And we’re off! I began in the height of luxury here at the Keck Medical Center in lovely Pasadena on a beautiful Wednesday morning. The sun is shining, my daughter was off to a great start and my wife has cleared the day to keep me company in our five star accommodations. I have a heated, massage-lounge chair and my own hi-def satellite television service, robust Wi-Fi and some decent natural lighting behind me. Continue reading The Chemo Diaries: Day One
People talk about luck all the time. Good luck that this happened, bad luck that that happened. It is spoken of as if “luck” is an actual thing, with a consciousness or purpose. Yet, rationally, we should all understand that luck does not exist. There is “chance.” There are “odds.” But there is no such thing as luck outside of an emotional response to fortune (or lack of it). That is to say, one might feel fortunate if, for instance, one were to be diagnosed with a chronic disease early enough to do something to stem the tide, or live in a country where the survival rates are generally above 50 percent and increasing rather than decreasing.
Of course, there are those who would be in a wealthy country with cutting edge healthcare and an early diagnosis who would still only see their personal misfortune with such a diagnosis. But this isn’t about those pathetically myopic individuals, this is about the reason we should be glad we don’t live in India. And if you happen to be reading this from within the borders of India, my apologies, but hopefully you are a politically motivated activist with the means to make your voice heard.
Continue reading When Being Unfortunate is Good Fortune
When a product claims to be “A good source of calcium!” – beware. Chances are that this is a smokescreen to get you to purchase an unhealthy product.
Seriously, suggesting that Product X is a good source of calcium is akin to stating that gin is a good source of water. Certainly, drinking 16 ounces of gin could be one way of getting a “serving” of water toward your daily quota. But is it the best way? Making gin your sole source of water would have disastrous consequences, at least for your liver. Probably also for your relationships and career, but that is another issue altogether.
A list of other candidates for a “good source” of water would necessarily include espresso, which is also a diuretic. This is the same sort of logic that many mega-brand corporate “food” packagers appear to follow Continue reading Nutritional Claims: Don’t Believe the Hype
At some point, it is inevitable that any intelligent shopper who takes the time to read the ingredient list on most mass-produced pre-packaged food items that come in un-refrigerated cardboard boxes will ask the following question:
Are We Being Knowingly Poisoned by the Food Industry? | Suite101.com.
The answer is, unfortunately, yes. Continue reading Are We Being Knowingly Poisoned by the Food Industry? | Suite101.com
While I am mining the web for material I can trust (mainly because I wrote it), I thought I would continue with the subject of unnecessary food additives. The article linked here is fairly non-biased in spite of the fact that I know a reasonable number of people who have strong reactions to the substance.
Health Dangers of MSG and How to Look for Hidden MSG | Suite101.com.
Read it and then consider whether it is worth the risk to eat prepared food that contains this stuff. I had a recent craving for a boxed pasta with sauce product that I enjoyed using to jump-start a quick meal back in my college days and didn’t even think to check the ingredients until I was already home. Needless to say, MSG wasn’t the only thing on the label I could do without. It’s still taking up cabinet space only because I figure I’ll rescue the noodles.
Dangers and Toxicity of Artificial Color and Food Dye | Suite101.com.
Now, here is something that is just plain bad for you and industry wants to just sweep the evidence right under the table. I’ve seen mild reactions to dye in food many times over the years and I have corresponded with a few people who have experience with extreme behavioral or physiological reactions. Not long after writing the article linked here, a person I know had a pronounced allergic reaction to dye that sent him to the hospital. But for me, it’s all about the children. Why poison their bodies pointlessly? Why train them from a young age to believe that brightly colored foods are somehow preferable to naturally colored foods?
Hanging out in a client’s kitchen, I learned that a lot of restaurants use Yellow #5 in their eggs because they want that appealing uniform color. He kept a gallon jug of the color right above the station where they mixed the eggs in the back prep room. I mentioned the article to him (which I had just written, and so it was very much on my mind at the time) and he had no idea that Yellow #5 is one of the colors most likely to cause problems. The manufacturer does not warn of any possible side-effects on the container, after all. I guess that is what research is for.
That’s right: labels are bad. Specifically, labels that are there to mislead or misinform their intended audience. In many cases, this is a political audience (read, “Conservative” or “Liberal”) and in many cases this is a consumer audience (“Healthy Choice” or “Laugh Out Loud Funny” or “Fun For The Whole Family”)…
The truth is, labels are not to be trusted at face value. Anyone who only pays attention to a label is likely to swallow something toxic, whether they realize it or feel the immediate results at all, the toxicity is nonetheless introduced to the system.
While I am constantly at odds with major grocery chains over the brands they carry with names like “Eating Right” (an actual brand that has Continue reading Labels: Bad, bad, bad.