Happy Healthy Long Life

Three Wake Up Calls In One Week! Always Go to the Funeral - What Will Your Last 10 Years Look Like? - The Miracle of Looking Through the Eyes of Another

 

 

 

"'Always go to the funeral' means that I have to do the right thing when I really, really don't feel like it"

I have to remind myself of it when I could make some small gesture, but I really don't have to and I definitely don't want to.

I'm talking about those things that represent only inconvenience to me but the world to the other guy: you know, the painfully underattended birthday party, the hospital visit during happy hour, the shivah call for one of my ex's uncles.

In my humdrum life, the daily battle hasn't been good vs. evil. It's hardly so epic. Most days my real battle is doing good vs. doing nothing."

 

-Deirdre Sullivan, "Always Go to the Funeral," August 8, 2005.  NPR Series, "This I Believe"

 

 

 

Isn't it strange how books, teachers, people, podcasts, articles, and experiences sometimes serendipitously arrive on our doorstep, unasked for--but offering exactly what we didn't know we needed to hear?  Does that make sense?

This week, three "Wake-Up Call" kind-of-serendipitous lessons literally fell into my lap. Two short videos.  One short podcast. Two take place in hospitals.  One's about funerals.  Hmm.   What's the connection here?

All together, they added up to nine powerful minutes out of my week. 

Nine minutes that have kind of shaken me up--awakened me --and made me look at my everday life a little differently.  Maybe they'll have the same effect upon you.

Here's the strange part.   It turns out, all three of the following "on-line learning opportunities" are saying the same thing--sort of.

Many of us have jam-packed schedules.  Throw in another obligation, or try to change the way we eat or shop or start an exercise program, or pay closer attention to everyone we have contact with during the day---sometimes it just seems impossible & so overwhelming.  Who has the time for it all?

For me, the videos & the podcast were a kick in the pants to recognize what sometimes holds me back from "doing the right thing"! 

Honestly, sometimes I just don't feel like it.

The antidote:  Habit kicks in.

Bottom line: It's often the inevitable inertia of everyday life -- Aargh, I'm too busy for that right now, it's not a convenient time, & let's face it--what can look like the lack of empathy is more about being too preoccupied or busy to pay attention to what's going on with someone outside of my own inner circle.   Just speaking for myself, here.

 

The Three Kick-In-The-Pants Reminders I Received This Week

1. "Always Go to the Funeral".    I deeply regret the ones I've missed--but, shouldn't have.   But, I still struggle with how to decide which ones are OK to miss, or which circumstances are excusable.  It's not all black & white.  Thoughts?

2. "What Will Your Last Ten Years Look Like?"    Make your own choice, but it won't happen without making changes, that's for certain.

3. "Empathy - "If you could stand in someone else's shoes... Hear what they hear. See what they see. Feel what they feel. Would you treat them differently?"    Yes, without a doubt!  Err on the side of understanding, cut someone some slack.  Is there any possible alternative?

 

What Do "Two Hospitals" & "a Funeral" Have in Common?

1.  They're about doing the right thing--even when it's inconvenient, even we're too busy right now, even when we can't afford it, even when we can't spare the time or even when we just want to take a pass--this once. 

2.  "If I waited until I felt like doing it--I'd never do it [you fill in the blanks]"

3. "When in doubt, do the positive thing." 

4.  They're about the little things, the small good habits, the better choices, the slight attitude adjustments, when done over & over again slowly change us over time.  After awhile, the changes become automatic--it's just what we do.  Who we are. 

• They can add up to a healthy vibrant last 10 years of life. 
• They can add up to making a difference to someone else's life--even if we are unaware of it.

It's the power of habit, that changes us into the people we want to be.

5. It's about overcoming our own inertia and the inconvenience of doing what we'd rather not be doing.

That's it.

 

"Smart people who’ve thought about this usually understand that the habits we put into practice end up shaping the people we are within.

 -David Brooks, New York Times, "Suffering Fools Gladly"-

What Will Your Last Ten Years Look Like?

Click Here If You Don't See the Video on Your Screen

 

 

Don't miss this one minute video produced by the Canadian Heart & Stroke Foundation.

What will your last 10 years look like?

My eyes filled with tears watching this--memories of my mom & dad.  They are the reason I'm so careful about staying health.  And so are my grandkids, my husband, & my kids.

Giant thank you to C.S., the Canadian reader who shared this video with me.

 

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Empathy - If You Could Stand in Someone Else's Shoes, Would You Treat Them Differently?

Click Here If You Don't See the Video on Your Screen

 

Don't miss this video about EMPATHY--that profoundly challenges us to walk in someone else's shoes.

It has the potential to change your perspective forever. The video was produced by the Cleveland Clini & was featured on the blog of my favorite radio show: "On Being".
 

Have a  kleenex ready.

A big thank you to my daughter-in-law who shared this video with me--I missed viewing it when it was shown at work last week.  Read the full post about the video here.

 

"If you could stand in someone else's shoes... Hear what they hear. See what they see. Feel what they feel. Would you treat them differently?"

"These words end this incredibly beautiful video produced by the Cleveland Clinic, a nonprofit medical center that integrates clinical and hospital care with research and education.
 

This video speaks to each person's complexity, the stories that go unsaid but float just beneath the surface.

Titled "Empathy," this video was presented by the health care organization's CEO Toby Cosgrove at his annual State of the Clinic address on February 27, 2013. And it gets at a point that immunologist Esther Sternberg explores in her work and personal life: how new knowledge about the physical spaces of our lives can stress us, make us sick, or help us be well and connect with others."

I am forever grateful to Krista Tippett & the producers of "On Being" for the inspiration, the insights, & the new ways they make me think about the world--every Sunday morning on the radio. If you aren't familiar with this award-winning weekly show--I encourage you to discover it on NPR. 

 

 -Could a greater miracle take place than for us to look through each others' eyes for one instant?-

Henry David Thoreau

  ---------------------------

 

Always Go to the Funeral 

 

Credit: Nubar Alexanian

Deirdre Sullivan, NPR "This I Believe," August 8, 2005

 

 Listen to Deirdre Sullivan explain why she always goes to the funeral, here

 

"I believe in always going to the funeral. My father taught me that.

The first time he said it directly to me, I was 16 and trying to get out of going to calling hours for Miss Emerson, my old fifth grade math teacher. I did not want to go. My father was unequivocal.

"Dee," he said, "you're going. Always go to the funeral. Do it for the family."

So my dad waited outside while I went in. It was worse than I thought it would be: I was the only kid there. When the condolence line deposited me in front of Miss Emerson's shell-shocked parents, I stammered out, "Sorry about all this," and stalked away.

But, for that deeply weird expression of sympathy delivered 20 years ago, Miss Emerson's mother still remembers my name and always says hello with tearing eyes.

That was the first time I went un-chaperoned, but my parents had been taking us kids to funerals and calling hours as a matter of course for years. By the time I was 16, I had been to five or six funerals. I remember two things from the funeral circuit: bottomless dishes of free mints and my father saying on the ride home, "You can't come in without going out, kids. Always go to the funeral."

Sounds simple — when someone dies, get in your car and go to calling hours or the funeral. That, I can do. But I think a personal philosophy of going to funerals means more than that.

"Always go to the funeral" means that I have to do the right thing when I really, really don't feel like it. 

I have to remind myself of it when I could make some small gesture, but I don't really have to and I definitely don't want to.

I'm talking about those things that represent only inconvenience to me, but the world to the other guy. You know, the painfully under-attended birthday party. The hospital visit during happy hour. The Shiva call for one of my ex's uncles.

In my humdrum life, the daily battle hasn't been good versus evil. It's hardly so epic. Most days, my real battle is doing good versus doing nothing.

In going to funerals, I've come to believe that while I wait to make a grand heroic gesture, I should just stick to the small inconveniences that let me share in life's inevitable, occasional calamity.

On a cold April night three years ago, my father died a quiet death from cancer. His funeral was on a Wednesday, middle of the workweek.

I had been numb for days when, for some reason, during the funeral, I turned and looked back at the folks in the church. The memory of it still takes my breath away.

The most human, powerful and humbling thing I've ever seen was a church at 3:00 on a Wednesday full of inconvenienced people who believe in going to the funeral.  [I couldn't agree more.]

 ---------------------

 Thoughts?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Happy Valentine's Day 2013! Love Potion Number 9: Generosity, Luck, the 5-1 Ratio & Bill Murray's Groundhog Day!

 

                                                                                 
                                        Hammer Press                                           

 

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Bet you can't read everything on this intriguing card!  I know I couldn't.

So, I enlarged it--and was rewarded for my efforts.  It's a hoot!

It may be tongue-in-cheek, but guess what?   We're kind-of-living this greeting card message.  Don't hate me.  I lucked out "big time" in the husband department.  Pooh-pooh-pooh!  Kenahora!  (But, don't get the wrong idea.  We still argue, disagree, get annoyed, & get on each other's nerves sometimes.  Who doesn't?)

Lucky us, I say!

But, it took 41+ years of practice--every day--to get there!  We're slow learners.  Plus, lots of luck, the 5-1 ratio, & Bill Murray's Groundhog Day.   More on that later.

In case you're wondering, the words in italics are how the Healthy Librarian & the Lab Rat stack up to the card's standards.

I WILL

• Buy You Flowers For No Reason.   Check!  He's done that.  A lot.  I haven't.  But, I buy him other surprises for no reason, that I know he'd appreciate.
• Remind You That You're Good at Your Job.   Check!  For both of us--all the time.  But, it's usually not about our "work" jobs--it's about other things we're good at.
  
• Make Coffee For You Every Morning.  Check--whoever is up first, makes the coffee!
• Open The Door For You.  Check!  For both of us.
• Not Roll My Eyes When You Talk About How Hot Tom Brady Is?   Huh?  Who's Tom Brady?  
• Be Vegan If You Want To Be Vegan.  Check!  We both were willing to give this one a try.
• Cook For Your Book Club.  Check!  It's "our" book club--it's co-ed--and we both cook for it when it's at our house.
• Wash Your Car For You.  Check!  He washes my car.  I've never washed his.  He's into car care--I'm not.
• Rub Your Feet While We Watched House Hunter's International.  Check!  I kid you not--this actually happened this year--and, trust me, he must have really felt sorry for me to do this.  Can't think of a show he hates more--and he's not a foot-rubber.  
  
• Let You Spend All Day Sunday In Front Of The TV.  Check!  Sure, why not? Occasionally.  Sometimes a guy needs to veg-out without being nagged about it.  But, TV's his thing--not mine.
  
• Not Interrupt You!  Hasn't happened yet-but we're working really hard on this one!  

 

Where Did This Card Come From?

This adorable card illustrated Tara Parker Pope's December 11th, 2011 Sunday New York Times Magazine story, "The Generous Marriage".  

So, what's a "generous marriage"--and why should we care? 

 

This excerpt will give you the gist:

 

"Researchers from the University of Virginia’s National Marriage Project recently studied the role of generosity in the marriages of 2,870 men and women.

Generosity was defined as “the virtue of giving good things to one’s spouse freely and abundantly” — like simply making them coffee in the morning — and researchers quizzed men and women on how often they behaved generously toward their partners. How often did they express affection? How willing were they to forgive?

The responses went right to the core of their unions. Men and women with the highest scores on the generosity scale were far more likely to report that they were “very happy” in their marriages.

The benefits of generosity were particularly pronounced among couples with children. Among the parents who posted above-average scores for marital generosity, about 50 percent reported being “very happy” together. Among those with lower generosity scores, only about 14 percent claimed to be “very happy,” according to the latest “State of Our Unions” report from the National Marriage Project."

 

 

Of course, I read the article immediately--it was short--and I took the quiz that came with it, "Do You Have a Generous Relationship?".   

Then, I asked my husband to take it.  I couldn't believe he didn't roll his eyes at that request--but he took the quiz.  It helped that there are only 4 questions to answer!

Turned out we got the same score--a 17, I think.  But, if you ask me, he's definitely the more generous one.

 

Here's what I wanted to tell Tara Parker-Pope after I read her article:

 

Love this study--and this column.  Thanks, Tara.  I'll try to be more generous.

Yikes--In about 2 weeks my husband & I will be married for 40 years (note: originally written in 2011--now it's 41+).

He's incredibly generous--every day.

Last night he shared his Good & Plenty with me, at the movies, even though he only bought a small box because I swore I wasn't going to want any of it.   No kidding--that's generous!

Whoever gets up last--makes the bed.  Whoever gets up first makes the coffee in the morning.  Whoever has the time, does the grocery shopping,  makes dinner, or cleans the house.

He knows the stuff I hate to do--so he'll just do it for me.  Car stuff.  Lawn stuff.  Money stuff.

I'll do the the stuff he hates to do.   Make the phone calls.  Keep in touch with the relatives.  Make the social plans.  Buy the presents, the cards, do the non-guy-type shopping.

He'd deny it, but, honestly,  I think he's more generous to me, than I am to him--but, I always keep a look-out for what I can do for him.

 

 

So Why I'm I Bringing Up "The Generous Marriage" Again?  

Today is Valentine's Day & I Think It's Excellent Advice! I Certainly Need the Reminder.

 

 

Everyone Has Advice About What Makes a Good Marriage.

But, I'm Still Sticking With What I Wrote on Our 37th Anniverary, Four+ Years Ago:

What's the Secret of a Good Marriage?   Luck, the 5-1 Ratio & Bill Murray's Groundhog Day!

 

A reposting from:

December 26, 2008

Happy Anniversary - Secrets of a Good Marriage - Luck, the 5-1 Ratio & Bill Murray's Groundhog Day

 

 

"Happy marriages begin when we marry the ones we love, and they blossom when we love the ones we marry."   
                     
  -Tom Mullen-

 

"Life is a Life-changing Experience"

-Harry Shearer-

Today is our 37th wedding anniversary!  Yikes!  Where did the time go?  We were both only 20 years old when we first met.  We literally grew up together.  And now we are into the dessert course of marriage--the best part!  Empty nest & grandchildren.

My husband is the funniest person I knew.  He makes me laugh everyday, really!  He's also the most trustworthy person I know.  Except when he's being the most annoying person I know.

When I asked him what superlatives he would give me, he answered instantly, "You're the nicest person I now.  And the kindest.  Except when you're being the most annoying person I know.  You're also funny, but not the funniest person I know.  Sorry."

So what's the secret to a happy marriage?  I wouldn't presume to answer that question for anyone but us, but I figure you need 3 things going for you:

• Good luck in who you choose and good luck in the curve balls life will surely throw you.
• The 5-1 ratio.  Your nice-to-nasty ratio must be 5-1!  It really works! 
  

John Gottman's pioneering research on marriages suggests that there is a "magic ratio" of 5 to 1 -- in terms of our balance of positive to negative interactions. Gottman found that marriages are significantly more likely to succeed when the couple's interactions are near that 5 to 1 ratio of positive to negative. When the ratio approaches 1 to 1, marriages "cascade to divorce."

• The Bill Murray Groundhog Day Principle.  If you stay married long enough, and keep repeating the same stupid mistakes over & over again, you finally get it right!  The light bulb will go on & you'll figure out what works & what doesn't.  Ditch what's not working.  

For instance:

  

• I am spatially-challenged, so my husband has quit relying on me to help him move furniture through narrow doorways or going up & down stairs. 
• My husband  is directionally-challenged (as in maps) so I'm the directions person, & I make sure I know exactly where we are going.
• I love to hike, but I'll pass on backpacking--why would you want to ruin a perfectly good hike carrying 50 lbs. on your back?  So he goes with a friend. 
• He's not into going to lectures on weeknights--I go with friends. 
• He got tired of listening to me whine & he finally learned to dance--and loves it.
• He knows I hate to read technical manuals, so he'll just read them for me.
• Nagging never works!  (I'm still working on this one.)  Sounds simple enough, but like Bill Murray, it took us years to figure these little things out.

Ellen Goodman, of the Boston Globe explains it better than I can, in her Zen-like review of Groundhog Day :

 

"Making the best of what we have....is not second best.  It is rather, a demand for active engagement in caring for what and whom we value.

That is what's touching about Groundhog Day.  Our trapped weatherman has to learn this the hard way.  His life is reduced to one inescapable day.  It's the entire deck he's been dealt, the allotment of flowers he can arrange, the cast of characters in his life.

He goes through stages of feeling trapped, depressed, and living as if there's no tomorrow.  He finally comes to the not-so-profound-but-still-pretty-rare realization that he can change his world by changing himself.

..it's about making the best of what you have...over and over. Making small repairs and improvements so that the commitments of midlife--the work you do and people you love--don't become a trap.  They become and remain the town in which you choose to live even when you have options."

Back in May 2008, in honor of a very special wedding in Chicago I did a little thinking about what I'd learned after almost 37 years of marriage.

  

• Laugh a lot, touch a lot, show affection & give each other compliments!  It's the WD-40 of marriage.
• When your spouse asks for your help or needs you to show up--Do it!
• When your spouse needs to talk--Listen.
• When it's important to speak your mind--Speak up.
• Know when it's important to keep quiet.
• Cut each other some slack.
• Learn to dance.
• Get into the habit of taking walks-it's the best time to talk.
• Make time for activities you do together.
• Make time for activities you do on your own.
• Laugh a lot.  It bears repeating.
• Cook together.
• Stay healthy for each other.
• Be wonderful to each others parents.

Favorite advice from Meg Tufano.

• Listen to your spouse. Shut up and listen, every day, for at least a half hour a day. Ask pertinent questions. Remember the answers. Keep notes if necessary. Your children depend on your relationship with your spouse. Make sure your marital relationship is solid and your kids will be fine. 
• For men: if your wife is looking miserable, ask her to tell you what’s wrong and keep asking until she spills her guts. WHATEVER it was, it will no longer make her miserable because she has talked about it with you. This is the magic key to making women happy. Flowers are always nice too!.
• Rest. Sundays are good if only because other people may be doing the same thing. But any day is fine. Rest is essential to everything else you care about. Without rest, the fragility of your life will be front and center; with rest, you have a savings account of energy from which to draw to help out others. Make it religious in the sense you ALWAYS take rest at least once a week.

My Wish for Dave & Emily back in May 2008, is exactly what came true for us!

• Outrageous & memorable adventures
• Wonderful friends
• Good health
• Work that you're passionate about
• Enough of life's challenges to make you stronger, wiser, and kinder
• Kids who are above average, sleep through the night, are easy-going and lots of fun
• The gift of balancing your life, your work and your family
• Enough money to feel both secure and generous.  Not so much that you become out-of-touch & spoiled.

• The knowledge that it's your friends, family & experiences that will bring you your greatest joys.  Invest your time and money accordingly.

 
And I almost forgot, this sage advice comes from Rhett Ellis' wacky book, "How I Fell in Love with a Librarian and Lived to Tell About It":

 

"We've all got our good and bad sides.  If you want to find love and joy in this lifetime you've got to live by mercy.

 

Focus on the best in people and ignore all the bad that you can ignore.  It's really that simple."

To Life, To Life, L'Chaim, Be Happy, Be Healthy, Long Life!

 

Now It's Your Turn.  What Secrets of a Good Marriage/Partnership/Relationship Would You Share with a Newly-Married Couple?  Click here, scroll down, & share your wisdom.

 

Girl Talk, a Success Story, and the Best Vegetables to Put the Kibosh on Cancer

 

My Sister-in-Law Today - March 2012

My Sister-in-Law Seven Months Ago - July 2011

 

 

If you received this post via email, click here to get to the web version, with all the links--and to write a comment!

I was really looking forward to this Wednesday.  

My sister-in-law literally "flew in" for a mini-21 hour visit.

We hadn't see each other since last July, when this photo of our hike was taken.  A last minute business trip was scheduled that would bring her within easy driving distance for a quick visit with me & her brother--the Lab Rat.   We live so far away from each other, that we only get a chance to see each other about twice a year.  Next visit:  At the end of July for a family vacation.

For the entire 7 waking hours of our visit we talked non-stop.  Par for the course.

We had lots to catch-up on.

As for the very personal story that follows, she only agreed to share it because I convinced her it would inspire & motivate others.  She's very modest, humble, & private.  It's all her accomplishment--but, I couldn't be happier & prouder of her success story.

 

The Quickie Back Story

 

Back in August 2011 my SIL found out her cholesterol was way too high--and her triglycerides were off the charts.  Her doctor advised her to high-tail it to a cardiologist ASAP--get on statins, and whatever else was needed to get her numbers down.

Just so you know...

• She's been a lifelong exerciser!  She's no couch potato!  She might have weighed more than she wanted to--but she's alway been fit!   She's always been a regular walker, hiker, weight-lifter, & a "sometimes jogger".
• She watched what she ate.  She really tried to avoid the junk food, and ate a Mediterranean style diet--lots of fish, fruits & vegetables, olive, & nuts.  Just like all of us were doing--when we thought we were "eating a healthy diet."   And, we all know how those restaurant meals, and dinner parties add up.

Before making that cardiology appointment she wanted to see if she could turn those numbers around by herself--with diet, rather than drugs.

She wanted to give Dr. Esselstyn's diet protocol a 100% college-try before taking the medication route.

She downloaded a copy of "Prevent & Reverse Heart Disease" for her Kindle.  I sent her all the Esselstyn diet information I had--and I even asked Dr. Esselstyn what he advised her to do to get her triglycerides under control.

A few short weeks after she changed her diet, her total cholesterol level had dropped an amazing 100 points.

 

Fast Forward Seven Months Later on the Esselstyn Plan

 

The girl has stuck to with the program!

OK, maybe some very rare transgressions when she's traveling---but those have been few & far between.

Her tastes have completely changed. She loves the foods she is eating now.

Even at restaurants, she's sticking to plant-based no-oil healthy choices.  Salads, baked potato, steamed vegetables.  Amazing!

She's completely hooked on cooking without oil.  She loves all the flavor-packed plant-based recipes she continually experiments with.  OK, there have been a few losers or "so-so's" here & there.  Doesn't miss meat, chicken, fish, or cheese a bit.  But, barbecue potato chips?  That's a different story--but she's not eating them.

She's lost about 25 pounds, which is significant for her tiny frame--and her Chico size is now down to 00-- double zero, for all you Chico fans--probably an equivalent of a size 6.  Her Gap jeans are size 6, & they're lower-cut, skinny ones.  Woo Hoo!   

She feels great. She's going to kill me for saying this (I told you--she's very modest)--but compliments & questions come her way almost every day,  "You look fantastic.  What's your secret?  What are you doing differently?"

In two weeks she get a full-enchilada lipid work-up---so no numbers to report as yet.

 

 

My Sister-in-Law's Request -

A Sneak-Preview of My Centenarian Strategies Presentation

 

After our non-stop gab fest on Wednesday night, my SIL asked to see a preview of my "almost-completed" Centenarian Strategies presentation.

When we got to a slide that detailed which vegetables had the strongest effect on cancer-cell proliferation--and which veggies are the best bets to prevent cancer, she wanted to know where she could find that post on my blog.

She:  "I don't remember seeing a post about this.  Where is it?  Can you send me the link?"  she asked.

Me:  "Well, I never got around to posting it.  It's only in my presentation."

So, dear readers, below, please find my "Table That's Worth a Thousand Words" presentation slide.

Sure, there's more to say about this research than you can see on two slides--but I'm short on time.  

Quickly, here's how the study was designed.

• Extracts from 34 vegetables were isolated & tested on 8 different tumor cell lines for their ability to inhibit cancer cell growth & proliferation .
• Fresh vegetables were juiced with a Juiceman extractor--and then tested on & against specific unique types of cancer cells; like stomach adenocarcinoma, breast cancer, prostate cancer, lung carcinoma, glioblastoma, medulloblastoma, etc.

 

 

The Best Cancer-Fighting Vegetables

 

The Bottom Line:  The Best Cancer-Fighting Vegetables

 

1. Over 250 epidemiological studies have suggested that people who consume a diet high in fruits & vegetables  reduce their risk of developing cancer.  But, which vegetables are the best bets?
2. Not all fruits & vegetables are created equal when it comes to cancer prevention--and the study's results, convinced the authors that people need to be encouraged to eat the vegetables that will give them the "most bang for their buck" when it comes to preventing cancer.
3. Turns out, the vegetables we eat the most--have the weakest inhibitory effect on cancer cell growth: potatoes, carrots, tomatoes, & lettuce.
4. Evidence shows that the cancer prevention properties of fruits & vegetables are "additive" & "synergistic".  Bottom Line:  Eat a wide  of fruits & vegetables to get the "most cancer prevention bang for your buck".
5. Study weakness: The vegetable juices in the study did not contain water-insoluble (aka fat-soluble) molecules such as lycopene or beta-carotene that are found in the yellow, orange, & green leafy fruits or vegetables, which may have resulted in some underestimations of the cancer-fighting properties of vegetables that contain these fat-soluble phytochemicals--like tomatoes, carrot, broccoli, & spinach.
6. Cruciferous vegetables have potent cancer inhibitory activity against most cancer cell lines.
7. Other vegetables in the Brassica oleracea family, like kale, cabbage, curly cabbage, cauliflower, & broccoli, were the most inhibitory vegetables tested.
8. The best bets for cancer prevention are the cruciferous vegetables, the dark green leafy vegetables, & those in the Allium family, like onions, leeks, chive, shallots, & garlic.   The authors want this message to reach the public.  Pay attention.
9. These vegetables have exceptional "inhibitory" activity against all tested cancer cell lines--including those from the kidney & pancreas:  garlic, leek, green onions, Brussels sprouts, kale, broccoli, & various cabbages.
10. And which vegetables do we eat the least?  That's right!  All the most potent cancer fighters listed in #9.  

 

"Since the formation of tumours is a random event that occurs in a significant percentage of the adult population, the increased consumption of these vegetables with high anticancer properties could play a central role in preventing these tumours to reach a clinical stage, and thus reduce the incidence of several types of cancer."

 

"Antiproliferative and antioxidant activities of common vegetables: a comparative study," Beliveau, R. et al.  Food Chemistry  2009:112:374-380

 

If You Missed It the First Time--Here It Is Again!

The re-posting of My Sister-in-Law's Story

September 05, 2011

Saturday Morning Heart to Heart Girl Talk with My Sister-in-Law - Triglycerides, Esselstyn Diet Success, Restaurant Insanity, Molten Lava Cake, Tortilla Soup - and of course, the Grandkids, Kids, & Husbands

 

 

 


Photo by Vincent Van Der Pas

"When triglycerides go up over 100 we start making abnormal forms of cholesterol--the small dense LDLs that are atherogenic and penetrate much more rapidly into the arteries than normal large LDLs. 
 
When triglycerides start going up--and the changes start around 80-100--nearly everyone with triglycerides over 100 is making significant amounts of small dense atherogenic LDL--above 150 almost all LDL particles are small dense and atherogenic." 

-Dr. Patrick E. McBride, Professor of Medicine and Family Medicine, University of Wisconsin, and a member of the Expert III NCEP Panel setting cholesterol guidelines-

 

 

On Saturday morning, my sister-in-law and I FINALLY had a chance to catch up.  

We talked for an hour staight--which is nothing for us--we'd barely scratched the surface of what we could cover--but we both had to call it quits to get on with the rest of of the stuff on our To-Do Lists.

She had some pretty good news to share--and I asked her if it was OK if I shared it with you.  She said, "Sure! Go ahead."   So here's what we talked about....

 

What's Up with My High Triglycerides?  Help!

 

Here's the back story.

Exactly, one month ago my sister-in-law texted me a cryptic message, "Call me when you have a chance.  Need your opinion."

Turns out, she'd had her annual gyno exam.  Her doc had taken her lipids, and she' had just found out that her total cholesterol was too high--and her triglycerides were off-the-charts high.

 

She: "How can that be?  I really do eat healthy.  I exercise.  My doc wants me to make an appointment with a cardiologist ASAP, but I don't want to go on statins, or take anything for the triglycerides.  Most of my other numbers are OK--the LDLs & HDLs--but the triglycerides are sky-high.  I'd really like to go 100% on the Esselstyn diet first  & see if I can get those numbers down."

Me:  "Well, don't get mad at me for saying this--but I've been there myself--thinking I'm eating a healthy diet, when I'm really eating "a healthy diet at home"...in addition to a load of crap out-of-the-house!  

I know you make healthy meals at home--but it's probably all the rest of the stuff you're eating.  The restaurants, the traveling, the cookies, cakes, & pastries your friends make, the lack of exercise when you're traveling, the wine & rum, the sugar, the dinners at friends', the crusty French bread, yada yada yada.  It all adds up--and bottom line--if you're taking in more calories than your body needs--you can end up with high triglycerides!

Look, I never would have tried the Esselstyn diet 100% if he hadn't challenged me to do it.  You won't know if it works until you do it 100%.  Once I did it 100% & saw the results--I was convinced.

High triglycerides, are bad news.  Definitely see the cardiologist. But, sure-- try the diet first to see if it can make a difference for you.

She:  I've already downloaded Esselstyn's book on my Kindle.  Can you send me any other info you might have that will help?  I've got just 2 1/2 weeks to try this out, before I go out-of-town with my friends.  I know I won't be able to do it 100% on vacation--just not possible--so I'm going to see if I can get a cholesterol test before I leave on vacation to at least see if I'm on the right track. Before I see the cardiologist.

Oh, I've been reading up on triglycerides--but send me anything you might have on the blog that would help.

Here's what I emailed her:

Here's one of the posts I've written about on triglycerides--but this one sums it all up.  NOTE:  In April the ranges for normal all moved downward.  Now, the recommendation for the normal range is at 100 or below (no longer below 150).  But as you'll read, it's best to be at 80 or below. You want to make sure you're making light fluffy LDLs, not the small dense kind.  You might request the NMR particle test.  And here's the link to the new American Heart Association Scientific Statement recommending that triglycerides ought to be at 100 or below--not 150.

You want me to ask Dr. Esselstyn what he suggests you do?

Good luck!

Love you!

My note to all of you:  Please read that post I sent my sister-in-law about triglycerides.  It will tell you everything you ever wanted to know about these bad-boys.  They're an independent risk factor for strokes & cardiovascular disease.  If you've got a lot of belly fat--you probably have high triglycerides.  If you're eating more calories than your body can burn off--you probably have high triglycerides.  To read even more (yeah right!) about the triglyceride stroke/heart connection, click here and here and here.

How Strange is This?  The day after I sent the email to my sister-in-law, Dr. Esselstyn just happened to call me at work with a library question.  Of course, I asked him for some words of wisdom for my sister-in-law & for high-triglycerides in particular.  Darn, I no longer have my notes--but here's what I remembered he said:

• Cut out the sugar--all kinds!  (my note: be sure to read this and this)
  
• Cut out alcohol
• Cut out the white foods--refined flours, pastas, breads, rice, crackers, etc. If high triglycerides are a problem for you--stick to just eating whole grains--and skip foods made with whole grain flours, like breads & pastas.  Even whole grain flours can raise triglycerides in folks who are overweight and insulin-resistant.  Think about it--flours of any kind are "processed" & digest too quickly.  Instead eat quinoa, wheatberries, hulled barley, steel-cut oats.  Flourless sprouted breads, like the Ezekiel brand, are a better choice if you need a bread.
• Remember!  Green leafy vegetables are the Main Event when it comes to making blood vessels "heart attack proof".  Load up on vegetables over grains!
  
• No fruit juices--and be careful not eat too many fruits, either, if you have high triglycerides.  Stick to the ones with the lowest sugar content.  (my note: the fruits lowest in fructose include strawberries, berries, cantelopes, grapefruit, peaches)  Source: AHA statement quoted on CardioBrief
  
• Avoid smoothies made with fruit!  It can cause a rapid rise in blood sugar for some people.  I see it happen a lot!
• Avoid dried fruit--too much sugar!  Especially high sugar fruits like dates & raisins.
  

 

Oh heck--I really really don't want you to miss the Triglyceride Post I emailed to my sister-in-law--so, just in case you don't click that link--I at least want to make sure you get some of the key points:

In A Nutshell--Here's What Dr. Patrick E. McBride is Saying About Triglycerides

• If your triglycerides are under 80 you are making "normal large" LDLs that are not very atherogenic (think atherosclerosis; arterial plaque; hardening of the arteries)

• When triglycerides are over 150 (there are just too many particles floating around with no where to go) they briefly get inserted into the LDLs and change the LDLs into "small dense atherogenic" particles.

• Stealth LDL: That's what you call what was once a normal LDL particle that's been penetrated by free-floating triglycerides.  When triglycerides are too high they are able to change the LDL into "small dense dangerous" LDL that oxidizes very easily (a bad thing) and penetrates rapidly into the arteries. Note: Triglycerides are not supposed to penetrate the LDLs!!

• Normal LDL: It's difficult for normal LDL (large & fluffy) to penetrate into the wall of an artery!

• When triglycerides are between 80-100 you start to  make abnormal LDL.  Some of it starts changing into the "small dense atherogenic" variety at this level.  (If changes start happening over 80--it looks to me like the only safe triglyceride number is under 80!)

• When triglycerides are over 100--according to Dr. McBride--you've turned the corner & "are making at the very least, a significant amount of "small dense" LDL."

• When triglycerides are above 150, almost all of the LDL particles become "small dense atherogenic".

• Dr. McBride served on the III NCEP Expert Panel on Detection, Evaluation, and Treatment of High Blood Cholesterol in Adults that set the guidelines for triglycerides (and cholesterol) back in 2002.  He advocated for the normal level to be under 100--and he strongly believes that the current level will go down to 100 when the next guidelines come out.  Note: in April 2011 the AHA issued a Scientific Statement recommending the new normal be under 100.  Find that here.

• Big clue that your triglycerides are probably too high?  Abdominal obesity aka belly fat.  That's the engine--the symptom--that starts the cascade toward atherosclerosis; heart disease; stroke; type II diabetes.  It's a big reason for triglycerides producing nasty stealth LDL. Read "This Belly Fat is Going to be the Death of Me and Now I Understand Why."  and "Lose That Terrible Horrible Inflammatory Disease-Causing Visceral Belly Fat with Whole Grains? Tufts Researchers Say It Helps!"

• According to Dr. McBride, if you have abdominal obesity, the chances are greater that you are producing the abnormal dangerous "small dense" form of LDL.

• If you overconsume sugar, soda pop, saturated fats, trans fats, refined carbohydrates, and "fried apple pies"--and you are consuming more calories than you need--your body doesn't know what to do with all that junk--and you end up with lots of rich triglycerides--that are very inflammatory and very atherogenic--floating around--just looking for an LDL to penetrate and turn it into "small dense dangerous" LDL!

 

Sister-in-Law Success! 

 

Before my sister-in-law went on her week vacation with her gal pals, she wisely had her blood drawn for a cholesterol test.  She'd been on the Esselstyn diet for just 2 1/2 weeks--eating no-fat, no meat, no cheese, no-oil, no refined grains.

She knew it wouldn't be as good as if she'd been on the diet for 4 weeks--but at least she's get some idea if it could improve her lipids.

 

Test results:  Her total cholesterol dropped 100 points!  Amazing! Full disclosure: for some unknown reason, the lab only measured her total cholesterol--not what she really needed--a full lipid panel.  But she figures the triglycerides & LDLs must be going down if her cholesteol levels came down so much in just 2 1/2 weeks.  She'll be following up with a full lipid panel.

Other good news:  In spite of her one week of transgressions on vacation--she's back to the Esselstyn diet--and she's losing weight.  Best of all, she's losing belly fat!  She's committed to stick with it. She'd rather lower her triglycerides with diet instead of drugs.  Besides, only diet can help reduce weight.

 

What My Sister-in-Law is Up Against.  She Lives in the Southern "Stroke Belt", Her Friends Think Health is All About Genes, Not Diet & Everyone Likes to Eat Out

 

She's swimming against the stream in her neck of the woods.  She's the odd girl out in her social circle.

Everyone loves butter, meat, cheese, pastries, fried foods, good old Southern cooking, and eating out.

Lately, everyone's complaining about being so forgetful.  They thinks it just normal aging. 

Uh??  Think again, folks!

Check out this "hot off the press" article published online in Stroke, Sept. 1, 2011   Buchman, AS etal "Cerebrovascular Disease Pathology and Parkinsonian Signs in Old Age".  It's summarized in the NPR Blog, Shots:

 

"Old people who don't have signs of cardiovascular disease still may have suffered microscopic strokes that don't show up on conventional tests. The small strokes may impair their ability to walk, balance and function just the same.

Scientists examined the brains of 418 priests and nuns after they died. The researchers found that one-third of the brains that had seemed normal using conventional tests while the people were alive actually had damage to tiny blood vessels. The damage was so slight it was impossible to see without a microscope.

The people whose brains had these tiny signs of hardened arteries and stroke were most likely to have had shuffling gait and other movement problems while they were still alive."

 

If you've been eating the standard American diet--and you're eating out a lot, there's a good bet that what we take to be the "normal forgetfulness of aging"--isn't exactly normal.  It could be teeny weeny imperceptible strokes.  Now that's one scary thought!

 

"Dr. Megan C. Leary of UCLA examined over 5,500 MRIs of the brains of 50 year olds & found many had tiny white spots that indicated that they had unknowingly experienced tiny, imperceptible strokes.  These "brain attacks" have the same history and cause as heart attacks.   See "Annual Incidence of First Silent Stroke in the U.S" Cerebrovasc Dis 2003;16(3):280-5.

According to Leary, "'Silent strokes' are epidemic in this country.  While they occur in parts of the brain where they don't cause symptoms right away, the word 'silent' should be put in quotes, because their effects accumulate over the years.''

While a single silent stroke may have no impact, repeated ones lead to memory lapses, mood problems and difficulty walking. They are also a sign that people are especially prone to full-blown strokes.

Keep on eating the same way at age 60, 70, & 80 and there's a good chance that those tiny strokes will add up to increasing memory lapses, and progress on to dementia--depending upon what part of the brain has been affected. 

What's good for the blood vessels of the heart, is good for the blood vessels of the brain."

Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn, Jr., Prevent & Reverse Heart Disease lecture 6/18/2010. see also: The Rotterdam Scan Study;  "Silent Brain Infarcts and the Risk of Dementia and Cognitive Decline," New England Journal of Medicine 2003 Mar 27;348(13):1215-2; "Silent Brain Infarcts: a systematic review,"  Lancet Neurology 2007 Jul;6(7):611-9.

 

As for all that rich Southern cooking--forget about it!  It's killing brain cells and giving the South a new claim to fame:  It's known as The Stroke Belt. 

The "brain-damaging suspects" are likely to be the much-loved traditional Southern diet of fried, salty, & fatty foods along with too little exercise--all of which contribute to hypertension, excess weight, & diabetes--the biggies responsible for stroke risk.

I posted about the brand new REGARDS Study, the Stroke Belt & how the Southern diet is affecting cognitive impairment on July 26, 2011.  No need to repeat what I wrote, just click here to refresh your memories.

 

Two of my favorite quotes about the REGARDS study:

 

"This is a very strong alarm signal.  [The finding suggests that] if you want to keep your marbles, you need to control your blood pressure, excessive weight and other risk factors for stroke."  

Dr. Gustavo C. Roman, the head of the neuroepidemiology section of the American Academy of Neurology, commenting on the article.

[Problems like high blood pressure and diabetes are likely to be "affecting  blood flow to the brain, even if it's not causing a visible stroke.  An undersupply of blood can also cause problems with brain cells that lead to cognitive decline."  

Dr. Kenneth Langa, a professor of Internal Medicine at the University of Michigan, commenting on the article.

 

Restaurant Madness - From "Cook This, Not That"

 

My sister-in-law's friends like to eat out.  Who doesn't?   It's nice to have someone else do the cooking. 

But, once you really know what's in all that restaurant food--most of us will run back to our own kitchens.

Unfortunately, twice a week my sister-in-law has a pretty much mandatory "luncheon meeting" at a restaurant with her business partner.  Sort of non-negotiable. 

Last week, on my weekly public library run I picked up one of those "Cook This Not That" books.  OMG!  I started reading it before I went to sleep--and I couldn't stop interrupting my husband's own reading with, "Listen to this!"   "OMG!  Listen to this one--it's even worse."  

The book shocked me!  No wonder most Americans are overweight.

We haven't a clue what's in that restaurant food--so a big "Thank You" goes out to David Zinczenko & Matt Goulding for collecting all this incriminating nutritional info.  I suspected it--but I really didn't know it was that bad.

And to think how much I used to love Molten Chocolate Lava Cake.  Never again!

 

Chili's Molten Lava Cake - 1,070 calories, 51 g fat, (26 g saturated), 143 carbs

 

No wonder restaurants don't want to post the nutritional info on their menus. 

These aren't the worst offenders--but here's a sampling of some of the meals that even health-conscious folks might consider ordering.

 

Marie Callender's Spanish Omelette:  1,550 calories, 78 g fat (25 g saturated), 2,980 mg sodium

Baja Fresh Chips and Gaucamole:  1,340 calories, 83 g fat (8 g saturated), 950 mg sodium

California Pizza Kitchen Tuscan Hummus with pita:  861 calories, 4 g satuated fat, 1,562 mg sodium

Ruby Tuesday Buffalo Shrimp Quesadilla:  1,465 calories, 89 g fat, 3,528 mg sodium

Houlihan's Fire Grilled BBQ Salmon Salad:  1,182 calories, 61 g fat (9 g saturated), 1,719 mg sodium

T.G.I. Friday's Santa Fe Chopped Salad:  1,800 calories

Panera Bread Tuna Salad on Honey Wheat Sandwich:  750 calories, 47 g fat (9 g saturated), 1,130 mg sodium

Chipotle Grilled Chicken Fajita Burrito:  870 calories, 30 g fat (13 g saturated), 1,940 sodium

Just for kicks, borrow a copy of this book from your library--or check out the worst vegetarian restaurant meals  (check out the side-panel on the left) and then click through the slideshow of the 20 worst new foods in America.

 

  Cook This!  Enlightened Appetite for Reduction Tortilla Soup

 

Enlightened Isa's "Appetite for Reduction"  Tortilla Soup - 223 calories, 1.5 g fat (0 g saturated), 8.7 g fiber

 

 

No conversation with my sister-in-law is complete without sharing recipes--the new finds-that-we've tried out--and loved!

Funny, how she is always trying recipes that I never even noticed--even though we both share a lot of the same cookbooks.  I'm definitely going to reap the benefits of her expert cooking now that she's going Esselstyn.

She:  "Have you tried Isa's Tortilla Soup in Appetite for Reduction?  We all loved it.  But I cut the jalapenos down to just one."

Me:   "Nope.  I never even noticed it in the cookbook.  But I'll check it out as soon as I hang up!"  

And I did, later that day.  A big winner.   Here's my enlightened version.

It looks like a stew or a chili--but it's a soup.  Hearty, spicy, and a big one-bowl meal.

 

Appetite for Reduction Tortilla Soup---My Enlightened Version

click here for the recipe on one page

Serves 6 generously.  Add a salad & an ear of corn for a terrific meal!

 

Ingredients:

1 medium onion, chopped (Isa used a small one)

1 jalapeno, seeded & sliced thinly (Isa says use 2)

1 poblano pepper, seeded & chopped into 1/2 inch pieces (this is the large dark green one--ask your grocer--I had to)  OK to use a sweet green pepper, but go with the poblano!

4 cloves garlic, chopped

(Isa also recommended 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes.  I left these out to see if the soup needed it--and it was hot enough without them--and I like heat!)

1 tsp salt  (optional, always)

28 ounce can of crushed Glen Muir Fire-Roasted Tomatoes

3 cups of low-sodium vegetable broth (plus extra for sauteeing the vegetables)

4 ounces of fresh small corn tortillas--bake or toast these until they are crisp.  Watch them carefully so they don't burn.   (Isa uses 4 ounces of baked corn tortilla chips)

1 tablespoon ground cumin

1 (15 ounce) can of pinto beans, drained & rinsed

1 cup of frozen or fresh corn.  (I like using Trader Joe's frozen Roasted Corn)

1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro, plus extra for garnishing

Juice from 1 juicy lime

 

Preparation:

1.  Preheat a 4 quart soup pot over medium high heat.  Dry saute the onions, jalapeno, & poblano peppers until the onions are translucent, about 5 minutes.  Add a little vegetable broth if the onions start to stick or dry out--to deglaze the pan.

2.  Add the crushed tomatoes, the 3 cups of vegetable broth, and the cumin to the pot.  Mix well.

3.  Crush the crisped tortillas into crumbs (some bigger pieces are OK) & add about 1/2 of them to the pot--reserving the rest for garnish.   (I ended up adding all of them to the pot, because I didn't read the directions carefully & it thickened the soup, nicely)  You want the crumbs to "melt" into the soup.

4.  Cover, & bring to a boil.  Lower the heat to a simmer, add the beans, corn, & cilantro.  

5.  Simmer for 5 more minutes.

6.  Add the lime juice, taste for seasonings.

7.  Ladle soup into bowls, & top with remaining tortilla crumbs & remaining cilantro.

 

Nutrition Info:

1/6th of the recipe

 

 

 

Nutrition Facts Enlightened Appetite for Reducti The Best Tortilla Soup Serving Size: 1 serving Amount Per Serving Calories 223 Total Fat 1.5g       Saturated Fat 0g       Trans Fat 0g Cholesterol 0mg Sodium 408mg Carbohydrate 46.9g       Dietary Fiber 8.7g       Sugars 12.4g Protein 8.6g Vitamin A 48% Vitamin C 172% Calcium    8% Iron 15%

 

 

 

 

I'd love to hear about your favorite Appetite for Reduction recipes!  

Anyone have some suggestions for "safe foods" when you absolutely have to eat out?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Centenarian Strategies: How to Stay Happy, Healthy, Fit, & Sharp Until You're 100

 

My Dad Would Have Been 100 If He Were Alive Today

Reading the New York Times with coffee - I'm 15 months old & it's 1951 - and at 62 I still start every day this way!

 

 

If you received this post via email click here to get to the web version with all the links & to leave a comment.

Next month I'll be presenting a talk at the Utah Library Association's 100th Anniversary Meeting in Salt Lake City.  My first visit to Utah and I can't wait.

And what better subject to speak on for a 100th anniversary than, "Centenarian Strategies: How to Stay Happy, Healthy, Fit, & Sharp Until You're 100"!

Right now I'm hard at work putting together my talk--which turns out to be the Best of the Best of this  "Medical Librarian's Adventures in Evidenced-Based Living".

Since January 2008 I've been reading and analyzing the medical research on wellness, nutrition, & exercise-- and then trying out the reasonable strategies on myself--and my husband, who's affectionately known as "The Lab Rat".   Yoga & prunes for bone health.  Chia for omega-3s.  Interval training, chocolate hummus, higher vitamin d,  adding b-12,  using a neti pot with Alkalol & saline, talking to strangers, oatmeal with turmeric & spinach....

 We've come a long way baby!  And I know a lot of you readers have come along for the ride.  As for me, my life has changed plenty since January 17, 2008--and at the start of this project I thought I was pretty healthy already.  Wrong!

 

Little did I know back then, that by 2012:

• I would be enthusiastically embracing a plant-based no-oil diet.  Never in a million years would I have guessed that one.
• I would become an avid plant-based recipe creator & tester--whose husband miraculously discovered he liked to cook.  My husband, a really good cook?  Never would have believed it.
• I'd be regularly spinning, lifting weights, building more muscle than I've ever had, & getting good at yoga--and, I'd even willingly get up at 6:30 am on a Sunday morning to fit in a yoga & a spin class. This one, I might have believed.
• I would have lost 15 pounds, wear a size 4, & not need to be on statins, blood pressure, or bone medications--and I'd even get a health insurance rebate.  Wouldn't have believed it!
• I'd be friends with Dr. Caldwell & Ann Esselstyn, and I'd have the opportunity to hear Dr. Dean Ornish, Dr. David Katz, Dr. Colin Campbell, Rip Esselstyn, Dr. Ed Hallowell and so many others, speak in person on health issues. 
• Many of my friends, family, relatives, & co-workers would be interested in following or at least exploring a plant-based no-oil diet--to varying degrees.  
• I'd still be blogging--and would have started a facebook page in early 2012, enjoying & sharing the "evidence-based healthy living"  ride with thousands of regular readers in almost 200 countries--and getting to know interesting, smart, & engaging people from all over the world--including many physicians.

Yikes, with over 500 posts written, and so much to share, I'm having a hard time cutting to the chase, getting to the nitty gritty--and deciding what to include--and what to leave out in this upcoming talk.

 

 

The plan was to touch on these key strategies, as well as share my own evidence-based experiences.

1. How a plant-based, no-added oil diet can prevent & reverse heart disease, and reduce your risk of dementia, strokes, diabetes, & some cancers.
2. How three different types of exercise can help protect you from dementia, bone loss, osteoarthritis, diabetes, & heart disease.
3. Beyond the body:  Why we need to stretch our brains beyond our comfort zone, make time for friends, fun, sleep, down time, relaxation--& invest our resources in experiences--not things.

 

I Need Your Help!

 

Many of you have been following along with me for anywhere from 4 years to a few weeks.

• What have you learned that's changed your health the most?   Or what's changed your mind?   Or what's changed how you feel, shop, eat, cook, spend your free time, or exercise?
• I'd really appreciate your suggestions about covering the topics that an audience will find the most helpful, the most engaging, the most health-changing, and above all--the least boring.
• What would YOU want to hear me talk about?
• Feel free to comment here (& scroll to the end of the post until you see the comment box) or via [email protected]

Please, give me feedback!  It will be so helpful!  And I'll be so grateful!  Really!

 

 

I'm Taking a Good Look at My 2011 Report Card & My Fifteen Month Plant-Based Diet Update--And You Can, Too

 

 

If you missed my most recent "Report Card" from August 23, 2011, here it is:

Fifteen Months Into the Esselstyn-Style Plant-Based No-Oil Way of Eating - The Healthy Librarian Spills the Beans - And It's All Good! Can't Wait to Compare Notes with Bill Clinton on Saturday

 

I'll probably have less time to post while I put this "Centenarian baby to bed"--but, I'll still try to post "what's new" in health care via Facebook.  And with this gynormous post, you'll definitely have plenty of reading material for weeks to come.

And speaking of what's new....

If you're not a facebook visitor, here's what you missed in yesterday's news.  Pretty interesting!

Happy Healthy Long Life - The Healthy Librarian

Here's it is! After analyzing the data from over 120,000 health professionals for over 26 years, the verdict is in:

Meat's not so good for your health. And it's just as bad for the environment.

“When you have these numbers in front of you, it’s pretty staggering,” said the study’s lead author, Dr. Frank B. Hu, a professor of medicine at Harvard. 

This is the first large-scale prospective longitudinal study showing that consumption of both processed and unprocessed red meat is associated with an increased risk of premature mortality from all causes as well as from cardiovascular disease and cancer.

An earlier study linked meat consumption to diabetes.

This "hot-off-the-press" study was accompanied by Dr. Dean Ornish's more readable editorial. If you must have meat--the authors advise sticking to less than half a serving a day. Paleo fans, take note!  You just might want to consider a diet re-do.

Even HeartWire billed the story as "The Carnivore's Dilemma" with an interesting lead:

"Long-term data from two large studies might have more people considering a switch to vegetarianism, with investigators reporting results showing that processed and unprocessed meat consumption is associated with a significantly increased risk of all-cause and cardiovascular mortality, as well as increased risk of death from cancer."

Find the full article, here: http://archinte.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/abstract/archinternmed.2011.2287?etoc

Here's the editorial:  Arch Intern Med -- Holy Cow! What's Good For You Is Good For Our Planet: Comment on "Red Meat Consumption and Mortality.

 

 

The Report Card on the Healthy Librarian's 2010 Simple Strategies for Staying Healthy and Happy - What's Working, What's Not, What's New for 2011? 

 originally posted February 5, 2011

December 31, 2010--Ending the Year Right--With Good Friends, Good Food, Good Music & Dancing

 

 

Last year on my 60th birthday, perhaps naively, I sat down to figure out if there was anything I could do to increase my odds for a healthy happy rest of my life.  My parents hadn't fared so well after they hit 60.

 

"Judging by my parents--that last quarter of life doesn't look so promising.  Which is exactly why I've been paying attention to exercise and eating right since I turned 30. 

That's when my dad had one of those massive debilitating strokes that left him unable to communicate, unable to read or fully understand speech, and eventually unable to walk or do anything.  He was 69 at the time--just when he was getting ready to kick back a little, work a little less, travel, and just enjoy life.  He spent 16 years living in this kind of post-stroke-limbo-state, spiraling downward.

My mom was 62 at the time, and my dad's stroke changed her life in an instant.  One minute she was planning all the trips they'd finally have a chance to take--and enjoying their new role as grandparents--and in the next she was jockeying the world of wheelchairs and therapists.

With the stress of full-time care-giving, and years of no exercise or attention to diet, by 72 she had developed severe coronary artery blockages, hypertension, kidney stones, osteoporosis and painful spinal fractures.  Then came the mini-strokes that finally added up to vascular dementia in her eighties."

 

So, on January 1, 2010 I wrote one of my favorite posts,  It's the Start of the New Year, the Start of the New Decade, and the Start of My Sixties. Some Simple Strategies for Staying Healthy and Happy. At Least I Can Hope!

It outlined the 12 things I planned to do to stay healthy--live long--and die short (hopefully)!   And evidenced-based librarian that I am, most of these strategies are backed by research--and tried out by yours-truly.

So how did I do?  What worked?  What didn't?  And most importantly, what new strategies did I learn about in 2010 that are now part of my daily routine?   

I looked over all of my 2010 posts to see what new strategies I've added to my original Top 12--and I was surprised to see how much I've learned--and how much I've changed this year. 

I'm including the links to my favorite "I'm now doing this daily" posts for 2010 so I won't have to bore you with the details.   And I'll follow it all up with a repeat of my Start of the New Year, Start of the New Decade, and the Start of My Sixties post--with notes on what worked, what didn't, for me.

 

And a huge thank you to everyone who takes the time out of their busy day to read Happy Healthy Long Life.  If not for all of you, I know I wouldn't take the time to carefully read & summarize research articles, pay as close attention to the details of the recipes I try out, and be so diligent with what I choose to eat. 

And because I really stuck with no-oil plant-based diet, I'm hooked, it's now a habit, cravings are history, and I feel great!   P.S.  I love hearing from all of you!  It makes my efforts all worthwhile!

 

Biggest Changes in 2010?

1.  I've lost 13 pounds since June 21, 2010 (in 7 1/2 months) by adopting Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn's "Prevent & Reverse Heart Disease" approach to eating--just by cutting out added oils in my cooking & in the groceries I buy, ditching all nuts (except very small amounts of walnuts), chocolate (not cocoa) & avocados (except for occasional small amounts).  It effortlessly did the job.  I also reduced my body's percentage of fat by 5%.  (Update 2012:  15 pounds & that's enough for me.)

Back in March 2008 I had cut out all animal protein (dairy, meat, fowl, ate fish only rarely) and sugar & desserts (mostly) from my diet--and I used whole grains.  But, I never lost one single pound until I cut out the oil, chocolate, nuts, & avocados, in spite of exercising regularly!   To be fair, I wasn't trying or expecting to lose weight on the Esselstyn diet--I was more interested in the health benefits.  I didn't expect to shed more than 4 or 5 pounds--but I'm thrilled with the results!   Belly fat is gone--and the butt has shrunk!  Don't be fooled that olive oil, chocolate, nuts, & avocados are health foods.  There are far better choices out there--that are far less addictive--and more nutrient-dense.

2. Health Means Money Where I Work.  Thanks to eating Esselstyn Style, I qualifed for hefty health insurance rebates from my hospital employer at the start of 2011.  I got a 9% rebate off of my 2010 premiums, and I locked into the 2009 rates for 2011--another hefty 17% rebate.   Why?  Because my borderline hypertension is now history, and my lipids are now looking great.  My weight is a comfortable 118 pounds for my small 5' 3" frame--and my BMI is 20.9.  No medical conditions.  No prescription meds.  Woo Hoo!  Lower insurance rates!

 

Why This Plan Works--A Picture & a Graph Tell the Story

Here's why I feel full and can eat whenever I'm hungry.   My belly can only hold 400 calories of high-fiber, high-nutrient plant-based food at a time!  It's that simple. 

 

 

This chart makes it clear as day where you're going to find the best nutrient bang for your calorie dollar!

Source:  T. Colin Campbell, PhD.  The China Study.  Dallas:Benbella Books, 2006, pg. 230.

 

The Healthy Librarian's New "Evidence-Based Living" Strategies for 2010

 

The Exercise Changes I Made This Year

• Kicked it up a notch with the aerobics:  This year's research convinced me that at middle-age I needed to "kick it up a notch" when it comes to heart-pumping aerobics.   I've added higher-intensity intervals to my spinning workout and I've noticed a reduced resting heart rate--an increased aerobic capacity and calorie burn. Read more here and here and here
• Yoga to strengthen your bones & improve core strength, balance & flexibility:  When I learned that yoga is one of the best things you can do to strengthen every bone in your body (not to mention the chill-out factor)--I decided to rearrange my work schedule so I could fit in 3 classes a week.   I never enjoyed yoga that much, nor saw any flexibility improvements until I increased the number of times from once a week or less, to 3 times a week.  Now I'm a huge yoga fan. Read more here and here
• Weight-lifting/Strength-training for the brain & bones:  Weight-training was last on my agenda when it came to exercise--but this year's research showed a double-header benefit for  improvements in both the brain & bones  deparment when you weight-train at least 2 times a week.  This was too hard to ignore.  I now "lift" twice a week--and my husband promises to teach me an easy-to-do-at-home kettle bell routine that can be done in just 10 minutes.  Read more here and here and here  (2012 Update:  I now strength train 3 days a week with an ever-changing routine that engages every muscle & is aerobic at the same time.  It involves using the lower & upper body at the same time, varying the weights, the reps, & the speed of the movement.  Plus lots of push-ups, planks, & ab work. It's challenging & fun.)
• My typical weekly routine: Yoga 2 times a week, spinning 4 times a week, weights/strength training  3 times a week.  One or two days off a week. I can get in this many workouts in each week because twice a week I exercise for 2 hours.    (New for 2012: If you keep strength training all your life, you won't lose muscle--click here & here.  And as we age--we need to add flexibility & strength training to our aerobic conditioning.  Click here)

 

This Research Convinced Me to Make These Supplement/Diet Changes in 2010

• Omega-3s Lengthen Telomeres--slowing down biological aging.  Who can resist that?  I'm not as regular as I should be, but I do take both a molecularly-distilled pharmaceutical quality fish oil capsule, along with a plant-based DHA supplement.  Although this study only looked at the benefits from fish oil--2 other studies in 2010 showed that plant-based omega-3s (ALA)--that's the  the kind found in high amounts in flax & chia--and in smaller amounts in berries & greens--work just as well as fish oil.  Read more here   (2012 update: I regularly eat 1.5 to 2 tablespoons of chia a day & a take a DHA algal supplement-125 mg.  High levels of omega-3 are associated with the best brain health, as we age, click here)  Stay tuned for my update on getting enough omega-3s on a plant-based diet!  Very interesting positive news!
• Vitamin D for So Many Reasons--in spite of the Institute of Medicine's October 2010 guidelines I'm sticking to the advice of Dr. Bruce Hollis and Dr. Michael Holick and taking 2000-4000 IUs of vitamin D--but, it's rarely daily--& my doc tracks my vitamin D levels.   Read more about Hollis & vitamin D here.  I'm also following Dr. Angelo Licata's research that found that absorption increased by 50% or more if you take your vitamin D with your heaviest meal of the day.  Read more about Licata's research here  (2012 Update:  With Rainbow Light Sour Lemon Vitamin D gummies I NEVER miss a day of vitamin D!  I stick to 4000 IUs a day--with my doctor's blessing, but it's time to get retested)
• I'm eating the fruits & vegetables with the highest amounts of antioxidants.   Check the ORAC Index or the Fuhrman/Whole Foods ANDI (aggregate nutrient density index) rankings for the foods with the most bang for the buck.  Read more here
• Low-glycemic whole grains--no exceptions (well hardly any exceptions)--Whole grains (like oats, guinoa, grainy/kibbled breads) reduce the dread & dangerous belly fat & prevent insulin-resistance (think type-2 diabetes).  Cool news to me--the way refined high-glycemic carbs can affect our genes:    "But after the high-glycemic carb meal, insulin shot up, and 62 different genes that are linked to the stress response, insulin-signaling and cytokine-mediated immunity were turned on." Read more here
• B-12 Everyday 1000 mcg/a day:  If you're eating plant-based take a B-12 once daily--that's the only way you'll get enough.  Even if you're eating meat--many medical conditions, prescription drugs, as well as just plain aging can impair the absorption of B-12.  This year's research pointed out the need for adequate B-12 for brain health as we age. Read more here and here
• Rethinking calcium requirements & calcium supplements.  I've decreased my calcium supplement to just 1 a day for 315 mg of calcium--and follow Dr. Walter Willett's advice about the total amount I need--just 700 mg/a day compared to the DRI of 1200 mg/a day for the over 50 set.   I eat a lot of greens that provide highly absorbable calcium, and I use calcium-enriched soymilk in my oatmeal every day.  New this year--2 Australian studies found an increase in cardiovascular events with calcium supplements.  Read more here

Dr. Amy Lanou's Slide from her Wellness Forum Lecture Novembr 2010

 

• Nitric Oxide Boosters to Prevent Alzheimers & Dementia--the blood vessels of the brain need adequate nitric oxide to stay healthy--and increased nitric oxide also prevents dread amyloid plaque formation--and guess what increases it?  That's right, lots of greens & exercise.  I can do that!  Read more here  (2012 Update:  The greens have the highest amount of the nitric oxide building blocks--and arugula is NUMERO UNO!)  Which vegetables are highest in nitrates?  Click here to find out.
• Ditch Vegetable Oils & Nuts (walnuts, excluded)--they are the highest sources of inflammatory omega-6s.  A groundbreaking meta-analysis published in the British Journal of Nutrition pulled the plug on the theory that polyunsaturated oils are good for heart.   Nuts, especially peanuts are off-the-charts high in omega-6s, too!  It took years for the polyunsaturated oil study to surface, so despite research to the contrary, I'm still not convinced that eating 2.5 ounces of nuts a day is a wise health move!   I'm staying away--except for walnuts.  Read more here and here  (New for 2012:  Walnuts are the TOP NUT for heart health.  Click here--& scroll half-way down the page & look for: If you're going to eat nuts, stick to walnuts for so many reasons)

 

Brain Booster Changes Based on 2010 Research

• Berries, baby!   The research is nothing but good, good, good for berries & the brain.  In fact, now we know a little bit more about how they do their magic on the brain.  They "activate the brain's natural "housekeeper" mechanism, which cleans up and recycles toxic proteins linked to age-related memory loss and other mental decline."   Like mini-brain-maids these cells clear out brain junk.  I have berries daily in my Green Smoothies, and either on top of my oatmeal, or mixed in plain soy yogurt.   Lower cost organic mixed berries are at BJ's.  Read more here and here.  (New for 2012: Go for the Berries--latest review on the subject will convince you.  Click here)
• Reduced my belly fat.  It's definitely bad for the brain!  Read more here and here  (New for 2012: At 62 my belly fat is mostly history--I credit my diet, & ditching the added oil & sugar)
• Increased my aerobic exercise & cleaned up my diet--the better the cardiac index the less your brain's volume shrinks.   What's good for the heart is unquestionably good for the brain, according to the latest Framingham study and a University of Pittsburgh study that demonstrated sizable increases in brain volume in the seniors who walked the most!  Read more here and here 
• Keep learning new things daily to grow brain cells & connections.  The only way to keep building brain cells & new connections is by continuously engaging in serious, challenging learning for the rest of your life.  It requires effort, and it has to be something that's important and interesting to you!  It requires intense focus.  Dr. Michael Merzenich is the go-to-guy in this arena.  I'm certainly hoping that putting together this blog is doing something for my brain!  Read more here  (New for 2012:  Why it's important to learn new things as we age.  Click here and here)

 

Favorite Wisdom of  2010 - It Works for Me

• Alkalol & saline solution to prevent colds.  I'm talking about neti pot nasal irrigation with 1-2 TBS of Alkalol, a cup of warm water, 1/2 tsp. of salt, & a 1/4 tsp. of baking soda at the first inkling that a cold is brewing.  1/2 cup through each nostril.  Honestly, this works for me.  Haven't had a cold in a year--in spite of close calls.  What's Alkalol?  It's a solution invented in 1896 by a Massachusets pharmacist, that's made with methol, eucalyptus, thymol, camphor, and oils of wintergreen, spearmint, pine, and cinnamon.  Its "an alkaline saline solution specifically formulated to clean and moisturize the nasal passages, dissolve mucus, kill germs and bacteria, and provide natural relief from the symptoms of sinusitis and allergies."   Better than the now FDA-banned Zicam.  It's sold at my hospital pharmacy, CVS, Drug Mart & Walgreens, but you'll probably have to ask the pharmacist for this low-marketing-budget product.   Read more here  (New for 2012: I now use distilled water & the premeasured packets of salt/baking soda sold at the drug store.  I also wash my neti pot with hot water & soap after every use--& regularly sterilize it in the microwave.  Read more here.)
  
• Make time for fun!   Away from computers & technology.  Hey, I got this message directly from my mom, who passed away in 2003!  This is one of my favorite (& weirdest) posts!  Read more here  And here
• Sister power.  They can be the flesh-and-blood kind--or the best-friend kind.  It doesn't matter.  We all need someone with whom we can share our most insignificant day-to-day things with--and who can give us a reality check.  I count my blessings in this department!  I've got two--Beth & Lisa.  Read more here
• We get our greatest happiness from the experiences we share with our friends & family--not from expensive consumer goods.  "We know that the best predictor of human happiness is human relationships and the amount of time that people spend with family and friends."  Spend your time & money wisely.   Dr. Dan Gilbert swears by this research-backed advice.  Click here  for Gilbert and here  and here  and here for my year.
• "When in doubt, do the positive."  This was Jeanne Marie Laskas' mother's favorite saying and a rule I try to live by.  It's a handy one when you're faced with life's big dilemmas.  "Remember?  The positive is the active thing.  Can't decide whether you're qualified for that new job?  Just apply.  Can't decide whether to go on that first blind date after a divorce or sit home in your pajamas?  Go on the date."    Click here for more

 

Life on the Esselstyn Style Diet

In May 2010, when I found out my cholesterol wasn't as outstanding as I had expected, in spite of a mostly plant-based diet, I asked Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn for advice.  He invited me to be a guest at the day-long session he runs once a month at the Cleveland Clinic, along with this wife Ann.

He challenged me to try eating and cooking with no-added-oils for 4 weeks & see how it works out for me.  I attended the class on June 18th, 2010, and started eating Esselstyn-style on June 21st, 2010.   I haven't looked back & now it's just, "how I eat".   I feel wonderful, I've lost weight, I've got lots of energy, I feel mentally sharp, and my digestive system is AMAZING!  Any nagging hip or joint pain I'd had in the past is long gone--not sure if I can credit the elimination of the inflammtory omega-6s with this surprising occurence or not.  (Update 2012:  knock on wood--hip, finger, joint pain--it's history!  Bill Lands, PhD, a pioneer in omega-3 & omega-6 research says that's no surprise at all.  When you lower your omega-6 load by eliminating the foods that are highest in omega-6, like oils & nuts, you have less inflammation)

 

You can read all about the day long session, and my Esselstyn-style cooking adventures in these posts:

Oops! Take It From Me - Half Dietary Measures to Lower Your Cholesterol Will Result in Half Measure Improvements

The Great Kitchen Cholesterol Clean-Up - Parchment Paper, the No-Oil Saute, and Munching on the Top Cholesterol-Cutting Foods

What I Learned From Dr. Caldwell and Ann Esselstyn's Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease "School"

Week Two on Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn's Heart Disease Prevention/Reversal Diet Challenge. The Rules, Tips, and Tricks to Enjoy Plant-Based Oil-Free Eating

Can a Plant-Based No-Added-Fat Diet Survive "Real Life"? My Fourth of July Trial on the Esselstyn Diet - House Guests, Restaurants, Road Trips, and Dinner with Friends. Let the Numbers Speak for Themselves.

Everyone Can Do This! Breakfast & Lunch on the Esselstyn Plant-Based No-Oil Diet Challenge. Fast, Hearty, Healthy and Delicious.

Some Q & A about the Esselstyn Diet Challenge. Why Do It? What about Oil & Fat-Soluble Vitamins? What About Omega-3s? And My Top Recipe Picks of Week Three

Plant-Based Eating Confusion! Omega-3s, Omega-6s, Glycemic Index, ORAC Index and More. A Picture, a Chart, and the ANDI Rankings Help Clear the Confusion.

Final Week on the Esselstyn Plant-Based No-Added Oil Diet Trial. What's Changed? What Have I Learned? Tips and This Week's Favorite Recipes

My Esselstyn Plant-Based Diet Trial Results Are In. Understanding the Numbers and Why No Oil or Nuts Makes Sense. Think Weight Loss, Lowering the Omega-6s, Healthy Arteries, and Energy

More from the Healthy Librarian's Plant-Based Kitchen Lab: The Restaurant Scene, Staying Fueled, PB2 the Nut Butter Substitute, and Chia Fresca for Omega-3s

Wolf Blitzer's Interview with Bill Clinton's Diet Gurus, Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn and Dr. Dean Ornish - What the Interview Didn't Have Time to Explain about How to Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease with a Plant-Based Diet

Painless Calorie Restriction for People Who Love to Eat - Lessons for Health, Longevity, and Disease Prevention from the NIH CALERIE Study

Follow One of Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn's Patients - Q & A on the First Three Months of a Diet to Prevent & Reverse Heart Disease

My Favorite Healthy Kitchen Pantry Staples: For Quick, Easy & Delicious Plant-Based/Vegan Meals

 

My Top Food Discoveries/Additions for 2010

• Hot Mexican Cocoa, Fruited Steel-Cut Oats (now made with pumpkin! or savory), & Air-popped Popcorn  Read more here.   (2012 UPDATE: Chocolate Oatmeal   Chocolate Hummus & More Treats & Teeccino, a caffeine-free herbal coffee substitute)
• PB2 "Peanut Butter" and Chia "Fresca" Water  Read more here  I top my morning with oatmeal with chia daily!  Go Chia Seed for omega-3s!
• I can easily "Esselstynize" any recipe in my fave cookbook--Veganomicon, by Isa Chandra Moskowitz  Read more here  Just cut out the oil, nuts (or sub smaller amounts of walnuts), vegan margarine, vegan mayo, & vegan cheese.
• Keep vegetables, especially greens & herbs fresh a lot longer with Kinetic Go Green BPA-free storage containers.   These are truly AMAZING!!  Read more here
• Here's a list of my favorite kitchen pantry staples  
• Homemade Raw Chocolate Chia Walnut Energy Bars beat Larabars for their taste & they pack a nutrient wallop!  Read more here
• Spiced Pumpkin Fruited Steel-Cut Oats is my new breakfast fave--brimming with alpha & beta carotenes  Read more here  Top it with a tablespoon of chia seed & you won't be thinking about lunch for hours!
• Sami's Pizza Crusts--whole grain millet & flax, no-oil & delicious.  Order from Sami's Bakery in Florida & receive them in 2 days--it's really not a big deal.  Can't live without these.  Just received an order for 16 to divide among 3 of us.  With delivery it comes to $5.00 per crust--not cheap--but it's fast--whole grain--and feeds my need for pizza.   Read more here
• Appetite for Reduction, by Isa Chandra Moskowitz--my current go-to favorite cookbook.  I could use it everyday.  She's finally cut the fat, calories, eliminated the vegan junk stuff & included nutritional info.  I highly recommend it!  Read more here

 

Best Science-Based Diet Information for 2010

Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Losing Weight, Exercise, Stress, and Cardiovascular Risk from an Expert, Dr. Sharon Alger-Mayer. The Best Diet, How Much Exercise, the Hormone Stress Connection, the Best Phytonutrients, and the Healthiest Carbs

Dr. Hiromi Shinya, the Physician-Inventor of the Colonoscopic Polypectomy: What He's Learned About Diet and Health From Over 300,000 Colonoscopies

The Healthy Librarian's Holiday Overindulgence Tool Box: Some Abstinence Inspiration, the Exercise Cure, a Holiday Video, a Company-Worthy Recipe, along with Sara Moulton's Favorite Chocolate (coronary) Cookie Recipe

Dr. Michael Roizen's Straight Talk About Chronic Disease - Lifestyle Changes Can Control Them and Bring Health Care Costs Down. Roizen's Thirteen Pearls of Wellness.

 

Finally, the Original Start of My Sixties Simple Strategies for Staying Healthy & Happy

 

January 2, 2010

It's the Start of the New Year, the Start of the New Decade, and the Start of My Sixties. Some Simple Strategies for Staying Healthy and Happy. At Least I Can Hope!

Author Dan Buettner has scoured the Earth — not for the fabled Fountain of Youth — but for the key to a happy old age. He spent five years visiting areas of the world where people tend to live longer, healthier lives, areas he calls "Blue Zones."

Buettner says he has identified four things people can do that can potentially increase life expectancy:

• Create an environment that encourages physical activity
  
• Set up your kitchen in such a way that you're not overeating
  
• Cultivate a sense of purpose 
  
• Surround yourself with the right people.

"These are long-term fixes that have been shown over and over to add not only more years of life, but better years of life."

-NPR story, "Can 'Blue Zones' Help Turn Back the Biological Clock?", June 8, 2008-

If you're reading this through via email, click here to get to the more readable web-version.

 

It's the start of the New Year. 

It's the start of a new decade.

It's the day I turn sixty.

Look, I'm not a big-birthday-celebration-kind-of-person.  They come and go and I don't even think about the years.  But turning 60 is different.  It's the last quarter of life, with no guarantees on what that quarter is going to look like.

Judging by my parents--that last quarter of life doesn't look so promising.  Which is exactly why I've been paying attention to exercise and eating right since I turned 30. 

That's when my dad had one of those massive debilitating strokes that left him unable to communicate, unable to read or fully understand speech, and eventually unable to walk or do anything.  He was 69 at the time--just when he was getting ready to kick back a little, work a little less, travel, and just enjoy life.  He spent 16 years living in this kind of post-stroke-limbo-state, spiraling downward.

My mom was 62 at the time, and my dad's stroke changed her life in an instant.  One minute she was planning all the trips they'd finally have a chance to take--and enjoying their new role as grandparents--and in the next she was jockeying the world of wheelchairs and therapists.

With the stress of full-time care-giving, and years of no exercise or attention to diet, by 72 she had developed severe coronary artery blockages, hypertension, kidney stones, and painful spinal fractures.  Then came the mini-strokes that finally added up to vascular dementia in her eighties.

And unfortunately, this scenario is all too common.  "[M]ost elderly Americans – more than two-thirds of current 65-year-olds, according to a detailed 2005 projection by a team of health policy analysts — at some point will need assistance to cope with daily living, either paid help or unpaid, at home or in a facility."

So, sixty seems kind of scary to me.

Which is exactly why I'm ready for a more "Conscious Aging" plan.  We already have all the evidence we need to stay healthy.  It's not about adding more years to our lives.  It's all about adding more life to our years!

Just a sampling of the evidence.

• The 52 country INTERHEART study was very clear.  There are 9 easy-to-modify risk factors that are associated with 90% of heart disease.  This was a huge study--30,000 people from every inhabited country--and the results were the same for all races, all sexes, all countries.  All 9 of these risk factors are within our control--and would eliminate 90% of heart disease, regardless of one's genetics. 1. Keep lipids (cholesterol & triglycerides) down; 2. Stop smoking; 3. Prevent or control hypertension; 4. Prevent or control diabetes; 5.  Reduce belly fat; 6.  Find ways to control psychological and social stressors; 7. Increase fruit and vegetable consumption; 8.  Moderate alcohol consumption is protective; 9. Get regular physical exercise   Lancet 364:937-952, Sept. 11, 2004.

• The Nurses' Health Study and Health Professionals Follow-up Study.  "The largest and longest study to date, done as part of the Harvard-based Nurses' Health Study and Health Professionals Follow-up Study, included almost 110,000 men and women whose dietary habits were followed for 14 years.  The higher the average daily intake of fruits and vegetables, the lower the chances of developing cardiovascular disease...[F]or every extra serving of fruits and vegetables that participants added to their diets, their risk of heart disease dropped by 4%." Harvard School of Public Health

• The China Study.  This is Dr. T. Colin Campbell's mammoth 2006 study on the effects of a plant-based diet on health--citing over 750 studies.  The conclusion: People who ate the most-animal-based foods got the most chronic disease.  People who ate the most plant-based foods were the healthiest and tended to avoid chronic disease.  According to Campbell, "Good nutrition supported by exercise, clean water, and sunshine is greater than the sum of its parts.  It's a biological symphony.  My introduction to Dr. T. Colin Campbell

• The Longevity Personality.  From the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, April 2009 comes this conclusion: Those who live the longest are more outgoing, more active, more easy-going, more empathetic, and more agreeable than those who live a normal life span. The Blue Zones calls it, "likeability".

Here's My Strategy for Staying Out-of-Trouble After Sixty

Some of these are long-time habits, and they're easy for me to follow.  Some of these I don't do as regularly as I should.  Some of these are new goals.  But this much I do know:  If I don't have a plan, if I don't do these consciously, and if I don't carve out time to make them happen--they won't.

1.  Stick with 7-9 servings of fruits and vegetables a day.  The Green Smoothies make it easy.  I get 6 servings in a 27 ounce Klean Kanteen that I divide over breakfast and an afternoon snack.  I calculated the nutritional info on my daily 27 ounce serving that includes, 2 1/2 cups kale, 8 mini-carrots, 1/2 cup pomegranate juice, 1/2 apple, 1/2 orange, 1/2 kiwi, and 3/4 cup frozen black raspberries.  Check out the nutrient content for 27 ounces:

 2012 Update:  My Green Smoothie has grown up since this post.  These days, it's  mostly vegetables--and not very sweet--but loaded with vitamins & minerals.  

The Green Smoothie Controversy - To Smoothie or Not? The Argument for a Greens & Vegetable Heavy Smoothie  1/24/12

Nutrition Facts The Healthy Librarian's Green Smoothie-kale,blackberries,carrots,orange,kiwi,pom juice,apple
Serving Size: 1 serving
Amount Per Serving
Calories	342
Total Fat	2.2g
Saturated Fat	0.2g
Trans Fat	0g
Cholesterol	0mg
Sodium	140mg
Carbohydrate	82.1g
Dietary Fiber	13.8g
Sugars	49.1g
Protein	8.9g
Vitamin A 729% Vitamin C 485% Calcium    35% Iron 28%

 

Then throw in some veggie-based soup, a salad, a veggie-based dinner entree, some fruit for dessert, and I'm good to go. 

This eating plan is the same as the DASH Diet (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension)--guaranteed to stop hypertension.  The Cache County (Utah) Study on Memory shows it also prevents cognitive decline.   Dr. Amy Lanou and Michael Castleman, authors of Building Bone Vitality claim it will build and strengthen bones--because the 17 nutrients necessary to build strong bones are all found in a diet high in fruits and vegetables.  I'm still sold on eating 7-9+ fruits or veggies a day.  Still drinking that old-stand-by Green Smoothie--but I keep experimenting--using less fruits, more vegetables.

2.  A balanced exercise plan.  It's not just about cardio--there are 4 areas that need attention: Cardio (spinning-my fave), Weight-training, Flexibility & Balance (yoga-my fave), and Core Strength.  No, you can't just walk and think you're in good shape.  I'm super regular with my cardio, and not as regular with the weight training and yoga.  Click here to see what my workout looks like. As for core strength--that's pretty much non-existent.  And when it comes to weight-training, according to Randy Raugh, the Canyon Ranch physical therapist, and author of the excellent Prime for Life--Functional Fitness for Ageless Living--to get the maximum benefits you need to do it for 3 non-consecutive days a week--2 at the minimum.  Unfortunately, I often weight train only 1 day a week.  If you want to build strong bones and prevent osteoporosis, and maintain your muscle strength as you age--weight-bearing exercise for the lower body, and weight-training for the upper body is a must-do!  Yoga, helps with balance, preventing future falls, and building strength.  As for core strength, I'm upping my game with Dr. Stuart McGill's routine, and my birthday-present to myself is the physical therapist-designed Pelvicore exercise ball. 
Upped my exercise efforts this year--it now includes 3 days of yoga (smart move) & 2 days of strength-training (that made a difference).  Yoga also develops core strength with the plank pose & others.  Haven't done much with my Pelvicore exercise ball--but I should.

3.  A plant-based diet with minimal added fat.  I'm nearing the 2 year mark on eating plant-based, so this is the easy part. I've got this down pat. I still use a little olive oil for cooking and in salads, and very occasionally eat some seafood or dairy when eating with friends.  I'm convinced.  If you want to lower your cholesterol, reduce your risk for type-2 diabetes, lower your blood pressure, reduce your risk of heart disease & stroke, and reduce your belly fat--this is the way to go.  Dr. David J. Jenkins of St. Michael's Hospital in Toronto is one of the pre-eminent researchers on the benefits of a plant-based, low-glycemic diet (like beans, nuts, oats,& quinoa) for improving diabetes control, lowering cholesterol, and preventing cardiovascular disease.  Click here for Jenkins research.  And that's not all--keeping your blood sugar stable with low glycemic plant-based foods and exercise will preserve your brain.  Click here.  And as for too much fat--not only is it bad for your belly--it's bad for your brain--so just ditch it Click here.  I Finally ditched the fat starting 6/21/10.  Don't miss it a bit.  The benefits are too numerous to mention!

4. No time urgency.  This is what keeps the Okinawans calm, relaxed, and living longer.  I'm really working on this one--which goes hand-in-hand with flexibility.  Things don't always go as planned--you either go-with-the-flow or get stressed and anxious.  My favorite 2 words, "Oh well."  Life goes better when you stay in the moment, chill, and don't worry about getting there fast.  When our Christmas Day trip to New York City was aborted because of an ice storm, we checked into a hotel at noon, and enjoyed a dinner of cranberry nut mix, Larabars, Cliff Bars, and clementines.  All the restaurants were closed in this Pennsylvanian town.  Oh well.  We had a good time, and made it to New York safe and sound the next day.  I've used this "slow down", "oh well", "why get yourself in a tizzy" self-talk approach throughout the year.  It helps--I could be better--but I'm better than I was!

5. More Dancing, Singing, Laughing, Playing, Schmoozing, and Mahjing.  What's the point of staying healthy without having fun?  That's the reason we work at staying healthy. Cool fact: There's a little organ deep in the ear, called the sacculus--and it gives us a great sense of pleasure and well-being when it's stimulated.  But, it can only be stimulated through singing!  So, bring on the Singstar Karaoke!  Click here.  I say "Yes!"  to fun things to do, trips, visits, outings, meeting new people, and dinners whenever I possibly can--without making myself crazy by overbooking or overcommitting.   I'm almost always glad for it!   Haven't signed up for dancing lessions yet--but it's on my to-do list--and definitely need more Maj-time!!!  OK, gal pals, when's the next game?  Frannie we miss you!

6.  The Supplements.  I'm really bad at regularly taking supplements.  I'm good at counting them out, taking them to work, and bringing them back home with me.  Truth is, there are some supplements worth taking because there's no easy way to get enough of them through diet alone.  Here are my favorites:  Omega-3s (I use Omega-Brite), DHA, (an omega-3 for brain health), Magnesium, Citracal, Vitamin D (I'm up to 3000 IUs), Curcumin (also known as turmeric, the yellow color in curry), and Juvenon (the combo of acetyl l-carnitine & alpha lipoic acid) developed by Dr. Bruce Ames.  Click here to read more about what I take, and what some prominent physicians take.  I'm not an everyday person with supplements, and try hard to get them from real food, but I still take a plant-based DHA, magnesium in am & pm, 1/2 the Citracal I used to take, curcumin occasionally, Juvenon occasionally, vitamin D (2000-4000 IUs), and a daily vitamin B-12 (1000 mcg), and I've added 1/2 of a whole foods multivitamin ("Mega Food Women Over 40 One Daily") twice a day based on Dr. Roizen's recommendation.

7.  Eliminate the time-wasters from my day.  Except for watching "The Middle" or "Glee", TV watching always leaves me bored and unsatisfied.  So, why bother wasting the precious time?  The same goes for my mindless internet cruising, checking in more than necessary with email, the NYT, and other favorite sites.  Enough already!  Except for writing this blog, doing research, or writing/reading emails I'm no longer cruising the internet.  I just don't have that much extra time in the day--with a long commute & everything else.  TV doesn't interest me much--unless it's at the end of the day & I'm too tired of reading.

8.  Maximize my peak energy times of the day.  Over a year ago I blogged about getting in sync with our natural energy ebb and flow throughout the day.  It works--and I intend to start planning my day around them, when possible.  For instance, 9-11 is the peak time for brain work-creativity-and analytical work.  On days when I don't work I would usually use this time for exercise & errands.  Poor use of brain time.  Better to exercise between 3-6.  To read more, click here:  Maximize Your Energy-Match Your Tasks to Your daily Energy Levels.  This really works & I try hard to follow it.   I've changed my work schedule around so I can fit in exercise on workdays--and on days off, I do brain work before anything else--when I can.

9.  Give a gift a day for 29 days a month.  When 36 year old Cami Walker of LA learned she had multiple sclerosis, her spirits flagged.  She was tired, in pain, and had the prospect of a debilitating disease ahead of her.  When a holistic health educator gave her the prescription of giving 29 gifts a day for a month she thought it sounded it crazy.  Nothing big (and that's the point)--something like making a supportive phone call or saving a piece of yummy cake for her husband.  Of course the prescription didn't cure her,  but it had a startling effect of helping her cope with her illness and gave her a more positive outlook on life.  I love this idea.  It's a planned regular way to just think about kindness.  No big acts, just something little-done everyday.  To read more, click here.  Sorry, to say, this hasn't become a regular habit--but I do look for opportunities to do that "little something more" or favors throughout the day.  I know it makes me feel much better--need to make a more conscious effort with this one.

10. Cultivate my garden of friends and family.  Regular phone calls, visits, dinners, outings, and celebrations.  At 60 there's no time to delay any of these.  It's the glue that keeps us together and makes life worth living.  I really try hard to keep this one at the top of my list!  Can't help but think of the extra time I'd have to accomplish this if I ditched writing this blog, though, but read #11!

11.  Once You're Through Learning--You're Through.  This is the philosophy of John Wooden, the 97-year-old retired (he died in June 2010 at 98) UCLA basketball coach.  No doubt about it, learning and sharing what I learn is my purpose in life.  I'm lucky to have a job that gives me access to learning about health and medicine, and a hobby that gives me a chance to share what I learn.  Not a day goes by that I don't work on this one--but it doesn't feel like work to me!  Well, at least most of the time it doesn't feel like work.

12.  Start Eating Less.  OK, I'm ready to shed a few pounds, and I know from past experience that writing down exactly what I eat, and how much I've exercised, really works.  I use something called MyFoodDiary.com and it's set up with all my favorite recipes.  Unfortunately, I haven't used it in quite some time.  The new year is a great time to start!  To read more about this tool, click here.  Well, this strategy  sure played out big-time in 2010!  I'm eating far fewer caleries, shed 13 pounds, but I eat whenever I want.  You all know this story--I won't repeat it!  And yes, I do use MyFoodDiary for my recipes & to keep a check on how balanced my diet is--but not daily or weekly.

For some good reasons to eat less, read:  CALERIE: The NIH Calorie-Restriction Experiment. Lessons for Health, Slowing Down the Aging Process, Longevity, and Disease Prevention 

 And my updated version: Painless Calorie Restriction for People Who Love to Eat - Lessons for Health, Longevity, and Disease Prevention from the NIH CALERIE Study

 

My new goals for 2011: 

1.  Resume a regular meditation practice--so many good reasons to do so, including its positive effect on some 2000 genes: those that control aging, inflammation, & metabolism.  Read more here

2.  Start playing around with the  Dr. Michael Merzenich's Brain Fitness Auditory software that I received for renewing my local NPR affiliate membership.  I'm a huge fan of his work! 

3.  Figure out some way to have more unscheduled do-nothing time:

"La dolcezza di non fare niente!" 

Italian for "The Sweetness of Doing Nothing"

 

Time to end this list.  I've more than maximized my 9-11 brain time and written this post.  It's now time to make my smoothie, do some core exercises, take those supplements, answer birthday phone calls, enjoy a birthday lunch, followed by an evening out with friends who all share the same wedding anniversary--if we can just make it through our foot of snow!

I'd love to hear from anyone who is 60 or over with advice, tips, and wisdom about maximizing life in the sixties, seventies, and more.

 

 

 

 

 

 

A New-Fashioned Valentine Making Party in Vermont - What Happens When Friends & Neighbors Get Together to Create Cards? Magic!

 

 

 

 

“Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life”

Pablo Picasso

 

If you received this post via email, click here to get to the web version with all the links & gorgeous photos.

The absolutely best part about writing this blog is getting to know so many wonderful people from all around the U.S., Canada, and all over the world---Finland, Poland, Australia, New Zealand, Israel, Singapore, South Africa, Mexico, Ireland, England, and France--to name a few.

Exactly two years ago I got an email from Gael in Vermont, a speech pathologist, turned reading teacher, who is also a master baker.   She somehow stumbled upon my blog and before too long she changed her diet, her way of cooking, her exercise routine---and her health.  Her clothes got too big for her.

For two years now we've traveled on this journey together--and along the way she's recommended fabulous recipes, brilliant books, thought-provoking movies, eye-opening  articles, inspiring ideas, and websites that were new to me.  We've shared stories about our families, our friends, our work.  And now we're good friends--although we've never met.  But, I'm sure we will.

Today's post isn't about healthy diets or exercise or medical research.

It's about the main reason we want to stay healthy--to enjoy our lives, our families, our friends, and make each other happier along the way.  It's about an-out-of-the-ordinary way to get together with friends--new and old--to be creative, eat yummy food, gossip, concentrate, and share our love.

 

I'm Going to Have a Valentine-Making Party

 

In late January Gael wrote to tell me about this absolutely great-idea-for-a-grown-up-girlfriend-party she was hosting.   Getting a bunch of friends together--from different circles in her life--to do something that no one has done since, well,maybe age 10--making homemade Valentines.  Plus gossip, laugh, listen to music, & eat fantastic plant-strong food.

But, this is Gael's story, not mine.  So, I'm going to let her tell it.

Take it away, Gael.

 

The Invitation

 

I hadn’t created a handmade Valentine since 3^rd grade…that’s where I learned to cut out a symmetrical heart along the fold of colorful paper and glue it to a doily.

Well, jump ahead 50 years, then add all the beautiful and eye catching scrap booking materials, a few friends and a lovely plant-strong meal…and you’ve got yourself a party! That’s what I envisioned in my head…now I had to make it happen.

 

This was the simple invitation sent via email:

 

Dear Lovely Friends,

You are invited to a Valentine-Making Party at my home!

When:  Saturday January 28th

Time:   11:00 AM gathering and chat, then lunch, then cards 

I have collected tons of gorgeous, dazzling paper and blank cards, glue of all sorts, fabulous art supplies and fancy cutting scissors, letters, stencils, stamps and stamping pads of all colors...and wonderful ideas for us to use or expand upon.

We can make things pop-out! We can make things glitter!

I'll make some lunch to energize us and some sweets to keep the creativity bubbling!

Come and create a wonderful, hand-made Valentine for your sweetie or your best friend or your kids or grandkids or a special person in your life.

What could be better than receiving a handmade gift made from the heart?!

 

The Guest List

 

I invited some school friends, some Saturday job friends, my art friends, and my sister-friends…all my “worlds would be colliding” (as George Costanza mentioned to Jerry Seinfeld long ago).

I asked them to bring their own scissors, some fabric and ribbons, and any photos of their darlings they’d like to incorporate into a card. And they all RSVP’ed with great enthusiasm and anticipation. 

 

What's on the Menu?

Now for the menu. Let’s see…cold winter day in Vermont. Hmmm, nothing better than a hot bowl of Isa’s Tempeh Chili served over brown rice alongside her Cool Slaw with baskets of corn chips.

Friends were bringing drinks and dessert and chocolates, of course!  

In my pre-vegan life, I was a “foodie”…always hunting down the best of the best dishes, traveling to the hippest restaurants, and buying only the finest ingredients.

I catered for 10 years and now work on Saturdays at one of country’s premier baking companies as a demonstration baker. So when I made my radical shift to a vegan lifestyle, my friends didn’t know what to expect when they arrived at my home for lunch or dinner. So far, though, I think everyone has been happy with my plant-strong meals…and this Valentine’s Day Party luncheon was no exception. 

 

The Afternoon Festivities

 

We ate lunch first...for stamina, and talked about our inspirations (who we're making our cards for), then we cleared the decks and began cutting, pasting, stamping, lettering, and folding!

We looked at photos of the cards I made last year for my niece Jillian and nephew Graham, and my son Jeremy in California. Being properly inspired, the heads went down and the hands got busy.

 

 

 

At first, the ladies were overwhelmed with all the decorative papers and supply choices that they didn’t know where to start. Luckily, Theresa brought along a template she downloaded from Better Homes and Gardens for a card that had heart shaped doors that opened. That was a huge success…we made copies of that template and the party buzzed into focus.

 

 

It was such a girly-girl time...picking out patterned papers for our cards, cutting hearts, authoring the messages (we mostly used Beatles love song lyrics) and consulting one another for color choices and sizes.

 

And then the fascinating “perfect moment” happened…when everyone was so focused and deep in thought and making all those tiny decisions about how their card wants to look that the room’s clamor quieted down and no one really felt the need to engage.

I love when that happens. Just the quiet clinking, tapping, snipping, clicking of work being done. 

At the end of the day, we had “display time” to look at everyone’s cards and needless to say, we were astonished at the ingenuity and creativity.

I took glamour shots of all the cards. The family photos were worked seamlessly into delicate designs; the fabrics were used as scenery; ribbons were used as lovely borders, and the decorative papers were layered with doilies with love messages that would make Hallmark green with envy.

 

For the final moments of our day, the ladies remarked that they couldn’t wait until next year or even the next holiday to do this again! And I couldn’t agree more…but wait, there’s more!

 

When You Throw a Good Party Everyone Wants to Be Invited 

 

The very next day, I related the story of the party to my neighbor-friend Christie and I noticed her face light up at the thought of joining such a fun venture, so....

 

Gael's Valentine Party Number Two!

 

The following Friday evening, our other neighbor friends joined Christie and me at my arts and crafts table. I re-organized the papers, straightened out the supplies and made a fruit salad for dessert.

I was even more inspired as I shared my photos of the cards that were made the week previous. They couldn’t wait to get started.

They invented cards I'd never imagined and now they’d like to make cards for all occasions! This must be magical. Everyone left walking on air. As they walked home, I thought about how wonderful it was for me to connect with them on this level.

I’m new to their established circle, and this gave us a chance to have fun together in a creative atmosphere.

 

The After-Party Reviews

 

Here’s what Lin wrote to me in the morning:

 

Such a great night last night.  Wonderful idea to make valentines. 

Felt a bit like a kid again in all the good ways. 

Everyone had such a good time. You are such a great hostess, planner, great energy person, my Friend.

So glad you are one of the homie girls.

I can't wait to hear the reaction from my kids when they get their homemade valentines from me. 

Bless you for giving all of us the opportunity to play last night!

 

And Christie:

 

 I haven't had so much fun in ages - like being back in grade school.

I love doing stuff like the cards and I hope we can do it again for Easter or maybe just make a supply of birthday cards!

Thank you for opening your home to us all :)

 

 What Does a Valentine Party Have to Do with the "Rock and Siegel Healthy Mind Platter"?

 

Back in July, Debby wrote a blog posting about research that came from Drs. Rock and Siegel concerning the Healthy Mind Platter…the seven daily activities that make up the full set of ‘mental nutrients' that your brain needs to function at its best.

Well, I couldn’t provide the physical activity or the sleep nutrients, but what we engaged in at the arts table provided us with: 

 

*creative play time

*social connection to friends time

*a little down time where our minds could wander 

*time “in” to focus on images, thoughts and feelings and

*focus time on the task at hand

 

I’d say that homemade, handmade Valentine’s cards provided us with more than the cards…there is no doubt that we’ll do this again.

Last week when our loved ones opened up their lovely and loving cards. I only wish we could have been there to see their faces!

 

That's Gael in the Middle, Surrounded by Her Gal Pals

 

The After Valentine's Day Card Reviews Came Pouring In--Sharing the Love

 

As a postscript... the combined message is always one of LOVE.

All our grown kids loved the cards and couldn't believe that the Mom's made them.

Relatives and friends gushed.

Parent were thrilled that we took the time and energy to make something symbolic of Valentine's Day and sent it to them.

"Gael, I made a Valentine for my brother & sister-in-law (he has Parkinson's with progressing dementia)..and I put a photo of the two of them from 15 years ago inside the open-up heart.---They gave the card a place of honor in their home.  They were so surprised, touched, & grateful for their Valentine."

One friend said, "I just had a phone call from an elderly uncle who was so touched by his Valentine with a photo of his deceased wife inside the heart!

My son and his lady in California are used to my handmade cards and package of treats so they look forward to receiving something specials for most holidays.

This year's cards, however, resonated strongly with them both.  I made Julia's open-up heart card (like the one I received from Gael) with a cooking theme, complete with mini-sized wooden plate and fork glued inside!  She's a true "foodie".   And for son Jeremy...just massive amounts of hearts and loads of love inside.

Seriously, what could be better?  All of our recipients have phoned in to let us know that the cards are either on display in their homes or tucked inside pocketbooks ready to be proudly shown to friends.

The Bottom Line:  It was wonderful for us to give of ourselves and it was doubly wonderful to hear the responses.  Love all around!!

Next party...Oscar Night!   Everyone has to bring a dish reflecting one of the nominated films!  Let's see if I can rent a red carpet leading to my house!  Everyone needs a make-a-party-happen friend like Gael, right?

 

And I Can't Thank Gael Enough for the Beautiful Homemade Card & Message She Sent Me

 

The last time I got a homemade Valentine was, let's see, when my youngest son was 10 years old--eighteen years ago!

It's not everyday that you can be fortunate enough to receive such a lovely homemade card with a heart-felt special message inside like the one I received!   Thank you, Gael.   You definitely made my day, girlfriend!!

 

Next Valentine's Day I Want to Be Invited the the Best Card-Making Party in Vermont!

 

 

 

Happy Groundhog Day! The Bill Murray Movie, the Punxsutawney, PA Celebration, and Ellen Goodman's 1993 Meditation on Middle Age

 

Making the best of what we have....is not second best.  It is rather, a demand for active engagement in caring for what and whom we value.  That is what's touching about Groundhog Day.

-Ellen Goodman-

 

Happy 126th Groundhog Day!

If you received this post via email, click here to get to the web version with all the links.  

If this post looks familiar to you--it's not because you're suddenly trapped in a some cosmic Bill Murray-like Groundhog Day Life--stuck seeing the same HHLL post every morning!  Although, I'm guessing it must seem like that for some of you.

No, it's just my not-so-annual Groundhog Day post--that I first wrote in 2008 and reposted in 2009 and I'm now reposting it in 2012!

 

Living the Groundhog Day Life

 

I love Bill Murray's 1993 movie, Groundhog Day!  It's my favorite kind of film---funny with a profound message.  We can get stuck in the same place, doing the same thing, every last day of our lives, until we finally get it right.  Until we change ourselves.

Phil Connors is an arrogant, cynical, sarcastic weatherman who has come to Punxsutawney, PA on February 2 to cover the annual Groundhog Day celebration.

He's the kind of guy who no one can stand--and he could care less!  To Phil this is a backwater town, and the assignment is beneath him.  And to make matters worse, he discovers he's in the middle of huge cosmic joke that condemns him to living the same day, February 2 over and over again. 

Every blessed morning he wakes up to Sonny & Cher singing, "It Ain't Me Babe".  Eats the same breakfast & covers the same Groundhog Day festival, sees the same annoying people.....until he gets it right!

Before I saw Groundhog Day I had read Ellen Goodman's column about the movie. Now, nineteen years later I still think about what the movie meant to her and I just have to share her Zen-like meditation on middle-age:

In the middle of the movie Phil says in utter despair to a man sitting next to him at a bar:

 

"What would you do if you were stuck in one place and every day was the same and nothing mattered?"  

 

Here's what Ellen Goodman had to say back in 1993:

"What would you do if you woke up in the same place and every day was the same?

For most people, middle age is a little bit like that.  It's long past the time of life when most of us were building our careers, beginning our families and nesting. 

It's the maintenance stage when an extraordinary amount of energy is going to upkeep - keeping up the commitments you have. One morning inevitably looks a lot like the one before it.....

But in real life, those of us who do not want to start over in the middle face a different test of renewal.  Daily renewal.  Getting up in the same place, doing the same things - only making it matter.

So we have to figure out how to make the best of what we have.

Making the best of what we have....is not second best.  It is rather, a demand for active engagement in caring for what and whom we value.

That is what's touching about Groundhog Day.  Our trapped weatherman has to learn this the hard way.  His life is reduced to one inescapable day.  It's the entire deck he's been dealt, the allotment of flowers he can arrange, the cast of characters in his life.

He goes through stages of feeling trapped, depressed, and living as if there's no tomorrow.  He finally comes to the not-so-profound-but-still-pretty-rare realization that he can change his world by changing himself.

..it's about making the best of what you have...over and over. Making small repairs and improvements so that the commitments of midlife--the work you do and people you love--don't become a trap.  They become and remain the town in which you choose to live even when you have options.

"Groundhog Day" is the perfect renewal movie when we're trapped in the middle of one of the coldest & snowiest winters (and the most challenging economic times) I can remember in a long time.

Note:  That might have been true in 2008 & 2009.  But, this winter it feels kind of nice to be trapped in the middle of one of the warmest & least snowy winters I can remember.  As the for economic scene--doesn't seem like much has changed in that department.

 

And the Pursuit of Happiness - How About That Maira?

If you've never had the opportunity to see Maira Kalman's gorgeous artistic essay, "And the Pursuit of Happiness" in the 2/01/09 New York TImes --please take a look & say "Hallelujah!"  

Feast your eyes & spirt on this!  Click here!    Her artistic column "And the Pursuit of Happiness,"  about American democracy, appeared on the last Friday of each month in 2009 in the New York Times.  You will find all of Maira's pictorial essays at the bottom of the link.  Enjoy!

Happy President's Day month, too!

 

 

 

The Sunday New York Times "Fat Trap" & "Why Lost Pounds Come Back"- It Misses the Mark! Forget the Genetic, Hormone, & Metabolic Excuses - Just Give Esselstyn Plant-Perfect a Try!

 

"Diseases of Affluence," by Dr. Kevin Patterson.  November 15, 2010, Maisonneuve Magazine

 

"We only have one chronic disease - and it's got multiple manifestations. 

Obesity, diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, osteoporosis, strokes, vascular dementia, and rheumatoid arthritis.   They're nothing more than food-borne illnesses."

 

-paraphrased from Dr. Caldwell B. Esselstyn, Jr.,in his recent talk in Medina, Ohio-

 

"[Dr. Rena Wing]...agrees that physiological changes probably do occur that make permanent weight loss difficult, but she says the larger problem is environmental, and that people struggle to keep weight off because they are surrounded by food, inundated with food messages and constantly presented with opportunities to eat.

'We live in an environment with food cues all the the time.  We've taught ourselves over the years that one of the ways to reward yourself is with food.  It's hard to change the environment and the behavior,' Wing says."

-Dr. Rena Wing, professor of psychiatry & human behavior at Brown University's Alpert Medical School, quoted in the NYT's "Fat Trap"-

 

 

If you received this story via email, click here to get to the web version with all the links & the video.

The lead story in the 2012 New Year's issue of the New York Times is called, "The Fat Trap."

Its partner story, the Well Blog post, "Why Lost Pounds Come Back,"  has garnered over 700 comments so far.

"The Fat Trap" is about how difficult it is to lose weight--and to keep it off.   It's meant to present the research on weight-loss--and to explain why genetics, hormones, a down-shifting metabolism, low-calorie diets, our innate physiology, and a whole host of other reasons make it nearly impossible to lose weight.

I believe Parker-Pope meant to help us understand why so many of us are overweight--and why it's such a battle to lose that weight.  But, I think she did a tremendous disservice to her readers. 

Ask anyone who is following Dr. Esselstyn's version of a "Plant-Perfect No-Added-Oil Diet".   It's just not as hard as Parker-Pope would have us believe.  We're eating a lot of delicious food--and we're preventing a whole host of chronic diseases at the same time.  The weight-loss is a sweet side benefit of a healthy plant-based diet.

Millions of readers may cheer this article, and say, "See, that's why I can't lose weight!   Why should I even bother?"

Tara Parker-Pope is a popular well-respected New York Times health columnist.  She's followed by millions of readers, daily.   When I read the online "ahead-of-print" publication of her upcoming Sunday Magazine article, "Fat Trap,"  on Wednesday night I was furious.  Really!

I was so disappointed in her conclusions--and the research she chose to cite.   Not all studies are applicable & translate to all diets.  And I was disappointed with her examples of  "diet success stories."  She could have done much better!

Full Disclosure:  Tara has struggled with her own weight loss.  I had no idea.  Although she wasn't overweight as a child, or until she went to college, "[D]uring the 23 years since graduating from college, I've lost 10 or 20 pounds at a time, maintained it for a little while and then gained it all back and more, to the point where I am now easily 60 pounds overweight,"  Parker-Pope explains.

 

Amy & The Healthy Librarian Decide to Offer Diet Advice to Tara Parker-Pope

 

Bottom Line:  Don't give up!  Why don't you just try a plant-based, whole foods, no-added-oil, high-nutrient diet for 4 weeks?  No nuts, no sugar, no chocolate.  You won't regret it!  You only have weight to lose--and health to gain.  Talk to Dr. Esselstyn!

As for the vegan recipes you often post as "healthy foods" on the New York Times--they will get you nowhere fast.  You have to ditch the oil, the sugar, the fake cheese, the chocolate (cocoa is fine), the nuts (except walnuts), & yes, even olive oil.  No more calories to count. No foods to measure.  Just eat whenever & whatever you want of the above-foods.

 

Who is Amy?  And Why Are We Giving Advice to Tara Parker-Pope?  Here's My Back Story:  

So, on Wednesday night, after I skimmed through "The Fat Trap,"  I took a look at the comments people were writing about the article.  

Was anyone else as frustrated with Tara's conclusions as I was?   By Wednesday evening, there were already hundreds of comments--so, I only had a chance to read the 5 most recent comments that were posted.

 

Can you believe this was the second comment I saw?  What are the odds, that this one was posted right before I looked at the comments section?

 

From Amy in California:

Dear TPP,

I would love to read everybody's comments, but for whatever strange reason, my comment section is not opening...

I appreciate what you honestly shared, but please do yourself a favor and visit the Healthy Librarian at: happyhealthylonglife.com!

She is a genius. Her blog is about the science behind health related food issues.I believe that if you follow her blog and actually get behind her advice about food (vegan/little or no fat) you will lose your weight, look amazing and be much healthier without ever feeling hungry.

Yes it is very difficult and requires changing how and what you eat, but if you wish to do it for yourself and for the planet (the consequence of a vegan diet is profound), you won't ever deal with weight issues again.

BTW I did not start reading her blog with any preconceived notions - actually sort of stumbled upon it and began reading.

Her advice is all science based - no fads, no unproven junk, just straight research - all there for you to read and ponder. 

For the first time in my life, my weight issues have been resolved.  I am not going to lie however.  It is truly difficult to follow the vegan diet completely, But the one thing I want to urge you to consider is that regardless of whether or not some people's bodies wish to be heavier than others - you can beat the fat if you believe it matters, and I think it does.  Do not just give up.

It is only going to get worse and eventually it will effect your overall health.

Dec. 28, 2011 at 8:38 p.m.

 

I about flipped!  I was shocked.  Dumbfounded.  I immediately replied to Amy's comment:

 

From The Healthy Librarian, U.S.A:

Wow, Amy! I don't know you--but thanks for the shout-out!

I could go on & on about how filling, easy & enjoyable this diet is & how fabulous I feel on a plant-based diet--but if anyone's really interested in great health, read my 15 month review (written 4 months ago)  "Fifteen Months Into the Esselstyn-Style Plant-Based No-Oil Way of Eating - The Healthy Librarian Spills the Beans - And It's All Good! Can't Wait to Compare Notes with Bill Clinton on Saturday":

http://www.happyhealthylonglife.com/happy_healthy_long_life/2011/08/15-m...

BTW--Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn, Jr. the doctor behind this Prevent & Reverse Heart Disease Diet was just voted the #1 Living Cleveland Clinic Doc, & #3 overall. They're the #1 hospital in heart care.  Click here to read "The 50 Best Cleveland Clinic Doctors.  Ever."

He recently was invited to speak to the town of Medina, OH by the local police chief who experienced a health turn-around of his own..

Here's the police chief's story, "Police Chief Patrick Berarducci's Gone Plant-Strong and is Cracking Down on Heart Disease in Medina, Ohio":

http://www.happyhealthylonglife.com/happy_healthy_long_life/2011/12/bera...

And here's a link to Esselstyn's talk (all research/science based):

http://medinatv.pegcentral.com/player.php?video=6a53c744e757e905ce791146...

Tara---just give it a 4 week try & see for yourself. I'd be happy to load you up with amazing recipes!

Dec. 28, 2011 at 11:21 p.m.

 

I was finally able to figure out who Amy was and she shared more of her story with me:

 

"I started doing the Esselstyn food plan almost one month after you did, and I was fortunate to stumble onto your blog which convinced me to jump in.

I immediately lowered my cholesterol, my blood pressure and my weight. I lost about 15 pounds and would have lost more except that I have had a really difficult summer staying on the plan due to our long trip to Africa and our son's return home from college.

HOWEVER, I am going to go back to being strict about it since I feel so much better and I noticed I got acid reflux when I went off the plan! YUCK. That is a nasty problem.

I like that you are sharing your favorite recipes. I too try to stick to some basics that I like. For me it is raw whole oats mixed with Ezekial grain cereal, ground flax seed, stewed prunes and fresh fruit with almond milk (40 cal). 

I also find that when I go out I order Salmon and that helps with socializing because I do agree with the other poster that it is hard to be social around food when going out with others or attending their celebrations like weddings etc...

Skipping oil is easier than I thought it would be, but I still add about 1/4 teaspoon of olive oil and basalmic vinegar to my salads. I do not have heart disease. I started doing this for my overall health and in order to live long and stay away from taking medications.

It is working great! Most people are shocked to find that I am 52. I went to my high school reunion (35th) this summer and definitely felt that I looked great.

That is the best thing about this food plan. YOU ARE NOT hungry.

I think the worst thing in the world is when people tell me they eat healthy and they keep gaining weight!  

Most people have no clue what eating healthy is.  And one last thing.  I really do not drink.

I believe that a lot of us who are over 50 do not realize how quickly the pounds pack on as we age.  We are not meant to eat much in general.  People eat now as something to do.  It is an "activity" and that is part of the problem too."

 

The Best of the "Fat Trap" Article

 

The National Weight Control Registry, which tracks about 10,000 people who have lost weight & have kept it off, has found these characteristics are common to successful "dieters".

1. The eat breakfast regularly.  (Let's hear it for steel-cut oats!)
2. Most watch  less than half as much television as the overall population.  (Thumbs Up for that one!)
3. They consistently eat the same foods and in the same patterns each day & don't "cheat" on weekends or holidays.  Sounds a lot like the Esselstyn-style plant perfect lifestyle.  (Ann Esselstyn's mantra)
4. They also appear to eat less than most people, with estimates ranging from 50-300 few daily calories.  Sounds a lot like my experience--without the extra calories of fats & processed foods, I'm naturally consuming fewer calories--without being hungry.  Read "Painless Calorie Restriction for People Who Love to Eat - Lessons for Health, Longevity, and Disease Prevention from the NIH CALERIE Study"
5. They exercise regularly.  (Thumbs Up, again!)

 

The Worst of the "Fat Trap" Article

 

1. It cites research about the failure of the quick-fix 500-550 low-calorie diets to sustain long-term weight loss.  Including the use of Optifast, a liquid diet.  And then translates this to diets, in general. Big duh!! Not relevant.
2. It blames the increase of the hunger hormone "ghrelin" and the decrease of the hunger-suppressing hormone "leptin"  for the weight loss problems in people who go on low-calorie diets, never considering that those diets are actually starving people.  No wonder their hormones are out-of-whack!  And Parker-Pope never looked at what happens when people eat high nutrient-dense plant-based no-added oil diets.  Why didn't Parker-Pope talk to Dr. Joel Fuhrman, Dr. John McDougall, or Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn?
3. Take a look at the kinds of foods eaten & the daily routine of Parker-Pope's "diet-success poster couple", Janice & Adam Bridge.  Not my idea of the "best diet".  They have to work so hard to maintain their weight loss--carefully weighing and measuring all their food--and exercising for 100-120 minutes a day, 6-7 days a week.  I absolutely admire how healthy they have become--and all their efforts--but, it just doesn't have to be that hard.  

 

OK--The Bridge's Refrigerator Photo Inspired Me to Share My Refrigerator & Pantry Photos

 

HL's & Lab Rat's Refrigerator - Filled with Veggies, Soups, Casseroles, Smoothies & More

 

The Canned Food Cupboard - A Couple "Outcasts" Still Left Behind

 

Part of the Pantry - Nothing But Whole Grains, Beans, & Rice

 

 

Don't Miss Dr. Esselstyn's Recent Medina, Ohio  Lecture

 

A reader from Michigan tracked down this video (& shared it with me) after he read my post about Police Chief Patrick Berarducci.  Don't miss it--but, fair warning, it's 2 hours long.  Click here for the video. Just give it time to load.

I never tire of listening to Dr. Esselstyn share his research, and Ann Esselstyn explain how to eat Plant Perfectly.  If you've never had the opportunity to listen to them in person--now's your chance.  Don't miss it.  We should all be as healthy & energetic as they are.

Can you think of a better way to get motivated for a Healthy 2012?

This will be the best 2 hours you have ever spent. 

• Shortcuts:  Dr. Esselstyn starts speaking at around 8 minutes into the program.
• DO NOT MISS listening to Dr. Esselstyn's patient, Art Citeros, share his story.  Talk about a testament to the healing power of plant-based foods!  Medications, stents, bypass surgeries, & more stents completely failed Art.  Even eating a mostly plant-based diet failed him.  For Art, the whole plant-perfect diet that included no-oil made all the difference.  No wonder Dr. Esselstyn is so strict!  Art's story starts at 1 hour, 15 minutes, & 47 seconds into the program.  1:15:47.

A huge thank-you to Guy in Michigan for finding this video & sharing it!

 

I Would Love to Hear Your Feedback on "The Fat Trap"

 

Something New - In case you missed it--please stop by & visit, whether you use Facebook or not.

Follow me on Happy Healthy Long Life - The Healthy Librarian's Facebook Page. Something new everyday--& you don't need a Facebook account to check out what's on the page.  

But, I'd love it if you'd click that thumbs-up LIKE Button on the top of page, and join in the conversation.

 

Update:  While proofing my links before posting, I just noticed this comment to Tara Parker-Pope's article in The New York Times. Wow, is all I can say!

From Thinner in New York:

The healthy librarian site is fantastic (happyhealthylonglife.com). 

Seriously: at least in my case and in those of 3 people I know (one with weight problems since childhood), weight loss **and maintenance** have been easy on a plant-based diet.

No starvation involved.

No exercise, either -- not for the weight loss. Exercise is important in and of itself, but when you follow a plant-based diet exercise is not essential for weight loss. (Another resource: Esselstyn's book Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease. This is the book Bill Clinton cites in his interview with Wolf Blitzer.)

• Dec. 29, 2011 at 10:33 a.m.

Thank you, Thinner!  And congratulations!!

 

 

Happy 44th Anniversary! Secrets of a Good Marriage - Generosity, Luck, the 5-1 Ratio & Bill Murray's Groundhog Day

 

                                                                                 Hammer Press
                                                                                   

 

Bet you can't read everything on this intriguing card!  I know I couldn't.

So, I enlarged it--and was rewarded for my efforts.  It's a hoot!

It may be tongue-in-cheek, but guess what?   We're kind-of-living this greeting card message.

Lucky us, I say!

But, it took 44 years of practice--every day--to get there!   (We're still working on it!)  Plus, lots of luck, the 5-1 ratio, & Bill Murray's Groundhog Day.   More on that later.

In case you're wondering, the words in italics are how the Healthy Librarian & the Lab Rat stack up to the card's standards.

 

I WILL

• Buy You Flowers For No Reason.   Check!  He's done that.  A lot.  I haven't.  But, I buy him other surprises for no reason, that I know he'd appreciate.
• Remind You That You're Good at Your Job.   Check!  For both of us--all the time.  But, it's usually not about our "work" jobs--it's about other things we're good at.
  
• Make Coffee For You Every Morning.  Check--whoever is up first, makes the coffee!
• Open The Door For You.  Check!  For both of us.
• Not Roll My Eyes When You Talk About How Hot Tom Brady Is?   Huh?  Who's Tom Brady?  
• Be Vegan If You Want To Be Vegan.  Check!  We both were willing to give this one a try.
• Cook For Your Book Club.  Check!  It's "our" book club--it's co-ed--and we both cook for it when it's at our house.
• Wash Your Car For You.  Check!  He washes my car.  I've never washed his.  He's into car care--I'm not.
• Rub Your Feet While We Watched House Hunter's International.  Check!  I kid you not--this actually happened this year--and, trust me, he must have really felt sorry for me to do this.  Can't think of a show he hates more--and he's not a foot-rubber.  
  
• Let You Spend All Day Sunday In Front Of The TV.  Check!  Sure, why not? Occasionally.  Sometimes a guy needs to veg-out without being nagged about it.  But, TV's his thing--not mine.
  
• Not Interrupt You!  Hasn't happened yet-but we're working really hard on this one!  

 

Where Did This Card Come From?

This adorable card illustrated Tara Parker Pope's December 11th, 2011 Sunday New York Times Magazine story, "The Generous Marriage".  

So, what's a "generous marriage"--and why should we care? 

 

This excerpt will give you the gist:

 

"Researchers from the University of Virginia’s National Marriage Project recently studied the role of generosity in the marriages of 2,870 men and women.

Generosity was defined as “the virtue of giving good things to one’s spouse freely and abundantly” — like simply making them coffee in the morning — and researchers quizzed men and women on how often they behaved generously toward their partners. How often did they express affection? How willing were they to forgive?

The responses went right to the core of their unions. Men and women with the highest scores on the generosity scale were far more likely to report that they were “very happy” in their marriages.

The benefits of generosity were particularly pronounced among couples with children. Among the parents who posted above-average scores for marital generosity, about 50 percent reported being “very happy” together. Among those with lower generosity scores, only about 14 percent claimed to be “very happy,” according to the latest “State of Our Unions” report from the National Marriage Project."

 

 

Of course, I read the article immediately--it was short--and I took the quiz that came with it, "Do You Have a Generous Relationship?".   

Then, I asked my husband to take it.  I couldn't believe he didn't roll his eyes at that request--but he took the quiz.  It helped that there are only 4 questions to answer!

Turned out we got the same score--a 17, I think.  But, if you ask me, he's definitely the more generous one.

 

Here's what I wanted to tell Tara Parker-Pope after I read her article:

 

Love this study--and this column.  Thanks, Tara.  I'll try to be more generous.

Yikes--TODAY my husband & I will be married for 44 years.

He's incredibly generous--every day.

Last night he shared his Good & Plenty with me, at the movies, even though he only bought a small box because I swore I wasn't going to want any of it.   No kidding--that's generous!

Whoever gets up last--makes the bed.  Whoever gets up first makes the coffee in the morning.  Whoever has the time, does the grocery shopping,  makes dinner, or cleans the house.

He knows the stuff I hate to do--so he'll just do it for me.  Car stuff.  Lawn stuff.  Money stuff.

I'll do the the stuff he hates to do.   Make the phone calls.  Keep in touch with the relatives.  Make the social plans.  Buy the presents, the cards, do the non-guy-type shopping.

He'd deny it, but, honestly,  I think he's more generous to me, than I am to him--but, I always keep a look-out for what I can do for him.

 

 

So Why I'm I Bringing Up "The Generous Marriage"? 

TODAY Is Our 44th Wedding Anniversary & I Think It's Excellent Advice!

 

Today is our "official" 44th anniversary, and we are celebrating it in our style--low-key, no hoopla---but, it will definitely include a movie, FOOD, a reiki treatments been promised, a hike (I hope)---and......   The BIG celebration comes in July---3 weeks in northern England, hiking the Coast-to-Coast, from the Irish Sea to the North Sea.

(FROM 2011's 40th anniversary post)  Two of our college friends were already visiting us over the extended Christmas weekend (which, BTW, is why you haven't seen any posts from me lately!)--and we asked two of our other long-time in-town friends to join in the celebration. 

Both couples were at our wedding forty years ago.  This summer they will celebrate their 40th wedding anniversaries.   All of us were 22 year-old kids when we got married; and we all started our families around age 30--about 8 years later--thankfully, after we grew up a little!

We've been together through the good times & the bad.  Through celebrations, graduations, weddings, babies, illnesses, disappointments, and the deaths of our parents.  We've got history. Like 43 years worth.

 

You're Looking at 118 Years of Marriage (L-R: Bob, Babs, Lab Rat, Me, Lee, Marge)

 

 

Everyone Has Advice About What Makes a Good Marriage.

But, I'm Still Sticking With What I Wrote on Our 37th Anniverary, Three Years Ago:

 

What's the Secret of a Good Marriage?   Luck, the 5-1 Ratio & Bill Murray's Groundhog Day!

 

A reposting from:

December 26, 2008

Happy Anniversary - Secrets of a Good Marriage - Luck, the 5-1 Ratio & Bill Murray's Groundhog Day

 

 

"Happy marriages begin when we marry the ones we love, and they blossom when we love the ones we marry."   
                     
  -Tom Mullen-

 

"Life is a Life-changing Experience"

-Harry Shearer-

Today is our 37th wedding anniversary!  Yikes!  Where did the time go?  We were both only 20 years old when we first met.  We literally grew up together.  And now we are into the dessert course of marriage--the best part!

My husband is the funniest person I knew.  He makes me laugh everyday, really!  He's also the most trustworthy person I know.  Except when he's being the most annoying person I know.

When I asked him what superlatives he would give me, he answered instantly, "You're the nicest person I now.  And the kindest.  Except when you're being the most annoying person I know.  You're also funny, but not the funniest person I know.  Sorry."

So what's the secret to a happy marriage?  I wouldn't presume to answer that question for anyone but us, but I figure you need 3 things going for you:

• Good luck in who you choose and good luck in the curve balls life will surely throw you.
• The 5-1 ratio.  Your nice-to-nasty ratio must be 5-1!  It really works! 
  

John Gottman's pioneering research on marriages suggests that there is a "magic ratio" of 5 to 1 -- in terms of our balance of positive to negative interactions. Gottman found that marriages are significantly more likely to succeed when the couple's interactions are near that 5 to 1 ratio of positive to negative. When the ratio approaches 1 to 1, marriages "cascade to divorce."

• The Bill Murray Groundhog Day Principle.  If you stay married long enough, and keep repeating the same stupid mistakes over & over again, you finally get it right!  The light bulb will go on & you'll figure out what works & what doesn't.  Ditch what's not working.  

For instance:  

• I am spatially-challenged, so my husband has quit relying on me to help him move furniture through narrow doorways or going up & down stairs. 
• My husband  is directionally-challenged (as in maps) so I'm the directions person, & I make sure I know exactly where we are going.
• I love to hike, but I'll pass on backpacking--why would you want to ruin a perfectly good hike carrying 50 lbs. on your back?  So he goes with a friend. 
• He's not into going to lectures on weeknights--I go with friends. 
• He got tired of listening to me whine & he finally learned to dance--and loves it.
• He knows I hate to read technical manuals, so he'll just read them for me.
• Nagging never works!  (I'm still working on this one.)  Sounds simple enough, but like Bill Murray, it took us years to figure these little things out.

Ellen Goodman, of the Boston Globe explains it better than I can, in her Zen-like review of Groundhog Day :

 

"Making the best of what we have....is not second best.  It is rather, a demand for active engagement in caring for what and whom we value.

That is what's touching about Groundhog Day.  Our trapped weatherman has to learn this the hard way.  His life is reduced to one inescapable day.  It's the entire deck he's been dealt, the allotment of flowers he can arrange, the cast of characters in his life.

He goes through stages of feeling trapped, depressed, and living as if there's no tomorrow.  He finally comes to the not-so-profound-but-still-pretty-rare realization that he can change his world by changing himself.

..it's about making the best of what you have...over and over. Making small repairs and improvements so that the commitments of midlife--the work you do and people you love--don't become a trap.  They become and remain the town in which you choose to live even when you have options."

Back in May 2008, in honor of a very special wedding in Chicago I did a little thinking about what I'd learned after almost 37 years of marriage.   

• Laugh a lot, touch a lot, show affection & give each other compliments!  It's the WD-40 of marriage.
• When your spouse asks for your help or needs you to show up--Do it!
• When your spouse needs to talk--Listen.
• When it's important to speak your mind--Speak up.
• Know when it's important to keep quiet.
• Cut each other some slack.
• Learn to dance.
• Get into the habit of taking walks-it's the best time to talk.
• Make time for activities you do together.
• Make time for activities you do on your own.
• Laugh a lot.  It bears repeating.
• Cook together.
• Stay healthy for each other.
• Be wonderful to each others parents.

Favorite advice from Meg Tufano.

• Listen to your spouse. Shut up and listen, every day, for at least a half hour a day. Ask pertinent questions. Remember the answers. Keep notes if necessary. Your children depend on your relationship with your spouse. Make sure your marital relationship is solid and your kids will be fine. 
• For men: if your wife is looking miserable, ask her to tell you what’s wrong and keep asking until she spills her guts. WHATEVER it was, it will no longer make her miserable because she has talked about it with you. This is the magic key to making women happy. Flowers are always nice too!.
• Rest. Sundays are good if only because other people may be doing the same thing. But any day is fine. Rest is essential to everything else you care about. Without rest, the fragility of your life will be front and center; with rest, you have a savings account of energy from which to draw to help out others. Make it religious in the sense you ALWAYS take rest at least once a week.

My Wish for Dave & Emily back in May 2008, is exactly what came true for us!

• Outrageous & memorable adventures
• Wonderful friends
• Good health
• Work that you're passionate about
• Enough of life's challenges to make you stronger, wiser, and kinder
• Kids who are above average, sleep through the night, are easy-going and lots of fun
• The gift of balancing your life, your work and your family

• Enough money to feel both secure and generous.  Not so much that you become out-of-touch & spoiled.
• The knowledge that it's your friends, family & experiences that will bring you your greatest joys.  Invest your time and money accordingly.

 
And I almost forgot, this sage advice comes from Rhett Ellis' wacky book, "How I Fell in Love with a Librarian and Lived to Tell About It":

 

 

 

 

"We've all got our good and bad sides.  If you want to find love and joy in this lifetime you've got to live by mercy.

 

Focus on the best in people and ignore all the bad that you can ignore.  It's really that simple."

To Life, To Life, L'Chaim, Be Happy, Be Healthy, Long Life!

 

 

Something New:  

Follow me on Happy Healthy Long Life - The Healthy Librarian's Facebook Page. Something new everyday--& you don't have to have a Facebook account to check out what's on the page.  

But, I'd love it if you'd click that thumbs-up LIKE Button on the top of page, and join in the conversation.

 

Now It's Your Turn.  What's Secrets of a Good Marriage Would You Share with a Newly-Married Couple?  Click here, and scroll to the bottom of the page to leave a comment.

 

Dirty Laundry, Toys, Books, Shoes, & Baby Equipment Everywhere! That's What Makes Me Happy - Lessons from the Grant Study & David Brooks' "The Life Reports II"

 

Post-Thanksgiving Laundry Bliss?? 

 

 

 Dirty Laundry. 

Enjoy exactly where you are now--whatever your age or circumstances.  It's OK to be young--and it's OK to be old. 

And, if you're so lucky, enjoy the piles of dirty laundry gathering on the floor from the kids and grandkids and company when they come to visit & bring their messes!

-Dr. George Vaillant, the Grant Study's  lead investigator for the last 42 years-

If you received this post via email, click here to get to the web version with all the links.

By 2:30 pm on this post-Thanksgiving Sunday, the last of my kids had headed out the door for the long journey home.  Car travel with the same challenges of everyday life.  Constant rain.  Terrible traffic.  A fender bender.  Crying, wet, & hungry children.

And my husband & I leisurely started the "Great Post-Holiday Clean-Up".

Thanks to Dr. George Vaillant, I've completely reframed dirty laundry, toy-strewn floors, poopy diapers, 10 pairs of shoes at the doorway, and messy houses to mean, "Happiness, joy, family, and good times."     Really!

It's not often that I'm so deeply touched by (& actually remember) the lessons of a long-running sociological study--but the Grant Study is one that keeps echoing in my head.   The picture of piles of shoes at the door & the piles of laundry in the basement is what does it for me.  This past weekend was no exception.  

Back in May of 2009 I summarized Joshua Wolf Shenk's memorable Atlantic essay about the Grant Study in "What Makes Us Happy? Insights from Harvard's Grant Study - Joshua Wolf Shenk & Dr. George Vaillant Answer In The Atlantic".    I just reread it.  You should, too!

 

"Is there a formula--some mix of love, work, and psychological adaptation--for a good life?  For 72 years, researchers at Harvard have been examining this question, following 268 men who entered college in the late 1930s through war, career, marriage and divorce, parenthood and grandparenthood, and old age."

-Joshua Wolf Shenk, in "What Makes Us Happy?"  The Atlantic, June 2009-

 

If Only I Knew Then What I Know Now

 

Eleven Grant Study Lessons for Twenty-Somethings to Ninety-Somethings

 

1.  Age 25-35 is the toughest for virtually everyone.  It's scary stuff--what will I amount to?  But all you need is to give it time--things will work out!  It's not about keeping up with the Joneses or how much money you're making.  (H.L. I keep reminding my kids about this one!)

2.  Emotional crises, pain & deprivation are "analogous" to the involuntary grace by which an oyster, coping with an irritating grain of sand, creates a pearl.  Humans, too, when confronted with irritants, engage in unconscious but often creative behavior." 

3.  "Pessimists seemed to suffer physically in comparison with optimists--perhaps because they're less likely to connect with others or care for themselves."

4.  Relationships Rule!  "It is social aptitude, not intellectual brilliance or parental social class, that lead to successful aging."  Warm connections are necessary--and it doesn't have to be from mom or dad--it can be with siblings, uncles, friends, or mentors.

5.  Relationships at age 47 predicted late-life adjustment better than any other variable, except defenses.

6.  Good sibling relationships.  Getting along with your brothers & sisters is especially powerful:  93%  of the men who were thriving at age 65 had been close to a brother or sister when younger.

7.  Between ages 50-75 Life Improves.  Altruism & humor grow.  The negative unhealthy behaviors start to diminish.

8.  Gratitude and joy, over time, will yield better health and deeper connections--but in the short-term, they do put us at risk, because they expose us to rejection & heartbreak.

9.  What's the most important lesson that Vaillant (the lead investigator) has learned from the study?  "That the only thing that really matters in life are your relationships to other people."

10.  Happiness is about playing and working and loving.  And loving is the most important of them all.  Happiness is love.  Full stop.

11.  Enjoy exactly where you are now--whatever your age or circumstances.  It's OK to be young--and it's OK to be old. 

 

My Morning Coffee with the NYT's David Brooks:  The Life Reports II

 

I planned to write all about "Feeding the Family for Five Days--the Winners & Losers in the Thanksgiving Food Fest".    No worries, I haven't given up that plan.  I still want to share the recipes that we liked best--and give you a "heads-up" on what needed improvement.

But, then I read David Brooks' column , "The Life Reports II", this morning--and I was on to a more important tack than food.

Life Lessons from folks over seventy. 

Notice some of the similarities to the Grant Study.

 

David Brooks wrote:  "A few weeks ago, I asked people over 70 to send me “Life Reports” — essays about their own lives and what they’d done poorly and well.

They make for fascinating and addictive reading, and I’ve tried to extract a few general life lessons."

 

It's worth reading--but, honestly, I somehow expected more.  Absolutely, read the Life Report of B. Clewly Johnson!!   His top ten lessons are all winners in my book! 

Here are David Brooks' 10 nuggets of gold:

 

1.  Beware of rumination.   Steer clear of obsessively over-analyzing every emotion, relationship, slight,  setback, or disappointment.   Balanced thoughtful self-examination is a good thing.  Rumination is not.

The ruminating essayists "often did not lead the happiest or most fulfilling lives.  It’s not only that they were driven to introspection by bad events. Through self-obsession, they seemed to reinforce the very emotions, thoughts and habits they were trying to escape."  (H.L. Very similar to #3 of the Grant Study lessons.)

2.  Sometime Self-Deception is a good thing.   Think of it as optimism. "Many of the most impressive people, on the other hand, were strategic self-deceivers. When something bad was done to them, they forgot it, forgave it or were grateful for it. When it comes to self-narratives, honesty may not be the best policy."   (H.L. I'm a huge fan of looking for the silver-lining.  Notice how similar this is to #2 in the Grant Study lessons?)

3.  You can't control other people.   One of Brooks' essayists, "David Leshan made an observation that was echoed by many: 'It took me twenty years of my fifty-year marriage to discover how unwise it was to attempt to remake my wife. ... I learned also that neither could I remake my friends or students.'"   (H.L. Amen to David Leshan!)

4.  Lean toward risk.  "Many more seniors regret the risks they didn’t take than regret the ones they did."   (H.L. I readily admit it.  I'm risk-averse, but have to agree with this one.  I've almost always been rewarded when I've taken a risk. Like in this post from 3 1/2 years ago: Worried, Nervous, Anxious, Afraid? Remember - Courage Comes With Practice!)   "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.)

 5.  Measure people by their growth rate, not by their talents.  Live your life with relentless self-expansion.  I like the sound of that!  According to Brooks, "the best essays were written by people who made steady progress each decade."   Who wants to reach their peak in high school or college?   (H.L. I'm hoping I'll reach my stride by age 75.)

6.  Be aware of the generational bias.  This one didn't surprise me much.  Most of Brooks' post-70-something essayists "had ambivalent attitudes toward their parents."  It really was a different generation.  "Many writers mentioned that given their own flaws, they are astounded that their kids turned out so well."  (H.L.  I agree with them--and many of my friends say the same about their kids.)

7. Work within institutions or crafts, not outside them.  "For a time, our culture celebrated the rebel and the outsider. The most miserable of my correspondents fit this mold. They were forever in revolt against the world and ended up sourly achieving little."

8.  It's too bad we have to make our most important decisions in our 20's, at the age when we're least qualified to do so.   (H.L. No way around this one.  In our 20's we often choose our career paths and our mates--decide where we'll live & whether or not to have children.  Crazy!  If only we knew then, what we know now--hindsight is 20-20.  It's the luck of the draw at age twenty--my advice is to seek counsel from people who are wise, happy, honest, self-aware, & successful--and I mean "successful" in the broadest sense of the word.)

9.  People get better at the art of living.  "By their 60s many contributors found their zone. Metaphysics is dead; very few of the writers hewed to a specific theology or had any definite conception of a divine order, though vague but uplifting spiritual experiences pepper their reflections."   (H.L. Exactly what we learned from the Grant Study.   Between ages 50-75 Life Improves.  Altruism & humor grow.  The negative unhealthy behaviors start to diminish.)

10.  Finding the balance between hard-earned realism, self-preservation, generosity, & being present for others in our life.  Brooks is disturbed by the contradictory philosophies many essayists wrote about.  "For example, we are told to live for others. But one savvy retiree writes, 'Don’t stay with people who, over time, grow apart from you. Move on. This means do what you think will make you feel okay — even if that makes others feel temporarily not okay.'”  Is that selfishness, Brooks wonders.  (H.L. I don't have a problem with these contradictions.  Common sense & balance in all things!  It's possible to hold 2 contradictory outlooks in your hand at the same time--and use them "as necessary".  Isn't this the same sage advice of Hillel?  If I am not for myself, who will be for me?  If I am not for others, what am I?  And if not now, when? )

 

I'd love to hear your feedback on both the Grant Study Lessons, and Brooks' Life Reports II.

Have any of them proven true in your life?  Or not.

Any guiding life lessons or rules you can share with us?

 

The Rest of the Breast Cancer & Mammography Story - Does Diet Matter in Breast Cancer? Advice from MD Anderson Cancer Center Dietitians. Plus, the Annals of Internal Medicine's Latest Research on Screening Mammography's Risks & Benefits

 

 

"Screening is always a double-edged sword," said Dr. Otis Brawley, the chief medical officer of the American Cancer Society.

"We need to be more cautious in our advocacy of these screening tests."

In part, doctors and patients are stuck in a sort of cancer time warp.

The disease was defined in 1845 by a German doctor, Rudolf Virchow, who looked at tumors taken at autopsy and said cancer is an uncontrolled growth that spreads and kills. But, of course, he was looking only at cancers that killed. He never saw the others.

“Now we are backing away from that,” Dr. Brawley said.

In recent years, researchers have found that many, if not most, cancers are indolent. They grow very slowly or stop growing altogether. Some even regress and do not need to be treated — they are harmless.

“We are going from an 1845 definition of cancer to a 21st-century definition of cancer,” Dr. Brawley said.

Dr. Brawley, too, noticed that more people are starting to understand the limitations of screening, and its risks.

 

-Gina Kolata, "News Analysis:  Considering When It Might Be Best Not to Know About Cancer,"  New York Times, October 29, 2011-

 

For Part I of this post, click here.

If you received this post via email, and you're unable to view the videos, go to the web version, here.

So, do you still need a little more informaton before you decide if you're ready to make the switch to an every-other-year mammogram?   Or, to feel comfortable waiting until age 50 before you start having mammograms?

It can't hurt to know a little more, right?

Maybe the results of two recent studies published on October 18, 2011 in the Annals of Internal Medicine will help you sort out the pros & cons?

The Bottom Line:  According to these two Annals of Internal Medicine studies, there's no one size fits all.  And who can argue with that one?

You have to consider your own health risks, your tolerance for the anxiety & worry over false-positives, and your willingness to bear the risks of overdiagnosis or overtreatment for indolent/innocuous cancers.  But unless you're aware of the risks & benefits you can't make  an informed decision.  Combine this information with that of my previous post's, and then talk to your doctor.  It looks to me like every-other-year is going to be a good decision for me.

I hope this will help!

• Watch the 2 videos below, produced by the Annals of Internal Medicine.  They're short.
• Then take a look at the Summaries for Patients produced by the Annals of Internal Medicine.  They're lay-language explanations of the studies.  Kudos to the American College of Physicians!

1.  "The Benefits and Harms of More and Less Frequent Screening Mammography"  Click here to read this quick easy-to-understand research summary. 
 

2.  "The Accuracy of Film Versus Digital Screening Mammography"  Click here to read this quick easy-to-understand research summary. 

What the research found: 

• False-Positive Mammography Results on the annual versus two year plans:  After 10 years, more than 60% of the women who were on an annual mammogram schedule had false-positive results, with a need for additional imaging or a biopsy.  Women who were screened every 2 years had 41% false-positive results.  But, there was a small statistically insignificant increase in the diagnosis of late-stage breast cancer on the 2 year screening plan.  Yes, statistically insignificant. The study found that getting screened every 2 years will decrease the probability of getting called back for repeat imaging & biopsies because of false-positives.  The article is here.
• Film Versus Digital Mammography Screening:  Both digital & film screening had similar cancer detection rates in proportion to early-stage breast cancers diagnosed.  Digital screening had higher sensitivity in women with dense breasts & it was better at detecting the harder-to-treat estrogen-negative cancer.  However, the specificity was also lower for ages 40-47 than for the older age ranges. The article is here.

Breast Cancer Prevention Strategies I Omitted on My Previous Post!  Shame on me:

• Does Diet Matter in Breast Cancer?  Yes, say two MD Anderson Center dietitians.  A big thank you to blog reader Doug for sending the  CNN link to me.  You can read what these saavy dietitians have to say below.
• Vitamin D for breast cancer protection.  I left vitamin D out of my previous post, and a DVM/MPH reader reminded me about its importance.  According to one recent UCSD study that reviewed 11 observational studies, a serum 25(OH)D level of 47 ng/mL was associated with a 50% lower risk of breast cancer.  It may take more than 800 IUs of vitamin D/day to get up to 47 ng/mL, especially if you live up North!  Click here and here to read more.

What about the vitamin D cancer connection? It seems so far-fetched.  (read more here)

Dr. Bruce Hollis of the Medical University of South Carolina has collaborated with Dr. Walter Willett and the Harvard School of Public Health for over 15 years, studying epidemiologic data on the effects of vitamin D on cancer.  These studies have routinely shown that an adequate vitamin D status protects against 13 or 14 different cancers, including breast, prostate, and colon cancer. 

Hollis is skeptical that vitamin D could treat cancer once you get it--its benefit is in preventing it in the first place--and having adequate levels will lower your risk. 

Researchers in Nutrition Reviews project that a vitamin D blood level over 52 ng/mL would reduce breast cancer by 50%, and levels over 34 ng/mL would prevent 50% of the colon cancers. (Note: a more recent study put the number at 47 ng/mL)

Here's how it works: Vitamin D helps control cell growth and that's why we think that it will reduce the risk of many deadly cancers like prostate, breast, and colon by as much as 50 percent.  In its role as a hormone, vitamin D travels all over our body delivering messages to activate genes and control cell growth. 

If a cell turns cancerous, vitamin D delivers the instructions for that cell to self-destruct. Not enough vitamin D and that cancer cell might keep reproducing.  According to Hollis,  "vitamin D acts as a brake" when it comes to cancer.  It prevents cells from growing wildly out-of-control--and this mechanism has been studied for years.

• Avoiding unnecessary diagnostic radiation whenever possible.  More than a few readers asked me why I didn't mention "avoiding unnecessary radiation" as a prevention strategy in my last post.  I just forgot.  Here's what breast cancer surgeon & spokesperson, Dr. Susan Love has to say about it:  “Don’t get that X-ray unless it’s absolutely necessary. Stay away from unnecessary radiation--so if somebody orders an X-ray, you've got to say, 'How is this going to change my care?' And if it’s not, don’t do it."

 

The Annals of Internal Medicine: What Are the Benefits & Risks of Women's Cancer Screenings

 

Listen to Dr. Christine Laine, MD, MPH, the editor-in-chief of the Annals of Internal Medicine discuss the latest research on women's cancer screenings--2:43 minutes. 

If you do not see the video on your screen, click here

 

Listen to Dr. Rebecca Hubbard, co-author of both recent mammography studies, discuss the latest research on "The Benefits and Harms of More & Less Frequent Screening Mammography" 

If you do not see the video on your screen, click here

  

 

The MD Anderson Cancer Center's Recommendations for a Diet to Reduce the Risk of Breast Cancer

 

After I wrote my post about mammography--that included just a little bit about the strategies we can all use to help prevent breast cancer--a reader sent me a link to Dr. Melina Jampolis' excellent CNN article, "Does Diet Really Matter in Breast Cancer", October 28, 2011.

To find out if diet made a difference in breast cancer, Jampolis went straight to the experts, registered dietitians Sally Scroggs, MS,RD,LD, and Clare McKinley, RD,LD, who work at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, one of the leading cancer hospitals in the world.

 

And here's what they had to say:

 

Does Diet Really Matter in Breast Cancer? 

Written by Dr. Melina Jampolis

 

"Since October is Breast Cancer Awareness month, this is the perfect time to answer this question.

And the answer is a resounding yes. To get you the best possible information, I turned to registered dietitians Sally Scroggs, MS,RD,LD, and Clare McKinley, RD,LD, at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, one of the leading cancer hospitals in the world. They explained that breast cancer risk could be decreased by up to 38% through lifestyle factors including maintaining a healthy weight, exercising regularly, and eating a healthy diet. In fact, less than 10% of breast cancer appears to have a genetic basis.

1.  Limit Alcohol.  For prevention of breast cancer, limiting alcohol to one drink a day (5 ounces of wine, 12 ounces of beer, or 1.5 ounces of spirits) is one of the most important things that you can do. In addition, a plant-based diet loaded with at least two cups a day of a variety of produce is beneficial.

2.  A Whole Food Plant-Based Diet is Best.  It's Synergistic.  According to the American Institute for Cancer Research, "no single food or food component can protect you against cancer by itself. But scientists believe that the combination of foods in a predominantly plant-based diet may. There is evidence that the minerals, vitamins and phytochemicals in plant foods could interact in ways that boost their individual anti-cancer effects. This concept of interaction, where 1 + 1 = 3, is called synergy."

3.  The Best Cancer-Fighting Fruits & Vegetables.  Some of their top picks for cancer prevention include beans, berries, cruciferous vegetables (broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, brussels sprouts), dark leafy green vegetables (spinach, kale, chard, romaine, mustard greens), flaxseed, garlic, grapes/grape juice, green tea, soy, tomatoes and whole grains. A recent study in mice suggests that walnuts may also play a role in breast cancer prevention, but these findings need to be confirmed in humans.

4.  Curcumin--a possible cancer-fighting spice.  There is also a growing body of research suggesting that curcumin, one of the active components of curry, may play a role in both the treatment and prevention of various types of cancer including breast cancer.

5.  Weight Matters.  Lose It!  Being overweight is strongly associated with the risk of postmenopausal breast cancer. Adult weight gain of 22-44 pounds is associated with a 50% greater risk and a weight gain above 45 pounds is associated with an 87% increased risk.

6.  Banish the Belly Fat.  Excess belly fat seems to be particularly harmful, most likely because of its effects on inflammation and its association with elevated insulin levels, so if you tend to be more "apple shaped" and carry extra weight in your belly, it is especially important to lose weight, exercise regularly, and limit refined grains, sugar sweetened beverages, and added sugar in your diet.

7.  Whole Soy Foods are OK--Limit Processed Soy or Soy Protein Supplements.  When it comes to breast cancer survivors, a healthy lifestyle is just as important, if not more so. Many women are concerned about soy consumption, which I've written about before. Sally and Clare agree that up to three servings per day is safe, but they emphasize that soy should come from whole foods like soy milk, edamame and tofu, and that supplements like smoothies, bars and soy fortified cereals should be limited.

8. Supplement?  Should I or Shouldn't I?   Finally, during treatment, diet is very important to maintain health and optimize energy levels, but before taking any supplements, it is best to consult with a registered dietitian, preferably one that has experience with cancer treatment, because some supplements may actually interfere with chemotherapy or radiation.

In general, the emphasis should be on whole foods rich in anti-oxidants. Vitamin C may need to be supplemented in some cases if not enough is consumed in the diet. To find a registered dietitian, go to the American Dietetic Association website.

I hope you are encouraged by the fact that you can make a difference in your risk of breast cancer through lifestyle. Here a few breast cancer fighting recipes from M.D. Anderson to get you started in the right direction."   (reprinted from CNN: "Does Diet Really Matter in Breast Cancer?"  by Dr. Melina Jampolis, physician nutrition specialist.)

 

Dr. Joel Fuhrman Weighs in on Breast Cancer Prevention, Too!

 

Don't miss Dr. Joel Fuhrman's just-posted "tell us what you really think" breast cancer article.  Find it on his Disease Proof blog:  "October was Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Didn't You Hear?"

Here's an excerpt:

Is there anyone out there who has never heard of Breast Cancer?

Do you want to know why it wasn’t called Breast Cancer Prevention Month?

I’ll tell you why, because its purpose is not to help women by preventing breast cancer; it is all about money.

If the main purpose is saving women’s lives, I would prefer that we call it Breast Cancer Prevention Month!

Women should be getting notified of the scientific evidence that has accumulated in recent years that can enable women to avoid breast cancer.  Read the rest here.

 I couldn't agree more!