What's up with Elisabeth & George?: Just One Meal Can Hurt/Heal You

Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Just One Meal Can Hurt/Heal You

When I was a kid, I remember hearing a particular phrase in school and at home. It was something along the lines of: "It's not good for you, but it's not bad for you either." Basically I was taught that all those foods that contain what we often call "empty calories" were just that, non-harmful-non-foods. Eating them wasn't hurting me, I just wasn't gaining anything by eating them. As long as I ate beneficial foods, I would be fine. We've also often heard, "everything in moderation." Well, my hypoglycemia/nutrition education is teaching me otherwise: EATING THE WRONG FOOD IS TRULY HARMFUL TO YOU! We need to send this message to teachers in schools, so they can beat kids over the head with it and they in turn can raise a generation of children who are (imagine it) UNHARMED by the horrible foods we currently call a "standard diet."

Today this was underscored for me with this Time article -- by way of SUGARSHOCK -- which has the following passage:

Just one high-fat, high-sugar meal can trigger a biochemical cascade, causing inflammation of blood vessels and immediate, detrimental changes to the nervous system, according to the paper, published this week in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. And just one healthy meal helps return your body to its optimal state.

There you have it folks, just one healthy meal can send you on the road to recovery, but don't let that make you think you're off the hook for the rest of your meals. One unhealthy meal has (immediate) short and long term effects on your health. Just one! Think about that the next time you stop at a fast food place out of convenience, or about when you are grocery shopping for your kids, or when you consider having chips and soda as a snack!

PS Not only will sugar harm you by causing you to have things like hypoglycemia, obesity, diabetes, and heart disease, but it also shrinks, withers, and atrophies the brain! And we're not just talking sugar sugar, we're also talking natural sugars (simple carbs).

1 comment:

Anonymous said...: Consider also a diet that eliminates animal products (meat, dairy, etc.). Plant-based, whole food diets are pro-human, pro-earth, pro-healing.

For example,
http://www.vegward.com/

Most evidence suggests that diets high in animal-products are anti-productive to optimal health, and that diets high in plant-based products are supportive to regenerative, optimal health.

If we take lessons from the oldest living single individual organism (that we know at least), plants (specifically trees), top the list at 4800+ years.

Consider that on down the list the Tortoise holds the top spot(s) - a primarily herbivorous organism.

Then we have our mammalian kin - whales - whose diets consist of a lot of sea vegetables and other sea organisms. Perhaps, they would be the carni/omni-vorous model to contemplate.

I'd argue that water plays a critical role in this health and longevity - and perhaps plays a key role in human longevity and health. Plant-based foods, of course, contain high amounts of water, minerals and micro-nutrients not found in a grilled steak.

Exercise and general activity also play an undeniably critical role.

Nice post! Eat foods that promote life! Do things that make you sweat and remember to listen to James Brown (Soul Bro. #1) often.; 2/01/2008 4:37 PM

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How we're doing right now.

April 6th, 2009
Oh man, moving back home has been quite a transition! For Regin especially. It has taken him three months to return to being fully, or almost fully, potty trained. But we're home and happy to be with friends and in an environment where things are easier.

But of course, not everything is easier. George's first day back to work he learned that the company was exiting the business and he and all the other people that work on that product (including all those people he trained in Penang) were told to look for other jobs.

His last day was March 31st. No time for that cozy little 'sabbatical' though; after he finished his last day of work, his family called and told us they are coming (from Florida) for a visit on the 10th! This would be no big deal (other than being terribly exciting) if we were fully moved back in, but of course, until now, we've had VERY little motivation to fully unpack! So now we're preparing the house at warp speed!

You know, I do miss Penang. Hard to say what I miss exactly, because I know it's more than our friends there, but I feel a certain pang. And all the time we were there, other than missing family, friends, easy living, and snow, I never once actually missed 'Colorado.'

When we got back to Colorado, I expected to have a new and complete love for the place. I do appreciate some things a lot more, especially visual things. I see beauty where I didn't before. But it hasn't been the feeling of home that I expected, and I still have some of the same issues with the place. But what I do love IMMENSELY and will always love IMMENSELY is the people we have here. And it's been absolutely amazing to see how Regin has picked right back up where he left off with his loved ones here. There's no doubt in my mind that he somehow remembers them.