If this video wasn’t so true it would be even funnier. I’m at the point in the skit where the doctor wants to look at my shit.
I posted another video by these guys a few months ago.
Food & Nutrition
Why Does a Salad Cost More Than a Big Mac?
Because of government subsidies, that’s why.
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.
Today, we get most our nutritional guidance from advertising and the government. Except for the very outer fringe of the food industry, their goal is to make money, not make you healthy. More often than not, the people making decisions about the content and quality of the items sold on the shelves at your grocery store are not nutritional experts, they’re business people.
Don’t be fooled by their purposely misleading terms like original, homemade, premium and authentic. These are marketing terms, not statements of food quality. Trust me… I work in advertising. It’s all half-truths and perception spinning.
I encourage everyone to take a good long look at what you’re eating. And when I say that, I mean look beyond the whole Lyme or anti-candida diet concept. Unless you specialized in nutrition in college, everything you learned in school about a healthy diet no longer applies. Even the pyramid on the right – the one that the government says exemplifies a health balance – is wrong.
Do your own research. Be your own nutritional expert.
Tagged food, healthy eating, nutrition
Do You Eat Crap?
I’m gonna have to try this place. They say…
The Pump prepares fresh, nutritious food that tastes really f’ing good. We make all our food on premise. We bake our own chips, prepare our own sauces, we even cook our turkey for 12 hours. So we thought, why not make a video?
If you’re in NYC, check them out and let me know what you think. There’s actually one near my LLMD so the next time I go to him I’ll check it.
Tagged healthy eating, new york, restaurant
Friday Link Love for 01.15.10
It’s Friday again already. Man!
I came across a lot of interesting things this week, but there’s on thing that I could use everyone’s help with. I’m about to switch insurances and my wife and I are utterly confused on what to do. We’ve shopped around, but the options are so great. If you have any advice on this topic, please post it here. Or email me if that’s easier ChronicTriathlete(at)gmail.com.
Also… I’m in the final phase of fixing up this blog. If you find things are broken or displaying funny, I’m sorry. I hope to have it all back to normal in a week or so.
Here’s what I’ve got this week
Slate: The Vita Myth – An informative article about the cloud of confusion surrounding the effectiveness of daily vitamins and other supplements. I’ve personally given up on taking supplements. I’ve never noticed any improvement or changes in my condition while taking up to 40 pills a day so I’ve just stopped. I’m opting to just eat better and get the nutrients I need via food. That said, I do plan to get my vitamin levels checked next week when I go to my LLMD.
Runner’s World: Do Running Shoes Cause Running Injuries? – I tweeted this link earlier in the week. It’s an interesting response by Amby Burfoot to a recent study done on the amount of torque suffered by the knees of runners wearing traditional running shoes versus runners wearing minimal or no shoes. There’s a growing (or perhaps reemerging) trend in fringes of the running community that claim that less is more, big shoe companies are the devil (sorry Jim) and that we should all run barefoot.
Being a coach and having worked in a running store that fits people in shoes via a treadmill analysis system I have to say that I believe there’s some validity to the topic. I’m not as Evangelical as some, but I’ve personally experienced the benefits of running in less and less shoe. I plan to write more about it in the near future.
LA Times: What Goes Into Chicken – This freaked me out! Read about how manufactures are “plumping” your chicken.
This American Life: Long Shot – A podcast by Ira Glass that I found particularly inspirational. In the first segment he talks to Leo Paur, coach of a high school football team in Utah that hasn’t won a game in two and a half seasons, about how he motivates his team to keep going after so many crushing defeats. Namely: you decide that you’re about to turn things around.
In the second segment Nancy Mullane reports on the case of Don Cronk, an inmate at San Quentin Prison, to see what would happen as Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger reviewed his case. Though Cronk knew the odds were against him, he found it hard to stop himself from believing he’d get out.
Tagged barefoot, chicken, npr, running, running shoes, supplements, vitamins
40 Pills A Day
Every Sunday night I set up and organize my pharma and supplement needs for the upcoming week. It’s a chore that’s getting more and more time consuming and I’ve really grown to hate it. I use to enjoy the organizational aspect of it. I felt like I was being “proactive” in my recovery and that my attention to detail was all worthwhile. Unfortunately, as the weeks and months have dragged on it’s become about as interesting as washing the dishes.
Still, I know that this may be of interest to people so I thought I’d share what goes into my week of 40+ pills a day. Some of this has changed since I took the included photos (and it may change drastically now that I’ve started seeing a Chinese herbalist), but here’s what I’m taking currently.
I always use to equate big pill trays with old people. I feel like my Grandmother when filling this up.
Morning (Just before or an hour after eating)
- Mepron 1tbs
- Zithromax 250mg
- Minocyclin 200mg
- Diflucan 100mg
Lunch (Just before or an hour after eating)
- Basic Preventative x3
- BrainWave Plus x3
- Cordyceps 500mg X2
- Cardio Guard Plus with CoQ10 x3
- Olive Leaf Extract 250 mg x1
- Glutathione 400 x1
- Chlorella 300mg x1
- Primadophilus Bifidus x1
- Sacchromyces Boulardii x1
- Culturelle w/ Lactobacilius x1
Afternoon (Snack-time between lunch and dinner)
Evening (Couple hours after dinner)
- Mepron 1tbs
- Zithromax 250mg
- Minocyclin 200mg
- Diflucan 100mg
Late Night (Same as above list. I always wake up at some point in the evening so I use the opportunity to take some supplements)
- Basic Preventative x3
- BrainWave Plus x3
- Cordyceps 500mg X2
- CoQ10 200mg x2
- Olive Leaf Extract 250 mg x1
- Glutathione 400 x1
- Chlorella 300mg x1
- Primadophilus Bifidus x1
- Sacchromyces Boulardii x1
- Culturelle w/ Lactobacilius x1
Of course, I don’t always manage to fit all of these in everyday. Some days I forget to take my supplements with me when I go out. Other days my food and pharma schedule gets in the way. Taking things on an empty stomach away from pharma is best, but when you’re constantly hungry, and trying not to loose any more weight, food time is all the time. That said, I do, almost without exception, take my pharama stuff every day. I figure that if I have to choose between missing pharmas or supplements that I should skip the latter.
Storing all of these plus the half-empty bottles of antibiotics that my LLMD prescribed, but later switched has become a small challenge too. I’ve taken over a whole drawer in the kitchen pantry for the stuff that doesn’t need to be refrigerated. Everything has to be kept up high so that my 4 year old daughter doesn’t help herself to Daddy’s “vitamins”.
There are actually a few more in there now.
Mark’s Daily Apple – To Tea or Not to Tea?
I’ve been meaning to post a link to Mark’s Daily Apple for some time now, but his most recent post made me drop everything and start typing. Well… it’s 7:30am, there’s not much to drop besides my tea, but since that’s the subject it all relates.
Mark Sisson is an athlete and Primal Health advocate who runs a supplement business. I don’t necessarily subscribe fully to this eating lifestyle, but I do find it interesting and generally inline with my thoughts on what’s good and bad to put into your body. I’ve also not tried any of his products. However, I do regularly read his fantastic blog. It’s a great resource for dietary tips, recipes and exercise ideas.
Like I said… his most recent post is about tea. I’ve been playing around with different teas, but am generally clueless about what quality and type packs the healthiest punch. This article — To Tea or Not to Tea — lends some great insight into the subject. Check it out if you’re interested too.
Oh… and I also found this post about eggs thoroughly helpful in understanding the plethora of options at the store.
