Barefoot and Grounded

5.18

Some time ago I posted about 'grounding' or 'earthing' as a way to combat inflammation in our bodies, and bring us back into connection with the natural electrical ground we get from contact with the Earth. Check out the link for those details.

I have been bringing grounding into my life a bit more lately, because some months ago I bought my first pair of 'barefoot' running shoes. You may also hear these called 'zero drop' shoes. The point is that there is no height difference between the heel and the rest of the sole of the shoe (think flip flops or plain sandals.)

The benefits of barefoot or zero-drop shoes appear to be numerous, and are new enough to shoe technology that there is more to be written on the topic. For now, zero drop shoes are recognized as bringing your feet, ankles and legs (along with all the related joints) into a more natural form of walking and running.

The 'barefoot' trail running shoes I bought have been great. I never had knee or joint issues, and rarely had calf cramps, and such, so there really wasn't anything for me to measure or overcome. But long story short, the Merrell Trail Glove 4 running shoes have served me very well through dozens of miles of running, a half marathon, and two Spartan races.

Are barefoot shoes for everyone? Some would say "absolutely!"... and so is walking barefoot. Other specialists contend that significant walking barefoot causes poor foot and joint health. I tend to disagree, and figure it all works together (fix your diet, build up your activity level, start going barefoot for walking and running, and you'll probably be good to go.)

So think about some healthier footwear next time you are shoe shopping, and consider flats, or sandals or some zero-drop shoes. You may walk right into a new and better part of your wellness lifestyle.

By the Way

Some great brands of barefoot shoes and zero-drop shoes are Merrell (mostly running and trail), VivoBarefoot (great selection, but a bit pricey), and Xero Shoes (originators of great minimalist shoes).
And remember that our bodies get all kinds of benefits from simply going barefoot in our daily life.

When You Hit the Wall

4.21

I am training for a local half-marathon, and it's now 3 weeks away. My running hasn't kept up with what my schedule is telling me, but I'm close. I have been working out regularly, and keeping after good stretching and short to medium runs.

So when I planned for a 6+ mile run yesterday, I thought everything was fine, and was looking forward to getting out early and enjoying a late summer run. I was doing great on the local roads and hills that I know so well, and then it happened.

I hit the wall.

I don't remember having a run like the one I had yesterday. And instead of beating myself up or just giving up and going home, I decided to let it play out. I walked. I 'never' walk... but yesterday, at about 3 1/2 to 4 miles in, I decided to walk some and see what would happen.

As it turned out, I did about 8 miles, with about 6 of it running and probably 2 of it walking. I was drained when I got back, but I felt like it was important to see it through, and I know I learned something.

I realized that Spartan training has moved some of my muscle mass from my legs to my upper body, so I have leg-work to do to prepare for this half-marathon. And I learned that my body continues to change with the years, and our pantry still has a great influence on my physical health.

Even though we focus on whole foods, and healthy, nutrient-dense choices, there are some foods in our pantry which are not the healthiest, and in some regards, I'm just missing nutrients. I did some great research yesterday and today, and am coming to terms with how my age is likely affecting my testosterone levels. Low T is very real for men over 40, and if you aren't keeping after vital nutrients and good food choices, you'll suffer unnecessarily.

So I have some simple work to do in the coming weeks. I'm almost 50, and though I could have focused on my testosterone levels years ago, I'm glad I'm starting now. I have a new outlook on 'how' to regain some vibrant energy and stamina. And I have about 3 weeks to get my legs back in race mode.

By the Way

There are great resources on testosterone health from Dr. Joseph Mercola and Dr. Josh Axe, two acclaimed doctors of natural medicine. Check out some of their resources here:
Dr. Axe's resources for T-hormone health
Dr. Mercola's resources for T-hormone health
And here are some foods to naturally boost T-hormone health, from Dr. Mercola

Hot Water Rescue

3.29

I posted last week about questioning everything. That's a good way to stay mentally fresh and growing through life. And part of the journey of questioning everything is keeping an open mind to what we observe and experience along the way.

Some time ago I was at dinner with a few business friends and one specifically got a mug of hot water with our dinner (while the rest of us were having seltzers and sodas and adult beverages.) One of the guys questioned him on his dinner beverage, and he simply said that it's a lot healthier for your than cold water, and certainly better than sodas and beer. I think that was the first time I was aware of someone specifically drinking hot water with a meal, or anytime, because of the health benefits.

Fast forward to a current coworker, who with lunch everyday has hot water (with a squeeze of lemon). Hmmm... this piqued my interest enough to merit some further study. After reading a half a dozen or so articles and posts on the benefits of drinking hot water over cold, I too am set on the benefits of a few glasses of what I'll call, 'unflavored tea.'

I acknowledge how refreshing a glass of fresh cold water is on a hot day. I especially like cold water, but not iced water (something close to 50 degrees, which is about the temperature of fresh natural spring water.) But the muscle tension, constricted blood vessels and hindered digestion which result are all good reasons to steer clear of cold water as a beverage of choice.

Hot water to the rescue. The numerous benefits of drinking hot water over cold are varied and proven. From better digestion to healthier skin to improved blood circulation, reduced nasal congestion, general body detox and relief of cramps, hot water is the winner, hands down.

How much water should we consume in a day? Research and doctors suggest between a half an ounce and one ounce per pound of body weight. That's several quarts of water a day... and that's over and above coffee and other drinks. We all better get drinking if we want to keep up with that pace.

Give it a try. Maybe it sounds a bit flaky, but do a two week test of drinking hot water as your beverage of choice and see if you don't detox and feel better.

By the Way

Check out this post from LifeHack.org for 12 Unexpected Benefits of Drinking Hot Water. Then sit down with a big mug of unflavored tea, relax, and enjoy!

Simple Wellness - Get Moving

3.8
Can't Sit Still
Eighth post in a Simple Wellness series

After a few short runs and logging about 6 miles total this year, I got out for a real run (two actually) today.** It was great to be out on the road and launch my running for 2016. I have about 4 weeks to prepare for the first organized run of the season (a 5-miler) and two weeks after that is my first half-marathon of the season.

Why do I bring this up? Because getting our bodies moving is vital to our wellness journey. Experts would say we need about 30 minutes of physical activity 5 days a week. The American Heart Association supports the guide of 10,000 steps a day as a target for consistent physical activity. For me, I've found that some simple goals throughout the year keep me active enough to maintain my wellness.

The point is, regular physical activity can't be a phase or a fad or just something nice to hope for. Our lives are at stake. Our bodies are meant to move, to be physically pushed on some regular basis, and to be taxed with some movement on a daily basis.

I've noted about lymphatic circulation in Power Pantry before. and how vigorous physical activity is basically the only way lymph fluid circulates through our bodies, filtering and eliminating toxins from our bloodstream. Without vigorous physical movement like walking, running, and other 'cardio' activities, the toxins stay in our tissues. Stored toxins in our fat and organs wait to do damage over time as they build up. 

If you find life has gotten sedentary, start by setting some simple goals. Get a pedometer and consistently log 2,000 or 3,000 steps a day. Once you do that for several weeks, bump the level a couple of thousand steps. As your body moves toxins out of your system, there's a good chance you'll find energy you haven't had in a long time, and a growing desire for additional physical movement. That's a great virtuous cycle, and a strong underpinning of simple wellness.

Get moving today. Don't put it off... I know how hard it is to find the motivation, and we can find ourselves asking, "why am I doing this?" daily. But soon you'll turn some corners physically and mentally. Your body will thank you, and it will reward you by feeling better. From that motivation, you can build toward 10,000 steps a day or more, and you'll be on your way to wellness.

**By the Way

Even though I just started my running for this season, I've been logging a lot of activity for months. Some time ago, I set my step goal at 15,000 steps a day, and I've been doggedly pursuing that every day since (through jumping jacks, burpees, mountain-climbers, jumping rope, running-in-place, etc.). Some days I don't get there; many days I do.

Combine that with a lot of core work (planks, crunches) and upper-body workouts, and I'm in fairly good shape. Problem is, I may not be in the right shape for running, but the season is young... 

Simple Wellness - Reset

3.3

Lose the Cravings

Third post in a Simple Wellness series...

When we eat real food it makes our bodies happy. When we eat processed foods, it makes our taste buds and our minds happy for a while, but processed foods of our Western diet make our bodies really frustrated. And once we're in the cycle of eating processed foods, our minds need more and more of it to get the same level of satisfaction.

For all the abundance we have, the standard American diet is killing us slowly and painfully, and the decline to poor health is totally preventable. If we've struck a clear vision of our future, like we talked about in the last post, our next step is to start moving our food choices toward ones our bodies will love. The great news is that as we make healthier food choices, we can get our minds and bodies to reset and overcome the cycle of cravings and toxic hunger which come with processed foods.

The food-industrial complex surrounds us with a lot of food-like products and drinks, but these aren't real food. Real foods are ones which are simply the way God made them. Not processed, not refined, not stripped of vital elements to make them look better or have a better texture. No growth hormones and no genetic engineering and as un-enhanced as possible. 

Michael Pollan, an author, professor and journalist, has a great quote: "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants." And by food, he's referring to real food. Simple, whole, nutrient-dense food. When we do, it is very possible to reset our taste buds and overcome the distraction of cravings. It will take a week or two to shed the desire for industrialized food, but as the salt and fats and artificial flavors come out of our system, replaced by fresh, whole foods, the cravings will die down... we'll talk more about that in the next post.

To get going, just start. A pantry (and fridge) purge of processed foods is the best way to launch. Ditch the foods with white flour and preservatives and sugar, and MSG and artificial colors and flavors. If it wasn't in our great-grandmother's kitchen, don't eat it.

Last week I suggested watching "Fat Sick and Nearly Dead", and there is a follow-on documentary by Joe Cross as well, "Fat Sick and Nearly Dead 2" (available on DVD, iTunes & Netflix). Both of these films depict a juicing 'reboot', where you can detox and reset by consuming freshly juiced fruits and vegetables as a regularly part of your daily diet. A juice fast isn't necessary to reset our cravings and launch our wellness journey, just a purge of the junk, and introduction of real food. The key is to just do it.

By the Way

If you're not convinced there is anything wrong with our industrialized food, check out the TEDx Talk by Douglas Lisle, author of The Pleasure Trap. It's a great investment of 18 minutes in your wellness: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jX2btaDOBK8 

Be sure to note Dr. Lisle's three tips at the end of his talk... our foundation of success is a decision away.

Are Nightshade Veggies Poisonous?

2.60
Are nightshades poisonous? Well, it depends on who you listen to. I became aware of the nightshade vegetables several years ago (these include potatoes, tomatoes, peppers of all kinds and eggplant, among others). The contention over nightshade vegetables has been brewing for centuries (millennia?) as various cultures have sworn they are poisonous and not to be trusted, and others have embraced and cultivated them avidly as part of their regular diet.

I'm now leaning much harder toward the fact that while not poisonous, nightshade veggies are definitely a trigger of poor health in some individuals (including me). I have a friend who, after years of unexplainable pain (and thankfully ruling out Lyme disease, lupus, MS and numerous other diseases) was diagnosed with serious food sensitivities. The nightshades are definitely on her trigger list.

After re-reading some information on the nightshade veggies a few weeks ago, I decided to reduce and then eliminate them from my diet to see what would happen. Almost like magic, issues I have dealt with and tolerated for over 20 years cleared up in days. Amazing...

So now I'm adjusting and trying to convince myself that the nightshades are truly a significant food sensitivity trigger for me. I realize that all I need to do to be re-convinced is to consume some potatoes or peppers, and sure enough, I'm right back where I was all those years.

I've said before in Power Pantry posts that food is medicine, and shared this quote: "With the right food, medicine is of no need; with the wrong food, medicine is of no use." My friend's years of pain and suffering are a testament to that very concept. Thankfully she's on her own journey of discovery and healing which I'm confident will lead her to a fulfilled, pain-free life.

Do you need to be concerned about nightshade veggies? Maybe, maybe not. One way to tell is to eliminate them from your diet for a time (a couple of weeks to about 30 days is plenty), and see what happens. Do you feel better or different once your body has been cleaned up from the nightshades? How's your skin health? Digestion overall? Joint pain? Gut health? It's said nightshades can trigger depression, mood swings and sensitivity to weather changes, besides headaches, muscle pain and insomnia... Do some of your own research and study on line, and with your pantry, and see how it goes.

By the Way

Thankfully, sweet potatoes and yams are not in the nightshade family (because I really like those...) For a full list of nightshade veggies, symptoms and some additional great information, check out Eileen Laird's site and post at Phoenix Helix:
Nightshade-Free Survival Guide

What Our Bodies Want

2.30
Most western culture is really confused about wellness and healthy eating. For all the perspectives on one side of an issue, there are just as many on the opposite. What I think the back-and-forth debating misses, though, is the vital question of 'what do our bodies want?'

Instead of what our bodies want, we get stuck on what our minds want. Without ever thinking about it, we feed ourselves with what our minds say is wonderful and desirable. The problem is, what our minds choose, and what our bodies would choose, if they could, are vastly different.

Our minds are programmed to prepare, prepare, prepare. Get ready for ________ (a shortage, a drought, a famine) by packing on stores of fat. And when our minds are playing that message over and over and over (loudly!) our bodies are happy to oblige by filling up on easy calories, often empty calories. The three most dangerous catalysts for ill health (that would answer our minds' call to pack on weight) are fatty foods, sweet foods and salty foods. Something like a fast-food milkshake wields all three and our minds cry out, "YES!" when we drink it, even though our bodies will cry out, "what have you done?!" mere minutes or hours later.

We really need to listen to what our bodies want, instead of what our minds want. These desires are simple and much more healthful, but these aren't what our minds would cry out for. What our bodies want are whole foods which are nutrient dense and fiber rich. When combined with ample amounts of fresh, filtered water, you have a recipe for a thriving metabolism and healthful life.

How do we get to the point of desiring what our bodies want, instead of what our minds insist is desirable? The short answer is 'retraining'. We need to get our bodies so healthy and vibrant from eating the healthful foods, that our minds final come around to admitting that kale wins over dinner rolls, and fresh fruit wins over ice cream. Eventually our minds will develop a firmly grounded context for making healthy choices because, stored fat or not, the healthful choice has brought us pain-free health and longevity, exactly what our minds ultimately desire.

So start your retraining now, today. Consume nutrient-dense, fiber-rich whole foods, and enjoy copious amounts of filtered water. Leave behind a modern diet of processed, refined grains and sugars, and fatty and salty foods as well. Your body will thank you for it in no time, and you'll be on your way to health by giving your body what it wants.

By the Way

I've posted a lot in the past with guidance from Dr. Joel Fuhrman that leads directly to healthier choices of nutrient-dense foods. Check out those posts here:
Power Pantry posts regarding Dr. Fuhrman

And for some content on detoxing from a standard American diet to a more healthful plant-based diet, check previous posts here:
Power Pantry post on detoxing

The Magic Bullet

2.4
I got the coolest health-nut gift for Christmas... a NutriBulletPRO 900 (by Magic Bullet). OohRah! This is the ultimate blending machine, where nutrition is concerned. 

When it comes to getting the most of the whole fruits and vegetables we eat, there are two schools of thought for making it into juice. Overall, it is agreed that breaking down the cell structure of the food extracts and releases more of the nutrients (like antioxidants, vitamins and minerals) making these absorb-able and nutritionally available. The difference is in whether you 'juice' or 'blend'. When you juice, you extract almost all of nutrient-rich juice and leave the pulp behind (the skins, fiber, seed hulls, etc.) If you blend, you completely pulverize the whole food, breaking down the juice, fiber, skins, seeds, etc., into a slushy, whole-food drink of whatever you're blending. I'm definitely a blender, not a juicer.

The concept for blending whole fruits and veggies is simple: fill the NutriBullet cup half way with greens (spinach, collard greens, kale, romaine, etc.) top off with any kind of fruit (could be frozen, to lend a cold, slushy consistency to your drink), add filtered water and blend for about 15-30 seconds. That's all it takes.

For an extra boost, you can add things like chia or flax seeds, almonds, walnuts, maca powder (more on that in a future post) and cacao powder. Any of these will give your drink a nutritional blast of vitamins, antioxidants, healthy fats and more.

At this point we've made numerous morning drinks in the NutriBullet, as well as a great dairy-free chocolate pudding, a rich, spicy chocolate / chia pudding, and an interesting take on vanilla pudding (using chia seeds). It makes an incredible banana 'ice cream' (just blend frozen bananas, scoop and eat - awesome... especially when topped with the chocolate pudding...)


So if you want to get more from your whole fruits and veggies, and get your daily supply of greens in a convenient way, consider blending (or juicing) to give your health a great boost.

By the Way

One of the best things about the NutriBullet is how easy it is to clean up. Because the blender 'pitcher' is actually the drink cup, you just turn the cup upside down to blend (the blades are mounted in a sealable lid) and once blended, turn right-side-up and enjoy. Very cool.

There are other great drink blender options as well, like the NutriNinja... but I'm psyched about my NutriBullet...

Recovery Made Easy

1.80
The holiday week is here, and maybe you're like us, having already shared a pre-Christmas celebration of food and cookies and gifts. It's a wonderfully rich time of year for traditions and family gatherings and, of course, more food than we'd eat in a month...

With all the feasting which is bound to happen the coming week(s), wouldn't it be great to have a simply 'recovery' plan to get back to our power pantry eating routine? I think it would... and I think I've found a good tool and guide. Dr. Joel Fuhrman recently shared an article from his website library calling out the ten best foods for health, and ten worst foods which lead us away from health. This is a simple road map of the way to recovery after holiday indulgences leave us bloated, up several pounds, and feeling guilty.

Check out the article here:
Ten Best and Worst Foods...

It's interesting to note something not on either list: most grains (especially whole grains). While refined white flour is on the Worst list, other good grains like brown rice, quinoa, millet and amaranth are missing as well. That means they're not the best, nor are these the worst - they're somewhere in the middle.

So if you find yourself indulging in too much of a bad thing this holiday season, maybe this list will provide a tool for recovery. Lean hard into the list of healthful, nutrient-dense foods that Dr. Fuhrman calls out on his 'Ten Best' list, and if you stick with it for a month or so, you'll no doubt be back in great shape.

By the Way

I've posted before that I try to be a 90/10 eater when it comes to power pantry choices in my diet. What I mean by that is I attempt to consume 90% of my calories as healthful, nutrient-dense foods, with the other 10% being more convenient, standard American fare. So out of 20 or so meals a week, two of them may be regular old American menu items (even a burger with fries, cheesy lasagna, or pot roast with all the trimmings) while all the rest lean hard into nutrient-dense, plant-based selections. When in 'recovery mode' it's even more important to be an 80/20 or 90/10 eater.

Going Mediterranean

1.26
There's an interesting tension between our modern world and the ancient world. We're fast; they were slow. Success for us is often defined by material possessions; success for them was about passing on a generational legacy. And concerning our food supply, ours is industrial, and theirs was local (and organic).

When I think of what to stock in our pantry, I often think of a continuum where the standard American diet is on the left end, and a Mediterranean diet is to the right. (When I say Mediterranean, think France, Italy, Greece, Israel.) The far right of that continuum would be a vegan diet, which is too extreme for most (although it is a perfect regimen for an occasional detox and reboot.) The best place on that continuum is somewhere right of center where we get a lot of healthy micronutients and a small amount of regular animal proteins. This is often considered a 'flexitarian' diet, or 'nutritarian' as Dr. Joel Fuhrman likes to describe it. It's not vegetarian or vegan, but has an overwhelming amount of calories coming from healthy greens, beans, fruits, berries, etc.

The challenge for us is to move our pantries along the continuum from the standard American diet's industrialized foods toward healthier (Mediterranean-style) choices. Grains would be unrefined, whole grains like brown rice and whole wheat; greens would be dark, leafy greens like romaine and kale and basil. Fats would come from olive oil an avocado. Proteins would come from beans and legumes, and some fish and shellfish.


What would your pantry and fridge look like if you moved a little further to the right on that continuum? Less processed foods, more whole grains and beans... taking some additional time to prepare your meals and linger over your eating choices? Maybe doing more of your cooking with a family member, including conversation and doing life together? These would all be good things. Maybe today is a day to grow away from industrialized foods toward more wholesome choices.

By the Way

The healthful choices at the far right of the continuum I described aren't new or radical. Veganism has its issues (being mindful of particular essential fats and vitamins which may be lacking without some animal proteins) but the benefits far outweigh any deficits. Consider Daniel from Biblical times. His story is told in the Old Testament book of Daniel; in the first chapter, we get a glimpse of his nutritional excellence that gave him and his three friends a distinct advantage. Have a look, here - it's an interesting and bold position... a power pantry position: Daniel chapter 1.

Where's the Gluten?

1.22
Have you noticed the common dialog on diet-related issue in recent years? Prior to 5 or 6 years ago, almost no one talked about gluten or peanut allergies or the concerns that went with them. Now these are in regular usage and becoming topics for general discussion. I've shared in previous posts that it was in 2012 that Jennifer and I became aware of gluten and dairy as triggers for joint and muscle pain, and eliminating these from both of our diets has been an incredible relief and blessing. Literally, dairy and gluten free equals pain free; add these back in and back come the aches and pains.

While dairy is fairly easy to understand and control or eliminate in our food choices, gluten may be more difficult. So what is gluten, where does it come from, and if I limit or stop gluten-containing foods altogether, what can I eat?

Gluten is "a protein composite found in wheat and related grains, including barley, rye and spelt..." according to Wikipedia; and 'gluten' is from the Latin root that literally means glue. The proteins in gluten are what bind together in strands in dough to give bread its shape and texture. With air pockets created by yeast activity in dough, the dough rises, takes shape, and through baking, becomes bread. To avoid gluten, then, you need to avoid anything which has wheat, rye, barley, spelt, or any of their by-products or derivatives... and that can be a tall order.

Here is a comprehensive listing of sources of gluten from the Celiac Disease Foundation:

sources of gluten

It is reported that 1 in 133 people in developed nations has a sensitivity to gluten (and it should be noted that gluten issues are defined as a sensitivity, or intolerance to the proteins that form gluten, not an allergy.

If you decide to avoid gluten, you may be wondering what you will be able to eat, because it seems like wheat and gluten-containing foods are everywhere. Here are some grains you can eat which don't contain gluten proteins: corn, soy, millet, rice (white, brown, wild), some oats (there are trace amounts of gluten in plain rolled oats, so gluten-free oats must be sought to totally avoid gluten). Note well, though, that many multi-grain products contain wheat and/ or wheat derivatives, so you need to read labels carefully and be ready for corn, oat or rice products to also contain forms of wheat gluten.

Limiting or eliminating gluten from our diets may seem like a difficult process and a tall order. It is very doable, though, and when the creation of pain or elimination of pain is on the line, it is much easier to invest the effort in going gluten-free.

By the Way

If you're going to take on this challenge, I'd suggest doing it with a buddy. Have an interested friend or family member track progress with you, and go through the gluten-reduction or elimination as well. You'll have accountability to the process, and who knows, maybe you'll both find relief from joint pain and aches.

Feelin' Groovy

1.21
This past week I was on a 5 day business trip to Las Vegas (hence missing a couple of Power Pantry posts…) It was a whirlwind travel and conference excursion which peaked with a 19 hour day last Sunday (7am to midnight) as we participated with 33,000 other conventioneers. Our investment of time and effort turned out to be quite successful, and we are really pleased with the results of the whole trip.

Before we left I had already settled on the theme and content for this post, born out of the 1966 tune from Simon & Garfunkel. I was a kid in the 70’s and 80’s and one of my favorite albums growing up was the ‘Concert in Central Park’ by Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel (1982). What a classic.

The 59^th Street Bridge Song has always been one of those happy, jaunty tunes to re-center me on keeping it simple: “Slow down, you move too fast… you got to make the mornin’ last, just kickin’ down the cobblestones, lookin’ for fun and feelin’ groovy…” Ahhh… I feel more relaxed already.

One of our ‘after hours’ receptions in Las Vegas was at “The Bank”, a nightclub at The Bellagio – what an experience. It encompassed everything a stereotypical stays-in-Vegas night club experience could include (though we didn't participate in any of them). No further details need to be shared here…

Needless to say, we lasted about 30 minutes at The Bank and excused ourselves to return to the (insane) sanity of the Bellagio casino floor. One of my coworkers, who hails from Williamsport, joked that it would take him a week sitting in the woods of northern PA to detox from the whole nightclub thing.

Pursuing a lifestyle of wellness has a lot to do with our food choices and what’s in our pantry, and it also has a lot to do with the experiences we surround ourselves with. Are our lives more like the blur of a Las Vegas nightclub, or the serenity of the PA woods? I live in Lancaster County and love it. There’s a lot that Lancaster County isn’t, but I’m regularly taken by the romance of the bucolic and pastoral surroundings, and I know our family's life is better because of it.

So what can you do this Memorial Day weekend to slow down, find a little romance in the moment and feel groovy for a while? The opportunity is right in front of each of us… there for the taking. We have to be looking for some peace and peace of mind though, if we ever hope to find it.

By the Way

I have Simon & Garfunkel's 'Concert in Central Park' on LP (those are large vinyl records which play at 33 1/3 RPMs on a turntable... they are now basically antiques). It was the special edition, two record set. The concert was actually a benefit event held in September of 1981, with the proceeds going to Central Park, which had fallen into disrepair. The crowd for the concert was reported at over a half million, so it was quite a success.

The 59th Street Bridge Song is a feel-good kind of song. Paul Simon, being from New York City, wrote it because of a walk across the 59th Street Bridge after an especially down time in his life, which he was coming out of. The song marked his turning a corner to a happier season - good lesson there...

A Sensitive Issue

1.19
I first came across food sensitivity issues a couple of years ago when Jen was dealing with reactive arthritis. Before then, I hadn't thought there could be a link between food and health issues or reactions. Boy was I uninformed. As I've written in previous posts, Jen's joint and bone pains are caused by two main culprits: dairy and gluten. When she gets rid of those two foods, she is 99+% pain free. It is an amazing blessing that it has been that simple for her to get relief.

And the interesting part of that reality is that most arthritis sufferers world-wide could have the same beneficial results if they would just get rid of dairy and wheat. The proteins in those two foods (casein in dairy and gluten in wheat, barley and rye) are notorious for causing inflammation in various parts of the body, leading to pain. Eliminate the proteins (by eliminating or significantly limiting these foods) and you eliminate the pain.




It turns out that dairy and wheat are the top two of the most common food sensitivity triggers. Millions of Americans unwittingly bring pain and discomfort on themselves with every meal by consuming these two proteins. And they have four other close cousins, all of which are known as common triggers of inflammation and pain. Here's the whole list of top six food sensitivity causes:

1. Dairy
2. Wheat
3. Corn
4. Soy
5. Peanuts
6. Eggs

If you have unexplained joint and muscle pains, sluggishness, foggy thinking and poor memory, and pain and discomfort in your gut, there's a good chance you would benefit by limiting or eliminating some of all of these foods. The top two are the worst offenders, and all six together are wreaking havoc on western society.


So what do you do if you suspect you may be sensitive to these pain-triggering foods? Try a simple elimination diet: take the food out of your diet for a two week time frame, and see how you feel. Between day 8 and 10 you may feel the worst, but at about two weeks you'll have detoxed much or all of the pain-causing elements from the trigger food, and you'll emerge from the pain and sluggishness. If the food(s) in question are the cause, you'll notice improvement and relief in a day or two. Sometimes improvement is within hours.


If after two weeks of eliminating the food(s) you don't feel any better or different, then the food(s) in question obviously isn't the trigger of the pain. You can move further down the list until you've tested out all six as possible pain-initiators. 

If you suffer from regular aches and joint or muscle pains, maybe it's time to try a simple elimination diet for the top six food triggers. If you're like millions of other Americans, you are susceptible to one or more of the six food triggers, and you'll benefit by not eating that food any longer. Just like Jennifer continues to live pain-free by keeping away from dairy and wheat, you'll get relief. Happy eating!

By the Way

The pain-triggering foods I'm describing in this post are actually the cause of food sensitivities, not food allergies. Here's the difference. An allergy is an immediate bodily response due to contact with the offending food. The response is basically an anaphylactic reaction where our bodies seek to protect us from the irritant by an immediate, dramatic, whole-body response (causing swelling, fainting, vomiting, etc.). A sensitivity on the other hand produces its effect more slowly and subtly as a gradual reaction to the food trigger. So when you think food allergy, think immediate (acute), and when you think food sensitivity think gradual (chronic) in timing.

Meet Joe Cross

1.7
Need a great movie to watch Friday night, or over the weekend? (It's a documentary, actually...) Try out Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead, a somewhat whimsical story of Joe Cross's journey from being fat and quite sick, to a healthy weight with no sickness or prescriptions. Joe promotes what he calls a 'reboot' (his term for an extended juice fast) which he used to cleanse and detox his body, and you can try, too.* I like Joe, because he doesn't take himself or his film too seriously.

Joe, before (upper right) and after

Joe is an Australian investor and businessman who chronicled his simple approach to getting off of steroids and overcoming his food addictions, and he's sharing the story with the world. Here are some of his resources:
Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead website
Reboot With Joe website

You can watch the full-length documentary on Netflix (with your subscription), for free on Hulu (with commercials) or from the Reboot website, here. 

By the Way

Phil Staples, transformed

Dr. Joel Fuhrman

In the movie, you'll also meet Phil Staples from Iowa, and see his incredible transformation from 429 pounds, to a much more normal 204 pounds. Another notable appearance is from Dr. Joel Fuhrman, a nutritional expert from NJ, author of 'Eat to Live' and numerous other valuable books on nutritional excellence.

Happy watching!





*Consult your qualified physician before starting any new diet or health regimen.