Archive for the Uncategorized
A long crawl from NYC back to the Hamptons yesterday on the Hampton Jitney allowed plenty of time to continue learning from Gary Taube, author of Good Calories, Bad Calories. I mentioned this scientific look at the history of current dietary recommendations and how most of them are not based on facts but rather on biased interpretations of the truth even in the face of new evidence, last month.
My point is not to slag anyone whose job it is to make health recommendations who chooses to stick with the status quo–people need their jobs after all and in this day and age it takes massive effort to effect change among the largest health organizations. Change is going to come though and I want to be a part of it. Speaking out about outdated science is my way of helping usher in the changes we so badly need in order to reverse the rates of heart disease and diabetes.
I’ve reported, as recently as yesterday, that there is no provable link between consumption of saturated fat and heart disease. A leading journal published the results of a meta-analysis supporting this claim. The same groups that advocate lowering saturated fat, increasing carbs and vegetable oils, claim that monounsaturated fat is the healthiest because they lower LDL cholesterol and raise HDL.
Here’s a twist you would not have expected. As quoted from Taube’s book on page 168, “The majority of fat found in red meat, eggs and bacon is not saturated fat but the very same monounsaturated fat as in olive oil.” This information can be found by anyone at the USDA’s Nutrient Database for Standard Reference. (And you can get weekly audio emails with this kind of myth busting information by signing up for my Midlife Myth Busting Audio Postcards.)
Let’s stick with Taube as he dissects a porterhouse steak nutritionally–it’s compelling. “Consider a porterhouse steak with a quarter-inch layer of fat. After broiling, this steak will reduce to almost equal parts fat and protein. Fifty-one percent of the fat is monounsaturated, of which 90% is oleic acid. Saturated fat constitutes 45% of the total fat, but a third of that is stearic acid, which will increase HDL cholesterol while having no effect on LDL. The remaining 4% of the fat is polyunsaturated which lowers LDL but has no meaningful effect on HDL.” (HDL in case you’ve forgotten is the measure of total cholesterol we are encouraged to raise because it is health protective.)
“In sum,” Gary continues, “perhaps as much as 70% of the fat content of a porterhouse steak will improve the relative levels of LDL and HDL cholesterol, compared with what they would be if carbohydrates such as bread, potatoes, or pasta were consumed.”
So what to do? Limit vegetable oils with the exception of olive oil, flax seed oil, coconut and avocado oils. Eat plenty of plants and include plenty of organic, farm raised meats, wild fish, cage free eggs high in Omega 3s, and limit sugar–including the foods that turn quickly into sugar in the digestive system. And keep an open mind to new discoveries and the possibility that there are mighty forces in place who rely on the status quo to please their share holders. I’ve said it before, I’m not a conspiracy theorist and the links are obvious once you start looking.
Speaking of sugar I’m going to do a series of posts on just how big a player this one, ubiquitous substance is in the creation of lifestyle diseases and how you can have a sweet life without deprivation.
As you will see from the photo of me at the left here rain gear was the name of the game for the MORE Magazine half marathon on Sunday. It rained throughout and it rained hard at times. Needless to say, this was not the easiest half of the four nor was it the hardest. That designation remains with the first one.
My friend Chris and I decided to do one of these while watching the super athletes coming over the 59th street bridge for the NYC marathon about 6 years ago. They were inspiring, we wanted to do something inspiring. I’m happy to report that neither of us had designs on a full marathon. I am sure I don’t have the mental stuff to get to 26.2 miles unless my life depends on it someday. Right after we decided, Chris came across the website and photos from the 2005 MORE half. MORE magazine is for women over 40 so we felt it would be a perfect place to start this adventure. And in 2006 we entered and completed our first half marathon.
Year one we were a hurting mess by the end, but we finished and we crossed the finish line together. The clock read 3 hours 15 minutes. We were thrilled that we were still upright and able to shuffle off to the nearest watering hole for something to eat and drink. We hadn’t trained well and we had not read up on how to fuel ourselves before or after.
Let me just state for the record here, enjoying bloody Mary’s and cheeseburgers perched on a bar stool, medals proudly dangling from our necks was great for about the first 30 minutes. Then the stiffness started to kick in and the booze in the drink did what it would normally do if we’d had like 3–it started to put us to sleep. But hey, we were celebrating. The next day was pretty xcruciating muscle wise having done nothing to counteract the pavement pounding and poor food choices.
Lesson learned for next time. And there have been 3 more next times. Now we train–though we were both behind in logging distance this year–we eat well the night before and have light food after. We reward ourselves and restore our bodies with massages afterwards. We have laughed our way through some serious Russian style hot stone torture for a couple of years but this year Chris was given a gift certificate to a Chopra Spa in the Dream Hotel.
Maybe it was the extra effort required to get over the finish line due to the weather, being cold and soaked will take it’s toll on timing. Maybe it was just time for something new but let me tell you, this massage was maybe the best I’ve ever gotten. And I’m no virgin to the massage table. The exotic scented oils, hot towels, heated shoulder rests, sprays of lavender here and there, very soft lighting and woo woo music all combined to de-stress and de-tangle me.
At times I was really resistant about doing this race. A good friend asked me to consider what it would be like to just not do the half. This question is great when you are on the fence about something and I think I was supposed to end up feeling ok if I said, “You know what? I’m going to bail on you Chris.”
But I decided it wasn’t ok, just not an option for me. It would have been ok with Chris, she said as much when I was whining one day about it. It would not have been ok with me for whatever reason. The reason isn’t clear and doesn’t matter. I wanted to do one more and I wanted to keep my commitment to her and to me.
So it would be my last, that I could live with. 
As I was getting on the bus to head back here to the Hamptons, Chris asked, knowing I was thinking of bringing my half marathoning days to an end, “So, are you in for next year?” With no bloody Mary’s to use as an excuse this time I don’t know what got into me but I said “yea, ok, of course, one more.”
And Monday I cursed that decision with every creaky knee movement. But today is Tuesday. The creaks are gone, the mind is restored and I”m looking at my medal. 
I’m thinking about the other midlife women who dragged their out of shape butts over that line and cried–I did too but just a little–cause it was hard this year and it felt like the best moment of all moments when I ran over that electronic line with people cheering.
I get bragging rights again, that’s great. I get to have had another crazy adventure with my pal and I love that part. Maybe the best thing is I did something I said I would even when I didn’t feel like it. 
Are there radio shows you’d love to be a guest on? Are you unsure of just how to contact them? Well help is here. I was recently introduced to a woman named Francine Silverman aka The Talk Show Advocate. Her expertise lies in knowing how to get invited to be a guest on talk radio shows all over the world.
Francine has two new digital products to help you get that invitation if your area of expertise falls into the categories of health or self-help. Here is her summary.
Self-Help and Health Ebooks Contain Everything a Potential Radio Guest Needs to Know
You’d like to promote your book, business or expertise on the radio but researching radio shows is a hassle and traditional radio directories are mere listings. Good news!! Ebooks are now available for potential radio guests. Francine based the ebooks on her book, Talk Radio Wants You: An Intimate Guide to 700 Shows and How to Get Invited (McFarland & Co. 2009), a National “Best Books 2009″ award winner which contains everything a potential guest needs to know before contacting a host.
The ebooks feature the most vital information for guests: show title and theme, guest criteria, name of host, email, phone (optional), website, best method of contact, and where aired. Call them short cut versions of the book specifically for those working in the heath and self help arenas.
The Self-Help ebook, 61 shows, price is $15, covers personal and professional goals, growth and empowerment, emotional freedom techniques, motivation, creativity, living one’s calling, making for a better world, transforming your life and self-realization. To sample the Directory of Self-Help Talk Radio Shows, please click https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/6194
The Health Ebook (41 shows priced at $12) covers healthy living and lifestyles, fitness, health as a business advantage, natural healing, alternative medicine, medical travel, issues, education and treatment, addictions, abuse, and overcoming adversities. To sample the Directory of Health Talk Radio Shows, please click:
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/6273
Through April 22, 2010 – The first two subscribers of this newsletter to send Fran an email at franalive@optonline.net will receive the ebook at half price!! Be sure to let her know the title of the newsletter where you saw this Special Offer.
If you are looking for more exposure I’d take Francine up on her offer. She’s an expert in getting people onto radio shows. She also has a great newsletter and website for those of you who have a book in need of publicity called The Book Promotion Newsletter.
This is not an affiliate promotion, I just think Francine’s products give direction and save time for those of us looking for more airtime.
Don’t forget, if you do want either of the ebooks send her an email saying so and she’ll discount the already low price by half. Heck if that’s the case, buy both, it’s like getting one for free.
Hormones rule, did you know that? I’m not talking just sex hormones though in teenaged boys and middle aged women they are certainly at the top of the pecking order most days.
Everything we eat has a hormonal consequence, some helpful, some down right harmful over the long term.
Insulin is a hormone and is responsible for getting blood sugar somewhere it can be used or stored. Grehlin and leptin are the push me-pull yous of the hunger and satiety dance. These three food related hormones are in direct communication with our other messengers such as glucagon–the fat-burning hormone. Called into action when food is scarce, glucagon converts stored fat into sugar and uses it for energy. These 4 hormones worked in perfect harmony before the introduction of grains and industrial food production when all hormonal hell broke loss. It’s been a steep slide towards disease and women on the verge ever since.
So what can be done? Keep an eye on this blog cause it’s one of missions to let women know about how to eat for hormonal balance, and grab this book if you want some science and some recipes.
Dr. Michael Aziz is an internist with a practice in Manhattan; Midtown Integrative Medicine. Frustrated early on in his medical career that so many young people were coming in with cancers, diabtetes, and allergies that he couldn’t heal as well as all ages of people who had weight issues, he went in search of some answers. What he found was this connection between key hormones and the foods we eat. The main culprits?
Sugar, grains, processed fake foods like margarine, and the endocrine disruptors found in the chemicals used to increase shelf life, texture, color, etc. One of his findings goes along with mine of late–low fat diets are partially at fault in the rise of diabetes, obesity, and hormonal chaos. “The results of the research is clear, eating fat does not make you fat. Rather it’s the lack of natural fats in your diet that makes you gain weight” writes Aziz. He continues, “Natural fats are essential for your cells to work properly. Fats slow down the absorption of food, stabilize blood sugar levels, decrease, cravings, and make you feel full.”
And blood sugar levels will make or break our health over the long haul. I’ve included a link to a 2.5 minute video of Dr. Aziz live, he explains his philosophy and his book a bit more. His solution is an easy, delicious way of eating, protein, fat and fresh fruits, veggies, beans and legumes pretty much.
It’s becoming harder and harder to hide from the latest message on food as medicine–eat what’s natural, eat foods you can recognize as such, don’t fear the fat, and eat organic (meats and dairy) and grass fed (meats) when you can. In case you don’t remember how delicious a dollop of half and half is in your coffee or whole egg poached or fried–it’s The Yumm Factor to the 10s. You may have to let go of some long held beliefs to take on these new ideas but if you find hormonal heaven vs a daily roller coaster from hell, wouldn’t it be worth it?
Dr. Michael Aziz
Use this link to get to his video.
