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Bob
New Member
| Joined: | 30 Apr 2005 |
| Location: | Montana USA |
| Posts: | 2 |
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Posted: 30 Apr 2005 07:55 pm |
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It seems to me that ideal weight, ideal blood pressure, ideal cholestoral counts etc,etc, have all gone down, down, down over the years.
What is the justification for lowering the standards?
How can we know what is ideal?
It is my view that constantly lowering the bar has had the opposite result of what was intended; that is to ENCOURAGE people to reach healthy goals. If I had trouble reaching and staying at the old lower goals why should I even try to hit the new higher goals?
I believe everyone is better off finding a level where they can eat a varied diet get moderate excersize and don't drink or smoke to much.
Am I wrong?
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Seragilo
Senior Member
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Posted: 1 May 2005 01:20 pm |
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Well, I am not well versed in the numbers of this here health game, but I do agree with you about everyone finding their own healthy form of living...but thats the problem isn't it? In todays 'gotta have it, keep up with the Jones', rat race world' people seem to be caught between a rock and a hard place.
Lets put it this way.....My family use to all have 1 life, our daughter's. She was in Rep Soccer. Now if you do not know what that means I can sum it up. No adult life! Every weekend from March to October was taken up by games, tourneys and practices. Most weekdays had practices or games as well, not to mention the fundraising, meetings and driving from place to place...for while I live in Ontario there would be tourneys in Cleveland, NY anywhere a pitch was found. Try eating healthy there...and people fall into that trap. Whats quick, cheap and easy to carry? Processed food. Now I know what you are thinking, pack healthy snacks...blah blah blah....when? Before or after you work, clean house, laundry, pay bills, cook some dinners....etc. This is what people think and it is a shame......for eating health can be done, they just have to learn how is all!
Next week I will share my views on those too lazy to get into healthy eating....just kidding;)
We all need to find our healthy spot in life and it takes time, some do not think they have it.....I beg to differ however, some still don't understand the importance of a proper diet.
Thanks for the platform.....*snicker*
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peterinwa
New Member
| Joined: | 30 Apr 2005 |
| Location: | |
| Posts: | 35 |
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Posted: 1 May 2005 03:20 pm |
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Bob, I can testify to the numbers! I was told by my doctor that I had to start taking cholesterol meds if I didn't get my total cholesterol down. So mid-February I finally attacked the problem and got total cholesterol down over 100 points to 157. I expect it to get better with more time... that was only 9 weeks.
But it's not total, good or bad cholesterol that counts the most... it's the ratio between good and bad cholesterol. And while I'm now just below the okay line at 3 something, last time I got a test it was 4 something that was okay!
Seragilo, I think if you simplify it to the extreme it all boils down to a matter of priorities, and what priority you give healthy eating.
Right now, anyway, I'm making it a priority. I volunteer for the Red Cross and 24/7 I can receive a page from 911 to respond to a house fire or other disaster anywhere in our county. I can be gone for many hours, and the page can come at the worst time foodwise... say when my workout is almost over and all I've eating was my morning OJ.
Our truck is full of (junk food) snacks for the fire fighters and other emergency responders, and I used to eat it on every call. Now I make sure I stuff my bag with fruit and bags of nuts. If I know it's going to be a long call, I'll throw in a can of something like lentil soup and pack some healthy crackers.
Once when I was spending the weekend at a retreat for people in 12-step recovery programs the leader was asked what it takes to stop "acting out" (eating poorly, drinking, drugs, whatever your thing is). While we had spent the whole weekend discussing the complexities of this subject, his simple reply was, "You'll stop when you want to badly enough."
His words have haunted me for the many years since that weekend. Countless times when I have begun eating poorly I have remembered them and agreed that at the moment I just didn't care enough to eat well.
Right now I do care enough. I'm so excited about improving my cholesterol and want to do even better.
Well, that's my sharing for the morning. Sharing always helps me keep "on track."
Gotta go make my oatmeal now before my pager goes off!
Peter
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Dave Brown
Senior Member
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Posted: 13 May 2005 02:01 pm |
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Bob, the song starts out, "Love makes the World go round..." It may indeed be love that keeps it turning, but it's the burden of bad ideas that makes it seem like it's spinning out of control. At the moment we have a global obesity/ diabetes/heart disease epidemic. What's driving it? I'd say it's wrongheaded notions as to how the real world works.
Your comment about lowering what is considered the ideal cholesterol level was followed by two important questions. 1) What is the justification for doing so? And 2) how can we know what is ideal? I'll answer the second question first.
There is no such thing as an ideal cholesterol level. That's because each of the numerous chemical reactions that sustain life varies according to ones individual genetic makeup. Looking at the outside we see variations in skin color, eye color, hair color, height, body shape, finger prints, eye structure; virtually every feature is individualized. We are similarly dissimilar on the inside. Stomach capacity, for example, can vary by a factor of ten. Also, the genetically determined efficiency of biochemical output for hormones and other chemicals manufactured by the cells can vary by factors of ten to a hundred in "normally" functioning individuals. That's why side effects of drugs are so unpredictable. One person takes a drug and it saves his life. Another takes the same drug and an adverse reaction threatens to kill him. Same is true of food. I eat peanut butter daily. I have a friend who could die if he ate one peanut.
As far as cholesterol levels are concerned, there appears to be a normal, ideal range that goes from 200 to 240. In this range of total cholesterol values the death rate from all causes is the lowest. When cholesterol values fall below 200, there is greater risk of dying from cancer or violent death related to depression or mental illness. Above 240, there is some increased risk of dying from the vascular diseases.
So why are we told to get our cholesterol values as low as possible? This sells drugs; specifically statins . By creating a new disease ( high cholesterol) the pharmaceutical industry has created a cash cow amounting to 60 billions of dollars world wide. If you care to inform yourself on this matter, you can read books or explore some web sites. I suggest thincs.org, westonaprice.org, and doctoryourself.com. These sites will suggest books that will clue you in as to what causes unwanted weight gain and degenerative disease.
By saying that the ideal range for cholesterol falls between 200 and 240 I am not suggesting that lower or higher values cannot be "normal" for some individuals. As mentioned elsewhere in this forum, the important thing is the quality of your food intake. One of the bad ideas, referred to earlier, is that manufactured foods containing vitamins and minerals are just as good as fresh, raw foods. That's not true. Proper nourishment involves consuming enough of all the elements required for energy, repair of injury replacement of cells, detoxification, and immune system function. Nobody knows what this amounts to, especially since people are so biochemically different from each other.
For a good discussion about cholesterol, read Chapter 8 of Why Raise Ugly Kids by Hal Huggins, DDS.
Last edited on 24 May 2005 04:44 am by Dave Brown
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Bob
New Member
| Joined: | 30 Apr 2005 |
| Location: | Montana USA |
| Posts: | 2 |
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Posted: 13 May 2005 07:05 pm |
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| Thanks Dave.
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