Wellness Posts by Bassman

Tying Together Global Warming and Diet

support@wellness.com — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 16:51:33 Z

Wellness.com - Tying Together Global Warming and Diet by Bassman

Today CNN posted an article entitled:

"Experts promote the global warming diet"

http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/science/11/12/global.warming.diet.ap/index.html

The crux? "Get out of your car and walk or bike half an hour a day instead of driving. And while you're at it, eat less red meat. That's how Americans can simultaneously save the planet and their health, say doctors and climate scientists.

"The payoffs are huge, although unlikely to happen. One numbers-crunching scientist calculates that if all Americans between 10 and 74 walked just half an hour a day instead of driving, they would cut the annual U.S. emissions of carbon dioxide, the chief greenhouse gas, by 64 million tons.

"About 6.5 billion gallons of gasoline would be saved. And Americans would also shed more than 3 billion pounds overall, according to these calculations."

Seems so darn simple doesn't it? I guess our treadmill walks don't qualify because we're not saving any gas, huh? Funny how we drive to the gym to walk in place for an hour and then drive to Starbucks and then drive home. We even have to rethink that!

Seriously, the argument against red meat, from the cancer links to the excessive cost of producing and transporting it to the extreme amount of greenhouse gas emissions in the form of methane (through bovine flatulence-heh heh-and from the fertilizer used to produce cattle feed) is becoming hard to counter. I've got a flat iron steak in my fridge that I plan to cook tonight but I just can't ignore this stuff anymore. The guilt I feel from bad eating choices is just compounded by the fact that I know I am contributing to the much larger environmental problem.

Health, economics and ecology are becoming more and more intertwined every day. Our decisions, good or bad, have a greater impact on the world than they ever did. With that comes a greater responsibility than we ever had before. Will we reduce our driving because it's the right thing to do or will we only do it when they start taxing it so that it costs $10 a gallon?

What do you think? Will you be walking to your friend's barbecue next weekend?

We Were What We Ate

support@wellness.com — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 18:25:36 Z

Wellness.com - We Were What We Ate by Bassman

I was in Denver from October 30 to November 1 visiting my brother. He moved there nearly 20 years ago and we don't see each other very often. We grew up in New York and our mother, who is still living in New York City, is considering leaving the apartment we grew up in and moving to Denver to be closer to my brother and his kids. Most of the family is gone from New York- to Florida or to the graveyard- as they commonly say in the city. So one of our cousins got Mom on a plane and we all met up in Denver.
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- Study strongly links fat, cancer -
-Processed meat is a key culprit
By Nanci Hellmich
USA TODAY 11/1/07-

-There is more evidence than ever that a person who weighs too much is more likely to develop cancer, a landmark report said Wednesday.

Excess body fat increases the risk of cancer of the colon, kidney, pancreas, esophagus and uterus as well as postmenopausal breast cancer, the report says.

An international panel of experts reviewed more than 7,000 large-scale studies and spent five years developing the report (www.dietandcancerreport.org).-
-
When we get together, whether it's the four of us on this trip or what's left of the twenty-plus aunts, uncles and cousins we used to be, the social agenda centers on food. The words, "Whaddya' wanna eat?" are frequently uttered and debated. Needless to say, none of us could be considered svelte.

- "This was a much larger impact than even the researchers expected," says Karen Collins, a cancer institute nutrition adviser. "People forget body fat is not an inert glob that we are carrying around on the waistline and thighs. It's a metabolically active tissue that produces substances in the body that promote the development of cancer." -
To us, food is memory. We believe food is a connection to the past, our culture, our very essence. This is especially pertinent to local foods, foods unique to our city or neighborhoods and ethnicities. I'm confident that there is nothing more annoying to a non-New Yorker than the New York transplant constantly lamenting the unavailability of a decent slice of pizza in their new city. But I believe the anguish is real to us.

- And forget eating bacon, sausage and lunchmeat. No amount is considered completely safe, according to the analysis from the American Institute for Cancer Research and the World Cancer Research Fund.
And so as we sat at the local pizzeria in Denver my first night in town we talked of the pizza of our past, from the sharpness of the cheese to the oiliness of the pepperoni to the fennel and spice of the sausage. And we reminisced about the old neighborhood pizza shop owners-Peppy and Joe from around the corner and Big Sal and Little Sal from the one in the shopping center-and how we grew up with their kids, and how Mom would give us $1.00 for lunch and how that would buy two slices, a drink and still left enough money to go to the candy store and buy a pack of baseball cards. We remembered how they always knew to make my father's pizzas well done and how they personally delivered pizzas to our house when Dad passed because food is what you brought on those sad occasions and food, family and friends is what got you through.

- The report also found:

Every 1.7 ounces of processed meat consumed a day increases the risk of colorectal cancer by 21%.

"This is a wake-up call for people who eat hot dogs or pepperoni pizza regularly," Collins says. "They need to be looking for other alternatives. But you can still occasionally have a hot dog." -
The next day my brother suggested we go to a place ironically called the New York Deli and since none of us could pass up an opportunity for a good pastrami or Hebrew National hot dog we jumped at the chance. He made his disclaimer "It ain't Fassberg's. You can't get a square knish, the turkey's not cut off the bird and the corned beef and brisket are...eh." They did have pickles on the tables but not the hot cherry peppers that dad and his brothers used to pop like pretzel nuggets and act as if they weren't hot to lure us kids into indulging even though their faces glowed red and sweat beaded on their brows.

We talked of the hot dogs, or franks as we called them, sizzling on the grill right under the front window of our local deli, beckoning us through the window. We remembered how mad Dad got when they raised the price from 75 cents to $1.00. "At Nathan's in Coney Island you got a hot dog and a soda for 10 cents!" he would rail. He would turn in his grave if he heard that we paid $5.95 for a hot dog and that they used a MICROWAVE!

- There could be several reasons why processed meats may increase cancer risk. Carcinogens have been linked to smoked meat and the nitrates and excess salt in processed meats, Collins says.
After leaving the deli my brother and I dropped off the rest of the family and went to the local sports bar. This bar had something called a torpedo. It's an 88-ounce "pitcher" with a place for ice on top and its own tap. We ordered one filled with Budweiser and sat at the bar.

- Alcohol consumption is linked to an increased risk of cancer of the mouth, throat, larynx, esophagus, breast, colon and liver.
The stories, good and bad, flowed from our mouths as freely as the beer from the tap, and so did the laughter and the tears. "If Mom leaves New York, well, that's the last tie. There will be no one left. " Visiting Mom was always a solid legitimate reason for us to go back regularly and get our food fix from the handful of places that remain from our past. But, with the help of the beer, I dared to tell my brother that I had written a blog on Wellness.com about my struggles to eat healthier and that as fun as this trip was I really was committed to get in better shape and change my philosophy on food. Maybe Mom severing the ties to New York is a blessing in disguise. "The memories are the memories, right? They're not going anywhere." He was supportive. He told me that he feels confident that this time his attempt to quit smoking would be successful and that he hasn't been going to the bar so much and that he has been riding the bike at the gym pretty regularly. So maybe he is on the same page, we'll see. He's got a 4-year old daughter that is precious to him.

- A separate survey of 1,022 adults, also released Wednesday by the cancer institute, showed that 39% say cancer is their top health concern and 49% say it's highly unlikely they can do anything to prevent cancer. "Let's not be afraid anymore," Collins says. "There is something you can do about it." -
We left, stopped at the 7-11 to pick up some antacid, and called it a night.

The next morning my brother, mother and cousin picked me up from my hotel (his house had enough people staying there already). I took my complimentary USA Today newspaper with me and we headed for the airport. Mom was struggling with the thin Denver air and I still wonder if she is going to make the move for sure. But the neighborhood we grew up in no longer exists as we knew it and she needs a change and intends to do something about it. She's stubborn enough to do what she says she's going to do. I can learn a lot from my mother.

We said our goodbyes and I got on my plane and pulled out my November 1st issue of USA Today. There was a very interesting article on the front page that made me laugh and shake my head and come to grips with saying goodbye to much more than just the old neighborhood.

Poptimism--Reflections Over Morning Coffee

support@wellness.com — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 09:21:44 Z

Wellness.com - Poptimism--Reflections Over Morning Coffee by Bassman

No I haven't given up coffee yet but I did pass on the blueberry crumb coffee cake during my visit to Starbucks this morning. I ordered what I always do - a big, black cup of coffee. I'm not going to speak Latin to them or whatever language Venti is, and I'll never understand why they call their small size tall, but this entry is not about the Starbucks phenomenon although that certainly deserves attention in the near future. As always, the cute, bubbly, hooky-playing, should-be-in-high-school girl then asked if I wanted her to leave room for cream and sugar to which I gave my usual reply, "No, that's why I said BLACK." I don't like stuff in my coffee, and even if I did, I learned a long time ago that if you don't order a foo-foo coffee like everyone else does, you get your cup right away and can then get quickly out of range of all the 20- and 30-something, should-be-at-work, blue-tooth enabled loud talkers delighting themselves in one-sided conversation.

Anyway, I get back to the office and I'm sitting in front of my computer with my bitter over-roasted java, trying to focus, when the cup (made with 10% post-consumer recycled fiber) starts talking to me. Not exactly talking, but some words popped out at me that made me think of a bunch of things, including Wellness.com. So here I am at 9:30 in the morning writing a blog instead of writing a TPS report. Here's what my coffee cup had to say:

The Way I See It #258

Because true conservatives are pessimists, they are happier than liberals, for three reasons. First, pessimists are rarely surprised. Second, when they are wrong they are delighted to be so. Third, pessimists do not put their faith in princes - in government. They understand that happiness is a function of fending for oneself. Happiness is an activity; it is inseparable from the pursuit of happiness.

- George F. Will
Pulitzer Prize-inning author and columnist.

I thought of Wellness.com because of the "pursuit of health and happiness" tagline. I agree wholeheartedly that happiness is an activity and I think the Wellness.com folks nailed that one.

I used to think myself a conservative but I don't know anymore. I used to think myself a pessimist, but I don't know anymore. Are liberals dreamers that can only be disappointed? Is it accurate to say that conservatives are pessimists? Does one's political views have any real bearing on their pursuit of happiness? Is a natural tendency toward pessimism an asset in one's pursuit of happiness? Anyone?

I do know one thing. My coffee is cold.

Food, Or Lack Thereof: A Narrative

support@wellness.com — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 13:51:23 Z

Wellness.com - Food, Or Lack Thereof: A Narrative by Bassman

I'm sitting here wondering if life is worth living. It's not the typical depression thing, no questioning the meaning of life or anything like that. Not that much at least. I really like the community and the attitude that this Wellness.com thing is about. I really want to embrace it and internalize it and live it. I think. So pardon me while I have a moment. Consider this my call for help after a handful of AA meetings. A brief slide backwards. You can be my sponsor. You must hear me out and get me through my moment of weakness.

I just ate a salad for lunch. Not the 1020-calorie chicken salad at Hardees that I read about with great interest on this site yesterday. Not a brimming bowlful of Italian antipasto rife with two kinds of olives, salami, provolone, ham and pepperoni. No, this one was small plate of lawn clippings topped with dried cranberries, raisins, soybeans and almond slivers. I chased it with 2 one-liter bottles of water. And I'm not very happy right now.

I left the office for my lunch hour with a single-minded purpose - to eat something healthy so that I don't feel that sense of "ahhh why did I do that!" that I so often do feel. So that I don't wake up in the middle of the night with a symphony playing in my digestive system. So that I don't feel like such a loser when my co-workers return from their lunch hour with a sweat from having forsaken their meal and gone to the gym.

So I cruised the main thoroughfares seeking inspiration, rejecting the plethora of fast-food neon that beckoned me. It seemed that every quarter-mile stood a place that might as well have been called Calories-R-Us. It was a character defining sojourn.

Nevertheless, I settled on a trendy looking place that from its facade made very clear would not let me poison myself. I parked and entered with trepidation. I felt like a late-arriver to a party I wasn't invited to. The demographic was split down the middle. Half the patrons were 110-lb or less (mostly females and one or two diminutive men). The other half were pre-Subway Jarrods. I looked around for the videocamera. I was sure Alan Funt and his Candid Camera were behind this and that this whole health movement was a ruse to see if I would go along with the masses (save the self-centered comments, you won't be telling me anything I don't know). I struggled to hear my thoughts over the whirr of a gizmo right out of a Dr. Seuss book squeezing the bedickens out of a variety of innocent fruit.

All of the salads had full sentences for names. Like "The truly greatest most wonderful salad ever" or "The salad that if you eat it will be like the best thing you could do except if you eat it with a plastic fork and don't recycle the fork salad" or the one I had, the "Sell your soul and everything that makes you you and eat this salad with dried cranberries, raisins, soybeans and almond slivers and then debate slitting your wrists salad."

I ate it. I felt like I was sitting at a desk in high school struggling through a test I didn't study for, a plastic recyclable fork replacing my trusty old number 2 pencil. My head never came up. "Power through," I reinforced to myself repeatedly. I couldn't handle the thought of making eye contact with any of the Jarrods. My anguish might have travelled through space and derailed them from their missions to halve their pant size. I couldn't live with that guilt.

And then it was done. That was two hours ago. I have accomplished nothing useful since. How many more of these days must I endure before I have officially "drunk the Kool-Aid"? What will it take for it to be second nature for me to say to my buddy, "Hey, let's go get a salad after work." And is that really what I want? Don't I have a responsibility to the shareholders of Anheuser-Busch who will suffer if I limit my post-work indulgences to eating shrubbery?

I've got to get through this. So what to do? Must I choose between my cravings or my desire for self-preservation? Must I be grumpy to be healthy? Does the grump factor outweigh the benefits of the diet? Will my epitaph say, "Here lies a lean, trim, miserable son of a bitch?"

My stomach is full, but I can only think of barbecue sauce. Oh such a conundrum!

Someone tell me the withdrawals get easier with time. Or get me a bacon burger with extra cheese!