I'm hungry and it's bedtime for me. That's 2 AM. But so much went on in my life tonight that I never really ate enough to last through the night. I am hungry. And what do I want? Me? A woman from Fort Worth? I want Mexican food, of course. Anything would suit, but it really is too late to sit down to tacos with lots of fresh, crisp vegetables. I do like my tacos to have cold, crisp, curly, green leaf lettuce and ripe, red tomatoes that taste like real tomatoes, sweet onion, and hunks of avocado, with lime juice and salsa, all tucked inside a crisp yellow corn tortilla.
Not at 2 AM. Something about this hour doesn't want all that crunching. What I am truly HUNGRY for tonight is enchiladas, hot beef enchiladas, smothered in chili and melted cheddar cheese, Fort Worth style. On top of all that, fresh picadillo or chunky salsa, topped with cold sour cream.
That's what I want right now! And I am thinking about just what I do have in the kitchen that might assuage this hunger. (David and I used to keep one particular brand of frozen Mexican dinner just for nights like this one.) But I have nothing that would even fake it as enchiladas.
But I do have corn tortillas and cheese and a ripe avocado and salsa, tomato and onion. Oh, I'm going to come up with something. But first, I need to see just how many calories I have left for Friday.
Pause while I check this out.....
Oh, I have 500 calories not eaten today. I really do need food before I can go to sleep. And so, as you read this one, know that I ate right before I went to bed. Not always real smart, but tonight, quite necessary.
I'm gone ..... to the kitchen.
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Wednesday, June 02, 2010
TIME TO WRITE AND TIME TO EAT
I have absolutely no idea where the time goes. Does that sound like you? I do want to write and I have much to say. But somehow, those on my email list get all of the comments I have about the world. I must begin to bring them here.
Ah well ...... right now, I am timing the color on my hair. And it is just about time. It was terribly yukky this morning: not white, not silver, not even a real grey, although the dead center top is getting more and more pure white, not me at all. Were it that color all over, I would leave it as is. But it isn't and I am cooking it as we speak.
I have been thinking today about food again. True enough. I have lost another three pounds. I am very thankful, but oh, it goes so slowly. There are days when I think that I haven't eaten enough calories; and yet, other days I almost eat too much; therefore it cannot be that.
To explain, I post everything I eat at Myplate.com and that totals calories, grams carbohydrate, grams fat, grams protein, grams fiber, grams everything. Most days, I see that I have gone over the suggested amount of protein and fats and am under the suggested amount of carbs. Surely, that wold be easy enough to change. All I need to do is eat more veggies; but some days I can eat NO MORE veggies. As it is, I spend an hour eating that 3 or 4 cup salad every night. I suppose that I could just eat all afternoon!
I am learning several very good tips about dieting, such as eating an ounce or so of nuts about 30 minutes before my evening meal. Now, that is supposed to blunt the appetite by giving the body a small amount of fat and protein; and you know what? I think it works. Three or found ounces of protein at a meal is just about all I want to eat ... unless something is super delicious and I haven't had it in a very long time.
It is very difficult to leave half a sirloin strip steak for another meal; and it is almost as difficult to leave a beautiful piece of grilled orange roughy. Besides, when things cost that much, I want to eat it as the peak of its perfection, not as a left over. Grilled chicken is not so difficult to leave.
I do have a wonderful recipe for that fish and I will try to remember to stick it on at the end of this. And there are several vegetables that should be lightly cooked before eating them, even though I really prefer them raw. The various nutrients in them need some cooking to make them bioavailable. But raw spinach is so much better than cooked.
Yet, I have yet to eat properly prepared bitter greens. I read over and again that the best way to do that is to quickly sauté them in a tiny bit of very hot olive oil containing garlic and onions and perhaps a bit of red pepper flakes; and then to add a tablespoon of liquid and steam them for a couple of minutes. It sounds so good; but I have not yet done that. Somebody tell me just how good it all is and I will try.
You know, I want to eat bitter greens, not because of the low calories, but because they have so much antioxidant and other plant nutrients we may not even know about yet. The more I study, the more I know that plant foods have so much more in them than simply the vitamins and minerals which we have all known forever that we need. Of course, there are vitamins, with lots of the B vitamins and many minerals such as magnesium, calcium, and iron. Why, calorie for calorie, leafy green vegetables like spinach with its delicate texture and jade green color provide more nutrients than any other food.
Did you know that the anticancer properties of spinach flavonoids have been sufficiently impressive to prompt researchers to create specialized spinach extracts that could be used in controlled studies? One called kaempferol had a 40% reduction in risk of ovarian cancer. Additionally, friendly bacteria in our intestines convert vitamin K1, which spinach brings us, into vitamin K2, which activates osteocalcin that helps build strong bones! Further, spinach contains lutein, a carotenoid protective against eye diseases such as age-related macular degeneration and folate is needed by the body to help convert a potentially dangerous chemical called homocysteine that can lead to heart attack.
Now, you see why I want to learn to eat lightly cooked fresh spinach. And I will. Yes, you see, I am teaching or leading a class here at the apartments on Aging Gently, including reversing and repairing damage done by years of incorrect eating and other poor lifestyle choices. And we are doing it. Several have told me that they have changed shopping habits at the grocery, going more to the fresh vegetables and raw fruit.
And not corn, potatoes, bananas, and apples only. Those are good. But we now know that because each of the rainbow of colors our fresh foods contain has different plant nutrients, we have to eat a wide variety to get those things that G-d has provided for our health and our healing, for us to remain young and in His service as long as we can.
I, for one, am trying as much a variety as I can in order to remain as young in body as I feel in spirit. And so, I am eating a combination of strawberries, blackberries, banana, pineapple, grapes, cherries, peaches... Doesn't that sound good? Watermelon? Oh yes!
And my salads contain spring mix lettuces, romaine, baby spinach, sweet onion, celery, cucumber (I prefer the pickling cukes), cauliflower and broccoli florets, cherub tomatoes. It is all soooooo good. And I have my very own special vinegarette that adds a wonderful dressing to those veggies. I know that the broccoli and cauliflower should be lightly cooked, but they are oh so good in there with the others.
Were you wondering why no carrots? I don't like vinegar with carrots; I really prefer something with a mayo base for carrots and so I make a veggie slaw based on broccoli slaw to which I add shredded red cabbage and carrots in equal amounts. Oh yum! I love that one and the ingredients last longer in the fridge than the more delicate lettuces.
Okay! That's what I needed to say about foods today. Tomorrow, I will probably write about freedom of speech again. Who knows?
And now, for the recipe:
Okay, I take fish filets, more often tilapia as it is less expensive and has more Omega 3 oils than the fish I really prefer, orange roughy. Since they are usually frozen, I put them in the fridge for a short while to thaw.
After I take them out, I pat them dry with paper towels and sprinkle them with unrefined sea salt and black pepper. Then, I coat them in egg white.
Next, I dust them with a light flour coating and put them into a plate with the following mixture: finely chopped pecan pieces, panko bread crumbs, garlic, paprika, parsley, whatever you would like .... and press those into the flesh.
At this point, if you have time to refrigerate them for an hour to let the coating become firm and a part of the fish, it is best. (Over night is wonderful and so sometimes, I prepare several pieces at the time to have them for two nights.)
I get a cast iron or stainless skillet hot, add a little olive oil and a little butter; and when that melts, carefully lay the fish into the hot fat.
I let it brown there about 3-4 minutes, turn it carefully with a wide spatula, and after turning off the heat, let it cook there in the still hot skillet for about 2 minutes or until it is brown on the other side.
The usual piece of fish will then flake as it is quite done, but not in any way, over done. In fact, it is crisp and delicious. A squeeze of lemon is all you could add.......
Ah well ...... right now, I am timing the color on my hair. And it is just about time. It was terribly yukky this morning: not white, not silver, not even a real grey, although the dead center top is getting more and more pure white, not me at all. Were it that color all over, I would leave it as is. But it isn't and I am cooking it as we speak.
I have been thinking today about food again. True enough. I have lost another three pounds. I am very thankful, but oh, it goes so slowly. There are days when I think that I haven't eaten enough calories; and yet, other days I almost eat too much; therefore it cannot be that.
To explain, I post everything I eat at Myplate.com and that totals calories, grams carbohydrate, grams fat, grams protein, grams fiber, grams everything. Most days, I see that I have gone over the suggested amount of protein and fats and am under the suggested amount of carbs. Surely, that wold be easy enough to change. All I need to do is eat more veggies; but some days I can eat NO MORE veggies. As it is, I spend an hour eating that 3 or 4 cup salad every night. I suppose that I could just eat all afternoon!
I am learning several very good tips about dieting, such as eating an ounce or so of nuts about 30 minutes before my evening meal. Now, that is supposed to blunt the appetite by giving the body a small amount of fat and protein; and you know what? I think it works. Three or found ounces of protein at a meal is just about all I want to eat ... unless something is super delicious and I haven't had it in a very long time.
It is very difficult to leave half a sirloin strip steak for another meal; and it is almost as difficult to leave a beautiful piece of grilled orange roughy. Besides, when things cost that much, I want to eat it as the peak of its perfection, not as a left over. Grilled chicken is not so difficult to leave.
I do have a wonderful recipe for that fish and I will try to remember to stick it on at the end of this. And there are several vegetables that should be lightly cooked before eating them, even though I really prefer them raw. The various nutrients in them need some cooking to make them bioavailable. But raw spinach is so much better than cooked.
Yet, I have yet to eat properly prepared bitter greens. I read over and again that the best way to do that is to quickly sauté them in a tiny bit of very hot olive oil containing garlic and onions and perhaps a bit of red pepper flakes; and then to add a tablespoon of liquid and steam them for a couple of minutes. It sounds so good; but I have not yet done that. Somebody tell me just how good it all is and I will try.
You know, I want to eat bitter greens, not because of the low calories, but because they have so much antioxidant and other plant nutrients we may not even know about yet. The more I study, the more I know that plant foods have so much more in them than simply the vitamins and minerals which we have all known forever that we need. Of course, there are vitamins, with lots of the B vitamins and many minerals such as magnesium, calcium, and iron. Why, calorie for calorie, leafy green vegetables like spinach with its delicate texture and jade green color provide more nutrients than any other food.
Did you know that the anticancer properties of spinach flavonoids have been sufficiently impressive to prompt researchers to create specialized spinach extracts that could be used in controlled studies? One called kaempferol had a 40% reduction in risk of ovarian cancer. Additionally, friendly bacteria in our intestines convert vitamin K1, which spinach brings us, into vitamin K2, which activates osteocalcin that helps build strong bones! Further, spinach contains lutein, a carotenoid protective against eye diseases such as age-related macular degeneration and folate is needed by the body to help convert a potentially dangerous chemical called homocysteine that can lead to heart attack.
Now, you see why I want to learn to eat lightly cooked fresh spinach. And I will. Yes, you see, I am teaching or leading a class here at the apartments on Aging Gently, including reversing and repairing damage done by years of incorrect eating and other poor lifestyle choices. And we are doing it. Several have told me that they have changed shopping habits at the grocery, going more to the fresh vegetables and raw fruit.
And not corn, potatoes, bananas, and apples only. Those are good. But we now know that because each of the rainbow of colors our fresh foods contain has different plant nutrients, we have to eat a wide variety to get those things that G-d has provided for our health and our healing, for us to remain young and in His service as long as we can.
I, for one, am trying as much a variety as I can in order to remain as young in body as I feel in spirit. And so, I am eating a combination of strawberries, blackberries, banana, pineapple, grapes, cherries, peaches... Doesn't that sound good? Watermelon? Oh yes!
And my salads contain spring mix lettuces, romaine, baby spinach, sweet onion, celery, cucumber (I prefer the pickling cukes), cauliflower and broccoli florets, cherub tomatoes. It is all soooooo good. And I have my very own special vinegarette that adds a wonderful dressing to those veggies. I know that the broccoli and cauliflower should be lightly cooked, but they are oh so good in there with the others.
Were you wondering why no carrots? I don't like vinegar with carrots; I really prefer something with a mayo base for carrots and so I make a veggie slaw based on broccoli slaw to which I add shredded red cabbage and carrots in equal amounts. Oh yum! I love that one and the ingredients last longer in the fridge than the more delicate lettuces.
Okay! That's what I needed to say about foods today. Tomorrow, I will probably write about freedom of speech again. Who knows?
And now, for the recipe:
Okay, I take fish filets, more often tilapia as it is less expensive and has more Omega 3 oils than the fish I really prefer, orange roughy. Since they are usually frozen, I put them in the fridge for a short while to thaw.
After I take them out, I pat them dry with paper towels and sprinkle them with unrefined sea salt and black pepper. Then, I coat them in egg white.
Next, I dust them with a light flour coating and put them into a plate with the following mixture: finely chopped pecan pieces, panko bread crumbs, garlic, paprika, parsley, whatever you would like .... and press those into the flesh.
At this point, if you have time to refrigerate them for an hour to let the coating become firm and a part of the fish, it is best. (Over night is wonderful and so sometimes, I prepare several pieces at the time to have them for two nights.)
I get a cast iron or stainless skillet hot, add a little olive oil and a little butter; and when that melts, carefully lay the fish into the hot fat.
I let it brown there about 3-4 minutes, turn it carefully with a wide spatula, and after turning off the heat, let it cook there in the still hot skillet for about 2 minutes or until it is brown on the other side.
The usual piece of fish will then flake as it is quite done, but not in any way, over done. In fact, it is crisp and delicious. A squeeze of lemon is all you could add.......
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
I AM FINALLY BACK HOME
Or at least, I feel at home, now that my desk again has a computer sitting here ready for me to write. There have been so many things about which I have wanted to make comments, many of them destined to get me in trouble somewhere.
But at my age, who cares? I generally say just what I think. And tomorrow I shall begin some of the comments that have been building up inside with no where to go. Are you ready for that? Hope so, for you are about to get a mild version of me...
I am so glad to have a computer again. I have missed everything about it. The problem is that in the meantime, I have lost control of my fingers and sometimes type the strangest things.
I will try to slow the thoughts down and make fewer mistakes and soon you will be reading my nonsense once again.
It just feels sooooooooooo good to be here.
But at my age, who cares? I generally say just what I think. And tomorrow I shall begin some of the comments that have been building up inside with no where to go. Are you ready for that? Hope so, for you are about to get a mild version of me...
I am so glad to have a computer again. I have missed everything about it. The problem is that in the meantime, I have lost control of my fingers and sometimes type the strangest things.
I will try to slow the thoughts down and make fewer mistakes and soon you will be reading my nonsense once again.
It just feels sooooooooooo good to be here.
Thursday, March 11, 2010
AND NOW, ABOUT THAT FOOD
January 24, I wrote about my journaling everything I eat on MyPLate.com, explaining exactly how it is done so that anyone of you wanting to do something like that could have a good idea of what is out there for you. That is the site where I can understand what I am eating and the nutrition I am consuming (or not consuming). Tonight, I wrote about the books I am reading that have influenced my choice of those foods that I eat.
I have been reading books about what I should and should not eat for years; and for the most part, I have eaten the things that are good for me. That is beginning to be more and more difficult as they are finding more and more things that I should eat that I simply do not like and more and more things I should not eat that I dearly love. Sad, isn't it? I believe that is probably true about most of us, with the exception of those who simply eat because they should and therefore eat what they should eat and are done with it. No real joy of the food, no great feeling of exhilaration from baking something simply sinfully delicious, no letting their mouths fill with the abundance of tastes in a beautifully prepared roast of beef with the accompanying rich au jus with the vegetables gleaming in their unctuous gorgeousness.
And there I am, watching Dr. Oz teach us not to eat beef, much less with the potatoes that have roasted in the lovely beef fat that roasted out of that piece of meat. Perfectly delicious food; and it is not healthful, it is not good for us to eat. And is there anything more delicious than fresh home baked bread, straight from the oven, sliced and slathered with sweet cream butter? That should be on our do-not-eat list also. What else? If you, as did I, grew up in this part of Texas before fast food took over, good food meant my mother's chicken and dumplings, home made dumplings; or a supper of real fried chicken; black eyed peas from the back yard garden; along with sliced tomatoes that tasted like real tomatoes; mashed potatoes, mashed with cream, swimming in butter; fresh corn on the cob.
And church suppers with tables filled with those wonderful home baked desserts: tall coconut cakes, lemon meringue pies, fudgy chocolate pies, and cakes covered with seven minute frosting. Oh, yum. And not one bite of that wonderful food could make the list of things these doctors endorse in their books. Not one of those things is really good for the human body. And that is so sad. Those were wonderfully good things to eat that we now know are NOT good for us. We understand that and we have heard every reason why they aren't. Many people today never ate them and so, do not miss them. I did and I do.
But I am seventy years old and I do not intend to be a sickly old person. I do intend to be healthy; and so I must eat those things that promote good health and not eat those things that destroy good health. Over and again, I have read that I must learn a new way of eating, an eating plan for the rest of my life. I absolutely cannot eat correctly for a while and then return to those foods of my childhood. I must leave them in my memory. And so because I do intend to have a healthy seventh decade, I have devised a plan for eating that allows me to have a few of those things I love while allowing me to continue to lose weight and build a healthy body for my future.
Because I do journal every bite and it is there on the Internet for anyone to see and know what I eat, I shall continue to eat those things that are good for me to eat. To begin, I shall follow Dr. Oz's very good idea that dieters should limit 2 of their 3 daily meals to 2 or 2 choices only, seriously eating the same things over and over and over. That will be my breakfast and lunch every day. He also tells us (all of us, not just dieters) to eat small meals in order to add snacks into our daily meal plan. The idea is not to allow ourselves ever to be hungry, but to eat those things which satisfy and give enough energy to keep going and going. That makes very good sense.
Dinner, which I must begin to eat far earlier than I have since before I married 50 years ago, will be meatless one or two days a week. That is nothing new. David and I did that for years. When I can afford fish, that will be another night. Beef and chicken I will eat one or two nights a week each. You know, affording beef only four times a month means that I can eat good beef, either better cuts or better beef, beef that hasn't been injected with hormones or antibiotics. That would be very good for me. And that would be delicious as I know how to cook good beef. And since all of the research shows that four ounces of meat is all the protein that one needs at the time, it won't even be that expensive. This is OK.
Of course, as always before, I will eat vegetables and fruit. And because I love both and because one-half cup is a serving, five servings is not that difficult to have in a day. I can do that. Over and over, the doctors tell us to eat those vegetables related to cabbage as they contain all of the good things we need to prevent and to fight cancer, to furnish the necessary vitamins for good skin and good bones and all of those important things.
And those veggies? Both red and white/green cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, and all of those strange cabbages there in the produce aisle. They tell us to have some every day and I don't know anyone who does that; but I do have something from that group several times a week. Of course, I prefer my cabbage and cauliflower raw and that isn't as good for our health as is the lightly cooked; but I get something from all those raw veggies. And you know, I believe that cauliflower may well be the only white food of which those doctors all approve!
And something I have known forever, but now am beginning to understand more about are the colorful foods. I have always known that we should eat colorful vegetables and fruit; but only in the recent years have we understood that those colors are brought about by the different nutrients in each, the antioxidants, the phytochemicals, the polyphenols, all of those things that we are learning influence our health. So many of those can be found only in the food that comes in a particular color and if we do not eat that food, we may well miss something which we may not understand, but we still need. And so I am trying to rotate those things I love the most and eat as many different colors a week as I can! Never before thought In would choose food by color.
And now, about those things I mentioned that I love so much that we are not supposed to eat, I have made a decision to eat as correctly as I can most of the time and from time to time to eat one of those things I love and miss. If I constantly aim to eat only those things I should, surely I will be healthy enough that my body can deal with a day of my own home baked sweet rolls or another day that includes fried chicken, real fried chicken and not boneless, skinless chicken breasts oven baked and bland. That is my intent and thus far, I have been somewhat successful. I am still slowly and continually losing weight (I did explain that one in an earlier post about food). And the numbers that come from the medical testing are good ones.
I do intend for those numbers to be better, but I shall do that while occasionally eating something not so good for me, yet so very good for me. And every bite will be recorded at
MORE ABOUT THAT GLORIOUS FOOD
I have not written this month, and that is bad! I have so much to say and so many other people get dumped on with all of those things I have to say. They get long email epistles and I fail to write here where my wonderful words could be way more wide spread. And so, I need to say what it is I have been doing rather than writing.
And what have I been doing? Mostly, I have been reading and eating, reading the books of Dr. Oz and Dr. Whitaker and Dr. Amen and Dr. Teitelbaum and several other physicians who have left the straight and narrow path and speak to various ideas from alternative medicine. Yes, even Dr. Oz, "American's most beloved doctor" as the PR blurbs so often call him, advocates several of the tenets so often attributed to doctors who are derided as quacks and scam artists. Not so. So many of the things that these doctors have written about and said in public for many years are now being accepted as conventional. Once, only the nuts in California took vitamin supplements and ate yogurt; today, you can find both in almost every household and supermarket, drugstore, mini-mart, and gas station.
That is what I have been reading. Why? Well, for one reason, I live with three syndromes for which modern medicine has no answer: Chronic Fatigue, Fibromyalgia, and Myofascial Pain. At least, some of those in alternative medicine are actively engaged in trying to find relief for those of us with these 'orphan" diseases. Dr. Teitelbaum, who has both Chronic Fatigue and Fibromyalgia, has revised his first book, From Fatigued to Fantastic, and in it, has advocated the use of D-ribose to help the body develop more energy. He wrote,
For years, I talked about the importance of B vitamins, which are a key component of these molecules. These helped to a degree, but it was clear that a key component was missing. In looking at the biochemistry of these energy molecules, they are also made of 2 other key components-adenine and ribose. Adenine is plentiful in the body and supplementing with adenine did not help CFS. We then turned our attention to Ribose. Ribose is made in your body in a slow, laborious process and cannot be found in food. We knew that CFS/FMS causes your body to dump other key energy molecules like acetyl-l-carnitine. We then found that the body did the same with Ribose, making it hard to get your furnaces working again even after the other problems were treated.
Not having Ribose would be like trying to build a fire without kindling—nothing would happen. We wondered if giving Ribose to people with CFS would jump-start their energy furnaces. The answer was a resounding yes!
And so, having read his discussion of D-ribose and how it works to fire up the furnace, I am taking it every day. Now, if you all remember, I journal what I eat every day on the MyPLate website, every bite that I eat. And so, I entered the name of the product, Corvalen-M, and lo! there it was, listed as a food that others using the site must also be using. If it provides the energy that I have not had since 1980, you all will be among the first to hear about it. I am actually looking forward to feeling good enough to do some of the things I have wanted to do for several years.
And, oh yes, all of those doctors are writing about the food I should and should not eat; and I am about to write about what I am eating.
And what have I been doing? Mostly, I have been reading and eating, reading the books of Dr. Oz and Dr. Whitaker and Dr. Amen and Dr. Teitelbaum and several other physicians who have left the straight and narrow path and speak to various ideas from alternative medicine. Yes, even Dr. Oz, "American's most beloved doctor" as the PR blurbs so often call him, advocates several of the tenets so often attributed to doctors who are derided as quacks and scam artists. Not so. So many of the things that these doctors have written about and said in public for many years are now being accepted as conventional. Once, only the nuts in California took vitamin supplements and ate yogurt; today, you can find both in almost every household and supermarket, drugstore, mini-mart, and gas station.
That is what I have been reading. Why? Well, for one reason, I live with three syndromes for which modern medicine has no answer: Chronic Fatigue, Fibromyalgia, and Myofascial Pain. At least, some of those in alternative medicine are actively engaged in trying to find relief for those of us with these 'orphan" diseases. Dr. Teitelbaum, who has both Chronic Fatigue and Fibromyalgia, has revised his first book, From Fatigued to Fantastic, and in it, has advocated the use of D-ribose to help the body develop more energy. He wrote,
For years, I talked about the importance of B vitamins, which are a key component of these molecules. These helped to a degree, but it was clear that a key component was missing. In looking at the biochemistry of these energy molecules, they are also made of 2 other key components-adenine and ribose. Adenine is plentiful in the body and supplementing with adenine did not help CFS. We then turned our attention to Ribose. Ribose is made in your body in a slow, laborious process and cannot be found in food. We knew that CFS/FMS causes your body to dump other key energy molecules like acetyl-l-carnitine. We then found that the body did the same with Ribose, making it hard to get your furnaces working again even after the other problems were treated.
Not having Ribose would be like trying to build a fire without kindling—nothing would happen. We wondered if giving Ribose to people with CFS would jump-start their energy furnaces. The answer was a resounding yes!
And so, having read his discussion of D-ribose and how it works to fire up the furnace, I am taking it every day. Now, if you all remember, I journal what I eat every day on the MyPLate website, every bite that I eat. And so, I entered the name of the product, Corvalen-M, and lo! there it was, listed as a food that others using the site must also be using. If it provides the energy that I have not had since 1980, you all will be among the first to hear about it. I am actually looking forward to feeling good enough to do some of the things I have wanted to do for several years.
And, oh yes, all of those doctors are writing about the food I should and should not eat; and I am about to write about what I am eating.
Saturday, February 27, 2010
HOW TO LIVE TO A HEALTHY OLD AGE
Today, we live longer and longer. It is up to us to see that we live a healthy life so that in our older years, we can have a healthy old age. The following ides are from Tri Vita vitamins and I have copied them here so that I can talk about them with those of you who read these.
CHARACTERISTICS OF THOSE WHO LIVE TO 100 AND PAST
Good longevity genes
Emotional resilience – ability to adapt to life's events
Resistance to stress – excellent coping skills
Self-sufficiency
Intellectual activity
Good sense of humor, including about themselves
Religious beliefs
Strong connections with other people
Low blood pressure
Appreciation of simple pleasures and experiences
Women tend to have borne children after age 40
Zest for life
Don't currently smoke or drink heavily
Many play musical instruments
Follow an anti-inflammatory diet that has been linked with longevity (eg, Mediterranean diet)
SOME ARE GENETICALLY PRIVILEGED
If any of your parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles and siblings have lived to extreme old age and if your family has a low incidence of diseases like cancer, Alzheimer's, diabetes and heart disease, congratulations! You are considered to have optimal anti-aging genes and have a great chance to make it to 100 if you take reasonable care of yourself
TUNE UP YOUR ATTITUDE
REDUCE STRESS. Try meditation, exercise or yoga. You can learn to modify your responses to negative situations even if you can't change your basic personality.
STAY CONNECTED WITH OTHER PEOPLE: Social support is vital and maintaining close relationships is associated with better physical and mental health.
CULTIVATE OPTIMISM: A Mayo Clinic study shows that optimists live longer and have better health, because pessimism may lower immune system responsiveness and enhance tumor growth. Good news: an excessively pessimistic outlook on life is changeable. Brief programs can change your thinking about life events and lower the risk for physical illness and even death.
WATCH YOUR DIET
EMPHASIZE FRUITS AND VEGETABLES, whole grains, fiber and polyunsaturated fats.
AVOID CHOLESTEROL, SATURATED FAT AND HYDROGENATED FAT (red meat, egg yolks, fast food burgers and fries, etc), which are linked to heart disease, breast cancer and prostate cancer.
AVOID REFINED SUGAR and excessive calorie intake.
AVOID PROCESSED FOODS and those supplemented with high fructose corn syrup.
ONE GLASS OF RED WINE A DAY still appears to lower the risk of heart disease.
DRINK GREEN TEA, which has antioxidants that may fight cancers.
CONSIDER TAKING ANTIOXIDANT SUPPLEMENTS like Vitamin C, Vitamin E and selenium. But if you choose this path, be sure to follow the medical literature on vitamin risks.
CONSIDER SUPPLEMENTING YOUR DIET with omega-3 fatty acids.
EXERCISE: even a little helps
Just 15-30 minutes a day of walking or bicycling is enough to gain longevity benefits and reduce the risk of heart disease and cancer. Resistance exercise, for example, walking up stairs or hills, guards against loss of muscle mass and benefits the heart. Exercise also provides a sense of well-being and helps maintain an agile and alert brain.
USE YOUR HEAD
According to the NECS researchers, retaining cognitive capacity "most often determines whether people can attain extreme old age while remaining active." Here is a sampling of mental workouts that can keep the brain razor-sharp as you age:
Crossword and jigsaw puzzles
Playing bridge
Learning foreign languages
Playing musical instruments
Learning dance steps
Writing
Sports, including yoga and tai chi
Taking classes
Traveling
Memory training
Experiencing the new and unfamiliar
CHARACTERISTICS OF THOSE WHO LIVE TO 100 AND PAST
Good longevity genes
Emotional resilience – ability to adapt to life's events
Resistance to stress – excellent coping skills
Self-sufficiency
Intellectual activity
Good sense of humor, including about themselves
Religious beliefs
Strong connections with other people
Low blood pressure
Appreciation of simple pleasures and experiences
Women tend to have borne children after age 40
Zest for life
Don't currently smoke or drink heavily
Many play musical instruments
Follow an anti-inflammatory diet that has been linked with longevity (eg, Mediterranean diet)
SOME ARE GENETICALLY PRIVILEGED
If any of your parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles and siblings have lived to extreme old age and if your family has a low incidence of diseases like cancer, Alzheimer's, diabetes and heart disease, congratulations! You are considered to have optimal anti-aging genes and have a great chance to make it to 100 if you take reasonable care of yourself
TUNE UP YOUR ATTITUDE
REDUCE STRESS. Try meditation, exercise or yoga. You can learn to modify your responses to negative situations even if you can't change your basic personality.
STAY CONNECTED WITH OTHER PEOPLE: Social support is vital and maintaining close relationships is associated with better physical and mental health.
CULTIVATE OPTIMISM: A Mayo Clinic study shows that optimists live longer and have better health, because pessimism may lower immune system responsiveness and enhance tumor growth. Good news: an excessively pessimistic outlook on life is changeable. Brief programs can change your thinking about life events and lower the risk for physical illness and even death.
WATCH YOUR DIET
EMPHASIZE FRUITS AND VEGETABLES, whole grains, fiber and polyunsaturated fats.
AVOID CHOLESTEROL, SATURATED FAT AND HYDROGENATED FAT (red meat, egg yolks, fast food burgers and fries, etc), which are linked to heart disease, breast cancer and prostate cancer.
AVOID REFINED SUGAR and excessive calorie intake.
AVOID PROCESSED FOODS and those supplemented with high fructose corn syrup.
ONE GLASS OF RED WINE A DAY still appears to lower the risk of heart disease.
DRINK GREEN TEA, which has antioxidants that may fight cancers.
CONSIDER TAKING ANTIOXIDANT SUPPLEMENTS like Vitamin C, Vitamin E and selenium. But if you choose this path, be sure to follow the medical literature on vitamin risks.
CONSIDER SUPPLEMENTING YOUR DIET with omega-3 fatty acids.
EXERCISE: even a little helps
Just 15-30 minutes a day of walking or bicycling is enough to gain longevity benefits and reduce the risk of heart disease and cancer. Resistance exercise, for example, walking up stairs or hills, guards against loss of muscle mass and benefits the heart. Exercise also provides a sense of well-being and helps maintain an agile and alert brain.
USE YOUR HEAD
According to the NECS researchers, retaining cognitive capacity "most often determines whether people can attain extreme old age while remaining active." Here is a sampling of mental workouts that can keep the brain razor-sharp as you age:
Crossword and jigsaw puzzles
Playing bridge
Learning foreign languages
Playing musical instruments
Learning dance steps
Writing
Sports, including yoga and tai chi
Taking classes
Traveling
Memory training
Experiencing the new and unfamiliar
Friday, February 26, 2010
THE GOD-SHAPED HOLE WITHIN US
If I may synthesize the words of Blaise Pascal, a great thinker of the 17th century, and a theory of Dr. Mehmet Oz, contemporary America’s most trusted doctor, there is a God-shaped hole within us that we are forever restless in trying to fill. And in order to fill that hole, we long for something in our lives that is greater and deeper than our everyday reality of sleep, eat, work, home, repeat; knowing that filling that longing will give us a sense of purpose and raise our self-esteem. Some try to fill that hole with money, some with achievement, others turn to alcohol or drugs, still others to shopping and accumulating things, and some to food.
Scientists say there are biochemical reasons for this need for soul level satisfaction we seek, that we need oxytocin or nitric oxide, two chemicals that give us a feeling of satisfaction and reduce anxiety and stress. And although this soul- level of satisfaction is biochemical, it is still a drive, not for food or things, money or drugs, but a drive to fill the needs of our soul, the need to put God in the God-shaped hole deep within us.
And when we have placed God in His rightful place in our lives and continue to see Him there, we no longer crave the money, the fame, the luxuries, the food in amounts far beyond our needs.
Friday, February 19, 2010
FRENCH BREAD EXTRAORDINAIRE
in her own words by bj, my friend
1 1/2 pound loaf bread machine - finishes out to one large round or oblong hand shaped loaf or two long baguettes.
1 ½ cups plus 2 tablespoons water
2 teaspoons salt
1.5 pounds or 4 2/3 cups unbleached white bread flour
2 1/2 t. dry yeast
Place ingredients in bread pan - set machine for dough cycle, start.
When dough cycle ends, machine will beep. I just leave the dough alone for as
long as 6 hours and just go do my life.
Give it a good punch and turn it out of the pan. I don't mess around with it much when I turn it out - just plop it out on counter and start to shape. Either shape into one large round loaf (flattening slightly with hands) or two long baguettes.
Place ingredients in bread pan - set machine for dough cycle, start.
When dough cycle ends, machine will beep. I just leave the dough alone for as
long as 6 hours and just go do my life.
Give it a good punch and turn it out of the pan. I don't mess around with it much when I turn it out - just plop it out on counter and start to shape. Either shape into one large round loaf (flattening slightly with hands) or two long baguettes.
I hand shape and put on an unheated baking stone.
Alternatively you could use a cookie sheet -- just keep an eye on it so the bottom does not burn if you are using a cookie sheet. Cover loosely with dish towel –
Let rise again about 1 hour. If the dough is sticky, sprinkle with a little flour so you can work it - just a little - and remember -- you are in charge of your dough!!!!
While bread is rising - preheat oven to 500 degrees.
While bread is rising - preheat oven to 500 degrees.
Have a spray bottle full of water before you put this in the oven.
At this point I slash the bread with a very sharp knife or a razor deeply and IMMEDIATELY put it in the oven –
I am spraying with the water in the mister as I am doing this. The bread will look like it is collapsing from the slash - but it should come back up.
Just be sure you do not slash it until RIGHT BEFORE you place in oven.
Just be sure you do not slash it until RIGHT BEFORE you place in oven.
Place in 500 degree oven, spraying oven and briefly lightly over bread with water in a mister. Set timer for 5 mins.
Spray well again, reduce heat to 450 degrees for 20 mins., spraying one or two more times with water early in the 20 mins. Just open the oven and start spraying.
Remove bread from oven and remove from baking stone or cookie sheet - cool
on rack to cool. Wrap well in Saran and freeze.
on rack to cool. Wrap well in Saran and freeze.
Notes
I shape this into either a round loaf, an oblong loaf or two long baguettes
- -- this is our house bread -- i make this many times a week - we love it. It
is also fat free.
- -- this is our house bread -- i make this many times a week - we love it. It
is also fat free.
I actually spray more frequently than this - especially in that first five
mins and then the early part of the 20 mins. at 450. I do not like the pan
of water deal that some people use - i recommend the use of this mister. I
spray everywhere - the heating element, the sides of the oven - i am fast -
Just before putting bread in oven, brush the bread all over top and sides with egg white (I keep these in the fridge in a covered jar - they will last for a few weeks –
and sprinkle with sesame and/or poppy seeds, if desired.
You can also make it without slashing. You can also not do the egg white /seed thing and leave plain or give it a good sifting of flour on the top before cutting.
And my notes ... from Linda:
I follow this pretty closely, using a scale to weigh the flour. That can make a big difference. I also spray several times in the first 15 minutes. That makes a good crust on the outside, the one that I often hear cracking as it cools.
And unless you are very strong, you will need a brad machine to knead the almost 5 cups of flour into a cup and a half of water.
I also finally bought a bread lame, a device that slashes the bread loaf just right to leave room for the bread to expand as it needs.
I make this for all occasions as it is wonderful with all food and it smells so good while baking. You all do enjoy.
THE SAGA OF THE BREAD, PART NEXT
You have to understand. I make a wonderful loaf of French Bread. I make a terrific Milk and Honey Bread. Years ago, when I taught in Quanah, I made wonderful sourdough bread which I often took to school for my students. And beautiful sourdough rolls.
Thus, when King Arthur advertised its New England sourdough starter from 1763, I wanted to once more bake beautiful sourdough rolls. They can be so lovely in the morning. And so began my attempts to reproduce what I had baked so many years ago. No longer having that recipe and having no idea who might have it, I turned to the Internet. From that and the King Arthur Flour website, I collected about 20 sourdough bread recipes and then chose three or four to try.
I have written about my earlier attempts with the sourdough starter and how none of them was what I was looking for; but nothing was as "blogworthy" as this last attempt at sourdough bread. Selecting an aptly named Old San Francisco Sourdough Bread recipe, I took the starter from the refrigerator Tuesday morning and went through the sequence of throwing away a portion, feeding the rest with a half cup of water and a cup of flour, stirring it together, and leaving it several hours to proof.
Now, the truth is that you usually leave the starter to ripen for about four hours; and although I knew that I had a very busy day ahead, I thought I could handle it all. And off I went to dash across town to the bank and back to Central Market for fresh produce and extra "goodies." Of course, everything took much more time than I had planned; and by the time I had all of the food in the house Tuesday afternoon, it was later than I had planned.
Of course, friends stopped by to chat, the telephone rang, I needed to chart my eating on MYPLATE.com, I was hungry, and the doorbell rang. By the time I got back to the kitchen to wash the various fruits and vegetables and package them for storage, the starter had been ripening to the point that I feared it might be overly ripe! Have you ever smelled sourdough starter? Have you ever smelled bad sourdough starter? Ripe is NOT the right word. And I was sinking. I had not eaten in hours. I was hungry. I knew that the blood glucose was down. I wanted food.
And I was tired. Very tired. With Fibro, there are rules about just what you should do in one day. One of those rules says that grocery shopping should be done on a day when you do nothing else at all. This wasn't going to be that day. I had things to do. I had to eat. And so I took another look at the ripe starter and it was still quite fine. I hastily prepared one of those meals that I do when I have no time and I have to eat: a slice of roast turkey and canned green beans warmed together in the oven. It's fast and it tastes good as I season it well. That taken care of, I began dealing with the produce; and about two in the morning, I turned to the starter. It smelled good; it looked fine. All was going to be wonderful. There would be fresh bread tomorrow.
Running to the computer, I dug into the recipe collection there: documents>written documents>recipes>bread>sourdough breads>SAN FRANCISCO STYLE SOURDOUGH BREAD. It was simple. I could do that one in the bread machine. That's how I do my French bread: set it up at night to make dough and leave it there to rise about six hours, wake up, take out the beautiful dough, make out the bread, set it to rise, set an alarm, take a nap, wake, and bake bread. That's how I did it forty years ago; that's how I would do it now.
And I went to sleep. (If you remember how my sleeping med works, I take a dose, sleep 4 hours, wake, take a second dose, sleep about three hours, and wake again.) I woke a little after noon, feeling terrible, stumbling around like fibro people do on a bad day. I went into the kitchen and remembered what I had forgotten as I slept all through the night: there sat the bread machine and I knew there was bread dough inside. But after sitting there for ten or eleven hours, what sort of state it would be in I was about to discover.
I could see on the sides of the machine bread pan where it had risen up and fallen back. That might be OK. But the dough looked funny. Something didn't look right. It wasn't as much bread dough as it was a batter of some sort. I read the instructions to knead the dough and shape it into a round boule. The stuff in that bread pan was not going to shape into anything. Perhaps, I should reread the recipe.
Well, first of all, for this one recipe using a sourdough starter, the instructions said to measure the starter cold, straight from the refrigerator. That would certainly make a difference. In other words, instead of using one and a half cups of cold starter, I had used one and a half cups of ripened starter. That would make a big difference as the dough went together. Oh my ...
And so, I laid out the silicone mat on which I knead and shape and all that, covered it with a layer of bench flour into which to pour whatever it was in that bread machine pan, and did just that. And that dough did pour out onto the mat ... as if it were batter! Can't you just see that thick batter sprawling out all over the mat? It spread faster than I could contain it. What was I going to do with that mess? Scoop it up and into the prepared bread pan? What would that bake into?
As I looked at it, inching its way to the edge of the counter, I decided to add more flour and perhaps work it into the mass to make it more like dough. I folded the mat over the creeping mass of whatever it was and turned to get the flour. As I picked up the scoop inside the bread flour container, I read the handle which read 3/4 cup! Well, another error there in the exhaustion of the night before: for every cup of flour the recipe had called for, I had put in only three-fourths of a cup. I was a cup off what was called for. No wonder, I had such a mess of flour paste there on the counter. What on earth could I do to save this?
I worked a cup of flour into the stuff there, poured it into the bread pan, covered it, set it to rise for an hour, and left it to do its thing. I had things to do. But I felt so bad. I wanted only to sleep or sit and stare at the TV or anything that was nothing. I came to the computer. Might as well read some of my email. Somehow, it was 5:30. The TV news came and went and I continued on the computer. The Olympics came on and I got so wrapped up in what I was seeing that I forgot all about watching American Idol. Besides, it was now about 9:30 and I was hungry.
Funny. Coming down the hall heading for the kitchen, I could smell something in the oven. The oven! The thoughts washed over me: I turned on the oven to heat in order to bake the bread. The bread! I had again forgotten the bread! As I looked at it, I could tell that this was going to be very interesting. It had risen to the top of the bread pan and no higher. I suppose that the yeast had been completely worn out the night before. Oh well. I might as well bake it. And so I did. And so I did.
I have never before taken a fresh loaf of bread from the oven and not wanted to cut it right then while it was hot, wanted to slather butter all over it and eat it right then. I wasn't quite sure what I wanted to do with this stuff. Do you want to know what it was like? Well, not bad. Not too good, but not bad. It had the consistency of batter bread, except maybe twice as heavy. And it needed more salt ... and I had used more than the recipe called for.
And this morning, I made toast from it. Not bad. Still not good enough to spend my carbohydrate count on it. I think that there is something wrong with the recipe. I need to stay with the King Arthur recipes. I shall toss this experiment in confusion and make a good loaf of my French Bread Extraordinaire. I'll post the recipe for that one so that you all can share the good bread. This is a French bread that you will want to eat straight from the oven. It is crusty on the outside and chewy on the inside. Sometimes, you can hear the crust cracking as it cools just out from the oven. Oh, it is so good.
A good diagonal slice across one end and I get the "Pope's nose," the very best part of the bread and this one I will slather with lots of sweet cream butter, maybe even some apricot jam ... or honey that somehow will get on my elbows while I am eating. Sometimes, it is so good that I have to have another thick slice. You are invited to join me with that one also.
Thus, when King Arthur advertised its New England sourdough starter from 1763, I wanted to once more bake beautiful sourdough rolls. They can be so lovely in the morning. And so began my attempts to reproduce what I had baked so many years ago. No longer having that recipe and having no idea who might have it, I turned to the Internet. From that and the King Arthur Flour website, I collected about 20 sourdough bread recipes and then chose three or four to try.
I have written about my earlier attempts with the sourdough starter and how none of them was what I was looking for; but nothing was as "blogworthy" as this last attempt at sourdough bread. Selecting an aptly named Old San Francisco Sourdough Bread recipe, I took the starter from the refrigerator Tuesday morning and went through the sequence of throwing away a portion, feeding the rest with a half cup of water and a cup of flour, stirring it together, and leaving it several hours to proof.
Now, the truth is that you usually leave the starter to ripen for about four hours; and although I knew that I had a very busy day ahead, I thought I could handle it all. And off I went to dash across town to the bank and back to Central Market for fresh produce and extra "goodies." Of course, everything took much more time than I had planned; and by the time I had all of the food in the house Tuesday afternoon, it was later than I had planned.
Of course, friends stopped by to chat, the telephone rang, I needed to chart my eating on MYPLATE.com, I was hungry, and the doorbell rang. By the time I got back to the kitchen to wash the various fruits and vegetables and package them for storage, the starter had been ripening to the point that I feared it might be overly ripe! Have you ever smelled sourdough starter? Have you ever smelled bad sourdough starter? Ripe is NOT the right word. And I was sinking. I had not eaten in hours. I was hungry. I knew that the blood glucose was down. I wanted food.
And I was tired. Very tired. With Fibro, there are rules about just what you should do in one day. One of those rules says that grocery shopping should be done on a day when you do nothing else at all. This wasn't going to be that day. I had things to do. I had to eat. And so I took another look at the ripe starter and it was still quite fine. I hastily prepared one of those meals that I do when I have no time and I have to eat: a slice of roast turkey and canned green beans warmed together in the oven. It's fast and it tastes good as I season it well. That taken care of, I began dealing with the produce; and about two in the morning, I turned to the starter. It smelled good; it looked fine. All was going to be wonderful. There would be fresh bread tomorrow.
Running to the computer, I dug into the recipe collection there: documents>written documents>recipes>bread>sourdough breads>SAN FRANCISCO STYLE SOURDOUGH BREAD. It was simple. I could do that one in the bread machine. That's how I do my French bread: set it up at night to make dough and leave it there to rise about six hours, wake up, take out the beautiful dough, make out the bread, set it to rise, set an alarm, take a nap, wake, and bake bread. That's how I did it forty years ago; that's how I would do it now.
And I went to sleep. (If you remember how my sleeping med works, I take a dose, sleep 4 hours, wake, take a second dose, sleep about three hours, and wake again.) I woke a little after noon, feeling terrible, stumbling around like fibro people do on a bad day. I went into the kitchen and remembered what I had forgotten as I slept all through the night: there sat the bread machine and I knew there was bread dough inside. But after sitting there for ten or eleven hours, what sort of state it would be in I was about to discover.
I could see on the sides of the machine bread pan where it had risen up and fallen back. That might be OK. But the dough looked funny. Something didn't look right. It wasn't as much bread dough as it was a batter of some sort. I read the instructions to knead the dough and shape it into a round boule. The stuff in that bread pan was not going to shape into anything. Perhaps, I should reread the recipe.
Well, first of all, for this one recipe using a sourdough starter, the instructions said to measure the starter cold, straight from the refrigerator. That would certainly make a difference. In other words, instead of using one and a half cups of cold starter, I had used one and a half cups of ripened starter. That would make a big difference as the dough went together. Oh my ...
And so, I laid out the silicone mat on which I knead and shape and all that, covered it with a layer of bench flour into which to pour whatever it was in that bread machine pan, and did just that. And that dough did pour out onto the mat ... as if it were batter! Can't you just see that thick batter sprawling out all over the mat? It spread faster than I could contain it. What was I going to do with that mess? Scoop it up and into the prepared bread pan? What would that bake into?
As I looked at it, inching its way to the edge of the counter, I decided to add more flour and perhaps work it into the mass to make it more like dough. I folded the mat over the creeping mass of whatever it was and turned to get the flour. As I picked up the scoop inside the bread flour container, I read the handle which read 3/4 cup! Well, another error there in the exhaustion of the night before: for every cup of flour the recipe had called for, I had put in only three-fourths of a cup. I was a cup off what was called for. No wonder, I had such a mess of flour paste there on the counter. What on earth could I do to save this?
I worked a cup of flour into the stuff there, poured it into the bread pan, covered it, set it to rise for an hour, and left it to do its thing. I had things to do. But I felt so bad. I wanted only to sleep or sit and stare at the TV or anything that was nothing. I came to the computer. Might as well read some of my email. Somehow, it was 5:30. The TV news came and went and I continued on the computer. The Olympics came on and I got so wrapped up in what I was seeing that I forgot all about watching American Idol. Besides, it was now about 9:30 and I was hungry.
Funny. Coming down the hall heading for the kitchen, I could smell something in the oven. The oven! The thoughts washed over me: I turned on the oven to heat in order to bake the bread. The bread! I had again forgotten the bread! As I looked at it, I could tell that this was going to be very interesting. It had risen to the top of the bread pan and no higher. I suppose that the yeast had been completely worn out the night before. Oh well. I might as well bake it. And so I did. And so I did.
I have never before taken a fresh loaf of bread from the oven and not wanted to cut it right then while it was hot, wanted to slather butter all over it and eat it right then. I wasn't quite sure what I wanted to do with this stuff. Do you want to know what it was like? Well, not bad. Not too good, but not bad. It had the consistency of batter bread, except maybe twice as heavy. And it needed more salt ... and I had used more than the recipe called for.
And this morning, I made toast from it. Not bad. Still not good enough to spend my carbohydrate count on it. I think that there is something wrong with the recipe. I need to stay with the King Arthur recipes. I shall toss this experiment in confusion and make a good loaf of my French Bread Extraordinaire. I'll post the recipe for that one so that you all can share the good bread. This is a French bread that you will want to eat straight from the oven. It is crusty on the outside and chewy on the inside. Sometimes, you can hear the crust cracking as it cools just out from the oven. Oh, it is so good.
A good diagonal slice across one end and I get the "Pope's nose," the very best part of the bread and this one I will slather with lots of sweet cream butter, maybe even some apricot jam ... or honey that somehow will get on my elbows while I am eating. Sometimes, it is so good that I have to have another thick slice. You are invited to join me with that one also.
Thursday, February 18, 2010
THE SAGA OF THE BREAD
is not being written tonight. Because I think of myself as a writer, having been doing this since high school and having been a member of Sigma Tau Delta, I can't just toss something down. I work at it. And since I really need some sleep, writing must wait until tomorrow. It's better that way. Believe me.
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
HELP FOR FIBROMYALGIA?
I should have read these articles sooner, but I had read Dr. Teitelbaum before and he hadn't told me anything that new. But something sent me to his web site today. I don't know that I know what... something I read on the Real Age web site sent me looking for information on D-Ribose. The name rang a very distant bell, but it really didn't mean that much to me.
What I learned is that D-Ribose is a natural sugar that the body produces. The body then uses this to create adenosine triphosphat, ATP, which in turn creates energy for every part of the body: muscles and brain. If the body fails to produce Ribose, then the body experiences fatigue and the brain doesn't always function the way it once did. Now, all that I had known for years is that energy was produced by B vitamins and sugar. I had tried all the B vitamins one could take with no result. I had simply given up, assuming that the Fibro had taken away all of the energy the B's could give. Now, I was reading about the real source of energy in the body.
B vitamins are a key component of this energy, but Dr Teitelbaum felt that a key component was missing. When he studied the biochemistry of energy molecules, he saw that they are also made of 2 other key components — adenine and Ribose. Adenine is plentiful in the body and supplementing with adenine had not helped CFS. And so he and his research team turned to Ribose. Ribose is made in the body in a slow, laborious process and cannot be found in food. He knew that CFS/FMS causes the body to dump other key energy molecules like Acetyl-L-Carnitine. And then he found that the body did the same with Ribose, making it hard to get the furnaces working again even after the other problems were treated. Without Ribose, the fire was out.
The more Dr. Teitelbaum had researched, the more he had become convinced that D-Ribose could make a difference in the lives of patients with CFS and FMS, Chronic Fatigue and Fibromyalgia. And it did. Reading this, I got excited. What if there were something else to try, something that might actually work? After all, I am 71 (Real Age 65). How much energy am I looking for? I continued to read.
Dr. Teitelbaum's experiments with real patients showed that 2/3 of his patients experienced increased energy, well being, and/or decreased pain with regular use. Decreased pain? Increased energy? Why had I not heard about this? Why hadn't I read this article months before when I had been to this website. A recently concluded study showed a 59% increase in energy for the participants who used Ribose.
That was it. That was his conclusion. He is now using this product in clinics all over the United States, one of which is right here in Fort Worth. I had known about it, but ... Well, they do not file insurance. I have no idea whether Medicare would pay any of it; and if they did, Medicare wouldn't pay what the doctors in that clinic wanted to charge. Dr. Larry Sharpe here uses it; but I would have to pay him up front also, and then wait to be reimbursed. He had told me that I would need $2000 to start the program in his clinic. I didn't go to his clinic either.
Now, I might possibly be able to do it by myself ... with the help of my current doctor and the expense of a great deal of money to purchase the products, none of them covered by insurance. None of them needs a prescription for which insurance would reimburse. All can be purchased at the different health food stores. And Dr. Teitelbaum has posted his program on his web site for anyone to follow. There is a support group for his program here in Fort Worth ... in MY zip code.
And so, because I never give up, I am going to try one more time to find something that might make a major difference in my life, something that promises to give me more energy and less pain. First, I have to purchase the big product, D-Ribose $45.00 and the other vitamins that will complete it, another $40.00. But his website returned the information that they are OUT of product.
I had made up my mind. I was ready to try something. It felt like NOW or never. I did a search and found the right product, Corvalens, at Amazon. And Amazon was OUT. Finally, I went to the manufacturer's site and ordered the product I decided that I was going to try. As I paid for it, I thought of all the new products I had decided to try this month: a vitamin D drink, an antioxidant product, a multi-vitamin and mineral, and now, this.
But if all this works, if adding this to the work at Carter Fitness Center and the recumbent bike at home, and the air stepper at home, and the so carefully prepared meals, and to the Probiotic and to the glucose control products, and the real attempt to sleep 7 or 8 hours every night no matter what else I really want to do, if any or if all of this works, I shall be a new woman, free of the pain and fatigue of Fibromyalgia. And you ALL will hear about it, probably every day for the rest of my life.
What I learned is that D-Ribose is a natural sugar that the body produces. The body then uses this to create adenosine triphosphat, ATP, which in turn creates energy for every part of the body: muscles and brain. If the body fails to produce Ribose, then the body experiences fatigue and the brain doesn't always function the way it once did. Now, all that I had known for years is that energy was produced by B vitamins and sugar. I had tried all the B vitamins one could take with no result. I had simply given up, assuming that the Fibro had taken away all of the energy the B's could give. Now, I was reading about the real source of energy in the body.
B vitamins are a key component of this energy, but Dr Teitelbaum felt that a key component was missing. When he studied the biochemistry of energy molecules, he saw that they are also made of 2 other key components — adenine and Ribose. Adenine is plentiful in the body and supplementing with adenine had not helped CFS. And so he and his research team turned to Ribose. Ribose is made in the body in a slow, laborious process and cannot be found in food. He knew that CFS/FMS causes the body to dump other key energy molecules like Acetyl-L-Carnitine. And then he found that the body did the same with Ribose, making it hard to get the furnaces working again even after the other problems were treated. Without Ribose, the fire was out.
The more Dr. Teitelbaum had researched, the more he had become convinced that D-Ribose could make a difference in the lives of patients with CFS and FMS, Chronic Fatigue and Fibromyalgia. And it did. Reading this, I got excited. What if there were something else to try, something that might actually work? After all, I am 71 (Real Age 65). How much energy am I looking for? I continued to read.
Dr. Teitelbaum's experiments with real patients showed that 2/3 of his patients experienced increased energy, well being, and/or decreased pain with regular use. Decreased pain? Increased energy? Why had I not heard about this? Why hadn't I read this article months before when I had been to this website. A recently concluded study showed a 59% increase in energy for the participants who used Ribose.
That was it. That was his conclusion. He is now using this product in clinics all over the United States, one of which is right here in Fort Worth. I had known about it, but ... Well, they do not file insurance. I have no idea whether Medicare would pay any of it; and if they did, Medicare wouldn't pay what the doctors in that clinic wanted to charge. Dr. Larry Sharpe here uses it; but I would have to pay him up front also, and then wait to be reimbursed. He had told me that I would need $2000 to start the program in his clinic. I didn't go to his clinic either.
Now, I might possibly be able to do it by myself ... with the help of my current doctor and the expense of a great deal of money to purchase the products, none of them covered by insurance. None of them needs a prescription for which insurance would reimburse. All can be purchased at the different health food stores. And Dr. Teitelbaum has posted his program on his web site for anyone to follow. There is a support group for his program here in Fort Worth ... in MY zip code.
And so, because I never give up, I am going to try one more time to find something that might make a major difference in my life, something that promises to give me more energy and less pain. First, I have to purchase the big product, D-Ribose $45.00 and the other vitamins that will complete it, another $40.00. But his website returned the information that they are OUT of product.
I had made up my mind. I was ready to try something. It felt like NOW or never. I did a search and found the right product, Corvalens, at Amazon. And Amazon was OUT. Finally, I went to the manufacturer's site and ordered the product I decided that I was going to try. As I paid for it, I thought of all the new products I had decided to try this month: a vitamin D drink, an antioxidant product, a multi-vitamin and mineral, and now, this.
But if all this works, if adding this to the work at Carter Fitness Center and the recumbent bike at home, and the air stepper at home, and the so carefully prepared meals, and to the Probiotic and to the glucose control products, and the real attempt to sleep 7 or 8 hours every night no matter what else I really want to do, if any or if all of this works, I shall be a new woman, free of the pain and fatigue of Fibromyalgia. And you ALL will hear about it, probably every day for the rest of my life.
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