I Have a Sad

Physically I'm doing pretty good.  I've been doing more cooking and picking up around the house.  I even pulled some weeds yesterday.  That is a first in three years...

However, I've had a big sad all week.  I live near Boston and the bombing at the marathon has affected me greatly.  Every time I hear anything about it I want to cry.  I don't know anyone directly that was injured or killed.  However, last year my son worked at a store that was right next to the bombing site and the windows were blown out of the building.  My son took pictures at the finish line exactly where one of the bombs was placed.  He almost went into the city to take pictures again this year but he decided to stay home this year instead.  Whew!  OMG, I don't know what I would do if he got hurt.  I love him so much.  That was too close.

Two days prior to the race I was in Boston with him.  He pushed me around Harvard Square in my wheelchair.  We had a wonderful afternoon together.  We saw lots of people with marathon jackets on. People that were here for the race on Monday.  I have no idea if they got hurt.  My son has been wearing his marathon jacket since Monday.  He got it when he worked security a few years ago.

Today I'm up watching live coverage of Watertown where they have already killed one of the suspects and are currently searching for the second guy.  I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to sleep at all.  Much much too much violence.  The two guys killed an MIT officer.  I used to work there.  I used to live the next town over from Watertown and I used to shop and get medical services in Watertown.  I know these streets where all the shooting has occurred.  I hate this.  I don't understand why people would do this.

I'm tired.  I'm upset.  I'm scared.  I'm about half an hour away from the action but still much too close for comfort.  This shouldn't be happening here.  Yes, people die from gunshots in Boston but they are in the bad neighborhoods.  It isn't two guys driving around Cambridge and Watertown and who knows where else.

Sick Humor

Yeah, me neither.

Sick Humor

I swear most of videos on CFS/ME sound like this to me:

http://drgrumpyinthehouse.blogspot.com/2013/04/neurology-made-ridiculously-simple.html

Anti Virals

Just ran across this article regarding the use of chlorella and spirulina to fight off hepatitus C:
http://www.greenmedinfo.com/blog/chlorella-and-spirulina-found-treat-viral-hepatitis-c

The reasons I want to try this:

1. Dr. Chia and Dr. Bell, among others, consider CFS/ME to be viral
2. My docs are very conservative and would never try a course of antivirals on me
3. Antivirals (off label HIV drugs) are being used with some success in CFS/ME patients
4. Actual antiviral meds have TONS of nasty side effects
5. The equalibrant, which is an antiviral, is causing some pretty severe joint pain and I've stopped using it for now
6. Another CFS patient that blogs got markedly better after starting Amazing Grass which contains both chlorella and spirulina.  She was doing lots of other stuff as well so I wasn't sure which part of her program gave her the huge benefit.  I bought one of Amazing Grass' products but it didn't have the chlorella and spirulina in it and I thought it was the same stuff.  It didn't do much for me so I stopped taking it.
7. What the heck I might as well.

More Food Thoughts

Swanning around on the web this evening I happened to run across several articles that are directly related to my own  post.  So here are some other people's thoughts on diets in general and the Paleo diet specifically.

Mark's Daily Apple on cheating on a diet:

"Part of the problem is a misplaced fascination with the transgressive. Somehow cheating ourselves is the ultimate gratification. We mistake indulgence for decadence, discipline for deprivation. Healthy behaviors are assigned the boring, white-hat, “moral” role in our culture. Being healthy is about hard work and choosing health is about saying “no.” At least that’s the message we get. On the other side of the spectrum is the Mountain Dew adventure and Doritos-inspired hilarity that could fill our days – if we were only so bold and rebellious."

Read more: http://www.marksdailyapple.com/why-health-integrity-matters-or-the-power-of-being-honest-with-yourself/#ixzz2OtTujiHg

Interesting article on food addiction on Primal Docs blog:
The Dark Side of Food Addiction by Emily Deans, MD

"In my experience there are two sorts of people. Those who can’t bear to be cut off from any particular foods and would rather count calories, and these folks love their fit bits and food scales and weight watchers apps. Then there are those who couldn’t be bothered, who find calorie counting a horrible nuisance, and prefer to avoid certain types of foods. In reality most people who maintain their weight in the modern foodscape are probably one of these sorts of people. Elderly women who’ve been thin their whole lives tell me how they never have dessert, or if they do, they share it with three other people at the table. Almost everyone is restricting in some way, but if they are doing it successfully, they are utilizing a way that complements their personality and hormonal profile, so they don’t feel deprived."

http://primaldocs.com/opinion/the-dark-side-of-food-addiction/

Right now baked goods are my crack.  It used to be chocolate and sugar but after a year and a half of 80% Paleo I'm so over sugar.  I even find certain fruits unpalatable due to their sweetness, such as persimmons and medjool dates.  ICK!  But a muffin, a loaf of fresh bread or even a bowl of pasta, come to me baby!!  This is what I'm currently struggling with.  While I do have some after effects of eating a sandwich, it isn't severe enough to put me off for months like it used to.  But I digress....

I haven't read this entire article but here is a piece in the New York Times about food addiction:
The Extraordinary Science of Addictive Junk Food by Michael Moss

"The public and the food companies have known for decades now — or at the very least since this meeting — that sugary, salty, fatty foods are not good for us in the quantities that we consume them. So why are the diabetes and obesity and hypertension numbers still spiraling out of control? It’s not just a matter of poor willpower on the part of the consumer and a give-the-people-what-they-want attitude on the part of the food manufacturers. What I found, over four years of research and reporting, was a conscious effort — taking place in labs and marketing meetings and grocery-store aisles — to get people hooked on foods that are convenient and inexpensive. "

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/24/magazine/the-extraordinary-science-of-junk-food.html?pagewanted=1&_r=5&hp&adxnnlx=1361728942-zrgK0vQJ/n%20J1gTD4jn6eQ

This article is the food industry equivalent of big tobacco's cigarette addiction coverup and exposure.

If the Times article is too long here is CBS's 60 Minutes expose on food chemistry and the creation of food addiction, The Flavorists produced by Ruth Streeter:

Food Thoughts

I just gave up on a weird argument that I was having with a nutritionist that I've followed for a couple of years.  As off kilter as our argument was, it got me thinking.  This is also why I like a good argument er discussion, it gets me thinking.

You'll have to bear with me since my brain is quite fogged today and I haven't worked through all of my arguments yet.

Her basic premise on food is that all food is good food.  There is no bad food.  While I understand that she is trying to divorce strict rules and denial from what should be the pleasurable undertaking of nourishing your body, all food is NOT created equal.  100 calories of Doritos does not equal 100 calories of grass fed steak.  While it won't kill you to eat Doritos once in a while, it is quite possible that a steady diet of them will at least cause problems if not kill you outright.

We are in the middle of a food war.  Food corporations are using science to make their food addictive much like the tobacco companies did with cigarettes   They add various chemicals and compounds to their food, not to make it healthier for us but so that we will crave more and buy more of their product.  Is it any wonder why people like me distrust any food that comes in a box with a full marketing campaign behind it?

I turned to Paleo because of my health.  It was a diet recommended by one of the well respected CFS/ME doctors, Dr. Myhill.   To me it makes sense to eat food that is as close to the way nature intended it as possible.  Stuff that hasn't been chemically manipulated in a lab.  It can be argued that cooking chemically manipulates the food but now we are getting a little nitpicky.  I don't want food that has been developed in a test tube for profit rather than the nutritional good of mankind.

Now don't get me wrong.  I'm NOT saying that all modern things are evil and that we have to live like we did in the age of cavemen.  What I am saying is that for the most part I will only eat food that has been raised and nurtured in the manner that is in accordance with nature.  Cows are ruminant animals which do best eating grasses not jelly beans and GMO corn.  The chemical profile of the meat from a conventionally raised cow and grass fed cow are significantly different.  And guess what, the grass fed cow's nutritional profile is better suited for human consumption.  So, even 100 calories of grass fed steak is NOT the equivalent of 100 calories of feedlot steak.

Yes, these statements are all backed by actual science studies but I'm too buggered to find them right now. I'm afraid I'm going to have to leave it to you to come up with the research.  Just be reassured it is out there.  Many many apologies to the science community from which I came.  You did teach me better than this.  I'm usually very good about citing sources but I'm just too messed up to do it right now.

I have found improvements in many of my symptoms from eating like this.  I have been cheating a lot lately and yes I've been paying a price for it in fogged thinking and joint pain.  There is a direct link between what I eat and how I feel.  I'm so sick that it is very obvious that there is a link.  The bit I don't get is why I keep cheating.  But this is the psychological side of nutrition not the physiologic side.

The Bulletproof Executive put out a great chart that I love that shows various foods on a scale of best to worst.  As much as I would love to go along with the illusion that all food is created equal it isn't.  It is a HUGE myth.  We can only eat so much food in a day.  I wish to make my calories have as many good nutrients in them as possible so I have a better chance of recovery and overall health.  Yes, I cheat.  I did tonight.  I had a steak bomb from a local subshop.  It was delicious but I know I will pay for it physically.  I'm not perfect but I'm trying.

http://www.bulletproofexec.com/the-complete-illustrated-one-page-bulletproof-diet/

addendum: I was booted from the nutritionist's Facebook page.  Sigh.  Can't even have a good argument these days without everyone getting into a snit.

Problems Posting

I'm having problems with blogger lately.  I'm having trouble posting comments and replies to comments.  Please don't be offended if yours hasn't appeared or if I haven't replied.  I don't have the brain power to figure out what is wrong.  I'm hoping it resolves itself on its own.