WE ARE WHAT WE EAT

[PanBiker]

That's a matter of opinion Tiz (as to whether it is good or not) but you are right and far cheaper than a quick trip to the shops for breakfast. I see so many people doing it first thing in the morning because there is nothing in the house. The 'Just Eat' campaign is terrible, no wonder more people are ill.
Sending kids out of the house in the morning with empty bellies is abuse in my opinion.

Are you eating breakfast now Stanley, or still on your one main meal a day?

[Big Kev]

Impressive!

Turkey sausage and bell pepper concoction today, very tasty.

[Stanley]

Ian, I never feel hungry in the mornings but have a good meal at 11AM and another at 5AM. This goes back to all that time on early starts. I could quite happily cut back on the 11AM but I think that is a bit too much fasting. Effectively I have a 15 hour fast every day. Oddball I know but it seems to suit me and hasn't killed me so far!

[Stanley]

I'm OK for dried peas for a while..... Gulam was very good, he carried them home for me.

[Tripps]

Impressive sight. Take care even now they are at home - the last back problem I had was caused by lifting 10kg of Basmati rice.

[Stanley]

Dead right David! I am extremely careful and touch wood my back is OK at the moment. (Never looked back since I ditched my pillows.....)

[Stanley]

It struck me this morning that another by-product of the Wendy regime us the fact that I am wakening faster in the mornings and getting into gear with less aches and pains. I found out long ago that this is one of the disadvantages of getting older. This is good!

[Tizer]

Some of the front pages this morning are shouting headlines such as `Diet cola link to dementia and strokes' and raising the concern that artificial sweeteners may be responsible. I've posted a link here to a more measured treatment of that news from a respectable science source. The researchers are quite clear that they are not claiming a causal link and they admit the number of observed dementia and stroke cases was very small.
`Diet drinks and possible association with stroke and dementia' LINK

One fact is being missed in all this and I've mentioned it on OG before. Artificial sweeteners were originally used to replace sugar sweetness in low-sugar and diet drinks. But now they are being added more widely and used in full-sugar drinks, and used in combination. So a non-diet fizzy drink will now often have sugar plus two or more artificial sweeteners. The study which led to the `diet cola and dementia' story was retrospective, asking people what they had eaten and drunk in the past. They couldn't know the composition of the drinks, so the people drinking non-diet cola could have ingested as much artificial sweetener as those drinking diet products.

[Stanley]

I've noticed that as well Tiz. A good example of lazy journalists extracting 'a story' out of serious scientific research. On my morning walk I often do a bit of litter picking and being a nosey bugger I read the ingredients labels on the 'energy drink' cans. It's horrific what they put in them. About the only 'natural' ingredient is water! When you think about the development from the herbal dandelion and burdock that herbalists used to sell to today's 'soft drinks' it's a perfect example of the damaging effects of modern high volume drinks sales and the search for profit.
Mind you, today they even warn us of the ill-effects of drinking acidic natural fruit juices......

[Stanley]

I have taken notice of Jim Al-Khalili's guest yesterday. I am cooking without salt to see how we get on with it.

[Big Kev]

I have taken notice of Jim Al-Khalili's guest yesterday. I am cooking without salt to see how we get on with it.

If you are eating low carb I wouldn't cut out salt completely...

[Wendyf]

I have taken notice of Jim Al-Khalili's guest yesterday. I am cooking without salt to see how we get on with it.

If you are eating low carb I wouldn't cut out salt completely...

Worth a read if you aren't eating processed foods

https://www.dietdoctor.com/eat-less-salt

[Big Kev]

That explains it perfectly, Wendy.

[Wendyf]

Cardiologist Dr Aseem Malhotra trying to get his point across about the root causes of heart disease this morning. Its worth reading the paper he has just published, also available in this link.

http://www.thefatemperor.com/blog/2017/ ... t-disease-

Or read the paper here:

http://bjsm.bmj.com/content/early/2017/ ... 016-097285

[Moh]

There was an article on low carbs for Type 2 in yesterday's Mail - also suggested not lowering salt.

[Stanley]

I'm not concerned about not getting enough salt because there is plenty in other things I eat like cheese, butter and my sauces. In fact the salt I use in cooking is possibly the least part of my salt intake.

[Tizer]

I'll stick with Professor Graham MacGregor on the subject of salt and sugar in food, he's the one Stanley referred to who was interviewed on the Life Scientific programme and has spent his career on the subject of salt in food and effects on blood pressure. You can listen to the programme here: LINK

[Stanley]

He was very clear and an impressive witness to the machinations of the food processors and their advertisers. I really do believe that if a proper analysis was done on what many of us have accepted about nutrition they would be responsible for more illness and consequent expense to the NHS than anyone suspects. It's no accident that the 'Western Diseases' rose as soon as modern food processing and the power of the supermarkets gained an ascendancy.
I eat mutton because of the taste and quality of the meat but also in the knowledge that it is predominantly grass-fed. This means there is more chance of ingesting the micro-nutrients to be gained from the soil. For the same reason I believe that it is a good thing to have as varied a diet as possible. One of my favourite 'one-a-day' foods is fresh Israeli dates, they cost 20p each but come from an entirely different food source and eco-system and are almost certainly organic. Different micro-nutrients? Worth the punt and they are beautiful, none of the sticky coverings, straight off the Date Palm. I don't get them regularly but when I do like yesterday I am reminded of what good natural food can taste like.

[Stanley]

I have opened the new bag of peas and started on it. Clean sample and greener than the antique ones but that might have been a product of their age.

[Wendyf]

Dr David Unwin explains his low carb approach for treating diabetes and obesity at his Southport practice.

http://denversdietdoctor.com/dr-david-u ... -diabetes/

[Big Kev]

Dr David Unwin explains his low carb approach for treating diabetes and obesity at his Southport practice.

http://denversdietdoctor.com/dr-david-u ... -diabetes/

I'll have a look later

[Marilyn]

I had a strange thing happen today. I had promised to pick a friend up from Day Surgery...arrived at the right time...parked in the allocated bay for "pick up" and texted friend to say I was there but bay was empty apart from me so there was no rush to beat a path out of the door. It was a bit warm in the car, so I had to open my door to get comfortable. Along came a woman in a dressing gown, who plonked her ample body on the bench near my car, then pulled her fags out of the dressing gown pocket and proceeded to light up. ( I am a reformed smoker and do not judge those that cannot shake the habit). We struck up a conversation after I said "Hello...How are you?" Bad move on my part, as I got a blow by blow description of her "condition" ( which included chronic pain, diabetes and a rather proud boast that they can't find out what is wrong with her heart despite being in hospital for weeks. I could see the light bulb hanging over this woman's head, but it must have been invisible to her. She was younger than me, but I sat there in the car thinking "I feel great...I am strong and healthy without any health problems and I think the difference between us has to be lifestyle choices."
My friend arrived and we drove off, but I left feeling sorry for doctors who must be faced every day by folk who, possibly unwittingly, choose to be sick and quite proud of it. I got the impression this woman got some kind of pride (?) out of it. How sad.

[Marilyn]

Just to add to the above, I recall the woman saying she had been in hospital for 5 weeks.
Hospital is the perfect place to get someone's diet and Diabetes under control...you only eat what they give you...so why wouldn't they be able to achieve stability in 5 weeks? Its not as if she can nip out for takeaway!

[Stanley]

Lifestyles are like giant oil tankers Maz, it takes a long time to reverse them. I've been working on mine for 40 years and I haven't got there yet!

[Wendyf]

Dr Rangan Chattergee is back on TV next week with a new series of Doctor in the House, where he moves in with families and tries to help with their chronic problems and prescription drug use with lifestyle changes. 9pm on Mondays, well worth watching.