Food for Thought

I'm at the Florida Folk Festival, so I won't be around till Tuesday to respond, but I hope you'll chime in with your thoughts. With looming food shortages I thought it would be fun to revisit ideas around diet and food production. If you don't think food is political checkout the links below the fold. You vote with your fork. You can put medicine or junk at the end of it. I've learned over the years people are as set in their diets as they are their religion. However, with impending grain shortages it might be nice to remind people we don't need grains nor are they particularly good for you.

Fit for Survival?

As individuals and as a species we don't seem fit. Perhaps we've arrived at our evolutionary dead end, but who knows, our species is very adaptable. Now as individuals, we all know we'll reach an end point. To my mind, the question is with what quality of life. My partner often asks, "Why are we so lucky?". There has been some luck and tricks of fate, but some of our quality of life is due to planning...doing without so that now we have enough to be comfortable. We also had the foresight to buy property when it was fairly inexpensive. Taking care of our health has paid dividends... we have no big medical issues. Others in the US are not so fortunate. The health of so many is poor and is one reason US COVID outcomes have been the world's worse. Now, we can go forward making better choices as individuals. I wish we could do the same for the society, but so many road blocks impede real progress. So are we fit to survive? Will we evolve?

To Our Good Health

We are likely to get COVID-19 (I've heard estimates of 70 to 80% of us). Fortunately, most people have mild to no symptoms. The severity of the disease is primarily dependent on the strength of our immune system and the initial viral load at infection. About 70% of the severe cases are in people with some level of obesity. We can influence these factors folks. Wearing a mask, even a homemade one, will reduce the initial infection load. Obesity is a result of poor (misinformed) dietary choices and is really pretty easy to correct. The truth is that we blame people for being overweight and sick, but it’s not their fault. Our taste buds, hormones, and brain chemistry have been hijacked by the food industry. Stress is also a complicating factor, as is poor sleep and lack of rest. The concurrent economic collapse coupled with worry about family and friends add to our susceptibility. Perhaps some of us will manage to avoid infection until there is a vaccine. That appears to be a year to 18 months away. That's a long time to be isolated using good antiseptic measures. So this week I thought we should focus on maximizing our own healthy immune system and reviewing protective techniques to minimize infection. Let's try to do more than just survive, but to thrive... and come out of this seismic event better, more thoughtful, and kinder people.

Leftover Potluck

Another holiday come and gone. I hope yours was rewarding. Visiting with family can be a two edged sword - sometimes stressful and combative, other times pleasant and fulfilling. We see one another rarely these days so it tends to be pleasant. My Mom is 88, so I'm glad to spend some time with her while I can. Both my sisters were there this year, one having returned from a tour of teaching in China. They are close to the same age and they have had issues in the past, but all was well this year. This week I thought I would pull together several sources I've collected but not posted and serve a smorgasbord of ideas from food to politics to the economy. Let's begin by getting back to the garden...

Big Fat Lies

Today I want to feature three one hour long movies to watch during the week. The first, Cereal Killers, is about a young Irishman going to South Africa to work with Dr. Tim Noakes on a low carb, high fat (LCHF) diet for a month. The film follows what he eats, and his results. The next movie is Cereal Killers 2. It looks at endurance athletes improving performance on a LCHF, and features a couple rowing from California to Hawaii. The last film is The Big Fat Fix which focuses on Dr Aseem Malhotra's health journey in Italy. My idea is to provide food for thought... as Aseem suggests, the foods we eat are killing us. We'll also look at some other big fat lies in addition to diet misinformation.

Postponing Our Own Memorial Day

It isn't that I fear death, I would just like to postpone it as long as possible (provided I remain in good health). I thought it would be interesting to explore ways to maximize our health in today's column. Much of our health is a result of our diet. Lifestyle also plays an important role. The cast of our genetic dice provides the base of our health through our lives. The nature of our work and work place can stress us out or might be a supportive. The homes and communities where we live also shape our health. The nature of our environment and pollutants we encounter can promote or retard our health as well. Personal health is a multifaceted issue, and a moving target as we age. Our genetics dictate much of our health but we can control our diet, develop healthy habits, and avoid many of the toxins common in today's society.

Let's get this out of the way up front. I have nothing to sell.

Normally when I write for online publication, it's socio-political in nature. This is more in the way of a public service announcement, based on recent personal experience.