoemaker, a well-respected doctor and Lyme advocate (not sure if he’s what we would call a LLMD) and do his Visual Contrast Sensitivity (VCS) test.
Taking the VCS test is simple, painless, costs $15.00 (for the basic test) and takes about 15 minutes. The process involves filling out a simple online form and then looking at a series of patterns on your computer.
I found a couple of interesting articles. The first one is particular compelling…
Here’s what I’ve got this week
Futurity.org: Probiotics prime immune system to fight – Scientists have long pondered the seeming contradiction that taking broad-spectrum antibiotics over an extended period of time can lead to severe secondary bacterial infections. Now researchers may have figured out why.
We suggest that if the immune system is on idle, and you treat someone with broad-spectrum antibiotics, then you turn the system off. The system is deprimed and will be less efficient at responding quickly...
I’ve been rather negligent about posting recovery updates over the last few months. Damn, here it is March and I’m still trying to finish February’s update! I started jotting things down several weeks ago, but the time just flies.
This is frustrating for a couple of reasons. One, because, much to my surprise, some folks actually find what I write here helpful and I like to keep them updated. And two, because it’s helpful for me to be able to go back in time and remember how I felt and recall what was working… or not.
Part of the delay stems from being pretty busy. Busy with work, busy with family and, frankly, busy with not paying too much attention to my Lyme. Oh, it’s still there. It sure is, but I’ve been trying not to think about it so much anymore. As a result, writing blog posts about how I feel never quite makes it to the top of the to-do list. I find writing about other things like
Onwards is a video by illustrator James Jarvis and Director Richard Kenworthy of Shynola. Jarvis, who is a fantastic and rather popular pop artist, is also a runner… and a pretty serious one too (sub 00:35:00 10k!).
Did a small 5k race last week while we were down in Florida. My wife found it randomly in the paper on Wednesday and I figured I’d take advantage of the light training week to “taper” for the Saturday event.
I haven’t done a 5k in over two years so I was a little nervous. While I’ve done a few hard, fast miles here and there since getting sick, I’ve shied away from doing full-on 5k style training/racing. I just don’t want to tax my body to that level. Still, I was interested in testing my new 40-44 age group, so I showed up at 8:00am to take a crack at it.
The field was very small. I’d be surprised if there were even 150 people there. The race was a fund raiser for a local group that helps abused children. There was a walk component to the event and many of the participants were grandparents...
Just getting back to life here again in NYC and catching up on what I missed. Apparently some friends of a friend at Niketown NYC decided that going for a run during last week’s snow storm was a good idea. Looks like a pretty awesome idea to me.
I’m still down in Florida so this week’s Love is little. I’ve barely been online at all… which is actually really nice. Next week I’ll be back in the office and have time to read up. Expect better Love and a recovery update.
A personal side note: I turned 40 this week! Happy birthday to me! Finally out of the über competitive 35-39 age group
Here’s what I’ve got this week
CNN.com: Running debate – Bare or in shoes?: This is a topic that may bore some Lymies, but it’s of great interest to me. I’ve been working on “going barefoot” for about a year now and have seen great progress and positive changes in my running...
