Happy Healthy Long Life

Worried, Nervous, Anxious, Afraid? Remember - Courage Comes With Practice!

 

 "Courage isn't a natural attribute of human beings.  I believe that we have to practice being courageous; using courage is like developing a muscle.  The more often I do things that scare me or that make me uncomfortable, the more I realize that I can do a lot more than I originally thought I could."

-Theresa MacPhail, Medical Anthropologist, from her essay for the NPR  series "This I Believe"-

I listened to Theresa MacPhail's essay on Monday & I just knew I had to post it in its entirety.  As a 58 year-old, it's time to get serious about doing all those things that my fears, anxieties & worries keep me from doing.  Time's a wasting!

There's no doubt about it---Everything wonderful & memorable in my life has come when I pushed beyond my fears, covered my eyes, held my nose & took a leap.  Well, on second thought, maybe not everything.  A lot of good things have come because I'm sensible, not a risk-taker, and cautious.  It's all about balance.  Courage coupled with common-sense.

I'm afraid I've inherited my mother's Worry Gene.  And I'm definitely not a risk-taker.

I worry about:

• The economy nose-diving; the environment getting poisoned beyond repair.
• The health, happiness, safety, & financial security of my family & friends. 
• Driving on freeways in the pouring rain, ice storms & blizzards.
• Sounding stupid.  Not being liked.  Being a pest or annoying.
• Getting Alzheimers, having a stroke, or getting into a car accident.
• Riding my bike in traffic.
• Being nice enough, generous enough, kind enough.
• Wasting my life.

I'm anxious about:

• Calling friends & relatives I haven't spoken to in a long time.
• Forgetting to pack something important when I travel.
• Navigating my car in large unfamiliar cities.  Having the correct directions.
• Making decisions.  Making mistakes. Being unprepared.
• Not getting everything done at home and at work.
• Going to a class, a lecture, event, or anywhere new, when I won't know anyone, and I'm not quite sure what to expect.

I fear:

• Terrible pain. Vomiting.  Stomach pain.  Losing my hearing.  Paralysis.
• Encountering someone who is violent, paranoid and mentally ill.
• Being all alone in a dangerous neighborhood.
• Something terrible will happen & my life will be instantly changed.

In spite of all my worries, I've had a chance to:

• Drive in a zero-visibility hail storm; hike from the Irish Sea to the North Sea without a tour guide & only a compass & cryptic directions;  hike along a precarious cliff on the Isle of Skye in Scotland where I thought I'd surely meet my death; tutor in a dangerous inner-city neighborhood; visit someone in a locked down mental hospital; eat an unfamiliar, unrefrigerated lunch in a stranger's house in Beijing;  work as a dental assistant without electricity or running water in tiny Honduran villages; have company over when my house was a wreck & I was totally unprepared; ride my bike on an impossibly hilly main street; go on a 7 day silent meditation retreat when I had no experience with meditation; write a blog; go Contra dancing at a town hall where I didn't know a soul.

Theresa MacPhail, the writer of "Courage Comes With Practice" says she's a nervous person, too.  She rarely tells people about some of the things in this essay, and is a little afraid to speak of them--which is precisely why she wrote it.

"I believe that embracing fear produces courage.

After my brother died in an accident, my mother was inconsolable. I was only 4 years old at the time, but I still understood the seismic shift in my mom's attitude toward safety. Suddenly, everything around us was potentially dangerous. Overnight, the world had gone from a playground to a hazardous zone.

I grew up with a lot of restrictions and rules that were meant to protect me. I couldn't walk home from school by myself, even though everyone I new already did. I couldn't attend pajama parties or go to summer camp, because what if something happened to me?

As I got older, the list of things to fear got longer. My entire life was divided into "things you should avoid" and "things you needed to do in order to have a good, long life." I know my mom was only trying to protect me. She worried about me because after my brother died, I was her only child — and what if something happened to me? What if?

I became a natural worrier. I worry about things like getting cancer, losing my wallet, car accidents, earthquakes, having a brain aneurysm, losing my job and my plane crashing — disasters big and small, real and imagined.

The funny part is you'd never know it by looking at my life, because I'm constantly forcing myself to do the things that frighten or worry me. In fact, I've developed a rule for myself: If it scares me, then I have to do it at least once. I've done lots of things that my mom would have worried about: I've ridden a motorcycle, I've traveled — a lot. In fact, I've lived in China. I've performed stand-up comedy, and I'm planning my second wedding. I still travel to China often, chasing bird flu as a medical anthropologist.

There's something else I don't usually talk about, but it's a cornerstone in my belief: When I was 14, my mother died suddenly in a car accident. That loss, on top of my brother's unnatural death, could have paralyzed me, but at my mom's funeral I remember making a choice. I could either live out the rest of my life trying to be "safe" or I could be brave enough to live out a fulfilling, exciting and, yes, sometimes dangerous life.

I worry that I may have betrayed my mother by writing about her in this light, but she has been a driving force in my life — and in the end I think she would have been proud of me. Courage isn't a natural attribute of human beings. I believe that we have to practice being courageous; using courage is like developing a muscle. The more often I do things that scare me or that make me uncomfortable, the more I realize that I can do a lot more than I originally thought I could do.

Even though I inherited my mother's cautious nature, I've also come to believe that fear can be a good thing, if we face it. Believing that has made my world a less scary place."

Independently produced for All Things Considered by Jay Allison and Dan Gediman with John Gregory and Viki Merrick.

One final note:  Theresa's father also died in an accidental death. But she keeps telling herself  lightning won't strike 4 times in her life and SHE REFUSES TO LIVE IN FEAR.

Are Chia Seeds (Salvia Hispanica) the New & Improved Flax Seeds?

"The results were lower blood pressure, reduced low-grade inflammation, and it made blood thinner.  There are not many studies in the literature showing this kind of results from a natural grain.   It was rather spectacular."

-Dr. Vladimir Vuksan, U of Toronto researcher-

Three weeks ago my sister asked me if knew anything about Chia Pet seeds. Yes, you read that right--these are the same seeds that grew the hair of the 1980's sensation "The Chia Pet"!  She said she heard they were better than flax seeds--more nutritional bang for the buck--and you didn't need to grind them up or keep them in the refrigerator.  Even Dr. Andrew Weil is a big fan.

I was clueless--never heard of the them.  But I said I would check it out.  After looking into it I think Chia just may supplant my super food favorite flax seed, and here's why I'm starting to use these teeny tiny Peruvian poppy seed-sized seeds :

• High in Omega 3-s. Chia has the highest level of healthy omega-3 fatty acids of any plant, including flax.  This is in the form of alpha-linolenic acid.  A June 2008 article in Nutrition Reviews raves about the cardioprotective & neuroprotective benefits of ALA, as well as its effect in countering inflammation and its beneficial effect on autoimmune diseases.
• Fiber. Chia has the highest known whole-food source of fiber.  About 2 TBS.=7 grams of fiber, both soluble & insoluble. Note: This differs by brand.
• Needs no refrigeration. It's so rich in anti-oxidants (chlorogenic acid, caffeic acid, myricetin, quercetin and flavonols) that it doesn't need to be refrigerated, unlike flax seed. And it doesn't need to be ground up, unlike flax.
  
• Nutrients. It's chock full of important nutrients, including protein, calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, manganese, copper, niacin and zinc.
• Easy to use. It's tasteless & can be mixed easily in oatmeal, yogurt, baked goods, or smoothies. Or you can sprinkle it on salads.
• Keeps your blood sugar steady. You can add it to your water bottle, wait 30 minutes & give it a good shake. The tiny seeds form a pleasant gel, which will slow down the digestion of carbohydrates, preventing blood sugar spikes, and keeping you feeling full longer.  My sister adds lemon Crystal Light to her "Chia Water".  My husband & I drink it "straight up".  Or try "Chia Fresca", a traditional Mexican & Central American drink.  Mix 8-10 oz. of water, 2 tsp. of Chia seed, a little lemon or lime juice & some sugar.  "Chia water" is reminiscent of the bubble tea you may have tasted at a Thai restaurant.
• No gastric discomfort.  Flax seed is gas producing for me--Chia isn't.  No idea why!

The big buzz started when Dr. Vladimir Vuksan, a professor of endocrinology and nutritional sciences at the University of Toronto, published a study of 20 type-2 diabetics who supplemented their diets with about 3 tablespoons of Salba (the commercial brand of ground Chia seeds) everyday for 12 weeks.  Dr. Vuksan thought it would be a great supplement to lower the blood sugar levels of diabetics and decrease their risk of cardiovascular disease at the same time. The control group ate wheat bran, the other group ate the Chia seeds.  Turned out that both groups had equal drops in blood sugar.  But, some surprising cardiovascular benefits accrued for the Chia group!

Benefits found from the Chia Seed Study.

• Blood pressure decreased. The Chia group had a 6.3 point drop in blood pressure.  According to Dr.Vuksan, "That's better than a lot of medication."  The drop may be because of the Chia's unique combinations of  high omega 3's, high fiber, vegetable protein and magnesium.
• The C-reactive protein levels decreased by 30%.  CRP is a key measure of inflammation & an important marker for cardiovascular disease.  Anything that can reduce it by 30% is worth noting.
• Clotting factors dropped by 20%.  Based on previous research, this would translate into a modest decrease in cardiovascular disease.
• The ALA blood levels (the plant form of Omega-3) doubled in the Chia group.

The Aztec Legends Surrounding Chia seeds.

• A handful of Chia seeds could sustain ancient Aztec warriors for a full day.
• The Aztecs used Chia as a medicine to relieve joint pain and skin conditions.
• Aztec runners, who delivered messages between communities, used Chia mixed with water to sustain themselves on long runs.

How Much Do The Seeds Cost?  Which Brand Is Best?

• Chia seeds will set you back much more than flax seed will.  Bob's Red Mill Flax costs only $.14 an ounce.  I'm not giving up my flax, just adding Chia a few days a week.
  
• The plain Jane black seed Shiloh Farms brand costs about $.62 an ounce.  
• The ChiaLife brand costs about $1.20 an ounce at a local health food store, but $.88 an ounce online.
• Nature's Answer (the brand my sister uses) costs about $.77 an ounce.
• The Salba brand, which was used in Dr. Vuksan's Toronto study costs about $1.25 an ounce.  This is a white seed, that the company says is the culmination of 15 years of special breeding and results in a substantially enhanced nutrient density.  Who knows?  You be your own judge.
• The nutrient content for Salba, Natures' Answer & ChiaLife are all basically the same, so I'm not sure why Salba thinks their product is superior.  The Shiloh Farms brand just has basic fiber, carb & protein content on its label, not omega-3 or vitamin & mineral content.
• As far as my taste tests went, they were all the same.
• UPATE:  When I wrote this post I had only tasted the Salba brand of Chia meal (ground up Chia). I have since tasted the Salba Chia regular seed & I have to say, I really like its taste & texture.  If it weren't so expensive it would be my first choice.  Maybe the price will come down.

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Taking Care of Yourself When Your Brain's Screaming: "I Don't Feel Like It!"

 

When Life's Big Bumps Hit You---Family Illness, Job Loss, Divorce, Financial Woes,  Stress of All Kinds---You Don't Stop Taking  Cholesterol, Blood Pressure, Acid Reflux, Anti-Anxiety or Anti-Depression Prescriptions.  Right? 

The same goes for Exercise, Eating Right & Meditation--It's your Do-It-Yourself Cholesterol, Blood Pressure, Acid Reflux, Anti-Anxiety, Anti-Depression Medicine All Rolled Into One.   Don't Stop Them Now!

                         -The Healthy Librarian-

By the time you reach 25 you pretty much know that life doesn't always work out as planned--you can't control everything that comes your way.  And life isn't fair.  Every last one of us is hit with loss, disappointment, disease or disaster sooner or later.

When big league stress hits me I'm likely to lose my appetite, close myself off to others and lose concentration & focus.  When it comes to EXERCISE, EATING RIGHT & MEDITATION my brain's screaming "I DON'T FEEL LIKE IT!"   My "inner coach" shouts out louder, "JUST DO IT! YOU'LL FEEL BETTER!"  And I've learned to listen to my wiser self.

I know it feels self-indulgent, maybe selfish to take the time to exercise and prepare healthy meals when you're in crisis mode, but that's the most important time of all to be vigilant about your health.  You need to be at your strongest, sharpest, and healthiest when HARD TIMES HIT.  Not anxious, depressed, exhausted, unmotivated, or ill.

Dr. John Ratey, an associate professor of psychiatry at Harvard, and author of, Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain, says:

"We all know that exercise makes us feel better, but most of us have no idea why.  We assume it's because  we're burning off stress or reducing muscle tension or boosting endorphins, and we leave it at that.  But the real reason we feel so good when we get our blood pumping is that it makes the brain function at its best, and in my view, this benefit of physical activity is far more important---and fascinating---than what it does for the body.  Building muscles and conditioning the heart and lungs are essentially side effects.  I often tell my patients that the point of exercise is to build and condition the brain."    

Brain Benefits of Exercise During Tough Times According to Ratey

• Lowers Stress
• Lowers Anxiety
• Improves Mood
• When your body goes into flight or fight mode--exercise reduces the negative stress hormones of cortisol, adrenaline, & norepinephrine. 
• Relaxation
• Sharper thinking & focus
• Improves sleep (to rest your brain)

Body Benefits of Exercise During Tough Times

• Lower blood pressure
• Improves cholesterol profiles
• Improves circulation
• Stronger immunity.  The last thing you need when times are tough is to get sick.
• Improves flexibility--who needs an aching body to add to your stresses?
• Improves sleep (to repair your body)

Benefits of Healthy Eating

• All of the above--except for improving flexibility--and even that's debatable.

So, What Did I Do Today When My Brain Was Screaming: "I Don't Feel Like It!" ?

• I Just Did It!  I knew the only time I could fit in exercise today was if I set the alarm clock for 5:00 am.  Not my usual wake-up time. I didn't feel like it, but my brain, body & emotions needed it.  Boy, am I glad I did it.
• I made myself a power-packed green smoothie of swiss chard, carrots, strawberries, flax & an orange for breakfast.  I Didn't Feel Like It.  Boy, am I glad I did it.
• I'm making a healthy dinner of Soba Noodle Salad with Tofu & Mango for tonight.  I know my husband will be glad I did it.
• It's impossible to control the curve balls life throws us, but I can control my own reactions to stress by pushing through my "I Don't Feel Like It" inclinations and getting out to exercise, and cooking up a healthy storm.

Right now my amazing sister-in-law is caring for my mother-in-law, as well as managing a store.  In spite of terrible time constraints she's making a concerted effort to carve out time to exercise and make healthy meals.  My husband is redoubling his efforts to de-stress with runs and some early morning meditation.  We've all learned what happens when we start to slack off because of tough times--

-it's like not taking your prescription meds.  Not a good idea.

A Parent's Illness - Act Four

I have a chilling, sometimes recurring nightmare.  All of a sudden I remember I have a baby.  I've completely forgotten I had one. How could this have happened?

 And worst of all, I haven't fed my baby or changed her diaper.  She's still alive, but her very existence depends upon me.  I take  her to my breast, nurse her, change her, and she survives.  And still she adores me in spite of my neglect.  

           -The Healthy Librarian-

Acts 1-3

I never understood the meaning of this disturbing dream--it started long after my kids were grown.  Perhaps "the forgotten baby" represented my parents.  Both had long illnesses.  My dad had a major disabling stroke at 69, and he lived through additional strokes and seizures until he was 85.  My mom's decline began with mini-strokes, a few falls, bone fractures, ending with vascular dementia and a disabling seizure.

My father-in-law might have been the lucky one. He passed away within a week of a devastating stroke at the too-young-age of 73.  He had survived 2 open heart surgeries and a carotid endarterectomy.

I know too well about managing parents' daily affairs, finances, medications, doctor visits, emergency room visits, home care, nursing care, middle-of-the-night phone calls, walkers, wheelchairs, incontinence and all the rest of it.  It's heart breaking, challenging, difficult, and one of the hardest things I've ever done.

Worries about my children were "kid's stuff" compared to worries about aging parents.

The Dream Returns

In June, after a long absence, my "forgotten baby" dream resurfaced.  I still didn't understand what it meant or why it had returned.  It came soon after my mother-in-law was scheduled to have a suspicious-looking cyst biopsied.  What started out as an annoying infection, has turned into full-fledged ovarian cancer and chemotherapy.  All this happened so quickly, and just a week before her 85th birthday. One day she was fine--two weeks later everything has changed.  It's cruel and unfair and yet it hits all of us sooner or later.  First you're the caregiver, then you're the care receiver. No one is immune.  Whoever said, "Old age isn't for sissies!",  spoke the truth.

If you're single you'll likely have two parents to care for.  If you're married you'll likely have four.  This is my Fourth Act and I can't quite believe it has reared its ugly head again.  Who is ever prepared for illness?

I can't bear to see my mother-in-law, our "healthiest parent", who is a 40-year survivor of breast cancer and a 10-year survivor of major spinal surgery, go through this.  She's a sharp-as-a-whip, sociable lady who loves to keep busy with travel, theater, classes and twice-weekly mah jongg games.  I can't bear to see my husband go through the illness of a parent who lives out of town.  I can't bear to have my sister-in-law, who lives near my mother-in-law, shoulder all the daily responsibilities.

A Doctor's Experience

Dr. Jerald Winakur, a geriatrician, speaks as frankly as it gets about his own experiences caring for his aging father in his essay, "What Are We Going To Do With Dad?", published in the medical journal Health Affairs. To read the entire essay, click here.

"From my years as a geriatrician and now as the son of an "old old" man, I recognize that there is but one inescapable truth:  Our parents will become our children if they live long enough.  Perhaps if we looked on our elderly in this way, we would be kinder to them.  They will become dependent on us, our stronger arms, our acts of gentleness and caring.  We will arrange for their meals, pay their bills, take them to their doctor visits, sit by their bedsides at the hospital and in the nursing home.

I don't know what else to do for Dad at this moment, but I know what is likely to happen to him if he does not die in his sleep, a heaven-sent coup de grace that from long experience I recognize is unlikely to occur.  There is always a great struggle in the end.  One day I will get a frantic call from my mother that he is on the floor and she cannot get him up and he is crying out in terrible pain.  Wherever I am, I will drop what I am doing and race over there and find that one of his legs is shortened and externally rotated.  His hip is broken.  From the wall phone in my parent's kitchen, I will call my brother and I will tell him all the reasons why we should not send him to the hospital: 

• He might not recover from the surgery-indeed, might die on the table given his bad heart.
• But even if he does survive, he will spend days in the ICU, probably on a respirator, until his heart is stable.  And then he will be constantly confused and agitated.
• I don't see him ever being able to cooperate with physical therapy.
• At best he will end up in a nursing home, bedridden and at the mercy of overworked, underpaid aides.
• He will descend deeper and deeper into disorientation and delusion, require medications to keep him from harming himself, and die anyway in a few months--or perhaps even a year or two if he is unfortunate and the care is better than average."

It's sad to say, but from my own experiences, Dr. Winakur's words ring pretty true.  I'm not quite sure how to avoid that route-nor could Dr. Winakur.  His articles (see below) are a plea to start a national conversation.

After Dr. W's  father died, he wrote a follow-up essay in Health Affairs, called "Dad's Legacy".  If you're interested you can read it here.

The Experiences of Others

To read more about the challenges of caring for elderly parents I recommend Jane Gross' new blog in the New York Times.   "In  The New Old Age, Jane Gross explores this unprecedented intergenerational challenge and shares the stories of readers, the advice of professionals, and the wisdom gleaned from her own experience caring for her late mother in her waning years."

From a previous Happy Healthy Long Life post, some words of wisdom from Michael Kirk, the producer of the PBS documentary Caring for Your Parents:

• I've watched caretakers take on so many burdens that their own health is jeopardized, and I've also seen wonderful transformations where children & parents talk, really talk, for the first time in their lives.
• I saw love in action.  I saw that the caregivers who could transcend their own needs (a lot of the time) were the beneficiaries of a very positive experience-and so were their parents.
• I also saw the effects of stress and emotional strain on the health of caregivers.  It is too big a job for one person. 
• Bring patience and your best self to the task.  Take care of yourself physically, don't believe a magical transformation is going to take place and start with the realization that as long as your parents are capable of making decisions they should be allowed.

                   

Veganomicon's Quinoa Salad with Black Beans & Mango is Just What the Doctor Ordered - Dietary Patterns & Longevity

Clearly, one can live long.  Diet matters, as do other lifestyle habits (including smoking and physical activity), environmental exposures, and genetics factors.  While scientists dissect the relative contributions of these factors, it is prudent to recommend a diet rich in fruits and vegetables and reduced in saturated fat, salt, meats, refined grains, sweets, and full-fat dairy products. 

   -Dr. Lawrence J. Appel, of Johns Hopkins University, in his editorial  appearing in  the July 16th. 2008 issue of Circulation-

 Yep, none of this is startling news.  We all know it--but here it is once more in the July 16, 2008 issue of Circulation.  This time it's a huge study that analyzed the food diaries that were kept by over 72,000 nurses from 1984-2002, as part of the Nurses' Health Study.  All the nurses were disease-free in 1984.  By 2002, 6011 had died.

What the Researchers Found Out About Diet & Health

• The Prudent Diet.  Those nurses who ate a "high Prudent Diet" with a large consumption of vegetables, fruit, legumes, fish, poultry & whole grains, had a 28% reduced risk of cardiovascular death and a 17% reduced risk of premature death from all causes. 
• The Western Diet.  Those nurses who ate a "high Western Diet" with a large consumption of red and processed meat, refined grains, French fries and sweets/desserts had a 22% increased risk of cardiovascular death, a 16% increased risk of cancer death, and a 21% increased risk of premature death from all causes.
• The study controlled for the known risk factors of age, smoking, physical inactivity, body mass index and total calorie intake.

Veganomicon--Just What the Doctor Ordered!

When my vegetarian-medical-librarian-friend Yazz lent me her copy of Veganomicon, The Ultimate Vegan Cookbook, by Isa Chandra Moskowitz & Terry Hope Romero, I couldn't wait to dig in & experiment.  And after I read today's article in Circulation, "Dietary Patterns and Risk of Mortality from Cardiovascular Disease, Cancer and All Causes in a Prospective Cohort of Women", all the more reason to try it out.  The Quinoa Salad is the quintessential perfect food, according to the study.  It has it all--legumes, fruit, whole grain, and vegetables. 

Even if the thought of vegetarian, let alone vegan cooking makes your nose turn up-- give this recipe a try.  I guarantee you'll love it.  It's fast, delicious & nutritious.  Even my confirmed "only-meat-makes-a-real-meal" son thought it was a hit.  He downed 2 helpings.

"[This] unassuming book is full of recipes for which even a carnivore would give up a night of meat.—San Francisco Chronicle, 12/12/07 

Quinoa Salad with Black Beans and Mango

*If you're new to quinoa, read all about its virtues in my previous post. Click here!

1 mango, peeled and cut into small dice.  (I used some frozen mango I had tucked in the back of my freezer.)
1 red bell pepper, seeded and diced as small as you can get it.
1 cup chopped scallions.
1 cup chopped fresh cilantro.
2 tablespoons grapeseed oil.  (Substitute lime or orange juice--or orange or lemon vinegar)
2 tablespoons of wine vinegar.  (I used balsamic vinegar--rice wine vinegar would also work well)
1/4 tsp. salt (1/2 tsp. is using Kosher salt)
2 cups cooked quinoa, cooled.  (Use Eden organic brand.  It's the highest in protein & fiber.)
1 (15-ounce) can of black beans, drained and rinsed.
Optional:  I added a finely diced jalapeno pepper for a nice kick!  Updated Option:  I liked it even better with 2 finely chopped jalapeno peppers, substituting rice vinegar for wine vinegar, and a little sprinkle of Trader Joe's toasted chopped pecans on top!

Combine the mango, red bell pepper, scallions, and cilantro in a mixing bowl.  Add the red wine (or balsamic) vinegar, grapeseed oil, and salt and stir to combine.  Add the quinoa and stir until everything is well incorporated.  Fold in the black beans, (and the jalapeno pepper if your using it). You can serve it immediately, or let it sit for a bit for the flavors to meld.  It tastes great chilled or even better at room temperature.

I served it on mesclun greens for a one dish meal.

Serves 4 to 6

Time:  35 minutes; 15 minutes if the quinoa is already cooked.

Stretching in St. Louis - Try Something New & Build New Brain Cells at the Same Time

“Getting into the stretch zone is good for you.  It helps keep your brain healthy.

It turns out that unless we continue to learn new things, which challenges our brains to create new pathways, they literally begin to atrophy, which may result in dementia, Alzheimer’s and other brain diseases.”

  -M.J. Ryan, author of "This Year I Will...-

The July trip to Toronto and Niagara-on-the-Lake had been on my calendar for 6 months now.  I was driving up to Toronto with my husband for his continuing-ed course on July 10--then on to Niagara on July 12.

Switching gears:

When Son #2 asked me 2 1/2 weeks ago if I wanted to come with him to St. Louis on an apartment hunting expedition on July 10 (his date was unchangeable) I immediately said, "Gee, I'd love to, but Dad & are going to be driving to Toronto on the 10th.  Sorry, can't do it!"

 But, then I thought about it. 

• "Habits are a funny thing.  We reach for them mindlessly, setting our brains on auto-pilot and relaxing into the unconscious comfort of familiar routine", according to Janet Rae-Dupree in her article, "Can You Become a Creature of New Habits?"
• Wait--my super independent son wants me to travel with him to a new city--"Hey, we'll have a good time checking out the city,"  he had said.  How often do I get a chance to travel 1-on-1 with my adult kids?
• If I were looking for an apartment in a new city I'd want a second pair of eyes, a second opinion before I signed on the dotted line.  Why would he be any different?  I needed to read between the lines here.
• If I could fly one way from St. Louis to Toronto (at a reasonable cost) before my husband & I had to drive to Niagara-on-the-Lake I could go to St. Louis with Son #2 and hunt for an apartment.
• New Habits: I can switch gears & change plans.  It's possible to take 2 one-way flights on different airlines to get where you want to go & not pay a premium or surcharge.  It's possible to change your reservations without a penalty if a seat is available & you're traveling on Southwest Airlines.  I'm now a huge fan of Southwest!

Stretching in St. Louis.

• "Rather than dismissing ourselves as unchangeable creatures of habit, we can instead direct our own change by consciously developing new habits.  In fact, the more new things we try - the more we step outside our comfort zone -- the more inherently creative we become, both in the workplace and in our personal lives."   Janet Rae-Dupree in "Can You Become a Creature of New Habits?"
• The plan was to stay in a hotel within walking distance or Metro access to any apartment Son #2 would be looking at.  No need for a rental car--which was fine by me!  I'm used to my own stick-shift Subaru (or my husband's).  I don't like driving rental cars--I'm always the navigator when it comes to rental cars--my husband drives.
• The plan changed!  We got the rental car.  Since son #2 is under 25, I was the driver.  Great!  At first I couldn't even figure out how to move the seat closer to the steering wheel.  I could move that darn seat every which way-up & down-reclining or straight-but not closer to the steering wheel.  Before you think I'm a total idiot, understand that my car uses side levers, not hidden buttons to do all that sort of maneuvering.  I didn't have "brain pathways" for seat buttons. I do now!
• Forget about the GPS!  Since I didn't yet have the "brain pathways" for driving in St. Louis (and a whole interstate is out-of-commission) I decided to spring for the GPS to talk us through the directions.  "Easy as pie"--plug in the address for the hotel & away we would go.  Not so easy-the hotel had no address--really!  I had Son #2 call & find out the address--and there really is no address.  But we found it "easy as pie" by following written directions, and Son #2 turned out to be a great navigator.  We couldn't even use that darn GPS to get us back to the Rental Agency because their street address isn't in St. Louis, it's in St. Ann. (Their own map had a St. Louis address) And the GPS can only find an address if you have the exact city!  After 2 days of driving around St. Louis I was laying down "brain pathways" for getting around, without the help of a GPS.  Got the hang of maneuvering around all the gated & blocked streets, the main highways, and I was even starting to like that rental car.  Oh--here's another confession--I don't parallel park.  Not a good skill to lack in St. Louis if you need to park in the Central West End.  Son #2 coached me through this--and I did it!  I definitely plan to add parallel parking to my "brain pathways".
• Old habits can rescue you.  Glad I kept my old habit of always keeping maps & written directions in the car.  I knew from past experience that Airport Car Rental Agencies are notoriously hard to locate, especially when you're stressed for time, trying to make a return flight.  Glad I had a back-up plan.
  
• It's OK to make mistakes.  You don't always have to ask for directions.  If one thing doesn't work, try another.   It's great to have a new travel companion, particularly your grown children, to shake up the status quo & to teach you a few new tricks.  Son #2 taught me that you can learn your way around a city (or a campus) by exploring, looking around, discovering things for yourself, allowing yourself to make mistakes and trusting yourself to figure things out.  I was starting to relax and enjoy being in the "unknown zone".
• Beware the herd mentality.  Make your own decisions.  More lessons from Son #2.  Just because everyone is moving to one neighborhood doesn't mean it's the best place for you.  Do your own research!  Know your own priorities & do your own cost-benefit analysis.   According to Dawna Markova, author of "The Open Mind", "..to decide is to kill off all possibilities but one.  A good innovational thinker is alway exploring the many other possibilities".
• Stretching in St. Louis was a success! 
  

Trying out new, awkward and unfamiliar activities--cruising in the STRETCH ZONE---that's where true change can happen.  So jump in, make the leap and go for it!

I'm Healthy, I Exercise, I Eat Right - I'm Heart-Attack Proof. "Not a Moment Too Soon I Thought of Tim Russert"

"Though I'm a 50-year-old-guy with a stressful job and a little too much around the middle, I had a clean bill of health.  I had good cholesterol numbers and a great doctor, and recently I had passed a cardiac stress test."

    -Michael Bicks produces documentaries for ABC News-

  Be sure to Read Michael Bicks' story, "Not a Moment Too Soon, I Thought of TIm Russert" in the July 8, 2008 New York Times. (click here)  It's a stunner!

Bicks did everything right.  Or so he thought.  Every Saturday morning he bicycled with a group of 50-something men who called themselves the Cheat Death Group, convinced that hard-core exercise was "their ticket to postponing the inevitable". 

Bicks thought he was doing everything right.

• He was in good shape.
• Good enough to ride much more than 25 miles at a time.
• His cholesterol numbers were good.
• He had recently passed a cardiac stress test.
• He used a lot of olive oil.
• He drank red wine.
• He exercised regularly.

Bicks had a heart attack in the middle of his regular Saturday morning bike ride a couple of weeks ago.

Too bad Bicks didn't know that exercise is only 1/2 of the health equation - Diet is the other 1/2.

Reread  my post:    Yes, You Can Prevent & Reverse Heart Disease, But Are You Up for the Challenge?  Let Dr. Esselstyn Convince You.   It explains how one can have a heart attack with no prior symptoms and artery blockages of only 10-30%.  It was news to me.  I'm inching towards making the change.  Not there yet.

And if you missed my post about olive oil, you can find it here.

If you need more info, take a look at Tim Russert's Posthumous Interview of Dr. McDougall.  It gives another explanation of how diet contributes to heart disease, in spite of our statins, blood pressure prescriptions, and exercise.  

Food for Thought!

How Does Your Sunscreen Measure Up? Pick Your Poison. Environmental Working Group's New Report on 952 Brands.

 

"Only 15% of 952 products analyzed met EWG's criteria for safety and effectiveness, blocking both UVA and UVB radiation, remaining stable in sunlight, and containing few if any ingredients with significant known or suspected health hazards." 

-The Environmental Working Group's 2008 Sunscreen Report-

Yikes!  Lately I feel like I'm spreading more unhappiness than happiness with all this news about toxins in our plastics, food and sunscreens.  Please forgive me.

The EWG's scientists looked at almost 400 peer-reviewed studies of the 17 sunscreen chemicals approved for  use in the U.S.  Turns out that "some sunscreen chemicals actually break down when exposed to sunlight.  Others penetrate the skin and pose health concerns including allergic reaction, hormone disruption and skin damage."

And as for the sun protection--the SPF rating only refers to protection against UVB rays.  A good sunscreen should also protect against UVA radiation--which penetrates the skin more deeply and can cause skin cancer & wrinkles.  Only 7% of the SPF 30+ sunscreens had UVA protection.

What's Wrong with Our Sunscreens?

• Most lack UVA protection
• Most contain unsafe chemicals

TOP 5 Sunscreens for Safety & Effectiveness

1. Keys Soap Solar Rx Therapeutic Sunblock
2. Trukid Sunny Days Facestick Mineral Sunscreen UVA/UVB Broad Spectrum
3. California Baby Sunblock Stick No Fragrance
4. Badger Sunscreen
5. Marie Veronique Skin Therapy Sun Serum

Recommended Common Brands

1. Blue Lizard - anything without oxybenzone

2. California Baby - anything with SPF 30+

3. CVS - with zinc oxide

4. Jason Natural Cosmetics - Sunbrellas Mineral Based Sunblock

5. Kiss My Face - "Paraben Free" series

6. Neutrogena - Sensitive Skin Sunblock

7. Olay - Defense Daily UV Moisturizer with zinc

Some of the Worst Offenders

1. Coppertone--none of their 41 sunscreen products met EWG's safety & effectiveness criteria
2. Banana Boat--only 1 of its products met the standards
3. Neutrogena--only 1 of its products met the standards

Check Out How Your Sunscreen Measures Up Here

For a Link the Environmental Working Groups Sunscreen Page Click Here

How Did My Long-Time Favorite Sunscreen Measure Up?

Not so well.  I've used Coppertone Sport Sunblock Lotion for years because it's waterproof & ultra-sweatproof.  Good thing I only use it when I'm out in the sun for a long time, because it's an 8 out of 10 for safety.  NUMBER 0 is the safest in the EWG's rating scale.

Here's why my sunscreen is rated poorly

• Oxybenzone (benzophenone-3) - developmental/reproductive toxicity; allergies/immunotoxicity; persistence & bioaccumulation, enhanced skin absorption, biochemical or cellualr level changes.
• Triethanolamine - Cancer, allergies/immunotoxicity, organ system toxicity (non-reproductiove)
• Fragrance - Neurotoxicity, allergies/immunotoxicity, miscellaneous
• There are 10 other questionable ingredients in this sunscreen
• No UVA protection
• 56% of the 952 sunscreens are better than what I've been using!

Isn't it ironic that many of the sunscreens we use to protect ourselves from skin cancer, are to different degrees both ineffective and unsafe?  And now it turns out that many of us are deficient in Vitamin D, which is blocked by sunscreen, and puts us at risk for osteoporosis, diabetes, cancer & heart disease.  Yikes!!

I'm Going to Miss My Olive Oil - Who Knew It Wasn't So Healthy After All? Drs. Esselstyn, Ornish, Vogel & Rudel Did

Is Olive Oil the healthiest fat?  In a word, no! It's a better fat, but not the best one.

-Dr. Dean Ornish-

Contrary to our hypothesis, our study found that omega-9 (oleic acid)--rich Olive Oil, impairs endothelial function after eating.  If you've been using olive oil because you think it's healthy, it's time to think again. 

 -Dr. Robert Vogel-

This is so disappointing.  I've been dipping my whole grain bread in extra virgin olive oil & balsamic vinegar and feeling "oh so virtuous"--as I soaked up every last drop of oil on my plate.  Olive oil is essentially the only fat I eat & cook with.  I love the stuff! 

Finding out that olive oil is bad makes me feels the same as when I found out that the tooth fairy & Santa Claus were made up stories.

Truth be told--this isn't the first time I've heard this.  It's just that now it's finally soaking in--just like olive oil on bread.  About 4 or 5 years ago at a Grand Rounds on the benefits of a plant-based diet  held at my medical center, I asked one of Dr. Esselstyn's proteges if olive oil is finally on the OK list--now that we know how healthy the Mediterranean Diet is for us.

"Absolutely not!", he said.  "Olive oil, like any fat causes inflammation and harms blood vessels. The research is out there.  No one is listening.  No oil--no olive oil!"  Needless to say, I ignored what he had to say. 

"Rigid, inflexible vegetarians.  How come Dr. Walter Willett of Harvard says it's good for us?  What about the Lyon Diet Heart Study?  And besides, it makes food taste so good," I thought to myself. 

Last March when Dr. T. Colin Campbell spoke at my hospital's Wellness Grand Rounds, I decided to ask Dr. Campbell what he thought about olive oil and nuts. I just knew they had to be good for us.

"I'll let Dr. Esselstyn, who is here answer that question.  He's the expert on oil & nuts."  replied Dr. Campbell.

"Olive oil has been shown to injure the blood vessel's endothelium (lining).  Walnuts are OK-but not if you already have heart disease.  You know, here's what I've discovered.  If you tell someone with heart disease that walnuts are OK, before you know it they have a bowl of nuts on their coffee table, a bag of nuts in their car and on and on.  Nuts are full of calories--which is the last thing you need to eat when you're trying to lose weight.  I advise my patients against eating nuts for this very reason.",  Dr. Esselstyn said. 

I heard what he said--but somehow it didn't apply to me.  Until June 25th, when I heard Esselstyn speak on NPR's affiliate station, WCNP's Sound of Ideas about  "Eradicating Heart Disease".

 

Here's Why You May Want to Think Twice About Olive Oil

• From Dr. Dean Ornish:  It's 100% fat and 14% of it is saturated. At 120 calories a tablespoon it's very easy to eat too much of "a bad thing". It won't raise your LDL as much as butter or other saturated fats will,  so it might look like it's reducing your cholesterol, but it's still raising it.  It's just not raising it as much other fats would!  It's the omega-3's that reduce inflammation and are "heart healthy", and olive oil has very little omega-3, maybe 1%. It's mostly omega-9, which has been shown to impair blood vessel function.  Canola and flax seed oil are much higher in omega-3's--and are much healthier oils to use.  Just go easy on them!.
• From Dr. Robert Vogel of the University of Maryland: This is the study that convinced me!  Back in 2000 Vogel based his study on the Lyon Heart Study, which is the big-time study that got us all to eat the Mediterranean Diet.  He wanted to see how olive oil, salmon (fish oil) and canola oil actually affect the  blood vessels.  Using the brachial artery tourniquet test he had 10 healthy volunteers with normal cholesterol ingest 50 grams of fat, in the form of olive oil & bread, canola oil & bread, and salmon.  Measuring their arterial blood flow before & after each meal Vogel could tell whether or not a meal was causing damage to the endothelial lining of the brachial artery, based on how the blood was flowing through the artery after the meal was eaten.  The results really surprised him.  The olive oil constricted blood flow by a whopping 31% after the meal; the canola oil constricted it by 10%; and the salmon reduced it by only 2%.  Why should we care?  Because when the arteries constrict, the endothelium (the vessel's lining) is injured,  triggering plaque build-up, or atherosclerosis. Vogel RA. Corretti MC. Plotnick GD. The postprandial effect of components of the Mediterranean diet on endothelial function. Journal of the American College of Cardiology. 36(5):1455-60, 2000 Nov 1.  Similar results have been found it later studies.  This isn't just a one-hit wonder. Interestingly, walnuts, which have Omega-3's have also been shown to improve blood flow by 24% using the brachial artery tourniquet test.  Go omega 3's!
• How does olive oil constrict blood vessels?: Dr. Vogel discovered back in 1999 that a high fat meal blocks the endothelium's ability to produce that all important NITRIC OXIDE, which is a vasodilator and critical to  preserving the tone  & health of our blood vessels.  When olive oil constricts the blood vessels it's because it's blocking the production of nitric oxide.  Not a good thing!
• From Dr. Lawrence Rudel of Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center:  Rudel ran a five year study feeding monounsaturated fat (similar to olive oil) and saturated fat to African Green monkeys.  The monkeys metabolize fat in the same way as humans, so they're good stand-ins.. At the end of five years, their autopsies showed that the monkeys who were fed the high-oleic monounsaturated olive oil surrogate had higher HDLs (the good cholesterol) and lower LDLs (the bad cholesterol) than the ones fed the saturated fat diet.  The big surprise here:  Both groups had exactly the same amount of coronary artery disease.  The higher HDLs & lower LDLs of the high-oleic monounsaturated oil (similar properties to olive oil) group were meaningless.  Rudel later repeated the study on rodents, and got the same results. 
• From Dr. Caldwell Esseltsyn: Dr. E tells a story in his book about Rev. William Valentine of North Carolina who had a quintuple bypass in 1990.  Since his surgery he followed a strict plant-based diet, dropping from 210 pounds to 156 pounds.  For 14 years he maintained his weight & his diet.  But by 2004 he started to experience a recurrence of angina, especially when he exercised.  He promptly contacted Dr. Esselstyn after reading about his success in reversing heart disease in a health newsletter.  Valentine wanted no part of a repeat bypass or other intervention.  He assured Dr. E that he only ate whole grains, legumes, vegetable & fruit.  A baffled Dr. E  prompted him to repeat once again everything he was eating, leaving nothing out.  

"He had forgotten to mention that he was consuming "heart healthy" olive oil at every lunch and dinner and in salads.  It was what they call a Eureka moment.  Immediately, I advised him to give up the olive oil.  He did--and within seven weeks, his angina had completely disappeared."    Dr. Esselstyn

Little known fact:  Olive oil, which got its big "heart healthy" start with the Lyon Study, wasn't even used in the study.  The study volunteers didn't like the taste of it, so canola oil was substituted for olive oil.  All the benefit that we attributed to olive oil, was actually from Omega-3 enriched canola oil.

What does Dr. Dean Ornish advise?: The best oils are canola, fish oil (omega-3s), flaxseed oil & nonstick cooking sprays. Always in small amounts.  Second best, and in very small amounts, is olive oil.

What does Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn advise?: When it comes to olive oil, canola or any oil--FORGET ABOUT IT.  He does advise taking a tablespoon of flaxseed every day for omega 3's.

What Am I Going to Do?  Olive oil--forget about it, except in tiny amounts. (at least I say that right now)  I admit it, I was using way too much of the stuff, and consuming far too many unhealthy calories than I needed.  I thought that because my HDLs were so high I was in good shape.  Just like the African Green monkeys, the olive oil could have been raising my HDLs, while all the while plaque was forming in my arteries.  Still mulling over a bigger move in the direction of a vegan goody-goody.  Except, of course, when I'm invited out!