Calories In vs Calories Out

There are all kinds of recommendations for how to lose weight or get healthy.  So many, in fact, we usually can’t sort them out.  Eat this, don’t eat that, cabbage soup diets, Atkins diet, South Beach diet, all protein diet, all carb diet, raw diet, detox diet, etc.  Most of us could probably name quite a few diets.

I really dislike diets.  They don’t get us healthy.  They may help us lose weight in the short term, but they do not make us healthy.  And let’s make no mistake about this: just because someone might be thin does not mean they are healthy.  Usually when we diet, whatever the diet may be, we’re depriving the body of something else that it really needs.

The Atkins diet, for example, was really all about cutting carbs out or severely limiting them.  This diet is horrible on many levels.  For one, our brains need glucose for energy.  You take away carbs, you’re really impairing brain function.  Because the brain is the executive center of…our life, we really need to be kind to it.  The brain, unlike our muscles, uses glucose pretty much exclusively for fuel.  That’s why when our blood sugar drops, we can get cranky, fatigued, and may even feel faint.  Our brain cannot store glucose anywhere either, so we have to have  relatively steady blood sugar levels.  When we work out and talk about fatiguing the muscles and burning the sugar there, the muscles store sugar and can use fat for energy as a backup, which is a very good energy supply.  The brain doesn’t have fat to use as a backup though.

Anyway, the simple concept of ‘calories in/calories out’ is one that I largely agree with when trying to lose weight.  Activity levels, though, will really determine how many calories you need to maintain those activity levels.  On the Biggest Loser, for instance, the contestants fall into this trap of thinking they can get away with eating less and working out more.  Yes, this does make sense and seems to follow the general guidelines of calories in/calories out.  However…when you are exercising (whatever the activity levels may be), the body still needs fuel.  If you deprive the body of this fuel (glucose), it will enter starvation mode and turn everything you eat into fat.  Humans were designed to do this.  Our ancestors didn’t eat everyday necessarily and sometimes they’d have to walk miles just to get food.  They adapted perfectly to their environment in this way, and we retain that same ability.   No food, no problem.  We just turn everything we eat into fat when meals are scarce.

Instead of using the word ‘diet,’ because that conjures up so many frightening images of stepping onto a scale, reading hard to understand labels, food restriction to the point of starvation…I’m going to use ‘nutrition.’  Nutrition is a much better word and encompasses so much more than the previously mentioned evil word.  When I think of nutrition, it means that the body is getting the fuel it needs to function properly and getting things in the right amounts.  It’s a much more holistic vision than ‘dieting.’  Dieting means we need to fit into a bikini; proper nutrition means we need to be healthy.

Nutrition also means we’re putting good fuel into our body; it means more than just calorie restriction.  For example, if we workout for 4 hours a day every day but go home and eat McDonald’s and Burger King, we’re really not doing anything good for our body.  Somehow, though, the body can turn even a Twinkie into some sort of useable energy (how, I have no idea).  Even still, making it easier for the body to do this without building up toxins is ideal.  I’ve heard this argument before which really irritates me: “I can eat aspartame.  I’m an athlete.  My body will burn it.”  No.  Aspartame breaks down into methanol and formaldehyde.  Poisons.  The body cannot ‘burn’ it.  It does cause cell damage on its way out of our body.  At any rate, proper nutrition also means eliminating some of these unhealthy foods.  Even foods that are marketed as being ‘healthy’ may not be quite as healthy as we think.

In terms of also maximizing or making your workouts more efficient, it’s important to have a well rounded routine.  Any workout routine should include cardio, weight lifting, stretching, and some type of resistance training.  Most women fall into the trap, however, of just hopping onto the treadmill or the elliptical and that’s it.  Often I see books propped up on the treadmill (or elliptical).  This isn’t a good strategy towards a healthy body and mind.

Barring injuries or some medical issue, when doing a cardio portion of a workout, it is best to hit 60-70% of your maximum heart rate and sustain it for 20-30 minutes to really see benefits.  At this intensity, there are so many benefits to the body, I can hardly list them all.  The main thing is, our feel good neurotransmitters are released (dopamine, serotonin,  and endorphins) and this can really ease anxiety, panic, depression, addiction, and other psychiatric disorders.  Also at this level, the metabolism is being cranked up and the heart is getting a really good workout.

Now, why add the strength or resistance training in?  Well, if we have more muscle mass, the body has greater caloric demands and burns more.  So, if you want your metabolism to jump up, increase your muscle mass.  Your resting metabolic rate goes up automatically.  Also, after a workout that includes weight lifting, the body burns more calories for a longer time after the workout.  Doing solely cardio does not have these same benefits after the workout is done.  Strength training is important for both men and women.  My mother, for whatever reason, doesn’t think women should have muscles.  But whenever she has the image of a woman with muscles, it’s always those Miss Universe girls.  Okay, most women do not have the capacity to do that.  Most women when lifting weights will accomplish a nice even tone and definition.  It’s truly hard for us to build bulk.

It’s important to get a baseline for what your individual caloric needs are, then you can modify your exercise and nutrition from there.  I hope some of these broad concepts/guidelines can help.  And since I do not know the medical histories of my readers, please consult with the proper people before engaging in any nutrition plan or exercise.

Might Want to Reconsider that Lunch…

because California has a new menu labeling law that requires chain restaurants to put calories (along with carb, fat, and sodium content) next to the food on the menu.

The hope is that consumers will become more aware of exactly what they are eating.  A lot of times, I’ve gone into Panera Bread or some deli thinking I was ordering a healthy-ish sandwich.  Later on, I find out how many calories was in what I ate, and it doesn’t sound so good.  I think we’d all be a little surprised to know how many calories are in the foods we’re eating.  Many of us have grown up now in the era of supersizing.  We no longer know what a ‘normal’ portion size is really supposed to look like.

Compare the average meal size in a Chili’s, Applebees, or some such restaurant.  Now, think of a restaurant that might be a little pricier, a little better food.  How much food are they giving you compared to those chain restaurants?  Usually a lot less.  Now, one could easily make the argument that they’re overcharging for a smaller amount of food.  Well, I’ll refute this by saying that for one, the food is probably prepared healthier and fresher ingredients are used…and for two, that’s probably closer to the correct portion size we should be eating.

Since I love quizzes, here’s a few questions for you to look over.  The answers are listed at the bottom, so jot down your answers so you can remember them!  And just to give you an idea, 65g of fat is about our total recommended intake based on a 2000 calorie diet.

- So you walk into Baja Fresh (Fresh-Mex type of place), and you really want a burrito.  Instead of the steak burrito, you go with the Baja Chicken Burrito which has charbroiled chicken, guacamole, pico de gallo, and monterey jack cheese.  How many calories and fat does this have?

1. 820 calories and 35 grams of fat
2. 700 calories and 20 grams of fat
3. 450 calories and 15 grams of fat
4. 350 calories and 10 grams of fat

- Having had Mexican food the day before, you’re now craving a nice light sandwich.  You find a nearby Panera Bread (similar to Atlanta Bread Company or St. Louis Bread, etc).  You glance over the menu and really want to try a Chicken Salad Sandwich on Whole Grain, opting for the whole grain because it’s healthier.  How many calories and fat are in this sandwich?

1. 730 calories and 40 grams of fat
2. 620 calories and 25 grams of fat
3. 550 calories and 20 grams of fat
4. 450 calories and 15 grams of fat

- Still touring culinary diversity, you spot a Panda Express between errands and you’re starving.  You go in and opt for the 2-entree plate with rice.  You get the steamed rice, eggplant and tofu entree, and the broccoli chicken.  What is the total caloric value of your meal?

1. 1120 calories
2. 910 calories
3. 800 calories
4. 650 calories

- Craving some more American fare for dinner, you head to Chili’s.  Opting for a salad, you choose the Mesquite Chicken Salad which has mesquite chicken, applewood smoked bacon, cheddar cheese, pico de gallo, corn relish, cilantro, and tortilla strips.  How many calories will this set you back?

1. 1400 calories and 55 grams of fat
2. 1240 calories and 75 grams of fat
3. 960 calories and 60 grams of fat
4. 800 calories and 72 grams of fat

- Now you’re wanting to finish off the week with a nice sweet treat.  You walk to the Dairy Queen close to your house.  The Snickers Blizzard is catching your eye.  Yum.  How many calories in a small size?

1. 930 calories and 50 grams of fat
2. 840 calories and 40 grams of fat
3. 750 calories and 35 grams of fat
4. 670 calories and 25 grams of fat

Okay, I’ll admit that this was pretty tough.  Looking up some of the nutritional values also made me very disheartened.  I didn’t realize how many calories were in some of the sandwiches I’d eat at Panera Bread, or that Chili’s has some appetizers that contain over 1100 calories.  Appetizers, mind you.

What does this teach us?  Well, it may be better to prepare your own meals at home or just control how much you eat.  A lot of times when we go out to eat now, I’ll usually bring half of it home to save for the next day’s lunch.

Will this help Americans lose weight?  I sure hope so, but based on the success of the same labels used on all our foods and our inability to really decipher what it all means, I’m a bit cynical.  For one, most people don’t even know how many calories they should be eating.  We see right on the labels ‘based on a 2000 calorie diet.’  Well, the labels assume most people fall into that category, and thus the consumers think they fall into that category too.  So maybe if someone added up all the calories they ate in a day and it came to 1900 calories they may come to think to themselves, “Well, I ate less than 2000, but how come I’m not losing weight?  How come I’m gaining weight?’  Not everybody fits into that 2000 calorie box.  Most women, in fact, don’t.

Calorie consumption really depends on many factors.  The most easily measured ones are activity levels, age,  weight, and whether you’re male or female.  I’ll just tell you right now, women have it tougher!  This is in large part due to the amount of muscle mass women have compared to men.  The more muscle we have, the more calories we burn.  On average, men have more muscle than women.  Base metabolic rate is also a huge factor, but this requires a little more testing by a trained physician.  Let’s say that John Smith’s activity level consists of not much at all, no exercise in his schedule to be found at all.  He’s 35 years old and weighs 230 pounds at 6′ tall.  His caloric requirements (assuming he wants to lose weight) will be different than his neighbor, Steve, 35 years old, who has a moderate activity level (some cardio and light weight training 3 to 4 days a week), and weighs 175 pounds at 6′ tall.

A great site to get a good idea of what your caloric needs might be is The Daily Plate.  This site is free for their basic services and can point you in the right direction for your weight loss goals.

Of course, let me mention that certain medical conditions will alter your metabolism and affect how much you lose in a given time.  It’s generally a good idea to consult with a physician who is knowledgeable in this area or a nutritionist.

Well the correct answers to the above questions for those curious minds are 1, 2, 2, 3, 4.

Exploring Medical Ideology

The standard medical care during a heart attack is to give a beta blocker.  Beta blockers essentially act on smooth muscle (the involuntary muscles) and cardiac muscle.  In the heart, the effect is to decrease heart rate and dilate blood vessels.  So, in theory, this makes great sense to give someone having a heart attack so it can hopefully restore a normal rhythm and get some much needed oxygen to the muscle.

Wrong.

What?  Yes, you read me right.  Apparently, some studies have shown that beta blockers do nothing to decrease mortality rates and may, in fact, increase heart failure.

The thrust of the article I’ve linked to basically asserts that even though this makes sense but doesn’t work in practice, medical doctors still continue to use this form of treatment to someone having a heart attack, even though it may do more harm then good.  ‘Ideology trumps evidence,’ the author, Dr. David Newman, MD, says.  Basically, your doctor may be stubborn.

And I’m just going to copy these points he makes because it’s just right up my alley.

• Recent press reports detailing the dangers of cough syrup for children have noted that cough syrup doesn’t work. True: No cough remedies have ever been proven better than a placebo, either for adults or children. Yet their use is common.
• Patients with ear infections are more likely to be harmed by antibiotics than helped. While the pills may cause a small decrease in symptoms (for which ear drops work better), the infections typically recede within days regardless of treatment. The same is true for bronchitis, sinusitis, and sore throats. Unnecessary antibiotics are still given to more than one in seven Americans each year for these conditions alone, at a cost of more than $2 billion and tens of thousands of serious adverse medication effects requiring treatment.
• Back surgeries to relieve pain are, in the majority of cases, no better than nonsurgical treatment. Yet doctors perform 600,000 of these surgeries each year, at a cost of over $20 billion.
• More than a half million Americans per year undergo arthroscopic surgery to correct osteoarthritis of the knee, at a cost of $3 billion. Despite this, studies show the surgery to be no better than sham knee surgery, in which surgeons “pretend” to do surgery while the patient is under light anesthesia. It is also no better than much cheaper, and much less invasive, physical therapy.

This shows that with some minor illnesses, time and rest may be the thing needed to heal and let our immune system do its job.  We are perfect, if you think about it.  Our body is a very smart, finely honed machine.  It is smarter than any drug we could ever put in our body.  And this isn’t to say some people don’t need certain types of medication to manage some illnesses, because some certainly do.  I just find that we give up to easy and rely on the magenta pill of the week to make us feel better.

Yes, aspirin can take your pain away.  Well, it masks it.  The cause, however, is still there.  I have to explain this to patients all the time.  If the oil light goes on in your car, do you take it to your dealership to get your oil changed or do you spray paint over the light and drive the engine to the ground?  Most people take their car to the dealership.

I digress.  The point is even your medical doctor may be clinging to a treatment that doesn’t work (or may actually make things worse).  Therefore, it’s always a good idea to question the procedures your doctor (whatever type they may be) is doing.  Yes, you may come across as a pain (I know I do), but in the end, it’s your body, not theirs.

It’s Okay to Admit You’re Wrong…

I’d like to thank the FDA for admitting they’ve messed up; for admitting they’ve not kept the general public’s best interest at heart. 

It appears as if monitoring various doctors financial interests when performing clinical trails wasn’t at the top of the FDA’s priority list.  Essentially, if Merck wanted a drug out there, the doctors performing the clinical trials would be tied to Merck somehow.  Joy. 

Many, including myself, have always thought some drugs weren’t tested enough, clinical trials were too short, and that there were other motives for some of these dangerous drugs to be ‘approved’ by the FDA.  Just in the last few years, we could name a few top selling drugs that have had to be pulled off the shelves because they were too dangerous.  Unfortunately, people had to die or get very sick before these drugs were taken off the market. 

Perhaps what should happen now, since the FDA has admitted their failure to decrease bias in clinical studies, is that the government needs to take a closer look at how the FDA is run and how it manages clinical trials.  It is very unfortunate that money takes precedence over the value of life.

Resistant Flu

It appears as if the main flu drug, Tamiflu, isn’t all that helpful this flu season.  The main form of the flu virus this season has become resistant to Tamiflu.

So what does this mean?  If you have the flu, you’re stuck with it. 

Experts say that the resistance didn’t come about due to overuse of the drug.  I’d like to know exactly who these experts are; if they work for the company that produces Tamiflu, they’d have a reason to deny any claims that overuse could be linked to resistance. 

Naturally, the response has been that we need more antiviral drugs and perhaps multiple combinations  of them.  As if that might solve the problem.  When 99% of this year’s flu is resistant to the drug, I don’t understand how that isn’t a clue that something is happening.  They claim its a spontaneous mutation.  I’m not a geneticist; I just think there’s a significant correlation.

I think instead of getting the flu shot, there are many ways to help protect us this winter. 

• drink plenty of water – water is essential to maintaining proper pH in the cells, and thus keeping vital functions going
• decrease consumption of sugar and trans fats – both of these increase inflammation
• eat plenty of raw fruits and vegetables – especially the vegetables, as they contain important phytochemicals and nutrients that help keep us healthier
• Supplementation – with vitamins, herbs, omega-3, especially since most Americans lack proper amounts of these in our diets
• Exercise – this increases our metabolism, keeps our various systems (immune, cardiovascular, nervous, etc) running strong to fight off infection and releases ‘feel-good’ neurotransmitters

If you do end up getting the flu, it is important to stay hydrated, stay warm, and keep kleenex handy.  Obviously if more severe symptoms develop (a high fever above 102 or so, pneumonia, etc), go see your doctor. 

I had the flu last year about this time, the first time in 8 years (no flu vaccine).  I had chills all morning at work, then I went home for lunch.  I knew something was wrong when I took a hot shower and still felt cold.  Needless to say, I ended up the rest of the afternoon and next day on the couch with a fever of about 101 or 102.  I just tried to drink water, eat soup, and rest.  I didn’t take aspirin or tylenol, but just let it run its course.  My body was doing its job just fine.

Diet Soda – Bad

Seems like more and more people might be agreeing with me on this idea that diet soda might not be the cures to our ‘diet’ woes.  Or maybe I was agreeing with other people first…at any rate…

An article in Men’s Health said that while diet soda may be lower in calories than regular soda, the average american is still consuming useless calories and is replacing water for diet soda.  We should drink mostly water each day.  Depending on where the information is coming from (and activity levels), we should either drink at least 64 oz (even for a relatively sedentary person, or more obviously with high levels of activity) or half our body weight in ounces.  Either way you cut it, Americans don’t drink that much water on a daily basis.  I have to constantly remind my patients to drink more water, which can help to decrease inflammation.

Also mentioned in this article (though briefly, and didn’t get nearly the coverage I would’ve liked) were the dangers lurking in diet soda, mostly aspartame.  This is not a safe product, though approved by the FDA (can we really trust the FDA still after all their blunders lately?).  Side effects include mood changes, memory loss, dizziness, diarrhea…all this from a supposedly safe alternative for diabetics.

The way I figure is…humans are mostly made out of water.  We can’t live without it, so most of our liquid consumption should be in the form of water…pure water.  I know many who try to avoid drinking water by saying they drink vitamin water…it’s a step in the right direction at least.  I’ve told some of my patients in the past to cut some fruit up and put that in water to flavor it a little.

We’re all so used to flavored drinks, that when we drink water…we complain that it has no flavor (and yet, somehow…tastes bad).  I grew up drinking sprite, so I’m not much different in that respect.  It took me a long time to make the transition to drinking mostly water.  I definitely have cravings for soda or juice or gatorade, but drinking water is the best choice. 

And remember…diet soda = bad.

So I Found a Story…

that is worth talking about. 

A father of two girls talks about his reasons for not getting his children vaccinated.  I’ve copied the interesting points he makes (far more eloquently than I), but here is the link to the complete story.

• At the moment, 3,000 women develop cervical cancer every year and just under 1,000 die from it. Government and drug-company press releases claim that the programme will eventually cut these deaths by about 400 a year.  (this may be a UK stat).
• [health costs for those women with cervical cancer] one quoted cost is £100m a year, which works out at £250,000 per life saved.
• We already have a very effective screening programme that has brought deaths from cervical cancer down from 11 per 100,000 in 1950 to 3.4 in 2004, and the numbers are expected to continue falling.  The biggest risk factor for cervical cancer is never having been screened; half of those with the disease haven’t. The fear is that the programme may reduce screening attendance as vaccinated women assume they are safe
• We plan to vaccinate 600,000 12- and 13-year-olds a year, on the basis of trials involving fewer than 1,200 girls under 16 that lasted less than two years
• Side effects included birth defects and juvenile arthritis. Only a few; but what happens when millions get the vaccine? Could certain genotypes be particularly vulnerable? No one knows.
• the total [for adverse reactions] was around 3,500; by this July, the figure had risen to 8,864, including 18 deaths and 140 “serious” reports.
• Two of the most worrying reactions have been blood clots – what might that be doing if you are one of the older girls on the pill? – and 38 reports of an autoimmune disorder called Guillain-Barré syndrome that can cause paralysis.
• Then there is the reaction of the 15 other HPV strains, which account for 30 per cent of the cancers; will that change as the two most infectious ones are blocked?

I found that I ended up copying a lot of what he said…but there is some stuff I left out.  The third point I listed is similar to one I’ve made before about detecting early stages of cervical dysplasia.  The people most likely to develop cervical cancer and die from it…are not the ones going to get the Gardasil vaccine or seek routine medical care (either out of lack of health insurance, access, embarrassment, or lack of knowledge). 

I still think a program aiming at education (not pure abstinence…because clearly it’s not working) and open communication between schools, parents, and kids, is the best and most effective way to combat cervical cancer, STDs, and pregnancy.  As a bonus…no negative side effects!  Well, maybe having to live down the emotional trauma of talking to your parents about sex…

Truly Random…

I was browsing this morning’s news, and I couldn’t find anything that inspired me to comment, either harshly or in praise.  I could, of course, continue to go on about high fructose corn syrup, aspartame, phthalates…gardasil…but I’ve not found much in the way of new material in those departments. 

I could comment on how researchers are finding benefits to cholesterol lowering medication and may reduce the risk of heart attacks.  Never mind the fact that they damage your liver.  What is even a departure from my ’normal’ health commentary…what about the Tyra Banks survey that illustrated what teenagers think of sexual behavior, pregnancy, and drugs?  I must admit…I’m a little shocked.  1 in 5 teenage girls say they want to be a teenage mother.  Oy.  Quickly approaching my 30s, I’m not even ready to be a mom.  Or the fact that many are afraid of an STD, but still continue to have unprotected sex?  Makes me think that Gardasil and whatever other vaccine they can quickly come up with for STDs is a good idea.  That’s another topic altogether.

I could also talk about how I was saddened that Chauncey Billups got traded to the Denver Nuggets for Allen Iverson.  And that me and my husband bought tickets to see AI’s first home game in Detroit against the Celtics…and how I was upset that we got our booties handed to us.  A rematch will go down this week in Boston, and I hope we give them a taste of their own medicine.  We looked great this past weekend against Golden State and the Lakers.  I was very torn about the Golden State game too…because I love for them to do well.  I think they’re one of the most interesting teams to watch in the league.  Very fast paced…they could be down 40 points and still come up with a win (or vice versa, which is very disheartening to watch).  I also had an opportunity to go to a Golden State vs Pistons game in Oakland when I lived there…and the fans are some of the liveliest I’ve seen.  We lost to Phoenix, even with Shaq ejected because of a flagrant 2 to Stuckey.

I could talk about the gleeful look on my husband’s face this weekend as the snow fell.  We only had half an inch or so, but it was an exciting day.  Our beast puppy (she’s almost 3 now…but she’s still a puppy to me) was also having fun in the snow.  She loves the cold weather here and loves to be chased in the backyard.  She was also carrying snowballs in her mouth, very proudly I might add.  I also put the boys (the two cats) out in the snow.  Not sure what they thought about it.  Being from California and Georgia, snow is a foreign thing to them.  Even the dog is a California puppy…and this is new to her. 

I could also talk about how great chiropractic can be.  Chiropractic works with the body’s natural biological processes and allows the body to heal from the inside out.  Medicine works from the outside in, which I admit, we do need that at times.  How great our bodies are that they know what to do.  We have like…over a trillion cells all working together, and yet we think that an antibiotic is smarter than us.  Chiropractic and chiropractors recognize that we all have an innate ability to heal, and the adjustment is what allows us to do exactly that.  With each patient, I try to move the bone and let them do the healing.  An aspirin doesn’t heal, nor does Crestor or other statins, not even chemotherapy heals the body.  We somehow take these chemicals in and use them in a beneficial way some times…and other times having horrible side-effects.  What we must realize is that medications…no matter what it is we take…alters the body’s natural bio-chemical processes.  The body can’t tell cocaine from ritalin…or aspirin from marijuana.  It doesn’t know that it is legally prescribed or illegally obtained.  If it could tell that, we wouldn’t have all these accidental overdoses. 

I’ve covered everything from snow and basketball to chiropractic and aspartame.  I hope you stayed with me on this random journey of thought.

Vitamins: Good or Bad?

I recently found an article talking about how some long term clinical trials were done in regards to vitamins.  They had middle aged men taking Vitamins C and E to ward off cardiovascular disease and women taking Vitamin D and Calcium to decrease breast cancer.  What they found?  That those vitamins weren’t doing their job.  There were still the same rates of breast cancer and cardiovascular disease in the controlled group and the placebo group.

There was this one quote in there that was great though…Absence of Evidence is not Evidence of Absence.  I had to read that one a couple times to get it through my head exactly what the doctor was saying…its a little convoluted and I didn’t get much sleep last night.  Basically this doctor was saying ‘let’s not leap to conclusions here.’

I totally agree.  As I was reading this article, my first thought lept to ‘oh my god its a pharmaceutical company conspiracy to show that vitamins aren’t effective!’  Let’s face it…pharmaceutical companies can’t patent vitamins and supplements because they’re naturally occurring.  The only way they could is if they maybe developed some special concontion of a cholesterol drug coupled with omega-3 or something.  Who knows.  Since I’m not a huge conspiracy theorist person, I quickly dropped that (though I think the do publish biased studies).

Then the second thought that occurred to my groggy mind was…”I wonder how many of these people live healthy lives?  Eat a well balanced diet?”  We’ve grown up thinking the last couple decades that a magic pill will save us from all ailments.  Think of all the medical commercials or ads in magazines we’ve seen with the smiley face bouncing around happy because it had the green pill that day. 

We cannot and should not think vitamin C alone…or coupled with vitamin E…will save us either.  Can it help?  Yes, it is better than nothing.  They tell us to eat fresh veggies and fruits for a reason…to help us get all those vitamins and supplements.  In addition, a diet consisting of fresh foods help us get vitamins, minerals, and other enzymes in proper amounts.  Omega-3, for example, is most effective in combination with high amounts of anti-oxidants (like vitamin C and E).  To get these essential components properly into the cells of our body, the right transporters and signals must aid them to get to the nucleus of each cell.  Vitamin C by itself (especially a more synthetic brand) may not have the proper enzymes necessary to start of this chain reaction, therefore, much of the vitamin C ingested may be excreted.  Hope I made sense here.

Also…you cannot rely on vitamins, supplements, and minerals by themselves to make a person healthy.  We can take all the best vitamins in the world and spend lots of money, but if our diets consist of McDonald’s and Burger King, we’re undoing all the good work we’re trying to do.  Many of the chemicals found in our foods (HFCS, phthalates, aspartame, or read just any ingredient label from the frozen food section) work against nature and the natural biochemical processes that must occur in our body to make sure everything is working properly.

Similarly…proper exercise is necessary.  Now…I know most of us hate this part of life.  The dreaded exercise routine.  Since we aren’t hunters and gatherers anymore or running away from sabre-tooth tigers and other predators, we need exercise.  I think humans are the only mammals that make themselves overweight and unhealthy.  I just look at my cats to a good example of this.  When they sleep all day, what do they do at night?  Go ape*%&t.  Drake, the little black and white one we have, is a prime example of insanity.  Not only does he run around the house like a fiend, but we’ve found him leaping in the air after his tail, climbing and doing circles around his cat house, and even scrapping with the dog.  When he’s not getting enough exercise, he just goes crazy and does it himself.  When humans don’t get enough exercise…we keep our butts right on the couch watching another episode of American Idol. 

I’ll also let our dog be another example of excess energy.  When she doesn’t get enough exercise (like this weekend when we drove to South Bend for a wedding), she drives us crazy.  She’s hyper and essentially…nuts.  She needs some good walking or treadmill time to help drain her energy. 

So the moral of my story here…vitamins are not a magic pill either.  Yes, they will help…in conjunction with a balanced diet and exercise.

Junk Food and Violence

Can bad nutrition really cause violence?

A prison study being conducted in England seems to be finding a link. 

For one year, young males from 16 to 23 years old will be given supplements (or a placebo) to see if there is a link between poor nutrition and violence.  In 2002, a similar study was done with over 200 men.  Violence decreased by 1/3 while in custody.  John Stein, a professor at Oxford, said this, “We are not saying nutrition is the only influence on behaviour but we seem to have seriously underestimated its importance.”

So what does this mean on a larger scale?

Well, the kid in the back of the class that is throwing things at a classmate, for example, might want to have his diet looked at.  Many kids now live off of a fast-food diet including McDonalds, pizza, french fries, chips, soda…etc.  I can ramble out quite a long list.  Then…even when parents try to buy better food, look at all the additives in our food now.  Some of these, like high fructose corn syrup, are being linked to ADHD.  Yes, juice is better than soda.  A 100% juice is much much better than 10% juice.  Natural sugar is better than HFCS.

Perhaps if we took a closer look at nutrition in schools, some behavioral problems might be nipped in the bud.  When I was in school, I didn’t eat many school lunches.  I noticed, though, that most of what people did buy from school were the french fries, chicken nuggets, and pizza.  This was even before McDonald’s and Burger King had worked their way into the school system.  Any how, I know that if given a choice, kids always want the fried stuff, the fatty stuff, the sugary stuff.  They don’t want the salad or fresh veggies.  Part of that is because there is a complex set of neurotransmitters that are released in our brains whenever we eat the sugary, fatty foods.  It makes us feel less full and makes us want more.  Sugar is, in many ways, akin to a drug.  Very similar receptors and neurotransmitters are released – like serotonin and dopamin – that make us feel really good. 

So to those parents who have a tempermental or moody child…or for those of us who are just tempermental and moody (I certainly fall into this category at times – just ask my husband)…a closer look at our diet may be in order.