Maggie's FarmWe are a commune of inquiring, skeptical, politically centrist, capitalist, anglophile, traditionalist New England Yankee humans, humanoids, and animals with many interests beyond and above politics. Each of us has had a high-school education (or GED), but all had ADD so didn't pay attention very well, especially the dogs. Each one of us does "try my best to be just like I am," and none of us enjoys working for others, including for Maggie, from whom we receive neither a nickel nor a dime. Freedom from nags, cranks, government, do-gooders, control-freaks and idiots is all that we ask for. |
Our Recent Essays Behind the Front Page
Categories
QuicksearchLinks
Blog Administration |
Friday, April 25. 2014Your diet and cancerStill no links found. No links found for diet and heart disease, either. Nutrition remains folklore, magic, superstition, and there is essentially no science in it except to avoid scurvy and Beriberi. Of course, being overweight predisposes to almost all medical ailments except starvation. If you do not want to be fat, quit those tasty carbs and try to satisfy yourself with something else like reading blogs, or sex, or doing unto others. If you want to be strong, exercise hard or do physical labor. Otherwise, quit with the magical thinking and accept that death will arrive (unbidden usually) no matter what you do. People hate to accept that reality because it feels powerless. Well, people don't dine on sacred offerings to gods anymore, and food is no longer magic medicine. Vegetables and fruit? I do not particularly enjoy them so I am always pleased that they supposedly don't matter. For me, vegetables are just an excuse to eat the olive oil or butter. About fruit, when I get the impulse, I will occasionally eat a whole lemon or a whole lime, skin and all. Oranges are too sweet for me. Otherwise, fruit is good only for cheese. Pears, especially. Somebody recently told me that they refused to donate to the American Heart Assoc. because she preferred to go by heart attack rather than by cancer. Well, those are the two main choices on life's menu these days, with the eradication of many infectious diseases. Carpe diem, and pursue what your soul needs before it's too late. I am grateful that my needs are simple other than Jimmy Choos, that my life is rich and complete, and that food is not very important to me other than Shad Roe and caviar.
Posted by Dr. Joy Bliss
in Medical, Our Essays, Psychology, and Dr. Bliss
at
12:20
| Comments (15)
| Trackbacks (0)
Trackbacks
Trackback specific URI for this entry
No Trackbacks
Comments
Display comments as
(Linear | Threaded)
I think the focus should be on EARLY death due to cancer or heart disease. Older people dying of cancer or heart disease is something that will never be preventable. We are all going to die at some point of something...organ failure, disease, etc.
However, I think it is worthy to spend money on research finding out how to prevent early death (people in their 30s and 40s) since they tend to still have children to raise and other responsibilities which can devastate a family for years into the future. No diet link, at any age.
As far as is known, it's genetics and/or bad luck. My husband had a heart attack and double bypass surgery afterward back in 2007. He hits the gym five days a week and works his tail off. His cholesterol is lower because of this and his diet, but the doctor still tells him that his "bad" cholesterol is still too high and that maybe he should take the stairs or walk more.
My grandfather died at age 99. He ate whatever he wanted to eat. It's gotta be genetics. I agree with you on the diet link...there are definitely genetics at play. I would rather money focus on that rather than diet. And leave the idea alone that we need to 'prevent cancer' and 'prevent heart disease' in those over 65. At that point, we all are going to have something wrong with us physically. Do we really need to spend tons of dollars on 'how to live longer'? I think money should be spent to find cures for illnesses and diseases as they strike the young...and if this is genetic, that is where the money should go.
Besides, even if it WERE dietary, who can continue a certain diet for decades on end in order to extend life by a few years...? Pretty much impossible. So you already know people will be failures. How does this help? Quit studying food and start studying genes. To believe that diet has nothing to do with cancer or heart disease is foolishness.
Sickness is big business and this business has no desire to do that which will put it out of business. There are plenty of stories and testimonials to be found where people were made better by a healthy diet. And in many cases they were able to get off their prescription medication completely. Natural healthy foods do not have warning labels that say; "if you have this, or this, or this, be sure to consult your doctor." Or, X is not for those who have this, this or this. Tennissee Earnie Ford sang a great song, and one of the lines was " I sold my soul to the company store". Don't do it. Show us the evidence. There is none.
The slick marketing is about so-called "healthy food." However, healthy food cannot be defined by science, just by marketing. Eat your ribeye, enjoy life, and chill out. Or eat quinoa and hate your life. Dear Mr Bird Dog,
There is evidence and you can find it if you want to. But I'm not doing anyone else's homework. And I don't buy the "slick marketing" either. There are good sources of info that aren't trying to sell a book a powder or a pill. You have to glean that stuff out. I do eat ribeye and other steaks. I drink wine and other adult beverages. And I enjoy my life. I also eat veggies and salads and I enjoy them too. And I use real butter. I know the foods that make me feel better and I know the foods that do the opposite. So I make dietary choices that make me feel better. Why? Because diet makes a difference. There is a happy medium. I eat fruits and veggies and drink wine, eat desserts, and eat meat. I enjoy them all. I make practically everything from scratch that I eat so I know what's in it. I read a book by nutritionist, Gaylord Hauser, years ago and that's when my interest in nutrition started. He had a tubercular hip when he was a child and was sent home to die. When he was eating his usual breakfast of coffee, rolls, and marmalade, an old man, who was a family friend and spent his life as a missionary, said to him, "If you keep on eating such dead foods, you certainly will die. Only living foods can make a living body." The child asked what "living foods" are and he said, "fresh young growing things, especially green and yellow garden vegetables, saturated with earthy elements; lemons, oranges, and other tree fruits, full of sunshine and living juices. The old man knew nothing about proteins, vitamins, etc. He took his advice and healed and became a famous nutritionist. I know how I feel when I eat junk, and I know how I feel when I eat good, nourishing foods, and it's a world of difference.
You read it on the internet so it's true.
Problem is that 'Farmers had first conflated the nutrition-poor western diet with rugged New England individualism and out-of-doors anti-establishmentarianism to then found it a short step to making it a pet science. Because of the known cancer-fighting properties in pizza, steak, and ice cream. Everybody knows greens, reds, superfoods, and fruit are right out. And because no hunting. With that as an agenda it's easy to find what appears to be confirmation. That at least one of you is a MD is more telling of confirmation bias than it is authoritative. There are plenty of stories about PEOPLE WHO LOST weight and got off prescription meds (mostly diabetics). They would've had the same result had they lost weight on Atkins or if they ate vegan. The diet did not matter...the weight loss did. Although, now I've read a certain amount of 'overweight' may be better than skinniness. Maybe we need to readjust the height/weight tables to include a heavier person as 'fine' rather than 'overweight'!
There is plenty of evidence that in a meat-included diet, carbs are indeed the way to weight gain. Eat a typical Western diet and if you do not cut out the carbs, up you go.
Whether the Aktins crock is healthy, on the other hand, is completely up for debate. In a vegan diet, however, you can carbo load all you want. Some vegans consume three times the complex sugars, vegetable and fruit bulk, and even the calories the typical eater does and they remain slender. The Paleo diet, meanwhile, is at least wise to exclude the white, processed, and corn-based, sugared foods of modernity, because alongside the fat-dense Western diet, they contribute to the West's cancers and heart ailments. There is some data, but not sufficient research in my opinion on a few things. However, there is enough data to interest me in a number of areas
For example Dr. William Li's research on 'starving cancer' http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9bDZ5-zPtY An individual's experience with starving cancer http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCXY2u6KqKY Then there is the anecdotal evidence about coconut oil and Alzheimer ... this one by doctor whose husband was going into the dark night of Alzheimer's disease is credible http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dfux-5Z4COo It is easy to be a skeptic until one is diagnosed with cancer or Alzheimer - then anything can be and will be applied. RileyD, nwJ quit with the magical thinking and accept that death will arrive (unbidden usually) no matter what you do
In no universe I am aware of will everyone say to himself “my wife/daughter/sister/mother” is dying. Eh. I accept it.” *** I remember listening to Ford’s version of “Sixteen Tons” on the radio while I drifted off to sleep. Good memories. QUOTE: Nutrition remains folklore, magic, superstition, and there is essentially no science in it... QUOTE: Show us the evidence. There is none. Nonsense. It's there if you want to find it. For starters: https://www.youtube.com/user/NutritionFactsOrg No one gets out of dying, but that's not the point. It's how we feel while we're living. And if we eat good foods and exercise, hopefully, we will be able to walk and think even in old age.
|