View Full Version : Eating Your Way to Health and Happiness
I love food! I love good health!
I love to write...
so...
I just wrote an article about eating your way to health and happiness on webzine Vibrant Village.
The piece can be found here: http://vibrantvillage.com/2014/01/31/eating-your-way-to-health-and-happiness/
What do you think? Have you found how you eat plays a pivotal role in your health and happiness?
Very nice article Happy Hiker. I have been eating Healthier also. I am not on a diet just a lifestyle change. Getting back to whole food more natural.
Very nice article Happy Hiker. I have been eating Healthier also. I am not on a diet just a lifestyle change. Getting back to whole food more natural.
Kudos to you for stepping onto the wellness path...it makes sense--and a bonus--I find I'm saving $$ on my grocery bills by very rarely buying meat and poultry...
Yes indeed. I eat gluten free/whole food/high fat low carb (65% fat, 20% protein, 15% carbohydrate). I've been tinkering with my diet for years. Vegetarianism was a big failure for me, resulting in at least a forty-pound weight gain, and related problems. I don't have a body type that tolerates a lot of carbohydrates, and it took me far too long to realize that. As I get older, it becomes more important to get adequate protein to maintain my bones and immune system and good quality fats (no PUFAs or industrial seed oils) for my brain. Grain-free diets can work miracles for people who are sensitive to wheat and other gluten-containing grains. My advice to anyone struggling with health problems is to investigate a number of different diets before you follow one that isn't working for you (for years). I'm almost back to where I was before my disastrous experiment with "hearthealthywholegrains." but it's taken me twenty long years to get here. YMMV
Gardenarian
2-1-14, 5:16pm
I really like your article!
We have been eating fewer carbs (the bread I use is Alvarado Bakery Flax seed bread - it's organic, low carb, 50 calories/slice.) I feel much better eating less starch.
I eat a lot of beans, because I'm vegetarian. I hear a lot of paleo/primal people say beans are too starchy. What is your take on that?
I really like your article!
We have been eating fewer carbs (the bread I use is Alvarado Bakery Flax seed bread - it's organic, low carb, 50 calories/slice.) I feel much better eating less starch.
I eat a lot of beans, because I'm vegetarian. I hear a lot of paleo/primal people say beans are too starchy. What is your take on that?
Thanks for your compliment. I do love writing about food, health, cooking and eating for health. Plan to do a lot more...and seeking freelance projects, too.
Oh my, beans vs. meat. People have so many opinions about beans vs. meat.
I've recently read several articles that link meat consumption (beef/pork) with higher incidences of colon cancer. Smoked meats are even worse.
No link, so far, between chicken/turkey and increased colon cancer. At least that I've seen.
But beans! Other than maybe a gassy complaint here and there, I've not found any health articles linking beans/legumes with higher incidences of ANY diseases.
High in protein, rich in fiber, especially soluable fiber, the good kind, and all sorts of wonderful, rich nutrients, beans are kind of perfect. And affordable! Especially if you buy them dry and cook them up yourself.
Of course, cooking them with lotsa lard might not be indicated...
So I say use your bean--and eat beans! Chili, stews, soups, casseroles, wraps, pitas, spreads, sprinkled on salads, mixed in with morning scrambles...use your bean -- eat beans! (and no animals were harmed in making this product).
It's the healthy person's protein.
P.S. I kind of like tofu a lot, too.
Very nice, well written and you covered a LOT of ground with just that one article; good energy in = good energy out :)
Very nice, well written and you covered a LOT of ground with just that one article; good energy in = good energy out :)
Thanks a bunch! Your "energy in = energy out" makes a lot of sense. So it follows that if we eat a lot of junk food...junk in = junk out..hee hee
A whole foods vegan diet can be a good thing! I love beans!
Nice article! Very easy to read.
I've read Joel Fuhrman's book Eat to Live, and it was very interesting. I do not stick to anything close to his diet, but I am 90% vegetarian. Thankfully, I really like healthy foods--it's no chore at all to eat bananas, oatmeal, beans, quinoa, fruits of all kinds, most veggies. And I subscribe to the idea that a some chocolate and some wine is only going to do you good.
I really believe in Michael Pollan's philosophy. If your grandma doesn't recognize it, don't eat it. I think processed foods and chemically-laden stuff and even BPA in plastics is really contributing to diabetes. And diabetes is certainly epidemic.
"People" may say that beans are too starchy, but I don't think you'll find any reputable medical research that indicates this. We eat lots of legumes, but when I am planning meals I usually count them as both starch/protein. We eat almost no flour-based foods, but we do eat real whole grains.
Those studies implicating red meat in cancer risk have been pretty well proven wrong: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=73040&nfid=nl
http://authoritynutrition.com/is-red-meat-bad-for-you-or-good/
Processed meat has never been studied separately in a controlled trial, so whether or not it's a health risk hasn't really been determined.. The risk shows up in observational studies with many confounders. The category “Processed meat” encompasses everything from artisan salumi to the cheapest soy-extended hot dog, rendering any results nearly meaningless.
Beans defend themselves with lectins, phytic acid, fructo-oligosaccharides. If not cooked thoroughly, beans can be toxic—to discourage animals from eating them. Long soaking helps make them more digestible. Still, they're contraindicated for anyone with digestive problems like IBS.
Soy should be fermented and eaten in small quantities only—and then only when organically grown.
http://www.optimumchoices.com/Soy.htm
Lard is a highly stable, healthy fat—like butter, tallow, and coconut oil.
Human beings can thrive on a number of whole-food diets, depending on their genes. Quoting Michael Pollan: "Weston Price and the researchers from the early 20th century that I look at in this book (In Defense of Food) found many examples of people who were eating almost exclusively animal protein diets and were actually very healthy. There is a great range of nutritional diets to which the human body appears to be very well adapted. You go from the Inuit in Greenland eating their seal blubber and lichens to the Masai in Africa, who eat cattle blood and milk, or the Central American corn and beans. Traditional diets have kept people healthy for a long time with whatever was at hand locally — as long as they were real foods."
ApatheticNoMore
2-1-14, 8:26pm
happiness - hmm - I like tasty food! :). But though I've been depressed enough to try at various times, treating depression with food is the far side of unorthodox, though sure I've heard correlations strong and weak, more omega 3s less depression, more cholesterol less depression, some say more protein helps, some say carbs do (though not necessarily grains - probably better off with potatoes), dark chocolate or turmeric might help, some say fasting helps (I think so).
I think small portions work fine, but that's mostly about eating slowly - taking time. People say mindfulness but that term has a lot of baggage (1000 different zen perspectives on cheesecake - you'll drive yourself completely crazy). But who wants to take time, eat in a rush because it's a bad day at work and impossible deadlines, you're VERY angry at the political situation, it's Friday and your happy to finally be free at last! I know, it's an *ideal*. But don't starve yourself and go around constantly hungry. And we're not all meant to be skinny minnies (it's funny, I'm not super skinny but I don't weight much either, but I tell you we aren't all).
onlinemoniker
2-1-14, 9:12pm
I have been a vegan for 9 years. I have never felt better in my life and this includes my childhood. I lost a ton of weight and have kept it off, effortlessly. All this little ailments I had went away--and stayed away. It is very important for me to eat healthily. I still feel like I eat too much fat, though.
HappyHiker
2-1-14, 10:33pm
Nice article! Very easy to read.
I've read Joel Fuhrman's book Eat to Live, and it was very interesting. I do not stick to anything close to his diet, but I am 90% vegetarian. Thankfully, I really like healthy foods--it's no chore at all to eat bananas, oatmeal, beans, quinoa, fruits of all kinds, most veggies. And I subscribe to the idea that a some chocolate and some wine is only going to do you good.
I really believe in Michael Pollan's philosophy. If your grandma doesn't recognize it, don't eat it. I think processed foods and chemically-laden stuff and even BPA in plastics is really contributing to diabetes. And diabetes is certainly epidemic.
You and I are on the same page...what can I say? I agree with you 100%. That's the beauty of eating nutrient-rich foods..as you said, "it's no chore." They taste good and are so satisfying. Nutrients---they do a body good!!
HappyHiker
2-1-14, 10:55pm
I based my comments on red meat/colon cancer in part, from the info in this report http://www.health.harvard.edu/fhg/updates/Red-meat-and-colon-cancer.shtml from Harvard Med...there may be more up-to-date info that I'm not aware of. The info in this report was sufficient to make me shy away from beef/port except on rare occasions.
I think our factory meat produced in the USA has too many dubious additives, hormones and antibiotics to make it a safe food to consume. There must be good reasons why Europe and other countries refuse to allow its export to them...
If one can afford to eat grass-fed organic beef from a local know source it might be a different story, but as I cannot, I shy away from beef and pork.
As a hypoglycaemic, I found many dried beans and peas way too starchy for me, with some beans up to 80% starch. I sought out and ate lower-starch varieties for this reason, because I really like pulses. But then I discovered that one of the worst triggers for my chronic migraine is legumes, which irritate the migraineur's already hypersensitive trigeminal nerve. When I cut beans out of my diet, my headache frequency and intensity dropped like a rock. To my surprise and delight, my chronic IBS also cleared up.
From the Harvard report:
"The study from England showed that large amounts of red meat can produce genetic damage to colon cells in just a few weeks, but it does not prove that red meat causes cancer. None of the cells were malignant, and the body has a series of mechanisms to repair damaged DNA." http://www.health.harvard.edu/fhg/updates/Red-meat-and-colon-cancer.shtml. Further, the people on the high-meat diet were eating 14 ounces a day...I'd be interested to know if the group eating meat-and-veg was also getting 14 ounces of meat a day, and whether the group on the vegetarian diet was getting an equivalent amount of protein to that contained in 14 ounces of red meat. Were all volunteers getting exactly the same amounts and proportions of protein, carbohydrate, and fat? Was vitamin C intake held at optimal levels for all participants?
This site is a good resource for finding suppliers of pastured and humane-certified animal products:
http://www.eatwild.com/products/index.html
Nutritional variation is a fact of life for humans. Some have multiple copies of salivary amylase 1, and thrive on starches, while those with only 2 or 4 copies may be unable to deal well with them. Some people produce 200 times as much pepsin and hydrochloric acid in the stomach as others, and the high producers can probably handle meat just fine. There's very considerable variation in the amounts of lactase, maltase, and sucrase produced in the intestines of different people, so those who secrete low amounts don't handle carbohydrates well. Healthy men were shown to vary in their need for calcium from 220mg/day to 1018 mg/day. Adults may need from 2-7 times as much protein than expected from calculation. Roger Williams, whose figures I'm citing here from his study, "Nutritional Individuality", says that "Nutritional needs are as unique as fingerprints; what makes a good diet for one person may be seriously deficient for another."
I also recommend Dr. Michael Klaper's work. Klaper is a vegan and vegan doctor specializing in nutrition. He suspects that some people may be what he calls (incorrectly) "obligate carnivores." The term is incorrect because a carnivore is a highly-specialized animal eating almost exclusively meat, something that humans have never been at any stage of their evolution. However, he's probably correct in his suspicion that some people simply don't produce the enzymes required to produce particular amino acids, and these problematic amino acids are found in rich supply in animal source foods. So it is likely that some people have a metabolic requirement for some meat in their diets; Klaper's hoping to identify these deficient enzymes so they can be artificially supplemented for people who genuinely want to be vegans but who fail to thrive on a vegan diet. Klaper has been running a longterm study on vegan health, available here:
http://www.indiadivine.org/content/topic/1969466-fwd-the-vegan-health-study-from-michael-klaper-md-very-long-email/
It's a very good read for non-vegans too, as many of the pitfalls for vegans lie in wait for vegetarians and omnivores too.
The take-home is that each person needs to carefully assess her own body, pay close attention to its needs and responses, and go with what is healthy for her personally. As Jane says, people can be radiantly healthy on many different dietary patterns! I seriously doubt that anybody, regardless of where he falls on the vegan-omnivore spectrum, will come to any harm at all by sticking to high-quality single-ingredient fresh foods prepared from scratch.
Congratulations on your article Happy Hiker. This thread has been remarkable (and delightfully) congenial for a diet thread. I appreciate Susanne's information about individual differences that might result in individual dietary needs. I am well aware, after much personal experimentation, that my body does best with animal protein and lots of varied vegetables, including root vegetables, with mono-unsaturated and saturated fats mostly from plant sources. I wish I could feel well on a vegan diet but each attempt has had some really bad outcomes for me. So I am living with some level of inner conflict around what I eat. But also gratitude that I live in a time and place where such discussions are possible. Only possible when there is a sufficiency of food.
Oh, I agree. This discussion has been congenial, and I'm enjoying it very much. The points made are educated, well-researched and make sense.
Seems to me most everyone who has responded is interested in eating for health, avoids the worst parts of the Standard American Diet (S.A.D.--so aptly named, yes?), and care about their health. That's why I find this conversation delightful--and educational
Sending a big thank you for you who took the time to read and comment on my article. I've started back writing after a hiatus that followed my novel. Felt as though I'd used up all my words after that and took a break. It feels wonderful to be writing again...it's a practice I so enjoy. Taking scientific material and making it palatable (pun fully intended) to an average reader has been my forte. The novel was a huge departure.
Writing about food, health, culture and cooking are where I will focus my energy. A point where all my passions unite! Hoping some freelance writing opportunities will be revealed.
There's another article on healthy eating brewing in my brain..something along the lines of The High Cost of Junk Foods..it will be informative, light in tone and down-to-earth--that's my goal.
Don't know about you, but I'm weary with dire fearful articles proclaiming our doom from so many different foods...who wants to become food-phobic? I love food too much to be afraid to eat it. But at the same time, it's my desire to write articles that encourage healthy eating.
ApatheticNoMore
2-2-14, 2:36pm
Seems to me most everyone who has responded is interested in eating for health, avoids the worst parts of the Standard American Diet (S.A.D.--so aptly named, yes?), and care about their health. That's why I find this conversation delightful--and educational
Yea I guess I take it as a given that people are trying to eat mostly real food, things one's great grandmother would recognize as food. Because though I can handle with a little unease a night of mexican restaurant food or something, if I eat too much complete garbage I feel absolutely *aweful* (that definitely includes sugar, while I do enjoy some sugar, watch me feel absolutely terrible after eating 5 cookies or something).
But presuming one is eating real foods, if anything leads to overall equanimity, it's not much different than the diet I was raised on, omnivorous, I wasn't raised a vegetarian or even to entirely avoid red meat, I wasn't raised avoiding fats or even saturated fats (although we did always have skim milk and leaner meats, it was the era, but we also had some cheese and peanut butter), I wasn't raised avoiding carbs, potatoes were a regular at dinner, we didn't eat a lot of beans, but they appeared here and there (tacos, chili, in soup). So while I don't actually eat the diet I grew up on, I like to think what I eat is more natural (grass fed, no margarine), more tweaked for me (can't eat much dairy that hasn't first been processed by microorganism//enzymes for instance) and definitely tastier (the vegetables have fat, use lots of olive oil and sometimes cheese - no plain broccoli) - but the macronutrient ratio may not be all that different - though I probably eat more fat now.
By this way this makes it clear to me how the diet religions are indeed religions: ok it's the prism with which to see things: their perspective on fasting. They promise that if only you follow their diet fasting will be EASY. The low-carb paleos say it, Furman says it, those are very different diets, they can't all be right. Well maybe one of them is right, but I really just think it's a mark of diet as religion. Follow my diet and even fasting will be easy! (fwiw short fasts are sometimes easy, sometimes not, for unknown reasons).
How I wish it was a given that most folks are trying to eat a healthy diet. Went to the grocery store this AM..spent $58 on a week's worth of produce, salmon, grains, beans. The people ahead of me spent $98 on Super Bowl foods...cheese spreads, chips, more chips, two cases of soda, paper plates, paper cups, gunk and junk. Didn't see a whole food or a veggie in their basket. Guess Super Bowl spreads are not for healthy eating...made me sad...
HappyHiker
2-2-14, 11:31pm
Guess who had potato chips during Super Bowl? That's right--it was me. But I made them from whole potatoes, sliced thin and mixed with a little olive oil, sprinkled with some sea salt, pepper and paprika and oven baked. They ware thick cut potato chips..and quite delicious. At least they were free of cottonseed oil, preservatives and artificial seasonings.
Congratulations Seahawks and Seattle..quite a game you played.
ApatheticNoMore
2-3-14, 1:54am
Maybe I don't eat as healthy as all that because I see that type of stuff as food rituals and I've long given up resisting it. Ok the Superbowl is not my ritual so it's the easiest thing in the world to resist, but you know things that I actually have a long history of celebrating: New Years eve, 4th of July. I'm sure those potato chips were fairly healthy (actually I wouldn't even consider them unhealthy or something I had to remove from my diet - I eat fried potatoes afterall and use olive oil - same thing).
Trader Joe makes nice "olive oil potato chips" but they sound much less healthy that those made with fresh potatoes (and I do consider them treat food).
I think that the distinction between "treat foods" and "real foods" has been very cleverly blurred by industry interests, both through advertising and through relentless lobbying. How on earth can a dairy serve be seriously presented as plain milk, or cheese, or plain yogurt, or a small bowful of icecream, or chocolate/strawberry milk, or yogurt more loaded with sugar than most desserts? The two groups are in no way equivalent! Chips and biscuits are marketed as groceries...and so on and so forth. People indoctrinated under this paradigm - that all edible products, however processed and contorted, are actual foods, and the ongoing nutritionist misinformation that says that ALL foods can be eaten and still form a healthy diet don't have much chance.
I think that the distinction between "treat foods" and "real foods" has been very cleverly blurred by industry interests, both through advertising and through relentless lobbying. How on earth can a dairy serve be seriously presented as plain milk, or cheese, or plain yogurt, or a small bowful of icecream, or chocolate/strawberry milk, or yogurt more loaded with sugar than most desserts? The two groups are in no way equivalent! Chips and biscuits are marketed as groceries...and so on and so forth. People indoctrinated under this paradigm - that all edible products, however processed and contorted, are actual foods, and the ongoing nutritionist misinformation that says that ALL foods can be eaten and still form a healthy diet don't have much chance.
You're spot on! Let's keep calling these empty calorie, additive-laden "food-like" substances junk food...because that's what they are.
"Snack Foods?" More like Crap Foods--and they should sport warning labels that eating them may be harmful to your health...IMHO.
The Storyteller
2-3-14, 2:07pm
I enjoyed your article, HH. I'm very fond of Fuhrman. He is one of my nutritional heroes. His plan is excellent, though I don't adhere to it perfectly. I especially like the concept of nutrient density as a way of equating the nutritional value of foods coupled with their caloric load. So many plans out there focus too much on the macronutrients in foods as opposed to the micronutrients. It isn't all about protein vs fat vs carbohydrates. While we need all of those, they are also vehicles for carrying the nutrients we need to be fully healthy.
I also find him quite inspirational. I bought a copy of his Eat To Live for my Kindle and re-read it every now and then. I have lost over 50 pounds and am finding it fairly easy to maintain that weight by just plain eating right... lots of veggies, beans, and fruits, some nuts, a bit of oil high in omega-3, and minimizing meat (almost all from my small farm) and eggs. Little to no preprocessed junk (although none would be better), dairy, or bread.
Another guy I really like is Dr. David Katz. I've ordered his textbook on nutrition (http://www.amazon.com/Nutrition-Clinical-Practice-Comprehensive-Evidence-Based/dp/1582558213/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1207764677&sr=1-1) via Interlibrary Loan and am currently reading his newest book (http://www.amazon.com/Disease-Proof-Remarkable-Truth-About-Makes/dp/1594631247/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1375996278&sr=8-1&keywords=disease+proof+david+katz). I really like his balanced perspective.
http://www.davidkatzmd.com/default.aspx
Anyway, keep up the great work! And give us a heads up on your next article.
Thanks, The Storyteller, for your thoughtful post. I'll check out Dr. Katz...
Sounds as though you enjoy reading about health-foo/nutrition, too?
Seems if we've got to eat, if we enjoy eating (as we do!), then it makes sense to make it delicious--and healthful.
I feel very fortunate that I work from home and have the time to cook from scratch for most meals. When I worked in an office, I had far less time to shop and cook. All too often, we ate out or opted for convenience foods.
But living in San Francisco as we did then, we most often ate Vietnamese, Thai or Cambodian foods and they were pretty healthy and veggie-heavy. Miss the yummy pho...I've learned to cook simple Thai dishes, though.
I, too, re-read Eat to Live and other books such those by Dr. Ornish, from time-to-time as support in fighting off the processed food temptations. I WILL NOT roll my grocery cart down the "snack food" aisles...
Eating is a part of our life and sometimes we abuse eating which lead us on being unhealthy .Eating healthy food is very important in life of people in fact i regret that i abuse it and now i used to go to gym at http://www.fressi.fi/keskukset/syke/ just to bring back my healthy lifestyle and it is really difficult to be back in healthy lifestyle .Well i like your article so much.
HappyHiker
4-20-14, 9:03pm
Glad you liked the article, Clara...food and well-being fascinate me. I'm kind of a foodie, cook much from scratch, but it's an ongoing challenge to eat wisely in the face of so many food-like things that tempt us...and which are so heavily advertised.
I just joined a CSA (community supported agriculture), and will be receiving weekly boxes of organic produce starting next week. Hope that helps my grocery bill--and impacts my health in a good way!
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