Post 1322, Day 338 of 2014
- 1,434 days since I started this blog -
- 1,434 days since I started this blog -
Daily Comment
This is my original comment:
I was thinking about my food beliefs, and how much of them are faith-based, not science-based.
Why? Primarily because I have been fooled by science too often in the past. As 'W' once tried to say, "Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me." Well, I'm properly shamed.
I've been fooled a lot by people using science to recommend what I need to eat to be healthy.
Now, I am skeptical about everything I hear when it comes to food. Here's what I know: Humans are an omnivorous species. At the end of the evolutionary period that brought us to our modern form, we ate protein from any and all available sources, fruits and vegetables. That's probably all. We hadn't learned to process grains, which was necessary in order to not make us sick.
At the time right before the 'Agricultural Revolution', when humans quite suddenly (in evolutionary terms) learned to domesticate animals for food and process grains, the lifespan of adults who survived past puberty was pretty much as it still is. Infant mortality and accidental death in childhood were more frequent than today, though, which is where you get an average lifespan of half what we enjoy today, on the average.
Of course, I've only eaten insects once. But the main thing I think about today is how I got fat eating a pretty standard American diet, lost and regained weight enough times to develop type 2 diabetes, and everything points to my eating processed food as the culprit.
I don't get much in the way of mainstream news, but I've seen how a study trying to determine the cause of the country's latest food craze - gluten intolerance and grain sensitiviy - found something they didn't expect: It has to do with the way wheat is cultivated and harvested in the US, and almost nowhere else, apparently.
It involves the use of Roundup herbicide, which results in the presence of poison in the wheat it is used in, even after heavy processing. This has been going on for more than 25 years, and is done on almost every non-organic farm.
The Roundup-treated (soaked) wheat produces more seeds, higher weight. It is profitable for Monsanto, it is profitable for the farmers.
Roundup wheat is named as the culprit for all the harm wheat seems to be doing to people.
Anecdotally, it has been found that children who eat wheat products overseas do not show the same intolerance symptoms as when they eat the domestic product.
Whether the problem is genetic (wheat not part of the human diet until 10,000 years ago) or man-made (Roundup-soaked wheat), I intend to minimize my exposure, at least until I get someplace where grain-processing is done without the scientific/commercial.
You can't trust scientists with food (although they seem pretty good at figuring out why the food they mess with is screwed-up).
There's more to this story (government policy), but to me, it just makes sense to avoid processed food and American grains.
Okay, I fell victim to a bit of 'science' that turned out to be a biased and inaccurate report of farming practices, including anecdotal information and conclusions not scientifically reported.
All I can say is, it is difficult to impossible to accept as scientific information that comes my way because I can't think of any way to validate it.
I must eschew the sensational, or be its victim.
Food and Diet Section
Today's Weight: 206.6 lbs
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| 2014 Daily Weight |
Previous Weight: 206.4 lbs
Day Net Loss/Gain: + 0.2 lbs
Diet Comment
My weekly lunches at the Chinese buffet are peak sodium intake days for me, almost always accompanied by added weight (retained water) the next day. This time, not much. A victory of sorts.Diet Comment
Food Log
BreakfastA cocoa-hemp-kale protein shake (almond-coconut milk, kefir, kale, large organic egg, whey powder (24g protein), hemp seeds, hemp protein (7g protein), celery, raw organic cacao powder, fermented coconut water, chia gel, moringa leaf powder, cinnamon and stevia-inulin blend.
Lunch
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| Roasted turkey breast chopped salad: baby kale, baby spinach, chard, cole slaw mix, black beans and balsamic vinaigrette. |
A Quest bar.
Dinner
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| Chili (organic beef, tomatoes, black beans, spices) and cole slaw. Not shown: A Quest bar. |
Celery with home-made mayonnaise and a Quest bar.
Liquid Intake
Coffee: 28 oz. Water: 72+ oz.
Please leave a comment if you visit my blog. Thank you!
What specific harm does roundup pesticide used in processing wheat cause to Human Beings who eat it?
ReplyDeleteWhy don't I, who has paid little attention to diet my whole life in America and has probably eaten more processed foods than not, am not now (and never was) obese, or have diabetes, or any other obviously diet related problems? Am I an exception? How about Denie?
-Light - Love - Compassion -
good question
ReplyDeleteThank you. You made me realize a flaw in my argument. I used one incredible 'scientific' fact to debunk others I found incredible. Your question prompted me to do some research, and I now think I have made a number of false statements. The result is, I will change this Comment to be about not believing anything whose information doesn't come from a trusted and KNOWN source. Please accept my apologies. Thank you again. Still not embracing wheat in the diet, though. Still think it is not healthy, and may, in fact, be harmful except in very small amounts. There could be many reasons why you, Andy, don't have problems, Chief among them being there are other factors than diet that may be affecting your health, or disguising the effects of eating grains. I was, if you remember, also really skinny, and only became obese (at first) when I gave up cigarettes in 1982. Up to that time, my diet was the same as yours. According to my doctor, my diabetes is as much a result of yo-yo dieting as from getting fat in the first place. I did, however, in the late 70s experiment with vegetarianism, and in the 80s with veganism. In both cases, I initially lost weight, then, without much dietary change, gained it all back and more. My doctor in North Carolina, who I saw for the entire 23 years I lived there, noticed that I had 2-year obesity/good weight cycles. I have now broken that cycle by giving up processed foods, most dairy, and grains, except for cheats.
ReplyDeletePlease, please, please consider that you can't control what is (any of it). you can accept it, as it is now, and can only do your best, can only deal with it with presence of mind (not by thinking and analyzing).Be alert and sensitive to your body's needs, as opposed to your desires. The problem seems to me that you have a difficult time distinguishing between the two. I think that once you get the feel of it, it becomes easier.
ReplyDeleteI am less concerned with why I am not obese or suffering the ill effects of my diet, than with the ill effects that you are trying to control,
- Light - Love - Compassion -
I really belive that it was dieting (which I have been doing since I was 6) that made me fat. I agree with Andy and you need to be gentler with yourself. You have done such a great job. I think it is easier to be entirely abstinent of some foods (like sugar and or wheat if you think that is a problems) than to control it. If you could be in touch with your body's needs (I think I have tremendous difficulty with this, due to dieting) that would be easier but I, personally, cannot do that.
ReplyDeleteIts not what we do, it is the awareness with which we do it. Body death is inevitable, whether we are fit, fat, or thin. We don't have to concern ourselves with results, for our immediate awareness has moved from what has happened to what is happening now. Change is constant and continuous. All is in motion, nothing remains the same. Only by being aware (present and alert) can the necessary adjustment and adaptation take place. All things in time and space find their appropriate place in the moment, Look to yourself for truth, not outside yourself, thus reducing conflict. Desires are not needs. Thinking does not solve problems. Rationalization justifies, it doesn't explain anything and muddies our clear vision.
DeleteDon't worry about your weight, this will take care of itself (one way or another). No worry, just attention. Be here now.
- Light - Love - Compassion -