Bone Health and Longevity = Common Sense

From The Top 10 Health Breakthroughs of 2008:

Bones can no longer be thought of only in terms of fracture risk and osteoporosis. Bones are constantly giving birth to new cells and these cells play vital roles in metabolism and immunity. For example, when bone cells get inflamed not only does this promote excess bone loss it directly causes fat cells to multiply in white adipose tissue – which clearly [does it?] explains why women gain weight after menopause as well as the key to stopping the problem.

The highlight study of the year [2008] was a detailed gene analysis performed on one of the world's healthiest older men (he was 113 at the time, recently passing away at 114). Researchers expected to find genetic advantages enabling him to live a long life. Much to their surprise, he didn't have any "better genes" at all – he had better bones! And the reason he had better bones was because he ate a diet containing fresh fruit and vegetables (bone anti-inflammatory nutrients) and stayed very active (stimulating bone health).

Ah, the fun territory of causation/correlation. I'm not going to claim that the reason the guy had better bones was entirely because of his diet and active lifestyle, but I'm sure that his activity level and lifestyle are indicative of a mind wired for longevity. Hmmm. Perhaps that's the bigger stretch of a claim to make, hah:

"People don't age because they get older, they age because they stop doing the things and thinking the thoughts that keep them young and engaged in life." Or something like that.

Ten Ways to Strengthen Bones

Bone-Building Foods

Bone Health and Osteoporosis: A Report of the Surgeon General. Part Three: What Can Individuals Do To Improve Their Bone Health?

(Like anyone is going to read those links...)

There are online food fights about which foods are intrinsically good for you and what foods inhibit the body's natural ability to function optimally, but most agree that exercise, sunlight, fresh fruits and veggies and good times with friends make for a healthy life. From my experience, it's not what I eat that matters as much as what I don't eat -- when I don't overeat or poison my body, I feel better. Kind of like how homework isn't necessarily good for you, but it's better than driving around drunk at 16. Okay, poor analogy. But you get my point, right? Good. [edit: I wrote this at 3am last night. I'm happy that it somewhat makes sense.]

What You Don't Know About Orange Juice

Oh, so much to tell.

Instead here's something useful, brought to my attention by the guardian of the masses, Goran: Tropicana Orange Juice is not really orange juice. So choked. I'm not a big fan of buying things in boxes, but every once in a while my generous roommate donates a carton of the stuff to me upon his return from a shopping experience in the land of bulk, i.e. Costco. Killing me with kindness.

And an interview with the author of "Squeezed: What You Don't Know About Orange Juice," Alissa Hamilton: "Orange juice, with its image as a natural Florida product, bears the fingerprints of chemists and is often shipped from South America."

More reasons to know where your food comes from and what is in the soil and how your meals are prepared and by whom and how much do they love you...?...!

Seawall and Capers

I'm a day behind on this blog. Thus far today I've had a spinach-strawberry-banana-cayenne smoothie and some cashews....



Yesterday Goran and I walked the seawall and discussed the science of influence and persuasion.




Then we went to Capers for dinner/snacks and explored the shelves to see what foods/drinks are popular these days. Capers now stocks over-priced raw foods with interesting names in the deli section, oh la la. Next, we wandered over to my old haunt, Red Burrito, where Goran chose my old standby -- the vegetarian burrito with guacamole. I munched on too many cashews.

What the Bleep (is in my Smoothie)?

Time for mystery hour! Gather 'round.

I made a smoothie tonight with the following: banana, strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, blueberries, lime, cacao, water. Notice that at no point did I mention adding a finger. And yet in my tastiest-ever smoothie there are what appear to be half-blended sort of translucent little plastic strips strewn throughout -- I can bite through them and they tear just like pieces of skin (don't ask). So they're pieces of some sort of cellulose-based material, I'm guessing. Hoping. I'd noticed something was odd after my third mouthful. I'm really hoping it's just the lime, since this is the first smoothie I've had with a whole peeled lime... Hmmmmm... I've dumped the smoothie down the sink and these pieces are all over the place. Grossaroo. (I'm borrowing that word just for this post.)

Strawberry Smoothie & Cats

Today I had some smoothies and a few salads with the veggie-nut burgers. My favourite smoothie of the day was this strawberry-banana-apple-kale-cacao-cayenne-water concoction, pictured on the right with one of the 12 or so bags of frozen fruits I have shoved in my fridge freezer.

From Raw Foods Bible by Craig B. Sommers:

Francis M. Pottenger, Jr., M.D., along with Alvin Ford, conducted a 10-year "landmark" study starting in 1932. The study was done under the strictest scientific standards. They took approximately nine hundred cats and split them into groups.

Six hundred of the cats had complete medical histories. Medical observations were recorded on all of the cats. All the cats were kept outdoors in large pens. The groups had the same conditions except that one group was fed raw milk, raw meat and cod liver oil, while the other group had the same meat, but cooked, pasteurized milk, and the same cod liver oil.

The cats fed with raw food (hereafter referred to as ‘raw food cats ’) remained healthy throughout the generations. The cats fed with cooked food (hereafter referred to as ‘cooked food cats ’) were unable to reproduce after the third generation. Therefore, there were no fourth generation cats fed on cooked food to continue the study.

The raw food cats:
· Were resistant to infections, fleas and parasites.
· Had no changes in skeletal tissue or fur.
· Manifested friendly and predictable mental states.
· Had no trouble birthing or nursing.

The cooked food cats:
· Were not resistant to infections, fleas and parasites.
· Had unfavorable changes in skeletal tissue and fur.
· Suffered from heart problems, nearsightedness, farsightedness, underactivity or inflammation of the thyroid and bladder, arthritis and inflammation of the joints, inflammation of the nervous system with paralysis and meningitis, and infections of the kidney, bones, liver, testes and ovaries.
· Showed much more irritability than the raw food cats, were unpredictable, bit and scratched. The males had a drop in sexual interest and same-sex sexual activities were observed. (These sexual behaviors were not observed in the raw food cats.)

The symptoms of the cats fed on 100 percent cooked foods sounds very much like those that our society is experiencing today, do they not? Fertility drugs and doctors specializing in fertility are a growing and very profitable business. I believe infertility is mostly related to improper diet and lifestyle choices. More details on this study can be found in the book, Pottenger’s Cats by Francis M. Pottenger, Jr., M.D.

[Note: "At the time of Pottenger's Study the amino acid taurine had been discovered but had not yet been identified as an essential amino acid for cats. Today many cats thrive on a cooked meat diet where taurine has been added after cooking. The deficient diets lacked sufficient taurine to allow the cats to properly form protein structures and resulted in the health effects observed. Pottenger himself concluded that there was likely an 'as yet unknown' protein factor that may have been heat sensitive."]

Interesting conclusion. ["These sexual behaviors were not observed in the raw food cats." Well, obviously the raw food cats were discreet about it....]

I'll keep you posted if I notice any changes.

Thai Fresh Wraps & Pesto Pizza

Oh yes, I could get used to this. I want to make it all! All the raw dishes (that taste good)! It looks simple enough.

Thai Fresh Wraps: "Three collard leaf wraps filled with a sprouted sunflower seed and veggie pate, sesame seasoned coleslaw and served with a ginger raisin chutney."

Pesto Pizza: "A sun-dried tomato and fresh tomato herb sauce topped with a hempseed walnut basil pesto, a crumbly walnut “cheez” and fresh tomato slices."

I walked right by Chapters on the way to the raw food place and made a mental note to pick up some raw food recipe books next time.

When I picked up my food, the guy said, "Argh, I just wanna like, wipe you down." I am the only person in Vancouver who doesn't like to use an umbrella. So I look drenched most of the time, and this somehow makes me more approachable. Story-with-moral time!

On my way home, standing at the corner of Georgia and Richards with my headphones on and my eyes closed, waiting for the light to change, a middle-aged (I don't know what he was wearing, I rarely notice that stuff) guy says a perky, "Hi." He says it twice, but the first time I'm really hoping he's talking to somebody behind me because the way he says it is like he knows the person or he's talking to a celebrity or something. Plus I was clearly not giving off "talk to me" vibes (unless repeating in my mind "don't talk to me, don't talk to me, don't talk to me" yields the opposite effect, which it does...). Otherwise, I may have perceived the interaction in a more open light.

I say, "Hi, how are you?" [I think that was my first mistake. Don't encourage!]

"Good, thanks. I'm Tom." And he holds out his hand to shake hello.

I stand there with my hands in my pockets and am suspicious. He doesn't look homeless or that he wants something from me but I don't feel like touching his hand when he's so gung-ho about it. I consider explaining to him why I don't want to shake his hand ('um, as a rule that I've just decided upon now I don't shake hands with people I don't know who initiate contact with an oblivious me on street corners') but at the same time I don't feel like explaining myself. Also, I don't know why the hell he's talking to me when I'm standing there with my headphones on and eyes closed. So then he reads my mind and tells me.

"I'm just going to London Drugs, right over there."

I smile instead of saying what I'm thinking. At that moment the advance green signals the oncoming traffic to turn left in front of us. The guy asks with a bit of attitude, "Why do cars get priority?"

I think, 'Because life has a hell of a sense of humour and wants us to stand here uncomfortably for as long as possible' but instead I make up an answer and say, "Because there are a lot of cars and the traffic congestion would be worse if fewer cars were able to turn left." I like to answer rhetorical questions.

And then I walk down the street without saying goodbye.

I LIKE the friendly/open people in this world and yet I felt like I was a bit of a jerk to him. A pleasant jerk, but not me. Or maybe that is part of me. Maybe I'll just accept it. Now embracing the mega biatch in me insofar that it is a beneficial expression on occasion for the highest good of all. Hah.

This morning's smoothie tasted greener than usual:

1 banana
1-2 cups of green salad mix
1 big beet green
1/4 cup strawberries
1/4 cup blueberries
1/2 cup water

Delicious. I had the weirdest dreams ever last night... not sure if that's related. Today I feel like I woke up in a different dimension.

Rest of the day: 3 salads with 3 avocadoes, a carrot, a fruit smoothie, some pineapple.