You really are what you eat

[gilad]

as a bad eater my entire life, one meal a day, usually fast foods, i recently decided to try health up a bit. i bought a meal replacement/supplement milkshake and have never felt better in my life thanks to my new quasi meal and one now healthy meal a day
Ever notice that what you eat affects your moods, productivity, concentration etc.
i always heard so but never really gave it a chance or believed it.

[BoliverAllmon]

i know if I eat tons of fast food I feel like crap. food definately effects my mood.

[prometheus]

Yeah, its really fun to prepare and cook a good meal and then take your time an enjoy it. Mentally really rewarding.

And a healthy diet is just physically better.


I don't know if it really effects the mood. I have been a vegetarian for 3 years now. I do feel healthy and happy but I can't say there was some magical effect.

[pianistimo]

sugar makes you tired.  eat like a rabbit - lettuce all the time.  little nibbles here and there.  soon, you'll be feeling really good without the hyperactivity that comes from the short bursts of energy sugar gives you.  don't drink soda!  did you know that flavored yogurt has more sugar in it than a soda.  make your own sweetners for yogurt (apples, bananas, juice).  basically, the american diet is poisoned by sugar (imo).

[paris]

eat like a rabbit - lettuce all the time.

oh shoot me please.

[BoliverAllmon]

sugar makes you tired.  eat like a rabbit - lettuce all the time.  little nibbles here and there.  soon, you'll be feeling really good without the hyperactivity that comes from the short bursts of energy sugar gives you.  don't drink soda!  did you know that flavored yogurt has more sugar in it than a soda.  make your own sweetners for yogurt (apples, bananas, juice).  basically, the american diet is poisoned by sugar (imo).

it is poison

oh shoot me please.

if you want me to

[pianistimo]

and here, paris has nice skin and looks good and she eats three pizzas (and possibly soda).  seriously, a lot of people have gotten diabetes from too much soda.  it's easy when you're young to eat pretty much whatever you want, but if yoiu want to have energy when you're older - you have to start 'training' yourself to eat what you might not like at first.  you know, dark greens, (i still don't eat liver), maybe fish, lots of water, fruit, less ice-cream (cholesteral heaven).   

over the years, i've modified my diet from lots and lots of ice-cream to lots and lots of lettuce (all varieties).  of the greens - i like collard greens the best because they give you the most 'bang for the buck.'  if you cook them, they taste ok, too.  i've gotten to the point where i don't care if they are cooked or raw.  i put collard greens in sandwiches and eat when noone is looking.  i often go to the fridge and take pieces of lettuce or greens and nibble.  my daughter thinks i'm strange, but i feel like a happy rabbit.

[leahcim]

They have a lot of quasi-studies / entertainment programs on TV lately that show miraculous changes in kids behaviour as they take a family and get them to adopt an improved diet.

I often wonder how much of the positive result is just that the path to the change requires lots of other changes - things like the parents spending more time and giving more attention to the kids than usual to get them to adopt the diet. Mealtimes being more formal in that respect, and the whole TV / experiment thing itself, that means they are basically being observed and their impressionable minds told [not necessarily directly, because adults often think kids are deaf when we speak] that their prior loony behaviour will change after nibbling the carrorts - as opposed to the actual diet making that much difference.

[pianistimo]

i'm curious if you are a parent.  not that it matters really, but it does make a difference when you spend time together vs. stressing kids out by rushing everything.  you seem like a very smart person - and probably will be a great parent when you are one - if you are not right now.

people don't like to hear the bible quoted sometimes, but i think of the verse 'better to eat herbs with a quiet household than fancy food with strife.'  i take that as what you said (any food that digests well, is good). 

one dichotomy is when you really need healthy food is when you don't have time for it.  like when you have a newborn - time is at a premium.  this is why i now choose fast healthy food instead of fast fast food.  going to the grocery store and buying produce is just as cheap as fast food.

[leahcim]

i'm curious if you are a parent.  not that it matters really

Yeah, I've got a 6 year old son.

[paris]

and here, paris has nice skin and looks good and she eats three pizzas (and possibly soda).  seriously, a lot of people have gotten diabetes from too much soda. 

I drink only water. (not included occasional alcohol excursions lol  )

I'm aware of importance eating healt food but I can't resist.
of course I don't eat every day pizza. I'm used to mediterranean type of food...much fish, olive oil, tomatoes...and thats keeping me healthy.

and my tan-it's all because I use olive oil when I'm on the beach.

[pianistimo]

oh, i see, olive oil on the beach.  well, that goes to show you are what you eat, or is it you are what you wear, or eat what you wear, or something like that.

[prometheus]

Is pizza that unhealthy? I thought tomato sause was quite healthy and if it has a lot of vegetables, herbs and olive oil it can't be that bad, right. Sure the cheese (and meat if any) aren't that good but surely in a good idiet they won't do much harm.
 

[gilad]

Thanks all, very interesting. I have established that i must be one of the unhealthiest bastards alive. I' go for months only drinking coca cola, and 2 litres of it a day, until i start feeling crappy and start drinking water for a few days I crave meat and eat that everday for my one meal and if there any chocolates lying around  the house i'm bound to eat them all as snacks.
We have diabetes and cholestrol all over our family tree so i'm now realising the significance of going the way of the bunny .
no more coke and no more junk for me, i can do this.
and about that TV show leahcim, you're probably right, sounds like their are to many variables not being accounted for....very unscientific....the hawthorne effect would be one to name cause of the attention they're getting from the show itself.

[bernhard]

and here, paris has nice skin and looks good and she eats three pizzas (and possibly soda).  seriously, a lot of people have gotten diabetes from too much soda.  it's easy when you're young to eat pretty much whatever you want, but if yoiu want to have energy when you're older - you have to start 'training' yourself to eat what you might not like at first.  you know, dark greens, (i still don't eat liver), maybe fish, lots of water, fruit, less ice-cream (cholesteral heaven).   

over the years, i've modified my diet from lots and lots of ice-cream to lots and lots of lettuce (all varieties).  of the greens - i like collard greens the best because they give you the most 'bang for the buck.'  if you cook them, they taste ok, too.  i've gotten to the point where i don't care if they are cooked or raw.  i put collard greens in sandwiches and eat when noone is looking.  i often go to the fridge and take pieces of lettuce or greens and nibble.  my daughter thinks i'm strange, but i feel like a happy rabbit.

If you are what you eat, shouldn’t you be eating rabbit to be like a rabbit? Or to put it another way, aren’t you afraid of turning into a lettuce?

My favourite greens are the Chinese ones: Kai Lan (slightly bitter), Pak Choy (wonderfully crisp) and Chinese cabage.

Amongst the lettuces, Cos Lettuce is miles ahead of the others both in flavour and in the amount of good nutrients (iceberg lettuce has basically nothing in it).

Back to the rabbits, they are an excellent source of cheap and low-fat protein. I eat them often. But I also eat shark to balance any lame rabbit personality I might be getting from eating them. And hare is not bad either, if you like your meat gamey – which brings me to Venison, which my wife does not like ever since she saw “Bambi”. She revels in veal, but she does not really know what it actually is? Should I tell her? I am afraid she will end up on a very restrict diet if I break the news. This is the problem with moral vegetarians (who don’t eat meat for moral reasons – as opposed to health vegetarians which do not eat meat on health grounds), they will have to live of air and sunlight eventually (just like that lady who wrote a book about it and claimed to living on air and sunlight for the past the years – but then she was shown to be a fake).

Which reminds me of the death of the Buddha. Buddhists don’t like to talk about it, but the truth of the matter, is that the Buddha died in his 80’s from indigestion after eating pork. How come, you all may ask, after all aren’t Buddhists vegetarians? Well, apparently the Buddha and his disciples were invited to a banquet  by some local guy – the Buddha was in this place preaching – and this guy happened to be a man with a pure heart and much generosity. He spend a lot of money and loving care preparing this meal for the Buddhist group. So when they were all seated around the table and the main course arrived the disciples were dismayed to see it was a whole barbecued pork (the actual dish changes in some apocrypha – sometimes it is pork stew, sometimes sweet and sour pork and so on and so forth). The Buddha heart was filled with compassion – first for the host, who had gone to such expense and care to prepare what he though was a special meal, and then for his disciples, who would have to face deep moral problems and eat meat. Being the einlghtened one, he knew what he had to do. He said to the disciples: “Don’t touch the pork – gorge on the lettuce instead – I will have the pork all for myself”, which he did and then proceeded to eat the whole pork to show the host how much he had enjoyed it. That night he died from indigestion. (Please apply no attention to some disrespectful cynics who imply that the Buddha used a stratagem to have the pork all to himself, or to heretic reports that the disciples were pretty pissed off at having to eat lettuce).

 

Best wishes,
Bernhard.

[bernhard]

Pianist Tamasz Vasary in interview with David Dubal:

You are a great believer in nutrition and the importance of good physical condition for the pianist.

I am convinced that our general condition is greatly influenced by what we eat. And I am very excited today because I was reading an article on a new kind of vitamin therapy that sounds like it could be very useful for pianists. It was written by a doctor who has made tests on Olympic champions to find out which vitamins they lacked. You know, pianists are athletes , too. They need to be in excellent shape. I have to record the Brahms-Paganini Variations soon, and if there is the slightest pain in any finger, I won’t be able to do all I can. So I’d like to go to see this doctor.

When did you become aware of nutrition?

About six years ago. It was just around the time I was scheduled to do the first session of my complete Rachmaninoff concerto recordings. I got food poisoning and I became very ill. I literally stopped eating. I was two weeks before the recording and I was afraid that I wouldn’t survive the ordeal of six hours of non-stop playing that would be required of me because I was so weak. But when I went to the piano to practise a bit, I found that for the first time in ten years or more I was completely free of a kind of rusty feeling in my joints. At first I attributed this to an injection which the doctor had given me. But later I realised that this was because I had inadvertently stopped eating meat. All my life I have been a heavy meat eater; and ever since I stopped eating it, my hands have felt better. Also, I’ve experimented with vitamins, and I found that on days of high stress, especially when I am giving concerts, I take four times as many vitamin C tablets as usual.

(David Dubal – The World of the Concert Pianist – Victor Gollancz – p. 318, 322)

Best wishes,
Bernhard

[BoliverAllmon]

Pianist Tamasz Vasary in interview with David Dubal:

You are a great believer in nutrition and the importance of good physical condition for the pianist.

I am convinced that our general condition is greatly influenced by what we eat. And I am very excited today because I was reading an article on a new kind of vitamin therapy that sounds like it could be very useful for pianists. It was written by a doctor who has made tests on Olympic champions to find out which vitamins they lacked. You know, pianists are athletes , too. They need to be in excellent shape. I have to record the Brahms-Paganini Variations soon, and if there is the slightest pain in any finger, I won’t be able to do all I can. So I’d like to go to see this doctor.

When did you become aware of nutrition?

About six years ago. It was just around the time I was scheduled to do the first session of my complete Rachmaninoff concerto recordings. I got food poisoning and I became very ill. I literally stopped eating. I was two weeks before the recording and I was afraid that I wouldn’t survive the ordeal of six hours of non-stop playing that would be required of me because I was so weak. But when I went to the piano to practise a bit, I found that for the first time in ten years or more I was completely free of a kind of rusty feeling in my joints. At first I attributed this to an injection which the doctor had given me. But later I realised that this was because I had inadvertently stopped eating meat. All my life I have been a heavy meat eater; and ever since I stopped eating it, my hands have felt better. Also, I’ve experimented with vitamins, and I found that on days of high stress, especially when I am giving concerts, I take four times as many vitamin C tablets as usual.

(David Dubal – The World of the Concert Pianist – Victor Gollancz – p. 318, 322)

Best wishes,
Bernhard

interesting

[leahcim]

(Please apply no attention to some disrespectful cynics who imply that the Buddha used a stratagem to have the pork all to himself, or to heretic reports that the disciples were pretty pissed off at having to eat lettuce).

Salman Rushdie's written another book?

[leahcim]

Is pizza that unhealthy? I thought tomato sause was quite healthy and if it has a lot of vegetables, herbs and olive oil it can't be that bad, right. Sure the cheese (and meat if any) aren't that good but surely in a good idiet they won't do much harm.

Yep. A balanced diet is probably more key than "good", "bad", "heathly" or "unhealthy" foods. Although advice tends to be per diem, which probably makes it easier to get that balance if you avoid some things.

I suspect that many that worry about it to the nth degree might well eat a bad diet that doesn't contain enough of the things that the propaganda says to avoid. Everyone who doesn't care carries on the same and the neurotics, who probably had a perfectly ok diet before, try to stop eating any fat or eat ridiculous amounts of fibre.

I think from personal experience exercise is far more key to how you feel than diet.

But food and drink are becoming like the smoking thing. They've won, it's been undeniably bad for our health for years, no problem with that.

But to finally put the last nail in the coffin they've gone to the nth degree, twisting and stretching the truth to get some phrase to print on a packet to appeal to a certain demographic as though death isn't bad enough. "Death doesn't appeal to young men so they still smoke what can we tell them?" "How about impotence?" "Good one" "What about people with kids though" "Guilt - but what if they read the impotence one and put
2 and 2 together?" "These are people, no chance of that"

Soon there won't be a single health issue that isn't connected to smoking, until no one smokes.

Once they've finished there and it's banned, people will still get ill and die and whatever moves to the top of the list will be attacked in the same way - and the movement on food and drink has started here - with suggestions to force health warnings and put pictures of alcohol related diseases on the products, bans in advertising etc.

[gorbee natcase]

Then I am a baked potato

[timothy42b]

I just tried a dessert called "Death by Chocolate."

It only made me stronger. 

[pianistimo]

yes.  i sort of want to die that way too.

[bernhard]

Salman Rushdie's written another book?

 

[Bob]

I'm a chicken...

[pianistimo]

bob?  are you asking someone to eat you?  i wouldn't be so casual about such a provocative statement.  someone might take you literally, and then what would we do about your heart?

ps  i once answered all my dentists questions about my heart positively, and then he wanted to perform a procedure without anesthetic (telling me i didn't really need it) and i said 'but, what about my heart?'  he got really agitated and asked who sent me to him.  (he did laugh).

[Bob]

You are what you eat.

I ate chicken.

Therefore, I am a chicken.  

uh-oh.... What if I want to be a musician?

[bernhard]

You are what you eat.

I ate chicken.

Therefore, I am a chicken.  

uh-oh.... What if I want to be a musician?

In the immortal words of Hannibal Lecter, "Have [your favorite musician] for dinner."

(and if you like meat well hung, try one of the golden age ones, like Horowitz and Rubinstein)

[jeremyjchilds]

In the immortal words of Hannibal Lecter, "Have [your favorite musician] for dinner."

(and if you like meat well hung, try one of the golden age ones, like Horowitz and Rubinstein)

I was hoping to be reminded of Hannibal Lecter...

[Torp]

I wonder if this theory also applies to drinks....

[chopintod]

 

In January I decided that I wanted to be healthier so I stopped 95% of my "junk food eating"--candy, ice cream, cookies, pop, etc.   I started having fruit for snacks instead of a cookie or something; starting eating salads; etc.  I have stuck with it and have lost 25+ pounds since then....never felt better.

 

Now I have my mom wanting to try it too....

Terry

[pianistimo]

my mom was really into 'health food' when i was growing up.  naturally, i tended to like junk food because of it, and when married wanted to prove to her that it didn't matter what you ate.  it worked for maybe 5-8 years until i became really tired for no apparrent reason. 

that's when i did what you are doing, chopintod, and started eating more salad.  also, white flour isn't too good for you either.  i tend to still like white bread for sandwiches, but when i make pancakes or even brownies i take the mix and add about a cup of whole wheat flour.  then i add a little extra water with egg.  it tastes better, to me, and the kids don't tell the difference.

also, i never could get my kids to eat sweet potatoes (rich in vit. A) even at thanksgiving.  so, one year, i baked them and blended them into the mashed potatoes.  all the kids ate them.  sometimes you have to be sneaky.

ps  my four year old thinks frozen peas are candy.

[chopintod]

ps  my four year old thinks frozen peas are candy.

haha...what a cruel, cruel parent you are....

Just joking...sort of...

Terry

[BoliverAllmon]

In January I decided that I wanted to be healthier so I stopped 95% of my "junk food eating"--candy, ice cream, cookies, pop, etc.   I started having fruit for snacks instead of a cookie or something; starting eating salads; etc.  I have stuck with it and have lost 25+ pounds since then....never felt better.

 

Now I have my mom wanting to try it too....

Terry

I myself have not eaten any sweets and have had nothing to drink except water since May 2004. It is amazing how much better I feel. I am trying to cut back on fast food, but it is harder because I am at school so much.

[pianistimo]

whew!  for a moment there i read your message like i haven't had anything but water to drink since may 2004.  was a little bit worried.  i guess if you have willpower, it's possible.  very hard in the grocery store when hungry.

another tip. don't take kids to the grocery store.  go at 6 in the morning or something (they'll never know).  all those sugary cereals are not so good, but it's what they like.  i wanted to start making those healthy cereals, but waited too long (they were too old and already tasted the other).  now they won't eat buckwheat or cacious, not even oatmeal that much.  if you have kids like mine, maybe muffins are the way to go.  get some good muffin recipies (and sneak bran and whole wheat in).

[gorbee natcase]

I'm a chicken...

You are a protien guzling, testosterone driven mountain of a human being

[thalbergmad]

Eat dung

A billion flies can't be wrong.

[Bob]

You are a protien guzling, testosterone driven mountain of a human being

Yeah, people tell me that all the time.

Tonight, I am Chinese.