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My Thoughts About Statins Prescribed to Prevent Heart Attacks – by Gary Smolker
Struggle
I’ve struggled for more that three years trying to decide whether I should take the “recommended” dosage of a statin medicine to prevent having a heart attack.
Various of my friends have struggled with the same question.
Below is a copy of a string of emails between me (Gary Smolker) and my good friend Paul Cook about whether he or I should take a statin prescribed by our physicians.
I have struggled with that questions for years because I never received a satisfactory answer to my question why should I take a statin, even though I’ve asked many physicians for their answer and have read more than ten books on diet, exercise, life style/healthy living in terms of what to do to prevent heart attacks/heart disease/diabetes, etc. etc.
The Unanswered Questions
I would like to know how much longer I would live if I took the recommended dosage.
I would also like to know what harmful/distasteful side effects would I experience if I took the recommended dosage.
What would be my quality of life over time if I took the recommended dosage vs. if I don’t take the recommended dosage?
My Personal Belief About Longevity
The principle which I used to make my decision about what dosage of statin, if any, to take was based on the following personal belief and principle.
“Its not the years in your life that counts its the life in your years.” – Abraham Lincoln
My Personal Belief About Diet
Your diet consists of more than the food you eat. It’s also the books you read, the shows you watch, the people you associate with, the people you are surrounded by, the people you meet, the places you see, the things you do, what you think about, your total environment. Your “diet” also consists of what you drink and the air you breathe (i.e. second hand smoke from tobacco products, etc.), and especially including the water you drink.
My people believe the water they drink is poisoned (Flint, Michigan), the air they breathe is poisoned (Beijing) and food we all eat causes medical problems, including deformed babies, drug addicted babies, and miscarriages.
According to a recently published WHO (World Health Organization) Report, exposure to polluted environments is associated with more than one in four deaths among children under the age of five. Research finds that some 1.7 million children’s death across the globe are attributable to environmental hazards such as exposure to contaminated water, air pollution, and other unsanitary conditions.
Exposure to hazardous chemicals through air, food and products used in every day life is also associated with hindered brain development in children.
Wellness
In my opinion:
- The poorest man is not the man without a penny. It’s the man without a dream, a man without a purpose.
- Work without passion is slavery.
- There are seven days a week and “someday” isn’t one of them.
- An ambitious person working 9 to 5 their entire life is like a lion choosing to be caged at the zoo.
- HEALTHY LIVING is a giant multidimensional topic.
Drinking And Wellbeing
I’ve read that there are thirteen minerals that are essential for human life and all of them can be found in wine. Coincidence? I think not. Is that true? I don’t know. I would like to think so.
Hard driving stressed-out men, imagine this situation: It’s overcast today, You chill by the fire with a pair of cocktails for yourself and your lady. You each each have the following drink in your hand: Anejo tequila, washed in browned butter, in a cup of coffee, garnished with Netflix and a warm blanket.
Recipe:
- 1 oz browned butter washed Gran Centenario Anejo
- .75 oz Borghetti coffee liqueur
- .25 oz Cynar 70
- Barspoon 2:1 demerara – 3 oz hot coffee
- Top with hand-whipped cinnamon cream
Don’t Just Exist. Glow.
Does the woman in the picture below look like she is having a good time?
She is totally focused on her work.
Does the woman in the photo below look like she is going to have a good time?
Have A Good Time.
Make sure you have a good time.
Laugh a lot.
Laughter is good medicine.
My Personal Belief About Mistakes
Creative people don’t make mistakes. They make discoveries.
Creativity is contagious. Pass it along.
Personal Correspondence
Below is a copy of recent personal correspondence between myself (Gary Smolker) and one of my friends (Paul Cook) about taking stains to prevent heart attacks/heart disease.
The last [most recent] piece of correspondence is at the top, the first piece of correspondence is at the bottom of the string of email correspondence below.
Neither Paul Cook not I are/is a physician.
Neither one of us has any medical training.
Both of us have declined to take a dosage of a statin drug that we have been told/advised that we should take in order to prevent having a heart attack.
Thoughts for the Day
Consider the following before reading the correspondence below between Paul and me.
- Science is not decided by vote. There is no consensus, there is only our best current understanding.
- If the “experts” had it right we would be living on a “flat Earth” around which the Universe revolves praying to Zeus for our lives.
- The practice of medicine today is better than it was fifty years ago and in fifty years from now the practice of medicine will be better than it is today.
- TODAY: More people commit suicide than are killed by soldiers, terrorists and criminals combined.
- TODAY: The average human is far more likely to die from binging at McDonald’s than from drought, Ebola, or an aL-Qaeda attack.
- With respect to taking steps to have a high quality life, prevent heart attacks, etc we are dealing with (a) lots of uncertainty, (b) incomplete information, (c) a very complex situation, and (d) lack of significant and/or meaningful understanding of physical, biological, biochemical, and physiological processes and in particular we have an almost complete lack understanding of brain function brain health brain chemistry and cognitive processes.
- Risk changes as we get older.
- Much to my astonishment I read that taking statins can lower testosterone (in effect eliminate/lower sex drive and sex function), destroy cognitive function (make it more difficult to process information and to think, destroy short term memory, destroy long term memory), increase the chance of having Alzheimer’s disease, increase the chance of having diabetes, and speed up the aging process. I don’t know if any of that is true (i.e., if there is any correlation between taking a statin and losing sex drive, or getting Alzheimer’s disease or if any of those dreadful potential side effects would happen to me if I took the recommended dosage of statin, now or when I became older (later)).
Saturday, March 4, 2017
Paul,
Thank you for the vote of approval and confidence in my point of view.
According to David B. Augus, M.D., a pioneering cancer doctor and researcher [he is a professor of medicine and engineering at the University of Southern California and heads USC’s Westside Cancer Center and the Center for Applied Molecular Medicine), the top ten causes of death in the United States for the 2010 calendar year according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention expressed as deaths in the United States for the 2010 calendar year were:
- Heart disease: 597,689 deaths
- Cancer: 574,4743
- Chronic lower respiratory diseases: 138,080
- Stroke (cerebrovascular diseases): 129,476 deaths
- Accidents (unintentional injuries): 120,859 deaths
- Alzheimer’s disease: 83,494 deaths
- Diabetes: 69,071 deaths
- Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome, and nephrosis: 50,476 deaths
- Influenza and pneumonia: 50,097 deaths
- Intentional self-harm (suicide): 38,364 deaths
Assuming you are going to eventually die, if you had a choice of cause of death which cause of death would/do you prefer?
For example: Do you prefer to die of heart disease or cancer?
In general, chances are if you don’t die from heart disease, you most likely will die from (1) cancer, or (2) chronic lower respiratory disease, or (3) stroke or (4) an accident/unintentional injury, or (5) Alzheimer’s disease, or (6) diabetes, or something else listed above.
Do you have any idea what it would be like to die from a heart attack or from cancer?
By the way, statistics are valuable for understanding a population as a whole, but much less valuable for predicting an individual.
Gary
—–Original Message—–
From: Paul Cook
To: Gary Smoker <gsmolker@aol.com>
Cc: Many
Sent: Sat, Mar 4, 2017 6:18 am
Subject: Re: Context: The Missing Ingredient
Gary
Sent from my iPhone
Thanks Gary,
I appreciate your input! I was told that if I took x mg of Statin I would lower the risk of stroke and or heart attack some exact %…. not necessarily so. But that’s what his computer said!
Paul
On March 3, 2017 at 3:50 PM Gary Smolker <gsmolker@aol.com> wrote:
FYI—–Original Message—–
From: Gary Smolker <gsmolker@aol.com>
To: Mayer
Cc: Many
Sent: Fri, Mar 3, 2017 3:48 pm
Subject: Context: The Missing IngredientMayer,My criticism of advice regarding what to eat and do to accomplish the goal of preventing heart attacks and other physical, mental and medical disasters is that RAW DATA is only useful when we put it in context.
The advice given is usually too general or too wrong headed or on mere speculation.
ALWAYS medical advice given to me regarding taking statins has never been a full disclosure of what is known of practical significance.
Compounding the problem the public on the whole would be like swine being fed pearls if anyone would attempt to provide HONEST FULL DISCLOSURE of the plus and minus and percent chance of achieving various results.
Too little is known for any MD to be able to say with a high degree of certainty if you take a statin of any particular dose you will live a specific amount of time longer.
Best regards,
Gary
—–Original Message—–
From: Mayer
To: undisclosed-recipients:;
Sent: Mon, Feb 20, 2017 6:19 pm
Subject: Fwd: Home Remedies That Work (and Some That Don’t)———- Forwarded message ———-
From: WebMD <health@messages.webmd.com>
Date: Tue, Feb 14, 2017 at 8:38 AM
Subject: Home Remedies That Work (and Some That Don’t)
To: Mayerblah blah
Copyright © 2017 by Gary Smolker, All Rights Reserved
The Active Life – by Gary Smolker
Hockey Players Live An Active Life
Look at the hockey players in the collages above. They are living an active life.
There is is no doubt in my mind that someone playing hockey like those hockey players is getting lots of powerful physical activity.
Look at the single frames below of NHL hockey players on the ice.
Look at their vitality.
Look at the physical strength and fitness they are projecting, the energy they are expending in this activity, while “playing” hockey.
I, on the other hand, live a sedate life.
I Live A Sedate Life
I am living a sedate life: no hockey, no lacrosse, no fencing, no rollerblading.
I was a lot more active when I was 13 years old.
Living the Engaged Life Is In the Eyes of the Beholder
- Exercise is in the eyes of the beholder.
- Fitness is in the eyes of the beholder.
- Health is in the eyes of the beholder.
I live on the West Coast, in the Van Nuys Sherman Oaks area of Los Angeles, California and work in Encino, California.
My 13 year old grandson Nate lives on the East Coast, in the greater Boston area of Massachusetts.
Nate plays hockey.
Nate is the goalie on his team.
The job of the goalie is to defend the net, to prevent the opposing team from shooting a puck into the net.
Nate is a spectacular goalie.
I don’t play hockey.
Different Strokes/Activities for Different Folks
Nate and his family are visiting Los Angeles.
Yesterday, Nate and his mother, father and 15 year old sister went to Hermosa Beach to go biking and rollerblading on the beach.
Tomorrow, Nate and I are going to a Barnes & Noble Book Store in Santa Monica at 9:00 a.m. and bowling afterwards.
After bowling, Nate and I are going to meet up with his mother, father and older (15 years old) sister who will be taking a UCLA tour from 10:15 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.
Living the Engaged Life
Nate, his older sister, his mother, his father, and I are living the engaged life.
Living Life Powerfully
Nate, Nate’s older sister, Nate’s mother, Nate’s father, and ME (Nate’s grandfather) are living life powerfully.
Age is a factor.
Copyright © 2017 Gary Smolker, All Rights Reserved
This is the fifth in a series of articles I intend to post on the Gary S. Smolker Idea Exchange Blog at http://www.garysmolker.wordpress.com on “LIVING THE ENGAGED LIFE.”
I have continuously made posts on my Instagram account @garyspassion on “LIVING THE ENGAGED LIFE,” and intend to continue to do so.
Follow me on Instagram @garyspassion
Not Virgin! – by Gary Smolker
BRAIN POWER
Whoever designed the container shown above has a lot of brain power.
Whoever designed the labels on that container has a lot of brain power.
Whoever designed the paper bag shown above has a lot of brain power.
What you see above is not just a container.
What you see above is not just a paper bag.
What you see above is an example of the creative communication of a sales pitch presented as a message.
ACTION
You are looking at a container with a story and a message.
You are looking at a bag with a story and a message.
The stories on that container and on that bag trigger action.
A CREATIVE ADVERTISING MASTERPIECE
Q: Is that a container of ice cream, or a container of hand and body lotion?
A: No. It is a creative advertising masterpiece.
Q: Is that a paper bag?
A: No. It is a creative advertising masterpiece.
TAKING A STAND SELLS PRODUCTS
The “Charity Pot” container looks like a container of ice cream.
I like ice cream.
The label on the top of the container states, “BY BUYING CHARITY POT YOU SUPPORT GOOD CAUSES…”
I am in favor of supporting good causes.
Another label on the container states, “NOT VIRGIN! Pot made from 100% recycled plastic. Recycle it or bring it back.”
I am in favor of recycling.
The bag states the following:
- 100% VEGETARIAN
- FRESHEST COSMETICS
- HANDMADE
- FIGHTING ANIMAL TESTING
Those are all appealing stands on social issues.
All of the above influences influenced me to buy that “hand and body lotion.”
WEALTH
Wealth at its deepest root is the product not of physical labor but of intelligence, of creative vision.
Action is required to actualize the vision, but physical labor not guided by human intelligence is virtually worthless.
BRAIN POWER
All business is fundamentally about brain power.
Without the guidance of an idea, action is just mindless motion, without direction, purpose or value.
POTENTIAL
There is no maximum to potential.
LIVING LIFE FULLY
Some people live life fully.
They know:
- You have to know what you need in order to find what you want.
- You can’t figure out what you really want unless you try everything.
MAGIC
People who don’t believe in magic, don’t find it.
Life isn’t magical on its own.
We make it magical
LUSH COSMETICS IS A GAME CHANGER
In the evolution of advertising, and in the evolution of business, Lush Cosmetics is not a virgin
Lush Cosmetics is a magician who speaks and does business in the language of popular culture.
Lush Cosmetics realized that people have a social conscious and that people are health conscious.
With that realization, Lush Cosmetics became a game changer, a rebel who never stopped redefining the business of cosmetics and never stopped redefining the business of creative communications.
The photographs above show part of the picture of how Lush Cosmetics got from there to here and now…. in the health conscious cause conscious popular culture and…. in the cosmetics industry.
STORY TELLING
Story tellings is fundamental to our lives.
We all love stories.
THE EXTRAORDINARY WORLD WE NOW LIVE IN
It is a testament to the extraordinary world we now live in that Lush Cosmetics is a huge business success.
THE EVOLUTION OF BUSINESS
PEOPLE ARE SEARCHING FOR MEANING!
- The future is hyper-connected.
- People want to participate in causes.
- Lush Cosmetics lets them do so.
“Participate in an important social cause” is the central message of Lush Cosmetics advertising: that message is on the labels on “Charity Pot”, and in the statements made on its paper bags, etc.
CONNECTING
People connect with others not just with similar passions and interests, but around the causes that most resonate with them.
More and more, brands are identifying with a cause, and making that identification a central part of their ethos.
NOT VIRGIN!
I believe in magic.
I am not virgin.
I am 100% in favor of powerfully “living the engaged life.”
Gary Smolker
Copyright © 2017 Gary Smolker, All Rights Reserved
This is the third in a series of articles I intend to post on the Gary S. Smolker Idea Exchange Blog at http://www.garysmolker.wordpress.com on “LIVING THE ENGAGED LIFE.”
I have continuously made posts on my Instagram account @garyspassion on “LIVING THE ENGAGED LIFE,” and intend to continue to do so.
Follow me on Instagram @garyspassion
People Miss Out Who Don’t Know What They Are Missing – by Gary Smolker
I Live In A Stressful Fast Paced Exhausting World
I am not a smooth talker.
I am a driven creative deep thinking workaholic.
My idea of relaxing on the weekend is to sip a good cup of coffee, read a good book, and to have bagels and cream cheese and a medley of smoked fish [Herring in sour cream, BBQ Cod, Lox, White Fish]and Cole-slaw near bye for me to eat at my leisure.
Below is a picture of the food, coffee and book I had at my fingertips Saturday morning, December 10, 2016.
When I go to a night-time intellectual event, such as a lecture, I want to eat a tasty treat to get me in a good mood before the lecture begins.
I know happy people think better.
Below is a picture of a plate of mini-lemon-meringue pies at the desert table at a lecture I attended Wednesday night, December 7, 2016.
Below is a close up picture of one of those mini-lemon-meringue pies, after the lady sitting next to me took a bite out of it.
Tasty tasty tasty, those mini-lemon-meringue pies were tasty.
Folk-Wisdom Needs Updating
Folk-wisdom needs updating.
Be my friends and the friend of everyone else in the world by getting into the process of letting people know what they don’t know.
Old School Poetical Thinking
“A loaf of bread, a bottle of wine and you equals pleasure.”
Today Everyone Has the Ability to Renegotiate Their Reality
“A good cup of coffee and a good book to read equals pleasure.”
“Shoe shopping is therapeutic.
“Shoe shopping is a wonderful treatment for Post Traumatic Stress Disorders.”
Thought for the Day
“In the end, winning is sleeping better.” – Jodie Foster
You can renegotiate your reality.
Bon Appetite and Good Shopping.
Gary S. Smolker, publisher, movie reviewer, social commentator Gary S. Smolker Idea Exchange Blog www.garysmolker.wordpress.com Gary Smolker, fashion blogger Dude's Guide to Women's Shoes www.dudesguidetowomensshoes.com Instagram: garyspassion Copyright © 2016 by Gary S. Smolker, All Rights Reserved
Nature-Deficit-Disorder – by Gary S. Smolker
Live A Little
I’ve concluded that life is for living.
I have concluded that the best type of life for me is one in which I stop being afraid of wasting my time by going out or by going to new places or by meeting new people and instead that I should travel to new places, meet new people, have new experiences and learn new things while doing so.
Medicine Is A Way of Life.
In my opinion life is beautiful and how I live my life is either good medicine for me or poisonous.
The key to being “healthy” for me is knowing how to live.
I’ve found I can –
- Be Happy, Healthy and Full of Wonderment.
- Relieve stress, regenerate my spirit, laugh and be joyful.
- Go out in “nature” and see directly in front of my eyes that all living things (plants, animals, fish and fowl] that live naturally in harmony with their nature flourish.
The Great Smoky Mountains National Park
I recently went on a trip to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in North Carolina and Tennessee with my three adult daughters.
One of the great things I discovered while being high up the Great Smoky Mountains National Park is that there is no cell phone reception there.
Consequently it was a place where I could relax and (re)connect with nature.
While I was in the Smoky Mountains I was able to decompress, relieve stress and regenerate my spirit as a result of being in nature with no distractions – as a result of being in a place where there was no cell phone service.
I personally experienced the value of (a) breathing fresh air, (b) seeing clear clean running water in streams creeks and rivers, (c) seeing picturesque waterfalls, (d) hiking in pristine woods and (e) solitude.
As a result of “being “n nature” without the distractions imposed on me by cell phones, Internet connection, talking texting or emailing I was able to see clearly the way things work “in nature” and as a result of that after I returned from my “retreat” in nature with my daughters I have been able think clearly without distraction about several things of concern to me.
Additionally, my trip to the Smokies was an amazing bonding experience with my daughters, nature and myself.
During the entire time I was in the Smoky Mountains I was happy, healthy, full of wonderment and stress-free.
The kinds of experiences I had on my trip to the Smoky Mountains have provided memories which I will enjoy for years to come and a reference point and base line to use when thinking about things in my daily life that are important to me.
The experiences I had and the observations I made on that trip have increased ability to think many fold about how I spend my time and other resources and about medical, financial, family and emotional issues of great concern to me.
The Area In and Around the Great Smoky Mountains National Park
The whole area in and around the Smoky Mountains is quite stunning – light traffic on the freeways, lush green all around the hills and in the mountains.
“Nature” is preserved in a pristine state in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
People Who Know How to Live
The people I met in the areas in and around the Smoky Mountains during my vacation/retreat in the Smoky Mountains with my three daughters know how to live.
They live rustic sensible refined remarkable and somewhat “funky” lives.
Every one I met was good -natured, calm, friendly, hospitable and grounded, and seemed to be alert and happy.
The people I saw and met in cafes, restaurants, and grocery stores during my sojourn in and around the Smoky Mountains were striking different from the people I typically see in similar places in and around Los Angeles.
The people I met in the South (in and around the Smoky Mountains) were all very calm, relaxed and laid back.
I didn’t meet or see anyone during my sojourn in and around the Smoky Mountains who was up tight, anxious, or stressed out.
Below is a photograph I took of a man a man I met in the “Lil Black Bear Cafe” in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.
I’ve never seen anyone wearing a T-shirt in Los Angeles like the T-shirt the man in the photograph above is wearing.
By the way, the chocolate Bear Claw served in the “Lil Black Bear Cafe” in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee is something to write home about. I ate one. See photos below of the Bear Claw I ate in the “Lil Black Bear Cafe.”
I survived eating the Bear Claw pictured above.
I purchased a T-shirt to celebrate my accomplishment.
See photograph of the T-shirt I bought.
The people I met, and the culture and way of life I observed, in and around the Smoky Mountains was tremendously different from the culture I experience every day in Los Angeles.
I think people in the South (at least the people I met and interacted with) are more “natural” and more in tune with their core human nature that people in and around Los Angels that I see when I go out to eat or to a grocery store or to any other public place in Los Angeles.
Below is a photograph of a man I met in a grocery store in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee and a close up photograph of the T-shirt that man was wearing when I saw and met him.
I’ve never seen anyone in Los Angeles wearing a T-shirt like that.
Popularity of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park
The Great Smoky Mountains National Park is the most popular park in the National Park System.
Ten million people per year visit the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
Everyone Needs A Perfect Place to Think
Everyone needs a perfect place to think without distraction, a retreat.
The Great Smoky Mountains National Park is such a place.
All four of us (Leah, Judi, Terra and me) found the Smoky Mountains to be a perfect place to think.
My Search for A Clear Mind
The search for a clear mind is one of my fundamental goals.
The search for a “clear mind” is the fundamental goal of “all” creative and highly productive people.
During my trip to the Smoky Mountains, the solitude I experienced and my interaction with (a) my daughters, (b) nature and (c) the people I met gave me a clear mind.
My Trip to the Smoky Mountains
I left my in Encino, California on May 14, 2016 and visited the Great Smoky Mountains in North Carolina and Tennessee for ten days, from May 14 to May 24, 2016, with my three daughters Leah, Judi and Terra.
As a result of taking my trip to the Smoky Mountains, I feel totally connected to life – physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually.
It is clear to me that the state of my energy, my health and of my over-all-well-being are dependent on being connected to nature.
The Best Way to Live
Life is about choice.
I advocate relieving stress, being healthy and living a creative down to earth purposeful gratifying meaningful healthy life.
I’ve found that the best way for me to live is by being connected simultaneously with my natural core and nature.
I’ve discovered it is okay for me to enjoy a glass of wine, to have a beer, to have a shot of whiskey; it is not crazy or a waste of my time to go for hikes in woods, to do yoga, to read a book, to think and reflect in solitude, or to go to car shows, or to take photographs with my iPhone of whatever strikes my fancy, and that it is beneficial for me yo travel to new places to meet new people and to see new things.
In my opinion going to new places, meeting new people, connecting to nature, and having new experiences should be part of everyone’s life goals.
As a result of my recent vacation in the Smoky Mountains I have concluded that –
- I will achieve clearer thinking and better health by connecting myself to nature.
- My live is energized by experiencing a sense of oneness in the energy flow I make when I am in the moment.
- My life is about making choices.
- The best “medicine” for me is living the way of right relationship – I found that living a healthy LIFE is about doing that.
Failure and Making Mistakes Are A Natural Feature of Life and of Making Progress and of Making Something New
Creativity is a resource we continually draw upon to make something from nothing, to make the non-existent come into being.
Part of being healthy is to not be afraid of trying something new, or trying to do something new.
Inevitably active alive and creative people experience failure and make mistakes.
Healthy people realize mistakes are not a necessary evil.
Mistakes are an inevitable consequence of doing something new, and as such, they such be seen as being valuable; without them, we’d have no originality.
Mistakes and failures are learning experiences.
Think of failure like learning to ride a bike; it isn’t conceivable that anyone could learn to ride a bike without making mistakes – without toppling over a few times.
Personality Plus
The first place I landed on my way to the Smoky Mountains was in Asheville, North Carolina.
Asheville is known as “Beer City, USA” because it has so many microbreweries.
We went to Asheville first because my daughter Leah is a beer connoisseur.
I saw “good humor” and “personality plus”, and experienced “positive energy” and “social commentary” everywhere I went during my three day stay in Asheville, North Carolina.
The people I met in Asheville had good nature, and were happy, hospitable, calm, and grounded.
It was pleasant to interact with each person I interacted with in Asheville.
Each of them exhibited a good sense of humor.
Below is a picture of a sign I saw posted in the window of the “12 Bones Smokehouse” in Asheville, North Carolina.
That sign made me laugh when I saw it.
By the way, the “12 Bones Smokehouse” is President Obama’s favorite rib joint.
While in Asheville I saw another which made me laugh.
See picture of that sign below.
It is a sign on the wall of a place where you can self-wash your dog.
The Most Famous Place in Asheville, North Carolina: Biltmore House & Gardens
I love chocolate.
During my trip to the Smoky Mountains, I visited the most famous place in Asheville, North Carolina: the Biltmore House.
The Biltmore House was built in 1895 by George Vanderbilt.
It is a 250 room house.
It is situated on a 8,000 acre estate.
It has gardens and trails, a conservatory, a bass pond, a boathouse, lawns and woods.
In “the house” itself, there are restaurants, a courtyard market, a bake shop, a ice cream parlor, and specialized stores for shoppers and highly specialized shopping experiences.
For shopping there is a store called “Christmas Past”, a store called “Bookbinder’s”, a store called “Carriage House”, a store called “Confectionery”, a store called “Toymaker’s”, and a store called “A Gardener’s Place.”
My favorite part of the house is the candy store (the confectionery).
I am a fan of tasty chocolate and good advertising.
My First Most Favorite Experience at Biltmore House
My favorite experience, while I was touring the Biltmore House, was seeing what was printed on boxes of chocolate for sale in the “Confectionery.”
See photos below.
I also love cupcakes.
I was thrilled when I saw the package below in the confectionery, advertising cupcakes, yum.
My Second Most Favorite Experience at the Biltmore House
My second best experience at Biltmore House was looking at the exotic flowers growing in the Conservatory at the Biltmore House.
Below are photographs of exotic flowers I saw growing in the Conservatory at the Biltmore House.
My Third Most Favorite Experience at the Biltmore House
My third best experience at the Biltmore House was looking at a group of flowers growing in a pond above the gardens. Those flowers are shown in the photograph below.
Character and Assertive Individuality Have Been Alive and Well in the Great Smoky Mountains in Eastern Tennessee for Many Years
For various reasons the Great Smoky Mountains have always been a very special place.
The people who lived in the Smoky Mountains in the recent past were famous for hiding their stills from tax collectors and for selling their homemade distilled spirits when it was against US Federal Law to do so.
Being surrounded by natural beauty and making homemade distilled spirits and having a great down to earth sense of humor has been a way of living in and around the Great Smoky Mountains for generations.
When it was illegal to manufacture or sell liquor, certain people [who lived in and around the Great Smoky Mountains in Tennessee were called Moonshiners and also called bootleggers] manufactured and sold homemade distilled spirits nicknamed “moonshine”; they manufactured and sold “homemade” wine and whisky (“moonshine”) in violation of federal law.
Doing that earned them a “romanticized” place in the history of the United States.
Today, it is not against federal law to manufacture or sell distilled spirits.
However, in an attempt to take advantage of romantic and nostalgic feelings about “moonshine” and “moonshiners” , major distillers pretend to sell “moonshine” — and promote the sales of their products (wine and whiskey) with sales messages associating their products to individualistic rebel character traits romantically associated with moonshine and bootleggers.
These messages are printed on ancillary merchandise – soft good items – such as T-shirts, pillows, and dish towels sold in “Moon Shine” stores and boutiques in Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge Tennessee.
For examples, at their stores in Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge the “Old Smoky Tennessee Moonshine” company provides free moonshine tastings, live music, distillery tours and sells “moonshine” (jars of whiskey) as well as T-shirts, Sweat Shirts, and sundry other items.
Master Enjoyment of A Glass of Wine Because You Have Worked Hard and Traveled Far
Wine is a symbol.
The wine industry in Tennessee has made a successful effort to have me associate drinking wine with Individuality, Character, Relaxing, Relieving Stress and Being A Fun and Wise Person.
In their boutique wine and whiskey tasting stores near the Smoky Mountains their customer (me) can’t help but associate Being Fun with Drinking Wine, Wine Drinking.
Below are pictures of miscellaneous soft good items imprinted with messages celebrating and encouraging the consumption of wine.
I recently took the pictures below in a so called wine tasting store in Gatlinburg, Tennessee.
Notice that each of the items shown in the photographs below cleverly delivers the message that a person who drinks wine is a fun person.
Each message has a “fun”, “be fun”, “have fun” emotional arc I relate to.
I had “fun” reading each message.
I smiled when I read each message.
I took each of the above photographs on May 23, 2016 at the “Bootleggers Home Made Wine” store in Gatlinburg, Tennessee.
Gatlinburg is a small town located at the foot of the Smoky Mountains in Eastern Tennessee.
The Majesty of Nature
Seeing nature in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park is a spiritual as well as a physical and mental experience.
I can’t imagine any person with sight not being able to visually spiritually and mentally experience the majesty of nature on display in the Smoky Mountains and our deep rooted connection with nature.
Below is a series of photographs I took of the Smoky Mountains behind a layer of clouds I observed from my Majestic View cabin in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, at 6:30 a.m.
Note: the clouds in front of the Smoky Mountains look like smoke coming up from and rising up from the Smoky Mountains.
Next are photographs I took of the same view from the cabin with the Majestic View four hours later at 10:40 a.m. – after the morning mist and clouds in front of the Smoky Mountains began dissipating, then dissipated and then disappeared.
Below are photos taken later in the day.
Below are photographs I took at sunset while standing on the deck outside the kitchen at my cabin.
More Than 40 Note Worthy Waterfalls
There are over 2,000 miles of sparkling rivers, prongs and branches and over 40 noteworthy falls in the Smoky Mountains.
During our time together in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, my three daughters Leah (age 28), Judi (age 31) and Terra (age 45) and I hiked together to several of those noteworthy waterfalls.
Below is a series of photographs I took at one of those waterfalls.
The first photograph is of one of those waterfalls.
The second photograph is of my one of my daughters standing next to that waterfall.
The third, fourth and fifth photographs below are photographs of my daughter standing behind that waterfall.
Below is a photographs I took of my two youngest daughters standing in front of another waterfall.
Below is a photograph of my youngest daughter with me in front of that waterfall.
Below is a photograph of me standing in front of that waterfall.
Below is a close up photograph of of the top of that waterfall.
Below is a photograph of another water fall in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park we hiked to.
Sparkling Rivers Prongs and Branches
Professionally taken photographs:
My photographs:
Hiking To Abrams Falls
Below is a picture of my youngest daughter Leah (age 28) Leah took of herself while Leah and I were hiking together through the woods in the Smoky Mountains to Abrams Falls.
It took us five hours of hiking through woods in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park to get to the Abrams Falls.
At Abrams Falls water water with the volume of a river plunges 25 feet into a large pool.
The force of the fall throws spray over 50 feet into rhododendron and hemlock on the bank opposite the trail we hiked on to get to the falls.
The deep pool under the falls has a very strong undercurrent.
A sign near the falls warns people not to swim in the pool under the falls – swimmers have drowned. See sign below.
People are also warned to be aware of bears near the falls. See sign below.
Below is a photograph I took of myself in front of Abrams Falls.
Below is a series of photographs of Abrams Falls.
Messages Printed on T-Shirts Present Moonshine as The Nectar of Pure Unadulterated Living
In Gatinburg, several breweries give free tastings in addition to selling “moonshine (whiskey)”; they also sell T-shirts on which are printed provocative messages.
The photographs below were taken by me in the “Old Smoky Tennessee Moonshine’s” store on the Parkway, in Gatinburg, Tennessee on Monday night, May 23, 2016, after Leah and I finished our hike to Abrams Falls.
Knoxville Vibe
All of us (Leah, Judi, Terra and Me) got back to our homes by flying out of Knoxville Airport.
Leah and I spent the morning looking around the Art District and the Old City District of Knoxville.
Both are very cool places.
Below are photographs I took which express the “come on in” attitude I experienced in and around the Art District in Knoxville, Tennessee.
I Saw Art and Beauty Everywhere During My Trip to the Smoky Mountains
At the Curious Dog in Old City Knoxville, Tennessee
See photograph below I took of a booth in the “Curious Dog” in the Old Town section of Knoxville, Tennessee on May 24, 2016.
Photos below are close ups of sections of the mural in the photograph above.
Photograph of a guy sitting in that booth.
Photograph I took the sign on the exterior street side of the entry door to the “Curious Dog.”
Paintings on the Two Walls in A Dead End Alley in the Old Town Section of Knoxville, Tennessee
While walking around the Old Town section of Knoxville on May 24, 20167, with my daughter Leah, we found ourselves walking down a blind alley, an alley the “dead-ended”, an alley which had no exit.
Below are photographs of paintings I saw painted on the two walls in that alley.
Chair In A Shop in the Chicago O’Hare Airport Terminal
Below is a photograph I took of a chair I saw in a shop in O’Hare Airport, Chicago, Terminal 1, Gate B-6, on May 24, 2016 as I was on my way to catch a connecting flight to Los Angeles International Airport, LAX.
I had started my journey home to Los Angeles from the Smoky Mountains on a flight departing from Knoxville Airport.
My trip home involved taking a plane from Knoxville Airport to O’Hare Airport in Chicago and then catching another plane at O’Hare Airport that flew me back to Los Angeles.
It took over 10 hours to get back home from the time I left the Knoxville Airport to the time my plane landed in Los Angeles at LAX, the airport in Los Angeles.
Art and Beauty Everywhere
On Saturday, June 4, 2016 I went to return a computer to the Apple Store at the Grove — a upscale shopping cent in Los Angeles.
While I was at the Grove I discovered there was an event, an auto show, at the Grove.
By the way, the Grove is located near the intersection of Third Street and Fairfax Avenue in Los Angeles, California.
Of note to me, as a father of three adult women and a lover of women, I saw more women then men looking at the cars on display on the street at the auto show.
So much for the cliche that boys like cars and girls like dolls.
Below are pictures I took of three of the multitude of “classic cars” I saw on the street, on display, as part of the car show at the Grove.
Really interesting: on the top two cars pictured above, the rear view mirror is strapped to the spare tire.
Save Yourself from Nature-Deficit-Disorder, Get Out: Visit The Great Smoky Mountains; Travel to, Visit and Explore New Places
The Smoky Mountains are one of the most bio-diverse places on earth.
According to the National Park Service over 18,000 different types of animals and plants live in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
Synchronous fireflies (Photinus carolinus) are one of 19 species of fireflies at Great Smoky Mountains National Park. They are the only species in the Americas whose individuals can synchronize their flashing light patterns.
No one is sure why the fireflies flash synchronously.
The fireflies do not always flash in unison.
They glow in the dark.
They may flash in waves across hillsides, and at other times will flash randomly.
Synchrony occurs in short bursts that end with abrupt periods of darkness.
The Smoky Mountains is also the home of the “American Black Bear.”
More than 1,500 black bears live protected “in the wild” in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
More statistics:
- More than 1,500 different specifies of wild flowers are found in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, more than in any other North American National Park.
- More than 100 different species of trees grow there.
- More than 240 different species of birds have been spotted there.
The Southern Appalachians are one of the temperate zone’s hot spots for plants. North of the tropics, only China has more species.
The climate of the park encompasses a range of conditions from warm to cold temperature, and rainfall is abundant everywhere.
Elevations in the park range from 850 feet to 6,643 feet. As one moves from lower to high elevations the climate becomes cooler and wetter and cloud cover is more frequent.
Rainfall ranges from about 55 inches at low elevations to 90 inches on high peaks.
Differences in elevation and the ruggedness of the mountains – topographical features affect soil moisture – result in a vast variety of environments that produce a wide variety of vegetation.
Slope aspect, slope position and slope shape all combine to determine the amount of sunlight reaching a site, its warmth, and its ability to retain soil moisture.
Even if you stay in a narrow elevation range, the habitat changes dramatically. And because habitat changes, the species of wildflowers and plants you see growing also varies.
As a result of its biodiversity and its closeness to population centers, the Great Smoky Mountains National Park is the most popular park in the National Park System; 10 million people visit the park each year.
The National Park Services maintains 380 miles of scenic roadways, 800 plus miles of trails and bridges, 9 front country campgrounds, and more than 100 back country campgrounds in the Smoky Mountains National Park.
ASIDE:
- The National Cancer Institute and other groups have repeatedly visited the Smokies to take, under permit, small plant samples, looking for new medicines.
- Fully, 25 percent of our prescription drugs contain at least one ingredient taken directly from a higher plant.
- The Cherokee had documented uses for 60 percent of the flora in the Smokies.
- Over 600 species from these mountains were or are still used as medicines by the Cherokee.
- Generations of trial and error of uses of plants in these mountains represent a refined knowledge of plant biochemistry and the potential for use.
- A recent study showed that study of traditional cultural use of plants in an area is a faster route to discovering new medicines than blind screening of all plants in an area.
The prime directive of all national parks is to preserve not only native species, but also the natural processes that maintain them.
This year (2016) the American National Park Service turned 100 years old.
THE ART OF LIVING
I see art everywhere and beauty everywhere.
I can’t wait to tell you about “the Swag” in Waynesville North Carolina; “Lil Black Bear Cafe” in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee; and, “Curious Dog” and a blind alley in Old Town Knoxville, Tennessee, which I will do in a future blog post article on the “Gary S. Smolker Idea Exchange Blog.”
The Swag
Below is a photograph of what I found on my bed when I went to my room at the Swag.
There was also a backpack on my bed. See photo below.
There was a note explaining the materials inside the backpack. See photo below.
On one of the night stands besides the bed was a book of poetry. See photo below.
I adopted “Mr. Rocky”, the Black Bear I found on my bed in my room at “the Swag.”
I can’t wait to tell you more about “the Swag.”
Conclusion
We determine the trajectory of our lives.
We should learn how to see.
We should live with our eyes wide open.
We should travel to places we have never been to before and meet people we have never met before.
Having/enjoying good health is a way of life.
Copyright © 2016 by Gary S. Smolker, All Rights Reserved
Imagination, Intellectual, and Style Capital of the World – by Gary S. Smolker
Introduction
Los Angeles is a land of promise, imagination, and dreams.
Los Angeles is a city in which creativity and cultural and ethnic diversity thrive.
In Los Angeles a conglomeration of people with different cultural backgrounds and life experiences live, play, entertain, serve, appreciate and work well with each other.
In Los Angeles an incalculable diversity/variety of businesses thrive.
The Los Angeles that I know is a bubbling over seething hub of cultural and human capital fully engaged in the peaceful exchange of ideas, beliefs, perspectives, thoughts, opinions, customs, practices and the production of artistic creations.
The Los Angeles that I Know
- Los Angeles is the hub of commercial trade routes that span and connect the entire world.
- See photos below of food trucks on Ventura Blvd. serving foods from all over the world; specialized restaurants and cafes; bulls fights; Sumo wrestling matches, etc.
- Los Angeles is the most open society in the world. See photographs below of paintings painted on commercial buildings in Venice; paintings painted on commercial buildings in West Hollywood.
- Also see photographs below of T-shirts women are wearing in Los Angeles and the messages printed on those T-shirts.
- Los Angeles is the world capital of creativity and entrepreneurship. See photographs below of the interior of retail establishments; see photographs below of signs in cafes and restaurants.
- Also see photographs of signs on sidewalks in front of stores in Los Angeles.
- All over Los Angeles are examples of untrammeled creative entrepreneurship in a action.
- In Los Angeles people from all walks and from all countries in the world live together in peace.
- The people I associate with in Los Angeles feel like Los Angeles is an extension of their hands, their feet, their souls, and their minds.
Human Spirit
The current Chief Justice of the California Supreme Court has publicly announced that she taught her daughters to not waste opportunities.
In “What I told My Daughter – Lessons from Leaders on Raising the Next Generation of Empowered Women” (by Nina Tassler), Chief Justice of the California Supreme Court Tani G. Cantil-Sakauye is quoted as having taught her daughters to follow rules strategically when they were younger.
Difference and Grit Are Constantly on Display in Los Angeles
The current Chief Justice of the California Supreme Court is the first ethnic “minority” and second woman to hold that position in California.
After law school and the bar exam in 1984, her only plan was to get a job.
With no leads, no connections, this Filipina youngest child with two dominant brothers and no holds barred applied for a job everywhere.
During her trial court tenure, she became a wife and a mother. For a few years she put the legal community on hold and went deep undercover into nursery school, Brownie troops, basketball and gymnastics and let everybody know she was putting family first and they should too.
After reflecting on her career path, she has offered her now college age daughters this career advice: Ignore the rules of the common career trajectory. Work hard. Maintain a good attitude. Serve the public – and never forget to follow your inner Heelys.
There are lots of people showing their grit in Los Angeles.
Below is a photograph of me standing next to a Sumo Wrestler at an international championship sumo wrestling match held in Long Beach.
Below is a photograph of the program for that match.
Japanese food was sold at the refreshment stands and by vendors walking around the bleachers at the Sumo Wrestling match.
Below is a photograph I took at a bull fight held in Artesia.
Portuguese food was sold at the refreshment stands and restaurants at the bullfight.
Long Beach and Artesia are two of the 88 separate cities in Los Angeles County.
Beautiful Man Made Creative Things Are Right in Front of My Face in Los Angeles
On Easter Sunday (March 27, 2016) my sister Toby Salter sent me a photograph (via email) of the view of the sun setting at nightfall on Easter Sunday (March 27, 2016) from the balcony of her room in Hawaii.
See photo below.
I in turn sent her an email in which I said:
Toby,
That is an absolutely gorgeous view.
Nature creates things (including sunsets) of absolutely gorgeous beauty, and so does man.
There is beauty everywhere if you know where to look for it and how to look for it.
For example, at the Terroni Italian Restaurant on Beverly Blvd. in Los Angeles, Leah (my youngest daughter) had a ricotta & mascarpone cake with almond crust espresso chocolate sauce drizzle and an espresso after lunch yesterday.
Gary
I might have added:
- In Los Angeles I see examples of unbounded creativity everywhere.
- In Los Angeles I have seen paintings on the walls of commercial buildings that take my breath away.
- In Los Angeles many creative people have left their footprint.
- I know from personal experience that Los Angeles is a place where creativity, imagination, individuality and freedom of expression flourish and are appreciated.
The photo below is a photo of my youngest daughter Leah looking at the cake Leah and I enjoyed for dessert and cups of espresso coffee we drank at the Terroni Italian Restaurant on Beverly Blvd. in West Los Angeles on Saturday, March 26, 2016.
Currently Leah is attending law school in Los Angeles, a student in law school. As an extra-curricular activity, Leah writes a travel blog.
Recently a reputable Himalayan tourism company read Leah’s blog, was impressed, and informed Leah the company is setting up a meeting to consider giving her an offer.
The photo below is a close up picture of that cake.
Below is a photograph I took of a painting on the wall of a commercial building fronting on North Highland Blvd. in West Hollywood, while I was with Leah on Saturday, March 26, 2016.
Below is a photograph of another painting on the wall of another commercial building fronting on North Highland Avenue which I took on North Highland Avenue in West Hollywood while I was with Leah on Saturday, March 26, 2016.
Free Expression and Creativity Are Alive and Well In Los Angeles
Below is a photograph I took on February 4, 2016 of a painting on both sides of a doorway into a restaurant on Rose Avenue in the Venice Beach area of Los Angeles, California.
Below is a photograph I took on February 17, 2016 of a sign on the sidewalk in front of a store on Rose Avenue.
Below is a photograph I took on February 17, 2016 of painting on the wall in a men’s room above a line of urinals in a restaurant on Rose Avenue.
Below is a photograph I took on February 17, 2016, of an exterior staircase from street level to the second floor of a commercial building on Rose Avenue.
Below is a picture I took on February 16, 2016 of that building.
Below is a photograph I took on February 16, 2016 of a painting on the wall of a commercial building abutting a parking lot on Rose Blvd.
Below is a photograph I took on March 2, 2016 of a sign in the Lady Chocolatt cafe on Wilshire Blvd., in West Los Angeles.
Below is a photograph I took on December 5, 2016 of a painting on the wall of the Unurband coffee house on Pico Blvd. in Santa Monica.
Below is a photograph I took on February 16, 2016 of a commercial sign painted on the wall of a coffee shop on Main Street in Santa Monica.
There Is An Untrammeled Spirit of Entrepreneurial Adventure in Los Angeles
The end product of the endeavors of people from all over the world who are doing business in Los Angeles is a smorgasbord of experiential delight.
Below are photographs of our office manager Tamara Jones and assistant office manager Leslie Gonzales living life sweetly on Thursday, March 10, 2016 while they holding packages of assorted mini-cupcakes I bought for them that morning from a food truck in front of our office on Ventura Blvd., in Encino.
I bought the mini-cupcakes shown in the hands of Tami and Leslie at the Dreamy Creations Cupcake Truck shown in the photographs above, at a food truck, which was located literally on Ventura Blvd., directly across the street from the office building in which I work.
The packages of mini-cupcakes shown in the photograph above contain a strawberry mini-cupcake, a banana caramel chip mini-cupcake, a cinnamon square mini-cupcake, a campfire (marshmallows) mini-cupcake, and either a birthday (rainbow sprinkles) mini-cupcake or a black and white mini-cupcake.
Below is a photograph of the Dreamy Creations Cupcake truck from which I purchased those packages of assorted mini-cupcakes pictured in the photographs above.
You may learn more about Dreamy Creations Cupcakes at http://www.dreamycreations.com. Phone 1-818-882-0120. Dreamy Creations’ bakery is located at 19451 Business Center Drive, Unit 114, Northridge, CA 91324 USA.
Below are a series of pictures I took on Wednesday, March 23, 2016, of one of Lady M Confection’s menus at the Lady M Confections Boutique store located at 8718 West 3rd Street, in the West Hollywood, California.
I am told that the Lady M. Confections is owned and run by a Japanese man.
While in the Lady M Confection’s boutique cafe I was given two menus listing cakes served.
On the shorter menu were listed 10 different signature cakes, two different seasonal cakes, and two different individual deserts that were/are for sale in that store.
Below are two photographs taken by me which show ten “Signature Cakes” on one of Lady M Confections’ West Hollywood’s boutique cake store’s menu.
On the larger Lady M Confections menu was/iss listed seven different “Mille Crepes”, six different “Chocolate Cakes”, eleven different “Assorted Cakes”, four different “Cheesecakes”, three different “Tartes”, and six different kinds of “Individual Deserts.”
While in Lady M Confections boutique cake store, I had a slice of Lady M Confections’ “Couronne Du Chocolat” Signature Cake and a cup coffee.
It was delicious. It consisted of alternating layers of moist chocolate sponge cake and dark chocolate mousse.
In addition to its West Hollywood boutique cake store, Lady M Confections has three boutique cake stores in Manhattan, one in Boston, one in Hong Kong and one in Singapore.
For further information about Lady M Confections go to http://www.ladym.com.
Below are photographs of a few of the many food trucks I have seen across the street, on Ventura Blvd., when I have walked out of my office building at lunch-time on week days (Monday through Friday).
Below is a photograph of the rear of a food truck serving Middle Eastern Food which I took when I walked out the door of my office on Friday, March 4, 2016.
Below is a photograph of the menu posted on the side of the food truck facing the sidewalk.
Below is a photograph of a food truck serving “Polish food” I took when I walked out of my office a few days before I took the photograph above.
Below are two photographs of the menu attached to the “Tomski Sausage” food truck.
Below are photographs of a food truck serving/selling Japanese comfort food on Ventura Blvd., across the street from my office.
Below is a photograph of another food truck on Ventura Blvd. across the street from my office which was selling Texas Smoke House dishes which I saw when I walked out the front door of my office.
Below is a photograph of a food truck selling lobster rolls.
Below is a photograph of a menu on that food truck listing products being sold from that truck.
Directly across the street from my office, on Ventura Blvd., late on Friday morning, March 4, 2016, as I was walked out of my office building to take a “coffee break”, I saw a food truck [owned and operated by two young and beautiful women] selling Gourmet Brazilian Bonbons – handmade Brazilian truffles.
Below is a photograph of their food truck, taken by me from across the street.
Below is a photograph of the two owner operators of the food truck, Catalina Guasco and Stella Stoianov.
They call their business Brigadeiro Truffles. They sell individual bonbons and packages of bonbons.
Below is a photograph I took of a package of their bonbons.
Their motto is: “We make life sweet.”
Below is a photograph I took of the menu Catalina and Stella had on their food truck.
You can find out more about Brigadeiro Hand Made Brazilian Truffles at http://www.brigadeiroandco.com, phone 1-818-415-2494.
Creativity Permeates the Air in Los Angeles
Creativity permeates the air I breath in Los Angeles.
On Saturday, March 26, 2016, I went with my 28 year old daughter Leah to the JAMES PERSE store located at 1128 North Highland Avenue, in the West Hollywood section of Los Angeles.
James Perse is a clothing designer. His store on North Highland Avenue takes up an entire converted warehouse.
Advice: Spend An Hour Walking on North Highland Avenue in West Hollywood
While driving down Highland Avenue I saw various paintings painted on the commercial buildings next to and within a block or two of the JAMES PERSE store.
Below is a series of photographs I took of a single painting on a single wall of one of those buildings.
More Advice: Wander into the “Free City” Store Across the Street from the James Perse Store on North Highland Avenue in West Hollywood
On Saturday, March 26, I left my daughter in the JAMES PERSE store, and crossed the street.
Below are two photographs of an exterior wall facing the parking lot of a building across the street that caught my attention.
I took the photographs below photographs while in the parking lot of that store.
I entered that store through a door next to the parking lot.
Below is a photograph of the entry which I walked through to enter that store from it’s parking lot.
When I got inside that store I felt like I had felt when I saw Tomorrow Land at Disney Land when I was a child.
Below are photographs of some of the thinks I saw inside that store.
Below is a photo of a giant canvas on the floor of that store.
The “hoodie” shown on canvas below is in stock and being sold in that store.
Below is a photo of a giant canvas hanging from the ceiling rafters in that store.
The hoodie depicted on that canvas is for sale – is also being sold – in that store.
The canvas in the photograph (below) is hanging from a wall in that store.
The “Artist Wanted” T-shirt depicted on that canvas is for sale in that store.
By the way, the price of the “Artist Wanted” T-shirt (shown in the picture below) is $150.00.
That store appears to be a converted warehouse.
The interior walls of that store are covered with banners, framed artwork, movie posters, album covers, and merchandise for sale in that store.
My eyes couldn’t stop traveling from signage and objects d-Arte on display to the colorful display of the merchandise being sold.
Below are photographs of some of the things I saw in that store.
Here Is What You Will See Around the James Perse Store
Below are a few of the photographs I took on Saturday, March 26 of painting on the walls of building on North Highland Avenue I saw within a block or two of the JAMES PERSE store.
See photos below.
Artistically Enriched Environments
In Los Angeles a wide variety of artists are at work each day using their skills and know how to creatively enrich public and private places.
I am a beneficiary of that.
For example, below is a photograph of a set of window coverings an artist (Jan de Swart) gave me as a surprise thank you gift one day.
Jan made those widow coverings on his own initiative. They are of his own design. He made them himself with his own hands.
The brightly colored banners (shown in the photograph below) are sections of sailboat sails Jan cut and sewed together.
Without telling me he was going to do so, on his own individual initiative, Jan came over to my condo at the beach in Playa del Rey one day with a crew of workers, after calling to make sure I was home, and installed those banner window coverings over the twenty foot high windows in my living room, and also installed the brightly colored plastic panel in one section of one of the windows in my living, and also installed a 17 foot high sculpture shown in the pictures below. — The brightly colored block covering the window is a large piece of plastic upon which Jan had glued individual shaped and colored pieces of plastic he had manufactured. Jan did all of this on his own initiative.
Below is a picture of my eldest daughter Terra and me siting on a couch in my living room in front of those banners. The bottom of the 17 foot high sculpture Jan created is also shown in that photograph. Jan designed, created, built and installed those banners and sculpture on his own without any input from me. He gave me the sculpture and and installed it in my living room as a surprise gift — it was/is a gift that was/is not tied to any date or event or occurrence.
Below is a close up photograph of a section of that sculpture.
Jan also gave me, among many other things, a free standing object d’ Arte which is shown in the photograph below.
By the way, Terra is now married, has children, and has a job.
- Terra has a husband and two children: a fourteen year old girl and a twelve year old boy.
- Recently, Terra gave a presentation in Atlanta attended by 4,000 sales people from all over the world who work for the software company as Terra.
My Advice: Don’t Let the World Pass You By
If you allow the convenience of doing the same thing over and over again trap you – if you stop doing anything new [whether because you are pressed for time and/or because you are lazy] – the world will pass you by.
Life is meant to be lived.
Don’t go to the same places time after time, all the time.
Going to the same places all the time is stultifying.
Go to new places.
Go to mentally stimulating events.
There is an amazing variety of things a person can see and and an amazing variety of things a person can do in Los Angeles at all times.
The number and variety of things a person can do in Los Angeles is astounding.
For example on my calendar on April 5, 2016 I saw the following:
- I have been invited by the international Mintz Levin law firm to attend (via the Internet) a program on bio-similars presented live in Mintz Levin’s Washington, D.C. office on September 7, 2016.
- I have been invited by the Los Angeles Times and the American Bar Association to attend book signings on Saturday, April 9, 2016.
- I have been invited by the Pacific Council on International Policy to attend an event on foreign policy on Tuesday, April 12, 2016.
- I have been invited by Cornell in Silicon Valley and the Cornell Club of Los Angeles to attend a program on “Virtual Reality” on Wednesday, April 13, 2016.
- I have been invited by the California Institute of Technology to attend a Jazz Concert on Saturday, April 16, 2016.
More Advice: Be of Exuberant Spirit
To live is to dare.
All living things either grow and keep growing or stop growing and rot.
SUMMARY
People from all over the world bring their knowledge, their ideas, their experiences, their customs, their habits, their traditions, their cultures, their heritage, their tastes, their foods, their native clothing, etc. from their country of birth with them when they arrive in Los Angeles.
As a result of that, it is easy for me to be exposed to new things on a daily basis in Los Angeles.
As I was exposed to the “knowledge”, different ideas, different tastes, different foods, different clothing, different beliefs, different heritages, different opinions and different points of view of people I met from other parts of the world while I have been living in Los Angeles I noticed several things happened (a) my humanity became more fully activated, (b) my creativity was stimulated, (c) my ability and inspiration to innovate increased, (d) my imagination was stimulated, (d) I had more energy (e) my life became richer, and (f) I became more worldly, cosmopolitan, refined and cultured.
Bikinis That Are Well-Behaved Seldom Make History
Below is a picture of a swimsuit carry bag I saw in the store window of a swimwear store fronting on Beverly Blvd. (in Los Angeles) I walked by on Saturday, March 26, 2016.
My Lunch with My Daughter Leah on Saturday, March 26, 2016
After Leah finished “window” shopping at the JAMES PERSE store we left.
As we were driving back to my house we looked for a place where we could stop to have lunch.
By pure unplanned chance, after we left the JAMES PERSE store and while we were on our way back to my home Leah and I stopped to have lunch at the Terroni Italian Restaurant located at 7605 Beverly Blvd.
Neither Leah nor I had ever eaten at the Terroni Italian Restaurant in Los Angeles before.
Below are pictures I took of the food we ate and of Leah enjoying her lunch.
Leah and I got together on Saturday to discuss “A Man for All Seasons”, a book Leah had been assigned to read in her jurisprudence class
Below is a picture of Leah looking at a speech made by Sir Thomas More in “A Man for All Seasons” and of the bottle of the Kromback Weizen beer Leah had ordered to drink to drink with the pasta entree she had ordered.
Kromback Weizen is a light German beer.
Leah is a woman of considerable refinement and cultivation.
Leah explained to me that in Berlin, Germans drink beer (not wine) with pasta.
That was why Leah had ordered a bottle of Kromback Weizen to drink while eating pasta.
Leah had Linguin Vongole as an entree for lunch.
Below is a picture of the Linguin Vongole Leah had for lunch.
I had a sip of the beer Leah ordered and then ordered a bottle of that beer for myself.
That is why there are two bottle of beer in the picture above.
Below is a photo of the pasta entree I ate for lunch — Canna a Mare.
Below is a close up photograph of that pasta dish.
Additionally, Leah and I shared a Piatto A Stutare.
Below are two photographs of that dish.
For desert we shared a ricotta & mascarpone cake with almond crust espresso chocolate sauce drizzle and each had an espresso.
See photo below of the Torta di Ricotta cake Leah and I shared for desert..
See two photos below of our Torta di Ricotta cake and our two cups of espresso.
Leah wanted more caffeine.
After lunch, we walked next door to a coffee house owned and operated by Koreans a few feet away (Andante Coffee Roasters) where we each had a Latino Latte.
Los Angeles Is the Ideal Place for Industrious Creative People to Thrive
The ideal environment to nourish creative people is one that encourages and permits a free uncensored exchange of ideas.
Creative people cannot stand to be patronized.
Creative people do not permit themselves and do not allow themselves to be considered conventional in any way.
Check out the photographs below, taken by me on March 12, 2016, while I was on Abbot Kinney Blvd. in the Venice Beach area of Los Angeles, California.
The picture below is painted on the side wall of a store on Abbot Kinney Blvd.
The photograph below is of the entry to a store on Abbot Kinney Blvd.
The photographs below are of paintings I saw painted on the walls of buildings on Abbot Kinney Blvd.
The photographs below were taken of me while I stood in front of various buildings on Abbot Kinney Blvd.
The Kind of Society Where Talent and Extreme Individualism Can Flourish
Los Angeles is a society and an environment where talent and extreme individualism flourish.
My idea of a well rounded healthy life style includes (a) eating dreamy creation cupcakes (see photographs shown above), (b) eating gourmet chocolates (such as those shown in photographs shown below), (c) drinking authentic Turkish coffee (see picture of me drinking authentic Turkish coffee in a Bosnian cafe in Los Angeles, shown below), (d) eating gourmet cakes, and (e) being exposed to the life styles and pleasures people other parts of the world enjoy. I believe that is part of what life is all about.
Enjoying the Art of Life
There is something extremely satisfying to me about seeing women enjoying the art of life in another part of the world as depicted in the picture below.
The women in the picture below are relaxing, they are mellow, they appear to be relaxed and worry free.
Cultivating the Creative Mind – Clothing
The clothing we wear and everything we do sends a message, is a statement, which identifies who we are, what we believe, what is on our mind, what we are thinking, what is important to us that we want to communicate to other people, what is happening that is of importance to us, etc.
Below is a photograph I took in a coffee shop across the street from where I work.
Below is a photograph I took in a elevator in the high-rise building in which I work.
Below a photograph of a woman wearing a T-shirt I took on March 8, in front of a coffee shop across the street from where I have my office in Encino, Los Angeles County, California.
The photographs below are of the front and back of a T-shirt a French runway model (Femme Fatale) who has lived in Los Angeles for the past 23 years recently sent me.
High Style and Chocolate Connoisseurs in Los Angeles
Below is a photograph of of a hipster with his mother which I took on March 7, 2016, in a coffee shop across the street from where I work.
Below is a closeup photograph of that hipster.
Our office manager Tamara Jones is an extremely stylish woman.
Below is a photograph I took of Tami’s fingernails on the same day I took the picture of her holding the two packages of mini-cupcakes I gave her.
I am a man who wears many hats.
Below are two photographs of me taken on March 2, 2016, at Lady Chocolatt in West Los Angeles.
Lady Chocolatt is a great place for Belgium hot chocolate, freshly imported handcrafted Belgium chocolates, chocolate bars and bars of marzipan.
Below is a photograph of Lady Chocolatt’s hot chocolate menu.
Below is a photograph of a bar of imported Belgium chocolate purchased at Lady Chocolatt on March 2, 2016.
Below is a picture of a bar of Marzipan bought at the same time in that store.
Lady Chocolatt
At Lady Chocolatt chocolate is an art form.
You can vicariously enjoy that experience I had at Lady Chocolatt on Wednesday, March 2, 2016 by looking at pictures I took while there. You can see those pictures at https://garysmolker.wordpress.com/2016/03/03/chocolates-in-an-art-form-by-gary-s-smolker/
Below is a picture of one of the fun informative signs posted at Lady Chocolatt. I took that photograph, while I was in the Lady Chocolatt cafe on March 2, 2016.
Below is a picture of some of the candy that was on display on March 2, 2026, while I was enjoying myself reading poetry, tasting chocolates and sipping a latte at Lady Chocolatt.
Lady Chocolatt is located in West Los Angeles, at 12008 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, California.
Californians Have A Spirit of Freewheeling Enterprise
The atmosphere here, in Los Angeles/California, is an atmosphere that seeks out originals, that prizes originals, that prizes originality, that appreciates and encourages creativity.
Unurban Coffeehouse
Below is a photograph of picture painted on the wall of one of my favorite coffeehouse in Santa Monica, California.
The lady who owns and manages the Unurband Coffeehouse in Santa Monica, is very clever.
See the photograph below of the sign she has posted above her one day old pastries.
Harry Truman, 33rd U.S. president once said:
A pessimist is one who makes difficulties of his opportunities, and an optimist is one who makes opportunities of his difficulties.
All of the people who work at the businesses I’ve described above (i.e., the people who own and the people who work in the gourmet Brazilian hand made truffles/bon bons food truck,the lobsta food truck, the imported handcrafted Belgium chocolate shop, the Unurban coffeehouse) have contagious enthusiasm about what they are doing, about their products.
Each of those people made seemed so excited about their business, where they work and what they are doing that they might jump out of their skin right in front of me.
They are each a living example of the opportunities that make the American free-enterprise system work.
In Los Angeles Poor Taste Is Considered to be Worse than Poor Diplomacy
Stylish women of wealth in Los Angeles, and there are many of them, own and wear many pairs of sun glasses because they don’t want to squint.
Squinting causes wrinkles.
It is not unusual for a stylish woman of wealth in Los Angeles to own 20 or more pairs of sun glasses.
Stylish women of wealth in Los Angeles wear sunglasses when they are outside, in the sun.
They wear sunglasses when they are inside in a restaurant.
Below are photographs I took of three woman (who were complete strangers to me) sitting “inside” [in an enclosed patio] at a table at the Aroma Bakery Cafe in Tarzana/Encino, California, one morning – where I ate breakfast after my work-out at the Providence Hospital Tarzana Cardiac Rehab Facility.
The below photographs were taken at the Aroma Bakery Cafe at 18047 Ventura Blvd., Encino, California.
I saw approximately 20 women in the Aroma Bakery Cafe while I was eating my breakfast.
Nineteen of those women were wearing sun glasses.
Speculation: The one lady who was not wearing sun glasses probably forgot her sun glasses at home.
The Mantra of Stylish Women in Los Angeles is:
- Poor taste is worse than poor diplomacy.
- Why live life half-way?
- Exude sensuality and intelligence.
- Be liberal and avant-garde.
- Take affirmative action to avoid having wrinkles.
When I asked one of women, whose photograph is shown above, if she owned more than one pair of sun glasses, she told me she had brought two sets of sun glasses in her purse with her.
She also told me she needs to have many sets of sun glasses. She needs a different one or two sets of sun glasses to complement each of the outfits she wears; just as she chooses shoes that go along with the clothes that she will be wearing each day, she also selects which of her sunglasses she will wear to go along with the clothes she will be wearing.
Health Living Takeaway:
- Women in Los Angeles wear sun glasses because they don’t want to squint.
- Squinting causes wrinkles.
There is An Incandescent Celebratory Spirit in Los Angeles
In Los Angeles, I find myself surrounded by people who are personable, extremely friendly, extremely outgoing, people who have a forward thinking fun and hospitable attitude, who have contagious enthusiasm, who want me to have joy in my life and to be efficient and productive.
For example, on Friday, February 26, 2016, while at an appointment with my skin doctor Millard H. Zisser, M.D., Dr. Zisser gave me a recipe for hot chocolate.
Dr. Zisser has an extraordinary sensitivity to everything going on around him, is really into what he is doing, and has an intellect that is extraordinary in its own way.
The recipe Dr. Zisser gave me was written by famed Pastry Chef Jacques Torres.
Spiritual Elixir
I frequently eat lunch at a Thai restaurant on Ventura Blvd. located a few blocks away from my office.
On, Thursday, February 18, 2016, a beautiful young Thai waitress — who I don’t know except as a waitress — told the man seated at the table next to the table in the Thai restaurant in which she works that I am her future ex-husband.
Forward thinking, forward acting, witty and creative working women like her abound – here, in Los Angeles.
On Monday (February 22, 2016) I went back to that restaurant,
I asked her if I could take her photograph.
She said okay.
I asked her to stand still while I photographed her.
She did.
I then asked her to smile.
She told me she didn’t want to smile.
I asked her why she didn’t want to smile.
She replied: Smiling causes smile lines. It cost $300 for a Botox treatment to remove those lines. Smile lines are “wrinkles”; I don’t want wrinkles.
As a personal favor to me, she stood still to be photographed and smiled. See photos below.
Today, Los Angeles is the world center of popular culture, the world center of “cool” and “being cool.”
Los Angeles exports popular culture to the rest of the world.
“Cool”
“Cool” is an art not a science.
There is no rule on what is “cool.”
“Cool” is intuitive. It is a feeling you have.
Being “cool” is being a rebel.
- But, you don’t have to be an outcast to be a rebel.
- You just have to break a small rule to be cool, but only a small rule, i.e., you can’t be a rapist.
- You have to have a sense of sheer glory-bound joyousness to be “cool.”
- You have to manifest a sense of self-belief in order to be “cool.”
There is a feeling of care-free celebration in Los Angeles.
- The people in the new civilization that has taken root in Los Angeles have a confident imperturbability.
- The principal organizing principle in Los Angeles is that “it has to be fun”; everything has to be fun.
Having a society that permits people to be “cool” (a) stimulates diverse thinking, (b) brings about change, (c) brings about evolution, (d) changes the dynamics of existence, (e) changes the dynamics of relationships, (f) brings about a questioning of what you want to be.
“Cool people” emote the jauntiness of a ship’s captain and all the optimism of a man embarking on a voyage he had planned for all of his life.
“Cool people” are invested with the spirit of carefree celebration.
“Cool people” deliver a bright new message, often their message is a bright new message of existential unconcern.
Being “cool” is a lighthearted declaration of independence.
Being “cool” its playing a little on the uncautious side.
If You Want to Tap Into Your Inner Cool Go to Los Angeles
“Cool” matters.
“Cool” is important.
The concept of “cool” — what drives cool — drives the global economy.
T-Shirts
T-shirts are an expensive visual luxury item in Los Angeles.
Stylish women, in Los Angeles, spend hours searching for the perfect T-shirt, whose finely woven and slightly transparent thread make it feel like cashmere.
Grown women and girls of all ages wear stylish T-shirts in Los Angeles.
Below are photos of two young ladies I took on Saturday morning February 20, 2016, while I was on a coffee-break at my local Starbucks Coffee Shop.
The photos below were taken by me with my iPhone at the Starbucks Coffee shop located at 14431 Burbank Blvd., Van Nuys, California (a lower middle-class neighborhood a few blocks west of Van Nuys Blvd. on Burbank Blvd.).
The above pictures – taken inside a neighborhood Starbucks Coffee Show – are are example of the style consciousness and “coolness” of the people you will see everywhere in Los Angeles.
Everyone is style conscious and fashion conscious in Los Angeles.
See photographs below of T-shirts, each of which have a great deal of imaginative flair, which were displayed on a counter in a store on Main Street in Santa Monica, I visited on February 17, 2016.
The name of the store in Santa Monica is “Hip-Tique”
Hip-Tique is located at 2727 Main Street, Santa Monica, California.
In Los Angeles, as well as in all other “hip” places all over the world, T-shirts are considered chic attire, especially when they have a witty message.
Fashion and style consciousness (as it applies to what people wear) is in the air everyone breathes in Los Angeles.
What people wear is a form of status and social awareness in Los Angeles.
In Los Angeles, the style of your goods transparently signals your social position.
However, Los Angeles has a rich, generous and diverse culture and therefore in Los Angeles, there is no simple link between one’s level of conspicuous consumption and one’s social status.
For example, on Sunday morning (February 20, 2016) a female friend took me to a Bosnian Cafe in Los Angeles to enjoy “authentic” Turkish Coffee with her.
That was a “priceless experience.”
Sunday Morning, February 20, 2016 at A Bosnian Cafe in Los Angeles
I spent Sunday morning (February 21, 2016) with my lady friend of mine [who by the way was born in Persia/Iran and speaks many languages and has friends all over the world and from all over the world] at Aroma Cafe, a Bosnian Cafe, in West Los Angeles, located at 2530 Overland Avenue, Los Angeles, CA. 90064.
The photograph below was taken when I just began drinking Turkish Coffee.
The photograph below was taken after the Baklava I ate arrived while I was drinking Turkish Coffee.
The Turkish Coffee was served in a copper container on a copper plate.
Below is a photograph of the container my Turkish Coffee came in, the coffee cup I poured my Turkish Coffee into and the spoon I was given to stir my coffee.
The coffee cup came with two cubes of sugar in it.
The custom is to put one cube of sugar in your mouth before you pour the coffee then sip your coffee after you have put one sugar cube in your mouth.
The coffee dissolves the sugar cube in the coffee cup and the sugar cube in your mouth dissolves while you sip your coffee.
Below is a close up of the container full of Turkish Coffee in which my Turkish Coffee was served.
Below is a close-up of the ornate coffee stirring spoon.
Traditionally Turkish coffee is served with a piece of sweet.
The pink square in the photo below is the “sweet” that was served with my Turkish coffee.
The Baklava was incredibly sweet and moist.
The copper plate on which the coffee container was presented was very ornate.
Many grocery items sold in Bosnia are now also sold in this cafe.
Below are photos of some of those items.
Strong Turkish Coffee at a Book Swap in Los Angeles
If you like strong authentic Turkish Coffee I strongly recommend you try a small cup of authentic Turkish Coffee at that cafe. the Aroma Cafe in West Los Angeles, located at 2530 Overland Avenue, Los Angeles, California.
If you were in Los Angeles on Saturday, March 12, 2016 you could have gone there for an evening of conversation, fun and a book swap.
Churros Calientes
Churros Calientes is located at 11521 Santa Monica Blvd., Los Angeles, California 90025.
Below is a picture of a cup of hot chocolate I had at Churros Caliente.
The hot chocolate was so thick it was served with a spoon.
After drinking the hot chocolate pictured above, I drank an iced mocha drink (photograph below) to clear my throat.
Below is a photograph of the Churros Calientes menu posted on a wall in the Churros Calientes Cafe and a photograph on the wall of hot chocolate being poured into a cup.
So far, my favorite hot chocolate is the hot chocolate served at Churros Calientes in West Los Angeles.
A Taste of Traditional Food
Los Angeles is a cosmopolitan city with people from all over the world who grew up with every “traditional” food imaginable.
The photos below were taken at a local family restaurant in Los Angeles (the Guelaguetza, located at 3014 W. Olympic Blvd., Los Angeles, CA. 90006, phone 1-213-427-0608) on Sunday, March 6, 2016 by a friend of mine while eating dinner there with her family.
Soul
For creative people, being cool is more important than the accumulation of material wealth.
What you do, how you do what you do and what you possess signal your discretion, your refinement, whether you are “cool” and your capacity to navigate life.
The people I am surrounded by value embodied wealth (such as strength and vitality, i.e. good health), relational wealth (i.e., social ties), intelligence, cooperativeness, leadership, creativity, emotional stability, positive attitude, good “values” (including the ability to delay gratification) multifaceted tastes, connoisseurship and having “soul.” They believe time you have devoted to your soul is the best use you have made of your time.
A lot of people loose the goodness of their soul on the way to success or in the struggle to stay alive. That is what Chief Justice Tani G. Cantil-Sakauye is talking about in the “What I Told My Daughter.”
According to an email I recently received from a “cool” person,
On his death bed, Alexander the Great summoned his army generals and told them his three ultimate wishes:
- The best doctors should carry his coffin …
- The wealth he has accumulated (money, gold, precious stones) should be scattered along the procession to the cemetery …
- His hands should be let loose, so they hand outside the coffin for all to see.
Copyright © 2016 Gary S. Smolker, All Rights Reserved
January 7, 2104 (A Day in the Life of Gary S. Smolker): A $71.13 Bowl of Corn Chowder Soup and A Coffee Mocha at LYFE Kitchen in Culver City, Vegan Versions of Oysters Rockefeller, Paella, etc.
Wednesday, January 8, 2014
I am in Los Angeles, California.
It is 4:10 a.m., PST.
I was in a meeting most of the day yesterday (January 7, 2014).
Besides being in meetings, I spent my time “running” from “here to there.”
Believe it or not, at one of my meetings I was talking to a friend about why he should create (design) a [NEW] “healthy food preparation survival merit badge” and write a healthy nutritious food survival merit badge manual and program for the Boy Scouts, and talk the Boy Scouts into adopting such a program, promote a similar program for FEMA, and manufacture and distribute relatively “long” shelf-life healthy nutritious survival food, and on and on and on.
At one time, years ago, this friend was involved in and spear headed “recruiting” efforts for Sambos, when Sambos was opening two new Sambos Restaurants a week and managed and organized and coordinated a similar recruiting/hiring effort for Sizzlers when Sizzlers was in its growth spurt.
Our meeting was held at the LYFE Kitchen in Culver City — which is a fabulous operation.
While waiting for my friend to arrive I bought a snack [a bowl of corn chowder (delicious) and a coffee mocha].
My bill was $71.13 (before tip).
Why was my bill $71.13 you ask?
Answer:
While waiting in line, I couldn’t resist buying Tal Ronnen’s “the conscious cook” – delicious MEATLESS recipes that will CHANGE the WAY you EAT – and Art Smith’s “HEALTHY COMFORT” – How America’s Favorite Celebrity Chef Got it Together, Lost Weight and Reclaimed His Health.
Tal is the kind of guy who, if he finds a spider in his house, will gently pick up the spider, bring it outside and set it free.
Tal, from time to time, wears a T-Shirt which boldly proclaims “WORLD PEACE BEGINS IN THE KITCHEN.”
Tal is the owner-chef of a restaurant (CROSSROADS) on Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles, which my sister Toby [who is a “A” list “liver” who has been everywhere ‘nice’] highly recommends.
While in my car, on my way, to LYFE Kitchen in Culver City, I called a friend to find out if he was still alive. My friend told me I wouldn’t believe the “cluster fuck” he found himself in.
He told me he was ‘stuck’ at LAX, his flight to Cabo San Lucas had already taken off without him or his “family.”
They didn’t board the flight because when they got to the airport they discovered that their 15 year old girl had forgotten to take her Passport and she would not be allowed into Mexico without a passport.
During my phone call with my friend, a fight was in progress between he and his wife about whether the three of them (grown up man, grown up woman and 15 year old girl) should go to Hawaii instead of driving back home since their flight to Cabo San Lucas had already left without them.
My 3:00 p.m. appointment got cancelled because a Beijing based client of the person I was meeting unexpectedly flew in from Beijing and demanded that an emergency meeting take place.
So instead of meeting that friend at “Crossroads” at 3:00 p.m. I drove to the Topanga Shopping Mall in Woodland Hills, CA. to get holes punched in 10 of my belts that were then (yesterday) too big.
I could no longer wear those belts because I had purchased and worn those belts when I had about a 40 inch waist.
Due to changes in diet and lifestyle since September, 2012, my waist is now (at the beginning of 2014) 34 inches.
I am very interested in the relationship between food, diet, exercise, life style and health and longevity.
I know that the human body depends upon cellular renewal to survive.
Yesterday morning I read that cells in the heart and cells in the brain replace themselves, as follows.
- At age 25 one percent of heart muscles replace themselves.
- At age 75 less than half a percent of heart muscle cells that die are replaced by new heart muscle cells.
- The gene that turns on cell growth (new cell generation) is activated by physical activity, caloric restriction, ketogenic diet, and the addition of certain nutrients such as curcumin, and the omega 3 fat DHA.
- Aerobic exercise turns on genes linked to longevity.
- The more you move the fitter you become.
I believe people should take care of themselves by eating healthy nutritious food and have an emergency supply of healthy nutritious food.
I believe people should take care of their own health by learning about epigenetic factors, how to turn on the genes that prolong life and how to turn off the genes that shorten life.
According to a book I am reading, right now, our day to day activities have a profound effect on the activity of our genes. We can change the expression of more than 70% of the genes that have a direct bearing on our health and longevity.
Scramble scramble scramble:
I’m torn between going to my office today to “work” or staying home and writing an article on preventing heart attacks, preventing diabetes, preventing memory loss, preventing Alzheimer’s disease and other cognitive problems, and how to preserve and increase mental acuity by eating the right foods and keeping active.
It’s now 5:00 a.m. and I’m hungry.
Gary
Copyright (c) 2014 by Gary S. Smolker
Your Waist to Height Ratio and The Relationship of Diet, Food and Nutrition to Health – Part One of an Autobiographical Book Report by Gary S. Smolker on “Wheat Belly” by William Davis, MD, “The Starch Solution” by John A. McDougall, MD and Mary McDougall, “The Blood Sugar Solution” by Mark Hyman, MD, and “The Virgin Diet” by JJ Virgin, CNS, CHFS.
Introduction
I don’t want to get diabetes or to be overweight.
I have been told there is a relationship between what you eat and health.
I’ve read that nearly all people who are overweight (over 70 percent of adult Americans) already have pre-diabetes and have significant risks of disease and death. They just don’t know it yet.
In September, 2012, I decided to focus on learning what to eat.
In the middle of September and in the months that followed, I changed my normal day to day diet by following a food plan prepared for me by a professional dietitian.
Later, in January, 2013, I changed what I was eating (I modified the food plan my dietitian had prepared for me in September) by ceasing to consume food containing wheat products. Additionally, I limited the amount of fruit I ate and simultaneously, I increased the amount of meat, cheese, eggs and nuts and seeds I ate, based on what I had learned or discovered from reading “Wheat Belly” by William Davis, M.D.
Later, in early April, 2013, I further modified what I ate after reading “The Starch Solution” by John A. McDougall.
I ceased consuming nuts and seeds altogether and I also stopped consumption of all dairy products; additionally, I also stopped taking vitamins and supplements based on what I became aware of while reading “The Starch Solution” by John A. McDougall, M.D.
Later yet, at the end of April, after I read in “The Blood Sugar Solution” by Mark Hyman, MD, that “The addition of high levels of fiber to the diet is as effective as diabetes medicine in lowering blood sugar.” celery became my favorite snack food.
By late April, 2013, seven months after I began to follow the initial food plan prepared by my dietitian for me and after continuing to follow that diet as modified by me after reading “Wheat Belly” and as further modified by me after reading “The Starch Solution”, and as further modified by reading “The Virgin Diet” and by reading “The Blood Sugar Solution”, I had lost more than 20 pounds.
The level of triglycerides in my blood, according to the most recent test of a blood sample drawn from me, had dropped by almost fifty percent.
I am still losing weight.
In one of the books I review in this autobiographical book report (“The Blood Sugar Solution”), the author Mark Hyman, MD advises that your waist to height ratio is a significant predictor of diabetes, obesity, heart disease, and the risk of death, and is a more significant predictor than almost any other number.
In my reading of the books reviewed in this post, I also discovered that currently there are no national screening recommendations, no treatment guidelines, no approved medications and no reimbursement to health care providers for diagnosing and treating anything other than full blown diabetes albeit nearly all people who are overweight already have pre-diabetes and have significant risks of disease and death. They just don’t know it yet.
Think about that. Doctors are not expected, trained, or paid to diagnose and treat the single biggest chronic disease in America, which along with smoking, causes nearly all the major health care burdens of the twenty-first century, including heart disease, stroke, dementia, and even cancer.
The things I read in the books I review in this book report convince me that pre-diabetes is not pre anything. It is a deadly disease driving heart attacks, strokes, cancer, dementia and more.
At least two of the authors believe that the standard of care in the medical community for preventing diabetes and for treating diabetes is abysmal.
- In “The Blood Sugar Solution”, Dr. Hyman states: Treating diabetes with medications or insulin is like mopping up the floor while the faucet continues to overflow.
- In “Wheat Belly” Dr. Davis states: Years ago I used the ADA diet in diabetic patients. Following the carbohydrate intake advice of the ADA, I watched the patients gain weight, experience deteriorating blood glucose control and increased need for medication and develop diabetic complications such as kidney disease and neuropathy. Just as Ignaz Semmelweis caused the incidence of childhood fever in his practice to nearly vanish just by washing his hands, ignoring ADA diet advice and cutting carbohydrate intake leads to improved blood sugar control, reduced HbA1c, dramatic weight loss, and improvement in all the metabolic messiness of diabetes such as high blood pressure and triglycerides. The ADA advises diabetes to cut fat, reduce saturated fat, and include 45 to 60 grams of carbohydrate – preferably ‘healthy whole grains – in each meal, or 135 to 180 grams of carbohydrates per day, not including snacks. It is, in essence, a fat phobic, carbohydrate centered diet, with 55 to 65 percent of calories from carbohydrates. If I were to sum up the views of the ADA toward diet, it would be: Go ahead and eat sugar and foods that increase blood sugar, just be sure to adjust your medications to compensate. But while ‘fighting fire with fire’ may work with pest control and passive aggressive neighbors, you can’t charge you way out of credit card debt and you can’t carbohydrate-stuff your way out of diabetes. … To this day, the notion of treating diabetics by increasing consumption of foods that caused the disease in the first place, then managing the blood sugar mess with medications persists.
By the way, Albert Einstein once said: We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.
Reading the four books I review in this book report was very eye opening for me.
Among other things, I was surprised to read that taking statins and beta-blockers (I take a statin, Lipitor) cause insulin resistance because the doctor who prescribed Lipitor for treating my “high cholesterol” never informed me of that fact or discussed the possibility or claim that taking Lipitor would or might cause insulin resistance and/or higher the level of glucose (sugar) in my blood serum.
I have been advised that I have what is known as pre-diabetes.
On the topic of having pre-diabetes, here is what Dr. Hyman says in “The Blood Sugar Solution”:
“Many people believe that pre-diabetes isn’t a problem until it becomes full-blown diabetes, that is just a warning sign. Nothing could be further from the truth. It is an earlier stage of diabesity that carries all the risks of diabetes. Pre-diabetes can kill you before you ever get to diabetes, through heart attacks, strokes, and even cancer.
“Pre-diabetes can even cause ‘pre-dementia’ or mild cognitive impairment – think of it as early Alzheimer’s. Recent studies have shown that diabetics have a fourfold increased risk of developing Alzheimer’s, and patients with pre-diabetes or metabolic syndrome have a dramatically increased risk of pre-dementia or mild cognitive impairment (MCI). You don’t even have to have diabetes to have brain damage and memory loss from high insulin levels and insulin resistance, Just having pre-diabetes can give you pre-dementia. Recent studies have shown that as your waist size goes up, the size of your brain goes down.
“…So if your doctor has diagnosed you with pre-diabetes or metabolic syndrome, don’t think that you are at risk for something ‘in the future,’ such as diabetes or heart attack. The problems are happening right now.”
People, myself included, are concerned and confused about what food to eat: the relationship between food, diet, nutrition and health.
After reading the four books reviewed here, I now believe heart disease, diabetes, and cancer are lifestyle diseases.
After reading those books and changes my own eating habits, I also believe that high blood pressure, overweight, physical inactivity, high blood sugar and high cholesterol are preventable risk factors.
When I began the diet described and commented upon in this autobiographical book report, I had a lot to learn about the relationship of diet, food and nutrition to health.
As a result of reading those books and performing the dietary experiments described in this book report, I learned a lot, beyond the advice given to me by my dietitian and beyond the advice given to me by my primary care physician.
The books I review here each broadcast, the same message – We should focus on creating health because:
- Disease goes away as a side effect of getting healthy.
- Eating whole real fresh food and exercising vigorously will keep your blood sugar low and your insulin needs down.
- Food is not just calories. It is information.
- Food is the information that quickly changes your metabolism and genes.
- The quality of the food we put in our bodies drives our gene function, metabolism and health.
- You lose weight by getting your system in balance, not by starving yourself.
- The same things that make you sick, make you fat, so when you address the underlying cause of disease, the weight loss is automatic.
Reading Dr. Mark Hyman’s book “The Blood Sugar Solution” confirmed for me that I must take informed action, as the captain of my own ship, regarding the diet to be on in the future.
- Dr. Hyman claims: Anyone with a fasting blood sugar level greater than 87 mg/dl is at increased risk of diabetes. Normal blood sugar level is 90 mg/dl.
- When I decided to go on my diet my last fasting blood sugar level reading was 87 mg/dl.
- Dr. Hyman also claim that ideal Hemoglobin A1c (HgA1c) is under 5.5. According to the lab that performed my Hemoglobin A1c test: A HgA1c level between 5.4 and 6.4 indicates increased risk for diabetes. A HbgA1c level above 6.4 indicates diabetes. According to that lab report I received: I had increased risk for diabetes.
I read the books reviewed here, performed the research and diet experimentation by modifying what I eat, as discussed in this autobiographical book report, because I don’t want to have diabetes or to be overweight.
My Food Preferences, Changes in Diet, Health and Changes in Health
I am 67 years old.
I love licorice, popcorn, Cheetos, pretzels, Frito Corn Chips, wheat thins, triscuits, ice cream, hot fudge on ice cream, caramel on ice cream, chocolate, fruit (especially mangoes, pineapple, watermelon, cherries, plumbs and grapes), pizza, pasta, Chinese food, Thai food, Persian food, Mexican food, Italian food, Jewish Delicatessen food, smoked fish, Sea Bass, Shrimp, Sand Dabs, Hamburgers, BBQ Spare Ribs, Beef Stew, Steak, hot dogs, baked beans, re-fried beans, potatoes, corn, rice and breads of all kind (sour dough bread, French bread, wheat bread, rye bread, and bagels) and See’s candies, especially See’s molasses chips covered with dark chocolate candy, and See’s nuts and chews covered with dark chocolate candies.
In September, 2012, I read a lab report which informed me that I have an increased high risk for diabetes due to having a high blood sugar level.
I decided to take positive action, to become pro-active, by taking steps (a) to lower the level of glucose level in my blood (my blood sugar level), (b) to lower my HgbA1c level (average fasting glucose level over a two to three month period), (c) to lower my total cholesterol, (d) to lower the level of triglycerides in my blood and (d) to lose weight.
My primary care physician gave me a prescription to have a series of consultations with a professional dietitian on the staff of a highly regarded hospital (Saint John’s Medical Center) located in Santa Monica, California.
When I began consulting with her (that dietitian), I assumed and was assured she is expert in providing medical nutrition therapy, in providing nutrition and diabetes education, that is what is indicated on her business card.
I got down to the business of trying to protect myself from getting diabetes and losing weight on September 19, 2012, by beginning to attended a series of one-on-one educational consultations with that dietician at that hospital.
At first, I followed all the advice and instructions she gave me and I followed the food plan (ate what was on the food plan) prepared for me by that dietitian, except I ate bigger proportions than specified in my food plan of meat, chicken and fish.
I lost weight and was happy about my weight loss.
However, the meals that I ate for dinner were not fulfilling. I was still hungry after eating my dinner.
A few months after I had been following the diet given to me by my dietitian, I read “Wheat Belly” by William Davis, MD.
After reading what Dr. Davis said about wheat, meat, eggs, nuts and seeds, I modified my diet (what I ate in the food plan given to my by my dietitian) by excluding all foods containing wheat or a wheat product from my diet (which my dietitian had told me it was okay to eat and had included in my food plan) and I began to eat copious amounts of nuts and seeds albeit my dietitian had told me to eat only a small amount of nuts and seeds.
Eating seeds and nuts made me feel full after eating, satisfied my hunger pains.
My dietitian had advised me that I should not eat more than six or ten nuts at a time. Dr. Davis advises that you may eat as many nuts and seeds as you want to eat.
Dr. Davis also advises that it is okay to eat as many eggs as you desire and it is okay to eat meat.
In his book “Wheat Belly” Dr. Davis has a chart which specifies:
- Foods to consume in unlimited quantities which include vegetables (except potatoes and corn), raw nuts and seeds, meats and eggs, cheese, non-sugary condiments, avocados, olives, coconut, spices and unsweetened cocoa or cacao.
- Foods to consume in limited quantities which include non-cheese dairy (including milk, cottage cheese, yogurt and butter), fruit (but be careful of sugary fruits including pineapple, papaya, mango and banana and avoid dried fruit especially figs and dates), whole corn, fruit juices, non-wheat, non-gluten grains (quinoa, buckwheat, rice, oats and while rice), legumes (beans, lentils, chickpeas, white and red potatoes, yams, sweet potatoes, soy products.
- Foods to consume rarely or never which include wheat products (wheat-based breads, pasta, noodles, cookies, cakes, pies, cupcakes, breakfast cereals, pancakes, waffles, pita, couscous, rye, bulgur, barley, unhealthy oils (fried, hydrogenated, polyunsaturated especially corn, sunflower, safflower, cotton seed), gluten-free foods (especially those made with cornstarch, rice starch, potato starch or tapioca starch), dried fruit (figs, dates, prunes, raisins, cranberries), fried foods, sugary snacks (candies, ice cream, sherbert, fruit roll-ups, craisins, energy bars), sugary fructose-rich sweeteners (agave syrup or nectar, honey, maple syrup, high-fructose corn syrup, sucrose), and sugary condiments (jellies, jams, preserves, ketchup, chutney).
After reading what Dr. Davis says in “Wheat Belly” about nuts, seeds, eggs and meat, I upped the amount of nuts, seeds, eggs and meat I ate beyond the limitations that had been specified by my dietitian.
After reading both “Wheat Belly” by William Davis, MD and “The Starch Solution” by William McDougall MD, I discovered that Dr. Davis and Dr. McDougall disagree on what food should be eaten and which foods should not be eaten.
I came to realize that the dietary and nutritional instructions my dietitian had given me are highly controversial in that those two experts vehemently disagree with different aspects of the food plan developed for me by my dietitian.
I discovered that in every meal my dietitian planned for me to eat there was at least one food that either Dr. Davis and Dr. McDougall warn against eating.
Below is a list of some of the foods my dietitian advised me to eat (which she had included in the food plan she prepared for me to follow) which Dr. Davis and/or Dr. McDougall advise against eating.
- My dietitian advised me to eat cottage cheese, fruit, cereal,and toast for breakfast (and she included those foods in the food plan for breakfast she gave me) and to drink coffee. In his book “Wheat Belly”, Dr. Davis advises against eating any product containing wheat. Don’t eat toast, don’t eat any product containing wheat including any kind of bread, wheat bread is dangerous to your health. Dr. Davis also advises to minimize consumption of fruit and of dairy products except cheese.
- In his book “The Starch Solution”, Dr. McDougall advises against eating any dairy product, i.e., it is not okay to eat cottage cheese, it is not okay to eat any kind of yogurt, it is not okay to drink milk, etc. Contrary to Dr. Davis’ advice, Dr. McDougall advises that it is okay to consume as much fruit and toast (bread/wheat product) as you want unless you are part of the one percent of the population who has celiac disease.
- My dietitian advised me it is okay and desirable to have Kashi Autumn Wheat cereal with milk for breakfast (she included that breakfast in the food plan she prepared for me to follow). She also told me it is okay and desirable to eat yogurt (she included yogurt in my breakfast food plan and in my snack food plan); she also told me it is also okay to eat a limited number of eggs (which she included in my food plan) and to have/consume turkey or chicken breakfast links and toast with my eggs during breakfast. In “Wheat Belly”: Dr. Davis advises against eating any product that contains wheat, i.e. don’t eat toast or bagels. However, Dr. Davis approves of eating as much meat as you wish. Contrariwise, in “The Starch Solution”, Dr. McDougall advises against consuming any dairy product, i.e., don’t drink milk, don’t have milk with cereal, don’t eat yogurt. Dr. McDougall also advises against eating eggs or any meat or chicken, i.e. don’t eat turkey or chicken links with eggs for breakfast. Contrary to Dr. Davis, Dr. McDougall advises that it is okay and advisable to eat grains such as wheat.
- My dietitian advised me that I should eat a roast beef, turkey, tuna salad or grilled chicken sandwich (she recommended that my sandwich be on wheat bread) for lunch and she also advised me to eat salads with chicken, steak, salmon, tuna or turkey for lunch. Dr. Davis, the author of “Wheat Belly”, has no problem with a recommendation to eat roast beef, turkey, tuna or chicken but strongly recommends against eating any product containing wheat, including wheat bread. Contrariwise, in “The Starch Solution”, Dr. McDougall strongly advises against consuming meat (i.e. roast beef), poultry (i.e., chicken and turkey) and fish. However, unlike Dr. Davis, Dr. McDougall states that eating wheat containing products is healthy thing to do except if you are part of the one percent of the population which has celiac disease.
- My dietitian also told me it is okay to eat Almonds and Walnuts and Cashews (6 maximum). Dr. Davis advises that you may eat as many nuts and seeds as you wish. Dr. McDougall advises that you should not eat nuts or seeds but if you “must” you show eat only a few.
My dietitian also advised me to take various vitamins pills I was taking with my breakfast meal and to take the cholesterol lowering pill (Lipitor) and the high blood pressure lowering pills (HCTZ and Atenolol) I was taking before dinner.
In “The Starch Solution”, Dr. McDougall advises against taking any vitamin pills and advises against taking any supplements. In “Wheat Belly”, Dr. Davis advises against taking Calcium supplements but has no comment/advice on vitamins. In “Blood Sugar Solution”, Mark Hyman, MD advises it is necessary for everyone to take vitamins and supplements.
At one of my early meetings with my dietitian, my dietitian gave me a plate on which three food groups are designated with the portion/size of each food from each food group to be eaten at each meal.
The plate I was given by my dietitian is divided into the following three sections:
- Section One has printed in it the word “protein.” By the word “protein” she was referring to meat, poultry and fish. Dr. Davis advises that you can eat as much meat as you want. I also believe he has no objection to you eating as much poultry and fish as you desire. Dr. McDougall, on the other hand, advises that you should not eat any meat, or any poultry or fish.
- Section Two, which is the same size as the Section One, has printed in it the word “starch”, and also the words “potatoes”, “pasta”, “rice”, “corn”, “peas” and “beans.”
- Section Three of the plate, which is approximately twice the size of either of the other two sections, has printed in it the word “vegetables.”
My dietitian also showed me figurines which depict the size of a portion of meat, fish or poultry you are allowed to eat at each meal.
My dietitian never advised me that I could get all the protein I needed by eating plants/vegetables, potatoes, beans, etc., i.e. that I didn’t need to eat meat or poultry or fish in order to consume enough protein.
Dr. McDougall advises in “The Starch Solution” that the following foods are never part of a healthy diet, and should be meticulously avoided, if you are to benefit from the diet he recommends in “The Starch Solution”:
- Meat, such as beef, pork, lamb
- Poultry, such as chicken, turkey, duck
- Dairy foods, such as milk, cheese, yogurt, sour cream
- Eggs
- Animal fats
- Vegetable oils, including olive oil, corn, flaxseed, canola, and safflower oils
- Processed and packaged foods, except for ones containing only permitted ingredients
In “The Starch Solution” Dr. McDougall states that the diet he recommends is not a diet in the traditional sense of restricting how much you can eat. “So long as you choose the right foods, you always eat until you fee comfortably full and satisfied. If you are hungry again an hour later, eat some more. You need never again feel hungry or deprived.
Dr. McDougall’s diet “… does not require you to purchase prepared foods, count calories or starch equivalents, keep a food journal or exercise log, or eat only specified menus or dishes at particular times. So long as you eat only the permitted ingredients you can combine them in any way you like, in any preparation, to suit your own taste You can eat a wide variety or limit your choices to a few simple dishes repeated over and over again.
In Chapter 13 of “The Starch Solution”, claims you the following will occur if you follow his “Starch Solution Diet”:
“Your friends are going to be mighty envious. First they’ll notice you lost weight; then that you’re looking great. Next they’ll hear that you’ve gotten your blood pressure down so far that your doctor was incredulous – especially because you gave up the meds you were prescribed to control it. They may also hear that your type 2 diabetes is under control for the first time, also without medications, and that you’re eating all the starches that their doctors (and yours) told them to avoid. They’ll also hear that your cholesterol is down to 150 from 270, and that you’re off those muscle-damaging statins. Your friends will do a double take when they see you slamming balls on the tennis court, or when you zoom past them on foot heading up a steep hill, overtaking them effortlessly while they stop, bend over, and strain to fill their lungs with air. Oh, no – they are not going to be happy about that.
“Why won’t your friends be happy for you? You’ve done something you say is simple – you’ve only changed the way you eat. Yet, for them, the task seems next to impossible. Give up bacon and eggs for breakfast? They’d rather lie down and die, right now. Don’t worry. It’s not your job to tell they they’re already headed down that path. That if they want to ensure more time with friends and family, to enjoy their favorite music and even their favorite foods, a very straight forward change can help.”
According to the inside flap of the cover of “The Starch Solution”, Dr. McDougall’s diet is based on a simple swap: By fueling your body primarily with carbohydrates rather than proteins and fats, you’ll feel satisfied, boost energy, and look and feel your best.
One of the important pieces of information presented in “The Starch Solution” is cost data put togerher by Dr. McDougall in “The Starch Solution.”
Chapter 13 of “The Starch Solution” has a section entitled “Keeping Costs Down.”
That section contains tables containing tables entitled “Food”, “Cost per Item” and “Cost Per 2,500 Calories.” Those tables contain information on the following topics:
- Food Costs of a Diet Based on Animal Foods: contains cost information per 2,500 calories for (a) beef rib eye, (b) ground beef, (c) chicken breast, (d) salmon, (e) cheddar cheese and (f) milk.
- Cost of Eating in A Fast Food Outlet: contains cost information per 2,500 calories for eating out at Burger King, (b) KFC, (c) McDonald’s, (d) Round Table and (e) Taco Bell.
- Cost of Eating a Starch Based Diet: contains cost information per 2,500 calories for eight different items – (a) white potatoes, (b) sweet potatoes, (c) pinto beans, (d) brown rice, (e) white rice, (f) corn tortillas, (g) corn grits, and (h) oats.
In “The Starch Solution”, Dr. McDougall reminds us that for many families food is one of the greatest monthly expenditures.
Using information in the tables referred to above you can easily figure the cost savings of a starch based diet.
According to Dr. McDougall: Roughly half of US food dollars are spent eating out – about 40 percent in full-service restaurants and 40 percent in fast-food establishments.
Dr. McDougall also informs us that at least one in three Americans (adults and children) eats at a fast-food restaurant daily.
According to Dr. McDougall: About $14 per person day is the average cost of eating in a fast-food outlets. In comparison, a starched based diet with added fruits, vegetables, and condiments will cost you about $3 per person per day. The typical cost of a home-cooked meal featuring animal foods could easily be $10 per person or even more day.
According to Dr. McDougall:
“The net savings from switching from your 2,500 calories per day from fast foods to starch-based meals is $11 per person, per day ($14 – $3). Over the course of a year that puts savings in your pocket of more than $4,000. If you are feeding a family of four, this means an additional $16,000 saved annually on food costs alone…”
By the way, Domino’s Pizza (a fast food enterprise) reported on April 30, 2013 that it had solid first quarter sales and profit, which lifted its shares to anew high.
Domino’s, a pizza delivery and takeout giant, earned 26% higher than last year.
Its revenues grew nearly 9% — the best sales gain in 10 quarters, showing that the chain’s value offerings were enticing cash-strapped consumers.
In a post earnings posting conference call, CEO Patrick Doyle said, “Customers have gotten a little more conservative about their balance sheet. We are a good value. That’s part of the reason we had a strong quarter overall.”
The big picture economic ramifications of the information Dr. McDougall presents in “The Starch Solution” are staggering.
The portions of meat and potatoes my dietitian told me I am supposed to eat are also staggering.
My first reaction when I looked at the size of food portions depicted on the plate my dietitian gave me and in the figurines my dietitian showed me was, You must be kidding.
The amount of meat I usually ate at a meal before starting my new diet was about three or four or five or six times as much as the portion size represented by the dimensions of the figurine.
The amount of fish or poultry I usually ate at a meal before starting my new diet was about three times as much as the portion depicted in the figurine.
Before starting my new diet, the amount of beans, or rice or potatoes I would eat at a meal were about two or three times the amount shown in the figurine.
I was thankful to be given that plate and to be shown those figurines.
I brought the plate home and for the next few months, looked at it whenever I ate meat or chicken or fish at home.
Over time I was able to eat smaller and smaller portions of meat, chicken and fish and bigger portions of vegetables at dinner. Eventually, I began to eat a salad with breakfast and to eat vegetables for snacks.
When I first met my dietitian I weighed 187 pounds.
At that time, my dietitian told me I should have as my weight goal to weigh 176 pounds, i.e. to lose 10 pounds. I told her my weight goal is to weigh 150 pounds, i.e., to lose 37 pounds.
My Life Was Turned Upside Down As A Consequence of Reading “Wheat Belly”
I thought I was lucky to have consulted with my dietitian after listening to my dietitian because she told me it was okay/safe and recommended for me to eat roast beef, or chicken or turkey on wheat bread. Previously, I had understood it is not okay to eat red meat.
Ever since received a food plan from my dietitian I have followed the diet given to me by my dietitian as best I could.
However, I am always struggling to reduce the portion of meat, chicken, fish, pasta, etc. I eat at meals and am rarely able to restraint myself from eating more than the recommended portion of meat, chicken and/or fish at any meal.
In January, 2013, I began to read “Wheat Belly.”
As a result of reading “Wheat Belly”, I became convinced that I should stop eating any product containing wheat.
Although my weight had dropped from 187 pounds to 173 pounds, on January 17, 2013 I stopped eating food containing wheat products.
Dr. Davis advises, in “Wheat Belly”, Contrary to popular wisdom there is no deficiency that develops from elimination of wheat — provided that lost calories are replaced with the right foods.
If the gap left by wheat is filled with vegetables, nuts, meats, eggs, avocados, olives, cheese then not only won’t you develop a dietary deficiency, you will enjoy better health, more energy, better sleep, and reversal of every abnormal phenomena we have discussed. … removing wheat is the first step. Finding suitable replacements to fill the smaller — remember wheat-free people naturally and unconsciously consume 350 to 400 fewer calories per day — calorie gap is the second step. If you fill the gap left by excising wheat products with corn chips, energy bars, and fruit drinks, then, then, you will have replaced one undesirable group of foods with another undesirable group; you’ve achieved very little.
If ideal health is your goal, then it does indeed matter what foods you choose to fill the gap left by eliminating wheat.
This is a battle that needs to be fought on all fronts: Turn on the TV and you won’t see ads for cucumbers, artisanal cheeses, or locally raised cage-free eggs. You will be inundated with ads for potato chips, frozen dinners, soft drinks, and the rest of the cheap-ingredient, high mark-up world of processed food.
A great deal of money is spent pushing the products you need to avoid. Kellogg’s, known to the public for breakfast cereals ($6.5 billion breakfast cereal sales in 2010), is also behind Yoplait yogurt, Haagen-Dazs ice cream, Larabar health bars, Keebler Graham Crackers, Famous Amos chocolate chip cookies, Cheez-It crackers, as well as Cheerios and Apple Jacks.
One thing is clear: There is no nutritional deficiency that develops when you stop consuming what and other processed foods. But this hasn’t stopped the food industry, and its friends at the USDA, the American Heart Association, the American Dietetic Association, and the American Diabetes Association from suggesting that these foods are somehow necessary for health and that doing without them might be unhealthy. Nonsense, Absolute unadulterated, 180 proof, whole grain nonsense.
Forget everything you’ve learned about “healthy whole grains.” Instead, remember the need for “healthy whole grains” is pure fiction. Grains such as wheat are no more a necessary part of the human diet than personal injury attorneys are in your back-yard pool party.
Let me describe a person with wheat deficiency: slender, flat tummy, low triglycerides, high HDL (“good”) cholesterol, normal blood sugar, normal blood pressure, high energy, good sleep, normal bowel function.
After deciding to stop eating all products containing wheat, I found out that wheat, or a product containing wheat, is in many of the foods I love. I learned “wheat” is ubiquitous.
After I began to look at food labels to discover ingredients, I was amazed to find out that my favorite candy “licorice “contains wheat flour.
If I adopted the diet recommended by Dr. Davis in “Wheat Belly” I would have to stop eating every kind of bread, bagel, pizza, pretzels, licorice, wheat thins and other “thins” in order to go “wheat-less” because they all contain wheat.
Giving up “wheat” (bread, pretzels, wheat thins, etc.) was a great sacrifice for me. But, I did it.
After I stopped eating “wheat” and all products containing wheat (which I stopped eating on January 18, 2012) my weight continued to drop and drop.
On January 18, 2013 my weight was 173.6 pounds.
By February 18, my weight was 166.8 pounds.
On April 25, 2013 my weight was down to 163.2 pounds. — My weight had dropped by April 25 more than 20 pounds from what it was (187 pounds) when I began my “diet” on September 19, 2012.
When I began my diet in September 2012 I was taking two medications my primary care physician had prescribed to control my blood pressure.
I monitored my blood pressure.
In April, 2013 my blood pressure was consistently normal.
My blood pressure had dropped so much while I was “dieting” that on April 11, 2013 I stopped taking one medication (Atenolol) that had been prescribed to control my blood pressure. My blood pressure remained in a healthy range thereafter.
On April 17, 2013, I stopped taking the other medication (HCTZ) that had been prescribed to control my blood pressure.
My blood pressure has remained in healthy range after that.
Why I purchased “Wheat Belly”, “The Starch Solution”, “The Blood Sugar Solution” and “The Virgin Diet”?
“WHEAT BELLY” by William Davis, MD
While shopping in Costco I saw the cover of a book entitled “Wheat Belly.”
On the back cover was a picture of two pieces of wheat bread.
Under that picture was the statement: DID YOU KNOW THAT EATING TWO SLICES OF WHOLE WHEAT BREAD CAN INCREASE BLOOD SUGAR MORE THAN 2 TABLESPOONS OF PURE SUGAR?
I purchased that book after reading that caption and the inside flap of the book cover because at that time I was very interested in lowering the level of sugar in my blood and in loosing weight.
The inside book cover states: Since the introduction of dietary guidelines in the 1970s calling for reduced fat intake, a strange phenomena has occurred: Americans have steadily, inexorably become heavier, less healthy, and more prone to diabetes than ever before. After putting more than 2,000 of his at-risk patients on a wheat-free regime and seeing extraordinary results, cardiologist William Davis has come to the disturbing conclusion that it is not fat, not sugar, and not our sedentary lifestyle that is causing our nation’s obesity epidemic — it is wheat.
In ‘Wheat Belly’, Davis exposes the truth about modern-day wheat, deconstructing its historical role in the human diet. No longer the sturdy staple of our forebears ground into their daily bread, today’s wheat has been genetically altered to provide processed-food manufacturers the greatest yield at the lowest cost; consequently the once benign grain has been transformed into a nutritionally bankrupt yet ubiquitous ingredient that causes blood sugar to spike more rapidly than eating pure table sugar and has addictive properties that cause us to ride a roller coaster of hunger, overeating, and fatigue. Dr. Davis sheds light on its connection to weight gain and fat buildup, in all the wrong places, as well as a host of adverse health effects from diabetes to heart disease to immunologic and neurological disorders like celiac disease, rheumatoid arthritis, and dementia. Finally, he presents a compelling argument for eliminating wheat products from the diet entirely, with strategies for making the transition both simple and permanent.
...’Wheat Belly’ is an illuminating look at a familiar food and a positive course of action to regain health and lose unwanted pounds for good.
I purchased “Wheat Belly” because I want to lose weight and lower my blood sugar level.
I was led to believe that if I read “Wheat Belly” I would learn how to do that.
“THE STARCH SOLUTION” by John A. McDougall, MD and Mary McDougall
While following my diet, I learned, by reading the ingredients label, that the 0% fat, Dannon “Light and Fit” Greek Yogurt I was eating contained 7 grams of sugar per serving.
After learning that, I went to a “Whole Foods Market” to see if I could find a yogurt that had no sugar.
While in “Whole Foods” I picked up a book entitled “The Starch Solution” by John A. McDougall, MD and Mary McDougall.
On the front cover is the following endorsement, Dr. John A. McDougall is the dean of medical practitioners in nutrition-centered medicine, because of his incredible accomplishments, knowledge, and courage to stand up for what he believes. Thousands of his patients know him as an icon. When you read this book, you will too.” – T. Colin Campbell, PhD, coauthor of THE CHINA STUDY.
At the beginning of the book is the following endorsement by John P. Mackey, co-chief executive officer and director of Whole Foods Market, Inc.: “The Starch Solution” is one of the most important books ever written on healthy eating. As Dr. McDougall shows us in his book, human beings flourish on starch foods from whole food sources. When combined with healthy servings of vegetables and fruits, we have the perfect diet to prevent and reverse the lifestyle diseases that are now killing 80 percent of Americans – obesity, heart disease, strokes, diabetes and cancer. The recipes included in the book are easy and delicious. “The Starch Solution” will change your life. Read it and live it.”
In the preface, Dr. McDougall writes:
“Whether you are doing now is not working. That’s why you’ve picked up this book. Most likely, you’ve tried other diets – probably many of them – but they have failed you. That’s because most diets make losing weight easy if you stick with them – but because they ask you to suffer a life of deprivation, or make you feel ill, they are not sustainable. Instead, you lose weight, then you lose interest, quickly gaining al the weight back and more.
‘”The Starch Solution’ is different because it offers a way of eating that keeps you feeling satisfied. You won’t feel hungry or deprived, because starches are not only healthy, they’re comforting and filling. This is a plan you can follow indefinitely – even when you stray by not following it 100 percent – and its benefits will be with you for a lifetime. In other words, this is not an all or nothing approach.
“Beyond shedding excess weight almost effortlessly, you will look better, feel better, function better, and live better. For the majority of people, blood pressure and cholesterol will drop and digestion will finally work the way it should. In most cases, you will be able to get off and stay off prescription and nonprescription medications and supplements, saving a bundle and enjoying good health naturally.
“You needn’t worry about getting sufficient protein, calcium, vitamins, or other nutrients. These ingredients are naturally built into foods.”
I would be happy to achieve those benefits.
I purchased “The Starch Solution” to find out what Dr. McDougall has to say about me being able to eat the foods I love, while regaining my health and losing weight for good.
I would not have not known that Dr. McDougall and Dr. McDougall’s book “The Starch Solution” exist if I had not read “Wheat Belly ” and as a consequence of reading “Wheat Belly” started to read the food labels on the packaged foods (i.e. yogurt) that I ate.
“THE SUGAR SOLUTION” by Mark Hyman, MD
I purchased “The Blood Sugar Solution” because I saw a copy in Costco and read the front cover and back cover.
On the front cover is an endorsement by President Bill Clinton which states: “I hope Dr. Hyman’s new book will inspire you as he has inspired me.”
On the front cover, under the titled “The Blood Sugar Solution” is the statement: The UltraHealthy Program for Losing Weight, Preventing Disease and Feeling Great Now!”
On the back cover is the following endorsement by President Bill Clinton: “In the last decade, the rise of obesity and diabetes has emerged as a crisis that threatens our families, the global economy, and the success of our next generation. I’ve made drastic changes to my own diet and exercise routine since my heart troubles surfaces in 2004, and I hope Dr. Hyman’s new book will inspire you as he has inspired me.”
The back cover also contain endorsements by Arthur Agatston, MD (author of The South Beach Diet), Rick Warren (author of The Purpose Driven Life), Deepak Chopra, MD, Mehmet Oz, MD, Dean Ornish, MD, and Jack Canfield( author of the Chicken Soup for the Soul series).
“THE VIRGIN DIET” by JJ Virgin, CNS, CHFS
JJ Virgin and her “The Virgin Diet” was featured on a local TV show.
A good friend told me that Ms. Virgin claims the real cause of weight gain is food intolerance and that if you drop 7 foods you will lose 7 pounds in 7 days and then be able to determine your food intolerance.
According to Ms. Virgin the secret to weight loss (a) isn’t calories, (b) isn’t fat, (c) isn’t protein and (d) isn’t even carbs. Those things are important, but you won’t lose weight if you’re eating foods your body can’t handle. The key to weight loss is avoiding and overcoming food intolerance.
Food intolerance is a series of physiological responses your body has to certain types of food. Most people have at least one type of food intolerance, and many have several.
I bought her book (“The Virgin Diet) because I wanted to learn more about what she has to say about food intolerance.
Additional Interesting Facts, Opinions, Theories, Explanations and Claims I Discovered While Reading “The Virgin Diet”, “The Blood Sugar Solution”, “Wheat Belly” and “The Starch Solution”
“THE VIRGIN DIET” by JJ Virgin, CNS, CHFS
In the “Virgin Diet” Ms. Virgin states/claims,
“If you weigh more than you’d like and look older than you’d prefer, you most likely are struggling with food intolerances.
” What’s the solution? Stop eating high Food Intolerance foods and replace them with low Food Intolerance foods: foods that are unlikely to trigger food intolerance.
“Although the total number of calories counts, it is only part of the story. The source of the calories matters far more. If your calories come from foods that are causing your body trouble, then it almost doesn’t matter how much or how little you eat. Even moderate intake of problem foods sets up your body for wight gain.
“Food is information. Each bite of food that you put into your mouth sends your body a message – maybe several messages.
“Not all calories are created equal. You might portion out a cookie, a hamburger and a serving of cauliflower so they all have the same number of calories, but each of those foods is going to send your body very different messages. And its the messages we care about, not just the calories.
“If yogurt, eggs, soy milk, and whole-wheat bread are a frequent part of your diet – and especially if you are eating them every day – your system is overwhelmed with problem foods, and your immune system never really calms down. This creates a number of problems…
“If you can cut out the top 7 high Food Intolerance foods for just 3 weeks, you’ll see weight loss and beauty results that will have you looking and feeling terrific.
“High Food Intolerance foods not only make you feel tired, unfocused and moody, but they’re also the hidden cause of weight gain, weight-loss resistance and premature aging.”
According to Ms. Virgin the top 7 High Food Intolerance foods are (1) Gluten, (2) Soy, (3) Dairy, (4) Eggs, (5) Corn, (6) Peanuts, and (7) Sugar and Artificial Sweetners. The Virgin Diet is designed to send only the right messages to your body twenty four hours a day for 21 days.
The Virgin Diet works this way: You take out the foods listed above that might be causing you problems. You then reintroduce some of the High Food Intolerance Foods – eggs, dairy, soy and gluten – back into your diet. If you tolerate them terrific. If you show symptoms, out they go.
Here are some of the symptoms, which according to Ms. Virgin, are caused by you eating foods your body doesn’t like:
- Sleep issues, such as fatigue, insomnia or waking up in the middle of the night
- Congestion, sneezing and coughing
- Muscle aches and pains
- Dull, lifeless hair
- Skin problems, including acne and rosacea
- Mood problems, such as lack of focus, brain fog, depression, anxiety or irritability
- Poor or unsteady energy
- Weight gain
- Premature aging
According to Ms. Virgin, “If you are struggling with any of these symptoms, you are almost certainly struggling with food sensitivities and perhaps with other types of food intolerance as well. Food sensitivity is incredibly common. It affects 75 percent of us and is a major factor in weight gain and weight retention.”
According to Ms. Virgin: “… weight gain, bloating and fatigue are not just annoying facts of life. They are your body’s way of telling you that you’re eating foods that aren’t working for you. Until you get rid of the foods that your body can’t handle, load up on healing foods and supplements that give your body a chance to recover from what you’ve unknowingly put it through, you are likely to gain weight, retain wait and suffer from premature aging.
“If you weight more than you’d like and look older than you’d prefer, you most likely are struggling with food intolerance. … What’s the solution? Stop eating high food intolerance foods and replace them with low food intolerance foods: foods that are likely to trigger food intolerance.
Here are some of the statements of praise that appear at the beginning of “The Virgin Diet.”
- You must read this book if you think you’re doing everything right and still struggling to lose weight. – Suzanne Somers, bestselling author of 23 books, including Bombshell.
- Eliminates the ‘healthy’ foods that are actually holding your health hostage, so you can lose weight quickly and permanently. – Mark Hyman, MD, author of the #1 New York Times bestseller, The Blood Sugar Solution.
In her book “The Virgin Diet”, Ms. Virgin also discusses your poop.
According to Ms. Virgin, poops are a critical part of digestion.
Regarding your poop, according to Ms. Virgin, there are three danger signs: (1) You are moving your bowels less than once a day. Ideally you should be moving your bowels twice a day. (2) You’re having to really struggle. Ideally, everything should come out nice and smooth. (3) You’re producing poops that are tiny or don’t come al the way out.
What is a poop you can be proud of?
According to Ms. Virgin:
“It is a well formed poop that you don’t have to struggle with. It comes out fully – it doesn’t stop halfway through and leave you stuck. Nor does it dive bomb to the bottom of the bowl. It sinks to the bottom of the bowl. It doesn’t mark things up.
“If you have an oily residue or slick slides, you are not absorbing your fat well. If you have rabbit pellets or you’re straining, you don’t have enough fiber If you have floating poops, it could be from excess gas, produced by an overgrowth of bad bacteria lurking in your intestines.
According to Ms. Virgin: All you have to do is cut the wrong foods out of your diet (the foods your body doesn’t like) and replace them with the foods your body does like.
The reason Ms. Virgin gives for discussing your poop is because if you don’t eliminate properly, you’ll be bloated and fat and setting yourself up for a permanent problem with both digestion and obesity. If you don’t have poops you can be proud of, you are holding a toxic mess inside your body every single day: “The uneliminated poop is releasing toxins that are reabsorbed into your body, leading to bad breath, hemorrhoids and acne, not to mention impaired digestion, inflammation and food intolerance. The net result is that you gain weight that you can’t lose, and you feel sluggish, tired and old before your time.”
In her book “The Virgin Diet” Ms. Virgin invites the reader to take a poop quiz: “JJ’s Poop Quiz”: Skip It At Your Peril!
Ms. Virgin’s Poop Quiz consist of a series of 13 questions.
Ms. Virgin advises: “…none of these symptoms are normal, and you shouldn’t experience them regularly on a long-term basis. … But if you have any of these problems chronically, you need to address them. And you should be aware that the more questions you answered yes to, the more severe your problem.”
Ms. Virgin then informs the reader, “quite often, removing high Food Intolerant Foods and adding in low-Food Intolerant Foods corrects most if not all of the problems. Ms. Virgin also provides information on how to fix any remaining poop problems.
“THE BLOOD SUGAR SOLUTION” by Mark Hyman, MD
According to Dr. Hyman: There is one simple concept you need to learn about nutrition. It will save your life: Not All Calories Are Created Equal.
“Five hundred calories of cookies are not the same as 500 calories of broccoli, an idea that even Weight Watchers and the American Diabetic Association are finally recognizing: they are changing their point system and carb exchange as a result. If you eat the same amount of calories from broccoli rather than cookies, you will lose weight.
“The source of calories (and the information carried along with the calories) makes a gigantic difference in how your genes, hormones, enzymes, and metabolism respond. If you eat food that spikes your insulin level, you will gain weight. If you eat food that reduces your insulin level you will lose weight. This is true even if it contains exactly the same number of calories or grams of protein, fat, carbohydrate, and fiber.
“Low-glycemic-load diets are the only diets that have proven to work – these diets don’t spike blood sugar and insulin.
“The glycemic load of a meal tells us how much of and how quickly a fixed quantity of a specific food will raise your blood sugar and insulin levels. The slower these levels rise and the lower they are, the better.
“You need to combine protein; fats; and whole-food, fiber-rich, low-starch carbohydrates from vegetables, legumes, nuts, seeds, and a limited amount of whole grains and low-sugar fruit.
“Another way to think about it is to never eat carbs alone. Combine carbs with protein and fat at every meal or snack. Have an apple, but eat some nuts with it. Have a whole grain, but only with a meal containing some fish or chicken, fat and veggies with fiber.
“The key is to have a slow, even burn of food all day to keep your blood sugar and insulin levels stable.
“Choose fresh vegetables, fruit, whole grains, beans, nuts, seeds, and lean animal protein such as fish, chicken, and eggs.
“You may not realize this, but there are no essential carbohydrates. There are essential fats (omega-3s) and essential proteins (amino acids), but if you never had any carbohydrates again, you would survive.
“But there are a few things that hang out almost exclusively with good-quality carbohydrates that come from plant foods (vegetables, beans, whole grains, fruits, nuts and seeds). So unless you’re going to eat the brain, livers, kidneys, and other organs, and chew the bones of animals like the mostly meat-eating tribes once did, carbohydrates are critical for health. Why? Because they include high levels of vitamins and minerals, fiber and special plant compounds with healing properties called phytonutrients, or phytochemicals. Phytochemicals are medicinal molecules such as curcumin in turmeric, glucosinolates in broccoli, anthocyanidins in berries and black rice, and so on.”
According to Dr. Hyman you should eat slow carbs and not eat fast carbs. In “The Blood Sugar Solution” he lists which carbs you may eat freely (Green Carbs), which carbs you should eat in moderation (Yellow Carbs) and which carbs you should eat in limited amounts (Red Carbs).
Dr. Hyman advises readers to eat the following for blood sugar and insulin balance and to control hunger:
- “Beans or legumes. They are rich in protein and filled with fiber, minerals, and vitamins that help balance blood sugar.
- “Whole soy products. These include tepeh, tofu, misok and natto. These vegetarian sources are rich in antioxidants that can reduce cancer risk, lower cholesterol, and improve insulin and blood sugar metabolism. Don’t use processed industrial soy products, such as those found in deli-meat replacements, soy cheese or typical meal-replacement bars; they are harmful.
- “Nuts. Keeping nuts in the pantry is essential. They have been proven to help weight loss and reduce the risk of diabetes. They are also a great snack, full of protein, fiber, minerals and good fats. Buy raw or lightly toasted unsalted nuts. Avoid nuts that are fried or cooked in oils. The best are almonds, walnuts, macadamia nuts, hazelnuts and pecans. Stick with one or two handfuls for a snack once or twice a day. They have a tendency to raise blood sugar if you binge on them. Remember a serving is 10-12 nuts or a good handful.
- “Seeds. Pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, and sesame seeds are all high in fiber, protein, vitamins, and minerals. They are a great snack in addition to vegetable, bean, grain, or salad dishes.
- “Omega-3 eggs or free range eggs. These are one of the few animal products that are low in toxins and high in nutrients and balance blood sugar. They contain lots of DHA and they don’t raise your cholesterol; just the opposite. Enjoy up to eight of these kinds of eggs a week. Whole eggs are okay; you don’t need to stick to just egg whites. Yolks contain important vitamins and fats needed for brain and mood function.
- “Mercury-free fish, shrimp, and scallops. These are good sources of high-quality protein as well as omega-3 fats.
- “Organic grass-fed, and hormone-antibiotic-, and pesticide-free poultry. Poultry raised without hormones or antibiotics is recommended. Remove the skin from poultry before cooking. Keep some boneless, skinless breasts in the freezer for a quick dinner.
- “Small amounts of lean, organic, grass-fed, and hormone-and antibiotic-free lamb or beef. Buy as much grass-fed organic, hormone-free meat as your budget will allow. Trim all visible fat from the meat before cooking. Remember, red meat is a treat. Lamb is a better choice. Pork is the worse. Eat no more than 4-6 ounces of red meat (the size of your palm) no more than once or twice a week. Excess meat consumption is associated with diabesity, although wild meat such as deer, elk, or kangaroo may reverse it.
- “When choosing meat products, understand your choices and their impact on your health and the planet. If you eat meat and drive a Prius, you use more energy and harm the planet more than if you are a vegan and drive a Hummer.
According to Dr. Hyman you should limit your intake of the following:
- “Starchy, high-glycemic cooked vegetables. These include winter squash, peas, potatoes, corn, and root vegetables such as beets. Starchy vegetables raise blood sugar more quickly, so they should be consumed in smaller quantities (up to one-half cup a day) and ideally in the context of other foods that reduce overall glycemic load of the meal.
- “High-sugar fruits. Melons, grapes and pineapple contain more sugar than the fruits listed above, so they should be limited to a half-cup treat once a week.
- “Forbidden Carbs: Avoid completely: Processed carbs. Gluten containing whole grains. Stay away from wheat, barley, rye, oats, spelt, kamut, and triticale for the first six weeks of the program. Dried fruit.
In “the Blood Sugar Solution”, Dr. Hyman discusses a six week program which he claims will delight your senses, stimulate your palate and leave you feeling clear and healthy and automatically thinner.
On the six week program Dr. Hyman discusses in “The Blood Sugar Solution” you are to avoid the following for six weeks:
- “Sugars in any form whatsoever. Examples are agave, maple syrup, stevia and the ‘latest greatest’ sweetener of the day.
- “All flour products (even gluten-free). These include bagels, breads, rolls, wraps, pastas, etc. They are quickly absorbed and drive insulin sky high.
- “All processed food.
- “All gluten and dairy. These are the major inflammatory foods in our diet.
- “If you are on the advanced plan, all grains, starchy vegetables and fruit. Avoid winter squashes, peas, potatoes, corn, and root vegetables such as rutabagas, parsnips, and turnips, and all fruits, except one-half cup of berries for just six weeks…”
According to Dr. Hyman it’s not only the quality of your calories that’s important. When you eat and the composition of your plate are also important, focusing on when you eat and the composition of your meals can reprogram your metabolism: “It is most important to avoid eating quickly absorbed carbohydrates alone, as they raise your sugar and insulin levels. And any large meal raises your blood sugar, so smaller meals help keep your blood sugar even.
According to Dr. Hyman your plate should look like this: One half of your plate should have low-starch vegetables. You can refill this part as much as you want. You may eat a pound or two of asparagus or broccoli if you like. One quarter of your plate should have protein: fish, chicken, eggs, shrimp, meat, nuts or beans. The other quarter should have either one-half cup of whole grains (ideally brown or black rice or quinoa) or one-half cup of starchy vegetables such as sweet potato or winter squash. “If you have advanced diabesity, you should avoid all grains, starchy vegetables, and fruit until your metabolism resets and you become more insulin-sensitive. Just make vegetables three-fourths of your plate and protein one-fourth.
“...eat early and eat often. Keep the fire of your metabolism burning all day, rather than slowing it down during periods of ‘mini-starvation.” Always have breakfast, eat every 3-4 hours, and try to schedule meals art the same time every day. Your metabolism will work faster and more efficiently. You will lose weight, have more energy, and feel better.”
Dr. Hyman advised that his basic dietary program can be followed by anyone.
In “The Sugar Solution”, Dr. Hyman makes the following claims about his dietary program: (1) It balances your blood sugar, reduces insulin spikes, balances hormones, cools off inflammation, helps improve digestion, boosts your metabolism, enhances detoxification, and calms your mind and nervous system, Eighty percent of people following this basic plan will have all the tools they need to take control of their health.
Dr. Hyman advised that his advanced dietary program is designed to help people with more severe/serious biochemical and metabolic imbalances, including all those who have been diagnosed with diabetes.
According to Dr. Hyman it is not necessarily the number of of calories you eat or the the ratio of protein to at to carbohydrate in your diet. What is important is the quality and type of food you eat and when and how often you eat.
Dr. Hyman recommends that you take measure of yourself then get started.
Measure:
- Your weight. Weigh yourself first thing in the morning without clothes after going to the bathroom. Track your weight once a week.
- Your height.
- Your waist size. Measure the widest point around your belly button. Track this once a week.
- Your blood pressure. Measure it first thing in the morning before you start your daily activities. Ideal blood pressure is less than 115/75. Over 140/90 is significantly elevated. Track it weekly.
Determine:
- Your Body Mass Index (BMI). This is your weight in kilograms divided by your height in meters squared. Or use this calculation: BMI equals weight in pounds times 703 divided by your height in inches squared. Normal is less than 25, overweight is 26 to 29, and obese is over 30. However you should take in your waist size as well. Also certain ethnic groups, discussed by Dr. Hyman in “The Blood Sugar Solution” have diabesity at much lower BMIs. Track your BMI weekly.
- Your Waist-to-Height Ratio. Take your waist measurement and divide it by your height in inches. Move the decimal point two places to the right. This number tells you if you are fat around the middle. If you stand sideways while looking in the mirror and have a big belly, or if you can’t see your toes when standing up, then you have a problem. This number is a better predictor of diabesity, heart disease, and the risk of death than almost any other number. Measure this number once a week while you are following his six week diet. Later you can measure it once a month.
Dr. Hyman provides the following information for readers of “The Sugar Solution” to use to interpret their Waist-to-Height Ratio:
WOMEN
- Ratio less than 35: abnormally slim to underweight.
- Ratio 35 to 42: slender and healthy.
- Ratio 42 to 46: healthy
- Ratio 49 to 54: overweight
- Ratio 54 to 58: extremely overweight/obese
- Ratio over 58: highly obese
MEN
- Ratio less than 35: abnormally slim to underweight
- Ratio 35 to 43: extremely slim
- Ratio 43 to 46: slender and healthy
- Ratio 46 to 53: healthy, normal weight
- Ratio 53 to 58: overweight
- Ratio 58 to 63: extremely overweight/obese
- Ratio over 63: highly obese.
Dr. Hyman recommends testing for everyone who considers following the program set forth in his book “The Sugar Solution”, or is overweight, has diabetes, or has a family history of 2 diabetes.
He recommends that such people get the following tests and provides detailed explanations for each test and how to interpret the results. He encourages people to become partners in their health, and that includes knowing their numbers and following them over time.
Below is a list of the tests he recommends having performed:
- “Insulin response test. This test measures fasting, 1-hour, and 2-hour glucose and insulin levels after a 75-gram glucose load. It’s like a glucose tolerance test but it measures both glucose and insulin. Your blood sugar can be normal but your insulin can be sky high. Demand this test. It is the most important indicator of the presence and severity of diabesity, but is rarely done in medical practices today. That is why diabesity is not diagnosed in 90 percent of people who have it.
- “Hemoglobin A1c. This test measures the average of the last six weeks of blood sugar. Abnormal is greater than 5.5% of total hemoglobin.
- “NMR lipid profile. This test determines the particle size and number of LDL, HDL, and triglycerides. Small dense particles are dangerous and an indicator of diabesity, even if your overall cholesterol is normal with or without medication.
- “Lipid panel.
Dr. Hyman recommends additional specified tests to assess the severity or complications of diabesity.
Diabesity is a comprehensive term Dr. Hyman uses to describe the continuum from optimal blood sugar balance toward insulin resistance and full blown diabetes.
“Nearly all people who are overweight (over 70 percent of adult Americans) already have “pre-diabetes” and have significant risks of disease and death. They just don’t know it. Even worse, while the word “diabesity” is made up of the concepts of obesity and diabetes, even those who aren’t overweight can have this problem. … Currently there are no national screening recommendations, no treatment guidelines, no approved medications, and no reimbursement to health care providers for diagnosing and treating anything other than full-blown diabetes.”
In “The Blood Sugar Solution”, Dr. Hyman goes on to say:
Think about that. Doctors are not expected, trained, or paid to diagnose and treat the single biggest chronic disease in America, which, along with smoking, causes nearly all the major health care burden of the twenty-first century, including heart disease, stroke, dementia, and even cancer.
“Even if you have perfectly normal blood sugar, you may be sitting on a hidden time bomb of disease called diabesity, which prevents you from losing weight and living a long healthy life. Insulin resistance is the major cause of aging and death on the developed and most of the developing world.”
“The Blood Sugar Solution” by Mark Hyman, MD is on my “must read list.”
“WHEAT BELLY” by William Davis, MD
The six topics which Dr. Davis discusses in “Wheat Belly” which I found most fascinating are:
- The fact that the body has an ideal PH balance and what the body does in its attempt to maintain that balance.
- The impact wheat has on my brain and on your brain.
- How modern day wheat differs from the wheat in “your daily bread” referred to in the Bible.
- How ubiquitous wheat is in supper markets and in our daily lives and diets.
- What acid rain, car batteries and wheat have in common. According to Dr. Davis: “Wheat is among the most potent sources of sulfuric acid, yielding more sulfuric acid per gram than any meat. (Wheat is surpassed only by oats in quantity of sulfuric acid produced.) Sulfuric acid is dangerous stuff. Put it on your hands and it will cause a severe burn. Get it in your eyes and you can go blind. (Go take a look at the warnings prominently displayed on your car battery.) The sulfuric acid in acid rain erodes stone monuments, kills trees and plants, and disrupts the reproductive behavior of aquatic animals.
- The fact that taking calcium supplements is a waste of time and money. According to Dr. Davis: “…taking calcium supplements is no more effective at reversing bone loss than randomly throwing bags of cement and bricks in your backyard is to building a new patio.
“Wheat Belly” by William Davis, MD is on my “must read list.”
The April 6, 2013 Wall Street Journal Article entitled “When Your Boss Makes You Pay for Being Fat”
According to an article in the April 6, 2013 issue of the Wall Street Journal it has been reported that annual corporate spending on health care is expected to reach an average of $12,136 per employee.
Companies across America are penalizing workers for a range of conditions including high blood pressure and thick waist lines.
Employers are demanding employees share personal health information such as body-mass-index, weight and blood sugar level or face higher health insurance premiums and deductibles.
Michelin North America awards credits towards deductibles to those workers who meet health standards for blood pressure, cholesterol, triglycerides and waist size of under 35 inches or women and 40 inches for men. Employees who hit baseline requirements in three or more categories will receive up to $1,000 to reduce annual deductibles.
A recent survey of 800 mid- to large firms found that six in ten employers say they intend to impose penalties in the next few years on employees who don’t take action to improve their health.
According to Dr. Hyman: “Whether you choose vegetarian or animal sources, it is essential that you get protein at each meal and snack. Eating protein turns up your metabolic fire and ability to burn calories while reducing your appetite.”
Dr. Hyman further states: “This book will help you identify and reverse this explosive situation for yourself.”
What Is A Healthy Diet?
In “Wheat Belly”, Dr. Davis criticizes diets recommended by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), the American Diabetes Association, the American Dietetic Association, and the American Heart Association.
For example, at one point in “Wheat Belly” Dr. Davis states, Part of the prevailing standard of care to prevent and treat diabetes, a disease caused in large part by carbohydrate consumption … is to advise increased consumption of carbohydrates. Years ago, I used the ADA diet in diabetic patients. Following the carbohydrate intake advice of the American Diabetes Association and the American Dietetic Association (ADA), I watched patients gain weight, experience deteriorating blood glucose control and increased need for medications, and develop diabetic complications such as kidney disease and neuropathy. … ignoring ADA diet advice and cutting carbohydrate intake leads to improved blood sugar control, reduced HbA1c, dramatic weight loss, and improvements in all the messiness of diabetes such as high blood pressure and triglycerides. The ADA advises diabetics to cut fat, reduce saturated fat, and include 45 to 60 grams of carbohydrate — ‘preferably healthy whole grains — in each meal… It is in essence, a fat-phobic, carbohydrate centered diet, with 55 to 65 percent of calories from carbohydrates. If I were to sum up the views of the ADA toward diet, it would be: Go ahead and eat sugar and foods that increase blood sugar, just be sure to adjust your medication to compensate…. To this day, the notion of treating diabetes by increasing consumption of the foods that caused the disease in the first place, then managing the blood sugar mess with medications persists…Diabetes in many cases can be cured – not simply managed – by removal of carbohydrates, especially wheat.”
In “Wheat Belly”, Dr. Davis sets forth a nutritional approach for optimum health in which he advises us of foods we can consume in unlimited quantities, foods to be consumed in limited quantities, and foods to consume rarely or never. Among the foods we are allowed to consume in unlimited quantities are meats and eggs – preferably free-range and organic chicken, turkey, beef, pork; buffalo, ostrich; wild game; fish, shellfish, eggs (including yolks); cheese, and raw nuts and seeds. Yum. Among the foods he advises us to consume rarely or never are wheat products.
William Davis, MD states unequivocally, “the advice we’ve been given to eat more ‘healthy whole grains’ has deprived us of control over appetites and impulses, making us fat and unhealthy despite our best efforts and good intentions.” Dr. Davis says, I liken the widely accepted advice to eat healthy whole grains to telling an alcoholic that, if a drink or two won’t hurt, nine or ten may be even better. Taking this advice has disastrous repercussions on health. Forget everything you’ve learned about ‘healthy who grains.’ Instead remember that the need for healthy whole grains’ is pure fiction. Contrary to popular wisdom, including that of your friendly neighborhood dietitian.”
“THE STARCH SOLUTION” by John A. McDougall, MD and Mary McDougall
I was fascinated by everything Dr. McDougall discusses in “The Starch Solution”, including the case studies he publishes in “The Starch Solution.”
The most impressive story/case study he publishes in “The Starch Solution” is the story/case study of Ruth Heidrich, Triathlete in Hawaii, which is told in her own words.
In brief, here is the story she tells.
- Ruth didn’t know a cancer was growing in her right breast, until it grew to the size of a golf-ball.
- When the lump was detected she was rushed to surgery to have it removed.
- While recovering from surgery, she was given the bad news that the tumor was malignant.
- Later she was informed that the cancer had spread throughout the breast and into her bones and one lung.
- The prognosis was not good.
- While paging through the newspaper during her recovery she saw a call for volunteers for a breast cancer study involving diet.
- She signed up.
- After meeting with Dr. McDougall in 1982, as part of that study, she left his office with instructions to follow a low-fat, vegan diet.
Here is what Ruth Heidrich reports happened after that:
“That diet changed my life. I am now cancer free. Since my diagnosis three decades ago, I have completed the Ironman Triathlon six times, run 67 marathons, won more than a thousand racing trophies and have been declared ‘One of the Ten Fittest Women in North America.’ At age 74 I had a ‘fitness age’ of 32. I’ve written a book about my recovery: ‘A Race for Life: A Diet and Exercise Program for Superfitness and Reversing the Age Process.”
Here is what Dr. McDougall says about diabetes in “The Starch Solution”: Sugar will not make you fat or diabetic.
“The misconception that carbohydrates are bad is at the root of your avoidance of some of nature’s most perfect foods. Remember that there are three sources of calories – proteins, fats and carbohydrates – that can be obtained from foods. Sugar, a carbohydrate, is the primary source of energy for cells throughout your body. If you avoid carbohydrates you are left to fill your calorie void with fat and protein, most likely in the form of meat, poultry, fish, eggs, dairy products, and vegetable oils.
“Studies show that people who eat more simple sugar tend to take in fewer calories altogether, which means less chance of becoming overweight. One reason for this is that people who eat more simple and complex sugars generally eat less fat, the real culprit in weight gain and illness. This is because sugar and fat act as a sort of seesaw: When one goes up in a person’s diet, the other goes down, naturally.
“Type 2 diabetes is a direct result of obesity. Worldwide, the populations with the lowest rates of diabetes are those that eat the most carbohydrate; type 2 diabetes is all but unknown in rural Asia, Africa, Mexico, and Peru, where a high-carbohydrate diet is the cultural norm. Some of the highest rates of obesity and diabetes are, however, found among people of Hispanic, Native American, Polynesian, and African decent living in prosperous countries, but not because of their genetic makeup or the starch-based diets of their distant ancestors. These ethnic groups became fat and sick when the adopted the high-fat, high protein Western diet.
“Scientist understand that sugar does not cause type 2 diabetes; the American Diabetic Association recommends that diabetics consume 55 to 65 percent of their calories from carbohydrate, which may include sugary foods. High-carbohydrate diets based on starches have been shown to help diabetics cure their underlying disease, get off their medications, and improve their overall health.
“That the role of sugar in common diseases has been overrated does not mean that sugar and white flour hold the keys to good health. As carbohydrates become increasingly refined, they become less efficient in inhibiting weight gain and increasing weight loss. Refined sugars and flours are referred to as ’empty calories’ because most essential nutrients have been removed in their manufacturing. Complex carbohydrates in the form of whole starches, like brown rice, whole oats, corn, white potatoes, and sweet potatoes, are the best route to weight loss and good health.
By the way, JJ Virgin warns readers in “The Virgin Diet” that the vast majority of corn and soy (about 90 percent of the crop) available in the United States have been genetically modified.
“The Starch Solution” by John McDougall, MD and Mary McDougall is on my “must read” list.
Soy
According to JJ Virgin:
“Soy has been marketed as the miracle food of all time, maybe because it can be produced so cheaply and some big companies have invested in its production and modification. If you go to Natural Products Expo West and other big health-food conventions, they seem like one big homage to soy.
“Yet eating soy on a daily basis may create problems, whether in traditional forms like tofu and endamame or in modern incarnations such as soy milk, soy ice cream and soy cheese. One study showed that a high midlife tofu consumption – high being only 2 servings per week – increased the risk of late-life cognitive impairment and dementia both in men and in women.
“Soy is rich in phytates, or phytic acid, which blocks the adsorption of minerals, especially calcium, magnesium, copper, iron and zinc. In other words, soy can be an antinutrient.
“Soy is also full of trypsin inhibitors. Trypsin is an enzyme produced in the pancreas that we need to digest protein. Trypsin inhibitors can interfere with protein digestion and cause pancreatic disorders. Not surprisingly, in countries where there is more soy consumption, we find more pancreatic, stomach and thyroid cancers.
“What about soy as a source of protein? Again, the news is not good. Although soy is a complete protein, it has very low amounts of two essential amino acids, lysine and methionine, so it is not a quality protein source.”
JJ also discusses that soy disrupts your hormones, including your sex hormones.
According to JJ, soy is also bad for your thyroid. Soy can depress thyroid function. She has seen among many of her clients that when they eat soy every day, they tend to have elevated TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone) which is an indicator of hypothyroidism.
Genetically Modified Foods
In “The Virgin Diet”, JJ tells/warns us:
“Basically, soy is cheap because the big companies have figured out how to genetically modify it so it can be sprayed with a potent herbicide that kills everything around it with destroying the crop.
“Farmers can now plant a ton of soy and spray the heck out of it. So where is that poison going? Into the soybeans – and then into the person who consumes the soy. Or, if the soy is fed to cattle or the farm-raised fish, which is becoming more and more common, then the poison goes into those animals and then into you. Remember, you are what you eat, ate.
“I don’t think it is an accident that just when genetically modified foods flooded the market – between 1994 and 2001 – food-related illnesses doubled. Genetically modified foods tend to be more allergenic, antinutritional, carcinogenic and toxic, with special dangers for your gastrointestinal tract, your endocrine system and your immune system. So we’re going to see more infertility, immune issues and gastrointestinal changes.
“Animals that have been fed genetically modified foods have been known to have bleeding stomachs, damaged organs and immune system problems. The animals themselves often have infertility problems, miscarriages and premature births. Their young suffer from lower birth rates, inability to reproduce and altered DNA functioning. If that is what is happening to them, what’s happening to us?
“In my view, genetically altered foods are anything but innocuous. When you start to create new genes, you have no idea what the result will be.
“The American Academy of Environmental Medicine recommends that we avoid genetically modified food. They think it is very dangerous, and so do I. And so do many parts of Western Europe, where genetically modified foods have bee outlawed.”
“The Virgin Diet” by JJ Virgin, CNS, CHFS is on my “must read list.”
CONCLUSION TO PART ONE: SEE BEYOND THE OBVIOUS.
I am sure each of the four author’s whose books I have reviewed in this post will agree with the following statements:
- Nothing under the sun is greater than education. By educating one person and sending him or her out into society of his/her generation, we make a contribution extending a hundred generations to come.
- The topic of the relationship of food, diet and nutrition to health is an enormously important topic.
- Heart disease, diabetes and cancer are lifestyle diseases. High blood pressure, overweight, physical inactivity, high blood sugar and high cholesterol are preventable risk factor.
- Food is not just calories. It is information. Food is information that quickly changes your metabolism and genes.
- When getting a “check up”, you and your physician must also consider genetic and environmental factors.
- The collective experiences of our lives – diet, toxins, microbes, stress, social connections, thoughts, beliefs – control which of our genes are turned on or off.
- The collective experiences of our lives also controls the quality and types of proteins produced by our DNA, as well as what happens to those proteins and how they function once they are produced.
- How we eat, how much we exercise, how we manage stress, and our exposure to environmental and food based toxins is important.
- The same things that make you sick make you fat.
- Your body can heal given the right conditions, including enough time.
- Health problems can be caused by not having enough information soon enough and/or by not timely taking appropriate action.
- You need the right knowledge and the right plan to solve problems.
- If you have a “health problem” you must identify and treat the real causes of that problem. You must get to the root of your problem.
- Ideally, under your physician’s guidance, you will treat the causes of your health problems, not just the risk factors; you will treat your entire biological/biochemical/physiological/neurological/emotional/social and cognitive system, as well as your physical environment, and not just your symptoms.
- Symptoms result from problems.
- The most important question you can ask your doctor is: “Why?”
- Don’t ask your doctor: “Which disease do I have?” Ask your doctor: “Which systems in my body/life are out of balance?”
- Be a forward thinker.
- You can’t solve what you don’t understand.
- Stop wishing.
- Vision without action is hallucination.
- There are consequences to choices.
- Do your best to be informed and intelligently proactive.
Medicine is food and food is medicine.
More than 2,500 years ago, Hippocrates, the father of medicine, said, “Let food be your medicine and medicine be your food.”
I believe you only know something if you have a good explanatory theory of which factors affect outcomes and which do not. Knowledge consists of explanations.
Scientific explanation is an account of what is really out there, what is really happening and why.
Scientists eagerly address interesting problems, conjecture good explanations, test them, and only lastly claim to have induced the explanation from the experiment. They make a distinction between what does and does not make sense.
There is an objective reality. Seeking good explanations creates an engagement with reality.
My goal is to find out the truth about nutrition and health, to understand the healthy path to take to have the fullest life.
I wish you good luck in finding, understanding and taking your own personal individually tailored healthy path to have the fullest life.
Sincerely,
Gary
Gary S. Smolker. Publisher Gary Smolker Idea Exchange Blog http://www.garysmolker.wordpress.comCopyright (2013) by Gary S. Smolker. All rights reserved.
Gary S. Smolker 