Seeking Balance – Diabetes and Life

“Everyone Knows Someone Who Needs This Information!” (TM)

I always wish I could start to post “serious” discussions first thing in the morning, when my mind is clearest and when I have a chance to remember ideas and thoughts which settled-in overnight … but something always ‘needs attention right away’ and tends to obliterate or obscure these more intangible thoughts or make them permeable.

So, finally, I’ve tried to keep my promise of the last few weeks, to write about gaining perspective and edging towards a more-Balanced Life, which, in turn, usually leads to better physical and mental Health. I’m finding it a tall-order right now. The words are not flowing like they did in the wee hours, when I was ruminating!

Yesterday, the Universe answered with help, and I gave up 2 hours last night to watch the PBS special “The Buddha”. It was a fascinating program and it brought me back to my understanding that Siddartha’s Journey is the one we must all make to find Peace, the Balance necessary to live a good Life and Completion.

Buddhism is not a religion in the way that “religion” is thought of in the West, and I think it can be combined with other thought-patterns (religions) or “divine” pronouncements (religions).

Buddhism is a way to take the Middle Path — not bow to excess — and it supplies ways to temperately approach Life’s Journey, with a Dharma (set of instructions), to help you guide your Search. And, it is an individual Search. It is work; it is dedication. It is thinking and doing.

As a Jew, I can agree with that. That’s why many Jews also embrace Buddhism. All sincere, peaceful, truthful paths lead to the Divine. I believe that. Even if you do not, I think being open to other people’s ideas is essential and their way can be helpful to you, if you choose.

The 613 commandments in the Old Testament which orthodox Jews follow and actively use daily, is another road-map, but can be taken on many levels. Those 613 acts can be a personal, pro-active Journey, too, not just a rote one.

Whatever “Way” you choose, it is essential to find Balance.

Dr. Mehmet Oz, MD was showing some more scientifically based approaches recently for a person who was not clinically-depressed, but who was deeply dis-satisfied and could therefore not find Happiness. That’s what the Buddha “understood” was the source of imbalance — “dis-satisfaction”.

If you are not Happy, there’s a reason “why” and you must ferret it out and try to remedy it — whether it be physical or psychological or spiritual. You just can’t go through Life without tending your whole Garden, all that IS YOU!

Most of us are doing a poor job of this; we are putting the most-important last! We are not put on this Earth to automatically just ‘earn money’, ‘make families’, ‘engender world Peace’.

We have an individual Gift of Life which has a Purpose for the betterment of All of us. We have to find it, or Life will hammer on us until we pay attention to the Greater Reason we are alive. Maybe it is “to make money” but maybe it is to create music and live differently because of that choice.

One of the greatest Gifts the Buddha brought into the minds of ordinary people, who do not spend years as a wanderer and questioner, is that in order to make the most of our Life, we must be “present” in each moment. We need to attend to the present, not the past and not the future. Just be “in the Now”. You can make better choices and handle anything if you are just dealing with “Now”.

Interestingly, the word count just went by 613 as I finished the last paragraph. A sign? OK, I’ll think so. I gave you a road-map.

___ Science? Sure, you can use it for  information. I try to help you here.

___ Religion? Maybe yours will help you, but I think only if YOU! are required to actively be the one on the Journey and have to take responsibility in this Life.

___ Personal Choice? Maybe, if you do take time aside each day to assess where you are and make a road-map day-by-day (with only a vague pass at what “Future” means, otherwise you become too “attached” to that Plan and only that Plan).

Whichever the road-map base you choose, get one started! Take thoughtful, aware Action on your Life moment-by-moment. You can handle that. If you fall down, then get up and start again in the next moment. Put together many moments and that means Success.

Best to all — Em

REFERENCE:
The Buddha – a video at PBS.org

DrOzShow.com

DrOzShow.com 28 Days to a Happier YOU!

Learn more in my Title Archive. See the Tab on the upper navigation bar.

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(c)2010 Em at http://diabetesdietdialogue.wordpress.com

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Diabetes – New Info 2

“Everyone Knows Someone Who Needs This Information!” (TM)

Here’s new information because New Year, is a good time to update so that all the choices you make in daily living utilize the best options! Read Part 1 of Diabetes – New Info. And, now here’s Part 2.

___ Save time looking for recipes in cookbooks which you already own. Or, search for recipes when you are away from your cookbook collection. This site also has a shopping list for each recipe in the cookbooks they’ve indexed online.

This is a new web engine in beta — see what’s offered if you go to Eat Your Books and click on the Community page (where there is a link to the already indexed books list). More cookbooks are added constantly. There’s a free 30 day trial; a limited time for a life-time membership, and otherwise, monthly membership.

___ And, another tip for Americans – check out Groupon.com for local “deals”. In this tough economy, only choose beneficial ones, and maybe that will help you save money for critical bills or purchases.

___ People with fat in their thighs and backsides may live longer because this type of fat actually traps harmful acid particles while it actively secretes helpful compounds, according to a report recently published in the International Journal of Obesity. “Pear-shaped” people also appear to have lower levels of inflammatory cytokines — signaling chemicals involved in the body’s response to infection — increased levels can play a role in heart disease and diabetes especially when they are inappropriately active.

Many studies have shown that people who accumulate deep, visceral fat around the abdomen and stomach are more likely to die of heart disease and other causes, than bottom-heavy people, but the reasons for this biochemistry are not clear. The author, Konstantinos Manolopoulos, of Britain’s University of Oxford, says “It is the protective role of lower body fat, (gluteofemoral fat), that is striking,” and this big-bottom body shape is most often found in females (think Jennifer Lopez).

Nature knows it must “protect” females for the preservation of the species (you only need about 10 males to re-populate the world with plenty of genetic diversity, if many more females survive, I read long ago)(and scientists already know very small groups are what all humans originally developed from).

So, “apple-shape” people, who hold fat around their middle, should be even more careful, I believe, to live a pH balanced life and to have gentle-to-moderate levels of exercise 3 to 4 times per week for at least 30 minutes – 45 minutes duration, if your doctor allows it. This group has less margin for error. More on exercise below.

___ About 70% of everyone’s diet should be from vegetables. These are pH balancing foods, and along with lots of pure water (work up to 1qt per 50 lb lean body mass weight, over at least a month to give your kidneys time to adapt to increased use — consult your doctor beforehand if you already have kidney disease), this is your diet’s foundation. Also, use about 1 1/2 Tablespoons of good fats daily (only hemp and flax – never cook these; olive, macadamia nut, canola [not for people on Coumadin or Warfarin], walnut, and organic butter or ghee or organic coconut oil [these 3 in small amounts] [MUST be organic] or the Omega-3s in cold-water fish like wild salmon, cod, herring, sardines (limit if you tend to have gout), arctic char, and mackerel [less use due to mercury]. You’ll get enough essential fatty acid Omega-6 in the EFA Omega-3 foods. Right now the western diet has way too many Omega-6s. Protein per meal should be as described in Part 1, and there’s more dietary information below, too.

___ America may laud thinness, but a new Japanese study shows being too thin is shortening people’s lives by around 5 years, and that too thin people live shorter lives than obese people do!

People who are just a little chubby live longest (their Body Mass Index was 25 – 30). People who are a little overweight at age 40 live six to seven years longer than very thin people (BMI 18.5 or less) or obese people (BMI above 30). Normal BMI is 18.5 to 25 range.

“We found skinny people run the highest risk,” said Shinichi Kuriyama, an associate professor at Tohoku University’s Graduate School of Medicine who worked on the long-term study of middle-aged and elderly people, which was conducted by a health ministry team led by professor Ichiro Tsuji. The team covered 50,000 people between the ages of 40 and 79, over 12 years in the northern Japanese prefecture of Miyagi. “There had been an argument that thin people’s lives are short because many of them are sick or smoke. But the difference was almost unchanged even when we eliminated these factors,” Kuriyama said.

___ For Americans, 2/3 of Americans are overweight or obese, but at least we’re leveling off (according to a study in the Journal of the American Medical Association) from the steep climb that started developing in the late 1980s, with the increased use of High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) and larger portion fast-food meal marketing.

The study found that if obesity rates had continued to rise as rapidly as they’d been since the late 1980s, then an increase of 6 to 7 percentage points would have been expected for men and women between 1999 and 2009. But, instead, rates increased by less than 5 percent in men and did not appear to increase much at all in women.

So for women, the news seems somewhat hopeful, as our obesity rates remained virtually unchanged over the past decade. But this still leaves us at: 36% of women are obese (50% of black women are) and 30% are overweight (75% for black women). A woman who is 5 feet 4 inches tall and weighs 175 pounds is clinically obese.

Now, we just need to start seeing the numbers returning to normal weight ranges! These tips in this series will help you accomplish that!

___ The weight issue for many Americans is economic. Poor food costs less and it is all that many people can afford with the choices they make as to how they spend what money they have (and some people are in such dire straits that they don’t have any choices).

___ We need to be lobbying Congress to provide farmers who grow vegetables the farm subsidies now spent on grain (used mostly for biofuel and exports) and soybeans (used mostly to feed cattle). That is what we HAVE to do. This will bring down the consumer prices of fresh foods.

Including fruit growers (for a lesser percentage) is important, too, as orchards are a huge investment and take up to a decade before they “bear fruit” and start to earn back an investment. But, as fresh food in our diet, fruit is less essential, yet it is also Nature’s food bank and will survive better than vegetable crops in a problematic climate or other disaster. Real estate developers routinely rip-out orchards which will take decades to add to our food supply if new ones are even planted elsewhere. There needs to be laws regarding whether orchards must instead be sold only to other farmers. Lobby Congress to make it so.

___ Continuing, now, with new exercise information. Dr. James Lyons, MD, author of “The Brown Fat Revolution” tells patients to get a maximum of 10 to 15 minutes of aerobic activity, and to then focus on doing resistance training exercises that work the abdominal core like: yoga or pilates and weightlifting to build arm and leg muscles.

This moderate aerobic approach prevents stimulating hunger and will help you retain muscle (normally shed with aging). Since your newly re-gained muscle requires more calories to maintain than fat tissue does, your metabolism will boosted throughout the day. Therefore, you’ll burn off belly fat (and without increasing your appetite like too much aerobics would), because you have stimulated your metabolically helpful brown fat to burn-off your life depleting white fat tissue.

You must do some moderate activity at least twice a week for 40 minutes (3 or 4 times weekly is better) — especially if you’ve recently lost weight. It’s well known that regular exercise is essential for maintaining weight loss.

University of Alabama researchers discovered in October 2009 that it takes 40 minutes a day, twice a week, (minimum) to keep the belly fat from creeping back on if you are trying to maintain newly-lost weight. The study participants were white and black women who had lost an average of 27 pounds on a lower-calorie diet.

Interestingly, this time it didn’t matter whether the women did aerobic activity or resistance training as long as they kept it up twice a week for a year. “While they did regain some weight, they gained it in their legs and arms, not their midsection,” says Hunter, who led the study.

He also stated that those participants who didn’t exercise, regained most of their lost weight, the bulk of it around their belly – the danger zone! Hunter theorizes that exercise helps to trigger beneficial hormonal changes which make it easier for the body to store excess fat in the arms, hips and thighs rather than near vital organs of the waist and belly region. This abdominal fat can squeeze, push-over and otherwise inhibit vital organs’ functionality.

Eat a healthy snack or light meal before and after a workout — each about 200 calories.

___ When it comes to shedding belly fat, think 6 mini-meals a day. As 85% of the success comes from proper diet management and timing, the rest is the proper stimulation of metabolism from the balance and length of an exercise program. The dietary approach you stick to is critical.

The before and after exercise meals mentioned above count for 2 mini-meals (regard it as two halves of your breakfast, eaten in stages; total 400 calories). Next comes 400 calories of a well-balanced lunch with 70% – 80% vegetables (at least 2 cups), 1 serving of oils (see above), 3 ozs. cooked meat protein (or 6 oz. fish, 1 cup beans, 2 Omega-3 fortified eggs, 1/2 cup cottage cheese or 1C yoghurt). Then an afternoon snack mini-meal — a piece of fruit and a few nuts (total 200 calories). Next, dinner mini-meal, like lunch and 400 calories. Lastly, a before-bed snack mini-meal, preferably some dairy to help give you tryptophan to make into serotonin, to aid sleep (200 calories).

Men are entitled to enlarge one meal or both meals for a total of 400 “extra” calories (total = 2000 for men for the day, 1600 calories per day for women).

___ get enough sleep. If you don’t sleep well, get this checked out, in a sleep-lab if necessary.

Too little sleep (meaning less than 6 hours) or too much (more than 8 hours) results in excess production of the stress hormone named cortisol, which is produced in your adrenal glands.

This hormone promotes the storage of fat in your belly. As your adrenals prepare you to respond to life-threatening stresses, these glands shuttle fat off to a storage place where it can be easily burned off for fuel in an emergency. That storage depot is abdominal fat! Whereas, fat on your hips and thighs isn’t released from cells as quickly, which is why it is much harder to “lose”.

___ Help to de-stress yourself by living in the present moment, only. You can handle the present moment. This is called Mindfulness. It will help bring your biochemistry in from overloaded adrenal stress. Of course, meditation is a more formal version of this practice, but this real-world adaptation will work. Don’t “worry” or have thoughts persistently in the future or past; stay in the NOW.

Treat every moment as the opportunity to learn, grow, and change.

That’s all for this post. See you next week. I wish you well.

Em

(c)2010 Em at http://diabetesdietdialogue.wordpress.com
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Diabetes – New Info 1

“Everyone Knows Someone Who Needs This Information!” (TM)

Here’s a basket of info and techniques to jump-start your resolve and increase your chance for success. It takes at least 21 days to get a new habit started well, so if you begin today, you’ll have a successful first month of 2010 and it will help to shape a successful year.

Here’s a first pass at suggestions to start now:

___ Use only fresh, seasonal food. It is less expensive and it helps your body by being in tune with your natural instincts. Your body knows what it needs to endure in each season; the fact that you can get out-of-season “food” only confuses it, and that leads to complications and possible dis-ease.

How do you know what is in season? Go to your market and look for the least expensive fresh foods! But, if you are at home planning menus or looking at recipes, you can use Seasonal Food Availability Charts by month, by hemisphere.

This will help you make a healthy, budget shopping list, which will give you more healthy food for your money.

___ Cooking your food at home need not be difficult or time consuming. It is a fundamental skill that you literally cannot live without. I was shocked to see how even some 50 and 60 year olds had never learned to cook, when I watched the first episode of Food Network’s “Worst Cooks in America” last week.

Yes, I was totally shocked by the ineptitude of all these people and the lack of respect for themselves and their well-being that this ignorance engendered!

And, when several of the people were shown again at the end of the episode, I was also impressed at how their knowledge base expanded exponentially in just one lesson, along with their confidence!

Every city has places where there are food demonstrations, and if you can afford it, go get real cooking lessons, but if you cannot, then buy a good, basic cook book and start at page 1. If you learn technique and understand the principles, you can cook anything in a healthy way.

Make sure you get a recipe book which has the nutritional content along with each recipe or use the recipes at a site which does, too.

I will be putting my own easy-to-make-food information out soon; I’ll let you know when you can buy it online on a print-on-request site for a reasonable fee.

___ Have at least 30 favorite, healthy recipes which you feel comfortable making. Use these staples to make either 2 meals per day for a fortnight OR use them to take one meal’s slot for a month. Variety will help you stick to any regimen. If you just learn 1 or 2 recipes a week, you will change your life quickly for the better.

‘Make sure you stay with a portion size which will give women about 1600 calories a day and men about 2,000 calories a day. Anything less than that, as typical diets are, will NOT give you enough to get proper nutrition’, so says the editor of Prevention Magazine, and I agree, even if you are taking supplements. Food provides factors we don’t even know about, let alone can reproduce in a lab. Supplements are just that; they are not the solution, and most of us need them as a back-up support system to help, as we are stressed all the time.

Obesity and morbid obesity are epidemic among all age groups in America, Britain and Australia, for sure. Some other countries are not far behind. As people become impoverished in this financial tsunami, if you are not putting Healthy Food First (TM), then expect that you will find your budget stretched to the max with medical bills or pills or worse. Eating too few calories makes your body think it is going to be starving and starts a bad biochemical cascade; and eating poor food tells your body that you ARE starving, and it keeps eating. Both result in obesity. But, when you eat healthy, whole, fresh food and treat it lightly and carefully in cooking, your body IS nourished and relearns to be satisfied with just an amazingly reasonable amount of food.

___ If you want to make double-recipes and freeze half, then you have you’ll half a month of main meals already made! If you get into the rhythm of this, then you can make a huge change in your budget, health and time available for other things, daily.

One relative held a full-time, executive job, with 2 children (starting when about 8-9 and 11-12 years old) and a husband she was teaching to cook, gradually over a year, starting by being there as she did this once-a-week or once-a-month cooking and freezing, depending on her schedule. By the end of the year, he could do the whole regimen, and will never be stuck eating commercial ready-made “food” and he can be a real partner. Each child had prep and clean-up chores and it became a great use of quality family time. Now the kids know how to cook, too, and know it’s easy to make real food, so don’t get sucked in to junk food.

This requires an upfront commitment, but the rewards are great and are life-long.

___ Eat about every 4 – 5 hours, and preferably make your meals about the same size and importance, along with a snack about 8 – 9 pm. Having each eating session be about 400 calories of balanced, high mineral, high vitamin, healthy fat and moderate proteins what we want to aim for or make 3 meals and a smaller snack but have the meals fairly equal.

Some people need a slightly bigger meal at breakfast, others at dinner. If you know by instinct, then honor that, but if it is a dinner, make sure you eat early, and are finished by 6:30 pm – 7pm at the latest – the earlier everyone eats dinner, the better. Some body types want more equal meals, and if you don’t have an instinct, then use that schedule format.  Never skip meals.

___ Make your plates look full. Use luncheon size plates for most meals.

___ The protein should be about the size and thickness of a deck of cards (about 3 – 4 ozs. cooked) or half that for a lesser meal. Two eggs, equivalent beans and dried peas or dals, as well as nuts and seeds are other protein options. Four ounces of red meats or 6 ozs of fish are the max your body can process for a protein source at one meal, so that great big juicy 12 oz. steak mostly is not even used and just becomes toxic waste that overtaxes your kidneys!

___ Vegetables are the only carbohydrates that you need to use. They should be preferably fresh or frozen, not canned, and should take up the rest of the plate i.e. about 70% – 80% of the plate’s area.

As carbs, all veggies should be the mainstay of your diet in all seasons, and I include potatoes and sweet potatoes, parsnips and carrots in sometimes, and in appropriate amounts and preparations. Most vegetables are potent alkalizers. You DO NOT NEED any other carbs, and if you use grains, be especially careful, as huge numbers of people have food sensitivities to them or outright allergies. Rice and Quinoa, Buckwheat and Amaranth are the least likely to produce allergy. Quinoa, Buckwheat and Amaranth are actually, botanically, fruits, and are alkaline foods!

Listen to your body; if you truly, deeply don’t “like” a food, don’t eat it. If you want to check if you are likely sensitive to it (or anything else in your environment), follow the instructions at: Kiniesiology Self-Testing.

___ You also need monosaturated or omega-3 healthy fats. Use 1  1/2 t per meal of hemp oil or flax oil (never cook either of these!) or have about 1 1/2t of olive oil or 1   1/2T vinaigrette dressing (with organic olive, flax or hemp oil and organic apple cider vinegar and lemon juice) or organic butter or ghee on them (which ever is appropriate). No margarine; no “vegetable” oils; no deep fried foods or hydrogenated fats like Crisco.

Healthy saturated fat is organic coconut oil. Healthy and saturated fat in the same breath is not an oxymoron. Read my articles in the Archive, above, about the miraculous goodness of coconut. But it is a limited food, when used in its fat form. You need just a tiny bit, daily, to help produce important hormones, and “no”, other saturated fats won’t provide the same benefit.

___ Fruits are dense carbohydrates and are Nature’s dessert. They should be used only once or twice a day, at most, and NO fruit juices — they are blood-sugar imbalancers. Only some fruits are alkaline and all cooked fruits are pH acidic — not where you want to be!

Never use high fructose corn syrup in anything and never use fructose as your sweetener — these are VERY bad for creating high blood sugar readings.

Agave nectar is the best sweetener for diabetics; it is natural and low-glycemic, but it has an acidic pH, so so use it moderately. Buy an organic version.

Use NO artificial sweeteners, including the ones like sucralose which pretend they are not different from Nature, but they still are, as Nature does not chlorinate sugars!

___ Science shows that your brain is calculating visually as to whether it thinks there’s “enough”, and if not, then you will trigger biochemistry which causes you to over-eat by not being satiated. That’s another reason to fill every plate or bowl with lots of nutrient-dense yet low-calorie marvelous veggies!

Eat slowly, as it takes 20 minutes for satiation signals to operate in your brain. Be mindful of your eating; be in a quiet environment or at least a relaxed one. Chew well, preferably chew each bite to liquid.

___ Try to find actual time every day for Quietude or Meditation – formal or informal. And, just walk after one meal, for about 20 – 30 minutes at a moderate – to brisk, but still “conversational” pace. You should never be breathless.

While you can still view it online, spend a little time watching “This Emotional Life” on Public Broadcasting Service (PBS). Later, you will still be able to buy the DVD. Last night Episode 3 aired for 2 hours — “Finding Happiness” was fascinating and worthwhile. I encourage you to see it. Finding Happiness – “This Emotional Life”, PBS At the moment, it’s in a video which you can stop and start, if you act now, fitting it in as you can.

OK, I’m going to finish this post and may add another similar one later.

At some point, hopefully soon, Dear Reader, I will return to the Iodine Series to finish up, but I am bogged down about half-way through an 150 page tome and I don’t have the time to finish it right now. Please bear with me.

(c)2010 Em at http://diabetesdietdialogue.wordpress.com
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The Oldest Olympic Champions – Hardwork Makes Miracles We Can Learn From – Part 2

 

 

 

 

 

“Everyone Knows Someone Who Needs This Information!” (TM)

There’s a great deal that diabetics can learn from the top-notch veteran Olympic athletes, in using and caring for their bodies and steeling their mind for challenges, so along with the world, I watched, rooted for, cheered and applauded 41 year old Dara Torres accomplish miracles at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, regardless of whether she may have wished for even better results, and I applaud veteran time trial Olympic cyclist Jeannie Longo of France and gold medalist Kristin Armstrong of USA as well Germany’s Oksana Chusovitina in Gymnastics and the surprise Olympic gold medalist in Women’s Marathon, Romania’s Constantina Tomescu-Dita. 

We’ll discuss Chusovitina and Tomescu in later posts.

DARA TORRES

American Dara Torres is the oldest Olympic swimmer, ever, and in addition to the silver medal she had already won last week, Saturday she added two more silver medals in back-to-back races!

Throughout, she showed concern for her fellow athletes (and asked for the swimmer whose suit was torn to be allowed time to change, and the 50 meter race was delayed — which interrupts her delicate pre-race regimen — but she’s a top-notch sportswoman for whom sportsmanship [sportswomanship!] is natural).

I think Dara had the best chance in the “splash and dash” 50m race, which she has excelled in even before it was ever on the Olympic roster; she first held the record in it in 1984. Now she’s an experienced veteran Olympian, after all this is Dara’s fifth Olympic Games! 

Unlike Michael Phelps who powered into the wall’s touch-pad the previous evening, winning his 7th Olympic gold medal race by .01 seconds, Dara seemed to lose the 50m race just then, to Steffen of Germany.

The arm-configuration of the last stroke just didn’t get Dara to the wall in a way she could hit the pad (even though she reached the wall first) and so she lost the Gold Medal by .01 seconds to a girl who could be her daughter. No shame there. It was a magnificent accomplishment.

And, moments after the 50m medal ceremony, Dara had to race, against swimmers who were “fresh”. She was the strongest swimmer on the American team in the 4 x 100 Medley relay, and swam the anchor leg freestyle, to give them the silver medal.

Back-stroker Natalie Coughlin had started the American team off well, but the two intervening team members did not add to the lead - they squandered it - so it was Dara Torres who salvaged the American medal, and tore the back of her suit, too, in the herculean effort. Dara was only narrowly edged-out of the gold by a truly young Australian team.

Especially after retiring three times, then each time resuming with Olympic caliber results, Dara Torres is definitely my heroine of the Games, although there are many other wonderful stories, some of which I will share here.

From Dara Torres’ success, lessons I think diabetics can apply to dealing with diabetes are to:

___    never quit, no matter what you are facing

___   plan an educated strategy and execute it – no excuses

___   work on your strategy daily

___    respect your body – put nutrition first, as well as rest, to balance activity

___   prioritize, even if nothing much but family is regularly a part of your life because of your regimen, until you make success happen

___   gather a supportive, knowledgeable team around you

___   always seek new knowledge, test it, and tailor it to ensure your success

___   never limit self or horizons

___   always believe you can succeed, then act

Whether Dara will pop-up again just before the next Olympics remains to be seen, but she does say that she is becoming even more competitive as she ages, rather than her competive urge waning. So, there’s a very good chance that Dara Torres will try to make history, yet again, at London 2010.

Dara says she plans to take one week off, then she will return to training and the pool, as that “miss” by .01 second is really gnawing at her!

Meanwhile, in Health, I hope Dara Torres will continue to lead the way, and create a new view of aging that busts through sterotypes and starts humans to thinking more about the real biological limits of our longevity span, which scientists say should be 150 years, as our mammalian-markers show.

Think about what you can accomplish in the world with double your commonly projected life-span. Understand how you can make a difference when you regain your Health, and yes, I truly believe that it is possible to regain your Health because diabetes IS beatable.

 

 JEANNIE LONGO-CIPRELLI

 

 

 

Seven-time Olympian cyclist Jeannie Longo-Ciprelli of France, who is almost 50 years of age, is another athlete worthy of emulation and adulation. On Beijing’s slippery mountainous roads, in the torrential downpours, Jeannie came in 24th in a field of 66 in the road race, but after 78 miles (126km) she was only 23 seconds from a gold medal!

American Kristin Armstrong, age 35, came in 25th behind Jeannie. British cyclist, Nicole Cook, age 25, from Wales, won the gold medal, and collapsed at the finish. Marianne Vos, of the Netherlands, the pre-race favorite finished sixth. Jeannie Longo-Ciprelli led on many occasions. Brava! to all.

Then, Kristin Armstrong (no relation to Lance Armstrong) went on to win the gold medal in the Time Trial race, and in that race, Jeannie Longo-Ciprelli just missed a medal by less than 2 seconds! Karin Thurig of Switzerland just edged her out. 

Uncharacteristically, Jeannie had been suffering with sciatic nerve pain in her back and leg for the previous 2 days and during the race, and she hates to race in the rain, even though she loves and excels at mountain riding. What could Jeannie Longo have done if she had been completely pain-free? better weather? Personally, given how well she did, I think she would have been unbeatable.

The gold medalist in the Time Trials, American Kristin Armstrong, has been working for 8 years to win, and was not even nominated to the US cycling team in 2004. So, her individual drive and persistence finally paid off in her lonely road to glory.

Jeannie Longo and Kristin Armstrong are excellent women cyclists. Their ages just make the accomplishments even more amazing, as the other winners are 25 at most.

Kristin says “You cannot give up until you cross the finish line!” and that is good advice for diabetics, too, and our Journey is also often a lonely, solitary one with those around us not being empathetic enough or interested enough or tolerant. In the end, it must be our battle though. 

And, Jeannie Longo comes along as an interesting role-model on many levels, for all of us, and especially diabetics. The lessons to learn are in bold text.

Originally from Grenoble, Jeannie Longo had shunned the games in Grenoble, France years ago because of its poor air, so it is ironic that she will have to breathe Beijing’s even more polluted air for the 78 mile road race and yet again for the time trial. The American cyclists were issued masks, and there was criticism about wearing them. Health should come first!

Preserving her Health is the top priority of Jeannie Longo-Ciprelli, all 5 foot 4 inches (164cm), 103 pounds (46 kg) of her! We’ll talk about that in a moment, but guarding her Health has helped her win 13 World Championships, 38 world records, 4 Olympic medals in 7 Olympics*,  more than 1,000 other victories, including three Tour de France.

Jeannie started out being trained in boxing and wrestling by her mother, a physical education teacher, she aimed for the French ski team, and although talented, when she did not make that prestigious group, Jeannie was wise in being flexible and changed plans and re-structured her life to succeed; she turned to cycling,

Now, Jeannie Longo-Ciprelli is the only woman to have participated in women’s cycling at every Olympics since it was first introduced as a sport in Los Angeles in 1984, when she was 6th.  She won her gold medal in Atlanta in 1996; she has 2 silvers and 1 bronze Olympic medals additionally, from other Games. Her fourth place finish in the Time Trial Beijing 2008 shows how formidable she still is. So Jeannie’s physical and mental strategies work!

What are Jeannie’s other tactics for Health? Jeannie is a perfectionist and a pragmatist. The second attribute helps to reign-in the first.

As she is allergic to chemicals and food additives, she lives high in the Alps, and off the usual beaten-track. She keeps goats and gardens organically. She stays very active all year. Her cycling is done in the mountains, where she rides for fresh food milk and organic food direct from the other farms, daily, and Jeannie eats only organic food. Living in the pristine air, she an out-spoken ecologist, who wants this blessing for all of us.

She trains for big events in the even higher mountains of Colorado, in the clean air. When Jeannie travels elsewhere, she brings her own organic carrots (very portable and necessary for great eyesight), de-ionizer to clean her nearby air and water filters.

Jeannie is always aware of the System, and if it is going to be less than beneficial to her, she is brave enough to speak out, no matter who she is talking to. Diabetics can learn from her about that, too. The status quo is not something you want to automatically accept.

And, she’s out-spoken that the Olympic Games should not have been awarded to China — because of China’s civil rights abuses in Tibet as well as the severely detrimental air, water and anything grown there with lax or non-existent regulations (which impacts all of us directly, too, as so many countries now import massive amounts of food from China!).

As an aside, by the way, the record for highest number of Olympics participated in as an athlete belongs to Austrian sailor, Hubert Raudaschl, at nine Olympic Games, but Jeannie has said that barring injury, she is on her way to the London Olympics 2012, as her eighth! She said she felt good training all this year and sees no reason to stop.

If you have any doubts that these lessons can apply to diabetics, then read about the long, illustrious career of Gary Hall, Jr. famed American Olympic swimmer and a Type 1 diabetic.

I think it is important to know that role models can be found in many places and that it is imperative to keep an open mind about everything in your life, including Diabetes. In my opinion, mainstream medicine does not have all the answers, and may not even be looking for them.

The fact is that Dr. Robert O. Young, PhD’s pH Miracle plan,  Dr. Gabriel Cousens, MD’s vegan Raw For 30 Days regimen, The People’s Chemist – Shane Ellison, MA’s  60 day protocol and Barry Sears, PhD’s Zone Diet clinical trial protocol all cured diabetes or vastly improved it in all who adhere to the systems. This shows me that we are NOT being served or treated properly or well by regular medicine.

You need to think outside-the-box like these programs just mentioned already do, and also include energy medicine to rebalance your body-mind as well as to support its return to Health, too, via: acupunture, acupressure, esogetic color-puncture, Chi Gung, Bowen Technique, Jin Shin Jyutsu, Tai Chi, Yoga or a few more.

As these Olympic athletes know, you only have one body – protect it, use it, hone it - and steel your mind to your Life’s challlenges. Everyone is going to have road-blocks, disappointments and regrets. We are here to learn universal Lessons and help others learn more easily from our hard-won experience. So, bootstrap onto the exceptional wisdom contained here and become very disciplined, as well as being very positive that you can return to Health.

Read Part 1 at:

http://diabetesdietdialogue.wordpress.com/2008/08/11/the-oldest-olympic-champions-hardwork-makes-miracles-we-can-learn-from-part-1/

Best to all — Em

* (other 7 time Olympians are: Jamaican sprinter Merlene Ottey, at age 44 [now she's 48], and Swedish fencer Kerstin Palm)

Be sure to use the Title Archive tab on the upper Navigation Bar to read and learn lots more!

REFERENCES:

http://teamusa.org/news/article/2245 

www.nytimes.com/2008/08/13/sports/olympics/13age.html 

http://blogs.nzherald.co.nz/blog/lewis-games/2008/8/11/french-cyclist-competes-her-seventh-olympics/?c_id=502

http://www.bicycle.net/2008/jeannie-longo-battles-pain-only-to-be-nipped-at-line-for-bronze

http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/summer08/fanguide/athlete?athlete=8239

http://proxy.espn.go.com/oly/summer08/fanguide/athlete?athlete=8239

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2008/aug/09/olympics2008.olympicscycling?gusrc=rss&feed=sport

http://www.iht.com/articles/reuters/2008/08/13/sports/OUKSP-UK-OLYMPICS-CYCLING-WOMEN-TIMETRIAL.php

http://2008games.nytimes.com/olympics/results.asp?id=CRW_012100

PHOTO REFERENCES -

1) Statistics – NY Times

2) NY Times

3) NY Times – Adam Pretty, Getty Images

4) ESPN

5) Brynn Lennon, Getty Images

6) AFP

(c)2008 Em (http://diabetesdietdialogue.wordpress.com

If you decide to quote from or use my article, please include my copyright citation and website address in your article. Thanks!

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Your Digestion Connection – Part 1: How Stress Makes Everyone Fatter

Pounds seem more likely to pile on your body when you are stressed, especially if it is chronic stress. Have you noticed that? And, it’s even worse for diabetics, as there is less leeway to work with in the first place. In my diabetes diet plan, I try to alert you to this cortisol – insulin association and give you ideas of how to counter the weight-gain that automatically starts when you are stressed! But first, let’s learn the biochemistry and then some strategy.

Cortisol is a hormone produced by your adrenal glands and it is there to save your life in times of danger. Stress is a healthy reaction when a dangerous situation arises because you AUTOMATICALLY respond — no thinking involved — only instinctual reactions hard-wired as the ‘best chance to save your life’ are what is acted upon.

When you are stressed, an automatic system kicks in. That is why it is imperative to de-stress ( i.e. learn to RELAX) successfully during the day, periodically, and after any consciously stressful event. Otherwise, your biochemistry may remain too long (and even habitually) in Stress Mode, with serious biological consequences, as it over-taxes your organ systems to depletion and exhaustion.

Cortisol’s job is to modualte insulin’s effect on your blood sugar. Cortisol irregularities (caused by aging, chronic stress, insufficient cholesterol and some dietary imbalances) also affect blood sugar levels.

There also is a natural circadian rhythm to cortisol production and release that it is important to understand.

Hormone tests are available to measure your levels and their cycle; these will be blood and urine analyses. Talk to your doctor about getting these done at the proper times of day! Usually, your circadian rhythm can be messed up (as in sleep disorders) when your biological clock can be phase-shifted as much as 12 hours “off” schedule  — especially if you stay up too late at night regularly or have done night-time shift work.

You need to get regular, large amounts of natural light for your pineal gland, deep in your brain, to tell your body what time it is properly. Even sitting near a window is NOT the same as being outdoors, as many lightwave frequencies are stopped by the glass. Light bulbs, and especially fluorescents, are NOT substitutes for natural light, but putting a “daylight corrected” bulb in all lights where you spend lots of time (e.g. your desk lamp) will be more helpful than other bulbs would be.

If your biological clock’s circadian rhythm is “on time” by proper calibration with sunlight, then more cortisol will be released about 7 AM, as you are meant to start your day, and then be active; whereas, in the evening, when you need restful sleep, cortisol levels should be low. If you regularly wake in the middle of the night just to start worrying (usually between 2 – 3 AM), and stay awake worrying, with it being hard or impossible to return to sleep, then you know you may have a problem with chronic stress impairing your cortisol rhythms and have possible liver concerns, too, as well as the kidney / adrenal axis cortisol issue.

‘This early wake-up is probably your adrenal gland telling you that there is a problem with your cortisol – insulin hormone system. and therefore blood sugar balancing system’, according to Dr. Andrew Rubman, ND of Southbury Clinic for Traditional Medicine in Southbury, Connecticut and a contributor to BottomLine Publications.

The problem can present either as low blood sugars (hypoglycemia – which can also be life-threatening) or high blood sugar (hyperglycemia / diabetes) or both, alternating periodically. At this stage, the insulin resistance may yet still be fully reversible. Dr. Rubman’s prescription regimen needs a physician’s guidance, so go to a knowledgeable physician of your own, for a properly individualized regimen.

___   It is important to take sufficient chromium; this trace mineral is essential for insulin to function properly as well as for you to metabolize fat and protein properly. There has been much study and discussion as to what form of chromium is best. Dr. Rubman suggests chromium polynicotinate. I take a chromium supplement with GTF (Glucose Tolerance Factor).

Taking chromium will change your blood sugar levels, so you should monitor yourself carefully and discuss this before-hand with a knowledgeable physician or diabetes educator. Taking chromium can help heal your system, but if you are on diabetic medication, you must be guided. Only take the normal amount suggested for you. Never take extra chromium!

Food sources for chromium include: Brewer’s yeast ( but this causes gasiness, bloating or nausea in some people), or use foods like eggs, organic liver, wheat germ, green bell peppers, spinach, apples and bananas.

___ Fiber is essential for your liver, as well as your intestinal tract. Fiber helps your liver release the toxins it collects from all over your body, so fiber intake is essential for proper detoxification. Your liver detoxifies through release of bile. You need a healthy liver for it stores your back-up reservoir of glucose, if you are a little too late for a meal or have an small excess amount of diabetes medication.

Dr. Rubman suggests taking glucomannan – a soluble fiber – for this protocol and to use it in the dose on label 30 minutes before your lunch meal and it MUST be taken with a LARGE glass of water (otherwise people have choked or had bowel impactions). Glucomannan is being used successfully to combat obesity, too. Further information about dosages studies have used for this purpose is available at Physician’s Desk Reference, but you must use this under a physician’s care if you are diabetic! http://www.pdrhealth.com/drugs/altmed/altmed-mono.aspx?contentFileName=ame0412.xml&contentName=Glucomannan&contentId=568

Of course, fiber benefits by helping blood sugars avoid spikes; by blood sugar remaining stable, less excess insulin is produced. Instead of the recommended 30 grams of fiber per day, most Americans get about 10 grams a day. That leaves a lot of toxic sludge and fecal waste that is not being eliminated or is exiting too slowly. This IS something you can easily change!

Such organic foods as black beans, brown rice, steel cut oats, vegetables and fruits are great sources of fiber and be sure to use all skins, if they are meant to be eaten.

___ Vitamin B Complex helps you handle stress. It is used up during stress, so if you live a high-stress life, chances are your needs are higher than usual, too.

When you take a B Vitamin supplement, your urine will turn an almost fluorescent looking yellow if you are taking enough. But, your first choice is to get your basic supply from food, as it contains many synergistic compounds that man-made vitamin pills may not have included. Avocado, salmon (especially chum and coho), steelhead trout, mackerel, halibut with skin, free-range elk, eggs, black-eyed peas, oats, dark green leafy vegetables, onions, garlic, chives, okra, asparagus, ancho and pasilla peppers, radishes, celery, tomatoes, flax seeds, pumpkin and squash seeds, cashew nuts, pinenuts (pignoli), almonds, orange juice, seaweed and seaweed agar and arrowroot are good suppliers of different B Vitamins. No one food is a good source of all the B’s.

Dr. Rubman says many people are functionally deficient and cannot process essential Vitamin B12, which is needed for proper, optimal digestion and for brain health as well as many biochemical reactions. Vegetarians always have to watch their B12 intake, as few foods provide it in their diet if they are vegans. So, Dr. Rubman suggests getting tested for how well your body is deals with B12. In fact, all Vitamin B supplementation should be monitored by a physician, as some people have issues with Vitamin B6 and others with B12, for sure, and for these people, they must be supervised.

Obviously, as part of this mix, think about starting a stress-reduction program: yoga, tai chi, walk slowly after meals, smell the flowers, watch the clouds go by, breathe deeply, use flower essences — especially Bach Rescue Remedy, watch the sunset, enjoy funny movies and read funny books, get in touch with your artistic spirit, listen to classical music, play classical music yourself, meditate, muse and think quietly and just stretch out and relax.

Best to all — Em

If you want to read more, use the upper Navigation Bar’s Titles Archive Tab. There are several pages of articles.

(c)2008 Em at http://diabetesdiedialogue.wordpress.com

If you desire to use my article or quote from it, please include the full copyright citation and web address. Thanks!

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A Harvest Of Souls

It is with sadness that I announce that my mother’s last sibling, my unique and wonderful Uncle Nev, a special human being and a brilliant, caring physician, has died from a fall, at age 83.

Not long after hearing our own news today, the media announced the unexpected death at age 58 of political commentator Tim Russert, and later in the day, the New York Times announced the death of eccentric, millionaire political activist Stewart R. Mott, aged 70.

It was, as it is on all days, a Harvest Of Souls.

I have a lot of weighty things on my mind right now, but it is the innate view of Jews to think of and grasp each experience in the context of Life, rather than Death. So, I may share some my thoughts as the week wears onward, and if I do, at the end, possibly you will learn something meaningful along the way, as I hope I will. Death can be transformative for the living, too.

Of course, before everything, I send my sincere condolences to my mother, to my uncle’s family: wife, children, grand-children and great grand-children, as well as to his wider family, friends and colleagues. Neville will be greatly missed.

Neville started out as a brilliant student and won scholarships for his complete education at  University and Medical School. By age 21, he was a doctor (B.M. degree as an Australian, rather than the American M.D. designation) and for decades, Uncle Neville served his neighborhood as their family physician and surgeon, at all hours of the day and night, at a time when doctors still made housecalls.

Later, in mid-life, Uncle Nev decided to undertake a difficult Journey. He returned to study, and specialized in Radiology. Helping people was his passion, and even after he “retired”, he continued to work daily, at free clinics which helped those in need, until he was well into his seventies.

He was an earnest, gentle man and I never heard a harsh word or saw even a look of disapproval in the more than 6 decades I was privileged to have him in my life. My mother loved him deeply, and they were always extremely close, even though he was 2 years younger. The world is lessened by his passing, and may his soul be at Peace. He has earned his rest.

In Judaism, the Kaddish prayer is recited at times like these, several times a day, especially for the first 7 days of Bereavement and every Sabbath or daily prayer service attended for the mourner’s next year.  In this prayer, we remember to extol the Lord from whence all comes and returns. This is the first section of this prayer from ancient times, when it was said in Aramaic (as it still is).

Yitgaddal v’yitqaddash sh’meh rabba
B’al’ma di v’ra’ khiruteh
v’yamlikh malkhuteh
b’chayekhon uvyomekhon
uvchaye d’khol bet yisra’el
b’agala uvizman qariv v”imru amen.

Exalted and sanctified is G-d’s great name
in the world which He has created according to His will
and may He establish His kingdom
in your lifetime and your days
and in the lifetimes of all the House of Israel
speedily and soon; and say Amen

* Obeying the Commandment to not take the Lord’s name in vain, orthodox Jews never write G-d’s name and it is therefore symbolized thusly or spoken in metaphors etc. only, as in “Adonai” (“Lord”)etc.

================================================================

REFERENCES:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaddish

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bereavement_in_Judaism

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/14/us/14mott.html?hp

“Neville” is a multi-generational name in our large family. The obituary for one of my Mum’s cousins, also a physician, is in the Medical Journal of Australia. He also had a brother named Neville.

http://www.mja.com.au/public/issues/184_07_030406/obit_roth_030406_fm.html

Be sure to let those you love know that you love them! Hold them close. Make each day count to make a better world.

Best to all — Em

(c)2008 Em http://diabetesdietdialogue.wordpress.com

No permission is given to quote or use this article. Thanks.

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