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Saturday, February 6, 2010
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Today's Jane Brody
Rules Worth Following, for Everyone’s Sake
Published: February 1, 2010
In the more than four decades that I have been reading and writing about the findings of nutritional science, I have come across nothing more intelligent, sensible and simple to follow than the 64 principles outlined in a slender, easy-to-digest new book called “Food Rules: An Eater’s Manual,” by Michael Pollan.
Mr. Pollan is not a biochemist or a nutritionist but rather a professor of science journalism at the University of California, Berkeley. You may recognize his name as the author of two highly praised books on food and nutrition, “In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto” and “The Omnivore’s Dilemma.” (All three books are from Penguin.)
If you don’t have the time and inclination to read the first two, you can do yourself and your family no better service than to invest $11 and one hour to whip through the 139 pages of “Food Rules” and adapt its guidance to your shopping and eating habits.
Chances are you’ve heard any number of the rules before. I, for one, have been writing and speaking about them for decades. And chances are you’ve yet to put most of them into practice. But I suspect that this little book, which is based on research but not annotated, can do more than the most authoritative text to get you motivated to make some important, lasting, health-promoting and planet-saving changes in what and how you eat.
Reasons to Change
Two fundamental facts provide the impetus Americans and other Westerners need to make dietary changes. One, as Mr. Pollan points out, is that populations who rely on the so-called Western diet — lots of processed foods, meat, added fat, sugar and refined grains — “invariably suffer from high rates of the so-called Western diseases: obesity, Type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and cancer.” Indeed, 4 of the top 10 killers of Americans are linked to this diet.
As people in Asian and Mediterranean countries have become more Westernized (affluent, citified and exposed to the fast foods exported from the United States), they have become increasingly prone to the same afflictions.
The second fact is that people who consume traditional diets, free of the ersatz foods that line our supermarket shelves, experience these diseases at much lower rates. And those who, for reasons of ill health or dietary philosophy, have abandoned Western eating habits often experience a rapid and significant improvement in their health indicators.
I will add a third reason: our economy cannot afford to continue to patch up the millions of people who each year develop a diet-related ailment, and our planetary resources simply cannot sustain our eating style and continue to support its ever-growing population.
In his last book, Mr. Pollan summarized his approach in just seven words: “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.” The new book provides the practical steps, starting with advice to avoid “processed concoctions,” no matter what the label may claim (“no trans fats,” “lowcholesterol,” “less sugar,” “reduced sodium,” “high in antioxidants” and so forth).
As Mr. Pollan puts it, “If it came from a plant, eat it; if it was made in a plant, don’t.”
Do you already avoid products made with high-fructose corn syrup? Good, but keep in mind, sugar is sugar, and if it is being added to a food that is not normally sweetened, avoid it as well. Note, too, that refined flour is hardly different from sugar once it gets into the body.
Also avoid foods advertised on television, imitation foods and food products that make health claims. No natural food is simply a collection of nutrients, and a processed food stripped of its natural goodness to which nutrients are then added is no bargain for your body.
Those who sell the most healthful foods — vegetables, fruits and whole grains — rarely have a budget to support national advertising. If you shop in a supermarket (and Mr. Pollan suggests that wherever possible, you buy fresh food at farmers’ markets), shop the periphery of the store and avoid the center aisles laden with processed foods. Note, however, that now even the dairy case has been invaded by products like gunked-up yogurts.
Follow this advice, and you will have to follow another of Mr. Pollan’s rules: “Cook.”
“Cooking for yourself,” he writes, “is the only sure way to take back control of your diet from the food scientists and food processors.” Home cooking need not be arduous or very time-consuming, and you can make up time spent at the stove with time saved not visiting doctors or shopping for new clothes to accommodate an expanding girth.
Although the most wholesome eating pattern consists of three leisurely meals a day, and preferably a light meal at night, if you must have snacks, stick to fresh and dried fruits, vegetables and nuts, which are naturally loaded with healthful nutrients. I keep a dish of raisins and walnuts handy to satisfy the urge to nibble between meals. I also take them along for long car trips. Feel free to use the gas-station restroom, but never “get your fuel from the same place your car does,” Mr. Pollan writes.
Treating Treats as Treats
Perhaps the most important rules to put into effect as soon as possible are those aimed at the ever-expanding American waistline. If you eat less, you can afford to pay more for better foods, like plants grown in organically enriched soil and animals that are range-fed.
He recommends that you do all your eating at a table, not at a desk, while working, watching television or driving. If you’re not paying attention to what you’re eating, you’re likely to eat more than you realize.
But my favorite tip, one that helped me keep my weight down for decades, is a mealtime adage, “Stop eating before you’re full” — advice that has long been practiced by societies as diverse as Japan and France. (There is no French paradox, by the way: the French who stay slim eat smaller portions, leisurely meals and no snacks.)
Practice portion control and eat slowly to the point of satiation, not fullness. The food scientists Barbara J. Rolls of Penn State and Brian Wansink of Cornell, among others, have demonstrated that people eat less when served smaller portions on smaller plates. “There is nothing wrong with special occasion foods, as long as every day is not a special occasion,” Mr. Pollan writes. “Special occasion foods offer some of the great pleasures of life, so we shouldn’t deprive ourselves of them, but the sense of occasion needs to be restored.”
Here is where I can make an improvement. Ice cream has been a lifelong passion, and even though I stick to a brand lower in fat and calories than most, and limit my portion to the half-cup serving size described on the container, I indulge in this treat almost nightly. Perhaps I’ll try the so-called S policy Mr. Pollan says some people follow: “No snacks, no seconds, no sweets — except on days that begin with the letter S.”
Monday, February 1, 2010
Hey Blue Skies
Hey Blue Skies-
I feel hopeful and confident today. I think you wrote in your bio that you thought there would be a cure in your lifetime. Me too.
I rented a documentary from the History Channel on the brain. It was cheesy. They covered ESP and Joanthan Edwards - that medium guy. I know it sounds hoke but my sixth sense tells me- if I stay calm - I'll be okay.
I know how you feel about dealing with people. I haven't seen a sizable portion of my friends since I was diagnosed. I really hate the kind of attention this thing brings.
But I'll stay strong. I'll not dry up.
- Charlie
I feel hopeful and confident today. I think you wrote in your bio that you thought there would be a cure in your lifetime. Me too.
I rented a documentary from the History Channel on the brain. It was cheesy. They covered ESP and Joanthan Edwards - that medium guy. I know it sounds hoke but my sixth sense tells me- if I stay calm - I'll be okay.
I know how you feel about dealing with people. I haven't seen a sizable portion of my friends since I was diagnosed. I really hate the kind of attention this thing brings.
But I'll stay strong. I'll not dry up.
I get tired. My patience is wearing. My best days (I realize) are when the whole thing seems funny. I mean, it's not like I've been dealing with this my whole life. It's funny that everything I drop on the floor stays there until someone else picks it up. It can be amusing. I hope I don't sound too naive. I am hopeful. And today I am confident.
- Charlie
the horse whisperer
I cab to Tocqueville on 15th and 5th.
I'm meeting Phoebe and Adam.
We haven't checked in today. I remind myself in the cab - I should text Phoebe - " I'm on my way" - but I resist - I resist because I hate cluttering the moment with banal discourse, it ruins the day, the night. We said we'd meet. She'll be there. And she was.
The driver takes a crazy- assed route through midtown. When he drops off me off, I ask. "why not the west side highway and then straight across 14th? Why the urge to loop around midtown?" I hide my irritation to see if I can get an honest answer out of him.
The affable cabbie suggests I simply request that route next time.
"I don't know why I don't use the highway" he says, like he just considered it for the first time, "I don't know."
I get out of the cab on Fifth but the restaurant is down 15th. I'll have to climb up and down sidewalks. I will have to walk across a street.
I curse the cab driver for not delivering me to the exact address - when I hear my name.
"Charlie?"
"I look up from my feet, my canes, the sidewalk - and see Travi, Travi from the writing lab.
Travi has appeared from no where.
Like a hoke script, maybe she's here for a needed plot device.
"Charlie! How are you?"
"I'm good, I guess. I'm hanging in there."
I think that's the phrase I used.
Travi nods.
She understands - that this is the best I can do under the circumstances - that it is perfectly fine for me to say (anything I like) under the circumstances.
I add "I'm fine".
And I realize with my feeble voice, my canes, and my doomed disease, I must be a curiosity. I feel like a celebrity. I've always felt a little weird, a little different, and my illness merely adds a nimbus of further distinction.
Fifth Avenue is black and wet. It's eight. There aren't a lot of people around. I know this section of the city well because I worked on lower Fifth for years. Lower Fifth is ripe for martinis and raincoats.
"You never sent me the link to your blog."
"I didn't? Oh. Well send me your address."
"You didn't get my email?"
Travi looks kind and genuinely interested in my blog. I tell her I'll send it to her we say goodbye and I cane my way down 15th.
Tocqueville is on the ground floor. A beautiful young woman takes my parka. I'm wearing a poor man's blue blazer over a blue button down shirt. I'm dressed like I had to borrow something presentable to wear from the restaurant.
I see Adam and Phoebe at the bar. They look cozy in the warmth and privacy of the small restaurant bar.
My heart quickens, my eyes widen, my feet find their footing.
"Hellooo!"
Adam wears a coat to similar to mine - the tired blazer. We're trying just enough to pass. It's so insouciant. I feel proud.
Adam is drinking a real drink - a martini? a scotch and soda? Adam's relaxed. He belongs here. There is confidence here. I'm happy to be eating with (foodie noblesse oblige).
We're escorted into the one large rectangular dining room, candlelit, white linens, high ceilings, all male wait-staff in stuffy suits - dour expressions.
I'm looking forward to this. Their regular menu has appetizers for $30. Because it's restaurant week? Our three courses will cost a total of $35.
We order the suggested wines for each course. We sip, we compare, one smells of gasoline, another... cigarette smoke.
I have a Taurine (jellied chicken). Brisket (mouth watering) potatoes with horse radish (so good). Miniature cabbage (odd). Three delicate sorbets.
We taste the food like experts. We each test the miniature portions, each item described and noted.
As we dine, I realize I'm sitting with my former tennis partners. A couple of years ago I was bouncing around Central Park. I've become "the invalid" so easily. Was I born for this role?
I've been frustrated for so long that this new challenge seems a natural progression.
After desert and the sweet desert wine, like all good New Yorkers, we go our separate ways -back to the sobering street -to cash machines, to metro cards. The former intimacy dissolved into the harshness of the New York night.
I cab home and give Phoebe a lift to the subway.
When I get to my apartment building, a strange man greets me on the sidewalk.
He looks and acts like he might be a doorman out of uniform (but he's not). He tells me his name is Danny and he lives on the 17th floor. (Something isn't right, like he's a pervert).
And then I realize he's focusing on me because of my canes. He wants to help me but I resist.
"I got it, don't worry about it. Please don't take my arm."
He whispers, " its okay, let me help you, it's okay... god bless you."
I am a high-strung horse. He is the horse whisperer.
panic and pity
Have I stepped over a line? Is there something new about me that induces panic and pity?
I spent the day swatting away doormen, strangers on the street, and cabdrivers.
Getting into a cab on Seventh and 54th, a young guy raced over and tried to lift my legs into the cab.
"I'M FINE. I DON'T NEED ANY HELP. THANK YOU." - go away.
I lost my temper with Sprio, my doorman. He grabbed the front door way from me and I almost fell.
"Spiro! Stop! Please! I need to hold onto the door. I have my systems! Let go!"
Spiro colored at my wrath.
I cab to acupuncture. Again the doorman there and a random stranger will not leave me alone. I ha implore them to get out of my way and PLEASE DON'T GRAB MY ELBOW WITHOUT ASKING ME. I WILL F-CKING FALL OVER!!
__________________
My acupuncturist put many needles deep into my scalp and electrodes into my legs, shut the door, and turned off the light.
I thought about a million things but nothing I can remember.
My doctor came back and jabbed one needle into my ass (into each cheek) until I felt electricity.
"Do you feel that?"
"Ah! YES! I DO!!!!"
I did.
______________________________
I'm reading a book about the raw diet. According to Dr. Graham, all cooked food is poisonous. Fat is the culprit to high blood sugar, not fruit. Alcohol, salt, sugar, coffee, are poison. Juicing messes up your balance. Ditto vitamins.
The human diet is totally confusing (to me). It's all politics and theory.
But it does make sense to eat pure whole food uncooked to get the most nutrients.
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Friday, January 29, 2010
New Stem Cell Research Findings Could Lead to Cure of Spinal Cord Injuries, Brain Injuries, and ALS
by Glenford Robinson
Many people have suffered from spinal cord and brain injuries, not to mention amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) or Lou Gehrig disease, a debilitating disease characterized by muscle weakness in the arms and legs, followed by difficulty swallowing, talking, and breathing, (Dorland's Medical Dictionary (DMD)). Eventually muscles become completely useless and the patient becomes a quadriplegic, (DMD). With all this said, scientists have discovered how to use stem cells to generate new nerve cells in the brain of mice.
Neuroscientists at Stanford Medical School Transplanted neurons (nerve cells) grown from embryonic stem cells and integrate them into the brains of mice, according to new research in the Jan. 20 issue of The Journal of Neuroscience. The study states that healthy brains have stable and precise connections between cells that are necessary for normal behavior in animals, including human. This new finding is the first to show that stem cells can be directed to become specific brain cells. In fact, the stem cells not only become specific brain cells, but they link correctly, the research states. This is welcoming news for people suffering from neurological disorders, brain, or spinal cord injuries. Such discovery sets the stage for a possible cure of nerve-related diseases.
The research focused primarily on cells that transmit information from the cortex of the brain, including some that are responsible for controlling muscle movements. It is these nerve cells or neurons that are lost or damaged in spinal cord injuries and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), according to the study. These neuron-like stem cells can produce nerve fibers or nerve tissue between the cerebral cortex of the brain and the spinal cord, according to the research. This study therefore confirms the use of stem cells for medicinal use, (The Journal of Neuroscience).
In order to integrate new cells into the experimental brain successfully, the researchers first had to condition unspecialized stem cells to become specialize cells in the cerebral cortex of the brain. Stem cells that were precursors to brain-cortex nerve cells (neurons) were grown in a Petri dish until they displayed many of the same characteristics as mature nerve cells. The young nerve cells were then transplanted into the brains of newborn mice, specifically into regions of the brain's cortex that is responsible for vision, touch, and movement, (The Journal of Neuroscience).
Such successful neurological transplantation was never possible before until now. The reason is that researchers would usually encounter major fundamental problems in nervous system transplant therapy or experiment. It is therefore a blessing to see an experiment of this nature successful.
Just as in the developmental stages of a brand new fetus when different types of precursor cells know exactly where they should go and what they should do, the experimental stem cells-induced neurons in this study perform their duties accordingly-extending to appropriate brain structures, while avoiding inappropriate ones. For instance, neuron-producing stem cells transplanted into the visual cortex of the brain reached two deep brain structures called the superior colliculus and the pons, but did not reach the spinal cord; on the other hand, neuron-producing stem cells placed into the motor of the cortex stretched into the spinal cord, but totally avoided the colliculus, according to the study. This feat is simply amazing in already fully developed animals. Granted, it is not unusual in newly developing fetuses; however, it is certainly next to impossible in fully developed animals, such as mice-and soon to be human.
This study is particularly incredible given that it was only one out of two techniques capable of growing transplanted stem cells that gave the desired result. That is to show us that it was not an easy task coming up with a successful experiment of this nature. It is therefore a huge advance in the use of these cells, (The Journal of Neuroscience).
The use of stem cells to develop nerve cells in mice is quite a feat that has never been done before. This discovery definitely set the stage for a possible cure for spinal cord injuries, brain injuries, and ALS. Therefore, people who suffer from these ailments can be best assured that there could be relief in the not so distant future.
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