More Rolling Stones and less Prozac

“These are tough times for our species: evolution is trailing sociology by about 30,000 years.  We’re still tribal creatures with a deep-seated need for security, stability and community.   Instead we get fired and divorced, priests go to jail, our Presidents get impeached, families scatter and we’re digesting more Prozac than vegetables.”   -  Record producer Don Was, from the book ‘According to The Rolling Stones’*

That mention of “… we’re digesting more Prozac than vegetables.” makes me weep, not only because it’s such a true statement, but that it represents such a dreadful snapshot of how far off course we’ve veered as a society or culture.  We now have statins and antidepressants being prescribed to children (the statins as a prophylactic strategy, if you can believe that).  Worse, people today are so confused about what they should eat or not eat, studies are showing that they’re saying ‘The heck with it’ and simply giving up all together in their effort to adopt healthier lifestyle habits.  Then, in addition to being burdened with too much of the wrong information, people have a misplaced trust or faith that technology will swoop in and save the day for any health crisis they may develop.

As modern life marches relentlessly forward we’re faced with a harsh reality: technological advancement will not solve many of society’s most pressing challenges – selfishness, greed, immorality and disillusionment; that’s not to mention specific societal ills such as starvation, malaria, abject poverty, human trafficking, child pornography and genocide. 

Another thing technology isn’t going to solve – the lifestyle habits that erode our health, creating the chronic disease epidemic we are faced with today.  Although modern science continually speaks loudly and often about advances in drug research, nothing from the technology front will overcome toxicity and deficiency in our lifestyle choices within the domains of eating, moving and thinking that are creating ever increasing rates of heart disease, diabetes, cancer and of course, the ubiquitous obesity.  

The good news is how simple and easy it is to adopt and live a healthy lifestyle – once you have the right information and the right methods to employ proper habits to bring purity and sufficiency.

“One thing you can’t hide is when you’re crippled on the inside.”  - John Lennon

In a nutshell, here are the highlights of living well:

• Eat only foods that have been foods for 10,000 years or more (so that excludes grains, dairy, sugars (especially artificial sweeteners), refined vegetable oils and all processed foods).
• Move vigorously for at least 30 minutes every day.
• Drink copious amounts of purified water every day.
• Sleep a minimum of 7 hours every night.
• Be grateful, thankful, forgiving, joyful, and optimistic.

Any questions?  You can do it!

*“Man … this world is desperate for heroes like the Rolling Stones!” – This was the first line of the paragraph quote above.  I love how pearls of wisdom (or at least great quotes) can be found in every corner of the earth and across all professional, socio-economic and cultural boundaries.  If it’s not already obvious, I’m a huge Rolling Stones fan – I’m enamored with the Stones’ 40+ year commitment to excellence that has produced the most prodigious body of work in the music industry and, that they’re still going strong in their 60′s.  And of course, who can argue with Mick Jagger being the preeminent entertainer of the last century?  Did I mention I was a Stones fan?

Yours in health, Dr. Paul

… and the beat goes on …

I often feel like I’m swimming upstream in my attempt to navigate my family through the rapids of a culture that is terribly misinformed about what to eat and the consequences of choosing wrong. This never-ending revelation reared its ugly head on Friday when I attended our daughter Hope’s school barbeque, where the food provided was the typical disease-food banquet common to all family-centered activities these days. As you can see by the photo, it was hamburgers with processed American cheese served on white bread buns, chips and soda pop or juice boxes. What prompted me to take the photo was I sat staring at the table in front of me realizing that not only was everything being served at this family event things I never eat (I had eaten before coming), but that each food item was known to promote the development of heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and obesity – and everyone of all ages were eating them at this school event.

I am so sick of the prevailing attitude amongst parents: (1) “Oh, there’s nothing wrong with giving the kids (or myself having) a soda now and then,” or “A little won’t hurt anybody – after all, what’s more All-American than grilled hamburgers, chips and soda?,” and/or (2) that  healthy, nutritious food means unappetizing food. Regarding (1), what’s becoming “All-American” is rampant lifestyle diseases in the form of epidemic heart disease, diabetes, obesity, and cancer at all ages, brought on by those exact attitudes and the food choices that follow. There’s nothing wrong with organic, pasture-fed hamburger meat – it’s when it comes from feedlot grain-fed, hormone-, chemical- and antibiotic-laced cattle; AND then it’s combined with white flour, one of the most harmful food choices one can make. The value of the beef protein and fat becomes a non-issue in the face of the insulin spiking and inflammation-promoting characteristics of white bread (actually, even whole grain breads have the same effect; eating a gluten-free diet is one of the most powerful health decisions a person can make, without question). As for (2), I’ve personally experienced picnics where the food served was nutritious and delicious – so the idea that “health food” is yucky food is simply wrong and/or lazy thinking.

Next up – same weekend – was when I dropped Hope off at a birthday party that was already in full swing (she was coming from another birthday party), where I was ushered into the kitchen and asked if I wanted anything, only to be confronted AGAIN with pathetic food choices – pizza, ice cream and soda pop! Nothing new there, right? After all, next to hamburgers and chips, what’s more American than to serve kids pizza and soda pop for their birthday meal, followed by ice cream? And we wonder why Adult Onset Diabetes had to renamed Type 2 Diabetes – because it’s now a disease of childhood – A LIFESTYLE DISEASE BEING FORCED UPON UNKNOWING CHILDREN BY IRRESPONSIBLE PARENTS! (Those ALL CAPS – that’s me screaming.)

The final straw came early the next day, when I was out walking our dog Cooper, only to stumble across my neighbor’s Sunday paper laying in his driveway that today included three “free” diabetes bombs masqueraded as “strength and bone building” cereals – Trix Swirls, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, and Golden Grahams with “Whole Grain & Calcium – Guaranteed” and “Grow Up Strong” call-outs on the packaging. The only guarantee you’ll actually get from feeding your kids these cereals is you’ll be setting them on the course for insulin dysregulation, leading to diabetes and abnormal blood lipids, leading to heart disease…not to mention the neurotoxic effects of the food colors in the Trix Swirls (we have personal experience to this common effect – our son Timmy is very sensitive to any blue foods – his brain function and behavior becomes predictably irrational within 20 minutes of eating any foods containing blue food dyes, such as blue Gatorade, Fruit Loops, or blue Popsicles).

Yes, I want to scream. Yes, I’m known as the food Nazi. But isn’t our job as parents to look after the best interest of our kids’ health and future? As a doctor, scientist and parent, I’m acutely aware of the old adage, we are what we eat.

Yours in health, Dr. Paul