Blog Archives - Feed Your Headsimply, a new perspective

There's no mystery why 66% of Americans are overweight or obese.

6/30/2011

These are sample pictures of three crap-food establishments that litter "my Main Street". Even sadder: There's three CVS pharmacies within one mile of each other on this Main Street. If this is your diet, no doubt, you will spend a lot of time (and money) at those CVS stores.

I call this The Main Street Diet.

By the way, the Western diet can be extremely funny. Don't believe me? Check this out.

I think the "XXL" Taco Bell refers to is clothing size.

Edamame, Cranberries, and Feta Cheese

6/29/2011

I'm a big fan of Edamame - easy to prepare and loaded with protein. Here's a spiced up version of plain Edamame. Very simple and delicious: add cranberries and pop it with some Feta cheese. I don't eat a lot of cheese. I usually use a little to pop some flavor. So, if you want to omit the cheese, no problem. It will still taste delicious.

This can be a snack or serve it as a side salad with your main meal.

There's a new book in town: Tomatoland

6/29/2011

Here's an interview with the author - Barry Estabrook. Sad, but true, the tomato has succumbed to industrial farming and it ain't what it used to be. Moral of the story: If you can, grow your own. I do and they are delicious.

If you fast-forward to 28:45 of this interview, you will learn something new about those wonderful shrimp you purchase at the supermarket. Once again, I feel like Howard Beal. "I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore."

Today's Yield from the My Garden

And here's one of my favorite Summertime snacks.

The experts say: "Eat Salmon!" But ...

6/28/2011

What kind? Just by looking at the two, which one would you choose?

Always go for the wild Salmon. The one on the left is wild Sockeye Salmon.

The farm raised Salmon (the one on the right) is fed an unnatural diet (pellets) that gives it its color. If the Salmon wasn't dyed, it would be the color of Tilapia. And, presumably no one would buy it. As you can tell by the color, it even looks sickly.

Be sure to go wild!

The Twinkie Diet

6/28/2011

Do you remember that guy who went on the Twinkie Diet? The results are in:

Source: HBO Bill Maher - In response to the new cigarette packaging

Are heart patients having unnecessary surgery?

6/24/2011

That's the headline for the article that states: Less than half of people having angioplasty surgery for heart disease were taking the best combination of drugs before their procedure, new research shows. This could mean their surgery was not needed.

Candidly, that's the reason I live a healthy lifestyle. I know that most of us believe science, medicine, and technology have "figured out" how to make us healthy, but they all have a long way to go. By living a healthy lifestyle, most people can avoid many diseases and the meds that are required for them.

To read the article, click it.

Circle of Disease

6/22/2011

Let's make this simple:

There are thousands of diet concepts on the market. I call them "diet camps". This is not a camp that you attend. It's a belief system. Typically, people in these diet camps do not budge from their respective camp. In fact, they will present all types of research that demonstrates "how right they are". They will also tell you what's wrong with all the other diet camps.

The spectrum runs form vegan (if it has a mother or a face, do not eat it) to paleo (meat eaters - fat ain't the villian). Interestingly, all of these diets work. That's the good news. However, all of them are partially correct. To a large degree, it's what they omit from their diet that plays a major role in their health.

They all omit or minimize these types of foods: fast food, junk food, processed food, sugar, soda, candy, cookies, cake, and more. And, they add a good dose of exercise. In regard to exercise, find one or more that you enjoy. For example, I enjoy running, biking, hiking, kayaking, and weight training. Bottom line: For good health, you must exercise.

In addition to the "diet camps", experts have advice about what to eat. They discuss nutrients, macro-nutrients, micro-nutrients, leptin, ghrelin, insulin, and much more. While that's important, it could not get much simpler than this:

Quote

6/22/2011

Information is not sufficient to motivate most people to make sustainable lifestyle changes. - Dr. Dean Ornish

I agree with Dr. Ornish. However, for me, once I learned that the American food system is toxic and causes a tremendous amount of disease, it motivated me to change my lifestyle.

Presentation By Dr. Dean Ornish

6/21/2011

In this presentation, Dr. Ornish makes many interesting observations. My favorite is his input about telling someone to stop smoking. It's a great insight into the real problem of changing one's lifestyle.

Got Meds?

6/21/2011

I am no fan of big-pharma. Sadly, they peddle disease. So, I thank Bill Maher for this hysterical rant about them. Pass the veggies as I take a pass on meds.

Radio Interview about Feed Your Head Concept

6/20/2011

Here's a recent interview that I did about diet, health, and lifestyle.

Save the World, Pollute Yourself

6/14/2011

That's my "take-away" from this display. The direct message is: use less plastic. However, the sign is part of a display loaded with candy (junk food).

So, don't pollute the Earth, but your body: Go for it!

The Obesity Premium

6/9/2011

For me, one reason for living a healthy lifestyle is to stay away from docs and meds.

This article in the Washington Post states: As one researcher noted, when it comes to chronic health problems, being obese is roughly equivalent to being aged by 20 years.

While I question the statistical accuracy of that observation, no doubt, poor eating and obesity leads to many unwelcome health outcomes.

Dr. Joel Fuhrman Discusses Health Issues

6/8/2011

If your health is important to you, you will want to listen to Dr. Fuhrman's radio interviews. He addresses many health issues that confront Americans.

Healthy Bones for Life - Dr. John Abramson - Author Overdosed America (after listening to this interview, I'm more convinced than ever to avoid meds) - After listening to this interview, I recommend listening to this NPR report about Osteopenia (How a Bone Disease Grew to Fit the Prescription).

Preventing Sarcopenia: the Major Cause of Age-Related Disabilities (after listening to this interview, I'm more convinced than ever to continue strength straining)

Don’t Control Your Diabetes – Get Rid of It!

Eat to Live the Basics

Nobody Should Die of Heart Disease

How to Get Off Blood Pressure Medicine

Healthy to 100

The New Food Pyramid - Actually, A Plate ...

6/7/2011

Take note: The plate presents a visual that fruits and vegetables should be 50%. Now take a look at the visual below the plate. It's the U.S. food subsidies. Fruits and vegetables receive less than 1% of the subsidies. Very interesting.

Colorado, the slimmest state in the U.S., spends more than $800 annually on obesity-related medical care

6/3/2011

Obesity not only impacts our personal quality of life, but also our well-being as a state. Colorado spends more than $800 million annually on obesity-related medical costs and that number is sure to rise at the same pace as the numbers on our scales.

Here's the scoop: About 1 in 5 Coloradans are obese. In Mississippi its 1 in 3. Now think how much we are spending on medical care.

As Michael Pollan stated: The American diet is a catastrophe. We don’t have a health care crisis. We have a food crisis. 75% of our health care costs are spent on chronic disease linked to the diet…and that is bankrupting us.

Read More

The Main Street Diet

6/2/2011

Frequently, I refer to "The Main Street Diet" as the problem with diet, health, and lifestyle issues in the U.S. When I passed by this burger joint near my home, I was intrigued by its signage.

Today Michelle Obama Will Announce a New Plate-Shaped Food Icon

6/2/2011

In my presentations, I use the Food House icon. It addresses all the issues you need to be aware of to lead a healthy lifestyle.

The U.S. Health System

6/1/2011

A truly fascinating article.

This is just one snippet: Twenty years from now, the maturation of the baby boom generation will be at flood tide. We will have gone from 40 million Americans over the age of 65 in 2009 to 70 million in 2030. This will put enormous pressure on the health care system, regardless of whether Obama's reform efforts, or even Paul Ryan's, prove successful. The chronic diseases of the elderly will be the front line. Because we cannot cure those diseases at present, nor reasonably hope for cures over the next few decades, the best we will be able to do in many cases, especially those of the elderly and frail, is extend people's lives for a relatively short period of time — at considerable expense and often while causing serious suffering to the person in question.